Chapter 537 Drinking really ruined things
Kronshtadt is located on Kotlin Island in the eastern Gulf of Finland, only 29 kilometers away from St. Petersburg. Construction of the fortress began in 1703, and it later became the most important base of the Baltic Fleet.
Kronshtadt is taken from German and means Royal City.
While in St. Petersburg, Tirpitz had already experienced the luxury of the Russian Empire. Although he was surprised, it was not much.
Germany and Russia are both imperial countries. At the level of Tirpitz, champagne and caviar are not rare. You can get as much as you want.
The dinner in Kronstadt for the participating fleet officers and soldiers also included champagne and caviar.
And these champagne and caviar are not only provided for officers, sailors can also enjoy them.
The treatment of German sailors is second to none in the German army. Not only is there meat for every meal, but sausages and bacon are also not uncommon. The food can be improved every week.
Russian soldiers really have meat every meal. The navy's daily requirement for meat per person reaches 400 grams, which is the only amount in the world.
And the meat that Russian sailors eat is not sausage, but fresh meat.
George will organize the event and invite chefs from St. Petersburg restaurants to prepare barbecue for the participating troops.
The steaming pancakes were brushed with special sauce, rolled up with fragrant barbecue, and added with some refreshing lettuce and onions. The sailors were very happy.
Champagne and caviar are an unexpected surprise.
At the dinner George prepared for the German officers, there was unlimited champagne and caviar.
The sailor only had a glass of champagne and a plate of caviar, vodka and barbecue.
Tirpitz wondered if Russian sailors ate like this every day.
If German sailors ate like this every day, they could bankrupt the German Ministry of Finance.
“The Russians must have done it on purpose!”
Tirpitz’s chief of staff, Reighard Scheer, also realized that the situation was not good.
It is indeed very happy to eat like this every day in the Russian Empire.
But if you are used to champagne and caviar, can you still eat sausages and bacon after returning to Germany?
Not to mention champagne and caviar, even the German Navy cannot afford to eat sausages and bacon every day.
This is really not embarrassing. Although the total industrial output value of the Russian Empire is not as high as that of Germany, the living standard of the Germans is really not as good as that of the Russians.
The Russian Empire is the largest exporter of agricultural products in Europe, and Germany also needs to import agricultural products from Russia to meet domestic consumption.
Tirpitz said nothing, looking at the German sailors feasting, his heart was filled with worry.
For a long time, the military expenditures of Germany and the Russian Empire have been similar.
In recent years, Germany has taken the initiative to provoke an arms race and allocated more resources to naval construction. The German government is vaguely unable to do what it wants, so Tirpitz showed weakness to the United Kingdom.
Since the Russo-Japanese War, the development of the Russian Empire's navy has stagnated. For two years, not a single warship of more than 10,000 tons was built.
The last time the Russian Empire borrowed money from Britain, it built four "Ganguts".
This time they jointly borrowed money from Britain and France and built four more "Queen Maria" ships.
What made Tirpitz particularly angry was that this joint loan was actually based on him being played by George.
Although George has apologized to Tirpitz for breaking the agreement.
But no matter how stupid Tirpitz is, he has now realized that he was used by George.
The submarine agreement is a complete scam.
But Tirpitz had no reason to blame George.
If the Berlin media had not been the first to disclose the submarine agreement, it would not have triggered strong opposition from Britain and France.
The Berlin media wanted to sow discord between the Russian Empire and Britain and France, but they did not expect it to be self-defeating.
It can only be said that he was clever but was misled by his cleverness. Therefore, making a fortune silently is the way to go.
George was very satisfied with today's exercise process, and especially praised the quality of the German sailors, saying that the overall level of the German Navy was no less than that of the British Royal Navy.
This should be regarded as flattery.
But to Tirpitz, it sounded full of malice.
What's the matter, you will be satisfied only if our two families fight, right?
Peter suggested adding an artillery project to tomorrow's exercise to see how powerful the "Nassau"'s 280mm main gun is.
Although "Victory" and "Crown Prince" are Dreadnoughts, their main gun caliber is 305.
Tirpitz decisively refused, not wanting to expose "Nassau"'s strength prematurely.
George is not in a hurry, he has got enough information.
After Tirpitz’s hard work, the German Navy has indeed made great progress.
George was not a jobber. The most important thing he did after becoming Lord of the Navy was to eliminate unqualified noble officers. Subsequently, the morale of the Baltic Fleet greatly increased.
The Russian Empire stipulated that each sailor should be supplied with 400 grams of fresh meat every day. In practice, the standard was often not met, otherwise the Black Sea Fleet would not have rebelled.
Let George train sailors, George is not as good as Peter.
So George did what he did best, focusing on logistics.
It is hard to say whether the current logistics supply of the Russian Imperial Army reaches the required level.
At least the Navy follows the prescribed standards and actually ensures that soldiers have 400 grams of fresh meat every day.
There is a popular saying in the army that people miss home when they are full, and it is the same in the Russian Empire.
For now, the training level of the Baltic Fleet is not weaker than that of the German High Seas Fleet.
When eight all-heavy artillery battleships are put into service, George will not be afraid even if the High Seas Fleet sends all its main forces to the Baltic Sea.
George warmly entertained the German navy who came from afar. It was originally a friendship between landlords, but an accident happened that night.
The participating fleet officers and soldiers are all elite, young and energetic, and they will not obey anyone.
The Russian Empire was wealthy and allowed unlimited vodka drinking. Soldiers were greedy for a while and could easily cause conflicts after being drunk.
Before the banquet at George's side was over, Kolchak came to report that the Russian sailors had beaten the German sailors.
“Is anyone dead?”
George is not surprised, as long as no one is dead.
“Dead but not dead——”
Kolchak hesitated slightly.
Kronshtadt is the home port of the Baltic Fleet. Although there are not many warships participating in the Baltic Fleet, the sailors are numerous and their combat effectiveness is significantly higher than that of the German sailors.
Initially, there was a quarrel between two sailors, and then a physical conflict broke out.
The Cossacks' fighting prowess was world-famous, and the German sailors obviously did not have the upper hand, so they had good friends with the German sailors to help.
It is actually normal for sailors to fight. The rules are one-on-one. Any conflicts should be resolved on the spot. No grudges are allowed to be settled later.
The German sailors broke the rules, and the onlooking Baltic Fleet sailors also swarmed in, so more and more people participated in the gang fight.
The sailors were relatively restrained and did not use knives or guns.
But more than 20 German sailors were injured in the group fight, which was a big incident.
(End of this chapter)