Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 180:

Chapter 180: Chapter 67, Ideal Strategy

Translator: 549690339

As winter turned to summer, St. Petersburg had seen the end of its bone-chilling days, and comfortable sunshine blanketed every corner of the city, warming this land of ice and snow.

News of the Balkan battle had arrived, and as usual, bureaucrats preferred to report good news over bad, seeing it as a shortcut to advancing their careers, and the Tsarist Government was no exception.

In the first round of the Balkan battle, the Russians achieved a comprehensive victory. Even though the Russian Army had suffered heavy losses in the battle of Razgrad, adding a blemish to the campaign, it did not diminish the officials’ joy in reporting the triumph.

In the reports Nicholas I received, there was, of course, no mention of any Russian setbacks. Frontline officers glossed over these, emphasizing the losses of the Ottoman Army instead, making the result appear a great victory.

Upon receiving the news, Nicholas I held a victory banquet at the Winter Palace that very evening—unfortunately, the heroes of the battle were thousands of miles away, missing out on the glory that was rightfully theirs.

The Russians had good reason to be joyful: in the first round of the battles in Bulgaria, they had scored a significant victory, pushing the frontline forward by more than a hundred kilometers.

With a total force of 280,000 soldiers, the Russian Army launched an attack on the Ottoman forces, defeating nearly 500,000 Ottoman troops and 50,000 from the French Army.

For a casualty cost of just over 45,000 soldiers, they had annihilated more than 53,000 of the enemy and captured an additional 38,000.

Defeating an enemy twice their size with half the force, and exchanging 45,000 of their own casualties for 91,000 losses on the enemy side, including more than 10,000 French soldiers, it was indisputably a great victory.

The contributions of the Bulgarian Guerrilla Team were briefly acknowledged, and their casualties naturally overlooked. After all, the war was won, so the specifics no longer mattered to the Tsarist Government. Even if it did, it would make no difference—deceiving superiors and subordinates alike was deeply ingrained in every corner of the Russian Empire.

Since the Ottoman Army was purported to have half a million men, they had defeated half a million men. The actual strength of the enemy’s forces was conveniently ignored.

After the celebration banquet concluded, Nicholas I returned to the matter at hand. France’s entry into the war was not good news.

Although the Tsarist Government had considered the possibility of England and France entering the war after seizing maritime dominance in the Black Sea, its actual occurrence was still bitter.

Perhaps frontline officers still had some integrity left, or perhaps they knew the war would continue, and they didn’t want to make their situation worse by having to fight desperately against the French.

At the end of their report, they still highlighted the threat posed by the French Army.

Essentially, if not for the sudden appearance of 50,000 French soldiers on the battlefield, this great battle in Bulgaria could have spelled the end for the Ottomans.

Without the French reinforcements, it would not be long before His Majesty could hold a parade in Constantinople. Therefore, the Tsarist Government must remain highly vigilant against these malevolent French.

Nicholas I said cheerfully, “Gentlemen, the French really have engaged in battle. According to the news from London, not long ago the British Parliament also passed a resolution to enter the war.

Starting now, we have two more enemies. England and France are not as easy to handle as the Ottomans, and this war is far from over.

How shall we continue the fight? I invite everyone to speak their mind freely.”

Nicholas I was in good spirits after the great victory on the frontline. Even though he was angry about England and France’s participation, he did not let his anger erupt; he was very confident in winning this war.

The powerful must always maintain their composure, especially when they hold the winning hand.

This was not hyperbole—at least on paper, given their land forces, the Russians indeed had the strength to back it up. In terms of population alone, Russia had the resources.

In 1852, the total population of Russia was estimated to be between 65 and 76 million, more than the combined populations of the United Kingdom and France. The total population of the British Isles was about 28 million, and that of France was about 36 million.

(There was no way around it; in this era, the Tsarist Government did not compile population statistics, thus there was a great variance in the data available.)

Nicholas I had automatically disregarded the Ottoman Empire; the Bulgarian battles had revealed the feeble combat strength of the Ottoman Army.

In subsequent battles, the Ottoman Empire would soon go from a principal role to a supporting one, with England and France emerging as the main adversaries.

“Your Majesty, now that England and France have jumped in, let’s turn the Balkan Peninsula into their grave, and show them who is the world’s leading land power.

We should immediately send reinforcements to the frontline and make a concerted effort to obliterate the Ottoman Empire and reclaim Constantinople,” Army Minister Ace-Nicholas said with a determined air.

In a confrontation with England and France in the Near East, the Russians would not have much of an advantage, nor would they suffer a significant disadvantage, as the geographical positions more or less balanced out.

Russia had gained Austria’s support, allowing them to transport supplies via the Danube River, while England and France could transport materials by sea, hence the logistics were evenly matched.

Reinforcements were inevitable; the Russian Army had not only won the battle but also suffered losses. The war must go on, and they definitely needed more troops. Commanders at the front had already requested reinforcements from the homeland.

“Your Majesty, due to a prior miscalculation, we did not anticipate that England and France would join the battle directly, which led us to store a large amount of strategic materials at Ukrainian coastal ports.

Now that the sea routes are blocked, we can only transport supplies by land. Considering the current situation, we can supply only thirty percent of the required materials to the frontline troops; the remainder will have to be purchased from Austria.

We are under great financial pressure. Although Austria has provided us with a loan of 100 million shields, it will not last long,” cautioned Finance Minister Aristander Rhodes.

To supply the troops on the frontline, Russia had no choice but to purchase a large amount of strategic materials from Austria. If they continued to increase the forces on the Balkan front, military spending would have to rise even more.

It wasn’t that Aristander Rhodes opposed reinforcements; he was merely pointing out the problem to avoid blindly making plans that might lead to running out of funds for the war—that would indeed be embarrassing.

One hundred million Austrian shields might seem a substantial sum, but in practice on the battlefield, it was but a drop in the ocean, and the total number of Russian soldiers stationed on the Balkan Peninsula had now surpassed three hundred thousand.

In a single battle in Bulgaria, the Russian Army lost 45,000 men, and even if the grey beasts of burden were worthless, a sum for consolation money still had to be paid out.

The war was won, and there were rewards for the merits, which also required money.

The weapons and ammunition that were expended on the battlefield, the damaged equipment that needed replacement, all that cost money.

Even if there was no war, just the monthly expenses for the sustenance and basic needs of the three hundred thousand troops exceeded 4 million shields. It wasn’t that the Russian Army’s standards were high, but rather the cost of transporting supplies during wartime was expensive, and the spending surged like running water once the fighting began.

In one battle in Bulgaria, the Russian Army used up thousands of tons of ammunition, averaging nearly a hundred tons of ammo expenditure per day, this alone meant spending over ten million shields.

All these varied expenses, when added together, meant that for a battle in Bulgaria lasting over a month, the military expenses of the Russian Army would not be less than forty million shields, and that didn’t even include salaries.

The primary funding for the war still had to be sourced by the Russians themselves; the loans from Austria could only serve as compensation, which naturally increased the pressure on the Ministry of Finance.

Nicholas I nodded. Making early war preparations had been effective. At least in 1852, the Tsarist Government need not worry about financial issues.

However, if the war continued, it would be a different story. The cost of warfare in the Age of Hot Weapons had already far exceeded that of the Cold Weapon era.

“Then we must find a way to fight a quick and decisive war and try to defeat the enemy within this year, not leaving England and France any opportunities!

My Army Minister, how much reinforcement do we need to end the war within this year?” Nicholas I asked with concern.

After pondering for a long while, Ace-Nicholas slowly replied, “Your Majesty, at least an additional 300,000 troops are needed, but for safety, it would be better to increase by 400,000.”

Actually, even Ace-Nicholas wasn’t sure himself; with the battlefield ever-changing, the strength of England and France was not weak, not to mention an overstrained Ottoman Empire – who knew how many troops were necessary to end the war within a short time?

But since His Majesty the Tsarist had asked, he had to respond; otherwise, it would appear incompetent.

Ace-Nicholas did have some level of competence; he was not optimistic about the Russian Army ending the war within the year, hence he directly stated a number that was impossible to achieve.

Previously, the Russian Empire had already made a great effort by deploying three hundred thousand troops on the Balkan Peninsula. If that number were to be doubled, while soldiers were not lacking, the logistics support would collapse.

Even with the combined efforts of Austria and Russia, it would be difficult to ensure supply lines for six or seven hundred thousand troops operating in the Balkans.

It wasn’t a lack of materials but rather the limitations of transportation that couldn’t support it. If the operations were in the Danube Basin, logistics could still be guaranteed.

Yet, as the war progressed, the supply lines for the Russian Army grew longer and farther away from the Danube River, meaning increasingly more had to be transported via animal power and manual hauling, naturally greatly increasing the pressure on logistics.

Nicholas I was not a military novice; once the Army Minister spoke, he knew that ending the war within the year was not possible.

With England and France commanding control of the sea, even if the Russian Army conquered the Balkans, they could land at any moment as long as they were willing, so how could ending the war be so easy?

Besides, although the Ottoman Empire was in decay, a rotten ship still had three pounds of nails, and the combat power that could burst forth at a life-and-death moment should not be underestimated.

Foreign Minister Carl-Wassell, very tactfully, said, “Mr. Ace, the reality does not permit us to deploy so many troops on the Balkans, this plan seems feasible, but in fact, it lacks operability.

If we can’t win the war on the Balkans, can we achieve a breakthrough in the Caucasus region?

A victory on any front can shake the confidence of the Ottoman Empire. As long as this decaying empire collapses, we would then have won the war.”

Making a breakthrough in Caucasus posed no issue! But after taking one mountaintop, another one awaits.

With persistent efforts, it might take three to five years if quick, or ten to eight years if slow. With constant perseverance, they could eventually grind down the Ottoman Empire.

The precondition is that the Tsarist Government could last that long, not collapsing before the war ended.

The reality was harsh, but there was still a need for ideals.

While initiating the battle in Bulgaria, the Russians did not neglect the Caucasus region, it was only due to geographical constraints that the effort put there was less.

As the situation in the Balkans continued to deteriorate for the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan Government would definitely need to pull a large number of reinforcements from the Asia Minor Peninsula, thus reducing the forces available for the Caucasus region.

This, to the Russians, also presented a window of opportunity. There would be difficulties in advancing all the way to the Bosphorus Strait from the Caucasus, but reaching the Asia Minor Peninsula might well be achievable.

The continuous defeats at the front of any nation impact domestic stability, and this holds even truer for a decaying Ottoman Empire.

Given the Russian influence among Orthodox Christians, coupled with the unpopularity of the Ottoman Empire, instigating a few national uprisings amid continuous frontline failures didn’t seem too difficult.

If the national uprisings were successful, the Ottoman Empire would be put to rest. Without this local support, England and France dreaming of defeating Russia in the Near East would be pure folly.

Since idealism was at play, perfection could not be pursued. It was enough that the plan was theoretically viable, and Nicholas I readily approved Carl-Wassell’s recommendation.

If successful, surely His Majesty the Tsarist would be deemed enlightened. If it failed, at worst, a batch of grey beasts of burden would be lost; Russia was never short of men.

There was no reason not to engage in an endeavor with low risk and high return, and Nicholas I had no reason not to do so.