I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 537: Drinking really messes things up
Kronstadt is located on Kotlin Island in the eastern Gulf of Finland, only 29 kilometers away from St. Petersburg. Construction of the fortress began in 1703, and it later became the most important base of the Baltic Fleet.

Kronstadt is derived from the German word for royal city.

When he was in St. Petersburg, Tirpitz had already experienced the luxury of the Russian Empire. Although he was surprised, it was not much.

Both Germany and Russia were imperial states. When it came to Tirpitz's level, champagne, caviar and the like were not rare; he had as much as he wanted.

Kronstadt also prepared champagne and caviar for the officers and soldiers of the participating fleet in the dinner.

Moreover, these champagne and caviar are not only provided to officers, but also to sailors.

The treatment of German sailors is second to none in the German army. Not only do they have meat for every meal, but sausages and bacon are also common, and their food can be improved every week.

Russian soldiers really have meat for every meal. The navy stipulates that each person should have 400 grams of meat per day, which is unique in the world.

Moreover, the meat that Russian sailors eat is not sausage, but fresh meat.

George was able to come up with something fun, and invited a chef from a St. Petersburg restaurant to prepare barbecue for the participating troops on the spot.

The sailors were very happy to see the steaming flatbreads brushed with a special sauce, rolled with fragrant barbecued meat, and topped with some refreshing lettuce and onions.

Champagne and caviar were a pleasant surprise.

At the dinner George prepared for the German officers, champagne and caviar were unlimited.

The sailors had only a glass of champagne and a plate of caviar, and plenty of vodka and barbecue.

Tirpitz didn't know whether Russian sailors ate like this every day.

If German sailors ate like this every day, the German Ministry of Finance would go bankrupt.

"The Russians must have done this on purpose!"

Tirpitz's chief of staff, Reinhard Scheer, also realized that the situation was not good.

It was indeed a blessing to eat like this every day in the Russian Empire.

But after getting used to champagne and caviar, will you still be able to eat sausages and bacon when you return to Germany?
Not to mention champagne and caviar, even the German Navy couldn't afford to eat sausages and bacon every day.

This is not really a slander. Although the total industrial output value of the Russian Empire is not as high as that of Germany, the living standards of Germans are actually not as good as those of Russians.

The Russian Empire was the largest exporter of agricultural products in Europe, and Germany also needed to import agricultural products from Russia to meet domestic consumption.

Tirpitz said nothing, but looked at the German sailors eating with relish, his heart filled with worry.

The military expenditures of Germany and the Russian Empire have always been similar.

In recent years, Germany has taken the initiative to provoke an arms race and has allocated more resources to naval construction. The German government seems to be unable to cope with the situation, so Tirpitz showed weakness to Britain.

After the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Empire's naval development stagnated for a time, and for two whole years, it did not build a single warship of more than 10,000 tons.

The last time the Russian Empire borrowed money from Britain, it built four Ganguts.

This time, four more "Queen Marias" were built with a joint loan from Britain and France.

What made Tirpitz particularly angry was that this joint loan was actually based on the fact that he was fooled by George.

Although George has apologized to Tirpitz for breaking the agreement.

But no matter how stupid Tirpitz was, he now realized that he was being used by George.

What submarine agreement? It's a complete scam.

But Tirpitz had no reason to blame George.

If the submarine agreement had not been first disclosed by the Berlin media, it would not have triggered strong opposition from Britain and France.

The Berlin media wanted to sow discord between the Russian Empire and Britain and France, but they ended up making things worse.

It can only be said that being too clever may lead to mistakes. So making a fortune quietly is the best way.

George was very satisfied with today's exercise process, and especially praised the quality of the German sailors, saying that the overall level of the German Navy was no less than that of the British Royal Navy.

This should be considered flattery.

But to Tirpitz, it sounded full of malice.

What? You won't be satisfied until our two families fight each other, right?

Peter suggested adding a bombardment event to tomorrow's exercise to see how powerful Nassau's 280 main gun is.

Although the Victory and Crown Prince are dreadnoughts, their main guns are both caliber 305mm.
Tirpitz decisively refused, not wanting to expose the strength of "Nassau" too early.

George was in no hurry; he had received enough information.

Thanks to Tirpitz's hard work, the German Navy did make great progress.

George was not a man who just wanted to get a job. The most important thing he did after becoming the Secretary of the Navy was to eliminate unqualified aristocratic officers. Subsequently, the morale of the Baltic Fleet soared.

The Russian Empire stipulated that each sailor should be supplied with 400 grams of fresh meat per day. In practice, this standard was often not met, otherwise the Black Sea Fleet would not have rebelled.

Let George train the sailors, but he is not as good as Peter.

So George did what he did best and took charge of logistics.

It is hard to say whether the current logistical supply of the Russian Imperial Army has reached the required level.

At least the Navy is following the prescribed standards and ensuring that soldiers have 400 grams of fresh meat every day.

There is a popular saying in the army: when you are full, you will miss home. This was also true in the Russian Empire.

At present, the training level of the Baltic Fleet is not inferior to that of the German High Seas Fleet.

Once eight all-heavy artillery battleships are in service, George will not be afraid even if the High Seas Fleet moves all its main forces to the Baltic Sea.

George warmly entertained the German navy that came from afar, which was supposed to be a good host, but an accident happened that night.

The officers and soldiers of the participating fleet are all elite, young and energetic, and none of them is willing to submit to anyone else.

The Russian Empire was wealthy and powerful, and people were allowed to drink vodka without limit. Soldiers were greedy for wine and easily caused conflicts after getting drunk.

Before George's banquet was over, Kolchak came to report that Russian sailors had beaten German sailors.

"Is anyone dead?"

George wasn't surprised, as long as no one died.

"He's not dead—"

Kolchak hesitated.

Kronstadt is the home port of the Baltic Fleet. Although the Baltic Fleet has few warships participating in the exercise, its sailors are numerous and their combat effectiveness is obviously higher than that of the German sailors.

It started as a verbal argument between two sailors, which then turned into a physical fight.

The fighting capacity of the Cossacks was world-famous, and the German sailors were obviously not superior, so they asked the friendly German sailors for help.

It is actually normal for sailors to fight. The rule is one-on-one, and conflicts must be resolved on the spot. They are not allowed to hold grudges or bring up old scores afterwards.

The German sailors broke the rules, and the watching Baltic Fleet sailors also rushed forward, and more and more people joined in the fight.

The sailors were relatively restrained and did not use their knives or guns.

But more than 20 German sailors were injured in the brawl, which was a big deal.

(End of this chapter)