The Rise of the Empire

Russia conducted a very detailed study on the tactics of the Japanese army from the General Staff. They found that the Japanese were very good at roundabout operations. When fighting against the Qing army and the German and Russian forces, they would choose when they encountered obstacles. Roundabout, avoid the opponent's edge. And sometimes even at the beginning, it is a tactic of frontal containment and lateral breakthrough.

Therefore, the Russians formulated in the original plan. Their response was to leave a large number of reserves. In fact, they did the same in the Russo-Japanese War. Under normal circumstances, Russian officers would leave half of their troops as reserves. This resulted in a lack of frontal force, and sometimes they could not beat the Japanese in frontal smashes. Coupled with the fact that the Russians are too conservative and rarely take the initiative to attack, they are very passive, and all other reasons have resulted in the defeat in the case of superior strength.

However, the situation has changed a lot on this plane due to the random entry of the traversers, especially the case of the Caliput Mobile Corps in South Africa in which the British army was hit by the mobile warfare, which gave the Russians great confidence. According to Kuropatkin, we have the largest cavalry corps and the most elite cavalry in the world. This is Russia's innate wealth. Why can't we use them against the Japanese?

The Russians conducted a more detailed study of Caliput's mobile corps. "The Boer's cavalry regiment is entirely an infantry regiment that relies on horses for mobility. They are equipped with a large number of machine guns and light artillery just like the infantry. The function of the horses is to send the infantry to the battlefield, and then launch an offensive as infantry. The attacking ability is worse, but relying on the horse's mobile advantage, they can always launch a fatal blow when the opponent is weakest. Compared with frontal engagement, such an attack can obviously save a lot of trouble." Kuropatkin Said this when meeting the czar.

"In order to be able to ensure the combat effectiveness of this unit, the Boers are equipped with a large number of semi-automatic rifles, machine guns, and new mortars (mortars). The former greatly enhances the firepower of the infantry. In the absence of sufficient suppression artillery, the Boers It’s easy to break through the enemy’s front. Although the latter has a short range and low accuracy, it can provide enough firepower in a very short time. The effect of firing 1000 shells in 10 minutes is better than pouring 2000 shells in 30 minutes. The effect is better. The mortar, which has a simple structure and a large amount of projection, is obviously suitable for our needs!"

Russians like simple and practical things with a large amount of projection, and mortars are clearly suitable for Russia now. The production process of the mortar itself is not difficult, and the production of artillery shells is not difficult, and the cavalry can’t use many mortars. After all, the cavalry can’t carry many. A small reduction in the number of suppressed artillery is enough to equip the troops with a large number of mortars. Cannon. Not only the cavalry must be equipped, but the infantry must also be equipped with this kind of weapon that can be easily produced!

The real problem for the Russians now lies in the production of mortar shells. This production does not refer to the craftsmanship, but the production cost! After careful comparison, the Russians suddenly discovered that even in Russia's darkest workshop, the cost of mortar shells produced in a workshop that does not consider labor costs is still more than one-third more expensive than those produced in Bavaria! And the production capacity of shells is not enough.

The Russian artillery’s lack of shells actually runs through the entire pre-war history. During the Russo-Japanese War, due to the problem of insufficient transportation capacity, the Russian shells had a certain gap and I will not mention it. After all, the Russians can find a bunch of excuses for this. The distance is too far, the transportation capacity is limited, and the country has not fully mobilized it.

But in fact, in World War I, there was still a huge gap in Russia's arms production, especially the supply of artillery shells and machine guns. The Russians produced a total of 58 million rounds of various shells in the three-year war, but they consume up to 50 million shells every year! It can be said that the artillery shells produced in the three-year war only lasted for 14 months.... What about the remaining gap? I bought it naturally!

According to historical records, Russia has ordered 56 million rounds of only three-inch shells, of which 13 million have arrived, accounting for about 25% of the order. However, these 58 million shells are not all original Russian shells, because in the same period, the Russians produced fewer than 50 million shells and tubes, and only 8.4 million shell tubes were imported from foreign countries with data! This was the case during the World War, so the situation during the Russo-Japanese War can only be changed. According to historical data, the military factories around the Moscow region produced 30,000 rounds of 3 inches during the one-year and five-month war. Cannonball... The consumption of the original artillery cannot be guaranteed, so after the mortars are added, who will produce the newly added ammunition?

If the production of shells is already bad, then the production of machine guns is even worse. In history, before the outbreak of World War I, there was only one factory in Russia that could produce machine guns. It was the Turr Arms Manufacturing Factory, which produced only 700 guns a year. ! This is still at the pre-war level ~www.NovelMTL.com~ and the current output is only 100 less than! When the Russians realized the importance of machine guns and suddenly decided to equip them in large quantities, they found that they could not expand their production capacity in a short period of time and could not find enough machine guns...

And it should be noted that machine guns are consumables as well as artillery shells. (Actually, artillery is the same, but the artillery is stronger, and it is located in the rear, so it is not easy to be caught by Cui Huai.) If everything follows history, the machine gun in the Russo-Japanese War It is just a preliminary figure. The number of machine guns on both sides does not exceed 300, but everything is changing. When people discovered the power of machine gun terror, almost all countries began to increase the number of their own machine guns. In the Russo-Japanese War, the machine gun also cost both sides more.

The Russians estimated the number of machine guns they needed. In order to arm the entire Northeast of about 600,000 troops (according to the Russian timetable, after the completion of war preparations.) Russia needs at least about 4,000 machine guns (including first-line equipment and Reserve inventory.) According to the number of machine guns currently produced in Russia, it will take at least 40 years.... With the beginning of the war, the Russians expected to replenish at least 500 machine guns every month to barely sustain the damage. And if it lasts for 1 year, it will need an extra 6000....

If the output of machine guns, shells and artillery is not enough, then the output of rifles is finally enough? In fact, it is precisely the idea that rifles are more expensive! Before the war, the Russian rifle production capacity was also poor. Will tens of thousands of rifles be enough every year? The pattern is broken!