Chapter 402 Playing with Flowers
Of course Kanto is important, Amur’s industrial capabilities are crucial to Kanto and even the entire Russian Empire.
Spring is approaching, the ice and snow are about to melt, and the Japanese army may launch an attack on Amur at any time. At this time, even if Kuropatkin comes up with tricks, George will not send troops to Kanto.
Although it is impossible to increase troops, Amul should give a lot of support.
After the war broke out, the Amur Military District made every effort to deliver supplies to Arthur Fortress.
In just one month, the Amur Military District delivered nearly 100,000 artillery shells, 240 heavy machine guns, and more than 30 million rounds of ammunition to Arthur Fortress.
The support provided by the Amur Military Region was so strong that Chief of Staff Witthoft, who was temporarily acting as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific, couldn't help but say that one bullet was enough for one Japanese person.
George only hopes that so many heavy machine guns will not become Japanese trophies in the end.
In addition to military supplies, the Amur Military Region delivered more than 120,000 tons of other supplies to Arthur Fortress, and there were 40 military trains running between Vladivostok and Arthur Fortress, far exceeding the design capacity of the Middle East Railway .
In addition to the troops, Kuropatkin also hopes that the Vladivostok Shipyard can deliver two "Borodino" class battleships to the Pacific Fleet as soon as possible.
The two "Borodino" class battleships undertaken by the Vladivostok Shipyard, one is named "Bear" and the other is named "Tiger".
The progress of the "Bear" is relatively fast. The weapon system outfitting has been completed. If the third sea trial is not carried out, it can be delivered at any time.
The main gun of the "Tiger" is being hoisted and is expected to be delivered in half a month.
Delivery was no problem.
The problem is how the Pacific Fleet drives the warship back to Port Arthur.
Port Arthur is now blocked. The main force of the Pacific Fleet is hiding in the port and dare not go out to sea. The sea areas from Japan to Port Arthur are all controlled by the Japanese combined fleet. As long as the "Bear" and "Tiger" appear, they will definitely Besieged by the Sixty-sixth Fleet.
“Can the Siberian Fleet support the Pacific Fleet?”
Kuropatkin was whimsical.
“Ha——”
George sneered.
The Siberian Fleet has a total of two heavy cruisers, both of which are in East India and not in Vladivostok at all.
Now that the connection between East India and Amur has been severed, the artillery shells of the heavy patrol have to be sparingly used. Once the ammunition is used up, there will be no place to replenish it.
Before the war broke out, the Pacific Fleet had as many as seven battleships. The Navy Department was full of confidence from top to bottom, believing that it had completely suppressed the Japanese Combined Fleet.
As a result, after the war broke out, the two most advanced battleships of the Pacific Fleet were attacked by Japan and are still stranded at the anchorage. The Pacific Fleet tried every means but failed to tow the battleships back to the dock for repairs.
The Russian Empire made almost all the mistakes it could make after the war.
The generals were changed in St. Petersburg. Makarov had just boarded the train and was on the road. Acting Commander-in-Chief Wittehoeft refused to leave the port on the grounds that the enemy was strong and he was weak. He always stayed in the port and gave up control of the sea.
Now that we know that the enemy is strong and we are weak, what about the arrogance before the war broke out!
I was so arrogant before, but now I am so cowardly.
"George, how do you think we should fight?"
Kuropatkin finally remembered George, a famous royal general.
"If you want me to take command, you can give me command of all the troops in Guandong."
George did not refuse to go to war.
After the war broke out, someone in St. Petersburg proposed to appoint George as governor of the Far East and let George go to war.
Nicholas was quite moved and held a royal meeting to discuss the matter.
This proposal was opposed by almost everyone on the grounds that George only performed well in exercises and had not been tested in actual combat, and the quality of the "famous general" was insufficient.
Nikolai finally chose the experienced Kuropatkin, who had participated in the Central Asian War and the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, and later served as commander of the Transcaucasian Army and governor of Central Asia.
There are actually problems with this appointment.
In the command sequence of Kantung, Kuropatkin is subordinate to Alexeev, the governor of Kantung, and must obey Alexeev's orders.
So the one who really commanded this war was Alexeyev, the idiot.
Alexeyev’s chief of staff was Zhilinsky, who had deserted his subordinates and escaped alone during the Rivne exercise.
Even with Zhilinsky, George couldn't possibly be inferior to Alexeyev.
Kuropatkin had no choice but to leave without staying too long in Vladivostok.
George doesn't care about Kuropatkin's mood. With the arrival of spring, Amur may be attacked by the Japanese army at any time.
Vladivostok is easy to talk about. There are forts, submarines, and "Kirov airships" in the sky. If Dongxiang dares to come, George has many ways to deal with him.
The isolated island of Sakhalin has no defensive capabilities and is the weakest link in Amur's defense.
Sakhalin Island covers an area of 76,400 square kilometers. The north is relatively flat and is dominated by hills and mountains. The south is composed of the East Sakhalin Mountains and the West Sakhalin Mountains. The highest peak is 1,420 meters. There are more than 6,000 rivers and 1,600 lakes on the island. .
There are currently about 20,000 people living on Sakhalin Island, mainly concentrated in the northern plains, mainly immigrants from the Qing Empire.
After the war broke out, George took the initiative to evacuate most of the residents of Sakhalin Island to Vladivostok in order to reduce losses, leaving only 500 Cossacks on the island and about 1,500 reservists who were unwilling to leave Sakhalin Island.
If the Japanese army attacks Sakhalin Island, the island's troops will retreat to the mountains and start guerrilla warfare with the Japanese army. If the Pacific Fleet cannot accept the "Bear" and "Tiger", George will organize personnel to receive them for use in breaking diplomatic relations.
It's a bit wasteful to use battleships to break up engagements. The most suitable warships are cruisers.
The biggest problem now is that the heavy cruiser cannot return from East India, and the light cruiser is limited to a limited range and is insufficient in deterrence.
If George wanted to make a comprehensive counterattack, he could only hope that the two "dreadnought ships" that had already laid the keels would be launched as soon as possible.
The two "dreadnoughts" in Vladivostok, one is called "Yuryev" and the other is called "Romanov".
This naming is not in line with the tradition of the Russian Empire, because the Pacific Fleet has a heavy cruiser called "Yuryev".
George doesn't care.
The Siberian Fleet belongs to the Amur Military District. The ship was built with George's money and the Admiralty has no control over it. This was confirmed by Nicholas himself.
After the war broke out, Alexeyev hoped that Nicholas would order to transfer the Siberian Fleet to Port Arthur and accept the command of the Pacific Fleet. This suggestion was approved by Navy Minister Alexei.
Nicholas was still not thick-skinned enough and directly vetoed Alexeev's request without even going to the Imperial Council for discussion.
If this goes to the Imperial Council, it is probably impossible to save——
Keep it!
George is no longer the George who allowed St. Petersburg to get whatever it wanted.
Even if Nicholas asked George to hand over the Siberian Fleet to the command of the Pacific Fleet, George would have a way.
Okay, the ship is in East India and Vladivostok. The Pacific Fleet wants it and sends someone to get it. George is not cheap enough to deliver it to your door.
Forget it if the Pacific Fleet doesn’t send anyone.
If he really had to send someone over to receive it, George had plenty of ways to delay it.
Towed until the entire Pacific Fleet was annihilated——
Even the Pacific Fleet no longer exists, who can I leave it to?
When George fully supported Port Arthur, he did not ignore the construction of Amur.
While forming the new army, the armored fighting vehicle that Yeluoxin had been dreaming of finally left the factory. George, Milyutin, Yeluoxin, Chief of General Staff of the Amur Military Region Maslov, and Andrei and Va Sili and other Amur military generals were all present.
This Vladivostok tank was completely developed for war. In order to adapt to wild terrain, the tank does not use tires, but uses the same track structure as a tractor to enhance off-road capabilities.
In order to adapt to the advancing speed of infantry, the fastest speed of the tank in the field is 10 kilometers per hour. It has two crew members, one is the driver and the other is the machine gun shooter. The weapon is a 12 mm large-caliber machine gun.
Considering the attack capabilities of the Japanese army, the tank only has strengthened frontal armor, which can withstand continuous close-range fire from a 12mm machine gun at a distance of 100 meters.
This defensive capability is enough for the Japanese army.
“The turret of the combat vehicle can rotate 360 degrees for shooting, and the 20mm high-quality armor can provide sufficient protection for the shooter; the driver uses a periscope to observe while driving. We have verified many times that there are currently no weapons , can pose a threat to our tanks.”
Kuklev was full of pride, and the Vladivostok Arsenal finally had its own flagship product.
Milyugin and Ye Luoxin looked at the chariot with gleaming eyes.
Andrei and Vasily have many problems.
“What is the mean time between failures of the engine?”
“How is the gradeability? Can you climb out if you fall into a ditch?”
"Who said that if there is no threat, then mines can't do it either?"
Kuklev's face was full of displeasure, and you two are too damn spoiled for fun.
The Amur Military Region organizes confrontation exercises between the Fu Division and the Kazakh Division every year. If you have heavy machine guns, we will have mortars; if you send cavalry, we will dig three-dimensional trenches.
If George had not stopped him, Vasily and Andrei would have used the "Kirov airship" in actual combat long ago. That thing is truly unmatched——
So The first time they saw the tank, Vasily and Andrei began to study the tank's weaknesses. This was the difference in thinking between the main battle general and the research and development personnel.
"From now on, Fu Tuan and Ha Tuan will begin to practice infantry combat coordination."
George knows that the tank has weaknesses. The 20mm armor is not actually very thick. Vladivostok can always use it if necessary. Take out a direct-fire gun with a caliber of 20 mm or more.
Forget it about Japan.
The Japanese haven't even figured out how to use machine guns yet.
As early as the Second World War, machine guns were used in actual combat in Japan.
Japan also has insufficient understanding of the role of machine guns. As of now, the Japanese army has only 60 machine guns.
It’s not that I don’t want to equip more.
The key point is that this thing consumes too many bullets, and the Japanese army simply cannot afford it.
The Kwantung Russian Army was not much better before the war.
Only in the Amur Military Region, the machine gunners can shoot casually during training. The machine gunners of Fu Division and Harbin Division have already mastered heavy machine guns.
(End of this chapter)