Chapter 224: Shifting Situations and Large Orders

"What? The Russian offensive in the Balkans has suffered heavy losses?" Gao Da stood up in surprise, his gaze looking toward the Director of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, Ka Dier, with a hint of disbelief.

"That is correct, Your Majesty." Ka Dier nodded and explained: "The Russian army and the Ottoman army have engaged in fierce warfare around Plevna. The Ottoman Empire has never been able to retake the Pushika Pass, and the Russian army has never been able to capture Plevna.

According to telegrams from the front, the Russian army has already launched three major assaults on Plevna, and all of them have failed. These three assaults have cost Russia a total of over 50, 00 troops, and Russia's military strength on the Balkan front is already insufficient."

Gao Da stepped forward quickly and took from Ka Dier the map of the Balkan region that he had already prepared. On it, the directions of the Russian and Ottoman military offensives were already marked, and the battle damage and current remaining troop strengths of both sides were noted on the side.

When the war first broke out, Russia mobilized seven corps, totaling over 300, 00 men, on the Danube front. With the offensives over these past few months, the total casualties of the Russian army have already approached 100, 00, which is quite an exaggerated figure.

Although a portion of the wounded could return to the front after medical treatment, that would be a matter for at least several months later.

Russia will fall into an emergency state of having no troops to use within these few months; relying solely on 200, 00 troops will not be enough to defeat the Ottoman Empire.

After all, the Ottoman Empire possesses more advanced weaponry and equipment, and coupled with the fact that they are in a defensive phase most of the time, the Ottoman Empire's battle damage ratio is lower than Russia's.

If the war continues to be fought this way, it is not good news for Russia. Losing 100, 00 troops is not enough to break Russia's bones or tendons, but to take down the Ottoman Empire, they will likely have to lose several more 100, 00-strong forces.

With such massive troop losses, can Russia still take the entire Balkan Peninsula after the war? A fully victorious Russia might make other Great Powers wary, but if it is a severely wounded Russia, I fear even the Austro-Hungarian Empire would covet a piece of it.

Gao Da pondered, judging the impact of the Balkan situation's changes on Spain.

"Notify the Royal Arsenal and the diplomatic department; if the Russians want to maintain their offensive, they need more troops and weaponry, and this is precisely our opportunity." In the end, Gao Da made his decision.

Currently, the changes in the Balkan situation cannot yet affect Spain. For Spain, whether the Ottoman Empire or Russia achieves final victory, the impact on Spain is minimal.

Of course, Gao Da would prefer for Russia to achieve final victory, because that would attract the majority of the British people's attention.

For the British, the Russia that wins the Russo-Turkish War is the country that poses a greater threat. Although Spain also possesses a certain degree of danger, compared to Russia with its vast territory and large population, Spain is clearly still a level behind.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ka Dier nodded and respectfully retreated.

While Gao Da was quite surprised by the changes in the Balkan situation, on the Russian side, Tsar Alexander II was even more surprised than Gao Da.

When Tsar Alexander II ascended the throne, it coincided with Russia's crushing defeat in the Ninth Russo-Turkish War. Alexander II's father, Nicholas I, passed away suddenly because he could not bear the massive blow, which made Alexander II always want to wash away the shame.

But at the same time, Alexander II also had more worries about the Russo-Turkish War. He was afraid of repeating the same mistakes as his father; he certainly wanted a victory over the Ottoman Empire, but at the same time, he was afraid of failing again.

When news of the Russian army's heavy losses arrived from the front, Alexander II's determination to fight was shaken. He believed that the Russian army had already fallen into an extremely unfavorable and even dangerous situation, and he even wanted to end this war to avoid a more serious failure.

Regarding the Tsar's wavering determination to fight, Russia's current Minister of War, Dmitry Alexeyevich Milyutin, gave his own opinion:

"Your Majesty the Tsar, I admit that if we continue to fight like this, our army will indeed face great losses, and it is even possible that it will be depleted in a short time.

But this does not mean we can just give up; otherwise, we will inevitably face a massive setback like the last war.

Behind our frontline troops, Romania has nearly 40, 00 mobilizable troops that can support us, and our border also has 70, 00 reserve troops that can be mobilized.

By mobilizing another portion of the reserves, our front will not only have no loss in troop strength but will instead be able to increase by 50, 00 to 100, 00 men.

If we can break through the Plevna fortress, the land ahead will be smooth, and we will completely open up the path to Constantinople."

Minister of War Dmitry Alexeyevich Milyutin led the reforms of the Russian army and was deeply trusted by Tsar Alexander II.

After the persuasion of Dmitry Alexeyevich Milyutin, Alexander II regained his confidence and once again issued orders to the frontline commander, Grand Duke Nicholas.

At the same time, Dmitry Alexeyevich Milyutin also gave his new opinion: "Your Majesty, although we have lost 100, 00 troops on the front, our manpower can be well replenished, and there is no need to worry about the troop problem in the short term.

If we can sign another arms trade treaty with Spain and other countries, we will also not have to worry about the problem of weaponry and equipment. With manpower and weaponry, our front will be as stable as steel, and we will even have enough strength to recapture the Plevna fortress.

The current failure is temporary for us; we will still be the winners of this war, and this is something that a little setback cannot change or stop."

Tsar Nicholas II nodded.

The first batch of weaponry and equipment provided by Spain had already been transported to the frontline battlefield. Although the soldiers were relatively unfamiliar with these weapons and equipment, after a few days of adjustment, there was no problem in putting them into combat.

Compared with the weapons and equipment produced domestically in Russia, the Spanish rifles were more advanced, which also strengthened Russia's frontline firepower to a certain extent.

Although rifles did not have much effect on fortress siege warfare, when defending against the Ottoman Empire's counterattacks, the increase in rifle firepower was still very effective.

Moreover, Spain was also one of the few countries in Europe currently willing to conduct arms trade with Russia, and Russia naturally had to seize this opportunity.

Although Spain required payment in gold and population, these were not scarce for the current Russia. The Romanov family had ruled Russia for hundreds of years, and taking out a little gold for payment was still easy.

What's more, in addition to gold, Russia's countless farmers and mineral resources could also pay for the weapons and equipment purchased from Spain.

As long as the war could be won, let alone using population and mineral resources, even if it were only paid in gold, it would be a guaranteed profit.

With another order from Tsar Alexander II, the Russian government also entered a busy state.

First was the frontline commander, Commander-in-Chief of the Danube Group Army, Grand Duke Nicholas, who requested assistance from Prince Carol I of Romania, asking Romania to send troops to assist the Russian army in combat.

In the telegram requesting assistance, Grand Duke Nicholas described in detail the predicament faced by the Russian front and additionally explained that if Russia failed in the offensive, Romania would face the Ottoman Empire's military edge alone.

Russia's failure did not mean much to Romania, but if Romania were left to face the Ottoman Empire's offensive alone, Romania would certainly panic.

Sure enough, after receiving the telegram from Grand Duke Nicholas, Prince Carol I of Romania quickly agreed to the request for aid and dispatched 40, 00 troops to assist the Russian army on the front.

With 40, 00 Romanian troops assisting the Russian army, Grand Duke Nicholas finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although this could not change the situation on the frontline battlefield, it could at least ensure that the Russian army would not collapse rapidly during this period of troop shortage.

It could also allow the Russian army to hold on for a longer time, waiting for the arrival of real Russian reinforcements.

This also brings up the changes brought to Russia by the military reforms pushed by Minister of War Dmitry Alexeyevich Milyutin.

Dmitry Alexeyevich Milyutin's military reforms mainly focused on the reform of the conscription system, the reform of the military management system, and the reform of military education.

Before the reforms, the Russian army mainly relied on a volunteer system to maintain the size of the army, and there were also hierarchical gaps between noble soldiers, landlord soldiers, and peasant soldiers in the army.

But after Milyutin's military reforms, Russia's conscription system shifted to a mandatory conscription system. Russian citizens aged 20 to 25 were all obligated to serve in the Russian army, with a 6 to 7-year term of service and a 3-year reserve term.

After implementing this conscription system, Russia not only had sufficient sources of soldiers but also had sufficient reserves.

Do not look at the fact that Russia's current army size is only 700, 00; if those reserves are counted, the army Russia can mobilize already exceeds one million.

If a full mobilization were truly carried out, it would be no problem for Russia to arm an army of over 5 million, which is also the reason why European countries are wary of Russia.

Let alone 5 million troops, the countries in Europe that can arm 1 million troops are actually only the five traditional Great Powers, plus Italy and Spain—seven in total.

The countries that can arm 2 million troops are only the five traditional Great Powers; this is no longer a scale of army that ordinary powers can handle.

2 million troops is not as simple as just 2 million people; it also represents at least 2 million rifles, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition, thousands of cannons, and 2 million sets of military uniforms and boots, among other military equipment.

The soldiers' food, drink, and daily needs all require a large amount of funds; whether in training or combat, the consumption of bullets and shells is an incalculable and massive expenditure.

Italy's population exceeds 29 million, and it has the ability to arm an army of over 2 million. But if the Italian government were to be responsible for the daily expenses of these 2 million troops, I fear Italy's finances would rapidly fall into a crisis situation in a short time.

Even if the war is being fought on the territory of other countries, for any country that dispatches 2 million troops, the military expenditure is extremely massive.

If the war is being fought on one's own territory, the losses are even more immeasurable, and it might even be impossible to recover for ten or twenty years.

France in World War I was like this. France not only dispatched millions of troops, but the war was also fought on French soil.

This also led to the massive destruction of France's industry and economy, and the population also faced a sharp decline, taking more than ten years to recover.

While Grand Duke Nicholas was contacting the Romanian side, the Russian diplomatic department was already contacting Spain, seeking to purchase more weapons and equipment.

Because of the previous cooperation, the Russian diplomatic ambassador went directly to the Royal Arsenal, requesting to reach a larger-scale weapon purchase order with the Royal Arsenal.

Because Gao Da had previously reached a relevant agreement with the Russian diplomatic department, the Royal Arsenal did not have any hesitation and immediately signed a larger-scale weapon purchase order with the Russian side.

Because the Russians' first order had already been delivered at the end of last month, the Russians' appetite for this order also became larger.

The previous order was only for 100, 00 rifles; for this order, the Russians ordered a full 250, 00 rifles, 770 cannons, 65 million rounds of ammunition, and 250, 00 shells.

From this, one can also see the Russian military's trust in the weapons and equipment manufactured by Spain; after all, 250, 00 rifles is no longer a small number, and the countries with an army size exceeding 250, 00 currently are only the five Great Powers.

Because the order was relatively urgent, the Russian side did not prepare enough mineral resources. Therefore, the payment method for this order was entirely in gold and Russian farmers.

According to the previous agreement between the Russian government and Spain, every Russian farmer could offset 200 pesetas of funds. The Russian government intended to immigrate 20, 00 Russian farmers this time to offset most of the order's cost, and the remaining part would be paid in gold.

The transfer of farmers would also be carried out from the Baltic Sea; doing so would be safer, although the journey would become longer.

The Royal Arsenal naturally had no objections to this. These Russian farmers were excellent labor when transported to the colonies; they had an extremely important role in the development of Spain's colonies, and such numbers were naturally the more, the better.

Although 20, 00 Russians seemed like a lot, when divided among several colonies, the number of Russian farmers each colony actually received was not many.

Distributing these Russian farmers also had another benefit, which was to ensure the stability of these Russian farmers to the greatest extent.

Plus, these Russian farmers were naturally docile and law-abiding people; the probability of them rebelling was much lower than the probability of the natives rebelling.

Because of the urgent shortage of weapons and equipment on the front, the Russian side also put forward its own requirements. Russia required that these weapons and equipment must be transported within five months, and the first batch of 100, 00 rifles must be sent to the Russian Baltic coast within two months.

Completing the production of 250, 00 rifles within five months was a quite harsh requirement for the Royal Arsenal. Not to mention the 770 cannons, 65 million rounds of ammunition, and 250, 00 shells; even for the Royal Arsenal, which had undergone a major expansion, it would take at least more than a year to complete the production.

But because Gao Da had instructed the Royal Arsenal to rush the production of weapons and equipment for export as soon as the Balkan region fell into turmoil, the Royal Arsenal had already stockpiled over 200, 00 rifles, 600 cannons, nearly 100 million rounds of ammunition, and over a million shells before the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.

After completing the first transaction with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, the inventory of these weapons and equipment had already been cleared by more than half.

But in these few months, the Royal Arsenal had produced another batch of weapons and equipment, making the arsenal's reserves rich again.

For the Royal Arsenal, completing the Russian order within five months did have a certain degree of difficulty, but fortunately, the difficulty was not too great.

At worst, a portion of the ammunition and shell orders could be transferred to other small arsenals, and the Royal Arsenal would only be responsible for producing rifles and cannons.

Doing this could also allow Spain's entire arms industry to achieve rapid expansion, which was better than the Royal Arsenal enjoying the cake alone.

Although a single dominant company could better promote the development of military technology, if a hundred flowers could bloom, Gao Da was also willing to let Spain's military industry have more competitiveness.

Transferring some ammunition and shell orders could also allow the Royal Arsenal to take on more rifle and cannon orders.

Anyway, the Royal Arsenal had already earned enough profit through these few orders; appropriately sharing some of the cake with other arsenals was not a big deal for the Royal Arsenal.

The diplomatic ambassador who signed the new arms trade treaty with the Royal Arsenal excitedly reported the news to Russia, and on the Royal Arsenal's side, a celebration banquet for signing the new arms trade order was also being held.

These two orders from Russia were not small numbers; the profit obtained by the Royal Arsenal was enough to support the Royal Arsenal's weapon research and development and modification research for the next two years.

Gao Da was not a stingy person either. As early as the first time he signed an arms trade order with Russia, Gao Da had specifically instructed that the profit obtained by the Royal Arsenal in this arms trade could be kept for the most part and used for the Royal Arsenal's research.

The remaining small portion of the profit was shared with all the employees of the arsenal, letting all employees have a sense of participation.

In the end, the reward each employee received was probably only one or two months' salary, but after all, it was extra income, and I believe every arsenal employee who received this reward would be beaming with joy.

And Gao Da, who issued this reward, would naturally be thanked and praised by the arsenal employees.

Improving the treatment of employees in all factories and enterprises under the royal family was a strategy Gao Da had already formulated.

The purpose of doing this was naturally to maintain a large gap with the treatment of employees under entrepreneurs.

In this way, while workers hated the capitalist class, they would also be grateful to Gao Da and the royal family.

With the working class standing on the side of the royal family, what else could threaten Gao Da's throne?

As for the capitalists who might be offended by doing this, Gao Da was not worried at all. Spain was already on the path of state capitalism; to be precise, it was the path of state monopoly capitalism.

Several important industries in Spain were all monopolized by the Spanish government and the royal family's enterprises; private capitalists could not achieve a monopoly position, and their capital power naturally could not pose a threat to the government and the royal family.

After all, the Spanish government and the royal family were the two largest capitalists in Spain; in front of these two largest capitalists, what threat could other small capital pose?

The disadvantage of state capitalism is the prevalence of corruption; Gao Da only needs to monitor the corruption problems of enterprises controlled by the state and the royal family, and he can basically ensure Spain's future development and win the hearts of Spanish workers.

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