Struggle in Russia

Odessa.

St. Petersburg on the Black Sea is no joke. This coastal city, established by the order of the Emperor Ekaterina, became a pearl of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea in just half a century, and became the fourth largest city in the Empire, behind only Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Warsaw.

The two capitals, Odessa, are certainly incomparable, but Odessa and the empire are more connected than the capital of the anti-Russian era, where the uprisings will break out from time to time, because the city was originally exiled by Greece Those who helped build it were once Russia's bridgeheads supporting Greek independence.

Of course, this is also the bridgehead for Russia to interfere in the Balkan affairs. For the previous use of troops in Turkey, Odessa has been the origin and support point. Without the support of this port city, Russia ’s army of gray cattle can only drink Northwest wind in the Balkans.

As the Black Sea of ​​St. Petersburg, the architectural style of this city is also very similar to that of St. Petersburg. It is probably also a coastal city. As an important port, the two cities are naturally kind.

This made Li Xiao inadvertently think he had returned to St. Petersburg when he set foot on the land of Odessa for the first time.

"I like the Black Sea!"

Boris rushed down the trestle happily, stood on the pier and stomped his feet a few times. The feeling of being down-to-earth made Samson, who had been tortured by seasickness for more than a month, finally revived.

There are many people like Boris. As the 748 regiment forward battalion, the second battalion was ordered to set sail from Kronshtata, crossing the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, Bo Spruce and Black Sea until landing in Odessa.

It was a long and arduous journey. Hundreds of soldiers were crowded in the dull sailing bunker. The smell of sweat, feet, and vomit was mixed with the salty smell of seawater, which was really fascinating.

Then seasickness and strong winds alternated, making the smell in this stuffy can more charming. Fortunately, Li Xiao, as the prince of the empire, enjoyed preferential treatment and lived in first class, otherwise he would not be able to stay for a day.

This is still a steam boat chartered from Sweden, otherwise the journey will be even longer, which may take two months? Or longer!

"The steamboat is not comfortable at all!" Vishniak commented.

Vishniak had sailed before, and although the cabin was still speechless, he felt much more comfortable than the steamboat.

"This broken boat is too noisy! The smell is too ridiculous! Soot is too irritating to the skin, look at the dust on my face!"

Indeed, this year's steamboat is really uncomfortable. In terms of Li Xiao's own feelings, it is 100 times more uncomfortable than the diesel passenger ships of later generations. The old-fashioned swing-arm steam engine was huge and surging, and the machine was just as joyous as sitting on a diesel trampoline.

What's more frightening is that even this year, even fire tube boilers were not popular. Old-fashioned boilers combined with inferior lignite used to save money, the smoke was like a fairy.

The natural smell is also very touching. Anyway, it is a hundred times worse than the smog of Emperor. If it were not for the wind at sea, Li Xiao suspected that he could choke or carbon monoxide poisoning braids if he could not reach Odessa.

Yes, the ventilation of the boiler room is particularly poor, almost nowhere to be seen. Li Xiao went to experience it once, and when he came out, it looked like black shu, with soot on his face, hair, and ears, like the labor in a black coal kiln.

The deck was also uncomfortable. The chimney was too short this year, and the smoke exhaust capacity was very limited. The large group of smoke was almost directly thrown on the deck, and then wrapped around the ship by the sea wind. When the ventilation is not smooth, the smoke will spread to the whole ship along the crevice of the hull, and the taste is worse than the sand storm.

Even more frightening is that steam power is not reliable and not cheap these days. So the captain will only order to turn on the machine when there is no wind or upwind, which means that the ship sails on the sea, and most of the time it actually depends on sails, so the speed is very touching.

This greatly prolonged the time and number of crimes committed by Li Xiao and others. In short, the sea journey in the middle of the 19th century was really speechless, anyway, Li Xiao didn't want to come again for the second time.

"I would rather ride a horse-drawn carriage, rolling in the mud is better than eating lime at sea!"

Li Xiao declined to comment because it was too far from St. Petersburg to Odessa. The distance of thousands of kilometers, coupled with snow and poor road conditions, I am afraid that they will have to take land as soon as three or four months. To arrive. I'm afraid there were not a few crimes at that time, and the march on this cold day, the troops must have to fight offload.

By the way, it is more cost-effective to go by sea.

"Steam ships will become faster and better in the future. These can be improved," Li Xiaoru said, and then switched the topic: "Where do we camp?"

Vishniak said weakly: "The Black Sea Fleet Odessa Squadron Command reported that we should arrange a camp for us ..."

Li Xiao knew that there should be no guarantee for this, because the glorious tradition of the Russian army is to ignore logistics and to care nothing about where gray animals eat and live. Anyway, there are so many gray animals, without a single draft of soldiers, it would be better to pull Zhuangding.

Not only the officers did not care about this, in fact, the gray animals did not care too much, because from their point of view, from the moment they joined the army, they were already dead, and they could earn an extra day.

This is no joke ~ www.ltnovel.com ~ Because the service period of gray animals ranges from 15 to 25 years, and the treatment in the military is extremely bad. The only thing they eat is cabbage soup and porridge with various unknown ingredients or Slimy. There are almost no military uniforms, and military uniforms have not been dispensed for a long time. Who can survive such a decade?

Therefore, the serf's participation in the army is basically equivalent to being sent to a funeral parlour or the death penalty. For the death penalty, it would be nice to be alive. What bike is needed!

However, Li Xiao and others are different. One is a traverser, and the other two have also seen significant changes in combat effectiveness after improving the treatment of soldiers, so they must definitely strive for the best treatment.

"The good news is that we have a personal letter from General Lazarev. Who is the division commander here?" Boris asked with a sigh.

Li Xiao answered very seriously: "Major Vladimir Alekseyevich Kornilov."

Boris was a little surprised and asked, "Is there anything wrong with this major general? Is it difficult to get involved?"

Li Xiao smiled and said, "No, this major is a shrewd and capable figure, a student and a confidant of General Lazarev ..."