Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 419 Russia's Defeat
As time went on, Carlo finally understood why Tsarist Russia, a seemingly powerful superpower, was defeated by the island nation in this war.

Leaving aside the combat capabilities of the Russian army and navy, the logistics department of the Tsarist government displayed a rather exaggerated aspect in this war, and their logistical work indirectly led to the collapse of the Russian army at the front.

Why do I say this? A few simple examples of the ridiculous mistakes made by the Russian logistics department during the war will make it clear.

At this time, the Russian government's logistics department was in a state of considerable chaos. Corruption related to logistics was rampant. The higher-ups paid little attention to what the logistics department was transporting to the Far East battlefield; they only cared whether the logistics vehicles transporting supplies arrived in the Far East on time.

This resulted in a wide variety of supplies being transported to the Far East battlefield. When the soldiers desperately needed weapons and ammunition, the logistics department at the rear transported a Buddha statue weighing several tons.

As winter approached and soldiers needed warmer winter clothing to protect themselves, the logistics department delivered a large batch of summer clothing, leaving the soldiers without enough uniforms to keep warm.

Logistics problems are not limited to the Army; the Navy also faces considerable logistical challenges.

After Lieutenant General Makarov was dispatched to the Far East to assume command of the Pacific Fleet, he originally planned to lead the Pacific Fleet and the Baltic support fleet in a heroic resistance against the island nation's naval blockade.

He also specifically requested a batch of material aid from the Russian government, including various types of artillery shells that could be used by a large number of warships, some medical supplies, and coal.

Lieutenant General Makarov was quite excited when the Russian logistics department delivered these supplies to the battlefield.

But when he sent people to receive the supplies, he quickly discovered something was wrong. Leaving aside the quantity of supplies, the Russian logistics department was certainly involved in embezzlement; receiving even half of the requested supplies was already quite good.

The problem is that the logistics department not only delivered the wrong quantity of supplies, but also the wrong type of supplies.

The shells did arrive, but they were all from small-caliber artillery used by the army. The cannons on warships are mostly 10 inches or larger in caliber, making it impossible to use these small-caliber shells.

Although medical supplies were delivered, the embezzlement of these supplies was the most rampant problem. These supplies were either of substandard quality or were common items that offered little benefit on the battlefield—in other words, practically useless.

The chaos in the logistics department not only hindered Lieutenant General Makarov's planned counter-offensive, but also shattered the morale of the Russian Far East army.

The Far East region where the soldiers were fighting had a very cold winter climate. The Russian soldiers lacked sufficient winter clothing to keep warm, making it extremely difficult for them to fight against island soldiers under such conditions.

The chaotic state of Russia's logistics sector demonstrates that the revolution that broke out in Russia during World War I was not without reason.

Russia and its enemy, the island nation, underwent reforms at almost the same time. The island nation's reforms were very effective, allowing it to successfully ride the fast track of the Second Industrial Revolution.

As for Russia, although it also appears to be a vigorous reform, the reform only existed during the reign of Tsar Alexander II.

After Tsar Alexander II was forced to commit suicide, his reforms became a mere formality, which is why Tsarist Russia is currently in a state of considerable chaos.

Even if Alexander II hadn't been assassinated, his reforms would have only barely prolonged the life of Tsarist Russia. This is because his serf reforms were incomplete and did not fundamentally change the living conditions of the lower classes of Russian civilians.

Although it appeared to liberate tens of millions of serfs in Russia, in reality it was merely a change of name. The nobility and landowners continued to oppress a large portion of the Russian common people, and the interests of the newly emerging working class were not adequately respected.

Under such circumstances, even the slightest spark could ignite the entire situation in Russia.

Regardless of the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War, a revolution would break out in Russia and the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II was only a matter of time.

Carlo didn't care about the life or death of the Russian royal family, but the threat posed by post-revolutionary Russia was unparalleled by any other European country.

As is well known, Britain, France, and Germany suffered significant weakening after the end of World War I.

Although the war did not reach the British mainland, Britain was still greatly affected. More importantly, Britain's own potential has its limits.

With the development of technology, Britain's homeland can no longer support its status as a world superpower, which means that Britain will eventually have to give way to countries with greater potential.

So which countries have even greater potential?
After the end of World War I, only two countries truly had the potential to become the world's hegemon: Russia, which had just experienced a revolution, and the United States, which had not been affected by the war.

Both countries share a common characteristic: they have vast land areas and large populations.

Although post-revolutionary Russia started relatively late, it did not have the problems of racial discrimination and partisan antagonism that the United States did.

This led to extremely rapid development for the United States and Russia for a long period after World War I, and they became the two poles of the world after the end of World War II.

The development of the United States can be slowed down, and there might even be opportunities to directly address the issue. After all, the United States has many domestic problems; the conflict between Black and white people alone is enough to tear the country apart.

But Russia was different. Once Russia completed its revolution, European countries would face a completely new Russia. Most of the corruption and bribery would be gone in post-revolutionary Russia, and the army's fighting capacity would be greatly enhanced due to its newfound conviction.

This is also why Carlo didn't want post-revolutionary Russia to be born too early. Or rather, post-revolutionary Russia could be born, but certain restrictions must be placed on this soon-to-be-born new Russia.

How to restrict it? Actually, the simplest way is to preserve the current Russian royal family and let Russia fall into a state of division.

Carlo is currently unsure which side he will stand on, but he is certain that the Russian royal family must be preserved and that Russia will inevitably be divided in the future.

As winter approached, the war between Russia and the island nation gradually entered a stalemate. Although Russia displayed some astonishing maneuvers in this war, its overall strength still placed it within the ranks of the superpowers, and it was not so easily defeated.

Meanwhile, the island nation had to slow its offensive due to the arrival of winter. Both North Korea and the Russian Far East are extremely cold in winter.

Russians are able to adapt to such cold, but islanders are relatively less able to adapt to it.

The good news is that the chaos in Russia's logistics sector is no longer a secret, and the island nation's government is also aware of the current state of the Russian military.

Every day the war dragged on, Russia had to expend more energy on logistical support. They needed to requisition supplies from distant Europe and transport them to the Far East, with logistical expenses several times higher than those of an island nation.

Under such circumstances, even if Russia were a superpower, they could not hold out for long.

Unless Tsar Nicholas II completely disregards the economic and industrial development of mainland Russia in order to defeat the island nation, Russia will have to find a suitable opportunity to end the war through peace talks before its economy collapses.

While winter delayed the army's offensive, the navy could not cease operations during the winter. The fleet dispatched by Tsar Nicholas II to support the Far East, after a long period of preparation, finally set sail from the Baltic and Black Seas.

In peacetime, the fleet's long-distance voyages would generally not present any problems. Resupply could be obtained from ports in all the countries along the route; after all, even superpowers needed to give Russia some face.

But the situation was different now. Because Russia and the island nation were at war, other neutral countries were entitled to refuse to provide logistical assistance to the Russian fleet.

In other words, this fleet, sailing from Europe to the Far East, could hardly find any resupply points during its voyage.

Without supply points, it is impossible to replenish coal and living supplies, which is undoubtedly a torment for the naval officers and soldiers on the warship.

As an ally of the island nations, Britain, in its neutral stance, pressured other countries as soon as the war broke out, demanding that all neutral nations not interfere in the war and must abide by the agreement, prohibiting them from providing any assistance to the belligerent fleets.

Britain's demand was clearly aimed at Russia, since the island nation's fleet had no need to sail to Europe.

They could not possibly travel thousands of miles to the Baltic Sea to fight the Russian fleet, and their area of ​​operation was limited to East Asia.

Even without supply points, the Russian naval officers and men could still sail safely to the Far East by living frugally.

However, due to Russia's repeated defeats in the land war, a sense of fear had developed within the Russian army.

How serious is this mentality? Russian naval officers and men are completely scaring themselves. Rumors are even circulating that a secret fleet from the island nation has arrived in the waters off Northern Europe and is about to launch a surprise attack on them.

It's important to understand that at that time, Russia's illiteracy rate was still quite high. A large portion of these naval officers and soldiers were illiterate, and they had no independent thought about such claims; some soldiers simply took it for granted that these claims were true.

Believing such claims naturally leads to concerns about the safety of their fleet. This constant worry, in turn, fosters a sense of panic among the soldiers.

Fueled by panic, Russian naval soldiers were under extreme tension, and would overreact to any approaching ships in the distance, mistaking them for the fleet of an island nation and firing indiscriminately.

This news is not fabricated. On its way to the Far East, this support fleet mistakenly identified British fishing boats as an island nation's fleet and blindly launched an attack on them.

Fortunately, the Russian naval officers and soldiers were not highly skilled, and only one shell landed around the fishing boat without directly hitting it.

However, the Russian navy's unauthorized firing on British fishermen still caused a public outcry. Britain, already on the opposite side of Russia, naturally wouldn't let such a good opportunity pass.

Britain has requested an international tribunal to try the Russian fleet's alleged persecution of British civilians and to punish the Russian navy and government.

While such a punishment will certainly not be too severe, such public opinion, once it spreads throughout Europe, will undoubtedly be a blow to the reputation of the Russian government.

It was precisely because of the Russian navy's shelling of British fishing boats that the British government had sufficient pretext to pressure other neutral countries to refrain from providing assistance to the Russian fleet.

It is worth mentioning that Spain also unfortunately became a target of British pressure. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, the British ambassador to Spain contacted the Spanish government, demanding that it abide by the neutrality treaty and not provide any assistance to the Russian fleet.

Carlo's response was to agree on the surface, but in reality he ignored the British ambassador's request.

Even if Carlo himself didn't intend to provide favors to Russia, he would still oppose anything supported by the British.

France shared the same view as Spain. Ultimately, Russia remained a French ally. Even if France didn't want to support Russia's war against the island nation, it couldn't abandon its ally for such a trivial matter.

It was thanks to the support from Spain and France that the Russian fleet, after traversing the whole of Europe, finally obtained supplies in the African colonies of Spain and France.

When this fleet crossed thousands of miles to reach the Far East, it was already 1904.

Unfortunately, the war was nearing its end. Russia wanted to use this support fleet to launch a counter-offensive against the island nation, but they were quickly defeated in naval battles.

Russia's painstakingly built fleet was almost completely destroyed, with two-thirds of its warships sunk at sea.

On the other hand, the island nation only lost three torpedo boats. Such a stark difference in casualties actually reflects the chaos in Russia's navy and the advanced naval capabilities of the island nation.

The defeat at the Battle of Tsushima shocked Europe and revealed Russia's backwardness and decay to all nations. While defeats were generally acceptable, the extent of Russia's naval failure was astonishing.

Twenty-one Russian warships were sunk directly, and seven were captured, but in return, only three torpedo boats from the island nation were obtained.

More importantly, the defeat of this fleet by the island nation meant that Russia no longer had any power to resist.

After the redeployment, the Baltic Fleet's number of warships and total tonnage have been significantly reduced. Further redeployment would impact Russia's naval defense capabilities in the Baltic Sea.

Meanwhile, the island nation still retains most of its naval power, which can be deployed to the war at any time.

If the island nation were to blockade Russia's coastline, the Russian army in the Far East would have no choice but to rely on land transport to receive support.

However, the Trans-Siberian Railway is not yet completed, and transporting goods from the European part to the Far East requires extremely high time costs.

The Russian army is currently short of time, and it also cannot afford to waste any more time.

After the naval battle, most European countries understood that Russia was likely to negotiate peace with the island nation.

Ultimately, the most valuable part of Russia is still in Europe, and there is absolutely no need for it to continue fighting to the death with island nations.

Peace talks might be the best option for Russia, allowing it to preserve most of its strength, regroup, and then re-explore its ambitions in the Far East.

The French government is also pleased to see Russia engage in swift negotiations, hoping that its allies will refocus their attention on Europe and help alleviate the pressure from Germany and Austria-Hungary.

(End of this chapter)