Dmitri felt a lot of pressure, and this counterinsurgency trip was not smooth from the beginning. If Li Xiao hadn't helped convince Duke Alexander, and with the support of him and Prince Mikhail, I'm afraid he would still be in St. Petersburg right now.
What a mess with a bunch of bureaucrats!
After finally getting over that end, when he entered Ukraine with a small number of troops, he saw such a scene again. To put it bluntly, his heart dropped.
If the whole of Ukraine is half-dead like this, it won't mean much whether or not it suppresses the rebellion.
Sighing, he sent away the timid old man and ordered his men to set up the temporary headquarters at Master Bashar's house.
To be honest, Mr. Bashar's taste is just that, and he is a bit far away from the rich country people. According to Dmitri's opinion, this guy who has reached the top is just a small landowner.
But can you see if there are intact eggs under the overturned nest?
If Russia does not change the serfdom system, the next wave will destroy the entire landlord class. It will not be just one or two families that will be damaged, but the entire national system will be rewritten.
But in this situation, the conservative elements just refused to repent. They always felt that the serfs were easy to bully, and they always felt that the matter had not reached that point.
Thinking of this, Dmitri sighed again. What's the use of worrying about this kind of thing? Even if he thinks too much, he can't change the will of those old stubborns. He can only look for trouble. He'd better think about counterinsurgency.
!
According to the latest intelligence he obtained, Chernihiv had also been captured by the rebels. The mayor of the city was not as fast as the mayor of Kharkiv. He was caught by the angry serfs and killed directly.
It is said that this guy died miserably. His whole body was torn to pieces by the angry serfs who swarmed in. In the end, not even a piece of his skin could be recovered. As for his wife, children, and young ones, none of them escaped. They were humiliated to death by the serfs, and their bodies were directly
thrown into the Desna River (the largest tributary of the Dnieper River).
Of course, their family was not the only one who died. Except for a very small number of Chernihiv nobles, large and small, they were almost killed. The main reason was that these people were a bit too blindly confident.
I always thought that there were 5,000 to 6,000 troops stationed outside the city. With these troops, I could teach the mud-legged people how to behave in minutes.
It's a pity that the commander of these 5,000 to 6,000 people is a fool. His previous performance in Crimea was a mess, and he was beaten by the British and French coalition forces.
After the war, this idiot was not dismissed from his post, but was promoted from major general to lieutenant general. And then there was no more. He was so drunk that he didn't even know the rebels had been defeated at his doorstep. Naturally, the entire brigade was confused.
They were defeated by the rebels.
There are too many bad things like this in Ukraine or in the Russian army. A large number of mid-level and senior officers are either idiots or waste, and there are too few who are truly competent.
Even if they were educated by the British and French forces in Crimea and Wallachia, they could not change the current situation of the Russian military being idle, mediocre and backward.
In Dmitri's opinion, the main reason is that a large number of noble officers are not capable enough and then they are determined to occupy their positions. Under their squeeze, the truly experienced and capable civilian officers have no room for promotion and are suppressed.
Frustrated, he would either retire hastily or simply hang out and live his life.
If you want to solve this problem, you must first solve the problem of meritocracy, and you can no longer rely solely on family background!
It's just that Dmitry still has nothing to say about this matter. At most, he can mention it to Alexander II, and the latter will probably not listen. After all, the foundation of his rule relies heavily on the support of the nobles. He cannot
Cut off the foundation.
Dmitri sighed again, shook his head to get rid of these distracting thoughts, and stared at the map on the table non-stop.
Chernihiv is almost due north of Kiev. The two sides are connected by water. From the map, Chernihiv is an important transportation hub between Gomel and Kiev. Retaking Chernihiv is equivalent to opening up the world.
The gateway to Kiev.
Of course, Kiev did not fall. With the support of 40,000 to 50,000 garrison troops, Kiev managed to hold on amid the frenzy of the serf uprising. It was quite embarrassing and thrilling for a time, especially after the fall of Zhytomyr and Vinnitsa, Kiev almost
It became an isolated island.
It is surrounded by rebel territory and has completely lost contact with Moscow and St. Petersburg.
If the road is not opened as soon as possible, it is hard to say how long Kiev can hold on.
This is why Dmitri rushed to Chernikov as quickly as possible. He had to open up contact with Kiev as soon as possible and tell the gentlemen trapped in Kiev that neither the empire nor the Tsar had forgotten them!
It's just that Dmitry doesn't have much confidence in Chernikov's future battle, although he is certain that the rebels' combat effectiveness should be just that. The main reason why Ukraine has been turned upside down is that there are too many serfs in the uprising.
An avalanche effect formed, which overwhelmed the Ukrainian garrison.
Of course, the morale of the garrison itself is also a key reason.
But this does not mean that Dmitri will underestimate the combat effectiveness of the rebels. Before setting off, Li Xiao told him that it might not be difficult to defeat the rebels head-on, but the problem is that the troops he has at hand are limited. In addition to the five or six thousand vanguard troops,
There are still 40,000 to 50,000 people gathered later.
This small number of people is of little use to the vast Ukraine. He can defeat the rebels from the front, but he still needs to divide his troops to garrison the recaptured cities. As long as he keeps dividing his troops, the rebels will always seize the opportunity to defeat him.
Dmitri was fully aware of this danger. It was indeed impossible for him to solve the problem of hundreds of thousands or even millions of rebels with only 40,000 to 50,000 people.
Needless to say, even if he can recapture Chernikov, he may not be able to control the Chernikov area with his military strength. As long as his main force leaves the city and goes deep alone, there will be gaps in the supply lines behind it.
You don't even need to fight him head-on, you can kill him by just wandering around with him.
Dmitri rubbed his temples. Supply was indeed a big problem. Ukraine was already in a mess and could not squeeze out a drop of oil and water. His supplies were extremely dependent on Gomel. But the treasury was tight!
This time, in order to put down the rebellion of Duke Alexander, he managed to get a lot of face, so he reluctantly came up with some money and supplies, which were completely insufficient to support a large-scale military operation.
In other words, St. Petersburg's support for him may be withdrawn at any time, and the rebels may mutiny before they can deal with his own troops.
So if he wants to truly solve the rebellion problem, he has to find supplies from Ukraine, which means he has to find supplies for himself while fighting the war. This requirement is really outrageous! At least for him, this is the first time for a big girl to get on the sedan chair!