Chapter 510 Bridge
Peter is the younger brother of Nicholas Jr. If Peter is under Nicholas Jr., then George will not even take a look at how Peter likes to toss.
In the Admiralty, and it is such an important position, even if Peter does not deliberately cause trouble for George, just because he cannot meet George's requirements, it will make George very uncomfortable.
George told little Nicholas very clearly, if you can do it, if you can't do it, report it immediately and leave. Don't wait until the slap hits your butt to realize the pain.
George doesn’t know what little Nicholas thinks.
But the next day Nicholas came to the Admiralty specifically in the name of inspection work.
The Admiralty is right next to the Winter Palace, across the river from the Peter and Paul Fortress. After renovation by Vladimir and Alexey, the two naval ministers, although the appearance of the Admiralty building is not as grand as the Winter Palace, The interior decoration is even better than that of the Winter Palace, fully demonstrating the low-key and luxury of the Admiralty.
Nicholas is still wearing the uniform of the Guards Hussar that has not changed for thousands of years. George is more casual, wearing breeches, shirt and boots. The north wind blows outside the window and the warmth comes in spring indoors, just like the Russian Empire at this time.
George thought Nicholas was here to intercede with George. After all, Peter’s wife Milisa was a good friend of Queen Alex.
Nicholas came to George because George's judgment of the situation was beyond Nikolai's understanding.
Everyone in St. Petersburg knows George's attitude towards Britain because of the Russo-Japanese War.
George's military reform once again regarded Germany as the most serious threat to the Russian Empire, which puzzled Nicholas.
Has the empire’s external environment deteriorated to this extent?
Although Britain was the driving force behind the Russo-Japanese War, France was an ally of the Russian Empire.
In Nicola's heart, compared to the French people who are at both ends of the spectrum, Nicola trusts his uncle in London and his cousin in Berlin more.
As for the Russo-Japanese War and the German-Austrian Alliance, they were just some minor conflicts and disputes between relatives. The bones were broken but the tendons were still attached.
"Nikki, after we defeat Britain and Germany, we will also give the princes in London and Berlin an annual salary of 600,000 rubles. Wouldn't it be good?"
George was wrong. Starting from this year, the salary of the Grand Duke of the Empire has increased to 800,000.
So the Grand Duke of the Russian Empire was really happy.
George's family of nine, including Anne, all enjoy Grand Duke-level salaries, which alone amount to 7.2 million rubles per year.
The empire has been inherited for 300 years. Not to mention the distance, counting from Nicholas I, there are 8 children and 7 adults.
Nicholas II and Maria had six sons and two daughters of his generation, six of whom lived to adulthood.
I have two sons and two daughters with Ekaterina, and the three of them are adults.
Yasan had six children, Alexander died at the age of one, Georgi never married and had no children, and four of them reached adulthood.
With so many grand dukes, the annual salary alone is enough to rebuild an imperial navy.
"The empire can't afford it——"
Nicholas was actually considering this possibility.
George really doesn’t understand the mentality of kings and emperors. In their view, war is just a small game between relatives. To them, the death of millions of people is just a cold report on the battle report. Numbers do not have any temperature, just as Nikolai pointed out in his report on the mass walk of 100,000 people in Poland: What does this have to do with me?
What about Britain and Germany, George doesn’t know.
The Russian people's trust in the Tsar was gradually exhausted by Nicholas' indifference.
"If a war breaks out in Europe, the scale will be far greater than the war against Japan, and the consequences will be more serious than the war against Japan. Just wait and see, the existing order in Europe will be completely overturned in a war. What can we do now? What he did was how to survive until the end of the war." George hoped that Nicholas would be more vigilant. War is not a child's play.
"George, you are too nervous. The situation is far from serious."
Nicola's perspective is different from George's.
On the surface, there is indeed not much hidden danger in the empire. Nicholas is about to leave for a visit to the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
German Chief of General Staff Helmut Moltke and Austro-Hungarian Chief of General Staff Marshal Franz Herzendorf are also about to form a delegation to visit St. Petersburg.
On the first day of the New Year, George was officially awarded the rank of marshal together with little Nicholas.
"Nikki, it is my responsibility to protect the security of the empire."
George hopes that Nikolai will not interfere with his work.
Nicholas could go hunting with William II or go fishing with Edward VII, it didn't matter.
While everyone can relax, George must always be alert.
"I understand, I just hope that you don't show your hostility towards certain countries too obviously. The empire cannot bear a large-scale war now."
Nicholas is Before leaving, give George a vaccination.
George is not stupid. Even if Nicholas does not remind him, George will definitely not express his hostility towards Germany in front of the Germans.
Sending Nikolay off, George was getting ready to get off work. There were seven armored vehicles in the convoy that looked exactly the same in appearance. Two of them were specially prepared for George. George temporarily decided which one to ride in.
Although after mutual understanding with the British, the assassins in St. Petersburg suddenly disappeared without a trace, and the security improved greatly overnight, George still attached great importance to his own safety and did not give the assassins any chance.
George's home is on the other side of the Neva River, and you have to go home from the Admiralty Building through the Nikolayevsky Bridge.
The Nikolayevsky Bridge was originally called the Neva Bridge. It was the first bridge in St. Petersburg that could be opened centrally to facilitate the passage of ships on the Neva River.
When the Nikolayevsky Bridge was built, the passage of armored vehicles was not considered, so the carrying capacity of the Nikolayevsky Bridge was limited. The St. Petersburg city government is considering replacing the Nikolayevsky Bridge with armored vehicles. Jevsky Bridge is undergoing reinforcement and widening work.
When the George convoy arrived at the Nikolayevsky Bridge, they found that the Nikolayevsky Bridge was closed, so they continued to move forward and prepared to cross the river through the Winter Palace Bridge.
Since the Nikolayevsky Bridge was closed, the flow of people and vehicles on the Hermitage Bridge suddenly increased. The convoy could not increase its speed and could only move forward slowly.
The Hermitage Bridge is 260 meters long. The team walked on the bridge for almost 10 minutes and just reached the middle of the bridge.
"Why not reinforce the bridge in the winter? At least you can cross the river by sleigh in the winter."
Kolchak and Mannerheim were in the third armored car, George in the fourth.
“The men of the Engineering Agency will not work in winter.”
Mannerheim knew St. Petersburg better than Kolchak, who had previously served in the Pacific Fleet.
Before Kolchak had time to speak, the bridge suddenly collapsed, and the two armored vehicles at the front directly broke through the ice and fell into the icy river water.
(End of this chapter)