Struggle in Russia

Nicholas I did not understand the strategic purposes of Britain and France from the beginning, so it is not surprising that he made wrong judgments. Fortunately, Russia is not without smart people. Whether it is the time traveler Li Xiao or Kornilov and Nakhimov, they all know that Britain and France have only one goal, and that is Sevastopol.

Therefore, they have been actively preparing since they received intelligence that Britain and France were preparing to forcibly break through the mine blockade. The previously mentioned evacuation of the main force of the Black Sea Fleet to the Sea of ​​Azov is one of the strategies.

Don’t think it’s easy, because the Sea of ​​Azov really isn’t a great place. Although Peter the Great established his navy from here and gradually dominated the Black Sea. However, the closed water depth around the Sea of ​​Azov is very shallow, which is not suitable for large ships and fleet activities at all.

The Kerch Strait, the outlet to the sea, is less than five kilometers wide. Such a huge gap is really easy to be blocked. If it weren't for the Black Sea Fleet, it really wouldn't have avoided this side.

Of course, it is also beneficial that the closed environment is not suitable for the activities of fleets and large ships. This means that the British and French combined fleets cannot enter at all. Even if they reluctantly come in, there is no threat. It is okay to use it as a place to escape and seek refuge.

Kornilov not only evacuated the fleet, but also greatly strengthened Sevastopol's defenses. Let's put it this way, this work was still going on the day the British and French combined fleet bombarded Sevastopol.

After the British and French fleets retreated, the workers picked up hammers and shovels to continue construction without stopping for a moment.

"Speed ​​up the speed and ask the naval infantry to help if necessary. We must fully complete the Sevastopol defense project before the enemy launches an attack!"

Kornilov's so-called defense project is to build Sevastopol into an airtight fortress complex. He wants to build a fortress out of stone and concrete. As long as the British and French forces dare to come, he will crush them. Good teeth.

"The concrete sent by His Excellency the Grand Duke and Governor Speransky is so useful," Nakhimov said sincerely: "It has greatly saved the construction period. Without these, we would still be in a mess!"

Russia's backwardness was evident at this moment. The British invented concrete in 1796, but until 1853, Russia could not produce concrete on its own.

Li Xiao wants to carry out infrastructure construction, so it is naturally impossible to use cement. Originally, the technical content of this thing was not particularly high, not to mention that the British invented Portland cement in 1824, so we just had to copy it.

So Li Xiao built a concrete processing plant in Crimea and Wallachia, and all the high-quality cement produced was completely digested by this war. Even Prince Mikhail and Kornilov kept urging him to open a branch factory, because their desire for cement was simply unbearable.

Just a little bit of broken steel and cement mixed together can build a solid fortress. At most, you can add some cobblestones to it. Isn't this faster than them searching for stones all over the mountains and plains to build a fortress?

After all, the manpower required for stone mining, transportation, and construction is too many and too long. Those who don’t have a mine at home can’t afford it.

Kornilov sighed and said: "Concrete is good, but the defensive power is still lagging behind that of masonry (the quality of concrete back then was not as good as later), and it is still slightly fragile in the face of the enemy's heavy artillery strikes." .It would be great if there was better quality concrete!”

Nakhimov was speechless. He felt that Kornilov was a little dissatisfied. The concrete currently used is not easy to obtain. If Li Xiao hadn't built a factory against everyone's advice, they would still be looking at the stone and worrying!

As for concrete with better performance, he also wants to use it, but this thing requires technical research and development and money investment, and you have not paid for research and development expenses, so why should others help you?

Not to mention, wouldn’t better concrete be more expensive? When the time comes you won’t be able to use it anymore and you’ll have a big brain!

Nakhimov chuckled and changed the subject: "The top priority is to speed up the progress of the project. Judging from the movements of the British and French coalition forces, it is estimated that they will soon make a comeback and may even launch a landing operation. We must consolidate the defenses and hoard supplies before they do. !”

Kornilov felt a headache growing more and more, because he was not too worried about consolidating the fortifications, but hoarding supplies would cost him his life.

First of all, hoarding supplies requires money, but the current financial situation of the country is there, and it is not an ordinary shortage. It is almost impossible to stock up on supplies.

All Kornilov can do is try every means to hoard food and medicine. The prices of these two items are rising day by day. If he doesn't buy them quickly, he really can't afford them.

"The damn food prices are almost sky-high," he cursed through gritted teeth, "Those damn vampires only know how to take advantage of the situation, and they should be pulled out and shot!"

The so-called vampires naturally refer to conservative nobles. Each of these people owns large tracts of land and serfs, and they make a living by growing land and selling food. What they are best at is making the country rich.

Seeing that the scale of the war is getting bigger and bigger, and the demand for food is getting stronger and stronger, the price increase is crazy.

This is true for the military, and the price of food among the people is even more exaggerated. Serfs in many places have begun to revolt because their lives are hard to come by. If this continues, sooner or later the world will be in chaos.

What's annoying is that Nicholas I turned a blind eye to this and didn't take it seriously. Apart from sending troops to suppress the serfs, he didn't even think about beating the vampires, making them more and more emboldened.

Nakhimov sighed, because there was no use in defending those serfs here. Nicholas I was as stubborn as a stone on certain issues and could not be persuaded at all.

And he didn't have the energy to persuade, because the current British and French coalition forces were enough to give him a headache.

"Is there another shelling?"

He held up his binoculars and looked at the British and French fleets sailing past Sevastopol in a single file. If he had predicted correctly, they were coming for the fort. Are these bastards really planning to land and storm Sevastopol? Bol?

Although he and Kornilov both judged that the target of the British and French forces was Sevastopol, it was a bit unexpected that they actually dared to knock on the door. After all, Sevastopol is not an ordinary place. This is a fortress that Russia has operated for fifty years. How could it be conquered without heavy troops?

But now that the British and French forces have gathered heavily on the Danube River, they still have the ability to deploy troops to besiege Stopol outside the Great Wall? How many troops will be invested in this?

Nakhimov was secretly frightened. The crazy investment from Britain and France made him even less optimistic about the prospect of war...