Struggle in Russia

Kornilov and Nakhimov have no confidence in the Danube Fleet but are very confident in mines, because almost all the current damage caused by the Black Sea Fleet to Britain and France is caused by mines and storms.

Among them, natural disasters such as storms are rare. If you encounter them once, it is God's favor. Don't expect God to cheat you every day.

Although the mines did not sink any local battleships, they were very effective against battleships and other ships. A total of seven or eight British and French frigates and cruisers were sunk.

If the Danube Fleet could run to lay mines in the waterway where British and French ships moved, you can imagine what kind of blow they would be unprepared for.

Kornilov and Nakhimov felt excited when they thought of this. They really hoped to see Britain and France stunned soon. Since the sea power changed hands, they had had enough of the British and French fleets showing off their power, and they really wanted to take a breath!

Li Xiao also did not expect that what finally convinced Kornilov and Nakhimov was the minelaying ability. From this, we can also see how embarrassed the Russian Navy is. They are always in a situation where they are far from the best in the world.

When encountering a true naval power, it can only be defeated. The huge fleet that has been built with all the effort can only be used to bully some trash. The cost-effectiveness ratio is really a mess.

What's even more funny is that the Russians are still enjoying it. The navy has been broken down and built up, and they have been tossing it up and down countless times. Every time they just show off something and think they can show off, they suddenly return to before liberation.

Li Xiao admired their tossing spirit. If it were him, he would have lost his temper long ago.

Not to mention the ruins of the Russian Navy, after finalizing various matters for the Black Sea Fleet to cooperate with the Danube Fleet to break the blockade. Li Xiao and the others' focus returned to the land.

"Be prepared as quickly as possible," Li Xiao sighed: "Kostya will probably hit the wall this time. You'd better prepare for failure in advance. I think the morale of the Sevastopol defenders is already low. When we reach the bottom, I’m afraid it will happen again…”

Kornilov is also worried about this problem. The morale accumulated in the Battle of the Alma River has been squandered by Menshikov. Now the whole army is generally very pessimistic, especially the nomadic Cossacks. He has no intention of fighting at all. He only paddles around and robs his own people. It can make people mad!

"The Cossacks' performance is indeed very bad." Li Xiao nodded.

As long as you are not blind, you can see that everyone is a light cavalry, but this group of Cossacks is like heaven and earth compared to the British light cavalry. To put it bluntly, one British light cavalry can defeat at least five Cossacks. These guys are simply out to do bad things and kill people.

"Then you make some adjustments and discuss it with Kostya. Use your Cossacks and dragoons to replace his infantry. Anyway, those scum are useless for defending the city. It's better to leave them to Kostya. Britain and France are ready to deliver food!”

Kornilov and Nakhimov were speechless for a while, because this idea was too bad and they simply did not regard the Cossacks as human beings. But, you can definitely do it.

Now they still have nearly 6,000 cavalry under their command. They are of no use in defending the city. They have to bring in food and fodder. They might as well exchange them for the infantry in the hands of Grand Duke Constantine.

"Six thousand cavalry for twelve thousand infantry?"

Grand Duke Konstantin was also confused by the high conditions proposed by Kornilov. This was the first time he had seen such a deal.

However, he was also a little tempted by this proposal. According to Nicholas I's request, he now has nearly 60,000 troops on hand, including more than 10,000 cavalry, and the rest are light infantry.

If there were more cavalry, the impact would definitely be extraordinary, but six thousand for twelve thousand made him think it was a bit expensive.

"Why is it expensive?" Kornilov followed Li Xiao's prompts and deceived him vigorously. "The combat effectiveness of cavalry is comparable to that of light infantry. To put it bluntly, one cavalry can withstand four infantry. If it weren't for your highness, you The troops here are so tight that 6,000 cavalry have to be replaced by 18,000 infantry!"

However, Grand Duke Constantine was not so easy to fool. He snorted: "Since the cavalry is so powerful, why do you want to trade infantry with me?"

Kornilov spread his hands and replied with great frustration: "Your Majesty has entrusted the offensive task to you. I am only responsible for guarding Sevastopol. What use can the cavalry be? Rather than leaving it idle here with me, it is better to Leave it to you to let them gallop on the battlefield to help you build meritorious deeds!"

Grand Duke Constantine glanced at Kornilov. Although he did not believe that Kornilov was so kind-hearted to help him, more cavalry would indeed be more helpful. After all, his strategy this time was to flank the coalition forces, and the cavalry A little more maneuverability and greater ability to achieve suddenness.

But he still thought the asking price was too high, so he immediately landed and exchanged money: "Six thousand cavalry can only be exchanged for eight thousand infantry at most! This is mine..."

Before he finished speaking, Kornilov turned around and left. He could only swallow back what he had not finished and raised his bid: "In exchange for 10,000, any more will be impossible. After all, my troops are also very tight." !”

Kornilov gritted his teeth and nodded and agreed to the conditions, looking as if he had suffered a big loss. But when he walked out of Grand Duke Constantine's reception room, his expression changed completely, and he was as happy as if he had eaten a magpie flight.

"It's exactly what you expected, six thousand for ten thousand." Kornilov said to Li Xiao happily, "How do you know this is his bottom line?"

"Guess."

Li Xiao curled his lips contemptuously. It was not difficult for him to guess the temper of Archduke Constantine. If you want to take advantage of him, you must first pretend to be at a loss, and you must raise the price from the beginning.

You see, he must have been fooled!

"You have to hurry up and go through the formalities. Although Kostya is stupid, he is not without smart people around him. Get him back quickly, lest he regret it later!"

But this time, Li Xiao guessed wrong. The smart people around Grand Duke Constantine did not realize that this was a trap. They quite recognized Grand Duke Constantine's behavior of exchanging 10,000 infantry for 6,000 cavalry.

So Kornilov got the people back without any effort, and after he was done, he quickly held these people in his hands and assigned them tasks, without giving Grand Duke Constantine a chance to regret it.

With the extra 10,000 infantry, Kornilov suddenly felt that he had a lot more money on hand, at least much better than when he had the cavalry who only ate and did not work. At that time, the cavalry was really busy with everything. He couldn't help but only caused trouble. Now he can finally strengthen his defenses and wait for the next round of the coalition's offensive...