I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 627 Difficult Choices
There is a reason why George has never mobilized the Chinese.

No matter what job the Chinese do, they can do it very well. If the Cossacks are the sword in George's hand, the Chinese are the cornerstone.

The Cossacks were born to fight. Although compulsory education was implemented in Amur long ago, many Cossacks still follow tradition, receive military training from an early age, and do not like to go to school.

In order to change the Cossack habits, the Amur officials had to set up semi-military schools to meet the needs of the Cossack group.

Fighting wars now is different from before. In the past, when the Cossacks went to war, they had to provide their own horses, clothing and even weapons, so they had to receive military training from a young age in order to become a qualified war machine.

As the technological content of weapons and equipment becomes higher and higher, the requirements for the cultural quality of soldiers are also getting higher and higher.

Previously the Cossacks only had to learn how to kill.

Now you want to learn how to repair and maintain the engine, but you can’t even understand the instruction manual. How can you repair it?
The Chinese in Amur are not picky about food. They farm when they are allowed to, fish when they are allowed to, and cut wood when they are allowed to, and they never complain.

As long as you provide Chinese people with a relaxed environment, they will be able to give you a miracle.

Sakhalin Island is proof of this.

After Mikhail came to Amur, he threw some Chinese people in Amur to Sakhalin Island and then almost ignored them.

When those people first arrived in Sakhalin, they didn't even have a house, which was fatal in the Far East.

Without houses, they dug holes in the ground, covered them with wood and soil, and spent the cold winter in these simple "dugouts".

After life stabilized, Sakhalin's economy began to take off, and now Sakhalin's food processing industry ranks among the best in the entire Amur.

Based on the food processing industry, Sakhalin's education and medical care also began to improve. When the Amur Governor's Office officially sent officials to Sakhalin, there was even a middle school on the island.

Knowledge can really change your destiny.

Both Cossacks and Chinese live in Amur and enjoy the same policies. Amur officials even favor Cossacks more, because without official care, many Cossacks would not even live to adulthood.

Based on the Cossack tradition, most Cossacks live a life of instant gratification, their families have no savings, and raising children is a big problem.

As long as the Chinese have the means, they will give their children the best education, even if it means tightening their belts or even losing everything they have.

Two different lifestyles create two completely different lives.

Most of the technology-related jobs in Amur are done by Chinese, whether they are workers in factories, doctors in hospitals, or even most of the technology-related branches in the army, only Chinese can do them.

What George didn't expect was that the Chinese were very enthusiastic about joining the army.

You should know that the main way the Qing Empire recruited soldiers was by conscripting young men.

If it were Europeans, it would be unimaginable to ask them to give up their comfortable office life to join the army.

After the announcement of Amur's mobilization, all localities completed the task in just three days and exceeded the target.

The mobilization advertisement of the Amur Governor's Office is also very appealing: Use the guns in your hands to defend your lives and protect your families.

In comparison, St. Petersburg’s recruitment advertisement is relatively crude, with only one sentence: The Empire needs you!

Amur's mobilized troops will basically not be able to join the war until next year, and cannot be relied upon in the short term.

The troops George had were only able to control such a large area and were unable to attack.

After Nicholas became commander-in-chief, Hindenburg's offensive finally stopped.

This was not because Nicholas was much stronger than Nicholas the Younger, but because the military strength Hindenburg had was limited to taking Warsaw and he had no ability to continue advancing towards Petrograd.

This spring offensive launched by the Russian army ended with more than 150 million Russian casualties and a retreat of more than 200 kilometers.

According to official data released by the Russian army, the Russian military's casualties and prisoners of war have reached 300 million since the outbreak of the war.

The data released by Germany shows that the number of Russian troops captured alone has exceeded 200 million.

Compared with the Russian army, the Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered the same fate.

The official data released by the Austro-Hungarian Empire is even more outrageous. If we refer to the official data, including George, the average death per person is less than once.

According to George's statistics, since the outbreak of the war, more than 70 Austrian troops have been killed or wounded in the Balkan theater alone, 26 have been captured, and 11 German troops have been killed or wounded.

Casualties in the Balkan theater were also around 70.

This figure includes the loss of 40 men in the Kingdom of Serbia.

The data reported to St. Petersburg by the Balkan theater are authentic and reliable.

But after the data was processed in St. Petersburg, it became 170 million Austrian soldiers killed or wounded and 50 German soldiers.

Hindenburg must have been very angry. If he had 50 men, he would have reached Petrograd long ago.

Since the outbreak of the war, the number of troops Hindenburg could mobilize was less than 30 at most.

When the war first broke out, the northern front commanded by Nicholas the Younger had a stockpile of 150 million troops.

The disparity in troop strength was so huge and the battle was fought like this. What else could George say?

All I can say is that Russia is doomed.

What worries George is that there has been heavy rainfall in Russia this summer, causing floods in many places and having a serious impact on agricultural production.

This year is not bad. After all, before the outbreak of the World War, Russia had good harvests for many years and there was basically enough food.

It’s hard to say about next year.

George sent a telegram to Mario, asking him to pay attention to agricultural production. Mario was puzzled.

Agriculture in Amur has been stable without any problems.

The rainfall in Amur this year was also very heavy, and many rivers overflowed, which also had a certain impact on Amur's agricultural production.

But this impact is within an acceptable range. Amur's resources are too abundant. The fish caught by a Vladivostok fishery company alone are enough for Amur to survive the winter.

George felt a little relieved. As long as he had access to the Black Sea, even if the Siberian Railway was interrupted, George could at least ensure the logistical supply of the Balkan war zone.

To George's disappointment, the Ottoman offensive in Egypt fizzled out and no attack on the Suez Canal was launched.

The Gao Ri Corps led by Yuri dug trenches for so many days in vain, but gained no military merits and only received ridicule from the British and Indian troops.

Yuri, don't be angry. Just smile. If you keep your current attitude, you will cry sooner or later.

George wasn't angry either.

This year, Germany adjusted its strategy and shifted its main attack direction from the Western Front to the Eastern Front.

The effect was very good. Hindenburg occupied Warsaw and made great progress on the northern front.

But that's all.

Hindenburg's troops could only reach Warsaw, and it would take them a long time to reach St. Petersburg.

Even if St. Petersburg is taken, the empire can still move its capital to Moscow, Yekaterinburg, or Vladivostok.

Now Falkenhayn should have a deeper understanding of the strategic depth of the Russian Empire.

The Russian Empire is invincible.

Even if the German army abandoned the Western Front and concentrated all its forces on the Eastern Front, it would not be able to defeat the Russian Empire.

Even though little Nicholas was so incompetent, it still took Hindenburg more than a year to capture Warsaw, which was still 1000 kilometers away from St. Petersburg.

In comparison, isn't Paris closer?
After all, the German army was only 60 kilometers away from Paris.

When Hindenburg was beating up little Nicholas, Joffre and Haig were just watching the fun, symbolically sending out tens of thousands of people to fight him, and they were too lazy to even pretend.

If nothing unexpected happens, the German army will turn around again next year, and then it will depend on how Nikola will operate.

If Nicholas still wanted to take advantage of the situation like little Nicholas, no one could save the Russian Empire.

It would be great fun if Nicholas joined Joffre and Haig in watching the fun.

Falkenhayn was still very determined. The Balkan Russian army had surrounded Budapest, but Falkenhayn actually held back and did not send reinforcements to Budapest.

George was not in a hurry. He asked Andre to fire a few shots at Budapest every few hours to slowly torture the Hungarians.

Count Nagykaroy came to see George every day and waited for hours in George's office.

George wouldn't see him.

Without meeting George, one knew what Count Nagykaroy would say, which was nothing more than a ceasefire and peace talks.

I just don't know what conditions Count Nagykaroy has put forward now. I guess he doesn't dare to mention withdrawing troops, and Transylvania will most likely be abandoned.

If Count Nagykaroy had given up Transylvania as a condition last time, and also taken Bosnia and Herzegovina with him, there would indeed be something to talk about.

Now I want to talk to George about Romania in addition to the above three places——

This condition probably meant that the Russian Empire would cede Siberia, Constantinople, and the Baltic coast to Germany.

Andre was very happy that the artillery he had carefully trained finally showed their skills.

Compared with the Germans, the Austrians are indeed not good at fighting.

But compared with the Austrians, the Hungarians are inferior.

Less than a month after the Russian army besieged the city, news came from London and St. Petersburg at the same time that the Kingdom of Hungary wanted to negotiate.

George was not surprised by the result.

The Kingdom of Hungary was originally a parasite of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the war broke out, George launched a heavy attack in the Balkans, causing Hungary to lose troops and territory, and its capital was even surrounded. What was the point of fighting?

What made George unhappy was that the precondition for the Hungarian Kingdom's negotiations was that the Russian army had to withdraw from the territory of the Hungarian Kingdom.

This request was immediately strongly opposed by the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

The Kingdom of Romania has already sent civil administrators to Transylvania. If it withdraws its troops now, it will be equivalent to returning Transylvania to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Who will bear the losses of the Kingdom of Romania?
The demands of the Kingdom of Bulgaria were the same as those of Romania. It was absolutely impossible for Bosnia and Herzegovina to be returned to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Romania has not been completely conquered yet, we will talk about this later.

Both Nicholas and George V wanted to negotiate with the Kingdom of Hungary.

If the Kingdom of Hungary withdraws from the war, apart from other things, at least 100 million troops will be directly released in the Balkan theater, which will be a huge benefit to both the Western and Eastern Fronts.

These one million people are not mobilized soldiers, but elite troops under George's command.

George was in a dilemma.

(End of this chapter)