Struggle in Russia

Doing one's best and obeying fate is probably Li Xiao's attitude towards the Crimean War now, because he found that no matter how hard he tried, the Russian carriage would always run to the other side of the cliff, and even the more he tried to stop it, it would make it even worse. Things went from bad to worse.

Just like the incident of the Black Sea Fleet, his original intention was to prepare for the guarantee of sea dominance in the Black Sea after the outbreak of war in the future. Who would have thought that it would further deteriorate the relationship between Russia and Turkey, as well as between Russia and Britain and France.

When he heard Nicholas I's attitude towards this from Kornilov, he broke out in a cold sweat. His uncle was too satisfied with this, which meant that he must have done something wrong.

All in all, he was a bit dumbfounded, so he could only say this to Kornilov: "General, I didn't expect things to turn out like this. It seems that what we are most worried about has emerged. Your Majesty's attitude is not ugly. It is clear that he is bound to win the relegation, I think... I think it is difficult for Britain and France to tolerate our continued expansion in the Balkans, the war is imminent, hey..."

Although Kornilov also had such a premonition, he still had a certain fluke mentality, hoping that this was just an accident, and that the accident could be exempted. But Li Xiao's words shattered his luck. Obviously, war may be inevitable.

Thinking of this, Kornilov also let out a long sigh, and for a moment the two brothers looked at each other with tears in their eyes and were speechless.

It took a while for Li Xiao to ask quietly, "What's Berhe's attitude now?"

Kornilov smiled wryly: "He was very happy and praised me for a good job. Now he doesn't take Turkey seriously at all, and he doesn't think Britain and France are in danger of interfering."

Li Xiao asked again: "What about Bray's plan? Has he expressed his attitude?"

Kornilov continued with a wry smile: "Pavel Stepanovich (Nasimov) formally proposed the mine-laying plan to him. At first he didn't take it seriously, until I also expressed support for this plan, he It was only then that I reluctantly said that I could study it."

Li Xiao immediately rolled his eyes, and muttered, "Research it? How to study it? It's just a typical excuse!"

However, Kornilov did not deny Berhe so quickly. He replied: "He means to order a batch of mines to test their power first. If the power is not bad, he should have the intention of purchasing."

"What do you mean by purchasing?" Li Xiao snorted contemptuously, and asked, "How much can he purchase? I know this guy too well. Every time I just talk about it, I will deal with it. You forgot the new rifle last time. thing."

It is a bit embarrassing to mention the new rifle Kornilov,

When Wallachia began to replace the new breech-loading edge needle rifle, he thought it was a good gun, and he also advocated a full replacement in the Black Sea Fleet.

At that time, Berge also said to study and try it first, but the effect of the new rifle trial equipment came out. When everyone said that the gun was very good and could be replaced, the guy was timid and refused to fully replace it. Ernilov and Nasimov said that he agreed to purchase a thousand trial kits only after breaking his tongue.

This made Li Xiao so angry that he almost scolded his mother, what's the use of a thousand new-style rifles? It's not enough for a regiment, and it's a joke that the mighty Black Sea Fleet is so petty.

But what makes Li Xiao even more angry is still behind. The needle rifle must not use old-fashioned ammunition, and it must be purchased together with ammunition, right? How much did Berge purchase?

Ten thousand shots!

Haha, that is to say, he only bought ten rounds of ammunition with the gun, which can no longer be described as stingy. What are the ten thousand rounds of ammunition enough for? You must know that in Russia, a rifleman consumes hundreds of rounds of ammunition during training a year, and these 10,000 rounds are not enough for training, which is ridiculous!

Anyway, Li Xiao didn't have any hope for this guy. This time, when he talked about purchasing mines, he might just buy dozens of them again, which was meaningless.

Kornilov also sighed. He also knew that Berge was indeed a bit of that, but who made this guy the commander of the Black Sea Fleet? It is an extravagant hope to expect him to succeed, and now he only hopes that that guy will not do bad things, and he will be thankful.

"It's impossible to rely on him about the water mine," Li Xiao said decisively, "We have to figure out a way for this matter, and it's best to find a way to get this guy away...but it's not too late. It's unrealistic, I think the most urgent task for you and General Pavel Stepanovich right now is to hurry up the work of repairing Sevastopol's defense facilities, we don't have much time left!"

Kornilov understood what Li Xiao meant, and it was very difficult for the conservative Berkh to accept new weapons and tactics, so he basically did not count on him for mine warfare. And what he and Nakhimov could do now was to fortify Sevastopol, turning it as far as possible into a real fortress.

It's just that it's not particularly easy, because Berhe and others don't think that Sevastopol needs to be reinforced to clean up Turkey. They feel that unless the Turks can grow wings, it is impossible for them to approach Sevastopol.

In short, they felt that there was not much point in strengthening the defense. If they had spare money here, they might as well put it in their pockets and buy a few more manors and serfs, wouldn't it be nice?

Li Xiao sighed leisurely. The current situation in Russia is like this. There is almost no sense of crisis from top to bottom. Dazed idiots wake up and let them know how far behind they really are.

Of course, this was out of anger, so Li Xiao could only say: "You try your best, and if you can repair part of it, it counts as part of it. I will also strengthen contact with Grand Duke Constantine, and try to get Berge away as soon as possible. Nothing can be done without him!"

Although Kornilov felt that it was a bit of a problem to do so, but knowing the seriousness of the situation, he had to admit that this was the best way. As the saying goes, kindness does not lead soldiers, this is not the time to talk about feelings and indecision. If a sacrifice must be made, then sacrifice one of Berge!

"By the way, there is one more thing!" Kornilov patted his forehead and reminded: "Recently, the military police of the fleet arrested a suspicious person in Izmail. This person illegally possessed a large amount of explosives. The quantity we found was hundreds of kilograms!"

Li Xiao was a little strange, because he felt that this matter had nothing to do with him. Izmail had little to do with Wallachia, did he?

Kornilov replied seriously: "Of course it is related, because according to his account, these explosives are going to be shipped to Wallachia and Moldavia..."