Chapter 754

On the Crimean Peninsula, Britain, France, and Russia continued to fight. To be precise, Britain and France were attacking, while Russia was defending with all its might.

The disadvantage of weapons and equipment was a big problem. Unlike the Russian Army in the The Balkans, all of them were equipped with Arcana equipment, which was comparable to Britain and France in terms of equipment.

The Russian Army on the Crimean Peninsula was not so lucky. It was originally a second-line force in the country, and it was rushed to fight. Coupled with the corruption of the Tsarist government's bureaucratic system, multiple factors caused their tragedy.

In fact, at this time, Nicholas I Of Russia had already decided to fully equip the Arcana equipment, but because of the introduction of the production line in the country, the bureaucrats who cheated their teammates immediately gave the order to the domestic military enterprises.

It took time to adjust the production line, and it also took time to retrain the workers. It was fine in times of peace. It was a time of war now, and the Russian Army on the battlefield could not wait!

So far, the Russians had not been able to exert their production capacity to the peak. At their speed, it would take at least a year or two to fully equip the Russian Army on the Crimean Peninsula.

General Fitzroy Somerset, who had just been transferred to the Crimean Peninsula as the commander-in-chief, was furious. He did not feel it when he was fighting in the The Balkans. If there was anything lacking, he could just purchase it directly from Austria.

Here, he realized that the Russian Army's logistics were so bad. Not only did they not equip the new weapons in time, but even the ordinary logistics materials were often wrong.

Fortunately, the coalition forces on the other side were not as strong as the ones encountered in the The Balkans. The Constantinople's offensive was still meaningful, at least they had restrained the elite French troops.

Fitzroy Somerset thought for a moment and said, "Send a report to St. Peter's castle, explain our situation, and ask the country to immediately replenish our supplies.

If we can't guarantee logistical supplies, then we can only give up the Crimean Peninsula and retreat to the coastal areas of Ukraine. "

It was fine if there was a lack of medical care and medicine. After all, the gray animals were not valuable, and he did not care if they died. He could not tolerate the lack of guns and cannons. If these guys were fine, how could they fight the war?

As for whether or not he would offend anyone, Fitzroy Somerset couldn't care less. If he lost the battle, he would be finished. No matter how serious the consequences were, it would be nothing more than that.

As a senior general of the Russian Army, as long as they won the war, he could withstand the pressure even if he offended the interest groups in the country.

The main mode of transport for the Russian army in the Crimea Peninsula was ox-carts. The Russians were well prepared and had stockpiled a lot of supplies along the coast. There were quite a lot of supplies on the Crimean Peninsula.

Even if the bureaucrats were to use the supplies, it was useless for them to hold onto them. In the end, they would still have to sell them to the Tsarist government, so Fitzroy Somerset didn't have to worry about food.

There was nothing they could do about the weapons and equipment. Since the Tsarist government had already decided to change the equipment, they had no idea where they were going to be abandoned.

The same equipment produced by Russia's munitions factories would inevitably have a slight increase in weight, and the failure rate would also be slightly higher, but it would definitely be durable.

Fitzroy Somerset was not picky. It was fine as long as they had it. Now he was pressuring the Government of Saint Petersburg to speed up the supply. If they could not produce it in the country, then they should buy it!

Anyway, no matter what, the Russians did not dare to give up the Crimean Peninsula. Once the British and French gained a foothold here, the Black Sea would have nothing to do with them.

In order to attack their biggest competitor, the British would not mind paying for the annual military expenses. As long as the Crimean Peninsula was blocked, not only would the Hairy Bear's Near East strategy be finished, but they would also control half of the import and export trade.

They did not need to hold on for long. In three to five years at most, the Russian Empire's hegemony in Europe would collapse. Then, they would instigate Poland to become independent, and the British strategy would be a success.

Of course, this kind of good thing was obviously not so easy to succeed. At least, Franz would not agree. He was ready to create some trouble for the British now.

The Russians could not fall, at least not before the new Holy Roman Empire completed its internal integration. Otherwise, they would have to live with their tails between their legs.

Franz asked with concern, "General, is there any way for the Russians to conquer the Constantinople?"

In Franz's view, the easiest way to break the situation in the Near East was to conquer the Constantinople. As long as the Russians conquered here, the war could not continue.

The narrowest part of the Bosporus was 750 meters, and the widest part was 3.7 kilometers. As long as Russia was provided with a batch of shore cannons, they would be able to cut off the sea passage between the Black Sea and the outside world.

Without the sea passage, the Osman Empire's transportation was comparable to the Russians'. If the supplies were transported by land from Asia Minor, then the British and French allied forces on the Crimean Peninsula would definitely have problems with their supplies. There was no other way but to escape.

Marshal Radski analyzed, "Your Majesty, the Constantinople is a fortress city. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The garrison is also made up of the French elite troops, and they have the support of the navy.

If they want to attack head-on, they can only rely on their strength. Only when the French army is at their limit will they be able to break through the city.

Now, the best choice for the Russians was to mobilize a large number of cannons to bombard the Constantinople. Even the strongest fortress had its limit.

The Osman Empire had long decayed. The Constantinople had not been threatened for a hundred years, so they had long relaxed on upgrading the fortifications.

After the outbreak of the Near East War. The Osman government had only started to repair and reinforce the fortifications, but the time was too short. This was an opportunity for the Russians.

Most of these fortifications could not withstand the attacks of heavy cannons. As long as the Russians are willing to spend money, they can get a few hundred heavy artillery to attack it bit by bit. They can break this tortoise shell. "

This was a purely stupid method. It was a complete suppression by force, but it was the only feasible method at the moment.

The problem was that the British and French could also get a large number of cannons to bombard the Russians. In the end, both sides would still have to pay with lives. It was estimated that Constantinople would not be breached unless tens of thousands of people died.

In this era, the accuracy of the artillery was very low. The Russian Army only needed to disperse the artillery positions and bombard the city of Constantinople. With such a large target, the cannons would be able to penetrate. It would be difficult for the British and French to destroy the artillery positions of the Russian Army.

Franz felt that the casualties would not scare the Russians. Maybe the military expenditure would drag down the Russians first. Just a few hundred heavy artillery couldn't be destroyed without tens of millions of rubles. A round of firing would require dozens of tons of ammunition.

Since they wanted to achieve the effect of the bombardment, it was normal to fire thousands of tons of ammunition in a day. To destroy Constantinople, only God knew how much ammunition would be consumed in the end.

But if they didn't fight like this, according to the current offensive method of the Russians, the exchange ratio was already four to one. Even if the gray livestock was not valuable, it would not be able to withstand such a consumption.

Based on the current situation, Franz could say with certainty that the Tsarist government would be forced to give up due to excessive casualties in a year and a half.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "The General Staff Department will compile a plan and pass it to the Tsarist government. Whether they use it or not, let them do it!"

He didn't believe that there were no smart people in the Russian government who could see that in the absence of firepower advantage, blindly using human lives to fill the huge hole of Constantinople was a completely suicidal behavior.

According to the information received by Franz, since the outbreak of the battle of Constantinople, the number of casualties of the Russian Army had been close to the sum of the two battles in Bulgaria.

St. Peter Castle was preparing to replace Menshikov. Under the command of this "genius" commander, the casualties of the Russian Army had always been high.

This plan was not for the Government of Saint Petersburg to see, but for the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in the Balkans, Menshikov. If he didn't want to return to St. Peter Castle with his tail between his legs, he would definitely consider Austria's proposal.

As a high-ranking general of the Russian Army, no one could resist the temptation of conquering Constantinople. As long as this great undertaking was completed, they would be recorded in the history of Russia as a "national hero."

Not only was the Russians interested, but Franz also wanted to complete this great undertaking. The House of Habsburg and the Osman Empire were also enemies. Conquering Constantinople would also bring them a lot of political prestige.

Most of the European countries had special feelings for this city. Now that the French were helping the Osman to guard Constantinople, Franz could be sure that if there was a chance, Napoleon Iii wouldn't mind taking the city.

Completing this great undertaking was no less prestigious than defeating the Russians. If the battle on the Crimean Peninsula failed, Napoleon Iii would most likely directly swallow Constantinople to save the political disaster brought about by the failure of the war.

The Government of London would most likely acquiesce to this happening. It would be better for the Constantinople to fall into the hands of the French than to fall into the hands of the Russians. The British would definitely be happy to see France and Russia fighting to the death.

If possible, Franz didn't mind giving it a push and deepening the hatred between France and Russia.

Unfortunately, the Russians were not up to expectations. The bureaucrats of the Tsarist government were dragging them down, and the hope of the Russian Army winning the war on the Crimean Peninsula was too slim.

If they couldn't do this, Franz could only hope that the Russians would break out and conquer Constantinople, bringing the hatred between Britain and France to the maximum.

Marshal Radski's method was undoubtedly the most effective from the standpoint of the Government of Vienna, but in fact, from the beginning to the end, it was a bad idea for the Russians.

The reason was very simple. The war was too costly, and it wasn't suitable for an agricultural country like the Hairy Bear.

This method of fighting could easily exceed the limits of the Russian Empire. Even if they conquered Constantinople, they would be unable to carry out the next step of their strategy because of the financial exhaustion.

After all, there was still the Dardanelles Strait. Just controlling the Bosporus Strait wasn't enough for the Russians to control the Black Sea Strait. Moreover, after capturing Constantinople, they would only control half of the Bosporus Strait.

From a strategic point of view, they could divide their forces to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula and block the Dardanelles Strait, which could also end the war.

Not every place had a Constantinople. The difficulty of defending the Gallipoli Peninsula was definitely much more difficult than defending Constantinople.

Even if they couldn't capture it, dividing their forces to attack could also force Britain and France to station a large number of troops to defend it, reducing the pressure on the Russian Army on the Crimean Peninsula.

It could only be said that the temptation of Constantinople was too great. The Russians couldn't resist this temptation and directly rushed forward.

Franz naturally couldn't remind the Russians that the early end of the war in the Near East did not maximize the consumption of the strength of Britain, France, and Russia. This was not in the interests of the new Holy Roman Empire.

Moreover, even the best strategy needed people to carry it out. Franz didn't think that the Russians had such a strong ability to carry it out. At least, General Menshikov couldn't do it.

With the efficiency of the Russians, it was undoubtedly a fool's dream to want to launch a surprise attack on Britain and France. Now, with only a few Osman Garrison Regiments, the Gallipoli Peninsula could be easily broken through.

Once Britain and France reacted, the allied forces attacking the Greeks could immediately reinforce the Gallipoli Peninsula. At that time, it would be another major battle.

Britain and France were strong. Even if another front was opened, they could grit their teeth and hold on. The Russians couldn't do it. The domestic organization was almost at its limit.

If another front was added, the Hairy Bear might also feel that there was a lack of military strength. Of course, this didn't mean that they were short of soldiers. It was just that they couldn't send the troops to the front in a short period of time.

Not to mention logistics supplies. Even if they could get supplies from Austria, with their efficiency, it would be too late to transport them to the front.

One bad operation, good intentions, and bad things. Because the logistics supplies were not in place, Russia lost the war. Franz could only cry with Nicholas I Of Russia.