Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

In the Sevastopol naval port, Solovyov personally inspected the latest naval guns.

"These cannons are excellent. Can they fire new types of shells now?"

"Your Excellency, how should I put this?"

"Young man, speak your mind."

"If this were your suggestion before you returned to St. Petersburg, our naval engineers here probably wouldn't be able to meet that target. The requirements are too high. At least for now, the navy still can't do without spherical shells and various derivative types of ammunition."

"That makes some sense; I understand the processing issues."

"Another issue is the reliability of the fuse. As the gunner here, I have to be extra careful."

"Very good, young man, you have a lot of ambition. Gunner, what's your name, and which naval academy did you graduate from?"

“Nakhimov, Pavel Stepanovich, Navy Lieutenant, I’ve heard about you from Commander Lazarev. If you were a naval officer, we might have more advanced warships.”

"The prerequisite is money. The Emperor always gets a headache whenever he needs money because our country is an exporter of raw materials, and our domestic industrial level is not yet up to par. Lieutenant Nakhimov, do your job well as gunnery officer. One day you will command your own warships, just like Admiral Kron, starting from cruisers and working your way up to battleships and squadrons. The 'Azov' will be going to the Mediterranean soon to familiarize itself with the environment there."

Solovyov's encouragement was purely because he was more familiar with Kron, although using the Scots as an example was not quite appropriate, but he had done an excellent job.

“I am from Smolensk, and my home is not too far from that gentleman’s estate.”

"Smolensk, so your home should be on the road from Smolensk to Vyazma, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't do much that winter, except help the detachment get some bread."

"That's enough. You were only about ten years old then, right?"

"Yes, my lord."

“It is very dangerous to do this. The French have lost their discipline on the way back. I saw many women and children’s bodies on the banks of the Berezina River. There were French expatriates who fled, as well as our civilians. We must not let the disaster caused by the French happen again in our lifetime.”

"But now France is an ally, and many people in the navy know about your relationship with the French Emperor."

"That's why we must never forget that even in our country, things are better, but abroad, even brothers sometimes have to fight for the throne, which is very tempting."

Solovyov mentions the past to serve as a warning for the future. Even among relatives, there are many wars in Europe. After Peter the Great, there was a struggle for the throne between Peter's line and Ivan's line. Although there was no bloodshed at first, Ivan VI was eventually executed in prison during the reign of Empress Ivan VI.

It seems that during the reign of the empress, there were many bloodshed incidents and the throne was not stable. It was only under Alexander that stability was achieved, at least within the royal family.

"But sometimes it's not the right time to talk about this. You want me to pay attention to the situation in the Mediterranean, so you must be referring to future actions, right?"

"Yes, and maybe no. When the navy is patrolling the Mediterranean, it always has to pay attention to the situation along the way. Misha was my naval adjutant when I was on a mission. I know him well. He is an outstanding and excellent explorer, but he has not yet proven himself independently in naval battles."

Of course, there were far too many admirals on board the "Azov" ship. Nakhimov didn't become famous until the Crimean War.

But both of them were nuclear-powered. Russia only had a handful of ships that were later assigned the name of a nuclear-powered cruiser, and he had met all three of them.

This ship also carried Kornilov and Istomin, as well as Pudyakin, who historically signed a treaty with Japan. It's not easy to have five famous naval officers on a single ship.

It was the first time Solovyov had met Nakhimov, which inevitably piqued Solovyov's curiosity.

They talked for a long time about ammunition. Regarding the fuse, Solovyov knew that the British had tried many methods because the explosive shells were not lethal enough, but spherical shells themselves had many limitations.

One day in the future, when rifled cannons are used, wooden boats will soon be transformed into ironclad ships.

Dealing with the Ottoman Empire's navy was actually more difficult than dealing with the standard Qing Dynasty navy.

However, compared to what Solovyov sold after the warships were sold, even if the Royal Navy really went there, it would have to organize a more powerful naval fleet. Otherwise, a first-class warship like the "Wan Nian Qing" with 130 cannons would not be a joke, and its firepower could even be increased according to the needs of the mission.

Over the next twenty years, the Russian Navy may not have many positions on its home turf. Taking warships to the Far East to gain experience would still be beneficial for the future development of the navy.

The army already had a backlog of veteran generals, starting with Yermolov and Paskovich. This core force from 1812 would not be used until the 1850s.

The navy is also bound to face this situation. However, since the personnel move with the ship and their positions are relatively fixed, and the personnel are familiar with each other, they will still be able to exert their combat effectiveness in the future.

Alexander will be here in the autumn to inspect the troops, and we really need to show him some new equipment. It's better to use the old exercises. He's a professional artilleryman, and one of his ears went deaf when he was young. His hearing in the other ear isn't great at long distances either, and he even has to put his hand next to his ear to enhance the effect.

Of course, sometimes the Tsar himself would make this gesture as if it were a tactical cough.

Solovyov returned from his inspection of the Azov and was very satisfied with the navy's combat readiness.

The Ottoman Empire's massive fleet of corvettes and small boats wasn't difficult to fight; the problem was their sheer number.

Fortunately, they did not use the fire attack tactics favored by both the Ming and Qing dynasties. Otherwise, with those escort ships providing cover, the fire attack ships could have caused considerable trouble for the enemy, or at the very least, provided disruption.

Even the Royal Navy, with its fleet incomplete, dared not rashly cause trouble for Guan Tianpei. At most, it would choose to withdraw from the battle after gaining an advantage through firepower suppression and wait for another opportunity to fight.

However, Solovyov was not the Pasha of the Ottoman Empire, so he had no obligation to introduce this to them. Surprisingly, the interests of Britain, France, and Russia in Greece were highly aligned, not to mention Spain, Prussia, and the Netherlands.

This sometimes made Franz II want to scold his younger brother, Archduke Karl, for despite having married Little Cake, who had gone to Madrid to become Queen, it seemed his brother was unwilling to participate in Vienna's affairs. He had successfully achieved the dual effect of having a son-in-law who had moved in and a daughter who had married out.
In fact, Spain's lack of active participation in Mediterranean affairs was already a gesture of respect to Austria and a demonstration of brotherly affection.

Austria itself created this to counterbalance and pressure Greece and Serbia because of its interests in the Balkans, which inevitably attracted serious concern from Russia.

Russia had many other concerns, such as Prince William, who would later become Emperor Wilhelm. At this time, his beard wasn't big enough, but he had fallen in love with a Polish girl, which put the King of Russia in a difficult position.

The predicament stemmed from William's high position in the line of succession. The Crown Prince of FW was of average ability, and to make matters worse, the royal physician discovered that the Crown Prince's son was impotent. As the second in line to the throne, William needed to marry a noblewoman of higher status. Since he was healthy, he was naturally responsible for the succession to the throne, and the breeding competition began.

Although King FW is mediocre and somewhat useless, he has one redeeming quality: he cares deeply for his children. He seems to have neglected his eldest daughter-in-law somewhat, and he tries his best to make up for it, acting more like an ordinary father and father-in-law.

Even Queen Louise's youngest daughter was arranged to stay with her brother-in-law, where she would be well taken care of.

His tolerance for being cuckolded is not as high as Alexander's.

But for his son's sake, he still asked Alexander and Nikolai, the latter being his son-in-law, how to handle the matter.

However, Alexander was unwilling to recognize William's Polish sweetheart as his goddaughter, and Nicholas was also in a rather awkward position regarding his father-in-law's request.

Even if it were a marriage between nobles and commoners, it would still have a significant impact on the issue of succession in Prussia.

As for a solution, the problem was ultimately passed on to Maria, who was related to both sides in Weimar.

As for the possibility that Weiwei might have to call Solovyov "great-grandfather" in the future, that might just be on the agenda.

Because King William planned to arrange marriages for his sons, he prioritized Weimar. Prince William had previously met with Svetlana, but the meeting was unsuccessful because she kept discussing scientific issues and even had utopian socialist and Jacobin ideas, which made William, the old prince, very embarrassed.

Although Svetlana was a beautiful woman, not only intelligent but also skilled at horseback riding and hunting, and even knowledgeable in artillery and ballistics, they weren't completely without common ground.

But William backed down. The other party started talking about Greek philosophers and Russian idioms. Hunting wasn't something that happened every day, and firing cannons on the parade ground wasn't a daily occurrence either. Who knew what might happen in the future?

Oldenburg's cousin won partly because he was well-read and could barely keep up.

And among Alexander's relatives, there were many enlightened people. But the Prussian family, led by William the Pontiff, was quite a handful.

Solovyov almost laughed when he thought about this blind date.

However, he probably won't be laughing about the fact that King FW went to propose marriage to Maria's two sons.

The younger brother will marry the older sister, and the older brother will marry the younger sister; these are things that will happen in the next few years.

These Prussian relatives can be quite funny sometimes; they always manage to create some laughs, especially German jokes.

The situation in the Black Sea will require France and Prussia to intervene and distract Austria, so that Russia can focus on its own actions from the Danube River, while Britain supports Greece.

As for the outcome of the war, the British were worried that their Greek brothers would suffer, and also that their Russian brothers would be driving Land Rovers.

Greece is considered the origin of European civilization. Regardless of the embellishments of the barbarians on both sides, or the influence of Greco-Roman thought on the Mediterranean and even Europe and the Middle East, everyone except Austria was willing to support Greece's desire for independence.

Southeast Europe is in a state of chaos; things are about to turn into a complete mess.

Furthermore, the navies of various European countries will subsequently develop new weapons for use in actual combat.

Solovyov was conducting drills on the coastal forts and warships, and when the Tsar himself arrived, he would naturally check on the Black Sea Fleet's combat readiness.

Black Sea Fleet Commander Greg was quite satisfied with Solovyov's approach of providing technical support without interfering. After all, some big shots were ignorant and gave orders blindly, while Solovyov, in addition to being an army general, was an expert in communications and artillery ammunition, and his opinions were highly valuable.

Of course, Greg was also a Scotsman. His father served in the Russian Navy and was even born at the Baltic Fleet's base, while Kron brought his own ship with him. It was a difference between the second and first generation.

Greg was more Russian, but because he was in the navy, he was more influenced by his father.

He also agreed to the idea of ​​conducting exercises, so preparations were made before the Tsar's arrival.

In 19th-century artillery exercises, there were towed ships used for live-fire drills, which allowed for clear observation. However, barges didn't exist at that time. Instead, some old ships in Sevastopol were used for dismantling timber in Nikolayev. Battleships and shore guns fired shells directly in the bay to observe the actual operations.

What's your problem?

"If you were in the army, what would you do?"

“Then I will be more demanding. There will also be a directorate on the exercise field to make judgments on both sides. Although it is very troublesome to operate, blank rounds are fired. I can act as the authority on the exercise field, and they can’t do anything about it.”

To put it bluntly, there were several Guards regiments that were quite hated during exercises at the training grounds in St. Petersburg. They were even considered by Solovyov to be carrying Pakr automatic cannons as hand-cranked Gatling guns.
However, he did not interfere in the navy's affairs. First, he wanted to ensure the success of subjects such as gunnery, communications, navigation, and rescue. The rest was up to the officers and sailors to consider.

The navy's sailors were indeed of good quality; it was just that the navy's infantry were routinely pulled by Solovyov to train with the 3rd Army.

Although these people are not highly educated, they are still educated, which is much better than when the army recruits a bunch of illiterate people.

Solovyov also had high hopes for them, and the upcoming exercises would be a test beyond actual combat. (End of Chapter)