Chapter 58: The Military Conference

  A large fleet of warships is anchored in the harbor, and the port is crowded with people.

  Uncle Zimis Zia took us down from the boat.

  "Hail Rome!"

  "For Rome!"

  The corps commanders of the long-awaited Imperial Kiev Group and their generals were extremely enthusiastic. The governor-general hastily ordered the servants to carry the luggage, and then reported the readiness to Uncle Zimzitsia.

  We rode our horses together towards the City Hall in the city center.

  Zemis Ziya uncle inquired about the movements of Russians at the City Hall for the first time.

  In the northeast direction, there is no movement of Russians in Kharkov. Not only is there no movement, but even the Cossacks who often come to plunder have disappeared. The Russians from Kiev brought troops to kill southward on the first day of the return of the Russian ambassador, and their commander was Lukich, a nobody, who is still looting along the straight line. The nobles and large landowners there are shouting every three days that they want the empire to send troops to protect them.

  More than twenty days after the Russians left Constantinople, on October 17th, near Odessa today, the Empire has assembled the Second Byzantine Legion, the Third Spartan Legion and the Eighth Mogharene Legion, a total of 21,300 troops. The Fifth Rhine Legion and the Tenth Spartan Legion are still on their way. One is expected to arrive in Odessa within eleven days, the other within thirteen days. If they converge, the Imperial Kiev Front Army Group will have five legions, totaling 32,500 soldiers.

  According to the order, Uncle Zhmizhnya could not wait for them, and that day he convened a military council, where he voiced the strategy of old Duke Brynkharsky - an attack on Kiev!

  As far as we know, Russia has deployed more than 30,000 troops in Minsk to defend against Swedish attacks at any time. However, considering that the Russians have also had thoughts of going south, there will be more Russian garrisons in Minsk, at least more than our Kiev group army, because it is a transportation hub for attacking Sweden from the north and invading the empire from the south, and advancing to the left on the German plain.

  General Zhmud leads three legions with an unfolded map in hand, explaining the strategy of this army group.

  Kiev and Kharkov, these two cities are both the forward base for the Russian army to attack the south and the bridgehead to enter the Russian territory. However, Kiev, which is located in the middle of Dnieper River, poses a greater threat to the southern provinces than Kharkov, which is separated from the river. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of the southern provinces, Kiev should be the top priority. If the Russians continue to occupy this city, the empire will be very passive.

  Dozens of people discussed the key to the next battle, and then there were differences in the way forward, whether to take the land route along a straight line to Kiev or along the Dnieper River to Kiev.

  The advantage of marching by land is that the time is short, between two points, the straight line is the shortest, from Odessa to Kiev, 500 kilometers away, we can reach in 24 days at a rapid pace, and if forced march, it can be shortened to 18 days. The disadvantage is also obvious, the distance from Odessa to Kiev is so long, logistics supply is very difficult! The officers of the Second Byzantine Legion and the Third Spartan Legion who had fought in Damascus believed that it was best to choose a route along the nearby river northward.

  "How many four-wheeled carriages do we have in total?" Uncle Zimiszczya suddenly asked this question during the discussion.

  Four-wheeled chariot, my predecessor imitated the Hussar war peasant uprising army's array of things. This four-wheeled chariot has a front axle and double shafts made together, connected to the chassis through a rotating axis, making it very convenient to turn around. When the enemy attacks, the vehicle can form a square or circular formation to cover the infantry. In the first hundred years, it was the empire's countermeasure against the Mongols and Western European knights, and also the successor to the classical Roman legion, Byzantine cavalry legion, and centuries-old army system.

  But now, with the prevalence of artillery, the empire's former deadly weapon has become the mainstay of the imperial legion's logistics.

  The legion commanders of the three legions reported their quartermasters that they had counted the carts in their legions. The eighth Moglani legion from the northern border had the most carts, with 415 heavy four-wheeled carts and 110 light carts. The other two legions each had fewer than 300 heavy carts. In total, the three legions had 1071 heavy four-wheeled carts and 333 light carts for supplies.

  Each heavy wagon could carry 1.5 tons of supplies, while the light wagons carried even less, with a total capacity of only about 1900 tons. After deducting tents, miscellaneous items, ammunition, gunpowder and shells, there were only about 1600 tons left for loading grain and fodder. In other words, after removing the ammunition and gunpowder loaded on the way, the wagons that could transport grain and fodder were reduced by another part. Half of the grain and grass were carried with the army, and the wagons that went back and forth between the front line and the supply base only had half left, about 800 tons.

  According to the imperial logistics system, if we have an army of 20,000 people, then every day we need 30,000 rations of bread. The current baking ratio is 3:4, so producing 1 pound of bread requires 12 ounces of flour, and 1 pound = 16 ounces. If each ration of bread is 2 pounds, then the total amount of flour needed for 10 days is 30,000 x 2 x 10 x 3/4 = 450,000, or 200 tons.

  Kiev is about 500 kilometers away from Odessa. At the speed of 25 kilometers per day within the empire and 15 kilometers per day in enemy territory, it would take four weeks for an army of 20,000 to march there. With such a small amount of supplies carried with the army, not enough even for field battles, let alone that long logistics supply line, how many people would be needed to protect it? And then there's also the loss on the road, and Vasiliy and several other famous Russian generals are best at cutting off the enemy's supply lines and forcing them to retreat.

  How about walking along the river?

  The generals of the Second Byzantine and Third Spartan legions disagreed again. The general of the Second Byzantine suggested going along the Dnieper River. The Dnieper River would not freeze before December, and its riverbed was wide, with even the narrowest part being over 100 meters wide. Although the water level was low in autumn and winter, it could still accommodate ships entering and exiting. Take their single-layer rowing boats that they used to enter and exit rivers as an example - a single-layer rowing boat was only about 30 meters long and three meters wide, with a load capacity of 250 tons. Ten rowing boats' load capacity could rival that of a thousand horse-drawn carriages. Twenty rowing boats, 5,000 tons, would be enough to let the Kiev faction's army campaign for 250 days. With so many supplies, the advantage was that within a year and a half, we wouldn't need to worry about supply lines! Of course, Odessa didn't have that many resources, but twenty rowing boats could transport soldiers upstream against the current.

  Then build fortresses below Kiev, even if you can't take down Kiev, there are still a large number of materials and solid fortresses to pin down the Russians stationed in the direction of Minsk.

  The generals of the Third Spartan Legion believed that marching along the Dnieper River would not be in line with our Kiev Group Army's strategic plan for a rapid strike on Kiev. Because from the mouth of the Dnieper River to Kiev, the distance is more than half longer, measuring from the map, it is over 780 kilometers. Compared to going straight from Odessa, it is more than 280 kilometers longer. Moreover, several legions' carts have been loaded with supplies and are ready to depart at any time, but transferring these materials from carts to ships would take up more time, and filling up the rowing boats that follow the expedition would require gathering supplies from other places. After doing all this, it would take at least twenty days, by which time our departure would completely violate our strategic directive, and boarding ships would make us vulnerable in a surprise attack without being able to fight back.

  They think that we can transport supplies from the Southern Bug River, even if the riverbed of the Southern Bug is not as wide as the Dnieper River, and it's only about 100 meters at its widest point. We cannot put a large number of transport ships on it all at once, five is already the limit, and by November it will be frozen again. However, since we are relying on the Polish cities within the empire, this belongs to internal transportation lines, which is relatively safe. The army can set up a supply point on the left bank of the Southern Bug River below Kiev. Through continuously transporting ships, and then using horse-drawn carts to transport grain to the troops besieging Kiev. However, by doing so, we also expose our transportation line, from the supply base to Kiev is over 100 kilometers away, although there are many hills around, they cannot stop the Russians, this gives the Russians the possibility of cutting off our transportation line, forcing us to retreat without grain. Moreover, setting up a supply point must necessarily involve repairing and building defensive fortifications for the supply point, which will take up a lot of time and divert a lot of troops.

  Also, as a military port, Odessa did not have inland river boats for use, and the distance to the Southern Bug River was not considered close, so we could only load grain onto large ships and transport it to the mouth of the Southern Bug River.

  But anyway, the two legion commanders rushed to unfamiliar Poland from their garrison areas and immediately gave a thorough lecture on the map after hearing the strategic instructions, which can be said to have done some homework, as a dedicated military man.

  "We came from all over the place to help them fight against Russians, and they still want us to find our own food? Don't waste time, I've been bored for seven years, let's just eat on the way! Let's give those Russians a good beating! Haha, I really miss the old days in Aleppo when we would go out and beat people up for no reason!"

  The commander of the Eighth Mughal Legion, a typical Spartan, a foodie Spartan, who also sparked controversy and suggested taking the land route at the beginning of the meeting.

  Zhimisi Zhiya narrowed his eyes, and his gaze turned coldly to the commander of the eighth Morgeleni legion: "A group of nobles who can't even protect their own country, do you think they will protect people from other countries? We cannot entrust our vital interests to the Poles."

  "General, I have something to say!" Valens stepped forward from behind me, and as a young man, dozens of senior officers looked at him with piercing eyes. "We can leave one person behind, let the governor cooperate, and he will be responsible for dispatching grain transportation in Odessa. On the left bank of the Southern Bug River, we will establish a stronghold through requisition. This stronghold does not need to be too close to Kiev, but it must be within the local city. Then, through this stronghold, we will take several cities as transit points, use the surrounding Polish cities for protection, and extend towards Kiev. Considering that we cannot eat all the grain originally loaded on the carts on the road, I think we can send a group of cavalry to go ahead, let the towns along the way prepare food in advance, and buy carts and food from the Poles as we walk. Then load local food onto the extra carts, so the originally tight carts not only don't lose out but also increase. The two legions that follow up can arrive at our established supply point by boat and then set off to merge with the main force."

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  I've already uploaded it, but Qidian hasn't picked it up, what a tragedy...