Holy Roman Empire

Vienna

After passing the actual combat test of the new rifle at the Holstein factory, it entered the list of candidates for the Austrian military queue, and was named the Steyren M1852 rifle.

This seems to be the habit of Europeans. Designers always like to name the designed weapons with their own names.

These are small questions. Franz has no interest in finding the roots. Entering the military ’s list of alternative equipment does not mean that large-scale equipment can be equipped.

The breech rifle has been around for more than thirty years. The earliest was the American Hall M1819. Unfortunately, the bullet of this rifle flew to the left after 45.7 meters.

Then there is the Prussian Dresser M1841, the Prussian army has begun to pack, but many generals have opposed it. Obviously his performance has not yet conquered the public.

This rifle shines in the 1864 Pudan War and Pu'ao War. Of course, the advantage of the rifle is not as godlike as boasted by later generations.

This can be seen from the fact that the Prussian army is not fully equipped.

Although the rate of fire is four or five times that of the rifle gun, his needle is easily damaged. Some people in the original industrial production M1841 laughed and said: Without spare pointers, don't go on the battlefield.

The breech also often leaks, and the leaked gas can easily interfere with the shooting, and can seriously burn the skin. If you are unlucky, you may blind the gunman's eyes.

Later, the production technology was improved, the performance gradually stabilized, and Dresser M1841 began to shine.

Franz has also contacted a lot of similar rifles. Many rifles have excellent performance in the laboratory, and they will not work once they are mass-produced in industry.

Either the cost is too high or the performance is reduced.This is not a nuclear weapon. Franz naturally has to consider the cost; it is more undesirable to sacrifice performance. Is it necessary to install a rifle without performance advantages?

Until the advent of the Stellen M1852, in terms of performance, it was similar to the historical Chassip rifle, but the effective range was a little closer.

This is a small problem. It is enough to ensure an effective range of 650 meters. Isn't it far away to be able to shoot more than 1,500 meters? It can also be scary at a long distance.

Franz has always believed that in actual combat, those who can accurately hit the enemy within 150 meters are excellent soldiers. Let's fight farther away by feeling!

"Sir Marshal, what do you think of this rifle, shall we change it?" Franz asked

Marshal Radsky replied with a smile: "Your Majesty, from the data collected, the effect is not bad, and it has the value of large-scale equipment.

However, the price of this rifle arsenal is 30% higher than that of ordinary rifles, and the ammunition consumption may be two or three times higher."

Obviously, Field Marshal Radsky is experienced. I do n’t expect this rifle to hit the theoretical limit of 15 rounds on the battlefield. Otherwise, the ammunition consumption will not increase so much.

Franz calmly said: "Part of the cost increase is also acceptable, and it will still decline after large-scale industrial production, as long as its power is worth the price.

If you now order the concentration of full-strength production, Austria ’s more than 20 large and small arsenals add up to produce 30,000 or 40,000 such rifles every month, without any problems."

Thanks to the outbreak of the Near East War, Austria ’s arsenal has expanded its production capacity, and Austria ’s military production capacity has increased by 50% compared with one year ago.

If the forebore rifle is produced, there is no problem with mass production of 100,000 pieces per month, otherwise the Russian army will not be able to change it so quickly.

Marshal Radsky said calmly: "Your Majesty, be cautious and purchase 100,000 for trial.

If the effect is good on the battlefield, and then change the face, now all countries in the world are still using the rifle, our rifle is not behind."

Franz nodded, and it was too late for a large-scale dress-up.Unless nationwide mobilization is ordered now, there is still great potential for Austria ’s military capabilities.

This is the same as when the automatic rifle came out. Everyone knows that it is a good gun, but can the horrible ammunition consumption be supplied by the logistics?

Where is the consumption limit of ammunition, and that will only be known when the battlefield is fought.Just like after the army of the Principality of Montenegro tried the gun, it was very satisfied with the performance of this rifle. After seeing the horrible ammunition consumption, it no longer meant to purchase.

You said the hit rate is high?That's right, the enemy can shoot up to two or three shots per minute. You can take seven or eight shots per minute. Your chance of hitting the enemy is naturally higher. This is normal.

However, the hit rate has not increased by two or three times, only 20% to 30%. This is not used to using the enemy just now. If you are used to it, you may continue to decline.

It doesn't seem like much on the surface. If you consider how many bullets you can kill an enemy, you will find that you can't afford to play.

In the era of the rifle, on average, every kill of an enemy consumes double-digit bullets; in the era of the rifle, it has increased to four digits.

The era of no way of volleyball is over, everyone crawls on the ground to fight, and it is more difficult to hit the enemy.The advent of trenches and machine guns in the later period increased the consumption of ammunition.

In the era of semi-automatic rifles, it has risen to five digits again; the number of units used in the future is too large, and it is more appropriate to directly use tons as the unit.

...

Sofia theater

A Sardinian officer said indignantly: "General, the Russians still bite us, what now?"

All the military information of the British was leaked to the Russians, and they dared to continue to attack here, which was simply too deceiving.

Mantua gritted his teeth and said: "Now we can't retreat, this is related to our honor, but also to the glory of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

You do n’t want to go back to the military court in the name of a defeated general. Now we must not be the first to lose our position.

Since the Russians are bullying too much, then give them a hard lesson to let the Russians know that we are not easy to bully.

Tell the soldiers that our salary is still in the hands of the British, and if we run away now, we will be in vain.If anyone dares to run away, I will kill him now."

"Yes, General!" The young officer immediately replied

Mantua added uneasy: "Wait a minute, the news is released in private, saying that the British will be unable to withstand it. When their defense line collapses, we will immediately retreat.

Facts have proved that once the Sardinian army fights its battles, the so-called heavy casualties depend on the standard.

There were a few wounded people, and they could also add two or three zeros in the back, reporting upward that the casualties were heavy.

If anyone pays attention to the casualty reports previously submitted by the Sardinian army to the coalition forces, they will find that their casualty rate has approached one-fifth.

The British believe this report, because the casualties of the British army are not too far away from this data.To save people by themselves, the British have never doubted.

Facing the sudden outbreak of the Sardinian army, the Russians found that this soft persimmon was not easy to pinch.

Fitzroy Somerset decided to try whether the intelligence above was true. After all, the Bulgarians provided too much information to them, and it is not surprising that there were Bulgarians in the enemy army opposite.

...

As soon as the Russians started, Montes was about to get mad by the report he had just received.Suddenly, a shelling sounded, and the shells were accurately placed on their artillery positions.

If it is only one place, it may be said to be luck, but all the artillery positions fell, and they were all patronized.

This is not a play. After the artillery position fell, the military material warehouse was again baptized accurately.

Even at a long distance, the Russian artillery had a low hit rate, but after such a bombardment, they suffered heavy losses.

The shelling was completed, and the Russian army accurately found their weak points and launched the most violent attack.

Montes knew that a traitor had leaked information, but at this point, he could only call for reinforcements.Even if the accounts are to be settled after autumn, then the Russians must be blocked.

"How long will Oliver's idiot reach the frontline?" Montes asked again.

The attendant replied nervously: "Major Oliver reported that they had just recovered Plovdiv from the guerrillas and expected to arrive in Sofia in a week."

More than 120 kilometers of roads, walked a week without problems.The normal marching speed of the British army is only twenty or thirty kilometers a day, and it is justifiable to have a guerrilla attack now.

Montes ordered: "Order the idiot to speed me up, and must reach the front within three days, otherwise the military will be engaged!"

"Yes, Commander!" The servant officer replied immediately

Montes involuntarily asked: "Wait a minute, tell the idiot, and send half of the troops lightly and quickly, and put the heavy supplies in the troops behind, so as to speed up.

The Russians played stud. This is a risk and an opportunity. As long as the reinforcements can arrive, the coalition forces can still defeat.

Otherwise Montes would have ran away.The Sardinians do not want to continue fighting. They can find a way to make the British scapegoats. How can Montes not let the Sardinians blame them?

He was the commander of the coalition army, and he wanted to pit people in many ways.

It is now the joint release of the British and Ottoman troops, which bears the main pressure on the battlefield. As long as he cedes part of the position to the Sardinian and Ottoman troops for joint defense, it is estimated that the Russians can penetrate the defense line in less than a day.

Montes still wants military merits. If he loses the Sofia region, even if he let his allies help him, he will blame his commander and will leave a permanent stain.

...

Oliver is still capable, but for the first time on the battlefield, inexperience caused a series of failures.

Before Montess' order arrived, he had already accelerated his march, but the roads along the way were too pitted.

As an area of ​​activity for Bulgarian guerrillas, how could it not disrupt traffic?They were marching while repairing the road, and by the way, they had to cope with the cold guns from unknown places.

Occasionally, there are sudden mines, which are kindly sponsored by Franz. Originally worried about the defeat of the Russian army, they prepared a batch in advance for them to use to stop the pursuit of soldiers.

I didn't expect that the coalition forces would continue to faint, one by one, they didn't want to contribute to let allies pick up the cheap, just toss the advantage.

The Russians despised these turtle bombs and gave them to the Bulgarian guerrillas. Now Oliver has a headache.

These mines are the easiest to lay. It is very simple to clear the mines, and the only thing needed is time.

There is no good way, but the stupid way is thinking.The British drove the animals to minefields, and the marching speed was inevitably delayed.

...

On January 2, 1853, the Bulgarian guerrillas suddenly attacked the back of the British position, and the coalition forces were in chaos. At this critical moment, the Sardinians ran away and Montess's defensive line of management was broken.

There is no way, the strength is really insufficient, Montes does not have enough strength to guard against the Bulgarian guerrillas that may appear behind him, and is caught off guard.

The most pitfall is that this time, the reinforcements are less than 15 kilometers away from the front.If the Sardinian army does not run the road and tries its best to help, it can still be reached until the reinforcements arrive.

Obviously, Mantua did not hesitate to go to the end without the consciousness of dying with the Russians.Anyway, the British defense line is lost, and this responsibility cannot be blamed on them.

Even to avoid condemnation, Mantua also abducted some British soldiers to run along.

This run pitted Montes. As a defeated general, he was not far from the day when he went to the military court. If he could go back alive, he would inevitably have to go to the ground.

Oliver, who hurried along the way, became the second bad luck. He hurried over without any loss and arrived at the last time. As a result, he immediately had an encounter with the Russians.

No accident, the few people on the battlefield always have to suffer. Oliver did not carry the cannon in a hurry, he suffered a loss as soon as he played.

After some hard work, Oliver successfully led the troops away, and by the way, rescued a group of broken British soldiers, and finally worked hard and in vain.

The Russians are also sleepy, and the soldiers have no physical strength to continue their pursuit.Seeing this, Fitzroy Somersey naturally chose to close when he saw it.

There is no such thing as Sofia, Montes has long considered this issue.It's a pity that the city was too much tossed by the Ottomans, and the city fortifications have long since disappeared.

The people in the city gritted their teeth at the coalition forces, relying on the city to fight street battles with the Russians, and they were the first to fall into the people's war.

Moreover, the efficiency of the Ottoman government is too low, and the material hoarded in Sofia is not enough for the coalition to consume for a month. If they dare to sit in a lonely city, wait for the whole army to be wiped out!

Now that the General Assembly battle is in progress, the coalition forces are already very tense. Don't expect anyone to come to them.

Even if it is to dispatch reinforcements from the country, it is too late.After the battle failed, the coalition forces ran away.

It is impossible for the entire front line of more than ten kilometers to be completely nonexistent, and Russia has only torn apart a line of defense of the coalition forces.

If it were not for the sake of saving more soldiers to leave, Oliver could not rush over and fight the Russians, they would run away and the Russians would never chase.

Over a period of half a year, the two sides engaged in a battle of nearly 200,000 troops, which ended in the Russian victory.

Looking at the casualty report, Fitzroy Somer can say responsibly: He completed the task of the tsarist government very well, and really won the victory regardless of casualties.

The total casualties before and after added up to 67,000. The Russian soldiers basically changed it again. Among them, 26,000 were killed (including the wounded who had not been rescued).

Even if the rear is constantly replenishing troops, the Russian army is now disabled and urgently needs to be repaired.In the final battle, it is clear that the Russian military's combat effectiveness has declined.

At such a high price, the achievements were: defeated 100,000 coalition forces, killed 34,000 coalition soldiers, captured 25,000 coalition forces, including more than 11,000 coalition wounded.

Judging from the casualties on both sides, it was the Russian talent who lost the battle this time.If it were not for the outbreak of Bulgarian guerrillas, the outcome of this battle is still unknown.

In order to look good in the face, Fitzroy Somerset did not hesitate to swallow the record of the Bulgarian guerrillas, and ignored the casualties they paid.

Of course, in order to allow the Bulgarians to continue to kill him, Fitzroy Somerset still asked them for help, emphasizing that the Bulgarian guerrillas delayed their enemy reinforcements and made outstanding contributions to the victory of the war.

Then there is no more, this alone is enough for the tsarist government to agree to the conditions he promised before.

The tsarist government had planned to annex the Bulgarian region. St. Petersburg also worried that these guerrillas would become obstacles. Now that they can be included, how could Nicholas I refuse?

Regardless of the loss of both sides, it can not affect the historical status of this battle. This battle is recognized by historians as the turning point of the second Bulgarian battle.