I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 505 Losing control
After George became the Minister of the Navy, he transferred Peter to be the Deputy Minister of the Navy and promoted Kolchak to adjutant, highlighting his nepotism.

If this continues, the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet will sooner or later become George's one-man show.

George has managed the Siberian Fleet into an iron wall, and no water can get in.

If the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet become George's direct subordinates, the safety of St. Petersburg will be in George's hands.

Even if Nicholas wasn't worried, the Queen Mother and Alex wouldn't agree.

If this incident had not happened, George was planning to transfer the Chief of Staff of the Siberian Fleet, Kerzakov, to serve as the commander of the Baltic Fleet.

It seems better to forget it now. George doesn't want to arouse greater suspicion.

"Is it not okay to just be the deputy commander of the fleet?"

Nicholas' tone was not firm.

"Of course not. Kirill needs to do some good deeds to eliminate his negative impact in the Russo-Japanese War before he can be entrusted with important tasks."

George didn't want one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel.

During the Russo-Japanese War, after Kirill was rescued, he was directly returned to St. Petersburg, causing extremely bad consequences.

George could understand Nicholas' feelings. If George were the Tsar, he would not allow someone to have absolute control over the navy.

But Kirill is really a hopeless case.

"Who are you going to make the commander of the Baltic Fleet?"

Nicholas was curious about George's preferred candidate.

"How about Vasily Fussen?"

If possible, George would prefer Kolchak to be the commander of the Baltic Fleet.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Emerald, captained by Vasily Fuson, was the only Second Fleet battleship to reach Vladivostok.

In order to reach Vladivostok, Vasily Fosun refused to go to Manila and surrender to the Japanese army during the naval battle, and insisted on going north, and finally successfully crossed the Japanese blockade.

After the war, Vasily Fussen was brought to a military court for disobeying orders. Vasily was eventually acquitted and promoted to major general.

Although the rank of major general was not high enough to serve as the commander of the Baltic Fleet, at least he was a general and had not been captured by the Japanese.

More importantly, Vasily Fusin did not come from the Siberian Fleet.

"So what are you going to do with Kirill?"

Nicholas was pleased with the arrangement.

"Let Kirill go to the UK to investigate first and see if there is anything he can learn."

George is willing to give Kirill a chance, which is also a test of Kirill.

While George and Nicholas were discussing the candidate for the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Peter was in Crimea to appease the Black Sea Fleet.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Black Sea Fleet's main battleships were completely wiped out, and the remaining personnel rebelled several times, which seemed to be a situation that was difficult to reverse.

On June 1906, 6, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Bobrikov, was killed at home. Since then, the position of commander of the Black Sea Fleet has remained vacant.

It was only after Peter arrived in Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, that he learned that the Black Sea Fleet now only had four old cruisers that had been in service for more than 20 years. Including the headquarters staff and coastal defense forces, the total strength of the Black Sea Fleet was only 9500 people.

The three great fleets of the empire have fallen to this state today. Peter looked at the cruiser that was almost falling apart at the berth, and there was only one thought in his mind: destroy it!
All the ships of the Black Sea Fleet that were still able to move were transferred to the Baltic Fleet to strengthen the defense of St. Petersburg.

We really can't take care of the Black Sea.

The four cruisers, the earliest of which was built in 1872, are the same age as Peter.

The latest one was built in 1886 and is now 23 years old.

Although the Sevastopol Shipyard is capable of building ships, it has not started building warships for a long time due to lack of orders. It can only build merchant ships and fishing boats.

George has decided to transfer the 'Makarov' and 'Kondrachenko' to the Black Sea Fleet after all the heavy artillery battleships are built, but that will be at least two years later.

'Makarov' and 'Kondrachenko' were the new names of the two battleships that Japan paid as compensation to the Russian Empire.

Both Makarov and Kondrachenko died in the Russo-Japanese War, but the Empire has not forgotten them.

"Only the most loyal soldiers can protect the empire's sea borders, so soldiers who have participated in rebellion or wavered in the past will be purged."

Peter was ruthless and should be wiped out.

"In this case, I'm afraid no one can stay."

Ozdoyev told the truth, the Black Sea Fleet is terrible.

Due to his outstanding performance in the Russo-Japanese War, Ozdoyev was appointed commander of the cruiser squadron after the war.

Compared with the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea has less pressure. It only needs to face the navies of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With the cooperation of the coastal defense artillery, even if the strength of the fleet is weaker, self-protection will not be a problem.

George didn't plan to build too many warships.

The construction of the Baltic Fleet's all-heavy artillery battleships had already started, and the order could not be cancelled, so they were built.

As for the Black Sea Fleet, George planned to use destroyers and submarines as the main force, in conjunction with aircraft and airships. If the navies of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire dared to attack, the Combined Fleet would be a lesson for them.

The Baltic Fleet has four all-heavy artillery battleships, the Glory, and the Tsarevich, which are more than enough to protect St. Petersburg. "Then fire them all and recruit new soldiers for training."

Peter broke new ground, and for him, loyalty was the only standard.

What George is looking for is a qualified commander who, in addition to being loyal, also needs to have sufficient ability. Even if he is not a genius like Suvorov, he must try not to make mistakes and not give the opponent any chances.

For soldiers, loyalty is more important than ability. In modern warfare, personal ability plays an increasingly smaller role. A sharpshooter who never misses a shot is of almost no use to the navy.

The so-called "technology" of the Navy does not mean that all personnel must be mathematicians. The most important significance of a battleship with all-heavy artillery is to unify the shooting parameters. In theory, only one experienced gunner is needed to fully meet the "technical" requirements of a battleship with all-heavy artillery.

"all?"

Ozdoyev was surprised. This was not a reform at all, but a complete rebuild.

"Yes, all of them!"

Peter is ruthless and he doesn't have much time to spend in the Black Sea Fleet.

"After all of them are fired, all the officers needed will be drawn from the Siberian Fleet, and the soldiers will be selected from the new recruits to be recruited next year. Send a telegram to Nagasaki and ask General Rakitsky to transfer a few cruisers to dismantle all these broken ships."

Peter was forced to use ships from the Siberian Fleet to fill the Black Sea Fleet.

"This news cannot be announced for the time being—"

Ozdoyev was worried that once the decision was announced, it would cause unrest among the officers and soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet.

"Ah--"

Peter was not worried at all, because the cavalry division led by Demeter was on the way.

The Black Sea Fleet’s confidence in its rebellion is that the law does not hold everyone responsible.

On November 1905, 11, a mutiny broke out on the Black Sea Fleet cruiser "Ochakov", with the number of rebels reaching 26.

Most of these 8200 people were not punished at all, only the father and son of Lieutenant Commander Schmidt of the Black Sea Fleet who led the mutiny were hanged.

In Amur, George emphasized the goal of eradicating all evil. Many crimes would not even meet the standards for exile in St. Petersburg, but in Amur were punishable by death.

If the Ochakov mutiny had occurred on the Amur, the lightest punishment for all participants would have been expulsion from the army and being thrown into the mines to work.

If the circumstances are serious, such as firing at encirclement and suppression troops, the sentence is basically death.

Two days later, the cavalry division led by Demeter arrived in Sevastopol.

As Ozdoyev expected, after Peter's decision was announced, the conflicts in the already restless Black Sea Fleet further intensified.

Peter was well prepared. Before announcing the decision, he closed the arms depot in advance to prevent the rebels from seizing weapons and ammunition.

This is also their own fault. Only the weapons and ammunition of the Black Sea Fleet in the Empire are strictly managed, and weapons and ammunition will only be issued when needed.

"We have to work, we have to eat, we have to live—"

Thousands of officers and soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet gathered in front of the fleet headquarters, hoping that Peter would change his decision.

The security of the fleet headquarters has been taken over by the Guards led by Demeter. The Guards have set up a blockade in front of the headquarters. Anyone who dares to cross the blockade will be arrested.

If the Guards are attacked, then the Guards will open fire.

From the moment Peter issued the order, those officers and soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet who refused to accept the order were no longer soldiers.

"Are you really going to shoot?"

Demeter had mixed feelings and didn't want to point his gun at the Russians.

In recent years, the Guards have been the main force in suppressing rebellions. Every time there is a local rebellion, whether it is Warsaw or Moscow, the troops dispatched to suppress the rebellion are the Guards.

The cavalry division led by Demeter also participated in suppressing the rebellion several times.

The difference is that the rebels Demeter had dealt with before were either Poles or Hebrews, and very few Russians.

This time it was not only Russians, but also naval officers and soldiers.

"If they had guns, would they have shot us?"

Peter was ruthless towards traitors.

Peter did not fire all the officers and soldiers right away, but let the officers and soldiers decide for themselves whether they were willing to continue serving in the Black Sea Fleet.

If you don't want to serve, you can leave and apply for retirement. Peter will pay you retirement benefits in accordance with the relevant regulations of the empire and will not make things difficult for you.

Those who are willing to stay and continue to serve must accept the subsequent rectification, swear allegiance to the empire, and take the initiative to cut ties with the empire's enemies. If they continue to be entangled with certain underground forces, they will be severely punished by military law.

Therefore, these officers and soldiers gathered in front of the headquarters wanted to continue serving in the Black Sea Fleet, but did not want to be bound by military law.

Before Demeter could answer, a gunshot rang out.

Everyone present was in a state of extreme tension.

As the gunshots rang out, the situation finally got completely out of control.

(End of this chapter)