St. Petersburg on the Black Sea is no joke. This coastal city founded by Emperor Catherine the Great became the pearl of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea in just half a century, becoming the fourth largest city in the empire.
Second to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw.
The two capitals, Odessa, are of course incomparable, but compared to the footcloth capital, which has a strong anti-Russian atmosphere and occasionally breaks out in uprisings, Odessa has a closer connection with the empire because this city was originally composed of Greek exiles.
It was established with the help of foreigners and was once a bridgehead for Russia to support Greek independence.
Of course, this is also the bridgehead for Russia's intervention in Balkan affairs. Odessa has been the initiating and supporting point for all military campaigns against Turkey. Without the support of this port city, Russia's gray animal army can only drink from the northwest wind in the Balkans.
As St. Petersburg on the Black Sea, the architectural style of this city is very similar to that of St. Petersburg. Perhaps as a seaside city and an important port, the two cities are naturally close to each other.
This made Li Xiao inadvertently think that he was back in St. Petersburg when he set foot on Odessa for the first time.
“I love the Black Sea!”
Boris rushed off the pier with great joy, stood on the pier and stamped his feet several times. The down-to-earth feeling made "Samson" who had been suffering from seasickness for more than a month finally come back to life with full blood.
There are many people like Boris. As the forward battalion of the 748th Regiment, the Second Battalion was ordered to be the first batch to set sail from Kronshtadt and crossed the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Spruce Strait and the Black Sea until landing in Odessa.
This was a long and arduous journey. Hundreds of soldiers were crowded in the dreary bottom of the sailboat. The smell of sweat, feet and vomit mixed with the salty smell of sea water was really ecstatic.
Then seasickness and strong winds and waves came alternately, making the smell in the stuffy can even more charming. Fortunately, as the Grand Duke of the empire, Li Xiao enjoyed preferential treatment and was accommodated in first class, otherwise he might not have been able to stay for a whole day.
This is still a steamship chartered from Sweden, otherwise the journey would be even longer, maybe two months? Or more!
"The steamboat is not comfortable at all!" Vishniak commented.
Vishnyak had been on a sailing ship before, and although the cabin was still speechless, he felt that it was much more comfortable than a steam ship.
"This broken ship is too noisy! The smell is too choking! The coal smoke is too irritating to the skin. Look at the dust on my head and face!"
Indeed, the steam ships of this era were indeed uncomfortable. From Li Xiao's own experience, they were a hundred times more uncomfortable than the diesel-engined passenger ships of later generations. The old-fashioned swing-arm steam engines were huge in size and had alarming surges. When the machine started, it was very uncomfortable.
It’s as fun as riding a diesel tricycle.
What's even more frightening is that in this era, even fire tube boilers were not popular. Old-fashioned boilers combined with low-quality lignite used to save money, the smoke was like a goblin.
The natural smell is also very touching. Anyway, it is a hundred times worse than the smog in the imperial capital back then. If it weren't for the strong wind at sea, Li Xiao doubted that he would have choked to death or suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning before he could make it to Odessa.
Yes, the ventilation in the boiler room was particularly bad. It was almost impossible to see where you could reach out. Li Xiao went to experience it once, and when he came out, he looked like black corn, with soot on his face, hair, and ears, like a black coal kiln.
coolie.
It was also uncomfortable on the deck. The chimney of this era was too short and the smoke exhaust capacity was very limited. The large clouds of smoke were almost thrown directly on the deck, and then were carried by the sea breeze and swept across the whole ship. When the ventilation was not smooth, the smoke
It will spread to the whole ship along the gaps in the hull, and the smell will be worse than a sandstorm.
What’s even more frightening is that steam power is not reliable and not cheap these days. Therefore, the captain will only order the engine to be turned on when there is no wind or headwind, which means that the ship has to rely on sails most of the time when sailing on the sea.
, so the speed is very touching.
This greatly extended the time and number of times Li Xiao and others suffered. In short, the sea journey in the mid-19th century was really speechless. Anyway, Li Xiao didn't want to do it again.
"I would rather ride in a carriage and roll in the mud than eat dust on the sea!"
Li Xiao declined to comment on this, because it is too far from St. Petersburg to Odessa. It is thousands of kilometers away, coupled with snow and poor road conditions, it may take them three to four months at the fastest by land.
Only then can we get there. I'm afraid the suffering will not be too great at all. Moreover, during this freezing cold march, the troops will definitely lose their numbers due to combat.
All in all, it is more cost-effective to take the sea route.
"Steam ships will become faster and better in the future. These can all be improved," Li Xiao said, and then changed the topic: "Where should we camp?"
Vishnyak said feebly: "The Black Sea Fleet Odessa Squadron Headquarters reported that they should arrange a campsite for us..."
Li Xiao knew that there was probably no guarantee for this, because the glorious tradition of the Russian army was to ignore logistics and not care at all about where the gray animals ate and where they lived. Anyway, there were plenty of gray animals, and it was enough to recruit more young men without a draft order.
.
Not only the officers don't care about this, but the gray animals themselves don't care much either, because in their opinion, from the moment they join the army, they are already dead, and any extra day they live is earned.
This is no joke at all, because the service period of gray animals ranges from 15 to 25 years, and the treatment in the military is extremely poor. They basically eat only cabbage soup and various porridges or pastes of unknown ingredients. There is almost no military pay.
Military uniforms are also not distributed in place for a long time. Who can survive this kind of life for more than ten years?
Therefore, serf joining the army is basically equivalent to being sent to a funeral parlor, or equivalent to being sentenced to death. For death row prisoners, it is good to be alive, so what else do they need a bicycle!
However, Li Xiao and others are different. One is a time traveler, and the other two have also seen the significant changes in combat effectiveness after improving the treatment of soldiers, so they must strive for the best treatment.
"The good news is that we have a personal letter from Admiral Lazarev. Who is the commander of the squadron here?" Boris asked with a sigh.
Li Xiao replied seriously: "Major General Vladimir Alexeyevich Kornilov."
Boris was a little surprised and asked: "Is there something wrong with this major general? Is he very difficult to deal with?"
Li Xiao smiled and said: "No, this major general is a shrewd and capable man. He is the student and confidant of General Lazarev..."