Chapter 495 The Imperial Uncle
In the past, George had been arguing with Nicholas about the relationship between the Russian Empire, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
As a tsar, he was so naive on this issue. No wonder he was used as a weapon.
Now George is gone.
Since Nicholas believes that the relationship between the Russian Empire and Germany will not deteriorate to the level of war, then there is no need for the Russian Empire to retain too many standing armies. What is the point?
With the overall military strength reduced, the empire can focus more on improving equipment levels.
Infantry is easy to handle. Once general mobilization begins, the empire can recruit up to millions of Cossacks at any time. It is always easier to train them than German farmers.
The difficult part is the artillery. They need long and rigorous training to have sufficient combat effectiveness.
The Guards now total four cavalry divisions, three infantry divisions, three artillery brigades, and one sniper brigade.
In George's plan, the size of the cavalry division remained unchanged, the infantry division was increased to six, and the artillery brigade was upgraded to an artillery division, and the number was also increased to six.
"Where's the navy?"
Alexey was very sad. George left only 46,000 people in the navy.
These 46,000 people also include 27,000 from the Siberian Fleet.
"This is absolutely not possible. Even if the Siberian Fleet is not included, the total strength of the navy is at least 100,000 to protect the empire's coastline."
Alexey's face was livid, and George finally Still couldn't bear to attack the navy.
After the Russo-Japanese War, the empire only had two battleships left, one "Glorious" and one "Crown Prince". Both battleships were in the Black Sea Fleet, and the "Crown Prince" is still under repair.
The two battleships that George sold to the Admiralty are currently being refitted at the Baltic Shipyard. Alexey hopes to refit these two battleships into fully heavy artillery battleships.
When the British handed over these two battleships to the Siberian Fleet, they dismantled the battleships' armament systems and only gave them two empty shells.
Nicholas was so disappointed with the Navy that he did not give the Navy any budget and did not prepare to build new all-heavy artillery battleships.
Alexey had no choice but to target the two battleships.
Compared with the former Dreadnought, the all-heavy artillery battleship has more than just the number of artillery guns. It is impossible to convert it into a all-heavy artillery battleship.
So Alexey settled for the next best thing and replaced the main gun with a twin-mounted 305 produced by the Russian Empire itself.
After the new naval reconstruction plan is passed, the Baltic Fleet will build four new all-heavy artillery battleships. With the addition of these two ships, at least the security of St. Petersburg will be guaranteed to a certain extent.
St. Petersburg is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Even if the strength of the Baltic Fleet is restored to its peak, if a world war breaks out, Nicholas will still move the capital to safer Moscow to not give the Germans a chance to raid.
In this way, the navy really does not need to retain too many troops.
"Come on, who can you protect-"
Little Nicholas started talking directly without George having to say anything.
The total cost of 4 fully heavy artillery battleships is more than 100 million rubles.
This is just a budget. Referring to the usual style of the Navy Department, the cost will definitely be increased, and it will definitely be more than 100 million in the end.
Give this money to the Army and you can build at least 1,000 artillery pieces.
Nikolai also looked at Alexei in a bad way.
During the Russo-Japanese War, the navy had many uprisings, especially the Black Sea Fleet. Even the fleet commander was killed at home, which was extremely disappointing.
Now it seems that the Army is still loyal to the Tsar.
Not necessarily the navy, it has been penetrated too seriously.
In other words, Alexei was Nikolai's only biological uncle. If it had been anyone else, he would have been tried by a military court.
In November last year, the St. Petersburg military court tried the commander of the Second Fleet. The commander of the fleet, Lieutenant General Rozhdestvensky, was exempted from responsibility because he was injured, comatose and lost the ability to command, and was ordered to retire.
Rear Admiral Nebogatov, who succeeded Rozhdestvinsky as fleet commander and signed the surrender document, was sentenced to death in the first instance, but was later commuted to 10 years in prison. After Nikolai reviewed Later, it was reduced from 10 years to 3 years.
Rozhdestvensky died of illness in October this year.
Stessel, the fortress commander who caused the fall of Arthur's Fortress due to his poor command, has been sentenced to death.
"If your army can repel the Japanese attack, the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet will not have to go around half the world to the Far East. This is entirely the responsibility of your army!"
Alexey took action and blamed the entire navy for the annihilation of the navy on the army.
"Before the Second Fleet set off, you vowed that you would be able to completely annihilate the Combined Fleet. What was the result?"
Little Nicholas did not take the blame.
The two had a heated argument, and Nicholas looked helpless and smiled bitterly at George.
It is estimated that this is not the first time that such mutual blame has happened.
"Gentlemen——"
George tried to persuade.
Little Nikolai and Alexei were on top and ignored George at all.
"Shut up!"
George was furious, losers have no right to speak.
Nicholas looked at George with surprised eyes.
Little Nicholas and Alexei glared at George, probably because they didn't expect that George, their younger brother, would dare to yell at them.
"Amusa, can six battleships defend St. Petersburg?"
George got to the heart of the matter.
“Not enough!”
Alexey was not angry, and six more ships were not enough.
“Can the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire sail their battleships to the Baltic Sea?”
George laid out the facts and reasoned.
Alexey hesitated to speak. The battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire could not even leave the Mediterranean Sea, let alone the Baltic Sea.
In this case, the only thing that can pose a threat to the Baltic Sea is the German High Seas Fleet.
Nicholas just said that there will be no war between the Russian Empire and Germany——
So what can the Baltic Fleet do?
In another time and space, the German High Seas Fleet only launched two small-scale attacks on the Baltic Sea in the early days of the World War. They were then blocked by the Royal Navy in the military port and did nothing again.
The all-heavy artillery battleships of the Baltic Fleet were also idle during the remainder of the world war, either escorting or laying mines.
The light cruiser can do these jobs and do them better.
“The main naval forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire are in the Black Sea. If they want to come to the Baltic Sea, they need to break through the blockade of the French Navy and the British Navy. I don’t think they have this ability.”
If George could help it, he wouldn't even want to give him this little establishment.
Even without the Baltic Fleet, the German High Seas Fleet could do nothing without the cooperation of the army.
The results of the Naval Battle of Vladivostok and the offensive and defensive battle of Arthur's Fortress have proven that it is foolish to use naval guns and coastal defense guns in a one-on-one battle.
That is to say, Nicholas approved the navy's reconstruction plan before the establishment of the Military Reform Commission.
Let George plan it. The Baltic Fleet is equipped with only destroyers and submarines.
Light cruisers are a waste.
“You just said that we have to wait until the Germans defeat the French before attacking.”
Alexey thought he had found George’s loophole.
"Oh, this is our army's matter, so don't get involved with your navy."
George didn't want to answer such a weak question.
"You'd better hope that we can defeat the German army, otherwise your navy will still be wiped out!"
Little Nicholas added insult to injury, and it felt great to fight two against one.
“What nonsense!”
Alexey was furious, and the two started talking to each other again.
Nicholas began to smile bitterly again.
“They are always like this?”
George really didn’t expect that the daily communication between the Imperial Army Minister and the Navy Minister would be like this.
“Sometimes it’s more egregious than this—”
Nicholas sighed, one was an imperial uncle, and the other was also an imperial uncle, he was also in a dilemma.
George was curious, the two Grand Dukes would not take action.
“At the beginning of the year, the Duma hopes that the military will apply to the Duma before recruiting troops——”
Nicholas explained half of it, and little Nikolai and Alexei finally stopped arguing. , both of them looked at Nikolai angrily, dissatisfied with Nikolai for exposing their background.
That’s right.
The only one who can quarrel with the emperor's uncle is the emperor's uncle.
Of course the only one who can break up the fight is the emperor's uncle.
If anyone dares to say anything at this time, the two Grand Dukes will definitely speak out unanimously.
"Would you like to have something to eat before continuing?"
The way Nicholas broke up the fight opened George's eyes.
You two are really talented people to be able to force the Tsar to this point.
"No matter what, the total strength of the navy cannot be less than 100,000!"
Alexey huffed and returned to the original question.
“Heh——”
Little Nicholas wanted to continue outputting, but George got the better of him.
"You are right, we should strengthen the strength of the Siberian Fleet -"
George is right. Compared with the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, the empire's maritime interests are in the Far East, and the strength of the Siberian Fleet is indeed a bit weak. .
Including the "Russia", the Siberian Fleet has only 5 battleships in total. The sea area that needs to be guarded exceeds 10,000 kilometers from south to north (from East India to the Bering Strait). Such a small number of troops is indeed not enough. .
Alexey frowned, feeling as uncomfortable as eating a fly.
Alexey fought hard and did not want to end up getting the advantage of the Siberian Fleet.
"Ah hahahaha, George is right, we should strengthen the Siberian fleet."
Little Nicholas laughed wildly, preferring to give George an advantage rather than make Alexei uncomfortable.
"George, make a more detailed plan as soon as possible, and we will continue the discussion."
Nicholas has full confidence in George, Stolypin has already reported to Nikolai, George's vision for veteran placement.
As long as the problem of veterans is solved, the empire's military reform will be half successful.
As for whether it is necessary to further disarmament on the existing basis, this requires more scientific demonstration.
After all, Nicholas paid more attention to the safety of St. Petersburg than saving money. From this perspective, Alexei was right.
The purpose of George's disarmament is not to save money.
Not only does it not save money, but it also costs more to train more professional officers, who are the core of the army.
(End of this chapter)