Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 233:

Chapter 233: Chapter 120: The Constantinople Demolition Team
St. Petersburg

Having received an urgent telegram from Menshikov, Nicholas I developed a headache, especially when he saw the estimated ammunition consumption noted at the end; his heart bled at the thought of the cost—this was all money!

For this war, the Tsarist Government had already spent three to four hundred million rubles, and if the economic losses caused by the war were included, this figure could be doubled.

Where was victory? No one could answer this question. Judging from the situation on the battlefield, a decisive outcome between the two sides seemed very far off.

If he had known in advance that the war would turn out like this, Nicholas I was certain he would never have initiated it.

Losses in personnel were bearable—Russia was large and could withstand it—but the cost of the war completely exceeded his expectations.

Before England and France joined the war, the Tsarist Government planned a multi-pronged assault to take Constantinople directly, targeting to capture Constantinople within three months and to wipe out the Ottoman Empire within a year.

After England and France entered the war, the Tsarist Government believed that after the battle of Bulgaria, taking Constantinople would be a piece of cake and after seizing Constantinople, everyone would negotiate to resolve the issues.

Unexpectedly, they had arrived at the gates of Constantinople only to encounter the French blocking the way.

Two hundred thousand French troops defending a fortress city—this result was enough to make anyone despair. But there was no choice; under domestic pressure, they had to proceed with determination.

Even for the headstrong Russians, this was a dizzying challenge. Having exhausted all strategies, the conclusion was still that they needed to bombard with artillery.

Nicholas I asked, “What do you think about General Menshikov’s suggestion?”

Army Minister Ivanovich replied, “Your Majesty, from a military perspective, General Menshikov’s suggestion is sound.

Constantinople is one of the world’s most formidable fortresses, and the enemy has deployed heavy troops to defend it. There are no shortcuts to its capture; we must proceed fortress by fortress.

Fortunately, the Ottoman Empire has become corrupt and neglected the construction of its city defenses, allowing us to advance with our artillery.”

This answer was somewhat exasperating. Had the Ottomans not neglected the upgrade of city defense works, the artillery might not even have been effective.

This was the reality—the Russians could bring heavy artillery, but wouldn’t the enemy have the same capabilities? If necessitated by war, even thousands of cannon could easily be provided by England and France.

As per General Minshkov’s proposal, it would suffice to construct artillery positions a few kilometers out and bombard Constantinople—after all, the target was so large that while people could find places to hide, buildings had no place to escape.

With two hundred thousand French troops scattered throughout the city, there certainly would not be enough bunkers for artillery, and indiscriminate bombardment could cause heavy losses to the French, as long as there were enough cannons and enough ammunition.

Civilian casualties were never a concern for the Tsarist Government. Those who knew war was coming and did not flee only had themselves to blame; after all, guns and cannons are blind.

Finance Minister Aristander Rhodes said with a frown, “Your Majesty, the amount of artillery that General Menshikov is requesting, as well as the ammunition consumption, is simply terrifying. Can’t they be more economical in their use?

You have to realize that this heavy artillery and ammunition are not cheap— even if the Austrians aren’t exploiting the situation, this still amounts to a staggering sum!”

He wasn’t opposing the plan but simply lamenting over the expense. Capturing Constantinople was essential, otherwise, there would be no way to account to the domestic front—this consensus was clear to everyone.

At least Finance Minister Aristander Rhodes had an understanding of the bigger picture. The problem was that the Tsarist Government was indeed facing financial difficulties; it was very tough to come up with several hundred million rubles all at once.

The Austrians hadn’t exploited the situation, and one of the reasons for this was the Tsarist Government’s support for Austria during the Paris Conference, and not being duped by England and France.

Nicholas I was a man of his word. As long as demands did not cross his limits, he usually fulfilled his promises.

And if they did cross his limits, well, he was still the Tsar after all—just consider the approaches of his ancestors to get an idea. This was a talent inherited within the family.

“Mr. Aristander Rhodes, conquering Constantinople is the priority now. Once this objective is achieved, I can then negotiate a ceasefire with England and France.

If the war continues, the costs of military expenses could even surpass what we’re spending now,” Foreign Minister Carl-Wassell advised.

They were all in the same boat—if it capsized, they would all be in trouble.

The river was already rising, with towering waves that could overturn the boat at any moment; the only solution was to reach the harbor and dock as soon as possible to avoid the storm.

To dock, it was imperative to conquer Constantinople. With Constantinople in hand, they could reassure the domestic fronts and have leverage in negotiating with the enemies.

Finance Minister Aristander Rhodes, dissatisfied, said, “Earl Carl, do you take me for someone who overlooks the bigger picture?

The real issue here is that the Treasury simply doesn’t have enough funds to cover these war expenses.

According to General Minshkov’s plan, it would be impossible to accomplish without two to three hundred million rubles, and this is based on everything proceeding smoothly.

In actual combat, there will undoubtedly be unforeseen circumstances which may lead to an increase in costs.”

The Caucasus War Field and the Crimea Peninsula War Field are both engaged in battle; the frontline commanders are all demanding new equipment—an urgent matter that still requires money.

“The Russian Empire’s annual fiscal revenue is just so much, and because of the war, our tax revenue will continue to slide this year. Where can I possibly find so much money?”

Having no money is a big problem. It’s manageable during peacetime, but once war breaks out, the weaknesses of the Tsarist Government’s feudal rule are exposed, and they are far inferior to capitalist countries in raising funds.

To put it bluntly, countries like England, France, and Austria, when they truly run out of money, still have the option to print more currency—though it may lead to inflation, it’s a viable emergency solution.

Can the Russian Empire do the same? They’ve always used Rubles backed by gold and silver. Paper money might be issued by other European nations, but when issued by the Tsarist Government, it’s not recognized on the international capital market.

Even domestically, not many are fond of the Paper Ruble. Mainly due to a history of issues, Russians likewise harbor doubts about the Tsarist Government’s credibility.

“How big is the funding shortfall?” Nicholas I asked with concern.

The shortage of money was expected; the key is how much was lacking. If the amount wasn’t too large, they would still have ways to solve it.

Finance Minister Aristander Rhodes analyzed, “Your Majesty, if General Menshikov’s plan is implemented, we estimate that our military expenditure for 1854 might exceed 400 million rubles, more than the total for the past one and a half years.

We’ve raised 65 million rubles through bond issuance, and the government can provide 80 million rubles in tax revenue; we’ve collected 58 million rubles from domestic banks.

With Constantinople now within reach, we can levy a war tax one more time, which we estimate can bring in 120 million rubles.

The final funding gap is 77 million rubles, and this is under ideal conditions. If anything changes, this number might even increase.”

Nicholas I fell silent; the gap was too large. Domestic tax revenue had reached its limit, and increasing it further could cause serious problems.

Army Minister Ivanovich asked, “Is there a possibility of obtaining loans from abroad, say, from the Austrians?”

Finance Minister Aristander Rhodes shook his head, “That’s impossible. We’ve exhausted all available overseas fundraising channels.

If the Austrians had not launched a unification war last year, perhaps they could have provided us with this loan. Not anymore.

Don’t be fooled by their near bloodless conquest of Bavaria. To deter England and France, they mobilized nearly 1.8 million troops, which significantly drained their government’s finances.”

There was no solution; Austria’s fiscal situation was slightly better than Russia’s. However, the Vienna Government was accelerating the industrialization process, and a large amount of finance was invested in domestic infrastructure.

Considering last year’s war expenses, from a professional standpoint, Aristander Rhodes judged that the Vienna Government couldn’t spare this money anymore.

After hesitating for a while, Nicholas I slowly asked, “How much military expenditure can we save if we temporarily halt the war in the Caucasus region?”

Now engaged in a three-front war, for the Tsarist Government, the most important objective was capturing Constantinople, followed by the Crimea Peninsula—both of which were crucial and could not be abandoned.

As for the Caucasus War Field, the Russian Army held an absolute advantage, always maintaining initiative. If they stopped the offensive, the crippled Ottoman Empire would only be relieved and wouldn’t initiate hostilities.

After some calculations, Finance Minister Aristander Rhodes answered, “Approximately 40 to 50 million rubles can be spared. If we negotiate a ceasefire with the Ottoman Empire and withdraw most of our troops to reinforce the other two war fields, we could save another 10 million rubles.”

That was tantamount to reducing the number of troops. Since the Caucasus region’s forces were coming down, their gap in troop strength no longer existed, and the domestic mobilization wouldn’t need to be as extensive.

When the cannons fire, they consume thousands of taels of gold.

This was not an exaggeration at all; in fact, it was a significant understatement. During this period, warfare consumed vast funds—at the very least in the millions of taels of gold.

Nicholas I said without hesitation, “Alright, we’ll proceed like this. Let the Ottomans be for now. In the Caucasus region, we will switch from offense to defense and redeploy the troops to reinforce the other two battlefields. After we take Constantinople, we can revisit the issue!

The remaining financial shortfall must be solved by the Ministry of Finance. Right now is a critical moment, and we cannot allow a lack of funds to lead to defeat in the war.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” replied Aristander Rhodes, with a sense of resignation.

This was a tough problem; while it seemed like most of the funding gap had been resolved, the remaining shortfall still represented an astronomical figure.

Especially now that all means of raising funds had been exhausted, solving this problem was by no means simple.

Nevertheless, being in his position, Aristander Rhodes had no choice but to grit his teeth and find a solution.

The funding issue was tentatively addressed, and with unanimous decision, the official Constantinople Demolition Team led by General Menshikov was formed, vowing to raze Constantinople to the ground.

The matter of protecting ancient buildings was something the Tsarist Government could not afford to consider at the moment; the priority was to capture Constantinople. If necessary, they could rebuild after the war.

Moreover, they could lay the blame on the French. As long as the Holy Land was reclaimed, no one would care about such minor imperfections. In order to capture Constantinople, the Russians were truly throwing caution to the wind.