Holy Roman Empire

Afghanistan battlefield, General Patrick finally received the long-awaited reinforcements. However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he received devastating news—The Russians were coming.

On September 11, 1889, the Russian Army had conquered the Mare region, now less than a hundred kilometers from Afghanistan.

The three Khanates of Central Asia, once highly regarded by Britain, had already completely collapsed under the Russian assault, and their governments had fled to the Afghan Region.

After nearly a year of harsh fighting, General Patrick had to admit that the Indian Colonial Army was not cut out for war.

Under equal strength, the regular army had actually been beaten by guerrilla forces, a laughingstock if word got out, and it had now truly happened.

Patrick had become the Expeditionary Force Commander because of his political acumen. He understood very clearly just how tense the relationship between England and Russia was.

Thinking of the impending war between England and Russia, and then looking at the reinforcements sent by his homeland, Patrick felt an urge to cry.

Up till now, the British Army had assembled 30 infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions, and eight artillery brigades in the Afghan Region, a formidable force indeed.

However, the story changed instantly because these units were prefixed.

Only two of the thirty infantry divisions were sent from the homeland; the rest were the Indian Colonial Army. The cavalry divisions and artillery brigades were the cream of the homeland—technical units that the Indians were not suited to handle.

Yet sending so many cavalry units into Afghanistan made one dizzy with incredulity. If it were not for his self-control, General Patrick really wanted to send a message cursing those lords back home for having water on the brain.

Anyone with a slight knowledge of Afghan terrain would know that the most suitable units for this area were mountain infantry divisions, and the British Army had no special formations of this type.

As for the cavalry units, apart from serving as messengers, they could only add to the logistical strain of the troops.

The guerrilla groups were in the mountains, only occasionally coming out to cause trouble, and large cavalry units had no role to play here.

It wasn't entirely useless; if the British Army could miraculously defeat the Russians, the cavalry would be the main force during the counterattack in Central Asia.

Regrettably, General Patrick did not actually need the government of the three Khanates of Central Asia, which had fled here with an army of fifty to sixty thousand.

These steppe nations were naturally born cavalry as soon as they mounted horses.

Frankly, the rapid downfall of the three Khanates of Central Asia, aside from the corruption within their own governments, was largely due to poor support from the British Government.

Bureaucratism was to blame, with supplied weapons and equipment being laughable, some firearms even dated back to the last century, more valuable as collector's items than practical weaponry.

Patrick knew this, but there were large amounts of vested interests hidden within, so he prudently chose to pretend he hadn't noticed.

Not to mention the Khanates, in fact, the weaponry of the Indian Colonial Army had always been rubbish, lagging behind Europe by over 30 years.

Even the main forces from the homeland, their weaponry did not match the world-class standards.

It wasn't that Britain's military technology was lacking; the key issue was that the Army was unpopular at home, always treated as the stepchild, with very limited funding going into weapon research and development annually.

Being able to barely keep up with the world-class standards was the result of Britain's solid industrial base; expecting to reach the forefront of the era, the government's funding was simply not enough.

"Send a cable to the homeland, tell London we need reinforcements, a large number of reinforcements!

We need at least another twenty infantry divisions from the homeland to hold the Afghan Region, and they must be principal forces from the homeland; the Indian Colonial Army simply won't do."

The young officer nearby anxiously advised, "Commander, twenty infantry divisions—isn't that somewhat excessive? The homeland might not agree."

To military powers like Austria-France, twenty infantry divisions were nothing to mention; under sufficient resources, they could be assembled in at most ten to fifteen days.

But for Britain, the situation was absolutely critical. Put it this way, even if you combined the entire British Army before the latest expansion and doubled it, they might not gather that many.

Even after a round of expansions due to the tension in Central Asia, the British Army still had less than 300,000 men, with only seventeen infantry divisions in total.

Asking outright for twenty principal infantry divisions was clearly pushing for a package deal of the British Army, coercing the British Government to continue expanding the Army.

General Patrick shook his head, "Mal, put away your little thoughts; don't forget who our enemy is this time! Facing the Russians, are twenty infantry divisions a lot?

If it really comes to a fight, you will see life is cheap on the battlefield. The Prusso-Russian war is the perfect example, with casualties on both sides reaching up to millions.

This time in the Central Asian war, although it might not be as insane as the Prusso-Russian war, filling it with hundreds of thousands of lives won't be easy to end."

Watching the stunned young officer, General Patrick could only silently lament that the younger generation of Britannia was indeed too fragile, unable to withstand even the slightest disturbance.

Not to mention the entire Central Asian Battlefield, the total casualties in the Afghanistan war alone had exceeded one million, but since most of those who died were Afghanistan, the impact was not deeply felt by everyone.

The next enemy would be the Russians, and relying solely on the Indian colonial army clearly wouldn't suffice; the main force of the British Army had to take charge, otherwise a total collapse could easily occur.

Based on the experience from the First Near East War, even if the fodder was sufficient, the British Army had to prepare for heavy losses.

...

The British Army panicked, but in truth, the frontline Russian Army was not faring much better.

Although they seemed to have achieved a comprehensive victory in the Central Asian conflict, failing to capture the government of the three Khanates of Central Asia in one go meant that the region would not be at peace.
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If the Afghanistan guerrillas operated in the mountains, then those in the Central Asian regions were mostly bandits on horseback, many organized by tribes and directly fighting against the Russian Army.

General Okinets was fully aware that the fierce resistance of the local people in Central Asian was largely provoked by the Russian Army.

If it weren't for the frequent looting by the Russian Army, the local resistance would not have been so intense. But there was no help for it, as General Okinets's position was determined by where he stood, despite knowing better.

The Russian soldiers hardly received any military pay, their main income depended on the booty from the battlefield, without looting, who would continue to risk their lives?

Besides, the logistics of the Russian Army were very poor. Even when supplies were abundant, they could barely manage to provide enough food, not to mention any quality.

Having eaten military rations year after year, the soldiers had long grown weary of the taste, and any hindrance to improving their living conditions at this time would lead to serious trouble.

In this context, General Okinets could only turn a blind eye to the robberies happening under his command and suppress the resistance movements with the most brutal measures.

Since occupying the Central Asian region, the Russian Army had to execute hundreds of resistance fighters daily, maintaining social order through the most stringent laws of association.

It might as well be said that there was no "order," because these orders only applied to the locals, the Russian soldiers were not obliged to follow them.

To ensure the smooth transportation of logistics, General Okinets even cleared out a no-man's land, and the residents within thirty kilometers were all forcibly removed.

As a trade-off, General Okinets also earned the infamous title of "Butcher General," terrifying children in Central Asia into silence.

Putting down the document in his hands, General Okinets slowly said, "Once the cleaning is done, send a telegram back home! As soon as the supplies are in place, we can launch an attack on the Afghan Region."

From his tone, it was clear that General Okinets felt quite helpless. If given a choice, he definitely would not have taken the position of commander this time.

He might appear powerful, but the situation was fraught with crisis. To win this war, General Okinets had made too many enemies.

If the victories continued, then naturally there would be no problem; no matter how many enemies he made, military achievements could suppress everything, potentially making him the next Marshal Ivanov.

But once a change occurred at the front, the situation would be entirely different. The principle of people pushing down a failing fence applied here too; Okinets could only afford to win, not lose.

According to the original plan, he should have stopped after capturing the Central Asian region and returned to St. Petersburg to receive his reward.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel, and the shifting international situation had ignited the Tsarist Government's ambition to seize India.

Now, what General Okinets had to do was complete the first step of the plan—capturing the Afghan Region to lay the foundation for the future conquest of India.

The middle-aged officer seemed unaware of General Okinets's poor mood, and joyfully responded, "Yes, Commander Your Excellency!"

Everyone's position was different, so the scenery they saw was also different.

For General Okinets, being in the war until now meant a marshal's title was inevitable, and seizing the opportunity to withdraw was the best choice.

But for most of the Russian Army officers, continuing the war was preferable, pinching the soft Persimmons here was far stronger than competing for dominance in Europe.

The Indian Colonial Army was not valued highly, but since they bore the brand of Britain, if one were not careful, they could be completely treated as the main force of the British Army.

The enemy they faced was the colonial army in terms of combat strength, yet they could obtain the military honors of a regular army. Anyone who had connections was trying every means to infiltrate the frontline troops.

As the frontline commander, General Okinets had recently sold many favors.

...