I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 453 Sheepskin Jacket

When there was a sudden heavy snowfall in Arthur's Fortress, the sun was just right in Siping.

As the Russian army advances southward, the Russian army in Siping is gradually decreasing, from nearly 12 at its peak in December to less than 19 now.

In addition to the headquarters staff and garrison troops, there is also George's personal guard, the Yuriev Cavalry Division.

In addition to the security personnel sent by the empire, the Grand Duke can also form a private guard with no limit on the number. In theory, as long as he is not afraid of spending money, he can form a guard of 100 million people.

But if someone really did that, Nicholas would probably have trouble sleeping at night.

The Yuriev Cavalry Division only has 6000 men, which is not excessive compared to the environment in the Far East.

George had very high requirements for this unit. In addition to military literacy and strict discipline, George also put forward higher requirements.

George asked the members of Yuriev's Cavalry Division to hold themselves to the standard of "knights".

The eight virtues of knighthood are: humility, honesty, mercy, heroism, justice, sacrifice, honor, and soul.

Some of these eight virtues use religious methods to strengthen knights' loyalty to their superiors, turning knights into the sharpest weapons in the hands of rulers.

Humility, for example, means fearing God and treating oneself and others equally.

Equality is right, but "fearing God" is obviously mixed with private goods.

The soul directly requires the knight's soul to belong to God, and he must make a contribution to God no matter what the circumstances.

George secretly changed the concept, replacing the concept of God with the empire.

So the meaning of humility and soul becomes loyalty to the empire.

Loyal to Grand Duke Yuriev——

Russians also worship heroism, which is evident from their admiration for Suvorov.

After George became the governor of the Far East, he first held on to Siping and would rather die in battle than retreat.

Then he fought for the honor of the empire against the pressure of St. Petersburg.

These two points alone are enough to make George an irreplaceable "contemporary military god" in the eyes of the Cossacks.

Suvorov has been dead for 200 years.

It’s time for the empire to welcome a new military god!

"A true warrior should not aim his butcher knife at the weak, but should have the courage to challenge; the Cossacks are not gray animals, but the most loyal guards of the empire. We are fighting for honor and the empire!"

George did not want the Cossacks to be reduced to ruthless war machines, and whenever he had the opportunity, he would give the officers of Yuriev's cavalry division some trouble.

Cossacks are not born bloodthirsty, the key lies in guidance.

George didn't just paint cakes, he gave him all the benefits he deserved.

The Amur soldiers' remuneration is already generous, plus wartime allowances and various rewards. The Amur soldiers really look down on the chickens in ordinary people's homes.

George didn't ask the Cossacks to go to people's homes to fetch water when they had nothing to do. That request was too high and the Cossacks couldn't do it.

Do not bully the weak and do not kill innocent people indiscriminately. This is the most basic requirement.

Only if you do this first can you be qualified to say mercy.

Yuri, the captain of the vanguard and now the commander of the Yuriev Cavalry Division, hesitated to speak.

There have been a lot of good news recently, which is a good thing.

However, the Japanese army massacred women and children, which filled the officers and soldiers of Yuriev's Cavalry Division with indignation and took the initiative to fight.

The Yuriev Cavalry Division is George's guard. Unless George's headquarters is attacked and security is threatened, the Yuriev Cavalry Division will not participate in the battle.

After this battle, everyone can receive a commemorative medal, regardless of whether they participated in the battle or not.

After all, the Memorial Medal is not a military medal.

"Don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future -"

George reassured Yuri that if he followed him, he wouldn't have to worry about not having a fight.

Don't look at George advocating the Japanese threat theory all day long. In fact, Japan has never been George's target.

George did not even regard Germany as his biggest opponent.

Britain is.

For George, Japan was just the appetizer.

Germany is a side dish.

Britain is the main course.

That's why George treated Dewey to a goose stewed in an iron pot.

Dewey came to Siping as a military observer only after the conflict in the Far East broke out.

Dewey was too curious about the Russo-Japanese War.

With the strength of the Russian Empire, it would not be completely defeated in the Russo-Japanese War.

In Dewey's view, the result of the Pohang Naval Battle was the true reflection of the strength of the two countries——

Not right either.

Although the all-heavy artillery battleship is excellent, it will not allow the Siberian Fleet to reach the level of strength that can easily annihilate the combined fleet.

But if you calculate it this way, the combined fleet does not have the strength to annihilate the Pacific Fleet and the Second Fleet.

In short, this war left Dewey with too many mysteries.

In Siping, Dewey seemed to have found the answer.

In the history of Western wars, Napoleon's status is very high.

Therefore, Napoleon's famous words about the Cossacks nailed the Russian Empire and the Cossacks to the pillar of shame.

When Alexeyev served as the governor of Kwantung, Dewey had frequent dealings with the Russian troops in Kwantung.

The Cossacks under Alexeyev are completely different from the Cossacks under George. They are two completely different groups.

It was common for the Cossacks under Alexeyev to get drunk and cause trouble, and robbery and murder were also common. The Cossacks under George's command were strictly disciplined. Those who were drunk and made trouble would be put in solitary confinement, those who robbed would be sentenced, those who killed would be punished with life, and the tools of crime would be confiscated for other crimes.

During the Alexeyev period, the upper beam was not straight and the lower beam was crooked.

As soon as George came up, he used Zasulich's head as a sacrifice to the flag, and the military discipline of the Russian army was immediately affected.

George has always had high requirements for the environment.

So after George came to Siping, the streets of Siping began to get cleaner, the craters were filled, the ruins were cleared, and the lives of Siping residents began to get better.

Cossacks are soldiers.

George would not let the Cossacks work.

Therefore, the local people in Siping are responsible for cleaning the streets and clearing the ruins, and the Far East Russian Army Command will pay them.

Now the Russian army in the Far East is very flexible. If they don’t want rubles, they can use them in kind.

Men have work to do, and women are not idle either.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian troops stayed in Siping, and piles of blankets, clothes and bandages were piled up every day.

It is unrealistic to ask the Cossacks to wash their clothes. If their superiors do not ask for their pure white sheepskin jackets, many Cossacks will wear them until they are dark and then throw them away.

Therefore, the Siping that appeared in front of Dewey was not a battlefield full of chaos, but Dewey's streets were clean and orderly.

Keeping streets tidy is not difficult to achieve.

Being organized is so rare.

To the residents of Siping, the Russian troops were an occupying force, Maozi, and the legendary Rakshasa ghosts that could eat people.

After George came to Siping, the first announcement he made was to recruit cleaners, and the reward was a sheepskin jacket a day.

Dabai, who lives near Siping Railway Station, bravely accepted the job. After sweeping away the snow in the square in front of the train station, Dabai got a new and not old sheepskin jacket.

The reason why I say it's not old is because this sheepskin jacket is almost brand new.

The reason why it's semi-new is because there are two symmetrical holes on the chest of the sheepskin jacket, and the wool around the holes is still a little red.

Da Ming knew that this sheepskin jacket might belong to a Russian soldier who had died in battle.

Although it is unlucky to wear the clothes of a dead person.

But Da Ming didn't care at all.

It doesn't matter if there are holes. Although the mother-in-law at home is not pretty, her hands are quite skillful. If the holes are sewn up, it will be a new dress.

The redness of the wool is not a problem, since no one can see it when wearing it.

If that doesn't work, just put on another coat outside your sheepskin coat so that your wealth is not exposed.

Although sheepskin jackets are common in Amur, they are not common in the Kanto region.

This is Da Ming's first sheepskin coat.

Although the Rakshasa ghosts are ugly, they keep their word and say one thing a day means one thing a day.

After six consecutive days of sweeping the streets and getting a sheepskin jacket for one of his family members, Da Ding found out that the Rakshasa ghost was a little careless.

With a sheepskin coat, adults know that their wealth is kept secret, but children must show it off.

The sheepskin jacket is really good at keeping warm, so Dabai's eldest son caught a cold and started to have a fever. Dabai only worked for half a day that day.

Da Ming thought the sheepskin coat had flown away.

Unexpectedly, during the settlement that afternoon, the Rakshasa ghost didn't notice it at all and still gave Dabai a sheepskin jacket.

So in Dabai, the Rakshasa ghost became Lao Maozi.

Although he got the sheepskin coat, Dabai's mood did not improve because his son had a high fever.

When ordinary people get sick these days, they simply cannot afford to see a doctor.

The only doctor in Siping ran away as soon as the war broke out. Even if he wanted to find a doctor to treat his son, he couldn't find one.

The Kwantung Russian Army had doctors accompanying it.

So when the child's forehead was burning to the touch, Da Ming took his son to find an acquaintance of the Russian army officer and asked the military doctor to treat his son.

The officer Dabai was looking for was Alexander, the health director of the square in front of the train station.

Alexander led Dabai to find a military doctor.

Then Da Ming was scolded.

If the child were delivered later, the gods would not be able to save him.

The doctor prescribed two medicines for Dabai. After the child drank the medicine, his fever began to subside.

Da Ming came to the train station before dawn the next day and started cleaning.

Because I knew I was working very hard that day.

So after the day's work was completed, Alexander rewarded Dabai with a piece of beef in addition to the usual sheepskin coat.

The beef was huge, almost as big as Dabai's son's head.

The beef is very fragrant, Da Ding has never dreamed of it being so fragrant.

So the next day, dozens of neighbors came to the train station with Dabai to look for work.

The beef is so fragrant that you can smell it in almost half of Siping.

The Russian army in Siping often stewed beef, so Siping residents are already familiar with the taste of beef.

But this beef has nothing to do with the residents of Siping. People who don’t work in Amur are not allowed to eat it.

The Chinese tradition has always been that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. We understand that when we have delicious food at home, we should give some to our acquaintances and neighbors, and we cannot eat alone. This habit is no longer in the era of abundant material.

That night, many people finally knew what beef tasted like.

(End of this chapter)