Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 154 Inspection
Tabriz in April is still a bit chilly, but today Tabriz is much more lively, with the army on duty all around and many people waving national flags and cheering for passing motorcades on both sides of the street.

Naser al-Din and Azerbaijani Governor Ali sat in their car, returning to Tabriz after five years, where everything had changed dramatically.

“Shah has become quite prosperous since the railway opened. The citizens are still grateful to Shah for his wisdom back then.”

Following the opening of the first railway in Tabriz, Azerbaijan's economy developed rapidly. Improved transportation lowered the price of raw materials, significantly reducing the cost of local goods and expanding local trade.

"I am glad to see Tabriz in this state. Although the war is far away now, we should not let our guard down as a logistical supply base."

Ali explained to Naserdin that the Tabriz-Yerevan railway, which was under construction, was using Russian prisoners of war as workers, thus saving a large sum of money to be invested in the Baku railway.

In the industrial sector, some light industries related to the military are showing good growth trends. Due to the impact of the war, the output value growth rates of military, steel, and machinery manufacturing are even more exceptionally high. These factors are changing the Iranian military.

However, Iran's current mobilization system has already drained its finances. If the war continues for a few more years, Iran will only face bankruptcy. The Shah certainly doesn't want a war to last five or six years.

The convoy drove through the city and into the suburbs, where the view suddenly opened up. On both sides of the road, there were more factories protected by walls, which Governor Ali introduced to the Shah.

"This is the Tabriz Machine Factory, established two years ago to produce steam engines and parts. However, it began producing some ammunition after the outbreak of war."

"The textile factories over there produce cotton yarn and cotton cloth, which are consumed in large quantities at the front lines, so they produce a lot of them."

Many factories produce some military supplies, but this is only a supplement, as the main production force—the Tabriz Military Factory—produces the majority of weapons and equipment.

The weapons produced by the military factory were continuously sent to the front lines, and the factory also urgently recruited a group of people to expand production.

The factory leaders stood at the entrance to welcome Shah's arrival. Shah was here to see the local situation, and Shah wanted to show him the best side of the factory. So the factory underwent a thorough cleaning, otherwise Shah would be in trouble.

Nasserdin toured the weapons workshop, staff dormitories, office buildings, and living quarters. He even ate a meal with the staff in the canteen, demonstrating his approachable image. Only after completing the tour did he leave the military factory.

During his conversations with the workers, Naserdin learned about their income. These people generally earned between 170 and 360 rials per year in the factory, which was considered a high income in Iran. Coupled with the gold standard for the rial, they lived quite well.

After a day of sightseeing, Naserdin dragged his tired body back to his lodgings, only to find good news waiting for him.

Under sustained attacks from Iranian forces, the Kakheti region in western Georgia was captured. Iranian troops, at the cost of over 7000 casualties, annihilated the local Russian forces. They also successfully rescued over 1000 prisoners of the Crescent Moon Church.

Iran's capture of the Kahti region completely exposed Tbilisi. This naturally caused great concern for Russia, but St. Petersburg, burdened by pressure from Britain and France, was unable to send troops to reinforce it and even considered recalling its troops from the Caucasus. Therefore, until then, Vorontsov had to step in to hold the line.

The governor was greatly troubled by this. The Persians were no longer as vulnerable as before. He could now mobilize less than 100,000 troops, while the enemy had at least 200,000, putting him at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.

"Sir, St. Petersburg says they will immediately send troops to reinforce us." The adjutant excitedly told Vorontsov, holding the letter, but Vorontsov was clearly not pleased.

Did they say when?

"It's supposed to be summer, but..."

Vorontsov smashed his water glass on the ground. "I knew it. Now that Sevastopol is besieged, they'll definitely come to its aid. How could they possibly want this place?"

Vorontsov wasn't completely oblivious; he naturally knew about the situation in Crimea. So he went to Sukhumi, his plan being to buy time, using Tbilisi and nearby Gori to hold off the Iranian army until summer.

But Vorontsov was still shocked when news of Kakhti's fall arrived. Tbilisi was already semi-besieged, and to preserve its strength, the garrison only numbered 42,000, with over 30,000 local civilians "voluntarily" defending the city. Hopefully, Tbilisi could hold out for two months.

Vorontsov looked at the distance from St. Petersburg to the Caucasus on the map and couldn't help but say, "When will they realize that having more land is just a burden if it's not properly managed?"

Russia developed from the foundations of Kievan Rus' and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. There were neither high mountains nor major rivers separating Russia from its western neighbors. To ensure its geopolitical security, the Russians could only improve their geopolitical situation by continuously expanding their borders and creating strategic buffer zones.

Since its founding, Russia has frequently been at war with neighboring countries such as Sweden, Poland, and Turkey. The lack of natural barriers along its borders is a major reason for Russia's ongoing conflicts with its western neighbors.

As the Grand Duchy of Moscow expanded into Central Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia, the Russian Empire evolved into a diverse nation comprised of peoples from different regions and ethnicities. These differences in culture, customs, and religion presented numerous challenges to the stable rule of Russia.

This creates a paradox and a cycle in Russia's external expansion: expansion is intended to ensure security, but the result is the creation of new destabilizing factors, thus necessitating a new round of expansion. While some realize that having too much land is a problem, most remain proud of how much land the empire has seized.

Isfahani, watching his men march forward, said with satisfaction to his chief of staff beside him, "It seems our chances of success in the attack are still very high."

"I don't think there will be too much of a problem," the chief of staff said, expressing his own assessment.

At 10 p.m., the Iranian troops quietly slipped out of their positions and began to crouch low as they made their way toward the Russian positions.

Many Russian soldiers used alcohol to numb their nerves and relieve their tension. They were not very wary of the Iranian soldiers, and some Russian soldiers only realized what was happening when the enemy entered the trenches, but it was too late.

Iranian artillery began shelling the Russian rear positions, but only for twenty minutes. Then came hand-to-hand combat between Iranian soldiers. Unable to withstand the onslaught, the Russians were forced to abandon their trenches and retreat to Tbilisi.

The Iranian army suffered approximately 3400 casualties in this battle, including 1158 killed in action. The Russian army suffered 7125 casualties, including 5719 killed in action. The Iranians experienced significant ammunition depletion; the main force of the attack, the 4th Division, had an average of over 50 rounds of ammunition remaining per Nadir machine gun, demonstrating the intensity of the fighting.

(End of this chapter)