Tsar of the Sphinx

Chapter 5 What is fire coverage!
Catherine II straightened her mind and continued to speak: So Alexander, what is your military reform plan.Don't tell me that I took the Prussian reform plan and changed it.If it was his I would reject your military reform proposal.

When Paul heard that his mother wanted to reject the reform plan from Prussia, he retorted: Mother, why are you unwilling to accept the reform plan from Prussia?The Prussian army has proven itself excellent, why can't we learn from it.

Yekaterin threw the potato cake in his hand at Paul as soon as he heard it, and said to Alexander regardless of whether he hit it or not: Alexander, you continue to talk.

Alexander also continued to talk about it. After all, his father didn't fight for anything, but when he encountered the Prussian army, he would quarrel with his grandmother. In recent years, Alexander often saw his father being beaten by his grandmother. .

Okay, grandma, please rest assured that my reform plan is to change the existing establishment, increase the construction of artillery and infantry, reduce the investment in cavalry, reform the conscription system, and standardize the training methods and disciplines of the entire army.

As soon as Paul heard about the training method and discipline, he ignored the potato pancakes on his hair and said, "Look, look, this is my son, and it must be the Prussian reform plan."

Shut up, Paul, if you speak again, you will live with your corrupted legion.

Ekaterina broke out completely. Although Prussia's reform plan was good and proved this reform plan, her resentful husband made her completely hate everything about Prussia.Although Prussia was brought into the game during the partition of Poland, it is still annoying.

As soon as Paul heard that he was allowed to hold the corrupted legion, he might as well listen to it honestly, so that he could change to a new legion, so he didn't say anything, and continued to cook.

Alexander continued: "Grandmother, we know from the war 40 years ago that infantry and artillery have replaced cavalry as the favorites on the battlefield."Not to mention far away, let’s just say that the war between Austria and Prussia more than ten years ago showed this trend very clearly, but the domestic focus is still on the Cossacks, and we need to change the focus.

Alexander patted the table and continued: First, the formation of the army. At present, the traditional formation in China, Europe and even the New World is based on the battalion as the basic tactical unit.Each battalion has six to eight companies and 1000 to 1000 people; two to three battalions form a regiment; two regiments form a brigade; two brigades form a division.I have divided the domestic army. There are currently two regiments, one is the Border Guard Army and the other is the Imperial Guard Army. The Border Guard Army will be a common establishment in the country. I have changed the establishment of each battalion to have eight companies. The number of battalions will reach 5000; the regiment will maintain five battalions with a full staff of 5000; the three regiments will form a brigade with a full staff of [-];The size of the border guards is a regiment, whether it is the current royal army or the army changed by the nobles in the future, it will have this formation. Father's Gatchina Legion and my new legion are also organized according to the border guards. Grandma, you personally The army in their hands will become the imperial guards, and their establishment will be raised to a division. In peacetime battles, the border guards will be dispatched, and the imperial guards will only be dispatched unless the emperor personally conquers.The Imperial Guard is directly under the emperor, and only the emperor of the empire can command it.

Yekaterina said: Add a guard in the middle, and the guard is organized into two brigades. Alexander, you and your father's legion, according to the guard, has a full strength of 3 people.The Praetorian Guard under my direct control has increased to six brigades with a full strength of 9 people.That's it for compilation.

Alexander nodded and continued: The second point is to increase the construction of artillery and infantry and reduce the investment in cavalry. We need artillery to cause the greatest damage on the battlefield. Therefore, there must be a battalion of artillery in a regiment. This battalion would carry six-pounders, twelve-pounders, 150mm mortars, and new weapons, Greek fire.The cavalry will have only one battalion, the infantry will have three battalions, and the three infantry battalions will have half a battalion of engineers.

Ekaterina was thinking secretly, and when she was thinking about it, she heard Paul's voice asking loudly about the Greek fire.

After hearing his father's inquiry, Alexander saw Ekaterina's gaze and said, "Grandma, father, I'll get its model and test data first."and ran to his room
After a while, Alexander brought over the model and data.

Here, this is the Greek Fire, and here are its test firing data and design drawings.

I borrowed from the military works that His Excellency Potemkin obtained from Kyakhta a few years ago, which is said to be used by the former master of the Qing Dynasty emperor. Last year, His Excellency Potemkin gave it to me. I saw a weapon in it, The name is Chariot of Fire.Until two months ago, we successfully restored it, and the damage of the test fire can be compared with the eight-pound gun, so I think it can be included in the artillery use system, and then I borrowed the name of the Greek fire.

Ekaterina took the test firing data and design drawings in her hand and looked at them, while Paul took the model in her hand and looked at them.

After a while, Ekaterina read all the data and drawings, and said, "Alexander, can you guarantee that this weapon can pass the actual combat test? If so, then equip it with your army first. After the actual combat test, then equip it to all restructured legions.Alexander, you continue to talk about your reform plan.

Alexander continued: The third item is the reform of the conscription system. We need to promote universal military service and require all physically qualified men to serve for 5 years.The army should give good treatment to grassroots soldiers, and should not rely on family background to make decisions when promoting officers.And we will implement this in the royal territory first, and the universal military service system will spread to the whole country as the reform advances.The fourth item is training and discipline. The artillery of each regiment needs to fire [-] rounds of shells every month, and the infantry of each regiment needs to fire [-] rounds of ammunition every month. There are only two words in terms of discipline. "Obey" two words.

Ekaterina didn't expect the training to be so big, so she asked: This is impossible, the domestic production capacity can't keep up with this consumption rate, instead, each regiment's artillery fires a hundred rounds every month, The infantry fired [-] rounds.In this way, it also exceeds the domestic production capacity.

Alexander said: Grandma, have you forgotten what I said earlier that the Royal Industry Agency is used for? In my imagination, he not only undertakes research and development, but also coordinates domestic industrial production.By the way, we have to spend money to take back the weapon factories in the hands of the nobles. How can the most important weapon of the country be placed in the hands of the nobles.

I'll talk about this later, but let's talk about the universal military service first.

Catherine II made a mistake, why did this child keep staring at the nobles and kept teasing her?

If it goes on, even the offshoot of Rurik, who has been passed down for a long time, can't stand it.

Alexander continued: What is the characteristic of the universal military service system? The characteristic is that all male citizens of the right age must serve for a certain number of years.If we limit the year to five years, grandmother, how many low-level officers do you think there will be in your reformed Praetorian Guard?As long as these five years are over, even if there is no actual combat, we can still pull up four more troops with the same organization as the Imperial Guard based on the grassroots officers of your Imperial Guard, and we will treat them equally. To promote military ranks, plus we have to build a military academy.As long as they are instilled with the idea of ​​being loyal to the emperor, once the reform is launched, the universal military service system can be extended to the army controlled by the nobles. Who do you think those officers will be loyal to? We can give them a path to ascend and give the entire country the glory of the emperor. What can nobles give, money?Beauty?Power?To put it bluntly, do nobles have as much as we give?

Alexander, you are directly hollowing out the nobles.What should we do if the power of serfs develops to the point where it is difficult to check and balance? Do we rely on the abolished nobles?Ekaterina asked worriedly.

Then it depends on whether the nobles are obedient or not. If they are obedient, then let them die. Divide the cake on the table.Alexander stood directly in front of Ekaterina and looked directly at him.

In fact, nobility cannot be destroyed. Even if the current nobility is eliminated, the current serfs will become new nobility. Therefore, as long as the emperor and the royal family do not mess themselves up, it is enough to keep the balance between the new nobility and the old nobility.Alexander, you are too violent, Ekaterina said, looking at her grandson indifferently.

Paul suddenly said: Alexander, you can imagine that this place is already very good.As your grandmother said, nobility will never disappear. The new power will always become the old nobility one day, but if the new power will become the old nobility one day, then there will be a day when a newer class will appear.As long as we have a good balance.

Alexander listened to the advice of his grandmother and father, and fell into thinking.

Am I being too harsh on the nobles, I don’t need to end the game myself, I just need to balance the various forces in the country, or is it…
After thinking for a long time, Alexander realized that the existence of classes is inevitable. No one can completely erase the entire class. Even if they are erased, the new class will still become the class you erased. If a new class appears, it must be supported. The new class, those in power must not die of exhaustion.

Alexander came back to his senses, looked at his grandmother and father who were worried about something wrong with him, and said: Don't worry, grandmother and father.I figured it out, as long as I have a good balance, no matter if I am a noble or a serf, or a new class emerges, I can sit firmly on the throne.But if they are disobedient, don't blame me for killing them.

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The European Army in the Napoleonic Era: The Battalion as the Basic Tactical Unit.Each battalion has six to eight companies, about 1000 to 1800 people; the second to third battalions are a regiment; the second regiment is a brigade; the second brigade is a division.A division is a strategic unit, composed of various types of arms, with eight to ten infantry battalions (36 to [-] in number) and two artillery companies (twelve cannons). In [-], Napoleon used the Legion as a strategic unit, including two to three infantry divisions, one light cavalry division (three to four regiments), and [-] to [-] guns.

Conscription: From the universal military service advocated by Marshal Maurice Sachs of France.

Fire chariot: The fire chariot is a hand-push chariot used to launch rockets in the Ming Dynasty in China, and it is an early multiple rocket launcher.It was more than 500 years earlier than the official use of rocket launchers in European countries.The fire chariot has the characteristics of salvo firepower similar to modern rocket launchers and rapid transfer mobility.It also has some basic performances of modern tanks in terms of firepower, mobility and protection, so it occupies an important position in the history of weapon development, and it is also one of my country's outstanding creations in rocket launchers.

Grebeauval gun system: The Grebeauval gun system was developed by General Grebeauval, and its purpose was to replace the previous Valier gun system.The Valier gun system was developed by François de Vallier. There are 24-pound, 12-pound, 8-pound and 4-pound guns in the artillery unit, as well as three standard mortars.Due to its mechanical organization, it has become obsolete on the battlefield.Gribeauval removed the 24-pound gun, replaced the mortar with a new six-inch howitzer, and increased the range without reducing power.The new combat system became the mainstream artillery system during the Napoleonic Wars, and the howitzers using grape bullets showed their prowess in the Battle of Jena.

Chakhtu: On September 1727, 9 (the fifth year of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty), Tsarist Russia and the Qing government signed the "Blensky Treaty" here, and on June 1 of the following year, they signed the "Treaty of Kyakta".According to the provisions of the treaty, the two countries are bounded by the Kyakhta River, and the Kyakhta River in Hebei Province belongs to Russia.The Qing Dynasty built a new town in Henan, Altanbulag, as a Sino-Russian trade place, and the Chinese name was "Buying City".According to the treaty, the two countries took Kyakhta as the boundary, and the old city street was assigned to Russia. The Qing Dynasty built a new Kyakhta street in the south of the old city street.The treaty also stipulated that Russian merchants were allowed to trade, and the number of them should not exceed 6, and they could enter Beijing once every three years.The trade in Kyakhta and Altanbulag is flourishing day by day.Since Jiaqing and Daoguang, tea was the bulk of the commodity China exported from Kyakhta to Russia, and its business was monopolized by Shanxi merchants.In addition, China also exported silk, cotton cloth, fruit, porcelain, rice, candles, rhubarb, ginger, musk, etc. to Russia, while Russia exported fur, textiles, garments, raw leather, leather, tools, cattle, etc. to China.

Military Equipment Quality: It is an important military work of the Ming Dynasty, and it is a comprehensive military book with the largest number of words in ancient China. The editing and publication of "Wu Bei Zhi" has practical significance for changing the situation in the late Ming Dynasty where literature was valued over military affairs, most generals did not know the art of war, and military equipment was abolished.It has detailed categories and complete collections, and is an important military book similar to a military encyclopedia.Many very precious materials are recorded in it, such as "Zheng He's Nautical Chart", Zajia Formation Chart and some weapons, which are rarely included in other books.Therefore, the book occupies a high position in military history and is highly valued by later generations.

(End of this chapter)