Flubber
Banned
The capacity of the Trans-Sib is a bit of a red herring in threads of this type. The truth of the matter is that the Russians in theatre always outnumbered the Japanese, the Russians outnumbered the Japanese in every battle apart from the early ones like the Yalu crossing and Nashan, that the Russians were adequately supplied throughout the war, that losses in men and materials were always made good before the next round of fighting, and that the Russians never lost a battle due logistical deficits alone.
Supply was a concern for the Russians, never an overriding factor. Russia had depots in place well before the war, many items were sourced locally, and the seemingly slow tempo of combat allowed both sides to build up the stores they required. This wasn't WW1 with it's constant expenditure of materials. Apart from the siege lines around Port Arthur, battles were separated by weeks and months.
The capacity of the Trans-Sib did not lose the war for the Russians. Instead it was the all to usual criminal incompetence of the late Czarist era regime.
As previously mentioned, saving Makarov from drowning could go a long way towards bettering the Russian situation. He not only led an active naval defense of Port Arthur, he spurred an active land defense too.
Killing off or otherwise removing Stoessel can only help. His inertia before and during the siege hurt Russia tremendously. When you consider how close Nogi came to permanently ruining the Third Army in his boneheaded attempts to take Port Arthur, you cannot help but wonder what a marginally better defense of the port might have accomplished.
Saving Vitgeft would have profound effects too. At the time he was killed, dusk was falling, the Japanese were still engaged in a stern chase of the Russian battleline, and many of the main batteries aboard the IJN ships were out of action due to faulty ammunition. If the Russian fleet had been able to reach Vladivostok, Japan would have been faced with the prospect blockading a much stronger port much further away from her own bases.
Finally, revealing that Gapon was in the pay of the Okhrana might delay or short circuit the 1905 Revolution and allow Russia to fight longer.
Japan ran this war on a knife edge. Every day Russia fights longer is a day Japan gets closer to defeat.
Supply was a concern for the Russians, never an overriding factor. Russia had depots in place well before the war, many items were sourced locally, and the seemingly slow tempo of combat allowed both sides to build up the stores they required. This wasn't WW1 with it's constant expenditure of materials. Apart from the siege lines around Port Arthur, battles were separated by weeks and months.
The capacity of the Trans-Sib did not lose the war for the Russians. Instead it was the all to usual criminal incompetence of the late Czarist era regime.
As previously mentioned, saving Makarov from drowning could go a long way towards bettering the Russian situation. He not only led an active naval defense of Port Arthur, he spurred an active land defense too.
Killing off or otherwise removing Stoessel can only help. His inertia before and during the siege hurt Russia tremendously. When you consider how close Nogi came to permanently ruining the Third Army in his boneheaded attempts to take Port Arthur, you cannot help but wonder what a marginally better defense of the port might have accomplished.
Saving Vitgeft would have profound effects too. At the time he was killed, dusk was falling, the Japanese were still engaged in a stern chase of the Russian battleline, and many of the main batteries aboard the IJN ships were out of action due to faulty ammunition. If the Russian fleet had been able to reach Vladivostok, Japan would have been faced with the prospect blockading a much stronger port much further away from her own bases.
Finally, revealing that Gapon was in the pay of the Okhrana might delay or short circuit the 1905 Revolution and allow Russia to fight longer.
Japan ran this war on a knife edge. Every day Russia fights longer is a day Japan gets closer to defeat.