Duke Mikhail knew very well how much Nicholas I had mobilized for this war. Except for the garrison troops in other directions, almost all the elite Russian troops were gathered in his hands.
These more than 500,000 troops are the basic base of Russia. No matter how many more there are, it is not impossible, but it is extremely difficult to mobilize. It not only takes time, but also requires a lot of money.
But Russia lacks both of these, so it can't spare time from other strategic directions to fill the big hole in Wallachia, right?
Duke Mikhail is very aware of how many unstable factors there are around Russia, such as Poland and the Caucasus. If there were not hundreds of thousands of Russian troops guarding there, there would have been chaos there.
Once we choose to allocate troops from these places, maybe the hole in Wallachia has not been filled yet, and the flames of war are ignited in Poland and the Caucasus. It will really be like playing whack-a-mole, and the gourd floats when the gourd is pressed.
.
"The domestic military strength is very tight," Duke Mikhail said with difficulty. "Both Poland and the Caucasus are not at peace, and they both need the army."
Li Xiao actually understands this truth, but the most critical situation right now is Turkey and Wallachia. If Russia fails here, the outcome will definitely be very miserable.
"Of course Poland cannot move lightly, but it can still mobilize some troops in the Caucasus, even if it is only 30,000 to 50,000 people!"
"In addition, we can further mobilize domestically. The current situation is already more severe than in 1812. Back then we only had to face Napoleon's half a million troops, but now we have to deal with Turkey, the British and French coalition forces, and even our allies at the same time.
We are still holding back! If we want to end the war with dignity, we only need one million troops, otherwise it will not work at all!"
Duke Mikhail was shocked by the figure of one million, because it was difficult for him to imagine the concept of mobilizing one million troops before. In the past, he thought that with 500,000 to 600,000 troops, he could conquer Europe, but now
Li Xiao told him that it would take one million people to hold the line of defense.
This gap is really too big!
Anyway, he couldn't open his mouth and didn't know how to ask Nicholas I for so many troops.
This naturally made Li Xiao anxious, because he was not talking nonsense about one million people. In fact, he had no idea whether one million people would be enough, because in history, Russia suffered about 400,000 casualties in the Crimean War.
cost.
Think about how many people would have to be sent to fill the battlefield with 400,000 casualties. After all, soldiers are humans, not machines, and they cannot withstand a casualty rate of 50 to 60 percent without collapsing.
Even if Russia's gray animals are stupider and more honest, even if they can withstand a 50% casualty rate and continue to fight, then according to this ratio, the Russian army will have to mobilize at least 800,000 troops.
The problem is that in history, these 700,000 to 800,000 Russian troops were consumed to death. If Li Xiao could accept the result in history, then naturally he would not have to do anything and just watch the Russian army collapse.
And now he still wants to keep Wallachia and Moldavia, which determines that Russia must increase investment and must be able to force Britain and France to accept the status quo of Wallachia and Moldavia.
And this definitely requires performance on the battlefield to convince Britain and France, otherwise why would they show mercy to you?
Li Xiao wanted to persuade Duke Mikhail a few more words, but Dmitry was there first: "Duke, I personally think that Grand Duke Andrei's analysis is very reasonable. With the current strength of our troops, it may be difficult for us to do so."
Stabilize the current front. Once Wallachia makes a mistake, the domestic opinions will probably be very big!"
Duke Mikhail's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He remembered that as the commander of this war, if he not only failed to achieve a decent result, but also lost Wallachia, then he would be pushed to the forefront.
, at that time, both the military and the nobles would probably yell at him to kill him, and his ending would be very miserable and desolate!
But what reason did he use to persuade Nicholas I to continue to increase investment? He knew the tsar too well. I was afraid that if he directly told Nicholas I that the current situation was very bad, Wallachia might not be able to save it. Then Nicholas
I'm afraid I won't believe it at all.
Today Nicholas I is still dreaming about forcing Turkey to surrender, and he also wants to win several great victories!
Are you asking him to accept failure?
It’s simply impossible!
Duke Mikhail was still hesitating, and Alexey also advised: "Duke, the situation is extremely urgent now, and we can no longer hesitate. Even if you are taught a lesson by your Majesty now, it will be lighter than the responsibility of throwing away Wallachia!"
Duke Mikhail smiled bitterly and said: "The problem is that His Majesty simply does not believe that the situation has reached such an uncontrollable point! He still expects to win!"
Li Xiao snorted coldly and said: "Then you tell him that the troops are not enough and more troops are needed to win the battle. Otherwise, we can only turn to comprehensive defense, because the Turks mobilized the whole country to invade Wallachia!"
Well?
Duke Mikhail was a bit dumbfounded, because this was deception, but even if Nicholas I sent him more troops, he would not be able to annihilate the Turks. Now the enemies on the battlefield are all gathered together, and they cannot be eaten at all.
OK.
Li Xiao said contemptuously: "We will decide whether we eat or not. Let's deceive the reinforcements first. After a while, His Majesty will be able to see the reality clearly. By then, even if you don't win the battle, he will understand!"
Prince Mikhail was immediately rendered speechless. Although it was a little weird to do this, it seemed to be the only way to do it. It was better than doing nothing and just staring and being eaten alive!
After thinking for a long time, he sighed and said: "This is the only solution for now!"
However, Li Xiao knows that just doing these is not enough, because the future situation will become worse day by day, and he must be mentally prepared from now on, otherwise he will be defeated by despair in the future!
"What I'm most worried about now is the situation of the Black Sea Fleet. I don't know whether they have completely closed the Bosporus as planned!"
Alexey also sighed and said: "I hope General Kornilov and General Nassimov will do it. At least for the time being, we have not heard about the British and French fleets entering the Black Sea, otherwise we will be even more passive!"
In fact, Li Xiao doesn't think so. Although closing the Bosporus is beneficial to Russia's overall situation, it is not necessarily beneficial to Wallachia.
The inability to pass through the strait is likely to force Britain and France to deploy their troops in Bulgaria, which is equivalent to increasing the pressure on Wallachia. On the contrary, if they can pass through the strait, I am afraid they will have no choice but to go to Sevastopo just like in history.