CHAPTER 368: CHAPTER 363 RUSSIA-AUSTRIA BORDER REHEARSAL

On December 27, more than thirty-eight thousand troops of the Fourth and Fifth Corps crossed the Bessarabian border area into the Duchy of Wallachia.

Perhaps because the Russian Army frequently traversed the Moldavian Duchy over the past few decades, the Moldavians residing in the Moldavian Duchy and the (puppet) ruler, the Grand Duke of Moldavia, chose not to resist. Instead, they allowed Gorchakov’s troops to enter the Moldavian Duchy. Many Moldavian merchants even voluntarily followed the Russian Imperial Army providing outsourced services such as selling watered-down wine, moldy black bread, and offering soldiers certain physiological services.

This type of accompanying merchant was already common during the Roman Empire and reached another peak in the early 19th century under Emperor Napoleon.

Back when the First Empire dispatched troops, German, French, and Italian merchants within the army were countless. The accompanying merchant system greatly alleviated the army’s transportation issues, ensuring logistical security for the army.

With the invention and construction of railroads, transportation costs gradually decreased. The goods transported by a single carriage could easily surpass those of dozens of accompanying merchants, and the price of centralized procurement was also cheaper than the arbitrary pricing set by accompanying merchants.

This special group of accompanying merchants is gradually facing extinction.

Of course, such extinction is not immediate but occurs over the evolution of half a century.

At present, apart from Jerome Bonaparte and Austria, who have extensively built railways for military uses (only Jerome Bonaparte emphasized railway transportation and deployment in logistics), most other countries are not paying much attention to railroads.

Particularly in countries like the Kingdom of Britain, which were directly hit by the railway bubble, there is fear that railways might once again turn into a railroad fever, affecting the Kingdom of Britain’s economic issues.

Jerome Bonaparte personally guided the army and economy to victory with a vision nearly 200 years ahead of this world, an opportunity not everyone could possess.

Even so, there are still many military personnel who think Jerome Bonaparte is just fooling around.

After all, the equipment is from the Napoleonic Wars, and the Russian Empire, with combat strength weaker than the Napoleonic Wars, still uses tactics from Napoleon’s era.

Regarding the matter of accompanying merchants, there’s natural laissez-faire. Not just the common soldiers, even General Gorchakov himself thinks the same. He needs these people to scrape the wealth from every soldier. Only when their pockets are empty will they sincerely fight for the Russian Empire.

Those merchants following the army must pay Gorchakov a 0.2 ruble share for every ruble worth of goods sold in the army.

So Gorchakov effectively wins twice.

On December 29, Gorchakov met with the Grand Duke of Moldavia at a castle in the Moldavian Duchy.

As a puppet of the Russian Empire, the Grand Duke of Moldavia hosted a banquet to entertain Gorchakov and inquired about the Russian Imperial Army’s movements.

Gorchakov, reeking of alcohol, showed a contemptuous expression and drunkenly informed the Grand Duke of Moldavia that Emperor Nicholas I of the Russian Empire had ordered him to advance into the Bulgarian Region and then to Constantinople.

Upon hearing Gorchakov’s reply, the Grand Duke of Moldavia’s expression turned somewhat grim.

If Gorchakov were truly successful, he and the Grand Duke of Wallachia would be encircled by the Russian Empire.

By then, they would likely no longer be rulers of their duchies, and Wallachia and Moldavia would no longer be vassal states but part of the Russian Empire.

The land greed of the Russian Empire is insatiable.

The Grand Duke of Moldavia, knowing he could not resist the Russian Imperial Army, sought to stabilize them while discreetly slipping out to send his confidants overnight to Transylvania to inform the Ottoman Empire and the Austrian Empire of the situation.

In the Grand Duke of Moldavia’s view, the Ottoman Empire, upon receiving the news, should be on guard, and the Austrian Empire would not leave the matter unattended.

Having arranged everything, the Grand Duke of Moldavia returned to the banquet. Accompanied by him, General Gorchakov drank until late.

On December 30, 1852, Gorchakov led his troops onward, reaching the Duchy of Wallachia by December 31.

On the evening of the 31st, Gorchakov was warmly entertained again by the Grand Duke of Moldavia. The warm hospitality from both the Grand Duke of Moldavia and the Grand Duke of Wallachia made Gorchakov develop a fondness for these two duchies’ rulers.

On January 3, 1853, as Gorchakov’s troops were about to reach the Wallachian border, the Fourth Corps’ scout cavalry reported crucial news: an army of the Ottoman Empire had also been spotted in the direction of Wallachia’s border.

However, this army was smaller in number than the Russian Empire’s vanguard troops and inferior in quality to Gorchakov’s forces.

The only commendable aspect was that this border defense force had better equipment than the Russian Imperial Army.

Due to General Gorchakov’s long-term embezzlement and resale of supplies, nearly one-third of this vanguard is equipped with smoothbore muskets with worn rifling, produced during Napoleon’s time, another third is equipped with rifled muskets from the Napoleonic era, and the remaining third is equipped with the currently best rifles of the Russian Empire.

For Gorchakov, his Russian Imperial Army is not meant for shooting, but for bayonet charges.

Those rifles with worn rifling and Napoleonic-era rifles make excellent charge weapons, and with just one round, Gorchakov can completely overwhelm the opposing forces.

However, since Prince Paskevich’s reinforcements had yet to arrive, Gorchakov had no choice but to quietly engage in a sit-down battle with the Ottoman Empire at the border area.

As time went on, reinforcements from the Ottoman Empire also increased, soon surpassing Gorchakov’s troops.

Yet Gorchakov did not feel the slightest fear, as he believed he could surely defeat his opponent.

On January 9th, the long-awaited reinforcements finally arrived.

The first batch of reinforcements, numbering around 30,000 men, arrived at the border area under the leadership of Prince Paskevich.

On a hill at the border area between Wallachia and Bulgaria, Prince Paskevich and General Gorchakov met at a certain hill.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Paskevich brought the latest orders from Tsar Nicholas I.

"Appointing Paskevich as Commander-in-Chief, assisting the management of Duchy affairs in the Danube duchy, and no movement is allowed without orders. Gorchakov is appointed as Chief of Staff, assisting Prince Paskevich in managing the army..." Paskevich read out the words of Nicholas I in front of Gorchakov, feeling an involuntary sense of loss.

It now seemed likely that Tsar Nicholas I might give up Constantinople, and his military achievements would be in vain.

"Your Highness, what exactly happened in St. Petersburg? Why is the information I received different from yours!" Gorchakov inquired Paskevich.

"Did you receive orders to advance into the Bulgarian Region and then capture Constantinople? Right!" Paskevich said to Gorchakov.

"Exactly!" Gorchakov nodded in response.

"Previously, I received orders identical to yours!" Paskevich pointed to the troops below the hill and said, "After I led the first wave of troops, a man claiming to be an envoy of His Majesty appeared before me!"

"An envoy of His Majesty?" Gorchakov was puzzled, not quite understanding Paskevich’s meaning.

Paskevich noticed Gorchakov’s confusion and proactively explained, "Two waves of envoys from His Majesty came, the first wave asked me to support your advance into Bulgaria, the second wave asked me to support you, but not advance into Bulgaria."

"Understood!" Gorchakov immediately responded knowingly, then added, "So we don’t need to attack now?"

"Let’s see how things go!" Paskevich shrugged helplessly and said, "When news from St. Petersburg comes again, that’s when we’ll proceed with the next step."

Subsequently, in a face of frustration, Paskevich replied, "The current situation in St. Petersburg doesn’t give anyone peace of mind!"

...

Let’s redirect our attention back to St. Petersburg and simultaneously adjust the timeline to December 30th.

Just as Gorchakov was leading the Fourth and Fifth Corps towards the Moldavian Duchy, St. Petersburg, delayed by three days, received the news of Gorchakov’s army entering the Moldavian Duchy.

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of War, and even the "Third Department" were left scrambling by the unexpected news.

When Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Nesselrode went to the Ministry of War to find out from Minister of War Prince Dolgorukov why troops were sent into the Moldavian Duchy, he was met with Prince Dolgorukov’s bewildered eyes and an uninformed response.

Carl Nesselrode immediately realized that Gorchakov’s military movements were most likely orchestrated by the figure in Tsarskoye Selo; despite all their precautions, they couldn’t guard against Nicholas I bypassing them and issuing direct orders.

Upon this thought, Carl Nesselrode felt a chill run through his body, so he hurriedly shared his suspicions with Prince Dolgorukov.

After hearing Carl Nesselrode’s suspicions, Prince Dolgorukov took quite some time to respond, and he hastily inquired about Carl Nesselrode’s thoughts.

At Carl Nesselrode’s suggestion, both Carl Nesselrode and Prince Dolgorukov promptly entered Tsarskoye Selo—they had to apologize to Nicholas I.