[X] I was called by a superior officer to attend a meeting regarding the plans of my nation to colonize and explore Arcadia.
[X] The Russian Empire
I am stuck between Japan, Qing and Russia for one basic reason - people. This is not Britain, this is not France or Prussia. This is an unknown world in which we will have some risks and problems.
A fantasy counterpart to cholera? Huge losses in soldiers and specialists, which are usual for this era from diseases, can hit us hard ... If we are not a centralized monarchy with a huge agrarian country.
- We were attacked by a huge wolf the size of a house! Send troops.
- We have an epidemic of an unknown disease! Send troops and simply surround the place until only healthy ones remain inside.
- We are attacked by the hive mind! Well, they will lose to us in number.
"On January 1, 1856, according to the lists, it was listed in the Russian Imperial Army:
regular troops — 32,530 officers and 1,742,342 lower ranks;
irregular troops — 3,640 officers and 168,691 lower ranks;
state militia — 5,647 officers and 364,421 lower ranks.
Total: 41,817 officers and 2,274,544 lower ranks."Wiki(c)
One more time. The year is 1856. And at the same time, the Russian Empire has at the same time a lot of relatively effective infantry by European standards, which it knows how to use, with high morale (due to illiteracy, weak political consciousness and the large role of the soldier brotherhood). Why do we need a professional corps of the Prussian military, if "You don't need a great weapon to win. You need a lot of good." For two million soldiers, there will be thousands and thousands of first-class soldiers.
The second factor was that Meiji is still a long time away in Japan, and the Qing does not have the opportunity for major reforms at all. At the same time, the humiliation of the Crimean War brought a new young emperor-the reformer Alexander II, who is ready for serious concessions and wants to strengthen himself for the abolition of serfdom. At the same time, it is already now, in 1861, the year will be abolition. For Prussia, real reforms will begin only after the victory in the war of 1866.