Chapter 1119: Logistical Emergency

  Chapter 1098 – Logistics Emergency

The British government was in trouble, and naturally the outside world knew nothing about it. These days there was neither satellite surveillance nor convenient network communication.

To be able to roughly judge a country’s industrial capacity would already be very impressive. Trying to figure out the situation of each and every sub-division of a person’s industry was simply impossible.

Even if one were to collect intelligence, it would be from within the British government. The British government itself hadn’t done any statistics beforehand, so it was even more unlikely that others would be able to help with the statistics.

With such a big thing happening, it was only natural to keep it strictly confidential. It is unrealistic to keep it a permanent secret, but it is still possible to block the news for a short period of time.

Just as the British waved their banknotes and bought everywhere, the Russo-Japanese War also entered a white-hot stage.

Perhaps learned from the lessons of the previous wars, or perhaps simply because the Russian naval strength is not good, this time the tsarist government rare rational once, did not play the laborers expedition.

Of course, the external statement is to wait for the warships ordered in Shinra to be commissioned, and then go to the Japanese to settle the score.

Whether anyone believed it or not, the Russians did anyway.

The Russian army changed the image of recklessness in the past, and defended with all their might in the Far East, relying on fortifications and strongholds to slow down the pace of the Japanese attack and to buy time for the opening of the Siberian Railway.

A duel is impossible, no matter how the Japanese army provocation, the Russian army just hold out.

In any case, the Russian Empire is not much else, but more land. “Trading space for time”, the Tsarist government was not at all abashed.

Unlike the original time and space, under Franz’s butterfly effect, the tactics used by everyone now had progressed to the WWI level.

Machine guns, trenches, mortars, such cheap, simple and practical tactics have been popularized in the Russian army.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the logistics couldn’t keep up, it’s estimated that even the knuckleheads wouldn’t necessarily be there. You have to know that the furry bears who have gotten angry are not the ones to be messed with.

The Russian army all the way to the death, which can pit the attack of the Japanese army. A bit of military common sense know that the casualties of the offense than the defense of the high German more.

Even if the Japanese soldiers and officers more willing to fight, that does not change the fact that casualties are greater, in just half a year’s time, the total number of casualties on both sides of the Japanese and Russian broke through 300,000 people.

Among them, the Japanese army killed 98,000, wounded 112,000; Russian army killed 53,000, wounded 64,000.

In a sense, the Russo-Japanese War also opened a new war record. In modern wars, the number of killed and wounded is so close, it is rare.

Judging from the number of casualties alone, it seems that the Russian army had a great advantage, but in fact it was not.

While the Russians certainly had the advantage of defense, 20,000 Russian soldiers were captured and 30,000 were missing as they continued to retreat.

When these figures are added together, the two countries can only be regarded as a lose-lose situation, and neither of them took advantage of the other.

……

St. Petersburg, since the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas II’s nerves have not been loosened.

As the first foreign war after Nicholas II succeeded the throne, the victory or defeat of the Russo-Japanese not only relates to the future strategy of the Russian Empire, but also to the monarch’s reputation of Nicholas II himself.

Unlike his father and grandfather, who were strong politicians, Nicholas II had very little talent in the field of internal affairs.

Of course, this was not the responsibility of Nicholas II. As a young man, Nicholas was so weak and indecisive that Alexander III never even considered him for the throne.

Nicholas himself was not ready to succeed the throne; after all, Alexander III had four sons and a lot of choice.

However, the plan did not change quickly, two brothers died in the middle, and another brother was overwhelmed by love and played a noble and commoner intermarriage.

Before he knew it, Nicholas became the sole heir. In order not to let the throne fall by the wayside, Nicholas can only rush to the duck on the shelves to force their way to inherit the throne.

As it turned out, the strong bite of the melon is really not sweet. Despite the support of the old ministers left behind by Alexander III, the efficiency of the Tsar’s government dropped by more than one step after Nicholas II succeeded to the throne.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, this situation became more obvious. Very often, the Tsarist government planned one thing and implemented it in a different way.

Because the political skill was not strong enough, just after succeeding to the throne of Nicholas II was pitched to a great loss of reputation, later on it was hard to try to whitewash, but the decline in the prestige of the monarch can not make up for it.

In order to change this situation, Nicholas II desperately needed a victory to improve his status in the eyes of the nation and to strengthen his grip on the government.

Reality has a way of hitting you in the face. The Japanese army, which had been perceived as unbeatable, showed amazing resilience on the Far East battlefield, and did not stop its progress just because it suffered too many casualties.

It was just as well that the Japanese were willing to take human lives to fill the gap, and Nicholas II was no wimp.

Regardless, the Russian Empire still had more gray livestock than the Japanese.

If it came down to a fight for human lives, with a population advantage of three times that of Japan, the Russian Empire had a very good chance of winning.

Unfortunately, war is never just a matter of more or less people. Along with the war, the situation gradually developed to the unfavorable side.

Putting down the telegram in his hand, Nicholas II said indifferently, “Lieutenant Kuropatkin will come to telegram, the strategic supplies in the Far East are in emergency.

According to the current rate of battlefield consumption and replenishment of supplies, the supplies we have hoarded in the Far East will all be depleted in half a year’s time at the most.

With the Siberian Railroad proceeding to that point, can it be opened to traffic before the supplies run out?”

In modern warfare, fighting is all about logistics. The more advanced the equipment and the more powerful the firepower, the higher the dependence on logistics.

Compared to the original time and space, the equipment of the Russian army was obviously much more advanced, and accordingly the logistical requirements were much higher.

Due to the fact that it was not expected in advance that the Japanese would dare to go to war without declaring war, the Tsarist government was seriously short of strategic materials stockpiled in the Far East.

This is still in the case of all-out defense, if the initiative to attack, the consumption of supplies that is even greater.

In the case of the domestic best efforts to replenish the situation, are only able to support half a year time, obviously the number of stockpile supplies has reached the danger line.

With the war going on now, the slogan of leaping over Tokyo in three months, naturally no one continues to shout.

The facts have proved that the Japanese are not soft-footed shrimps, and anyone with a discerning eye knows that it is simply impossible to end the war in half a year’s time.

Prime Minister Sergei Witte: “We have done our best to rush the construction period, but there are still difficulties in trying to open the train in half a year’s time.

The main problem is the climate, the climate in Siberia is really harsh.

Now in this season, we can still barely work continuously around the clock, but in winter, many places do not even have the most basic construction conditions.”

It’s not shirking, winter in Siberia is really not suitable for railroad construction.

Even if you don’t take the lives of French laborers seriously, but the most basic quality of the railroad must still be considered.

Do not expect like ordinary railroads, can be used for decades, but at least to be able to support the war, right?

Such a low requirement, the same is not easy to meet. Not only the craftsmanship must be accurate, even the requirements for materials are also very high.

Not to mention, the rails and sleepers must be frost-resistant. Otherwise, the super low temperature of minus fifty to sixty degrees, ordinary rails can’t carry it.

……

(End of chapter)