"The Russians are still as stubborn as ever, and the Russian nobility and high-ranking officials are still as drunk and dreaming as ever. The Russian army is still made up of hopeless soldiers and corrupt high-ranking officials, and I really don't have much hope for our allies. General Chauffeur wrote in a letter to the French government. In fact, he would like to add a sentence, which is: "I even doubt that the francs we paid for this are worth it!" But after thinking about it, I still didn't write it.

As a French general who helped the Russians train the army, General Chauffy could be regarded as quite dutiful, and after arriving in Russia, in addition to a courtesy meeting with the Russian Tsar and a number of high-ranking officials, he plunged headlong into the Russian army, and his footprints were all over the Russian military camps, large and small, only to disappoint him and his French officer corps once every time he visited. It's not because the Russians are poorly equipped and of low quality, but because they don't know how to change.

"In the Russian army, soldiers are still treated as objects, some parks and high-end places are forbidden to soldiers, the so-called glory of serving in the army is nothing more than an empty phrase, the oppression of soldiers by officers at all levels is still the same, and the soldiers are insensitive."

"In the field of military training, they have changed somewhat, it must be said that previously it was necessary for a battalion of soldiers to storm a position with a width of 500 meters, now they have changed to 2 battalions. Under the intimidation of the officers and the overseers, the soldiers rushed to the opposing position with all kinds of old and outdated weapons and machinery, and the artillery support and the soldiers' assault did not cooperate at all. It took more than ten minutes after the shelling to end before the infantry attacked. If they were opposite German or French troops. Our soldiers can even clean up these Russians with machine guns after a cup of coffee after the counter-shelling is over! Xia Fei commented.

There is a saying called the butterfly effect, and Xu Jie's crossing has not only affected the future of several countries that have a great relationship with China, but even France, which is almost a soy sauce country in the Far East, has changed. The biggest change is in the military and tactics. First of all, the first change was that the French temporarily abandoned the offensive strategy they had always advocated, from the Battle of Wolbong Mountain during the First Sino-Japanese War to the Battle of Pyongyang to the later Battle of Arthur Pass, and then to several engagements in the First Sino-Russian War and the offensive in the Second Sino-Russian War, the French were fully aware of the power of automatic weapons and heavy artillery.

"Even a will of steel is worthless in the face of powerful firepower!" The French, who can recognize this, are already much stronger than they were in history. During the First World War, the French tactics can be said to be very old and outdated. If the British broke through the opponent's defenses, they relied on tanks and artillery. The Germans broke through the opposing lines by increasing the artillery of elite commandos. Then the French broke through the opponent's defense line completely by the sea of people and artillery, and it was a neat formation of platoons!

And this result directly led to the loss of a whole generation in the 1st World War! It also led to the fear and conservatism of war in France during World War II. The trench system of the 1st World War left too many lessons for the French. A British officer who participated in the war described the ferocity of the French charge as follows: "When all French infantry regiments attacked, their junior officers would be at the forefront. They stood up and ignored the hail of bullets on the opposite side, and behind them were rows of French soldiers, dressed in bright uniforms and in neat formations, singing war songs, and rushing towards the opposite position. The German machine guns swept down the brave soldiers in rows. After the front row of soldiers fell. The back row continued to advance, only to continue to fall, and when the two rows of soldiers fell, the distance between them was less than 50 yards! ”

The French were absolutely brave in World War I. But bravery is bravery. Most of the time, their blood, in addition to interpreting their bravery, will always keep a considerable distance from victory! So much so that during World War 1, the French army on the Western Front even launched a mutiny because of the high casualty rate! And some French generals were also keen to use the lives of their soldiers to contribute to their promotions. The French were already fewer than the Germans, and with such a waste of human resources, if it weren't for the British imperialism and later the American imperialism, the French would have lost more this time than in the last Franco-Prussian War! And in this plane, the French had already discovered their tactical and strategic problems more than a decade in advance from a series of battles. And began to grope for new directions.

Although the French discovered the problems in their army very early on, and also began to explore in various ways. But after several years of exploration, the tactics of the French Army, especially the infantry tactics, are still ....... As a result, the tactics of the French finally changed to the tactics of increasing the artillery in the skirmisher line, reducing losses in a loose formation, and then slowly approaching the opponent under the cover of heavy artillery, and launching an attack at the rear. The effectiveness of the infantry attack was heavily dependent on artillery support and personal qualities, and in general, the coordination between the various units was still relatively small, and there was a lack of coordination between the arms, and in one exercise after another, the French had become accustomed to using artillery to clear obstacles, such as barbed wire, minefields, and various obstacles.

The problem is that not every attack surface can get Saku's support. Therefore, the French found it difficult to really shake the opponent's defense line with their own attack, the reason is simple, the number of heavy artillery is limited, and the Germans have more long-range firepower than their own, and in fact, the firepower that can support the front-line troops is very scarce. So even if you break through one point, what can you do? It's just a matter of letting the defenders concentrate their superior forces and fight back. So far, the French have not found a good solution. One thing is for sure, the proud French consider themselves much better than their Russian allies! There's a lot to teach them!

And the Russians were indeed more cooperative, allowing Xia Fei and his French officer corps to be in the limelight in front of the Russians, on the one hand, making Xia Fei and others extremely disappointed, but on the other hand, greatly satisfying their vanity, there is a saying, what is it? Well, it's painful and happy. The current French officer corps has a lot of this meaning. Just after Xia Fei and others spent several months wandering around Pingyuan in Eastern Europe, at the request of the French government, Xia Fei and some of his entourage will take a train to the Far East to see what is happening to the Russian army trained by the Chinese Army. After all, the materials and funds of these troops were paid for by Britain and France! The French and the British must be responsible for their own francs and pounds! For that distant ancient country, the general French people do not have too many impressions, that is, after the burning of the Old Summer Palace, the massive handicrafts that appeared in various markets in France? And then there was a war with the Qing Dynasty in the 80s of the last century? Well, to be honest, the French consider themselves a bit of a loss of face in this war. In addition to the navy beating the opponent's fragile fleet to pieces, the army's words are just a tie from the scene. Further back? It was the powerful fleet of Huaxia that could be called a level, a realm, and a prestige, which destroyed the Japanese Navy and slaughtered the Russians three times! Definitely a brilliant record.

As for the Army? Originally, before coming to Russia, Xia Fei and others still attached great importance to the Chinese Army, after all, in the eyes of the general French, even if the Russian steamroller is quite old, it is still a steamroller! But after going around in Russia, Xia Fei and others found that this roller was no longer an old problem, but basically broken, and the person who operated him was driven to the pit! How's that, it's sad enough. But Xia Fei thinks that the saddest thing is Britain and France, the reason is very simple, after this press is opened in the pit, it is Britain and France who are pitted! Britain and France want to pull him out for their own sake, but the most pitiful is definitely himself, because Xia Fei is the one responsible for pulling them out of the pit directly!

After weeks of fatigue on the saddle horse, Xia Fei and the others sitting in the car finally saw a huge military camp in the wasteland. The outermost barracks is hung with the Chinese military flag, which makes people know at a glance that this is the nearby Huaxia garrison, and then continue to look inside, but find that there are actually three flags hanging in the barracks inside, one of which is the Russian flag, this is no problem, and the other two flags are the St. Andrew's flag of the Russian Navy, and the other flag is the flag of the Russian Army, the two flags flutter on both sides of the Russian military camp like a confrontation, and the whole barracks is divided into two halves by the road that passes through the middle, half is the army, Half of it is the navy, and it is clear! At this time, however, the barracks were quiet, and most of the barracks were empty, except for the sentries and a small number of guards left at the door.

"Major Sun, I want to know, what's wrong? Did those Russians change places? Looking at the empty barracks in front of him, Xia Fei said with some dissatisfaction. The French have a good face, and even if they don't say it, the arrogance in the heart of the Gallic chicken still shows itself from time to time, especially when they come to Russia, no matter what the level of the Russians is, but respectful reception everywhere is inevitable. And after that, they all walked to the door, and they couldn't even see the figure of the senior Russian officer, which made Xia Fei embarrassed!

"Most of the Russian military personnel who participated in the training have participated in a week-long field training, and they will return the day after tomorrow, and most of the remaining personnel are left-behind personnel. They will be responsible for the maintenance of weapons and the care of the barracks. There are also some technicians. They are taking relevant courses. Major Sun of the Chinese Army, who was in charge of the reception, explained.

"That means we're all Russian skilled?" Looking at several Russian officers at the door, Xia Fei pouted and said. "But I don't think there is such a branch of troops in the Russian Army, you don't know, in the Russian army in Europe, there is no difference between the maintenance of precision weapons and the domestication of livestock." Xia Fei lowered his voice and said to the entourage next to him.

"General, you shouldn't question our quality because of the performance of some people." Just as Xia Fei's words fell, a Russian officer spoke in French. "Otherwise, you are questioning the level of education at the Military Academy of Fontainebleau. I remember you coaching there. ”

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~~. (To be continued......)