Holy Roman Empire

Don't tell me about the transfer of hundreds of thousands of troops, you didn't find out? "Amable Jean-Jacques Pélissier, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, questioned

"General Most Pasha, you can't absolve yourself of the blame for this incident. The Russians have started to attack, but you didn't know it, and you still need us to inform you.

This is the homeland of your Ottoman Empire, you can't even get this bit of information, don't all your officials eat shit? "British commander Montes accused

Faced with the two accusations, Most Pasha had nothing to say.They are all guest soldiers who don't know that the actions of the Russians are justifiable. They, local snakes, let the Russians complete their military mobilization under their noses without knowing anything.

"I'm sorry to both of you. We will deal with the dereliction of duty seriously, and the same thing will not happen again. Now that the enemy has come, let's fight the enemy first!"

After finishing speaking, Most Pasha picked up the baton, clicked on the military map, and analyzed: "Here, and here, are the focus of our competition with the Russian army.

Judging from the firepower on the battlefield, the focus of the Russian attack this time should be on the strategically important location-Sliven.

Sliven has been a strategic location in the Balkan Peninsula since ancient times. Once the Russian army occupies it, it will form a strategic advantage for us.

From here to Edirne-Mapingchuan, it will be difficult for us to establish an effective defense line. If the Russians leave 20 troops in Sliven, we will leave [-] troops to guard them.

In addition, another city that may be the focus of the Russians' attack is Sofia.

Sofia is located in the southern part of the Sofia Basin, and it is also a strategic location in the Balkan Peninsula. If you master it, you will master half of Bulgaria.

If Sofia falls, the Russians will be able to connect with the Austrians in the north, and Belgrade, which we are still holding on to, will lose its strategic significance. "

Looking at the map, Montes' face changed, and now the place where the British army is stationed happens to be Sofia, and there are [-] Ottoman troops with them.

The choice to garrison here was due to the internal analysis of the British Expeditionary Force in advance that the Russians' goal was Constantinople, and the focus of the attack would be on the Sliven area.

If the coalition forces win and launch a counterattack, Sofia will be in a favorable position again, and can rush to the Danube as quickly as possible, cutting off the retreat of the Russian army. This is a good place to gain military exploits.

But looking at it now, the Russians may also make a breakthrough in the Sofia area.After conquering this place, most of the Balkan Peninsula will fall, and the political gains will be greater than the military gains.

The commander-in-chief of the French army, Emable Jean Jacques Pélissier, analyzed indifferently: "The Russians want to capture Constantinople, and the Sliven area is an unavoidable hurdle. Unless they are not afraid of us copying The back road, otherwise the Russians must attack here.

Losing the Sliven area will make it difficult for us to fight the battle behind us.At that time, the Russians can attack and retreat or defend, and we can only deal with it passively.

Now that your country has given up the Serbia region, even if Sofia falls, it will be nothing more than losing the central and western parts of Bulgaria, plus Belgrade.

It's still early in this war, and the one who laughs at the end is the winner.We don't need to care about the gains and losses of a city or a place. It is worth giving up some land temporarily for the final victory. "

Montes strongly objected: "The Sofia region can't just give up, the Russians have bewitched the Bulgarians, and if it continues, more Balkans will be bewitched.

At that time, we will find that the enemy is fighting more and more. With the support of these people, even if we defeat the Russians, we will have no way to drive them out of the Balkans.

The 3 reinforcements sent by our country have already set off, and they will arrive in the Balkans the day after tomorrow at the latest. The 2 troops of the Kingdom of Sardinia have also arrived in the Balkans, and 5 of them will be sent to reinforce Sofia.

Restricted by logistics, the Russians have limited troops in the Balkans. It is impossible for them to attack Sofia with too many troops. An army of [-] can definitely hold it.

Sliven here is guarded by the French army, and the Russians have almost no possibility of breaking through. As long as this wave of attacks is blocked, we can launch a counterattack.

In terms of military strength, we have an absolute advantage. No matter how strong the Russian army is, it will not be our opponent in the Balkan Peninsula. "

The military serves politics. As the first battle of the British army in the Balkans, it is impossible for Montes to retreat without a fight. This concerns the face of their British army.

The French have already made their mark, even if the French army suffered a loss, but on the bright side, they are all winners, and the failure is the fault of the Ottomans.

The British Army also needs to stand up. They also need to prove their strength to the outside world and improve their domestic status.This determines that they cannot act with the French, otherwise they will be considered soy sauce.

Most Pasha supported: "General Montes's proposal is good, Sofia must not be missed, and we cannot afford the political influence."

Negatively speaking, it is unknown whether the Russians can be driven away. In case both sides suffer a loss, the Ottoman Empire cannot recover the lost ground. Isn't it a big loss to abandon Sofia now?

The British are strong, that is the power of the navy; the French are strong, that is the power of France in the Napoleon era; the Ottoman Empire is strong, that is the history.

The strength of the Russians lies in the present, and it is still a strong army.Having fought against the Russian army many times, the Ottoman government had a lot of Russian-phobic patients, and even Most Pasha was inevitably affected.

The Sudanese government is ready to move the capital. If it weren't for boosting morale, the capital of the Ottoman Empire would now be Ankara.

Bears are too difficult to deal with. If they cannot be driven out of the Balkan Peninsula, the Sudanese government would not dare to continue to put the capital in Constantinople and be their neighbor.

Two to one, Emable Jean Jacques Pélissier did not continue to object, everyone is the Allied army, in fact he can command the French army, and the Ottoman army can barely command, the proud John Bull will not buy his account .

Emable Jean-Jacques Pelissier suggested: "Since this is the case, let's divide the work. The defenders in the Sofia area are dominated by the British army, named the Left Army, and General Montes will be the commander.

The Sliven area, including the area around Kazanlak, was garrisoned by the French army. I personally served as the commander of the central army, and General Most Pasha was in charge of the remaining areas as the right army.

The battle on the front line is tight, and we have no time to waste.If there is no problem, let's go to work as soon as possible! "

Montes said without hesitation: "There is no problem. This distribution is very reasonable and can mobilize the combat effectiveness of the troops to the maximum."

Chapter 77 Production Line

Engineers at the Hordas Arsenal in Bohemia are testing weapons.Twenty experimenters raised their guns at the same time and shot at the shooting range ahead.

After a burst of gunshots, weapon designer Holman Stellen stepped forward to take a look, calculated the parameters as quickly as possible, and said with satisfaction: "Qualified."

The parameters are as follows:

Caliber: 12.68mm

Weight: 4.2 kg

Length: 1417 mm

Barrel Length: 920mm

Bullets: Paper-shelled acorn-shaped lead bullets

Loading method: rear loading

Rate of fire: 12-15 rounds/min

Muzzle velocity: 410 m/s

Effective range: 650 meters

Maximum range: 1512 meters

Feed: single shot

The director of the arsenal, Holdas, walked over with a smile and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Stellen, you have designed another excellent rifle.

This rifle is very good. It allows soldiers to load ammunition while lying down and crawling. The accuracy of close-range shooting is still higher than most rifles.

I heard that the Prussians have changed their equipment on a large scale, and we have bought a few of their rifles, but their performance is not as good as ours. "

Holman Styron said calmly: "Mr. Holdas, this is just a laboratory product, and it is still unknown whether it can be produced industrially on a large scale.

In fact, there have been quite a few advanced firearms manufactured in our laboratory over the years, but due to the production cost, there are very few that have the value of being installed.

For example, the previous 1850 series rifle has much better performance in all aspects than this one. Because of the production cost, we had to reluctantly give up. "

As an expert in weapon design, the first thing you have to learn is to give up.Weapons are not as advanced as possible, and the overall cost should also be considered.

From the design point of view, it is a rifle that will be designed a hundred years later, and it can be designed now. Whether it can be produced is an unknown.

Holman Stellen is used to it. More than 90.00% of the weapons he designed lie in the laboratory. Although this rifle is good, it is still unknown whether it can be installed in the Austrian army.

Holdas said optimistically: "It doesn't matter, the war in the Near East is raging now, we can sell it to the Principality of Montenegro for trial use, as long as it proves the excellence of this rifle in actual combat, the military cannot refuse it.

In terms of technology, this rifle has much lower requirements than the 1850 series. I can preliminarily judge that the production cost of this rifle will not be much higher than the current rifle. "

It can't be said that His Majesty the Emperor ordered to design a breech-loading rifle suitable for the Austrian army, right?

Now almost every Austrian arsenal has produced sample guns. At present, more than a dozen breech-loading rifles have appeared on the shooting range in the palace. Judging from experience, Holdas believes that the possibility of this rifle winning is very high. big.

Cheap, easy to operate, and stable performance are the advantages of this rifle.The only disadvantage is that the lethality is slightly lower, but the precise hit rate and the advantage of being able to lie down and reload can still make up for this.

Now there is only the last link of actual combat, and the Near East War is a good opportunity.

After the outbreak of the war, the Principality of Montenegro relied on Austria's logistics supply. For the convenience of supplies, it has fully replaced the Austrian weapons, and now it has become a testing ground for Austrian weapons.

The Austrian military also sent weapons observers to collect actual combat parameters of various weapons as an important reference factor for future refitting of troops.

Holman Styron said seriously: "Okay then, Mr. Holdas. You arrange it as soon as possible. This time I will personally lead the team to collect information on the battlefield."

"No! The battlefield is too dangerous. You are the best weapon design expert in Austria, so you can't take risks." Holdas said excitedly

Holman Styron smiled and said, "Don't worry, the people of Montenegro will keep us safe. If you are worried, you can apply for an escort from the military.

The danger is only relative. If God wants to take me away, accidents will happen even if I stay in the country. "

……

In Schönbrunn Palace, the new rifles from the Hordas Arsenal had already appeared on the shooting range, and Franz skillfully finished loading and shooting.

Perhaps because of his talent, his shooting skills are really embarrassing.If you shoot the target regularly within [-] meters, if you can not miss the target, you are blessed by God.

Franz has always believed that this is due to the poor performance of the rifle, and the strong recoil caused the bullet to miss the target.The evidence is that the statistics of the bullet kill rate after each battle can only kill an enemy with thousands or tens of thousands of bullets.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

After the gunshots ended, Franz's face turned green all of a sudden, and he actually hit the target next door. The ability to miss the target is no one else.

There was a sound of puffing, and several little guys laughed gloatingly. Franz glared over and found the culprit.

"Is it so funny? Isn't it just that the bullet missed the target? What's so strange?"

Franz's prestige has been accumulating for a long time, and the three younger brothers and two cousins ​​all restrained themselves, looking at the cute expressions on their faces.

Suppressing the ridicule of a few little guys, Franz said with a smile: "Come here and try, pay attention to keep your distance."

They have never played with these rifles. If they are used as front-loading rifles, just look at Franz's performance just now. The bullets can be displaced by more than ten meters.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

A series of gunshots rang out, and after looking at the target from a distance, Franz rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Could it be that they are all sought-after?

Facts have proved that he thought too much, everyone's hit rate is not good, and he can be regarded as a master if he can keep the bullet on the target.

"Cousin Franz, you are still number one!" Princess Sissi exclaimed

Franz glared at her. He decided that he would definitely increase her etiquette class time later. He really didn't understand the rules.

Is it necessary to say something so obvious?One must know that the youngest of the target shooters is only ten years old, so where does this make Franz lose face?

"Elizabeth, pay attention to your image!" Her sister, Princess Helen reminded

"What happened?" Queen Sophie's voice came from afar

Seeing Franz's ugly face, no one answered this question.Seeing everyone's expressions of wanting to laugh but holding back, and glancing at the targets on the field, Empress Dowager Sophie burst out laughing.

He pointed at Franz while laughing, and said, "It's good that you have made progress. Franz, you finally broke the record of the five rings."

Only then did everyone realize that there was an extra bullet hole in Franz's target.I don't know who sent the bullet flying just now, and it was hit by mistake.

The laughter of the crowd could no longer be held back, and Franz said helplessly: "It's almost enough, let's continue the live ammunition training."

Grand Duke Karl patted Franz on the shoulder with a smile and said: "Look, I told you to go hunting with me, but you didn't go by yourself, now you know it's embarrassing?

Don't be discouraged, as long as you go hunting with me a few more times, your marksmanship will catch up with them. "

Franz nodded cooperatively, as if to say: His marksmanship is not good because he has too much homework and lacks practice. As long as he works hard, he will be able to catch up.

Hunting, it is impossible to hunt.Franz is self-aware. As far as his marksmanship is at a distance of [-] meters, it is unknown whether an elephant can hit there.

He didn't bother to shoot the prey such as pheasants or rabbits, it was a waste of bullets.Franz finally understood why a lot of shotguns were shot out by the people.

"Father, why didn't you go hunting today?" Franz asked suspiciously

"Looking at how lively you are playing, he wants to come over and teach you marksmanship." Empress Dowager Sophie said first

"Yes, your marksmanship is too bad, it's like embarrassing the nobles, I'm here to teach you how to use a gun." Grand Duke Karl said aggrieved

Franz probably guessed the reason, and said decisively: "Yes, this is great. You can teach them, I still have a step ahead."

After speaking, Franz turned and left.As if something really happened, I was in a hurry to deal with it.

This is an excuse for panacea. The Vienna court has rules, and no one can interfere with the emperor's handling of official affairs.

Even if it was Queen Sophie, knowing that Franz was delaying time, she could do nothing.Under normal circumstances, it is enough for European nobles to be engaged to their parents, but Franz is obviously abnormal.

Facing a son who is too assertive, she also feels pressure.

The pressure on Franz is even greater. Now that the engagement war broke out, how should the royal family deal with it?

……

St petersburg

In Coors Manor, in this midsummer August, the room is still terribly cold.

"Everyone, we can't go on like this. The expeditionary force on the front line has already been refitting with arcane weapons on a large scale. It won't be long before the entire Russian army will be equipped with weapons produced by the Austrians.

What shall we do then, let the arsenal close?Or is it to compete for the small private market and sell shotguns? "An old man said indignantly.

Coors, the moderator of the meeting, persuaded: "Mr. Ivanov, calm down. Things are not that bad. There is no way the government will watch us all die.