Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 479 Infantry tactics are a big problem
Although the Russian army had already sent someone to deliver an ultimatum to the Northern Navy, which was regarded as a declaration of war, Rumyantsev did not take any action.

Since the beginning of spring, he has written three consecutive letters to the "old lady" in Petersburg, expressing that without an elite force of 5 people, it will be difficult for him to drive the enemy back to the east of the Ergun River.

Beginning in 1790, the main strategic goal of the Russian army in the war with Turkey was to besiege the Izmail fortress, rather than to annihilate the Turkish army in the field, so it did not need too many troops, 4 people were enough.

However, the queen's favorite has been obstructing the transfer of the Southern Army to the East, so the current deployment of the Russian army in Eastern Siberia is only 4, of which 1 are recruits.

Rumyantsev deployed 5000 elite cavalry and infantry in the direction of Nizhny Uginsk, leaving [-] reserves, while only [-] were deployed in the series of forts on the Angara River.

The old marshal and Potemkin had a long history of conflicts. He never considered the other a professional soldier. When the latter ruled the land adjacent to Little Russia, Rumyantsev felt offended.

In fact, without the emergence of the Northern Navy, Rumyantsev's military career would have been completely over.The well-known old marshal cherished and valued this opportunity to fight on the Eastern Front, and would never allow himself to fail.

Clausewitz in another time and place said that combat is the real military activity, and all other activities are in its service.The reason why I say this is because Clausewitz in this time and space is just ten years old.

As a commander-in-chief, during the nearly two years of preparation, what Rumyantsev did most was actually "service".For example, how to provide the troops with all the necessary things more systematically, including daily supplies and rear services. At the same time, he also pays attention to the soldiers' health and logistical supplies.

He often wore that ordinary uniform, went deep into the soldiers and chatted with them, asked about their family situation and personal requirements, recalled the cities they captured with the officers, and talked about the countries they had been to.When such a big war is approaching, the behavior of the old field marshal often makes people feel that the war is still far away from them.

The "Seven Years War" that took place in the 60s and [-]s, and his later experience as the governor of Little Russia, made Rumyantsev not only become a military leader, but also accumulated a lot of experience in how to govern the region.

In the spring of 1789, Rumyantsev arrived in Yeniseysk.It was the early administrative and economic center of Eastern Siberia, and it was from here that the later Cossack expeditions moved south and east.

In the following summer, in addition to waiting for the troops to arrive one after another and adjusting the training manual, he spent most of his time patrolling in Kolyvan Province and the western part of Irkutsk Province, which has not yet been occupied by the Northern Navy.

The administrative planning of the Tsarist Russian Empire in Siberia has undergone several changes in the more than 80 years from Peter I to Catherine II.The Siberian province in the era of Peter I was a large area; it included the Ural Mountains region and the entire Siberia, and was the largest of the eight provinces of the Tsarist Russian Empire at that time.

In 1719, Siberia was divided into three provinces, Vyatka, Solkama and Tobolsk, with a cumulative population of more than 6 households.By 1724, Yenisei Province and Irkutsk Province were separated from Tobolsk Province, but they were still under the control of Siberia Province. After that, Vyatka Province and Solikamsk Province in the west were divided into to Kazan province.

By 1783, the original provinces were abolished.The entire Siberia consists of three provinces from west to east, Tobolsk, Kolivan and Irkutsk.Among them, Irkutsk Province includes four regions: Irkutsk, Nerchinsk (Nerchinsk), Okhotsk and Yakutsk.

Beginning in May 1789, Rumyantsev began to conduct a "general inventory" of Eastern Siberia, the main purpose of which was to increase taxation for huge military expenditures.

Subsequently, a large number of staff officers, non-commissioned officers, and clerks were dispatched as auditors to conduct a census of the population and livestock in each settlement.Listed public buildings, marked the number of residences and homeless huts, and made detailed statistics on the health status of residents, handicrafts, land, and the profitability of various businesses.Then he ordered that all the homeless and bankrupt be recruited into the army.

Of course, Rumyantsev’s actions reduced military expenditures and increased taxes in Petersburg; on this point, he was always in step with the old lady in Tsarist Village.

But the problem was that the transition from serfs to free peasants was suspended, and large areas of land ownership and possession of dependent peasants were assigned to those big merchants.

The Eastern Front Command was engaged in internal affairs with such great fanfare, which made many low-level soldiers and lower-level officers disagree.However, many people don't know that the commander-in-chief has to select excellent officers to work at the headquarters in addition to waiting for the arrival of follow-up troops; Study the tactics and battle plans of the Northern Navy.

In fact, in the past, no one would think that the huge force of 4 troops was not enough, but since Suvorov's disastrous defeat in Yaksa, the overwhelming firepower of the Northern Navy has really made the Russians jealous.Therefore, the most urgent question for the Russian army at present is what kind of tactics should be adopted to deal with the weapon projection density of the North Navy.

Speaking of infantry tactics, the old marshal now feels that to defeat the Beihai Navy, the column tactics he most admired may not work.

Although "column loose formation tactics" originated from the French army in the mid-eighteenth century, the effect of the French army's use in the Seven Years' War was not very successful, so column tactics were considered to have no future at the time and were quickly abandoned.

The "Linear Array" dominated by horizontal formations was the cornerstone of infantry tactics in all European countries in this era. A small army, through dense and accurate firepower, could destroy large numbers of enemies operating in close formation but poorly trained.That's what the British army did in India.

Linear tactics in the classical sense survived in the British army at the end of the eighteenth century.The British adopted a new tactic-they deployed their troops behind the mountain, in the blind spot of enemy fire, and then launched a decisive attack from the flank unexpectedly.

The formation training of infantry these days is not about walking with a gun on their shoulders, and when they reach a suitable distance, they will hit a two-stage or three-stage attack.On those seemingly flat battlefields, there are countless potholes, stones and bushes. Maintaining an orderly battle line is a skill that requires long-term training.Once the pace is disordered due to ground obstacles during the march, the order of the entire battle line will fall into chaos.

In addition to normal footwork, there is also accelerated footwork when charging.In order to prevent formation dispersion, the requirement for accelerated footwork this year is 100 steps per minute.So let alone East Asian farmers, even the European farmer recruits at the same time would not be easy to master these trainings.

In fact, the reason why column tactics were first used by the French was because the quality of a large number of temporarily recruited soldiers was too poor.Often they have to go into battle before they have fully mastered the complex footwork training, and they can't reach the firepower projection of shooting four times in one minute, so column tactics have become the only choice.This huge column of large numbers of men will give soldiers confidence in victory.

The Russians had similar problems.While Tsarist soldiers have historically been known for their high stamina, their ranks were not great, and the effectiveness of rifle fire was compromised by a low rate of fire and moderate accuracy.So Rumyantsev learned from the French in the "Battle of Kohlberg" 29 years ago, and adopted column tactics against more than 1 reinforcements from Prussia.After that, it became uncontrollable.

However, after Rumyantsev and Suvorov had an in-depth conversation, the old marshal keenly noticed that the infantry attack tactics of the Northern Navy were neither lines nor columns, but a completely loose formation spread over a large area.

Combined with the density of firepower suffered by the Russian army in the First World War in Yaksa, Rumyantsev has already faintly understood that if the Russian army wants to win this war, it will inevitably suffer huge human sacrifices.For this reason, he had to let his officers understand the cost of fighting the North Navy, so as to bring about a change in tactical thinking.

So in the winter of 1789, the Tsarist Russian army used the "Zaimka Fortress" as its forward base, surrounded the salt town of Usoliye, and fought many times with the Northern Navy stationed here to test the enemy's firepower density. .

This tactic has appeared many times in Africa in the nineteenth century in the history of another time and space. Whether it is the Sudanese or the Zulus, they always send death squads to test the firepower and effective shooting distance of the British army.As long as you withstand the casualties and rush to the enemy quickly, you can win by numbers.

In the face of Tsarist Russia's attack, Liu Sheng certainly would not sit idly by.The salt produced by Usoliye once supplied the entire Irkutsk province and could never be taken back by the Russian army, so he increased the original garrison from a company to a battalion.

Because of the severe cold in winter, the Beihai Navy adopted a defensive counterattack method. At the same time, in order not to expose the artillery situation, Liu Sheng ordered each company to use only mortars.

After experiencing the "ideal" effect but heavy losses, Rumyantsev and his staff team took the trouble to warn the junior officers that they must adjust to the new tactics and the combat methods of the Northern Navy.

"Gentlemen, you must give up those flashy linear tactics. Maybe it will work against the Turks, but against our enemies in the east, it will only be dead in vain!"

"We must use a large number of hunters and cavalry to attract the enemy from the solid fortifications and launch high-speed mobile operations on the plains."

"The regimental artillery should be deployed on the enemy's flanks and in front of the main force. The lessons of Yaksa City are enough to make us vigilant!"

After June 6, Liu Sheng, who received the ultimatum, did not act for a long time.His problem is the lack of troops. Right now there are only 22 troops in Irkutsk, and the rest are dispersed to various towns east of Lake Baikal.So at present, the defense is enough, and the attack is useless.

When the reconnaissance team sent to the northern foot of the Sayan Mountains reached the edge of the Angara Basin, they encountered tenacious resistance from the Russian cavalry and light infantry.No one is stupid, and the "battlefield shadowing" Russians are too.Although carrying machine guns, it is impossible for a reconnaissance team of more than 20 people to carry a large amount of ammunition, so they can only turn around and return.

One afternoon in mid-July 1790, Zhao Xin, whose trip was delayed due to two heavy rains, finally arrived in Irkutsk with the guard battalion.He didn't make a big fuss, but got mixed up in the guard battalion and pretended to be a soldier.

The arrival of a large number of reinforcements and Zhao Xin made Liu Sheng finally relieved half of his hanging heart.He was nervous not because of Zhao Xin, but because Fan Tong sent back news from Kyakhta two days ago. According to the report from the Beihai Navy's dark line in Maimai City, about [-] Qing troops arrived and stationed [-] miles south of Maimai City. , most of them are Khalkha Mongolian cavalry.In this way, the Beihai Special Zone has enemies in three directions: north, west, and south.

Zhao Xin knew about this situation when he arrived in Upper Henyudinsk, and now he seriously suspects that Tsarist Russia and the Manchu Qing in the south have colluded.As soon as the ultimatum was issued here, Cullen's soldiers and horses moved over there. Isn't this too coincidental?

Even if the Manchu Qing did not dare to act rashly because of the lessons learned from Dagukou, no one can be at ease when they start a war with Tsarist Russia in the front and guard such a large army behind them.

Liu Shengdao: "I plan to ask Fan Tong to issue an ultimatum to the Qing army in Kyakhta, telling them to leave, otherwise they will bombard the trading city."

Zhao Xin shook his head and said, "It doesn't make sense. The Manchus are now making it clear that they want to be a dog's skin plaster. If they can't be defeated, they will also cause trouble for us. I guess what Qianlong thought was that once we were defeated by the Russians, he would have to pounce on us and bite us."

Liu Sheng said: "If he does this, isn't he afraid that we will go to Dagukou again?"

Zhao Xindao: "Didn't Xiaofan say that he is a Khalkha Mongol. At that time, the Manchu Qing will come to push Liu Erwu, and then find a Mongolian Taiji to take the blame. What should you do? I guess they have already decided on us. No time to look south, wait for the opportunity to be a fisherman."

"Fisherman?"

"The snipe and the clam are fighting each other."

After hearing this, Liu Sheng tossed Zhao Xin a cigarette, smiled and said, "I've heard what Lao Yu said, your knowledge has improved in the past year, and you like to talk half a sentence, and you can't stop talking about words. Talk to those gangs Scholars stay for a long time, and they are almost as black as inkmen."

Zhao Xin scolded with a smile: "Damn! How about we switch? You deal with those scholars, and I will help you guard the frontier, so that you can also increase your knowledge?"

"Stop it, I'm still waiting for the desert." Liu Sheng turned his head and looked around, seeing no one around, suddenly asked in a low voice: "Is your battlefield syndrome better?"

"What the hell is the pot not open?" Zhao Xin shook his head, and then said, "Let's not talk about this, let Fan Tong come back, and then call 'Governor Zhang', and we will have a meeting tomorrow."

After finishing speaking, he walked to the map hanging on the wall, pointed to the Angara Basin in the west, and asked Liu Sheng without looking back: "What about the intelligence of the reconnaissance team?"

"They only found the strength of one regiment." Liu Sheng walked over and said, "I suspect that the Russians put at least five regiments there."

"9000 people," Zhao Xin murmured, "let's say 1 people. 1 people in the west and 5000 people in the north, which is less than the original strength of Yaksa. They have been preparing for two years, maybe ?"

Liu Shengdao: "The information I got from Sibilyakov and Basinin was not accurate. Some said [-], some said [-], and some people told me about the increase in troops in St. Petersburg. We've been arguing for a long time."

When he said this, he suddenly asked: "By the way, when do you plan to meet those five merchants? They are going crazy waiting for this year's tea. I have asked Malkovich several times. Zhang Jingxuan doesn't know, Just ask me. How the hell do I have time to care about this!"

Zhao Xin smiled and said: "Da Liu, you should have told me in the telegram before. You have to care about the tea, which is also a kind of weapon, whether it is useful against Tsarist Russia or the Mongols. How about it, Tell Sibilyakov in your name that, if time permits, I will pay him a visit tomorrow, no, the evening after tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)