"His Royal Highness...... His Royal Highness the Prince......"

Hoffman's voice sounded very far away, and it seemed to be right in front of him, Chen Tian opened his eyes violently, he was so asleep just now that he didn't even have a dream.

"Your Royal Highness, you have invited the ten tank commanders and ten armored commanders with the most outstanding achievements in the armored corps to dinner today, and it is now 6 o'clock, and they have all arrived!" Hoffman stood next to Chentian and said respectfully.

"Oh? It's 6 o'clock! Chentian stood up, moving his calves that were numb. He had forgotten when he had fallen asleep, probably because of the delicious red wine, and he had fallen asleep in his chair in the afternoon, waking up with an extra blanket.

Perhaps because of the rain, it was already dark outside.

"What about General Mackensen and Colonel Olge?" When Chen Tian turned his attention back to the house, he found that only a few staff officers in the headquarters were still sorting out the telegram.

"They went around the camp and saw that it was almost time to come back! Do you want to wash your face first? It's a bit indecent to take a nap like this, and it's easy to catch a cold! Hoffman said with a sincere face, and the guard next to him quickly brought a basin of cold water.

Chen Tian nodded, no way, autumn plus light rain, this kind of weather is too suitable for a rest.

Cold water was poured on his face, and the whole person suddenly woke up, Chen Tian took the towel and gently wiped the water droplets on his face, "Is there anything new after I fell asleep?" ”

"Your Highness, there are a lot of telegrams, but there is nothing particularly important! Our army is still advancing step by step in Paris, and the French are still desperately resisting; After the occupation of Moscow by the Russian Revolutionaries, nothing happened, and the fighting in St. Petersburg was still fierce; The Austro-Hungarian army of Archduke Friedrich occupied three more towns, and the Russian army in Belarus did not seem to have any intention of resisting! Hoffman followed Chen Tian and quickly summarized the afternoon's information, "Also, our Baltic Fleet has sailed to the Gulf of Finland, and the Russian fleet has not moved for the time being!" ”

"Our 4 armored battleships, 2 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 2 seaplane carriers and 7 submarines should be enough for the Baltic Fleet of the Russians! But the Russians have also built a few dreadnoughts, and I really hope that the Russian Revolutionary Party will be able to control them! Chen Tian stopped, turned around and ordered: "Remind the Baltic Fleet that not a single Russian warship can be allowed to leave the Gulf of Finland!" If the other party claims to be a Russian revolutionary, then try to avoid exchanging fire with them and detain or expel them! ”

In the imperial palace in St. Petersburg, Nicholas II paced back and forth with concern, as his generals told him that more and more revolutionary troops were making their way towards St. Petersburg, far ahead of possible government troops, and that the city was likely to fall in the night.

"Your Majesty! The Black Sea Fleet mutinied, and the warships there were already under the control of the revolutionaries! "The appearance of an embarrassed general in front of the emperor and empress was a blow to Nicholas II.

"Where is Grand Duke Nikolai?" The queen asked the general who came to report the battle situation with a crying voice, "Let him lead the troops to suppress those revolutionary parties, and don't let any of them go!" ”

"Back to the Empress, the Great Justice personally commands the army to fight against the revolutionary party in the south of the city!" The general's voice sounded a little choked, "The rebels with cannons have appeared outside the city, and he implores the two of them to take refuge in Helsinki on the battleship 'Sevastopol'!" ”

"Oh God!" The queen screamed.

The distant sound of gunfire had not stopped since morning, which made Nicholas II more and more restless. Now, the news of the Black Sea Fleet's announcement of the uprising has brought his trust in the Navy to the bottom, and if those sailors have been bought off by the revolutionaries, getting on board the ship will be tantamount to throwing themselves into the net of the revolutionaries.

"Unless the Grand Duke takes control of the warship with the Guards first, I won't go anywhere! Now I don't believe anyone but the Guards! Nicholas II said firmly.

"But the Grand Duke, he's ......"

"Don't go yet!" The queen suddenly shouted hysterically, which was more in line with her old style.

The general left in even more embarrassment than when he came.

"Alas......" Nicholas II sighed deeply, "everyone go and prepare!" Take everything you can with you! ”

At the Neva wharf in St. Petersburg, four huge battleships were quietly bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, many sailors were on guard from their battle positions, and the sound of gunfire from far and near made everyone's nerves tense, while those loyal to the tsar and those inclined to revolution were playing their own petty ninety-nines.

Compared to the other lonely and weak ships in the harbor, these four battleships stood out. They all have a displacement of 25,000 tons, which is second to none among the naval forces of the Baltic Sea. At 181.2 meters long, 26 meters wide and 8.4 meters draft, the ship's 12-inch (305 mm) guns are spread across four triple turrets arranged in the full centerline, and although the caliber of the main guns is not large, its terrifying sideboard salvo capability is not to be underestimated by any opponent, and its top speed of 24.6 knots is even more staggering. However, these big guys also have obvious weaknesses: too much armor protection is sacrificed to ensure high speeds, and the armor belt in most parts of it is 1-3 inches thinner than that of German dreadnoughts.

These battleships are the legendary Russian Gangut-class battleships, a total of 4 battleships of this class have been built, namely "Gangut", "Sevastopol", "Petropavlovsk", "**** Hove", of which "Sevastopol" has been officially commissioned, and the other 3 were originally scheduled to be commissioned in 2 months.

These four battleships actually had a lot of origins, and after the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian fleet faced an extreme shortage of battleships, and the few remaining armored battleships quickly became obsolete. In 1906, the British battleship "Dreadnought" was introduced as a revolutionary breakthrough in design and performance, which made the old battleships of the Russian Navy even less worthy of mention. The changes in Europe and the revolutionary development of warships deeply touched the nerves of the Russians, and the Russian Navy, unwilling to be left behind, began to build these four dreadnought battleships, and prepared them all to be equipped in the Baltic Sea in order to compete with the German power in the Baltic Sea in the war.

The construction of this new type of battleship began in 1909, and due to the inefficiency of the Russian shipyards themselves, coupled with the fact that it was a completely new type of battleship under construction, the construction of the new battleship was very slow, and by 1910 it even came to a standstill, because the navy was not satisfied with the strength of the hull and the construction process of the battleship under construction, and believed that it could not meet the design requirements at all. For the next two years, the construction of new battleships was intermittent. However, four ships of this class were launched in 1911 and underwent sea trials, and the "Sevastopol" was finally added to the naval combat sequence at the outbreak of war, and the remaining three were expected to be commissioned in December 1914.

However, after the outbreak of war, the ghostly submarines of the German Navy almost suffocated the entire Gulf of Finland, and any warship that dared to make a splash in the Gulf of Finland, no matter how big or small, could not escape its fate. In August and September, Russia's already weak Baltic shoes were struck, and the only armored battleship, two newly launched Ushakov-class coastal defense ships, and a dozen small warships were all sent to the bottom by German fish. As a result, the Russian fleet will go to sea to a minimum, and the transport lines in the Gulf of Finland will be completely abandoned. Since mid-September, when the German Baltic Fleet was upgraded to the Baltic Fleet and replenished with four armored battleships, the Russians were even more panicked for fear that the Germans would swagger and shell the coastal ports.

For the last half a month, there has been a dead silence in the harbor, and now, as the flames of revolution are approaching, these Tsarist naval forces' latest pride and last hope have to venture out of the harbor in this situation.

The captain of the "Sevastopol", Commodore Kolchak, of the Russian Navy, was a man who never wore a beard and always had a serious face. The captain had a modest relationship with the sailors, but he had a legendary experience in his own right. From an early age, he had a soft spot for military life, waking up early every day to do gymnastics, take cold showers to strengthen his body, and read the biographies of military commanders who had achieved great results in battle. At the age of 13, he entered the St. Petersburg Naval Academy, where he read voraciously and knew four foreign languages, including the obscure Chinese. At the age of 19, Kolchak graduated with honors. At that time, scientists from all over the world were very interested in the untouched Arctic and organized expeditions to investigate. At the end of 1899, Kolchak received an invitation from the famous Russian polar explorer Baron Thor, inviting him to participate in the Arctic expedition as a hydrologist. In the summer of 1900, the icebreaker "Dawn" lifted anchor with Thor's expedition and headed for the Novosibirsk Islands. In the spring of 1902, the expedition finally reached the Novosibirsk Islands, but the route to the north was blocked by ice, and Kolchak and others had to return the same way. In 1906, Kolchak's scholarly work "The Ice of the Kara and Siberian Seas" was awarded the Gold Medal of the Great Constantine, the highest award of the Royal Russian Geographical Society. In 1910, he sailed in the Far Eastern Sea with the icebreaker "Vaigacchi Island", drawing maps and nautical charts. Later, it was on the basis of these nautical charts that the Arctic Ocean shipping lanes were opened.

More importantly, Kolchak was one of the few people in the navy who was staunchly opposed to the revolution, and if he found out which sailor on board was affected by the revolution, he would kick that person out of his ship, which is why Grand Duke Nikolai chose this battleship to escort the Tsar away.

"Yevgeny, let the sailors hurry up and get ready for the red carpet!" Kolchak instructed his lieutenant that just half an hour earlier, Grand Duke Nikolai had boarded his ship with 1,000 heavily armed Guards soldiers and informed him that His Majesty the Emperor would be there in person shortly.

Kolchak was extremely honored by this, and although he soon found that his sailors were completely under the watchful eye of the officers and men of the Guard, even his own command room, he did not pay much attention to it, and he thought that it was all for the emperor's safety.

Soon, a large pile of boxes was carried to the docks by cars and wagons, escorted by the army, and the soldiers busily carried them onto the battleship one by one, and the boxes looked particularly heavy.

"This ...... Are these all palace stuff? Kolchak was very surprised, it seemed that the tsar had not come to review the fleet or take refuge temporarily, it was more like fleeing.

"Brigadier General, don't ask too much! You and your soldiers just need to do your part! "The Grand Duke's expression, despite his paleness, was awe-inspiring.

"Yes! I'm so sorry! Kolchak stepped aside and silently watched the soldiers busy.

A little later, a convoy of cars appeared on the dock, escorted by numerous cavalry.

"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!"

Soldiers lined up on both sides of the red carpet to greet the master of the empire, and surrounded by a large group of guards officers and soldiers, Nicholas II and the empress walked briskly up the red carpet, followed by a large group of princes and nobles such as the crown prince and princess, and many servants followed closely behind them with large bags and small bags.

At the moment of walking past the pedals, Nicholas II looked back meaningfully at the smoke-filled St. Petersburg.

"Your Majesty, Honorable Emperor, welcome!" Kolchak and the officers on board stood respectfully on the side of the ship, but Nicholas II walked by with a dejected look on his face and did not say a word. On the contrary, the royal family behind him was chattering and talking, as if they were traveling.

The Tsar made a beeline for the command room after boarding the ship, and the others quickly occupied the best rooms on the ship, including Kolchak's captain's quarters.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, I'm afraid I have to go back to command the troops, cough! Cough! "Grand Duke Nicholas still seems to be in poor health, and as the most prestigious man in the army, his presence can add a lot of confidence to the soldiers.

"Grand Duke, it is admirable that you have worked so hard for the country! What I said last night...... I hope you don't mind too much! I think you'd better get out of here with us, so the queen and I will be much more at ease!" "The Tsar already felt a little like a soldier at this time, and he was afraid that the situation would get out of control as soon as the Grand Duke left here.

"Your Majesty...... All right! Commodore General, order the fleet to set sail! The Grand Duke was quite helpless, but he could only agree to it.

In a whistle, the four Gangut-class battleships, escorted by eight destroyers and four coastal defense gunboats, slowly left the dock, which was already the last force of the Baltic Fleet, and they were bound for Helsinki in the Finnish region, where Pokhara, an important Russian naval base in the Gulf of Finland, was located.

By the time the fleet left the harbor, night had fallen and the revolutionary army had stormed the empty palace shortly after.