At the end of March of the 38th year of the Apocalypse, the empire once again sent 50,000 soldiers to the Great Wilderness Dongzhou, and so far, the number of military camps in Lengzhou, Boni, and Great Wilderness Dongzhou has reached 100,000.

In order to prepare for the ensuing all-out war against Tsarist Russia, the Imperial Army's plans were temporarily suspended, and the Empire was now fully engaged in the war against Tsarist Russia.

"The food and gunpowder hoarded by our army in Sisipol are enough for 100,000 troops to use for half a year, but at present, the empire only has 50,000 troops on the front line of Sisipol, and if you want to launch a full-scale offensive against Tsarist Russia, you need to mobilize at least 100,000 troops and more than 200,000 people." Hong Chengchou said.

"How is the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion arranged?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"From the Lanzhou Governor's Mansion to transfer another 50,000 troops into Sisipol, it is expected that the troops will not be able to designate a location until August. As for the people, they can be drawn from the northern provinces, but they will not be able to complete the whole arrangement until June next year. Hong Chengchou said.

"The minister suggested that the Yarkand Khanate could send troops to participate in the war to reduce the pressure on our army." Lu Xiangsheng suggested.

"The war between the Yarkand Khanate and the Dzungar Khanate has been going on intermittently for more than ten years, and the dispute between the Montenegrin faction and the Baishan faction in the country seems to have never stopped, and the Yarkand Khanate may not be able to send troops to the war." Chen Sidao.

"No, no, as a vassal state of the empire, it is an obligation for the Yarkand Khanate to send troops to the war, and in the past, Yarkand was not allowed to participate in the war because Yarkand was too far away from the battlefield, but this time it is different, Yarkand is the closest vassal state to the battlefield. Whether or not Yarkand ends up at war, the empire must make such a request. "Zhu Youxiao has always wanted to annex the Yarkand Khanate, and in Zhu Youxiao's territorial concept, most of the places where the Yarkand Khanate is located belong to Xinjiang in later generations, and if this piece is missing, Zhu Youxiao feels that the empire is incomplete.

"Most of the Metropolitan Governor's Office is responsible for this matter, and it must be notified in place." Zhu Youxiao emphasized.

"No."

"Tsarist Russia was at war with Poland in the west and Sweden in the north, and the minister felt that he could unite the two countries to attack Russia from the west and north at the same time." Chen Si suggested.

"This matter will be left to Dongchang and the Metropolitan Governor's Office together, and it would be best if Poland and Sweden could agree to send troops, and if they could not send troops, they could not be united." Zhu Youxiao admonished. Zhu Youxiao knew that Poland was not a good bird.

"The three countries should not unite, if such a situation occurs, there will be no way to solve the problem of Sipol with a hundred thousand troops." Hong Chengchou said worriedly.

"It's hard to say, just be prepared. I am preparing to build a ninth military region in West Pol to deal with the threat from the West, and the biggest threat to the Empire's future land will only come from the West, so I will leave this matter to the crown prince to be responsible for, and immediately after the end of the war against Russia, I will start to build. Zhu Youxiao said.

"No."

……

In the past ten years, Zhu Youxiao has never forgotten the war between China and Russia, which has made the empire always prepare for this war. Looking back now, Zhu Youxiao finds that there are still many things that have not been done well in the preparation of the past ten years.

But Siberia has never been the main direction of the Russians, the Russians have always been committed to westward expansion, and the West is really a piece of fat compared to the barren Siberia. In the decade of the armistice, the Russians annexed Ukraine as well as Belarus.

However, the active preparation of the empire caused the Russians to shift their strategic focus to the east again, and the Russians also began to transfer troops stationed in the west to the east.

At the end of October, the Ming army's contacts with Sweden and Poland finally yielded results.

The Swedes agreed to send troops to attack Russia. In fact, in July 1656, Russia took advantage of the war between Sweden and Poland to launch an attack on Livonia, linking several towns and fortresses, and besieging Riga at the end of August. The Swiss army defending the city carried out a counter-encirclement with the cooperation of reinforcements. The Russian army lost about 20,000 people and was forced to retreat. In 1658, the Swedes again crushed the Russian offensive. But Livonia remained under the control of the Russians.

Poland, however, did not give a clear answer to the Ming Dynasty. Only at this moment the situation in Ukraine had changed, the pro-Polish Ukrainian Cossack upper echelon Vykhovsky was in power, and in September, representatives of Poland and Ukraine signed the Treaty of Gadach, and Ukraine joined the Polish-Lithuanian state under the name of the autonomous "Rus' principality".

War between Poland and Russia was on the verge of breaking out. In order to prevent Ukraine and Belarus from falling into the hands of the Poles, and at the same time to avoid fighting on multiple fronts, Russia offered to sign an armistice agreement between Yu Ming and Sweden.

"The Swedes agreed to the armistice of the Russians?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"Yes. According to the minister's estimates, an armistice may have been signed. Chen Si replied.

Zhu Youxiao thought to himself: It seems that history has repeated itself. The Swedes did not realize at this moment that the Russians were an unfed bear, and at this time the Swedes could barely gain the upper hand, and once the Russians settled Poland, it was time for disaster in Sweden.

"The Empire will not accept an armistice, and the only goal of the Empire is to gain the Ural Mountains and the vast area east of the Ural River."

"Your Majesty, now the number of Russian troops on the front line of the Ob River has exceeded 60,000, and the number of troops is still increasing."

"Although the supply of the empire is more difficult than that of Russia, the supply of the Russians will not be easy, and the national strength of the empire is several times that of Russia, this time I will use the strength of the whole country to defeat the main force of the Russian army in one fell swoop, and ensure that the Russian army will not dare to go to war with the empire for decades." Zhu Youxiao said firmly.

……

The attitude of the Ming Dynasty made Russia's history shift dramatically again, and the Russians had to temporarily give up the use of troops against Ukraine and devote themselves to the war against the Ming Dynasty. The Russians' decision gave Vykhovsky the opportunity to suppress the domestic uprising against him, and also freed Ukraine from Russian rule completely.

By the end of December, on the front line of the Ob River, the total strength of the Ming army and the Russian army reached 200,000, including 100,000 in the Ming army and 100,000 in the Russian army. Due to the weather, large-scale fighting between the two sides did not start for the time being, but the skirmishes did not gradually decrease until the onset of winter.

The Ming army has long since changed into white military uniforms, and in the icy and snowy environment of Siberia, white is the natural camouflage color. But in the Empire, white was associated with death, mourning. For this costume change, Zhu Youxiao tried his best to make this policy continue.

It was not until the Ming army scouts who had been cruising on the front line of the two armies that the odds of survival after changing clothes increased rapidly, and increased by more than three percent, which gradually made the change of clothes generally accepted.

(End of chapter)