I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 524 Showing weakness to the enemy
Even though France and Russia are allies, France will not support the Russian Empire's demands on the issue of access to the Black Sea. As long as the Russian Empire shows its ambitions for access to the Black Sea, it will arouse opposition from the French.

The same goes for the British. If the Russian Empire reveals its ambitions too early, the tragedy of the Ninth Russo-Turkish War will be repeated.

Therefore, the Russian Empire had to seize access to the Black Sea before Britain and France could react, as the opportunity was fleeting.

"So, we need to recruit more troops."

Little Nicholas' first reaction was to expand the army.

After the disarmament, the strength of the Russian Army is still insufficient for defense, and it is impossible to spare any troops for offense.

This is exactly what George wants.

Compared with other countries, the biggest advantage of the Russian Empire was its fast mobilization speed.

Britain, France, Germany and Austria mobilized, and most of the recruits were farmers. They had to undergo a long period of training before they could be put into combat, which was generally around three to six months.

The Cossacks received military training from an early age, so the training time required after joining the army would be greatly reduced. During the Russo-Japanese War, most of the Cossacks recruited by the empire were only trained for about a month before being sent to the Far East.

Although George cut back on military forces, the speed of producing weapons and equipment did not slow down. More than 150 million rifles were stored in the arsenal in St. Petersburg. As long as necessary, the empire could mobilize millions of troops at any time.

"No, at least not now."

George will continue to send peace signals to the outside world.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Korean and Japanese armies proved with their battle records that their combat effectiveness was not much worse than that of the Cossacks.

In the first phase of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army's weapons and equipment had no advantage over the Russian army.

The reason why the Japanese army was so unstoppable was not only because of Kuropatkin's strategic mistakes, but also because of the full demonstration of the Japanese army's combat effectiveness.

Compared with the Cossacks, Japanese soldiers are indeed inferior. If George is given the same number of Cossacks, he can teach the Japanese a lesson at any time.

But if the Japanese army was pulled into the Balkan Peninsula, George felt that the Ottomans might not be able to withstand the Japanese's sudden attack.

Therefore, George did not expand the military in the Russian and European regions, but expanded the military in Japan and Goryeo. At that time, he would use the Japanese and Goryeo armies to seize the Black Sea outlet for the Russian Empire.

"Why do we need to recruit the Japanese? I don't like the Japanese!"

Little Nicholas' attitude was clear.

George smiled and said nothing.

Little Nicholas just couldn't wrap his mind around it.

George doesn't like the Japanese either.

That's why George sent the Japanese to be cannon fodder.

"It's settled, George. I trust you."

Nicholas liked George's plan very much.

On the last day of October, George and Nikolay went to the train station together to see Anne and Alex off to Amur.

The winter in St. Petersburg was not very friendly to Alexei. Every winter Alex would take Alexei to Crimea and return to St. Petersburg in the spring.

This year Alex decided to take Alexei to Amur, partly to spend the winter and partly to treat Alexei's illness.

The Tsar's train consists of 8 carriages, each of which has the emblem of the Romanov family. The first carriage is for servants and the Tsar's guards, the second carriage is the kitchen, and the third carriage is the dining room and living room, also known as the mahogany carriage.

Carriage 4 is reserved for Nikolai and his wife. There is an office for Nikolai, with a desk and bookcases, and three rooms for Alex, where his personal belongings are placed. The children are in Carriage 5, where the wallpaper and carpet are red and the furniture is white.

The 6th carriage was still for attendants and guards, the 7th carriage was for luggage, and the 8th carriage was for doctors and other staff.

Except for Boris, all the other children accompanied Anne to accompany Alex to Amur. In order to ensure that Alexei could receive better care, all the princesses also accompanied them.

Nicholas was reluctant to leave and hugged and kissed Alexi and the children one by one. Alexi didn't care as he was too young to understand what separation meant. The princesses were all excited about the strange journey they were about to begin.

"May God bless Amusa to recover his health."

On the way back to the Winter Palace, Nicholas was in a bad mood.

"Cheer up Nikki, our wives are not around right now, we are two happy bachelors!"

George tried to lighten the mood.

Nicholas still had the handkerchief in his hand. Only after George reminded him did he realize how wonderful this was.

"Boris, no matter what we do, you won't tell your mother, right?"

Nicholas gave Polis a shot of prevention in advance.

"As long as you don't go too far, I'll pretend I don't know."

Boris was still too naive. He didn't know how happy it was for a married man to have his wife not around.

That night, Nicholas held a banquet for his ministers in the Winter Palace to celebrate the establishment of the Balkan League.

This reason was too perfunctory. The Balkan League had been established for more than a month, and Nicholas had already celebrated it.

But it didn't matter. No one would make Nicholas unhappy at a time like this. It was rare for Nicholas to be so happy. George also accompanied Nicholas to drink two more glasses.

Unlike Nikolai who was completely let go, after getting on the train, Alex did nothing but take care of Alexei and pray.

Alexei was lucky and did not feel any discomfort.

George had no time to relax. After entering winter, the construction speed of all-heavy artillery battleships slowed down seriously. If it could not be accelerated, it would most likely not be able to be put into service by the end of next year.

If there is any hidden danger in a surprise attack on the Black Sea outlet, it must be the navy.

The Black Sea Fleet does not have a single decent warship, but the Ottoman Empire's four all-heavy artillery battleships have been commissioned this year. If George has no way to deal with the Ottoman Navy, then he will not be able to completely take control of the Black Sea outlet.

At most you can take half.

Peter returned to St. Petersburg and reported to George on the reorganization of the Black Sea Fleet.

This summer, St. Petersburg recruited soldiers, and George replenished all the sailors in the Black Sea Fleet, and formed a Marine division in Crimea.

The number of submarines in the Black Sea Fleet has increased to 6. The first destroyer has been successfully commissioned, and 4 more destroyers will be commissioned within the next year.

Although the performance of destroyers was far behind that of all-heavy artillery battleships, they were at least able to pose a threat to the Ottoman Navy.

This time, Peter came back to George, hoping that George could transfer the two battleships that Japan paid as compensation to the Russian Empire to the Black Sea to strengthen the strength of the Black Sea Fleet.

George asked Peter to be prepared, especially the Marine Division, which would be of great use to George if war broke out.

(End of this chapter)