I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 502 Cross-border
Nicholas was not completely ignorant of the problems in the Navy Department, otherwise he would not have called George back from afar and asked George to be responsible for military reform.

The "Great Navy Plan" has become history, and Nicholas can let bygones be bygones.

The empire invested 100 million rubles in rebuilding its navy despite its extremely difficult financial situation, and Nicholas could not afford to make any mistakes this time.

The budget reported by the Navy Ministry for all heavy artillery battleships was as high as 2200 million rubles per ship.

The Vladivostok Shipyard built a full heavy artillery battleship at a cost of only 1500 million.

And that’s just the budget.

Based on past shipbuilding experience, the final expenditure will definitely be more than this.

"Worms, all worms, damn worms!"

Nicholas was furious, and old and new hatreds surged into his heart.

After the defeat of the Russo-Japanese War, the people of St. Petersburg were outraged. In the end, Nicholas took all the responsibility on himself, and the relevant responsible personnel escaped.

The shadow of defeat has not yet faded away, domestic conflicts have become increasingly acute, and Nicholas has worked hard to stabilize the domestic situation, but some people are still desperately making money.

"Why do they need so much money? Isn't what the Empire gives them enough?"

Nicholas was completely disappointed with these parasitic vampires, who never seemed to have thought that once the empire collapsed, their accumulated wealth would also be destroyed.

not always.

It's hard to say about others, but George knew someone who had a huge deposit in Deutsche Bank alone, enough to build a battleship equipped with all heavy artillery.

Not only deposits, the grand dukes' properties are spread all over Europe, especially in France, and are extremely favored by the Grand Duke of St. Petersburg.

After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Amur became a new hotspot for the grand dukes of St. Petersburg to buy houses and land. The land prices near Peter the Great Bay more than doubled, all thanks to this group of people.

Now smart people know that Amur is the safest place in the empire. At least you don’t need to carry a pistol when you go out.

George didn't know how Nicholas talked to Alexei. Just after Nicholas summoned Alexei, Alexei resigned from the post of Minister of the Navy due to poor health.

Nicholas came to George again, hoping that George would also serve as Minister of the Navy.

"You want me, a cavalry admiral who has never been to a military academy, to be the Minister of the Navy?"

George was speechless. This arrangement was too casual.

"George, if I can't even trust you, who else can I trust--"

In just a few days, Nicholas looked several years older.

Born in 1868, Nicholas was only four years older than George.

But it seems that Nicholas is the uncle.

George counted on his fingers and realized that there were indeed only a few people left that Nicholas could trust.

Let's give it a try. Peter had never attended military school for a single day before joining the Siberian Fleet, but now he has become the most outstanding naval general of the Russian Empire. George can do it too.

However, George's situation is more difficult than Peter's at the beginning.

When Peter first joined the navy, the Siberian Fleet was still the Amur River Fleet. There were only a few ships and the interpersonal relationships were relatively simple.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Empire's senior naval commanders and experienced naval officers were almost wiped out. The four newly built all-heavy artillery battleships could not even gather qualified crews. Milyukin didn't know where to start. George sent a telegram to Peter, asking him if he was willing to serve as deputy minister of the navy.

George is also responsible for military reform and cannot focus all his energy on the Navy Department. He needs a confidant to handle daily work.

Forget about Oscar Enqvist. As soon as George became the Minister of the Navy, he dismissed Oscar Enqvist from his post and sent Enqvist to the Naval Academy to organize information about the Russo-Japanese War with Kuropatkin.

Speaking of the Academy of Sciences.

When George was reviewing the list of officers, he actually found a famous acquaintance - Kolchak.

Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was not a Cossack. His great-great-grandfather Ilias joined the Ottoman army and participated in the Fourth Russo-Turkish War.

Elias was captured during the war and was taken to St. Petersburg with his two sons, where they were held until the end of the war.

After Elias was released, he was planning to return to Constantinople with his son, but when he heard that the Sultan was going to kill them for "treason", he changed his mind and swore allegiance to Russia.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Kolchak commanded a minelayer, and the mines he laid sank three Japanese transport ships and the cruiser "Takasago", for which he was awarded a medal.

After the fall of Fort Arthur, Kolchak and the rest of his troops became prisoners of war. After the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, Kolchak was released and has been unemployed ever since.

George remembered Kolchak because of the movie "The Fearless Admiral Kolchak".

After the February Revolution, the Tsar abdicated and Kolchak was the first admiral to swear allegiance to the Provisional Government and publicly stated: I serve not this or that form of government, but my motherland, which I regard as above all else.

After the October Revolution, Kolchak commanded the White Army as the "Supreme Governor of Russia".

In 1920, Kolchak was executed.

Kolchak was now organizing information about polar exploration at the Academy of Sciences. As a hydrologist, he participated in the expedition to find the legendary "Sannikov's Land".

Peter agreed to serve as Vice-Minister of the Navy, and he would come to St. Petersburg only after he had arranged the work of the Siberian Fleet.

The post of fleet commander was taken over by deputy fleet commander Rakitsky.

George transferred Kolchak to the Navy Ministry and served as his adjutant in the Navy Ministry.

Kolchak was surprised; he had not expected that he could return to the navy.

The naval officers and soldiers captured in the Russo-Japanese War were either marginalized or retired after the war. Their experiences in the Russo-Japanese War will become a shame that can never be washed away.

The fall of Fort Arthur was not Kolchak's responsibility; his position was too low to change the course of the war.

It was only after George took over the post of Secretary of the Admiralty that he found out that although the construction of all-heavy artillery battleships had already begun, the Admiralty had not yet started personnel training and there was no one responsible for this work.

Milyutin was worried because naval gunners are not trained overnight. After George took over, he expected the new battleships to be in service within two years. It would be funny if the warships were built by then but there were not enough gunners.

George was not in a hurry. All the fortress troops of the empire were about to be disbanded, and those skilled gunners could be sent to serve in the navy.

The selection of officers was not difficult. George selected officers from the Naval Academy as much as possible. He would not use those left over from the Alexei era if possible.

On December 12, Peter arrived in St. Petersburg.

That night, Alexei died of a sudden illness.

(End of this chapter)