Chapter 869 Final Preparations

In the Afghanistan battlefield, Lieutenant General Patrick finally waited for the long-lost reinforcements, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he received a shocking news-the Russians were about to call.

On September 11, 1889, the Russian army captured the Mare area, which was less than 100 kilometers away from the nearest area to Afghanistan.

The three major Khanates in Central Asia, which had been highly hoped by Britain, had been completely defeated under the attack of the Russian army. At this moment, the governments of the three countries were all in exile in Afghanistan.

After nearly a year of hard fighting, Lieutenant General Patrick had to admit that the Indian colonial army was not expected to fight.

In the case of equal strength, the regular army actually can't handle the guerrillas. The thing that makes people laugh when it is said, has now really happened.

Patrick can become the commander of the expeditionary force, and his political acumen is naturally not bad. He knew exactly how tense the Anglo-Russian relationship was.

Thinking of the upcoming Anglo-Russian war, and looking at the reinforcements sent to him at home, Patrick has the urge to cry.

Up to now, the British army in Afghanistan has assembled 30 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, and 8 artillery regiments.

However, these units were all prefixed, and the situation changed instantly.

Only two of the 30 infantry divisions were sent from the mainland, and the rest were Indian colonial troops. The cavalry divisions and artillery regiments are local elites, which are technical arms, and belong to the jobs that Indians cannot do.

However, sending so many cavalry into Afghanistan makes me drunk when I think about it. If it wasn't for his strong self-control ability, Lieutenant General Patrick would really like to send a message to ask if the old men in China had lost their minds.

Those who know a little about the terrain of Afghanistan will know that the most suitable unit here is the Mountain Infantry Division, which has no special establishment in the British army.

As for cavalry troops, in addition to acting as messengers, they can only increase the logistical pressure of the troops.

The guerrillas are all in the mountains, and they only come out to do things occasionally. Large groups of cavalry are useless here.

It cannot be said that it is completely useless. As long as the British army defeats the Russians, the cavalry will be the main force when counterattacking Central Asia.

It is a pity that Lieutenant General Patrick does not need it. The government of the Three Khanates of Central Asia in exile did not come empty-handed, and there are 50,000 or 60,000 troops to follow.

These prairie peoples are natural cavalry when they mount a horse.

Frankly speaking, the three Khanates of Central Asia fell so quickly. In addition to the corruption of their own regime, the lack of support from the British government was also one of the core factors.

They are all harmed by bureaucracy, and the weapons and equipment that are supported are all jokes. Some guns can be traced back to the last century, and their collection value is greater than their practical value.

Knowing is knowing, but there are a lot of interest exchanges hidden here, Lieutenant General Patrick wisely chose to pretend not to see.

Not to mention the Central Asian Khanate. In fact, the weapons and equipment of the Indian colonial army are as always garbage, and they lag behind Europe by more than 30 years on average.

Even if it is the main force of the mainland, there is still a gap between the weapons and equipment of the world-class level.

It's not that Britain's military technology is poor, but the key point is that the army is unpopular in China and has always been raised by the stepmother, and every year some funds are invested in weapons research and development.

Being able to barely keep up with the world-class level is the result of the solid industrial foundation of Britain. To reach the forefront of the times, government funding is simply not enough.

"Power the country, tell London we need reinforcements, lots of reinforcements!

If you want to hold the Afghanistan area, at least 20 additional infantry divisions of our country must be reinforced, which must be the main force of the local army. The Indian colonial army is not at all good. "

The young officer nearby said in a panic, "Your Excellency Commander, is it too many 20 infantry divisions, and the country will not agree to it."

For the army powers such as Russia, Austria and France, 20 infantry divisions are not worth mentioning at all. With sufficient supplies, they can be assembled in at most ten days and a half months.

But for Britain, the situation was very dire. Let's put it this way, adding together all the British Army before the expansion, and multiplying by two may not necessarily make up the whole.

Even though the situation in Central Asia was tense and the London government carried out a round of military expansion, the British Army still had less than 300,000 troops and a total of 17 infantry divisions.

The opening requires 20 main infantry divisions, which is clearly to pack the rhythm of the British Army, forcing the British government to continue to expand the Army.

Lieutenant General Patrick shook his head: "Mar, put away your thoughts, don't forget who our enemy is this time! Facing the Russians, how many 20 infantry divisions are there?

If there is a fight, you will find that human life is worthless on the battlefield. The Russo-Prussian War is the best example, with millions of casualties on both sides.

Although this Central Asian War may not be as crazy as the Prussian-Russian War, it will not be so easy to end without hundreds of thousands of lives. "

Looking at the stunned young officer, Lieutenant General Patrick just sighed to himself: The younger generation in Britain is really too fragile to withstand any disturbance.

Not to mention the entire Central Asian battlefield, the total number of casualties in the Afghanistan war alone has exceeded one million, but most Afghans died, and everyone's feelings are not deep.

The next enemy is the Russians. Relying on Indian cannon fodder alone is obviously not a good thing. There must be a main force of the British army, otherwise it is easy to be defeated across the board.

Judging from the experience of the First Near East War, even if the cannon fodder was sufficient, the British army had to prepare for heavy losses.

...

The British army panicked.

In fact, the Russian army on the front line was not much better.

It seems that they have won a comprehensive victory in the Central Asian battle, but they failed to wipe out the governments of the three countries, and it is doomed that there will be no peace in the Central Asia region.

If the guerrillas in Afghanistan are drilling ravines, then the guerrillas in Central Asia are mostly horse thieves, and many of them use tribes as units to fight against the Russian army.

Admiral Oginets is very clear that the fierce resistance of the people in Central Asia is largely forced by the Russian army.

If it weren't for the fact that the Russian army often went out to loot, the local resistance would not be so fierce. But there is no way, knowing is knowing, the butt determines the position of Admiral Oginets.

The Russian soldiers have almost no military pay, and their main income depends on the capture on the battlefield. They are not allowed to go out to loot. Who wants to continue to work hard?

In addition, the logistics of the Russian army is also very poor. Even in the case of sufficient supplies, it can only barely manage enough, and there is no quality at all.

After years of eating military rations, the hair has long faded from the mouth. At this time, it will hinder the soldiers from improving their lives.

Against this background, Admiral Oginets could only turn a blind eye to the looting that took place below, and used the most brutal means to suppress the resistance movement.

Since the occupation of Central Asia, the Russian army has executed three or four figures of resistance elements almost every day, relying on the most severe impostors to maintain social order.

It can also be said that there is no "order", because these orders can only restrain the local people, and the Russian soldiers do not have to abide by them at all.

In order to ensure smooth logistics and transportation, Admiral Oginets even cleared a no-man's land avenue, and all the residents within 30 kilometers around were cleared out.

As a price, Admiral Oginets also won the reputation of "General Butcher", and stopped children from crying in Central Asia.

Putting down the document in his hand, Okinets said slowly: "After cleaning, let's generate electricity in the country! As long as the supplies are in place, we can launch an attack on Afghanistan."

You can tell from the tone that Admiral Oginets is very helpless now. If he had a choice, he would definitely not grab the commander's position this time.

It looks majestic, but it is actually full of crises. In order to win this war, Admiral Okinets offended too many people.

If you continue to win, then there will be no problem. No matter how many people you offend, you can be suppressed by military merit and become the second marshal of Ivanov.

But once the front line changes, the situation is completely different. The same principle applies here that the wall falls and everyone pushes. Oginets can only win but not lose.

According to the original plan, the capture of Central Asia will stop. Now that he has made a name for himself, he has returned to St. Petersburg to accept the award.

It is a pity that the reality is cruel. The changes in the international situation have inspired the ambition of the tsarist government to seize India.

Now what Admiral Okinets needs to do is to complete the first step of the plan - to seize the Afghan region and lay the foundation for the future invasion of India.

The middle-aged officer did not seem to realize that Okinets was in a bad mood, and happily replied: "Yes, Your Excellency Commander!"

Everyone's location is different, and the scenery they see is different.

For Admiral Oginets, the title of marshal is indispensable in the war, and it is the best choice to take it as soon as possible.

However, for most Russian military officers, it is better to continue the war. It is far better to squeeze soft persimmons here than to fight for hegemony in Europe.

The Indian colonial army is worthless, but they bear the British brand, and if their eyes are not good, they can be treated as the main force of the British army.

The enemy to be faced is the combat power of the colonial army, but it can produce the military exploits of the regular army, but if it is a bit related, at this time, they are trying to find ways to mix in the front-line troops.

As the commander of the front line, Admiral Oginets has sold a lot of human relationships recently.

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