Chapter 196 The Struggle of the Montenegrins

Montenegro

Since the outbreak of the war in the Near East, this small country has been boiling, and the country has been fully mobilized at the first time, and it is still young and old.

The people of Montenegro are proud. They are the only people in the Balkans who have not surrendered to the Ottomans. They have been on the front line against the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years.

This is a country where all the people are soldiers. There is no need for the government to force it. The people spontaneously took up arms and returned to the establishment.

Skoder is right in front of you. It is no longer known how many times the Montenegrins have hit here. This is different from the past, and they have a very good chance of winning.

Not long ago, they successfully joined forces with Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The problem of restricting their weapons and ammunition was solved, and the combat effectiveness of the Montenegrin army was greatly increased.

Montenegrin army command

Commander-in-Chief Mirkov said cautiously: "I just received a notification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Holstad Arsenal will come to test a batch of weapons.

Rasrich, you take a company of troops to protect the safety of your Austrian friends, and you must not let them go wrong. "

It is no reason that Mirkov was careless. Now every rifle and every bullet in the Principality of Montenegro is provided by Austria.

Now Austria has replaced the Russians as their most important ally, bar none.

At this time, Austria asked to experiment with weapons on the battlefield, and they naturally could not refuse.

For the poor and white Principality of Montenegro, regardless of the performance of the weapons, as long as they are useful, they are good. Now test weapons for Austria, you can get a batch of weapons and equipment for nothing, in their view, it is a profit.

As for the risk of using new weapons, is it possible to use cold weapons to fight the Ottomans?

The amount of equipment in the actual combat test is not small. For example, in this rifle test, the Hordas Arsenal directly shipped 500 new rifles. Equipped with two Montenegrin infantry battalions, they will be put into this war and tested in actual combat.

Rasrich said with a sad face: "The Austrians are here again. Your Excellency, can you change someone else to do it, and I still want to fight the Ottomans?"

Although Las Ridge is only a regiment commander, the number of troops in the Principality of Montenegro is small, and his regiment commander has become a high-level officer.

Watching his colleagues fighting on the front line, he became the full-time chief of guards of the Austrian delegation because he could speak German, and has already sent three batches of weapons observation groups away.

As a Montenegrin, how can you not fight? After finally waiting for an opportunity, the result was interrupted by a sudden weapon test.

Mirkov glared at him and said seriously: "Don't talk to me about conditions, this matter is not negotiable. If the test is successful, we can pick up another 500 rifles and a batch of ammunition for nothing, which can save the country. Tens of thousands of dong."

When it comes to funding, Lasridge has nothing to say. Tens of thousands of Austrian guilders may not seem like much, but for the Principality of Montenegro, this is their financial income for a month or two.

Weapon tests are not always successful. Many weapons and equipment have excellent performance in the target experiment. Once they arrive on the battlefield, various problems will be exposed.

In order to encourage domestic arsenals to develop new weapons, the Austrian government is now responsible for the cost of actual combat testing.

Austria's major arsenals took this opportunity to send all kinds of weapons to the battlefield for testing.

The actual combat test not only tests the performance of weapons, but also includes logistical maintenance, the difficulty of weapon operation on the battlefield, and so on.

There are successes, but there are more failures. Many weapons are very lethal, but the performance is not stable enough on the battlefield; or the performance is stable, but the maintenance cost is too high.

...

Along the way, Holman-Styron was very shocked. The Principality of Montenegro is completely full of soldiers. He agreed to send 20,000 troops in advance. He can be sure that the Montenegrins have overfulfilled the task.

Young and old, as long as they are active, they are serving the war. Along the way, he saw that the materials transported to the front line were being passed from village to village, just like a relay race.

There are hardly any young men and women in sight. The old ones are about to lose their teeth, and the young ones are still busy.

"Mr. Rathridge, where are the young men in your country?" Holman-Styron asked suspiciously

"It's all on the battlefield!" said Lasridge rightfully.

It seems that Holman-Styron does not understand very well, and Lasridge added:

"This is our homeland. There is no danger. The logistics and transportation are all transported by the people. After walking for a while, we can see our army."

Holman-Styron didn't speak, just silently recorded what he saw in the notebook and moved on.

After arriving at the front line, Holman-Stellen also found the figure of the female soldier. Obviously, for this war, the Principality of Montenegro has already bet on the national luck, and they have put all the chips on it.

This war in the Near East was just a cheap local war for Austria. The final result of the war was nothing more than the size of Austria's profits. Anyway, the Ottomans did not dare to retaliate.

For the Russians, it is just a strategic battle, not even life and death, and the Russians have not yet reached the point where they are desperate.

If you lose, it will take a few decades to come back. The great cause of the Russian family has been lost. The Russo-Turkish war has been fought so many times, and it doesn't care about adding one more time.

Only the Principality of Montenegro gambled on the national fortune. If it wins, it will grow and develop, and if it loses, everything will end.

Hall

Man-Stellen understands what the Montenegrins are doing, and their hatred with the Ottomans cannot be resolved. For hundreds of years, this time was the closest they came to victory.

The Ottoman Empire has declined, and now it is at war with Austria and Russia at the same time. If it hadn't been for the intervention of Britain and France, the war would have ended.

This kind of opportunity, the Montenegrins naturally want to gamble. As a Balkan nation, if you don't dare to gamble on your country's luck, is it still a Balkan nation?

The only pity is that the population of Montenegro is too small. If there are 10 million people, not only 5 million people, they can drive the Ottomans out of the Balkans and establish their own empire.

Thinking of this, Holman Stellen smiled slightly. If the Principality of Montenegro had that much population, they would not be allies of Austria.

The entire Balkan Peninsula has a population of just over 13 million, of which half of the population is in the Istanbul area.

The remaining areas are two million in Bulgaria, nearly one million in Greece, more than 900,000 in Serbia, more than one million in the two principalities of the Danube, more than one million in Macedonia, hundreds of thousands in Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. area hundreds of thousands.

No matter how hard the Principality of Montenegro tried, their population limit determined their development ceiling.

It is impossible to be a threat to Austria, then everyone can be good friends. For example, support the development of the Principality of Montenegro to the Albany region, support a nail, and prevent the unification of the Balkans.

Holman-Styron shook his head, dismissing these thoughts. This is a question that politicians should consider, and he, a weapons designer, has already crossed the line by considering these.

...

The war soon started, and in the telescope, Holman-Stellen and his party watched as the Montenegrin army launched an attack on the Ottoman positions.

The artillery fire roared, and the flesh and blood flew.

These Holman-Stellen couldn't care about paying attention. He was observing the actual combat capabilities of the new rifle, showing a satisfied smile from time to time.

When platooning guns against each other, the casualties of soldiers equipped with these new rifles are obviously much smaller because they can be loaded upside down.

Although the combat lethality is slightly lower, the advantage of higher hit rate in close combat makes up for this shortcoming.

As long as it hits the enemy within the effective range, it can do effective damage. This is not a sniper rifle. The probability of hitting the enemy at a long distance is too small, and it does not matter if the lethality is small.

The first round of tests was considered a success, and Holman-Stellen breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the standard is met in the next maintenance, it is even a preliminary requirement.

Compared to Holman-Styron's satisfaction, Lasridge next to him frowned. He had more contact with people from the Austrian weapons testing group, and he inevitably learned some professional knowledge.

"Mr. Holman, is the ammunition consumption of this rifle too much? Have you found that its high hit rate is actually based on the consumption of ammunition."

Holman-Stellen asked involuntarily: "Is the ammunition consumption high?"

Lasridge replied affirmatively: "Of course, ordinary rifles usually shoot two or three rounds per minute, and this rifle can actually shoot ten rounds per minute.

That is to say, the consumption of ammunition has increased several times, but the hit rate has only increased slightly. Of course, our casualties have decreased.

It's too expensive to use such a gun, and we can't afford it anyway. I'm afraid its manufacturing cost will not be low. "

Holman-Stellen nodded and recorded all of this in a notebook. The ammunition consumption is too high, and it is also very deadly in war, which means that the logistics supply is more difficult.

For the Principality of Montenegro, this kind of breech rifle consumes too much, and they cannot support it in terms of financial resources or industrial strength, and they are not equipped with equipment.

But for Austria, it may not be the case. The consumption of ammunition of this strength has not exceeded the limit.

The birth of the breech rifle also means an increase in the cost of war, and the power gap between industrial powers and weak powers has been widened again.

Without strong industrial strength, it simply cannot support the consumption of terrorist ammunition in future wars.

If both sides of the war in the Near East changed to breech rifles, the Russians would not be able to support this war at all.

Putting it all together, Russia and Austria are really not the opponents of Britain and France. It can still be tolerated now. In addition to preparing in advance, the ammunition consumption of the front-loaded rifle is not so large.

"Mr. Lasridge, I can see that you are very experienced in weapons testing. Are you interested in joining our team? The salary will definitely satisfy you." Holman-Styron invited.

Weapon testing on the battlefield is a high-risk job. Doing this job, I don't know when, I will be hit by a stray bullet flying from nowhere.

High risk is naturally accompanied by high income, at least several times higher than the salary of the head of the Montenegrin principality in Las Ridge.

No, maybe dozens of times. Due to financial difficulties, the officers and soldiers of the Principality of Montenegro were treated very poorly, and most of the time they were not paid for the army.

This is not forced, but everyone voluntarily gave up military pay. Unless it is really difficult for the family to live, under normal circumstances, they will voluntarily give up their salary.

Lasridge smiled and refused. "Thanks, Mr. Holman. But I don't think so. It's not about money.

There are many things in this world that are more important than money. Now my country is in bloody war with the Ottomans, centuries of shame need us

Washed with blood.

For me, the destruction of the Ottoman Empire is the goal of life. If this goal is accomplished, I will reconsider my life. "

Holman-Styron bowed and said, "Mr. Rathridge, please forgive my presumption. You are a true soldier and should not be insulted by money."

At this moment, Holman-Styron really recognized Las Ridge, or the Principality of Montenegro.

Maybe they are not strong enough, but their unwavering faith deserves respect from everyone who has fought with the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years for the sake of the country and nation.

After the episode, the Holman-Stellen group changed their minds about them. There is no longer the arrogance of the past, and the relationship between the two sides has improved a lot.