"There is no need to hide that our country has just experienced a political crisis, but now everything has passed. We are united again, and stability is being restored to the country. Our mobilization capacity is also rapidly recovering. There is no doubt that we will win soon! ”

The Tsaress held a grand welcome banquet for Gorchakov, attended by celebrities from all walks of life and consuls from various countries.

At the banquet, the Tsaressess talked freely with all the people, she had basically controlled the situation in Russia, and now she expressed in a high-profile manner that Russia had reached the moment of counterattack.

The welcome to Gorchakov itself was a testament to the outside world that the Tsaressa had earned the allegiance of the army.

"Ural army, no, no, Russia does not need the help of the Ural Kingdom to win this war! Of course, it is also our luck to have the Kingdom of the Ural as an ally, which will make victory easier. Financial pressures? I haven't thought about this issue lately, and I don't think it's an issue for the time being. ”

The court of the female tsar was always full of these brokers who inquired about the news.

Because it was a dinner party to welcome Gorchakov, there were relatively many soldiers, but the soldiers were also relatively silent, including Gorchakov himself, who only responded to some friends and other figures who came to greet him in a coping style, and did not talk deeply.

A group of black-haired and black-eyed officers even quietly sat in the corner drinking and talking.

But the female tsar did not let them hide from the leisure, and walked towards them with brisk steps, carrying her skirt, and dodging the crowd.

Wherever the tsar went, the eyes of the crowd followed.

"Don't you dance? Come on, young man, come and see the enthusiasm of the Russian girl! ”

Saying that, the female tsar stretched out her hand to Zhao Rang and invited him to dance.

Zhao Rang smiled reluctantly and accepted the invitation, the two of them did not match each other very well, the female tsar was even half a head taller than Zhao Rang, but Zhao Rangsheng was quite handsome, it was difficult for people to associate him with the soldiers on the battlefield, only the military uniform on his body was identifying.

"This is a stage, you are an important role, how can you not be on stage?"

On the dance floor, to the music, the female tsar danced and talked to Zhao Rang.

Zhao Rang replied: "It's not suitable for a banquet at this time. ”

The Tsaress said: "Why? ”

Zhao Rang sighed: "The soldiers are dying in battle, we are feasting in the rear, if it is placed in China, we will be impeached." ”

The Tsaress said: "This is Russia." For us, this is our battlefield. The performance is no less effective than the fight on the battlefield. You dance with me, in the eyes of others, it is the union of Russia and the Ural kingdom! ”

Zhao Rang said: "Wouldn't it be better if the king came." ”

The Tsaress sighed: "If he had come, he would have had much less trouble, but there would have been many more troubles." Alright, it's time for us to wrap up. If someone talks to you, don't shy away from it, don't worry about leaks, any leaks will increase our leverage. ”

Zhao Rang said: "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

Zhao Rang returned to his seat, he was still not used to social activities at this time, he couldn't let go of the front-line army. Of the mobilized million Ural Army, half a million of them have now gone to Kyiv, and the news that came back is not optimistic, the large casualties are on the one hand, the point is that during the battle, a lot of problems have arisen. The level of their officers is too poor, and the current war is different from the past, not only the middle and lower-level officers lack experience, but these high-ranking officers are even more inexperienced.

Russian newspapers are already ridiculing the combat effectiveness of the Ural army, radical Russian newspapers even began to satirize the war ten years ago, the Chinese are completely by luck, thinking that it is the Russian army's supplement that has given the problem, so that the Chinese army has completed a big detour, but did not expect the performance of the Ural army, so that the honor of the Chinese army has been tarnished.

This made Zhao Rang feel that no matter how much they behaved to obey the queen's orders, the Russians did not recognize them and regarded them as Chinese.

The unfavorable front-line combat seriously affected his mood, saying that the soldiers were fighting the front, and it was not appropriate for them to enjoy themselves in the rear, which was just a pretext.

The queen was right, and there were really all kinds of people who took the opportunity to come to them and began to extract information from them.

"Hello, I'm sorry, do you speak Russian, or German?"

A young woman in a floral dress walked over.

Zhao Rang nodded: "I know some Russian." But it's not very familiar. Can you speak French? ”

The girl was surprised: "You know French!" Okay, my name is Ivana, and my brother's name is Ivan Fedorovich Babkov. He served in the Black Sea Army Group. Can I say a few words to you? ”

Zhao Rang nodded: "Of course!" ”

Ivana was worried: "I haven't received a letter from my brother for a long time, do you think he will have an accident?" ”

Zhao Rang comforted her and said, "This kind of thing is very common on the battlefield, you don't need to worry. Your brother is supposed to be an officer, right? ”

Ivana nodded, looking proud: "My brother is a staff officer. ”

Zhao Rang nodded: "That shouldn't be dangerous, as far as I know, there has been no big battle in the Black Sea direction." ”

Ivana put her hand on her chest: "Thank you, I'm relieved." ”

Zhao Rang smiled: "You're welcome! ”

Ivana asked, "I would like to ask you, will the Urals send more soldiers?" ”

Zhao Rang shook his head: "I don't know about this. However, the current war situation is not a question of the number of troops. We have too many recruits, and they still need to learn to fight. ”

Ivana nodded, "You mean you don't need to add more troops, right?" This means that your country still has the ability to increase its troops! ”

Zhao Rang shook his head: "I didn't say that." But if necessary, yes. ”

Ivana asked again: "I heard that China may enter the war because of the relationship between the Ural Kingdom, is it true?" ”

Zhao Rang continued to shake his head: "I'm sorry, I didn't know. ”

Ivana felt that she had asked too much, and quietly stuffed a note for Zhao Rang.

"You're going to write to me, right?"

She whispered and quietly walked away.

A note with an address on it, just for him to write a letter, or a silent invitation?

"Hey, intrigued?"

Someone next to him quipped.

"I said yes, do you believe it?"

Zhao Rang asked rhetorically.

"Russian, you can try!"

Someone encouraged him.

Zhao Rang shook his head and secretly put the note in his pocket.

Later, there were some characters who came to talk to him, but they didn't leave a deep impression on Zhao Rang, and he was also invited to dance with a certain aristocratic woman, which also didn't leave a deep impression, except for the strong body odor on the other party.

At the end of the song, Zhao Rang did not have time to rest, and was recruited into the palace by the queen to hold a military meeting.

"We need your army to cooperate and conduct a major battle along the West Dvina River."

After Gorchakov introduced the battle situation on the northern front, he made a request to Zhao Rang.

Zhao Rang nodded: "How many troops do you need to mobilize?" ”

Gorchakov said: "500,000 people! ”

Zhao Rang shook his head: "It's impossible." We have already deployed half a million people in Kyiv, and it is impossible for Moscow not to defend it. ”

The total number of Ural troops was one million, and the total number of those who remained in Moscow was only 500,000.

Gorchakov said: "There is no need to stay in Moscow's garrison, I need you to withdraw the army from Kiev." Let the garrison of Moscow take over the defense. The combat effectiveness of the Prussian army is generally stronger than that of the Austrian army, and I believe you have seen the combat effectiveness of the Austrian army in Kiev. So we just need the elite! ”

Zhao Rang looked at the queen: "Do you want to send a garrison from Moscow to Kyiv?" ”

The queen nodded: "It's still okay to transfer 300,000." Moscow does not need to be defended. ”

Zhao Rang sighed: "But our army is not elite yet. We didn't fight well in Kyiv, the combat effectiveness of the Austrian army is really strong, and if the Prussian army is stronger, I'm afraid I won't be able to cope with it. ”

The battle in Kyiv has dealt a big blow to Zhao Rang's confidence.

Yermolov spoke: "You are just inexperienced, your soldiers are well trained. In the past, it was used as a reserve force, and there was a shortage of officers. I've seen your record of fighting in Kyiv, it's already very good. They at least managed to hold Kyiv, creating a line of defense. ”

Zhao Rang disagreed: "We have suffered 20,000 casualties, and now we can only defend passively, and the defense line is full of mistakes and leaks." There is also no absolute confidence in whether Kyiv can be held. ”

Yermolov said: "I will act with you. We will take into account your special situation and will not ask them to take the initiative to attack, whether you can take over our position and let our army make a maneuver and detour. ”

Zhao Rang thought for a while and said, "If the queen orders it, we will obey the order!" ”

The queen nodded, and Yermolov continued.

"The Austrian and Prussian armies are now disconnected. The Prussian army was deployed on the northern front, between the Neman and the Western Dvina, the main Austrian forces had advanced in the direction of Kiev, and the Prussian and Austrian armies were now blocked by the Polesye swamps. We plan to divide the Prussian army from between Vilno and Minsk. The mobilization of mobile forces is 500,000, so there is a need for someone to take over the line of defense that we have left behind. ”

Zhao Rang nodded: "So we need our troops in Kyiv." With all due respect, why don't you use the Navy, the Russian Navy has always had an advantage in the Baltic. ”

Yermolov nodded: "Yes, our navy has always suppressed the Prussian navy, but there has been no chance to attack before, this time we will use the navy." The Prussian front has dragged on for too long, and they will carry out a landing operation on the mouth of the Vistula River in their rear, with the aim of threatening Danzig in Gdansk! ”

Gorchakov added: "Mainly on land, we plan to expel the Prussian army from the area east of the Neman River and bring Memel to the area of Polesiye again under our rule!" ”