Truly the height of incompetence.
What was the cause? Was the quality gap between the two armies really that large?
"That can't be. Rather the opposite."
The Russian army is, beyond my expectations. No, stronger than Germany's expectations.
Comparing current artillery power, our main guns are 72mm and 76mm, while France and Germany mainly use 75mm.
It's easy to think of guns with huge wheels on both sides.
Firing speed and shell types - steel shells with nickel, manganese, chromium added, or canister shot (type of fragmentation shell) - fire 12-15 rounds per minute.
Infantry personal weapons also vary like Albini-Braendlin, Mauser series, Steyr series, but actually comparing shows they're common bolt action rifles not much different from our Mosin-Nagant M1891.
Though I'm no military equipment expert, I don't think the differences are enough to change the course of war.