Orders

Seeing the France captain's performance, Bagration smiled slightly. From the captain's reaction, he already knew the answer. Generally speaking, if a France could immediately answer a question that was somewhat beyond his comprehension, it only meant that they had been prepared beforehand, and such an answer was mostly unreliable. If a France thought for a while, it meant that he was making up an answer on the spot, and such an answer was also mostly unreliable. And if he refused to answer, it meant that he didn't know how to cover up the truth, and your guess was most likely correct.

Moreover, in Bagration's view, compared to revolvers, shotguns were of moderate length, with far superior range and accuracy. Therefore, the French Army cavalry had no reason not to use them as primary equipment. Bagration knew that any weapon the France displayed in this exercise could be put on the market, or would be in the future. For example, the France breech-loading cannons might not be immediately available for sale, as the France also had muzzle-loading rifled cannons for sale. But in the future, they would most likely be available for purchase.

Such firearms, which could be demonstrated to him in public and even allowed him to experience firing them himself, would certainly appear on the price list of the Bonaparte Arsenal immediately. Bagration thought that when he returned, he must do everything he could to persuade His Majesty the Tsar to allocate funds to equip his cavalry with such weapons; otherwise, if his cavalry encountered foreign cavalry equipped with such weapons, the battle would be impossible to win.

Of course, it would be even better if this firearm could be copied, but Bagration knew that was probably impossible. Not for any other reason than the issue of materials; to this day, the large-scale production of steel remains one of France's most core trade secrets. Although various countries—whether siding with France or pretending France —are trying their best to steal this secret, their knowledge is still quite limited. However, it is said that the Britain are already conducting some experiments, but even if everything goes smoothly, it will take considerable time.

As for Russia, although Bagration very patriotic, he had to admit that in terms of technology, Russia was no match for advanced countries like France and Britain. Even compared to Prussia, a country that was thoroughly defeated by the France, Russia was a mere junior. Although Bagration believed that if the France invaded Russia, Russia could ultimately repel the enemy with its vast strategic depth and unwavering spirit, steelmaking technology was not something that could be conjured up by those factors.

"Russia really needs to step up its game, otherwise..." Bagration recalled his encounter with Napoleon in Italy alongside Marshal Suvorov. Although the battle ended in peace, Suvorov Napoleon not deny that the Russian army was militarily defeated. It was only due to the unfavorable strategic situation that the France were forced to sue for peace. If it weren't for the constraints from the north, the combined Russo-Prussian Allied Forces alone would not have been able to defeat Napoleon's French Army in Italy.

However, while the French Army at that time was already quite strong, it wasn't as powerful as the French Army in yesterday's military exercise. If they had faced a French Army of that caliber in Italy, Napoleon probably wouldn't have even considered negotiating peace; he would have simply crushed them in one fell swoop. Bagration himself reflected that if they had faced French Army like that, it would have been difficult to hold out for even a day, or even half a day.

Judging solely from the situation of the Russian army, Bagration felt that the Russian army had made considerable progress since the battle with the France in Italy. However, after witnessing the French Army's exercises, Bagration had to admit that the French Army had made even greater and more significant progress.

Of course, Bagration also discovered a weakness in the French Army: their tactics were extremely costly. This wasn't just about spending money, but also about the French Army consumed. Therefore, if the French Army were to invade Russia, given Russia's poor road and transportation conditions, the France would likely be unable to deliver sufficient supplies to their frontline troops. Unless they stopped after each engagement to wait for road repairs. In this sense, Russia's backwardness actually became its armor.

"Fortunately, we don't border France. But we must equip ourselves with more new weapons than the Ottoman Empire!" Bagration couldn't help but think.

While Bagration could console himself with the fact that we don't share a border with France, Jack Aubrey, the British Navy representative at that moment, was practically contemplating suicide. He was currently aboard the Free Trade, observing a French Navy exercise involving the interception of smuggling ships.

The scenario for this exercise was designed as follows: an armed group attempted to conduct smuggling activities using armed escort. The France warship "Free Trade" was tasked with intercepting and destroying this smuggling convoy.

"What the hell! What kind of armed group would use a fleet for armed smuggling? Even... even the France, who were masters of smuggling back in the day, didn't use a fleet for escort. This isn't anti-smuggling; it's clearly a drill for maritime blockade!" Upon seeing the exercise's background, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Aubrey immediately understood. That so-called "armed group" was probably the United Kingdom's Royal Navy.

The fleet that played the role of the armed gang consisted of three old France second-class battleships. Although they had strong firepower, they were not on the same level as the "Free Trade" in terms of speed and maneuverability. In a game of "eagle catching chicks" with them, the Free Trade " easily bypassed the interception of those battleships and then smashed the merchant ships one by one.

Given that the United Kingdom has many battleships, but even more merchant fleets, it is practically impossible for the United Kingdom to equip every merchant fleet with an escort of up to three battleships. Therefore, most merchant fleets, if they are unlucky enough to encounter the "Free Trade," are almost certainly doomed.

"That damn ' Free Trade, was it built specifically to destroy Free Trade?" Lieutenant Colonel Jack Aubrey couldn't help but think.

However, if Joseph knew his thoughts, he would definitely retort, "Nonsense! Our ' Free Trade is here to allow us to trade freely with you. If you also want to trade freely with others, well, I have a price list here for you to take a look at."

France has already put the "Free Trade" class frigates on its trade list; anyone with the money can buy them directly from France. But it's obvious to everyone how much profit the France will make selling these. They'll likely use the money the Britain France them to build two more for themselves for every one the Britain buy.

However, even so, I still have to buy it. At least, it would be good to study their propellers properly. Besides, the Britain have good technical capabilities. With a sample, I can actually make a copy. Although I probably can't make things like the steel keel, so the quality of the copy will mostly be inferior to the original, but at least it will work.

The France were truly infuriating; they refused to sell breech-loading guns, so the ships we bought, and the ships we would later copy, could only use muzzle-loading rifled guns. This meant they needed several ships to defeat a single France ship, which was truly... In addition, breakthroughs in steelmaking technology were still a long way off, so even muzzle-loading rifled guns had to be purchased from France.

"Damn it, when we get back, we have to convince Congress to cut the damn army's budget as much as possible!" After much thought, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Aubrey could only come up with this one good idea.

Of course, the army guys would object, but isn't it common sense in the United Kingdom that the navy or the army is more important? Once the navy can't hold on, does anyone think the United Kingdom's army can protect them? Therefore, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Aubrey felt that his suggestion should eventually get the support of Parliament.

Following the two exercises, orders began pouring into Bonaparte Arsenal.