Chapter 870: The Fighting Power of Russian Bureaucrats

  Chapter 853 – Russian Bureaucrats’ Fighting Power

At the same time that the French were making small moves, the Russians also started the Central Asian War.

Frankly speaking, March and April is not the best time to attack, but there is no way, the Tsarist government wants to grab time.

Austria had lost contact with the Afghan government, and the Tsarist government was no better off, although it had been in business longer, but it couldn’t help that the Russian bureaucrats weren’t paying attention!

The war had only recently broken out, and both sides had lost contact. In the eyes of the Czarist hierarchy, neither could be contacted, so surely there couldn’t be any good news.

In order to gain the initiative in the war, the Russian military was forced to launch the war ahead of schedule.

There are two sides to everything, this time of year, the ice melts, the Russian army logistics pressure, but the Central Asian Khanate is not much better.

Although the logistical pressure of the home front is less, the outbreak of war at this time of year affects the spring plowing.

For agricultural countries, this is undoubtedly the most fatal. Although the Central Asian countries are not entirely dependent on farming, animal husbandry is also an important industry, but the impact is still very large.

There was no way out, the Russian army fought over, the young and strong were forced to enlist, the labor force engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry was drastically reduced, and the reduction of agricultural and animal husbandry production became inevitable.

It may not seem obvious in the short term, but it actually affected the war potential of the three Central Asian khanates. In a sense, the Russians had already locked up the victory in advance.

But this is not in the consideration of Admiral Oginets, to the end he did not take the Central Asian countries as opponents.

The attack was a quick fix in order to push the front into Afghanistan as soon as possible for a decisive battle with the British.

In this context, the long-term strategic advantage over the Central Asian countries naturally became meaningless.

“Send a telegram to urge the country to speed up the pace, if this continues for at most half a month, we will have to stop the attack.”

With the outbreak of the war, the Russian army’s logistical management chaos, also gradually exposed.

As the supreme commander of Central Asia, Admiral Oginets is going to be logistical supplies, but also must be coordinated through the country.

This is no problem in times of peace, by the government to unify the deployment of strategic materials, can effectively check and balance the military.

The war years would be an anachronism, and if the bureaucrats of the tsarist government gave a damn, then the problem was not serious, and the delay would be a day or two at most.

It is not unacceptable for a great power to sacrifice a little efficiency.

Unfortunately, the bureaucrats of the Tsarist government are falling ever downward. The reformers who pushed the country forward in the days of Alexander II have now turned into rotten conservatives.

Alexander III was not a master of killing, and the imperfect systems of the Russian Empire were inevitably somewhat inadequate for the bureaucratic class.

The middle-aged officer in charge of logistics replied, “Your Excellency the Commander, we have sent five reminding telegrams. Except for the first two times we got a reply, the latter ones all sank without a trace.

If nothing else, our telegrams will face the same fate this time. Perhaps none of these telegrams will reach the Minister of Logistics.”

The interception of telegrams from the front was unlikely to happen in other countries, but it was perfectly normal for it to happen in the Russian Empire.

The slow transportation of logistical supplies was not necessarily due to the lack of capacity in the Russian Empire, but it was more likely that the capacity that originally belonged to the military had been taken up by someone.

The intensity of the war in Central Asia was not very great, and the front line had stockpiled some of the supplies, like food, tents and other supplies were readily available.

What really needed to be transported from the country were mainly ammunition, medicines, and munitions that were not suitable for long-term storage.

The demand for transportation capacity wasn’t very great, and because of the muddy roads, there might be delays, but it was barely enough to supply them.

The Russian military had calculated this long before launching the offensive. If it had been determined at the outset that the logistical supply was insufficient, no matter what, Admiral Oginets would not have launched the offensive so early.

Upon hearing this news, Admiral Oginets’ face was horribly gloomy. It wasn’t that he hadn’t fought in wars, and it wasn’t that he hadn’t seen a pitfall, but it was the first time he had encountered such a pitfall.

Maybe it has something to do with luck, the first Russo-Prussian war Oginets did not catch up.

During the Second Russo-Prussian War, the troops he served with pushed forward along the Russo-Austrian border, and the logistical supplies were all procured nearby, and the quartermaster was delayed for a day or two at the most if he pitted them any more.

The Third Near East War, not to mention, Austria is responsible for the supply of logistical supplies, they send people to receive on the line, the pressure simply did not worry about.

The good luck finally ran out, fighting in Central Asia, the logistics supply all rely on domestic, Admiral Auchinets finally learned the bureaucrats of the power.

“Why didn’t you report such an important matter in advance?”

The domestic bureaucrats were formidable, and the frontline bureaucrats were no less so. The Logistics Department failed to give a reply three times, and such an important matter was able to be hidden from him, the commander, which was intoxicating to think about.

The middle aged officer who was questioned, apprehensively replied, “We thought it was just that the Logistics Department was busy with official business and forgot to reply for a while, and we didn t think …… about it.”

Without waiting for the middle-aged officer to continue explaining, Admiral Auchinets went ballistic and directly swung the cup in front of him and threw it over.

“You guys think, everything should be you guys think, what else do you need me as a commander for?

Could it be that you guys think that because your establishment is in the Logistics Department, I, the commander, can’t control you guys?

Or do you think that the military law of the Russian Empire is not harsh and want to try it?”

The series of questions directly stunned the middle-aged officer, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

Frankly speaking, they were the aggrieved ones sandwiched between the logistics department and the frontline command.

The establishment was in the logistics department, and promotion was under the domestic responsibility, so naturally they could not offend the lords in the rear, the key was that they were at the same time subjected to the moderation of the frontline command.

To the middle and lower officers, the logistics department is certainly a powerful and fat court, but to Admiral Oginets, the commander, they are only a subordinate department of the General Command.

Admiral Oginets may not have been able to determine their promotion, but he was able to determine their life and death.

The Russian Empire was notorious for its corruption, not to mention the management of logistics, which was definitely the hardest hit by corruption.

If no one pursued it, then nothing happened. If someone really lifted the lid, they would still be held accountable.

This was the battlefield, and Admiral Oginets could execute any bureaucrat involved at any time on the charge of corrupting munitions as long as he had the evidence.

“Your Excellency the Commander, I…I ……”

Without waiting for the middle-aged officer to explain, Auchinets waved his hand and said, “Alright, Kratzvalli. I know that you all have hardships and can’t be the masters of the country.

But remember, we are on the battlefield now, and no matter who or what, we have to make concessions for the war, I believe you can understand what I mean.

I don’t care what methods you use, you have to secure the logistical supplies for me, and I’ll take the head of anyone who drags his feet for me.

This is a message you can bring to the lords at home. Once there is a shortage of supplies on the battlefield, or if there is a problem with the supplies, I will go back to His Majesty the Czar for judgment.

I believe that His Great Tsarina Majesty will be able to see clearly and uncover the guy in the government who colludes with the British and deliberately delays the course of the battle.”

Killing people would not solve the problem, and Kratzvalli was not the one to create the problem.

Oginets was not an idealist and had no desire to purge the Tsar’s government of its assholes, as long as these people did not make trouble for themselves.

Bureaucrats like Kratzvalli were too numerous in the Russian Empire to kill off one and there would be another, they simply could not be killed off.

It is even possible that because of the killings, the logistics department is caused to be the same enemy, and deliberately give him trouble.

This kind of thing is not without precedent, Admiral Auchinets did not want to try, knocked once, he decisively chose to take it as it comes.

As for taking back the right to deploy logistical supplies, the military itself is responsible for coordinating the supply of materials, that is not even think about it.

Also in charge of the army and in charge of food, unless the tsar himself goes to command the army, or let whoever goes up to the country will also be uneasy.

The most basic checks and balances of power are common all over the world. If you want to break the rules, you’re breaking taboos. Admiral Oginets is politically savvy and naturally won’t jump into the hole.

Admiral Oginets’s “knock”, fell into the eyes of Kratzvalli, that is more horrible than the devil’s storm.

Once the charge of “colluding with the British” is confirmed, the Logistics Department will have to collectively receive a box of food.

Not only their own bad luck, even behind the family will be finished.

No matter what nobles, from Alexander II reform, the Russian Empire has no tradition of not killing nobles.

In normal times, corruption and bribery are no big deal, and it’s not a big deal to make a small mistake.

But colluding with the British was treason. The Tsar’s government had never been soft on traitors.

Seeing Auchinets’ eyes cast over, Kratzvalli hurriedly assured: “Your Excellency the Commander, please don’t worry. I will definitely urge the country to ship the supplies over as soon as possible.”

……

At the Russian logistics headquarters in St. Petersburg, Minister Argent, who was on duty, was looking at a newspaper to pass the time in boredom.

Suddenly a middle-aged man with a telegram hurriedly barged in.

Argent was disgruntled: “What’s going on, Passel?”

Passel smiled bitterly, “Your Excellency the Minister, it’s not a good time to be in a hurry, if we’re any slower we’re going to have a big problem.

This is a telegram from the front, that guy Auchinets warned us that if the logistical supplies don’t arrive in time, he’s going to accuse us of colluding with the British to His Majesty the Tsar.”

Argent’s face changed drastically and angrily cursed, “Outrageous, how can the logistics department be threatened by him.

Passel, you are also making too much of a fuss. Since Auchinets wants to sue, let him do it.

How can the Tsar believe such a ridiculous charge? Order the transports to find an excuse for a deliberate delay, and I’ll see what he can do!”

Being threatened was a secondary matter; Argent was more afraid that someone would follow suit. If he accepted Auchinets’ threat, and all future Russian generals followed suit, would the Logistics Department not be at the mercy of others?

Passel shook his head, ”Your Excellency the Minister, I’m afraid this won’t work. Auchinets dared to threaten us, I’m afraid that he has some of the evidence in his hands.

According to the Kratzvalli telegram, the fact that we borrowed a military train to transport supplies to the capitalists has already been exposed.

If Oginets lifts the lid on this and flatly accuses us of colluding with the British and deliberately delaying the delivery of strategic supplies, there will inevitably be a serious investigation at home.

What will happen then, everything will be hard to say.”

Hearing this explanation, Argent instantly realized the seriousness of the problem.

Once it was proven, the Logistics Department had deliberately delayed the delivery of strategic goods. Whether they colluded with the British or not would not need to be proven, but would be up to the Tsar.

Considering the importance of this war, Argent had reason to believe that Alexander III would take their heads to deter the bureaucrats at home.

Something similar had already happened in the Russo-Prussian War. The top brass of the Ministry of Logistics at the time were pulled out and shot at by Alexander II.

After the previous incident, the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Logistics already knew what not to do.

After reacting, Argent made an immediate decision and said, “Then what’s the point of bothering, immediately start organizing transportation, deliver the supplies to the front as soon as possible, and don’t leave a handle for Auchinets to sue.”

In a word, as long as the logistical supplies arrived at the front on time. Then the issue of borrowing military trains to haul goods to the capitalists was all a trivial matter not worth mentioning.

Even if someone exposed it, the logistics department would be enough to deal with it, and it wouldn’t attract the attention of the tsarist government at all.

On the contrary, the consequences would be serious.

Parcell couldn’t help it, “Your Excellency the Minister, it’s not that we don’t want to be quick, the problem is that the military trains have all been loaned out.

If we renege now, there will be a lot of people to offend. You have to know that those capitalists, are not without roots, there are too many big names involved behind them.”

This is the reality of the problem, ordinary capitalists, even if they are rich, they don’t have the guts to borrow a military train to transport goods for their own family in times of war.

The Russian bureaucrats’ modesty is not high, turning the other cheek and directly hacking their goods is just child’s play.

If you encountered a tough guy, maybe they will give you a hat on the theft of military trains, directly for the plagiarism and extermination.

Dare to pay a bribe to the Ministry of Logistics, borrowing the military train to transport goods, behind the back of a big man, able to resist this risk.

Already recovered Argent sneered: ”To inform them on the line, to resent, let them go to resent Auchinets it!

Don’t be afraid of offending people, this kind of thing is not supposed to see the light of day. If it really comes out, we will certainly be finished, and these people of theirs will not be able to fall in favor.”

……

(End of chapter)