The outcome was exactly as expected. Paskevich's public trial had been a dismal failure. The bloody slaughter had not provided enough of a deterrent; instead, it had turned those people into heroes.
That was the consequence of relying on a single method for everything: people's tolerance for bloodshed would keep increasing. In truth, people weren't stupid. They knew who the good guys were; they just didn't dare say so, or else simply went along with the crowd.
Since he had failed to achieve the desired results, Paskevich didn't dare make any reckless moves.
The situation in Poland now was much like it had been in Chechnya back then, except that the Chechens hadn't stooped so low as to attack supply trains in the rear. The Poles did, though. Their previous battle records showed that they were very fond of raiding supply convoys.
Raiding supply convoys could deprive the Russian army of supplies and lower its morale, while also replenishing the raiders' own shortages and boosting their morale.
Most Poles were militiamen or volunteers driven by a moment of fierce courage. Morale was especially important to people like them.
Russian-controlled Poland might seem like a tiny place to Russia, but it had four or five million soldiers and civilians. Within the German Confederation, it would certainly have counted as a powerful state; even by European standards, it would have been a middle-sized country.
Paskevich's army of a hundred thousand was still a little too small to take on all of Russian-controlled Poland.
But Poland was not Russia's only trouble at the moment. The Cossacks of the Southern Russian Steppes had long since grown accustomed to taking advantage of a crisis and driving a hard bargain.
As soon as they realized Russia was struggling in its war in Russian-controlled Poland, they immediately