Chapter 405 Command Power
Before the war broke out, many people believed that the Russo-Japanese War would be one-sided.
One-sidedness has indeed emerged.
But no one expected that the Russian Empire would fall. Even the Japanese could not believe that the war was going so smoothly.
The Russians didn’t even expect it.
After Makarov died in the battle, the Russian generals who claimed to conquer Japan before the war collectively lost their voices, and the ambitious princes in the Far East also stopped talking. There was actually a voice in St. Petersburg to let George serve as the commander of the Pacific Fleet.
George was determined not to get involved with the Pacific Fleet. He was a cavalry lieutenant general and had no experience in commanding naval operations.
Some time ago, when the imperial meeting discussed George's appointment as the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Far East, the Grand Dukes of St. Petersburg and the imperial ministers collectively rejected it because of George's lack of experience.
Now that George is asked to command the navy, is George suddenly suitable?
There is no shortage of suitable people. Alexeyev, the governor of Kantung, has the rank of admiral and is very suitable to serve as the commander of the Pacific Fleet.
No matter how the Russian army in Kwantung fought, George would not come out unless he was given absolute command.
After the expansion of the Amur Military Region, the total number of troops reached nearly 90,000, which was almost the limit for the Amur Governor-General with a total population of less than one million.
In addition to the five divisions, George established an artillery brigade equipped with rocket launchers.
The Vladivostok rocket launcher continues the Amur style, protruding from a large tube with a diameter of 130 mm. Due to the thinner wall of the tube, more explosives can be filled. The explosion power is equivalent to a 150 mm high-explosive bomb, which is suitable for attacking exposed enemy forces. , field fortifications, and fixed buildings.
The rocket launcher can carry 24 rockets, with a maximum range of 8.5 kilometers and a killing radius of 12.5 meters. Its instant firepower is equivalent to a howitzer regiment.
Although rocket launchers are not as accurate as howitzers, they have still become the most popular weapon of the Amur Army. All field forces hope to replace the howitzers issued by the troops with rocket launchers, which also prompts technicians to continue to improve rocket launchers.
Although the rocket launcher is powerful, due to its weight of 5 tons, it can only be towed by vehicles, or simply installed on the chassis of heavy trucks, and has relatively high requirements for road traffic conditions.
George hopes that technicians can develop a rocket launcher that is lighter in weight, easy to carry, and not restricted by terrain.
When the technicians came up with the design plan, the individual rocket launcher was ready to appear——
It was only then that George realized that the individual rocket launcher appeared too early and was of no use at all. land.
In 1904, the First World War had not yet begun, and trench warfare had not yet reached its peak. Even if the troops were equipped with rocket launchers, what would they be used for fighting?
Then wait first, put the rocket launcher in the warehouse as a technical reserve, and wait for other countries to develop armored combat vehicles, then it will not be too late to take out the rocket launcher——
Japan and Russia Although George was not involved in the war, the security work of the Trans-Siberian Railway became increasingly prominent.
George has a new position: Grand Superintendent of the Siberian Railway.
The Siberian Railway Administration was previously only responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the security work was the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport.
Witte is still serving as the Secretary of Transportation. It is estimated that before the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, this position can only be filled by Witte. Like the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, no one wants to take over this hot potato.
After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the workers' and peasants' movement in the Russian Empire reached a new peak.
First, in order to fight for the use of Polish language teaching in schools, nearly 20,000 farmers in Warsaw collectively protested, and clashes broke out with the Warsaw military police.
A subsequent strike by Kiev workers exceeded 100,000, and the railway between St. Petersburg and Crimea was disrupted.
After the workers in Kiev went on strike, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also showed signs of sending more troops to the border. Nicholas was forced to carry out a second mobilization. Fortunately, the final result was just a false alarm.
On May 20, nearly 60,000 workers in Yekaterinburg went on strike, and the Ural Military District failed to respond. The strike quickly spread to Chelyabinsk, and the Siberian Railway was inevitably affected. On May 27, the Omsk railway line was blown up, and the Siberian Railway was disrupted for more than two weeks.
Subsequently, Witte proposed to Nikolai that he hoped that the Siberian Railway Administration would undertake the security work of the Siberian Railway.
In order to avoid controversy, Nicholas directly appointed George as the general manager of the Siberian Railway without submitting it to the Imperial Council for discussion.
On June 1st, George went to Chita to arrange security work for the Trans-Siberian Railway.
By the time George returned to Vladivostok, it was already June 22.
In the confrontation exercise in June, the Talisman division led by Vasily defeated the Harbin division led by Andrei, avenging the past humiliation and winning the first batch of armored fighting vehicles, a total of 20 vehicles.
Andre is not at a loss either. Next month’s armored fighting vehicles are all from Harbin.
Vasily took the initiative to ask George for a drink.
While George was in Chita, the Japanese army established the "Manchuria Army General Headquarters", with Dashanyan as the commander-in-chief to uniformly command all Japanese armies.
In order to capture Port Arthur, the Japanese army established a third army, with Nogi Nogi as the commander, and the remaining Japanese troops were deployed along the line from Fengcheng to Liaoyang, preparing to capture Fengtian.
Kuropatkin was conservative in his military use and had serious differences with Alexeyev. Most of the time, the orders issued by the Kwantung General Headquarters and the Kwantung Governor's Palace were contradictory, leaving the Kwantung generals at a loss.
Vasily had great opinions on St. Petersburg and spoke out bluntly in front of George. He believed that St. Petersburg should dismiss Kuropatkin and Alexeyev and appoint George as the commander-in-chief.
“Kuropatkin is a coward and Alexeyev is a fool. Under their command, there is no possibility of victory——”
In addition to being George’s My brother-in-law, who is also the current Duke Suvorov, is fully qualified to comment on Kuropatkin and Alexeyev.
"——We almost captured Constantinople 20 years ago, but now we can't even defeat the Japanese. It's a shame, it's a shame! Kuropatkin can serve as a captain and command a company at most, Alexeyev It's a crime, he should be tried and hanged directly!"
"Vasily, you are drunk-"
Andre is mature and cautious, worried that Vasily will make a mistake while drunk.
"I'm not drunk. Even if you and I were given the command, the fight wouldn't have ended like this!"
Vasili's eyes were red.
Andrei looked at George, hoping that George would make Vasily restrain himself.
George drank a lot too.
But he did not lose his mind.
“Patience, be patient—”
George is patient, so where is his talent?
The Pacific Fleet is still there, Port Arthur has not been lost, and the Battle of Tsushima has not happened yet -
So George is not in a hurry.
Without inflicting pain on St. Petersburg, George would not be able to gain absolute command.
(End of this chapter)