Chapter 192: Chapter 186: A Completely Different War
Time came to May 1904.
The issuance of the new currency was very sessful. Although only a little over a week had passed, more than two million pounds worth of new currency, that is, Australian dors, had been circted.
This currency issuance was carried out nationwide in a unified manner, allowing people to freely choose their own sry payment methods, and both the pound and Australian dor became one of the recognized payment methods of the Federation.
Within Australia, many people have chosen to receive their sries in Australian dors.
They have great trust in the current government and Arthur, and naturally recognize the new currency issued by the royal family.
Even within Australia, many collectors have emerged, as they firmly believe that the limited number ofmemorative currencies may have collectible value in the future, something the current pound does not have.
ording to the news currently received from various royal banks of the Federation, approximately one million Australian dors, thirteen million shillings, and forty-two million pennies have been exchanged, and half of them are now in cirction in the market.
This is good news for Australia, the New Zend Federation, and Arthur.
The Federation can now preliminarily break away from the economic control of the British Empire and have its own new currency.
As for Arthur and the royal family, these currencies are issued by the royal bank, which means that the national financial power is currently in the hands of the royal family, an important means of consolidating royal power.<div>
With financial power, military power, and popr support all in Arthur’s hands, as long as Arthur is in power for a day, there will be no forces or individuals with the power to challenge the royal family within the Federation.
Compared with the political figures in Australia, the war in the Far East is much more fierce than in history.
Due to Arthur’s indirect intervention, both sides in the war have more advanced weapons and equipment, includingrge-scale lethal artillery and heavy machine guns. Both the Russian Empire and the Ind Nation have equipped more of them.
After the previous Battle of Port Arthur, the sea has resumed a brief calm for the Ind Nation.
Major General Makarov maintained his n, with asional sightings of warships departing from Port Arthur, performing covert missions.
The tranquility of the ocean also means the cruelty onnd.
Since March 21, 1904, when the First Army of the Ind Nationnded in Nampo, Korea, the Ind Nation’snd forces remained rtively inactive.
The main reason for this was that the Ind Nation’s army was waiting for the navy’s action – only when the navy had an advantage and used its powerful ship guns could the fortress of Port Arthur be threatened.
But the development of the situation was beyond the Ind Nation’s expectations, as the naval battle did not achieve victory and, in fact, the Ind Nation failed in the naval battle.
But the war onnd could not stop, as maintaining such an army scale was a huge consumption for both sides.
In mid-April, the First Army of the Ind Nation arrived in the northern part of the Korean Penins.
On the opposite side, responsible for defense was the East Manchuria Command of the Russian Empire, led by Commander Zasulich.
There were about 30,000 soldiers in the Ind Nation’s First Army, and nearly 20,000 in the East Manchuria Command.
Just looking at the simple attack and defense advantages, the Russian Empire seemed to have the upper hand. However, as soon as Zasulich arrived at the front, the Russian Empire did nothing for a month and a half: they neither strengthened defensive works nor deployed their forces orderly on the frontlines, leaving them without any countermeasures against enemies.
The only defensive work they had was a long trench, without even a bit of camouge.
About half of the reserve forces were stationed ten kilometers away, and the artillery positions werepletely exposed to the enemy.
Not to mention how such a “talent” secured the high positions of Commander of the East Manchuria Command and Major General of the Russian Empire, this situation was a gift to the Ind Nation’s army.
After preparing for more than ten days, the Ind Nationunched an attack, attempting to encircle the 20,000-strong army by outnking the enemy’s left rear.
On the second day, both sides engaged in fierce battle in the nearby area, with the Russian Empire sluggishly resisting the Ind Nation’s attack with artillery and counterattacks.<div>
However, due to the Ind Nation’s troop advantage and the Russian army’s poor defensive positions, as well as the exposed artillery, the Ind Nation’s artillery fire suppressed the Russian artillery, and the inders sessfully attacked the positions on the same day.
Concerned about being encircled, Russian Commander Zasulich quickly ordered a retreat to the rear.
However, by the time it retreated, the East Siberian 11th Infantry Regiment was already deep in the encirclement of the Ind Nation’s army, and several attempts to break out had failed, eventually ending in total annihtion.
However, this infantry regiment was not without achievements. Although it had not been equipped with Australian artillery, it was fortuitously assigned two heavy machine guns.<div>
After unsessful attempts to break out, the East Siberian 11th Infantry Regiment chose to hold its ground resolutely, eventually sacrificing its entire force in exchange for more than 6,000 casualties for the Ind Nation’s army.
This was the firstnd battle between the Russian Empire and the Ind Nation, with the Russian Empire suffering a great defeat and the Ind Nation achieving a bitter victory.
Of the 20,000-strong Dongman Detachment led by Zasulich, only about 12,000 managed to sessfully retreat.
In the offensive, the First Army of the Ind Nation, with 30,000 troops, lost more than 5,000 men, and suffered another 6,000 casualties during the siege of the Russian East Siberian 11th Infantry Regiment, reducing the number ofbatants to 18,000.
However, strategically speaking, the ultimate beneficiary of this war was still the Ind Nation. Zasulich’s retreat directly opened the Eastern Gate of the Far East to the Ind Nation.
After a brief rest, the First Army of Ind Nation immediately advanced into the far eastern ind.
At the same time, in early May.
Approximately 40,000 troops of the Ind Nation’s Second Army set off fully equipped andnded at Pizzaro Nest on the Liaodong Penins, intending to capture Port Arthur from north to south.
The reason why the Ind Nation attaches great importance to Port Arthur is that the port’s geographical location is of crucial importance.
As long as the Russian Empire continues to control Port Arthur, the Pacific Squadron can threaten the seanes of the ind nation army that has alreadynded at any time.
Moreover, if the Pacific Squadron ventures all, it couldpletely cut off the logistics supply lines between the Ind Nation’s homnd and thending troops.
What can an army without logistics do? Apart from mutiny, they can only be captured or starved to death.
The defense force north of Port Arthur was the Russian Empire’s Fourth Infantry Division,manded by General Fawkes.<div>
The Fourth Infantry Division had a scale of 18,000 troops, possessing more than 150 artillery pieces and twenty heavy machine guns.
General Makarov also understood the importance of Port Arthur, and at his suggestion, Governor of the Far East Alexeyev provided some of the equipment purchased from Australia to the Fourth Infantry Division.
This has led to the current extravagant equipment of the Fourth Infantry Division, where everyone is armed with the German-made Gew98 Rifle and has more than twenty CA-1 machine guns, fifteen 105mm howitzers, and other guns.
In mid-May, the Ind Nation’s Second Army and the Russian Fourth Infantry Division sessfully encountered each other and quickly engaged in battle.
Whether it was firepower or the scale of troops, the Ind Nation’s Second Army had an ample advantage.
Major General Augustine Walters thought the same way. As themander of the Second Army, he seemed to have seen the opportunity to attack Port Arthur, so he ordered all four divisions to press on, intending to quickly resolve the defensive forces in the northern part of Port Arthur.
At the beginning of the battle, the Ind Nation’s artillery sessfully suppressed the artillery of the Russian Empire.
The soldiers of the Ind Nation also approached the Fourth Infantry Division very smoothly. The troops on both sides were even able to see each other’s ferocious faces and smoke-dustden hair.
“Fire at full force!”
With General Fawkes’smand, the guns from Australia fired sessfully. Under the guidance of the CA-1 machine gun, the Russian artillery regained its advantage, and consecutive shell explosions urred in the Ind Nation’s troops, causing heavy casualties among the inders.
“Damn it! Where did these Russians get so many guns? Such concentrated firepower muste from at least a thousand guns.” In the distance on the battlefield, Major General Augustine Walters stared at the exploding artillery fire in horror, asking in disbelief.
Unfortunately, no one could answer his question, as none of the inders had ever seen such dense artillery fire, and no one even thought to order the withdrawal of the army quickly.
Actually, this is normal since the current fully automatic technology is basically only used for firearms, with machine guns being the best example of fully automatic technology.<div>
At present, only France and Australia have mastered the technology of automatic artillery, and at most Germany as well.
However, France is an ally of the Russian Empire, and Germany supports the Russian Empire’s expansion in the Far East. As for Australia, it goes without saying that without Arthur’s orders, it would not export any domestically-produced weapons.
Currently, Germany’s public weapons arsenal does not have the option of automatic artillery, and all the weapons imported by the Ind Natione from the technology of the Krub Factory, with 75mm and 105mm howitzers.
All these guns have one thing inmon: they are rtively slow to fire. Within a minute, at most, they can fire less than ten shells.
However, the firing rate of the CA-1 machine gun reached a terrifying sixty rounds per minute, which is a difference of six or seven times.
It was precisely because of the crazy bombardment from the CA-1 machine gun that Major General Augustine Walters had the illusion that the Russian army opposite had thousands of artillery guns.
By the time Major General Augustine Walters reacted, it was toote. At the moment, in order to resolve the battle quickly, the Ind Nation’s army had rushed forward, with very close gaps between the troops.
This allowed the CA-1 machine gun to y a significant role. Although its rtive power was not so great, each shell was enough to cause varying degrees of damage to enemies within five meters.
Moreover, each round of the CA-1 machine gun fires multiple shells, and many ind nation soldiers were hit by multiple shells before they could react.
The war ended in the sound of the Pacific Squadron’s ship guns. Unlike the original history, the Pacific Squadron was still able to maintain parity with the United Fleet, so the Ind Nation’s army did not receive naval gun support, but instead, the Russian army received naval gun support from the Pacific Squadron.
Ship guns, especially those on firepower-dependent battleships, haverge calibers of over 200 millimeters and in some cases reach a terrifying 300 millimeters.N?v(el)B\\jnn
Suchrge-caliber guns are a scourge for infantry, and many can only watch as the front ck spot growsrger andrger before being engulfed in the white smoke.
General Makarov unleashed all his anger from thest naval battle this time. This time, a total of two battleships were dispatched, firing over one hundred naval shells.<div>