Winter in St. Petersburg is always dark, and the few hours of sunshine every day make people feel like the sky has just dawned and then the sun sets. This makes Li Xiao a little bit unaccustomed to it, and the dripping water here turns into ice, even if he wears a cotton bag
It doesn't feel warm either.
At this time, Li Xiao understood very well the ambitions of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, and understood why they wanted to fight southward at all costs. This ghost place was really unsuitable for human habitation and development.
Of course, in the anti-human Russian winter, only the poor need to worry about sunlight and heating issues. The rich nobles have already had hard-working serfs to cut wood for coal mining, and the hot fireplaces will not go out all winter.
If you have money or a little power, you can go to the warm Black Sea coast or go abroad directly to France or Spain to sunbathe.
For example, Nicholas I would take his family to visit relatives in Prussia in the winter (Nicholas I was the son-in-law of King Frederick William III of Prussia), and would wait until the harshest winter was over.
Return to St. Petersburg.
However, Li Xiao did not enjoy this kind of treatment. Nicholas I would not let this unsightly nephew interfere with his family visit. In previous years, during the season when dripping water turned into ice, Li Xiao would be ordered to stay behind and go to the center of the lawn of the summer palace.
Snowdrops guarding Catherine the Great.
That was Nicholas I's favorite story. It is said that the emperor did not understand why there was always a soldier guarding the snowdrops in the summer palace. After extensive research, he discovered that it turned out that one winter when Catherine the Great was walking in the summer palace
, saw this snow lotus sprouting in the heavy snow, and ordered to take good care of the flower.
Then according to the emperor's order, the snow lotus was always guarded by soldiers. During the Great Flood of St. Petersburg, even though the flood came, the guards did not receive the order to evacuate, and they still faithfully performed their mission until they were drowned.
Li Xiao didn't know whether this story was true or not, but he was sure that the part about Catherine the Great was true. As for the stupid soldiers who drowned in the flood, they were definitely made up by Nicholas I's scoundrels. That guy
He likes to do this kind of tricks the most, just to make everyone obey him unconditionally.
Li Xiao also knew what it was like to stand on the lawn of the summer palace and drink the northwest wind in the severe cold season. His uncle simply wanted to freeze him to death and make him, the bastard Grand Duke, become part of the allusion. Maybe he would
Instead of the soldiers who were loyal to their duties and drowned in the flood, they became the idiot archduke who was loyal to Nicholas I and died in the frost and snow on his mission.
Li Xiao was very glad that he got rid of the Preobrazhensky Guards, otherwise when the blizzard fell, he would still be freezing on the lawn of the summer palace instead of sitting in front of the roaring fire and drinking hot water.
cocoa.
"How are the soldiers doing? No one has frostbite, right?" he asked.
"Fortunately, we built a new barracks in time and harvested enough wood. Although the winter clothing is still not satisfactory, the boys have good cold resistance and it will not be a problem to survive this winter!"
Boris rubbed his hands. He had just returned from inspecting the camp, his face was red with cold, and he quickly drank two sips of vodka.
He asked casually: "How are the plans for the cram school going?"
Li Xiao held the cup of hot cocoa and sighed: "It's more troublesome than I thought."
Boris curled his lips and said: "I told you a long time ago, this is not what we should do. This is a military, not a primary school. Literacy should be left to teachers and churches. This is their job! And I don't
I think those mud-legged people have the talent to read and write, and it’s enough for them to learn to follow orders honestly!”
Li Xiao raised his head and glared at the big man and retorted: "It's far from enough. Soldiers without culture have no souls. What I want are elites, not cannon fodder! So I have decided to organize this cram school!"
Boris shrugged. They had argued about this issue after Li Xiao proposed cram school. Vishnyak also supported his point of view, but he couldn't convince Li Xiao at all. This man was stubborn to the core.
"Cram school, what is that?"
The door creaked, and two tall and handsome figures broke into the second company headquarters. The leader was deputy commander Leonid, followed by Vishnyak with a constipated expression on his face.
Li Xiao and Boris were both taken aback, and quickly stood up and saluted. It wasn't that they respected Leonid much, but in fact the relationship between the two parties was not very good. After all, the Knights of St. Andre were very violent.
There, and Leonid also has a distinct label of being a crown prince, so everyone is not from the same place.
But after all, Leonid is the deputy commander and the commander. Even if Li Xiao and Boris are indifferent to him, the etiquette on the scene is necessary, otherwise the eager military police colonel Adlerberg will teach them immediately
How to be a human being.
"Deputy Head!"
Leonid returned the favor sternly and said: "Sit down, everyone! You have done a good job. You have prepared firewood for heating in advance, built windproof and frost-proof barracks, and the soldiers have enough winter clothes and bedding. Unlike
Other companies started to panic when it started to snow, and several young men froze to death, and countless others suffered frostbite... Damn it!"
Leonid was indeed very angry. Before the heavy snowfall, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of heating to each battalion, but most of the officers turned a deaf ear to it. They waited until the snow fell and froze the soldiers before they hurriedly found firewood to build firewood.
house.
Damn it, don’t these idiots know that it’s impossible to build a house in Russia in the winter? The land is frozen hard and the iron drill can’t be hammered, so how can we build a house?
Only the Second Battalion was considered good. Battalion Commander Vishniak did not disappoint him. He started building the house before the snowfall. Although it was not completely completed, it was still enough to accommodate a small amount of space. The Second Battalion even built a house one month in advance.
They were well prepared for the winter. When other companies were frozen into ice sculptures and could only huddle together for warmth, this company actually had the energy to carry out winter training.
You really have to compare things with others. Comparing people with people is very annoying!
Of course, Leonid was not just angry, he also blamed himself. He was still not very adaptable to grassroots work, and he underestimated the inertia and slackness of these bastard officers below. If he had not just issued a reminder,
, but to supervise one company after another, I’m afraid people won’t be freezing to death like they are now!
Leonid hated unnecessary casualties and felt that every life was precious, but now he was no better than those hateful murderers. This made him, who had always regarded himself as an elite, very uncomfortable.
Leonid knew that he had to speed up his adaptation and must be more careful and cautious in the future to prevent this tragedy from happening again. And he was also a person who would do it when he thought of it. Since he was inexperienced, he would ask someone to do it.
Ask someone with experience for advice!
Who in the 748th Regiment really cares about the condition of the soldiers? Who is more experienced?
Undoubtedly, it was Li Xiao and his group. So Leonid came to learn from it, but when he reached the door, he heard Li Xiao's complaints, and he immediately became interested in the idea of a cultural cram school.
He asked bluntly: "What is this cram school for? What is it used for?"