I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 203 I have long disliked you.

When Georgi was still in St. Petersburg, he envied George's freedom.

Although George has no one to take care of him, he has a lot of assets in his name. There is the Yekaterin Palace in St. Petersburg, an oak park on the outskirts of the city, and a manor in Moscow. No matter what George does, no one can tell.

The Tsar was the largest landowner in the world.

Although Georgi and Nicholas are princes, their assets to their names are not as much as George's.

So it is understandable that Nicholas hid people in the Oak Park.

It is not impossible to build a golden house in St. Petersburg. It is very easy for Nicholas.

Nicholas is the crown prince, and now he is rich. It is not easy to build a house in St. Petersburg.

But the problem is that it is not safe for him in St. Petersburg.

Even if Nikolai built a golden house in St. Petersburg, he would not be able to come and go freely. If a bomb was thrown along the way, the consequences would be serious.

On the contrary, the Oak Park, which is closest to Gatchina Palace, is the best place.

It's safe and quiet.

The key point is that after several years of George's efforts, Oak Park's infrastructure is quite complete, and the road traffic conditions and security measures are very complete. If Nikolai is left to do it by himself, he may not be able to do as well as George.

No, not necessarily.

Rather yes.

"What are you looking for? I'll trade with you -"

Nicholas and George were not polite at all.

What Ya San was most worried about finally happened.

A large part of the reason why Yasan granted Amur to George was because he was worried that Nicholas would become the czar and grant St. Petersburg to George.

This is definitely a joke, but considering the relationship between George and Nicholas, it is not impossible.

After Asan ascended the throne, he asked his younger brother Sergei to go to Moscow, and at the same time, Sergei shouldered the two key positions of Governor of Moscow and Commander of the Moscow Military District.

Georgi's health has not improved for a long time, and he is probably unreliable.

Mikhail is only 8 years old, and the age gap between him and Nikolai is too big, so they can't have fun together and their relationship is not deep.

So when Nicholas becomes the Tsar, George will become Nicholas's most trusted person.

Now Nicholas has not yet become a tsar, but he is already showing signs of becoming a coward.

"No, I live in Oak Garden anyway, and Oak Garden will give it to you——"

George is generous, whatever is mine is ours.

"How can that be done? I can't take advantage of you."

Nicholas was resolute. The more George refused, the more Nicholas wanted to give.

Having said that, it would be a bit disrespectful to refuse again.

Nicholas was very generous. He found a place for George that was twice the size of the Oak Park. There was also a small lake in the manor that was about 3 kilometers long, 500 meters wide, and about 1.5 square kilometers in area.

The key is that the place is not far from Gatchina Palace, and there is a railway passing by.

George doesn't care, since Nicholas insists so much, then George will.

Nicholas was so grateful that he even helped George build a house.

This time it is no longer a country wooden house, but a palace similar to Yekaterin Palace.

Or rather a castle.

Although the standard of the house has improved, the construction period will also increase accordingly, and it is estimated that it will not be completed within one or two years.

During this time, George still had to live in the military camp.

After Ignaev recovered, he returned to Bulgaria and became the emperor.

The Oak Group has returned to St. Petersburg.

The Tsar was assassinated one after another, and Nicholas paid more attention to the security of Gatchina Palace to an unprecedented degree.

The Oak Regiment was the most powerful regiment in the Russian Empire and was naturally appointed as the Palace Guard by Nicholas. Only after George returned to St. Petersburg did he find that he was alone again.

Not considered a loner, either.

Nicholas just transferred the soldiers of the Oak Regiment, leaving the officers to George, and asked George to reorganize the Oak Regiment——

This time it's not the Legion, but the Oak Division.

Since it was a division, George's military rank was naturally promoted to major general.

This is not a Bulgarian pheasant major general, but a Guards Cavalry major general of the Russian Empire.

Although George is a major general of the Guards Cavalry, the Oak Division is not a cavalry division, but a standard infantry division.

It's not that Nicholas no longer loves George, but that Nicholas can't raise enough horses at the moment, so the Oak Division can only be infantry.

Like the previous Oak Regiment, the Oak Division was not affiliated with the Guards, but was under the direct command of the Tsar (Crown Prince).

Since it is not the Guards or a local army, George does not need to follow the organization of the Russian Army.

George directly followed the oak regiment model and expanded it into a three-three infantry division.

In addition to three infantry regiments, the Oak Division also has artillery regiments, engineering regiments, communications battalions, supply battalions, field hospitals and other establishments. The division has a total strength of 1.3 people.

This establishment is a bit small compared to the Army.

At this time, the Russian Empire's army had approximately 1.6 troops per division.

The Russian army division is composed of two brigades and four regiments. Each regiment has four infantry battalions, which is a typical square division.

Compared with the Cube Division, the configuration of the Rubber Regiment is more reasonable, with more auxiliary troops. Although the combat strength is reduced, the combat effectiveness will be stronger.

Ye Luoxin went to the Talisman Corps, and one of the three regiment leaders on the Oak Division team was missing.

George didn't want to ask Nicholas for help, so he simply asked Yankov to be the leader of the third regiment.

"Duke, I want to go to the infantry regiment -" Vasily no longer wanted to lead the artillery regiment, but wanted to lead the troops to fight the enemy on the front line.

"As for you, if you have any requests, please make them quickly——"

George is now considered to have a strong army. Demeter, Andrei, and Vasily all hold the rank of colonel, and are only one step away from being a general.

For many people, although there is only one step away from colonel to general, they will never be able to complete this step in their lifetime.

For Demeter, Andrei, and Vasily, as long as their conditions are met, they can be promoted, and no one can compete with them.

This is the advantage of following the boss.

"Duke, can you equip the troops with some trucks? In that case, the troops' mobility can be greatly improved."

Demit has been taught by Milyutin by words and deeds for more than ten years, and his vision is still good.

"It's not realistic. The output of that thing is low now, the failure rate is high, and the requirements for road traffic are also very high. Within three to five years, there is no hope."

George also wanted to equip the army with enough trucks, but George had no say in this matter.

If it were just George's guard, then the equipment would be sufficient. Anyway, there are only one or two hundred people, and there is no need for a few trucks.

The Oak Division has 1.3 men. If it wants to be reorganized into a motorized infantry division, it will need at least 1000 vehicles. The workers in Vladivostok will be exhausted and cannot be completed within a year.

In this case, it is better to use the limited production to make money, and use the money earned to continue to develop technology. When the production increases, the technology will be almost perfect, and it will not be too late to equip the troops.

"Is an additional scout force necessary?"

Andre also thought about this issue, which is equally critical.

There is no need to emphasize the role of scouts in the army. The reason why the Oak Regiment was invincible during the Rivne exercise has a lot to do with its pervasive battlefield reconnaissance.

George also has the idea of ​​forming a scout force. There is no need to even select scouts. George's guards can be directly adapted into a reconnaissance company.

"This is a good idea. The scout force must be formed."

George went with the flow.

Yankov immediately raised his hand.

"Duke, can I go to the Scout Troop?"

"The scouts are a company—"

"It doesn't matter, I do!"

Yangkov took the initiative to ask for help, but he did not want to bring artillery.

"Do you have any objections to artillery?"

George was curious, why don't you guys like cannons?
  This is actually normal.

Just because you like it doesn't mean you have to join.

Compared with the artillery far away from the battlefield, it is indeed a front-line combat unit, which makes people excited.

The old guys are all meritorious officials. They have to work hard even if they don’t have merit. They can’t be forced.

Fortunately, there are still young people around George who can be exploited.

"Peter, it's time for you to learn to be independent."

George has kept Peter with him for the past few years. If nothing else, at least Peter's math scores are enough to become a qualified artilleryman.

"I--"

Peter, who had been full of envy just now, suddenly felt dry.

Peter is as old as George.

George has now become a general, and Peter is still working as an adjutant beside George. There is no prospect of being released overseas.

Peter's current military rank is major, which is indeed a bit too young to be the leader of a regiment.

But it doesn't matter. Alexander, the current deputy commander of the artillery regiment, can also serve as the regiment commander. It is enough for Peter to be the deputy commander.

Yankov and Peter all went out, and George raised Yuri up as captain of the guard.

There are many candidates available for adjutants. Mikhail's second son Deyan and second uncle Julian's eldest son Danila are both adults. One of them serves as George's life secretary, and the other serves as George's adjutant.

Some of George's current subordinates were brought by Ye Luoxin, and some were Yekaterina's natal family.

There are also some who defected on their own initiative, represented by Demit and Vasily, as well as Oak Division Chief of Staff Maslov.

Maslov was the only military officer in Bulgaria who remained loyal to the empire.

In Bulgaria, Maslov volunteered to join the Oak Group.

Such a person must be rewarded, so George simply appointed him as the chief of staff of the Oak Division and was responsible for forming the staff.

After taking care of the Oak Division, George began to run between the military camp and Gatchina Palace.

The empire's move to nationalize the railways did not go smoothly. The main resistance was related to the princes who owned shares in major private railway companies.

The boss of the railway company is not stupid. He knows that when doing business in the Russian Empire, he needs to find a talisman for himself.

Therefore, the princes who spend a lot of money but have no way to make money become the best targets to cling to.

The income and dividends received by the princes from private railway companies amounted to millions of rubles every year.

Once the empire nationalized private railway companies, this revenue would cease to exist.

How willing are the princes?

"George, you have to help me—"

The first person Nicholas thought of was George.

"OK, no problem."

George would never refuse. He had long disliked these princes.

(End of this chapter)