Ever since the war broke out in the Near East, this small country had been in an uproar. The entire country was mobilized at the first instance, and men, women, old and young were all there.
The people of Montenegro were proud. They were the only people in the Balkans who did not surrender to the Osman. For hundreds of years, they had been on the frontlines against the Osman Empire.
This was a country where everyone was a soldier. Without the government's mandatory requirement, the people picked up their weapons and returned to the system.
Skutai was right in front of them. They did not know how many times the people of Montenegro had fought here. This was different from the past. This time, their chances of winning were very high.
Not long ago, they had successfully met up with Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The problem of their weapons and ammunition had been solved, and the Montenegro army's combat power had increased greatly.
Montenegro Army Headquarters
Commander-in-chief Milkov said cautiously, "I just received a notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Holsta Arsenal is coming over to test a batch of weapons.
Lasrich, take a company of troops and be in charge of the safety of our Austrian friends. We can't let anything happen to them. "
Mirkov had no choice but to be cautious. Every rifle and bullet in the Principality of Montenegro was supplied by Austria.
Austria had now replaced the Russians as their most important ally, second to none.
At this time, they could not refuse Austria's request to test weapons on the battlefield.
For the poor Montenegro, it did not matter how good the weapons were. As long as they were useful, it was good enough. Now that they could test weapons for Austria, they could get a batch of weapons and equipment for free. In their eyes, it was a profit.
As for the risk of using new weapons, could it be compared to using cold weapons to fight the Osman?
The number of equipment for the actual combat test was not small. For example, for the rifle test, Holsta Arsenal had directly shipped 500 new rifles. They were equipped with two Montenegro infantry battalions and were going to be put into the war for actual combat testing.
Lasrich said with a sad face, "The Austrians are here again. Your Excellency Commander, can someone else do it? I still want to fight the Ottomans. "
Although Lasrich was only a regiment commander, the Montenegro army was small in number, and he had become a high-ranking officer.
Seeing his colleagues fighting on the frontlines, he became the full-time guard captain of the Austrian delegation because he knew German. He had already sent away three groups of weapons observation teams.
As someone from Black Mountain, how could he not be warlike? He had waited so long for an opportunity, but it was ruined by the sudden weapon test.
Milkov glared at him and said sternly, "Don't try to bargain with me. There's no room for negotiation. If the test is successful, we'll be able to pick up another 500 rifles and a batch of ammunition, saving the country tens of thousands of duns. "
When it came to funding, Lasrich had nothing to say. Tens of thousands of Austrian Guilders didn't seem like much, but for the Principality of Montenegro, it was their income for one or two months.
Not all weapons could be tested successfully. Many weapons and equipment had excellent performance during target practice, but once they were put on the battlefield, all sorts of problems would be exposed.
In order to encourage the domestic arsenal to develop new weapons, the Government of Austria was responsible for paying for the actual combat testing costs.
Austria's weapon factories took advantage of this opportunity to send all kinds of weapons to the battlefield for testing.
The combat test did not only test the performance of the weapons, but also the maintenance of logistics, the difficulty of operating the weapons on the battlefield, and so on.
There were successes, but there were more failures. Many weapons were very lethal, but their performance was not stable enough on the battlefield; or if their performance was stable, the maintenance cost was too high.
…
Along the way, Holman Stellen was very shocked. The Principality of Montenegro was completely a soldier. They had agreed to send 20,000 soldiers in advance, and he was sure that the Montenegrins had completed the task.
Old and young, as long as they could move, they were all serving the war. Along the way, he saw that the supplies that were being transported to the front line were being passed from village to village, like a relay race.
There were almost no young adults, and from beginning to end, it was done by the old, the weak, the women, and the children. The old ones were about to lose their teeth, and the young ones were only a few years old. They were all busy.
"Mr. Lasrich, where are the young adults in your country?" Holman Stellen asked, puzzled.
Lasrich said matter-of-factly, "They're all on the battlefield!"
It seemed that Holman Stellen didn't understand, so Lasrich added, "This is our homeland.
There's no danger here. The logistics and transportation are all handled by the people. After walking for a while, you'll see our army. "
Holman Stellen didn't say anything. He just silently recorded what he saw in his notebook and continued walking.
After arriving at the front line, Holman Stellen also saw the figures of the female soldiers. Obviously, for this war, the Principality of Montenegro had gambled their fate. They had put all their chips on the line.
The war in the Near East was just a local war for Austria. The final result of the war was nothing more than the size of Austria's gains. Anyway, the Osman didn't dare to take revenge.
For the Russians, it was just a strategic war. It wasn't a matter of life and death. The Russians hadn't reached the point of risking their lives.
If they lost, they could just come back in a few decades. The Russians could afford to lose. They had fought so many wars with Turkey, so they didn't mind adding another one.
Only the Principality of Montenegro had gambled their fate. If they won, they would develop and grow. If they lost, everything would be over.
Holman Stellen understood what the Montenegrins were doing. The hatred between them and the Osman was irreconcilable. In hundreds of years, this was the closest they had come to victory.
The Osman Empire had declined. Now, they were at war with Austria and Russia. If it wasn't for the intervention of Britain and France, the war would have ended.
Naturally, the Montenegrins wanted to take this chance. As a Balkan nation, if they didn't dare to gamble their fate, would they still be a Balkan nation?
The only pity was that Montenegro's population was too small. If they had ten million people, not just five million, they could drive the Osman out of The Balkans and build their own empire.
Thinking of this, Holman Stellen smiled. If Montenegro had such a large population, they wouldn't have become Austria's ally.
The entire The Balkans only had a population of thirteen million. Less than half of the population was in Istanbul.
Bulgaria had two million people, Greece had nearly a million people, Serbia had more than 900,000 people, the two Danube Principalities had more than a million people each, Macedonia had more than a million people, Albania had hundreds of thousands, and Bosnia-Herzegovina had hundreds of thousands.
No matter how hard the Principality of Montenegro worked, the limit of their population determined the upper limit of their development.
They couldn't become a threat to Austria, so everyone could be good friends. For example, supporting the Principality of Montenegro's development in the Albanian region, supporting a nail to prevent the The Balkans from being unified.
Holman Stellen shook his head and dispelled these thoughts. This was a problem that politicians should consider. As a weapon designer, he had already crossed the line by thinking about these things.
…
The war soon started. Holman Stellen and the others watched through the telescope as the Montenegrin army attacked the Osman's position.
Artillery fire roared and blood and flesh flew everywhere.
Holman Stellen couldn't care less about these. He was observing the combat ability of the new rifles. From time to time, he revealed a satisfied smile.
When firing at each other, because they could lie down and reload, the casualties of the soldiers who were equipped with these new rifles were obviously much lower.
Although the combat lethality was slightly lower, the advantage of a higher hit rate in close-range combat made up for this shortcoming.
As long as they could hit the enemy within the effective range, they could effectively kill them. This was not a sniper rifle. The probability of hitting the enemy from a long distance was too low. It didn't matter if the lethality was lower.
The first round of testing was considered a success. Holman Stellen heaved a sigh of relief. As long as the following maintenance reached the standard, it would be considered to have met the preliminary requirements.
Compared to Holman Stellen's satisfaction, Lasrich, who was next to him, frowned. After interacting with the people of the Austrian weapons test team, he inevitably learned some professional knowledge.
"Mr. Holman, isn't the ammunition consumption of this rifle a little too high? Have you noticed that its high hit rate is actually based on the consumption of ammunition? "
Holman Stellen couldn't help but ask, "Is the ammunition consumption very high?"
Lasrich answered with certainty, "Of course. Ordinary rifles usually fire two or three bullets per minute, but this rifle can actually fire more than ten bullets per minute.
That is to say, the ammunition consumption has increased several times, but the hit rate has only increased slightly. Of course, our casualties have decreased a little.
This kind of rifle is really too expensive to use. Anyway, we can't afford it. I'm afraid its production cost is also not low. "
Holman Stellen nodded and recorded all this information in his notebook. The high consumption of ammunition was also very fatal in the war, which meant that the logistical supply difficulty would increase.
For Montenegro Principality, this kind of breech-loading rifle consumed too much energy. Whether it was their financial resources or industrial strength, they couldn't afford it. They didn't have the ability to equip it.
But for Austria, this might not be the case. This kind of ammunition consumption did not exceed their endurance limit.
The birth of the breech-loading rifle also meant that the cost of war had increased. The strength gap between the industrial power and the weak country had widened again.
Without a strong industrial strength, it was impossible to support the terrifying ammunition consumption of the future war.
If both sides of the war in the Near East had changed to the breech-loading rifle, Russia wouldn't be able to withstand the war at all.
In terms of consumption, Russia and Austria really weren't a match for Britain and France. Now, they could still bear it. In addition to preparing in advance, the ammunition consumption of the breech-loading rifle wasn't that high.
"Mr. Lasrich, I can see that you are very experienced in weapon testing. Are you interested in joining our team? The salary will definitely satisfy you." Holman Stellen invited.
Weapon testing on the battlefield was a high-risk job. Doing this job, you didn't know when you would be hit by a stray bullet flying from nowhere.
High risk naturally came with high income, at least a few times higher than the salary of Lasrich, the commander of Montenegro Principality.
No, it could also be dozens of times. Due to financial difficulties, the treatment of the soldiers of Montenegro Principality was very low. Most of the time, they didn't get paid.
This wasn't forced, but everyone voluntarily gave up the military salary. Unless their families really couldn't live on, under normal circumstances, they would take the initiative to give up the salary.
Lasrich smiled and refused, "Thank you, Mr. Holman. But I don't think it's necessary. It's not a matter of money.
In this world, there are many things more important than money. Right now, my country is fighting a bloody war with the Osman, and we need to wash away the centuries of humiliation with blood.
For me, defeating the Osman Empire is the goal of my life. If this goal is achieved, I will reconsider my life. "
Holman Stellen bowed and said, "Mr. Lasrich, please forgive me for being presumptuous. You are a true soldier, and you shouldn't be insulted by money. "
At this moment, Holman Stellen really recognized Lasrich, or rather, Montenegro Principality.
Perhaps they weren't strong enough, but for their country and people, they persisted in fighting the Osman Empire for hundreds of years. Their unwavering faith was worthy of everyone's respect.
After the small episode, Holman Stellen and his team changed their view of them. They no longer had the arrogance of the past, and the relationship between the two sides was much better.
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