Struggle in Russia

Dmitry had a complicated mood when he received the appointment. He knew a month ago that something big was going to happen in Ukraine, and as expected, the boots have fallen on the ground now.

He could see that Alexander II was angry and angry, but he thought what was the point of being angry at this time? What were you doing earlier? If you had taken action earlier, why would you be angry now?

I don't know, but I can't say these things. To be honest, this makes Dmitri very depressed. This feeling is really terrible.

The only thing that gave him some comfort was that Alexander II finally made the right response and finally began to take the matter seriously.

He prepared carefully all night, and then rushed to the Army Department excitedly. He couldn't wait to launch operations to suppress the rebellion in Ukraine as soon as possible.

But when he felt the War Department, the situation here was far from ideal. The entire department was in chaos. The sudden replacement of the Minister of War caught the department off guard. The handover and various connections between the old and new ministers were done in an extremely hasty manner.

Prince Mikhail sighed: "Count, you have seen that the whole department is in chaos now. It will not take a day or two to sort out the situation. I am afraid that I will not be able to spare the time to formulate a counter-insurgency plan with you for the time being!"

Dmitri looked around. It was indeed a riot, but the rebellion in Ukraine was too big to be delayed. He asked, "How much time do you need? Um, you also know that His Majesty is very concerned about it." This matter, and the situation in Ukraine is critical, we cannot wait for others!”

Prince Mikhail smiled bitterly and said: "I don't know, I can only say as soon as possible, the thing was so sudden, I didn't have any preparation..."

This is not a lie. In fact, he has been slacking off since he was named a prince. As a noble prince and marshal, the possibility of him going to the battlefield again is slim, not to mention that he found that he is older and not in good health. Well, instead of continuing to do things and making those young people feel disgusted, it is better to take the initiative to retire and enjoy retirement life.

Prince Mikhail is really on vacation during this period, and you also know that once a tense person relaxes, it will be difficult to return to normal, especially for a person of Prince Mikhail's age. Getting back to the state is not a matter of a day or two.

Dmitri understood very well, and he actually admired Prince Mikhail's attitude of being aware of current affairs. So he didn't ask for much, he just begged the prince to prepare materials as soon as possible to raise enough supplies.

In his opinion, as long as Prince Mikhail can solve the logistical problems, it will be of great help.

But Prince Mikhail spread his hands and said: "I understand your urgency, but I can only regret to tell you that the material reserves are very insufficient, or very lacking."

Dmitri asked with his eyes widened: "We have just ended the war, so it stands to reason that all kinds of supplies should be sufficient!"

Prince Mikhail smiled bitterly and said: "That is an ideal state you are talking about, but as you know, the last war consumed too much. In the later period, we were actually in short supply of various materials. If the war had not ended in time, the entire army would probably All will collapse. So in fact we don’t have much supplies left, and as you know, more than 700,000 troops have to return to their base, and the consumption on the road is not small. There is actually a lot of deficit after going back and forth, about three-thirds of the country’s total. One of the troops is still in arrears with wages, and a quarter of the troops are in a state of not having enough to eat..."

Well, Dmitry really didn't expect the situation to be so bad. No wonder the local Ukrainian garrison performed so poorly in dealing with the rebellion. Before, he thought that the Ukrainian governor and officials did not pay enough attention and took it lightly.

Now it seems that the low morale of the troops and the extreme shortage of supplies are also the key reasons. As the old saying goes, the emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers. How can we win a battle without sufficient material support?

In fact, Dmitri still wanted to keep it simple. In addition to the reasons he thought of, the reason for the poor performance of the Ukrainian regular rebel army was that the army itself was the creator of the rebellion.

Due to the lack of salaries, a large number of grassroots officers and soldiers were hungry and had no choice but to rely on stealing or robbery to survive. Because Ukraine is an important granary and the most important support base for the Russian army in the Crimean War, the exploitation and consumption of Ukraine by this war were staggering.

In other words, the Ukrainian people had a heavy burden to begin with. They finally looked forward to the end of the war and thought they could live a peaceful life. As a result, the soldiers like robbers came again. .

The officials have scraped off a layer of oil, and the soldiers have scraped off a layer of skin. The Ukrainian people are bruised and bruised, and they have to rebel.

In addition, some soldiers who were forced to rebel directly mutinied, taking guns and rebelling with the revolting serfs. This naturally made the situation in Ukraine even more chaotic.

Prince Mikhail told Dmitri helplessly: "The army's reserve warehouses are almost empty. It is simply unrealistic to expect the Ministry of War to allocate materials to ensure supplies... My friend, I advise you to go to the Prime Minister and see. Can he try to raise some supplies for you to solve your urgent need?"

After coming out of the War Department, Dmitri felt cold up to his waist. He looked at the ambitious counter-insurgency plan he had just formulated in his hand and found that it was useless. He had no material reserves and no money. What could he do with it? Counterinsurgency? Rely on thoughts and imagination?

Sighing, he hurried to the Prime Minister's Office to see if Neserrodie could help him. At least he had to help raise some supplies and raise some military expenses!

However, Dmitri didn't put much hope in it, because Neserrodie had only been in the title of Prime Minister for most of the past six months, and basically didn't care about anything. He was just waiting to resign and return to his hometown.

What's more, the Prime Minister and Cabinet have money even though the War Ministry has no money?

Dmitri knew what was going on in the treasury, and he was still living with his fingers crossed.

"Property issues? Then you have to ask the Minister of War!"

Sure enough, when Dmitri explained his purpose, Neserrodie started to play ball. According to him, if he wanted to fight the rebellion, fight a war, get money and materials, he had to go to the Minister of War. This was his authority. As the Prime Minister, the best he can do is ask for him, but the result cannot be guaranteed.

Dmitry begged: "Your Excellency, I know that the treasury is very tight, but the relationship with Ukraine is very important, and it is likely to affect the fiscal revenue in the coming year. If the rebellion cannot be put down quickly, it is likely to cause a chain reaction, and the whole country may be in chaos. !”

It's just that his warning was of no use to Neserrode. He was ready to retire and return to his hometown, so he was not willing to deal with this mess.

"I know the seriousness of the matter, but you can only go to the Minister of War for this matter. I believe he knows the seriousness of the matter and will take it seriously..."