Chapter 37 Sense of Urgency

The progress of the Wallachia Railway Company was relatively smooth. After mobilizing great manpower and financial resources, a railway with a total length of more than 500 kilometers was laid at a speed beyond the times. Especially the section from Bucharest to Izmail is very fast. By the end of July, the roadbed works have been done in sevens and eighties, and the railway tracks and other signal facilities can be formally laid soon.

"Still too slow!"

However, Li Xiao still felt dissatisfied, because if the Crimean War started in 1853 as scheduled, the section from Bucharest to Izmail would become the most important lifeline. Not only can the Russian army be quickly transferred from Ukraine to Wallachia, but also necessary supplies such as ammunition can be continuously delivered.

It can be said that with this railway in the direction of Wallachia, the Russian army can defend steadily again, so that it will not be defeated by the coalition forces of Britain, France and Turkey. Considering that the British and French allied forces will focus on Sevastopol and the direction of the Black Sea Fleet, the enemies Wallachia faced at first were mainly Turks.

At this time, the Russian army still has an advantage in Wallachia. At this time, it depends on how long Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet can last. If Wallachia can lame the Turks alone before Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet run out of water, Russia may not have the possibility of preserving Wallachia and Moldavia after the war.

Of course, this is the most ideal state, and it is not ruled out that because of the butterfly effect, the state of Wallachia is completely different from the history, leading Britain and France to adopt completely different strategies.

But no matter which one it is, Wallachia needs to be particularly strong, and if you want to be particularly strong, you need to forge iron and you need to be hard.

"Not only do we need to speed up the railway project, but we also need to speed up the construction of the arsenal, because the new rifles have a higher demand for ammunition, and our reserves alone can't last for a few months!" Li Xiao said to Alexei with a serious face: "So we can't pin all our hopes of ammunition supply on the mainland, not to mention that it will take time to transport the ammunition from Tula."

Li Xiao didn't mention one thing and Alexey's face turned ugly, because he thought that he had done a good job in Wallachia in the past two years and made a lot of achievements. But now when Li Xiao said it, he realized that there seemed to be a lot of holes. Just the two items of the railway and the arsenal are enough for him to have a headache.

"These all require a lot of money!"

Li Xiao nodded. He also knew that railways and arsenals were gold-swallowing behemoths, especially that the industrial foundation of Wallachia itself was not good, almost poor and empty. The problem of raw materials for the rails alone gave them a headache for a long time, and in the end they had to import all of them from Prussia.

The same is true for arsenals. Although it is not difficult to buy machine tools from Prussia or the United Kingdom, Romania itself does not have many mineral resources. Materials such as brass and lead cores needed to make bullets can only be imported. To put it bluntly, Wallachia can at most do a processing of supplied materials.

Li Xiao is naturally not satisfied with this status quo,

But he also knows that it is completely impossible to change. A complete industrial chain cannot be matched by a small country like Wallachia. A large number of basic materials and basic talents are blank. Wallachia can only do a few key points. If you want to get through all the links, it is simply a dream.

It is only possible for a big country to have a complete industrial chain, such as Russia. It's a pity that Russia is now ruled by a group of old antiques, who don't realize the magic of industry at all, and are only willing to guard one-third of an acre of land as farmers.

To be honest, this is really speechless. But this is the reality and he can only accept that there is no way to resist. What Li Xiao can do is to do what he can do as best as he can. In addition, he hopes that Count Rostovtsev and his gang of revolutionaries will work harder to get Nicholas I to leave as soon as possible.

Li Xiao replied very solemnly: "I know that all of these need money, but the money must be spent!"

Without waiting for Alexei to speak, he added: "Our capital is all in Wallachia. Once there is no Wallachia, all our previous investments will be in vain, so now we have to go bankrupt and put our underwear on." We have to grit our teeth and persevere if we fall!"

Alexei was stunned by Li Xiao's ruthlessness, it was the first time he had seen someone with such an expression. But soon he also realized that if he was the governor of Wallachia, he would be highly regarded in St. Petersburg. If not, he would be the same unknown person from before.

Immediately, Alexei also replied viciously: "Yes, we can only grit our teeth and persevere to the end!"

Who would have thought that Li Xiao's words would change again: "This is not enough, we must not only persevere, but also perform exceptionally well, let the old guys in the country see who is more capable!"

These words made Alexei fall into deep thought, and he couldn't help but think of the possibility: when the gray cattle in the country were defeated by the British and French allied forces, Wallachia stood still like a sea god, How shocking that would be!

If this situation can really happen, Alexei believes that his future is definitely not a dream. He may jump from the governor to the imperial minister or the minister of state. At that time, he will be able to truly transform his motherland.

This possibility made Alexei's breathing quicken immediately, his eyes were red, no one would let go of such an opportunity, even if it was a special difficulty, he would pay a lot of money or even take a gamble !

Smart, he immediately began to draw inferences: "We have to strengthen our control over Wallachia, and we have to find a way to clean up those dishonest guys, so that they won't do bad things when the time comes!"

This kind of Alexei is what Li Xiao likes to see. He is very clear that the so-called dishonest guys in Alexei are not just troublemakers like Count Vladimir, but also those who have broken ties with Britain and France. The leading party who secretly serves them.

It even includes a new round of brainwashing of the people of Wallachia, changing their negative views of Russia, and letting them serve Russia sincerely. Only in this way can they stand together in the future war.

Thinking about it, Li Xiao nodded, and suddenly said: "You'd better pay attention to the situation in Moldavia. It's not as capable as us. There have been complaints over the past few years. Don't let us Nothing happened, we won't be able to pay if the fire in their backyard hurts us!"

Alexei suddenly showed a serious expression, because Li Xiao is really not alarmist, the situation in Moldavia is indeed not optimistic, and he said bluntly that the chaos there in the past three years is even worse than in 1848... …