I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

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 occurred.

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?

It is not that there are no suitable people. Alexeyev, the governor of Kwantung, 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 strength has reached nearly 9 people, which has almost reached 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-volume tube. The 130mm caliber can be filled with more explosives due to its thinner tube wall. The explosive power is equivalent to a 150mm high-explosive bomb. It is suitable for attacking exposed enemy forces, field fortifications, and fixed architecture.

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, since it weighs 5 tons, it can only be towed by a vehicle or simply installed on a heavy truck, which requires relatively high road traffic conditions.

George hopes that technicians can develop a rocket launcher that is lightweight, easy to carry, and not restricted by terrain.

When the technicians came up with the design plan, the individual rocket launcher was ready to come out——

Only then did George realize that the individual rocket launcher appeared too early and had no use at all.

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, wait for other countries to develop armored combat vehicles, and then take out the rocket launcher -

Although George was not involved in the Russo-Japanese 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 security work was handled by 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 clashed with the Warsaw military police.

Subsequently, workers in Kiev went on strike, numbering more than 10, and the railway between St. Petersburg and Crimea was disrupted.

After the workers' strike in Kiev, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also showed signs of sending more troops to the border. Nicholas was forced to conduct a second mobilization. Fortunately, the final result was just a false alarm.

On May 5, nearly 20 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 6, the Omsk railway line was blown up and the Siberian Railway was disrupted for more than two weeks.

Then Witte proposed to Nikolai that he hoped that the Siberian Railway Administration would take on 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 6, George went to Chita to arrange security work on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

By the time George returned to Vladivostok, it was already June 6.

In a confrontation exercise in June, the Talisman Division led by Vasily defeated the Harbin Division led by Andrei, avenging their past humiliation and winning the first batch of 6 armored combat 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.

During the time when 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, and the Kwantung generals were at a loss as to what to do.

Vasily had great opinions on St. Petersburg and spoke out 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 brother-in-law, Vasily is also the current Duke Suvorov, so he 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're drunk—"

Andrei is mature and prudent, and he is worried that Vasily will make a mistake after drinking.

"I'm not drunk. Even if you and I were given the command, the fight wouldn't have ended like this!"

Vasily's eyes were red.

Andrei looked at George, hoping that George would make Vasily restrain himself.

George drank a lot too.

But he didn't 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.