The sun shines on the field. Due to the fine weather, it has lasted for a while. The road, which had become muddy because of the spring rains, was hardened by the sun like the field, and the wind was together. The gray dust that rose up and obscured the sky, contrasting with the green life of the forest not far away.

The roads were hard and facilitated the march of the troops. It was also convenient for civilians fleeing, and now, the dusty road is packed with people. Most of the people who walked from east to west were soldiers, and most of those who walked from west to east were civilians. The luggage carried with them is also heavy, but the difference is that the soldiers carry weapons and equipment. Civilians carry food and clothing.

This is Novonikolaevsk, a city located in the southern region of Central Siberia, although there is no decent industry, but because the Trans-Siberian Railway passes through here, Novonikolaevsk has become an important hub of east-west transportation, and the road network leading to it is relatively good, and now this road packed with refugees and reinforcements is a road extending from the east to Novonikolaevsk.

Now the tsarist government of the Russian Empire has moved to Novonikolaevsk, and not only that His Majesty Tsar Nicholas II is here now. Moreover, the headquarters of the Russian ** team, loyal to the tsar, was also located in Novonikolaevsk.

Although they suffered successive defeats, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, and Omsk were lost one after another, and the troops suffered extremely heavy losses. But for now, the tsarist army still has a certain strength, and the troops from Central Asia and the Far East continue to arrive in Novonikolaevsk, ready to defend the tsarist system and Novonicolaevsk, so in the eyes of many locals, Novonikolaevsk is likely to break out into a fierce battle. Civilians had to evacuate to escape the fighting, and the reinforcements of Novonikolaevsk were strategically located around the city to meet the forces of the Russian Provisional Government.

Yesterday, the Air Force of the Russian Provisional Government has already carried out bombing of Novonikolaevsk. And dropped leaflets urging the tsarist troops to surrender. This caused confusion, so, at dawn today, more civilians left the city, and those who could leave the city had basically left the city, and the rest were those who could not leave, especially the officials of the tsarist government and their families, in order to show the determination of His Majesty the Tsar to hold Novonikolaevsk, the city defense command had issued a death order, and no official of the tsarist government was allowed to leave his post without permission, and those who left their posts without permission were all regarded as deserters and immediately shot, without even having to go through a military court.

In the face of such panic and death threats, few people were able to remain calm, and some panicked Tsarist government officials eventually chose to flee, but did not dare to leave the railway, so they also blended into the ranks of refugees, disguised as civilians. They fled from the highway with their families, but now that checkpoints had been set up on the road, the fleeing Tsarist officials would be shot by the army and their bodies hung on the side of the road as a warning to those who were lucky.

"of".

Another crisp gunshot. And then. Another deserted officer was shot by the army loyal to His Majesty the Tsar, and the body arrived on the side of the road like a tattered sack, and was savagely dragged away by the soldiers, and at the same time was escorted away by those crying and weeping family members, as for what they will do, there are different accounts, some say that these people will also be shot by the army, but some say that only men will be shot, and women will be used to serve the soldiers with their snow-white **.

After the gunshots, an American-made truck drove from the east to the west, the body of the truck was full of soldiers with loaded guns, and all of them were oriental faces, and the truck was followed by a Chinese-made sedan with a big man in the car, none other than Zhang Zongchang, the commander-in-chief of the Far East Army.

Looking at the body of the fugitive who had fallen from the magazine not far away, Zhang Zongchang poked his head out of the car window, glanced at the family members of the fugitive who were being escorted away by the soldiers, and retracted his head a few seconds later, his face quite disappointed.

"It seems that these beautiful women in Russia are all over there in Moscow Zhang Zongchang sighed, took the paper cigarette handed over by the adjutant next to him, stuffed it into his mouth, and let the adjutant light it with a match.

"Commander, you said that you were going to see the Tsar this time. What treasures will the Tsar reward? The adjutant asked.

Zhang Zongchang glanced at the adjutant, then raised his hand, and gave the adjutant a burst of chestnuts in his head, and scolded: "Something that has no interest!" Lao Tzu worked hard to call you from Shandong, not to ask you to stare at the treasures in other people's hands, but to protect Lao Tzu! Protect Lao Tzu, what do you want? Yesterday you were rewarded with a necklace, how. Now thinking about the treasure that the Tsar has rewarded? ”

"Uncle, your old man's tutor is!"

The adjutant nodded repeatedly, then opened his bow left and right, gave himself a few gentle slaps, and then closed his mouth until the car stopped, and did not speak again.

Zhang Zongchang led the convoy into Novonikolaevsk, first picking up a few people from the headquarters of the Far Eastern Army Corps, and then taking a couple of trucks. Straight to the Tsarist government station, which at the same time His Majesty the Tsar is now in. On the day, the security was tight, and when he arrived at the place, Zhang Zongchang had to get out of the car, relieve the disaster, and lead his subordinates to rush to the palace on foot.

When he arrived at the palace, Zhang Zongchang appeared. There were many dignitaries waiting for His Majesty the Tsar to receive him in front of the palace, dukes and earls were everywhere, and everyone looked depressed, and many people were talking to each other, but Zhang Zongchang couldn't hear a word clearly, he had the heart to get closer and listen. But as soon as I saw him, the commander of the Far Eastern Army, coming. After all, it was the court lamp chief and royal prophet Rasputin who called him over, saying that His Majesty the Tsar wanted to receive him and reward him for his heroic combat behavior, and also to meet with the capable men he brought over and promote them. Reuse them and let them continue to fight valiantly for His Majesty the Tsar.

Therefore, Zhang Zongchang came over this time, not only brought a few of his fellow villagers from Shandong, but also called those friends who had lifelong friendships with him in the three eastern provinces, including even a few Japanese and Korean ronin, who were dozens of people, and their momentum was also very strong, and they were not afraid that His Majesty the Tsar would be unhappy.

However, left and right, I didn't see the tsar send someone to ask him to meet him, Zhang Zongchang was quite strange. And he also noticed that none of the Russian nobles who were waiting here seemed to be summoned either. This does make people a little puzzled, and it is completely different from the scene of the previous jade.

When he was wondering, Zhang Zongchang saw that Chechakov had rushed over from the palace, so he hurriedly greeted him

"How? What did Rasputin say? When will His Majesty the Tsar summon us? Zhang Zongchang asked.

Chechakov shook his head and whispered: "You go back first, wait for news at the headquarters of the Far Eastern Army, Rasputin will personally explain to you" Xiao

Zhang Zongchang had no choice but to lead everyone out of the palace, rushed back to the Far East Army Headquarters, and waited for Rasputin to come over, which was a whole morning, until after lunch, Rasputin disguised as an officer rushed to the Far East Army Headquarters to meet Zhang Zongchang.

As soon as they met, Rasputin had a sad expression.

"Dear Zhang, I'm afraid we're all going to be betrayed, and you, probably out of the army, me. Can be killed by the nobles. ”

Zhang Zongchang was shocked by these words, and hurriedly asked the reason.

Rasputin lamented for a long time before telling Zhang Zongchang about the incident that had happened in the palace this morning. "Just this morning, a group of nobles broke into the palace and brought a message to His Majesty the Tsar. The message was conveyed by the British consul on behalf of the British, according to which the British wanted to make a deal with His Majesty the Tsar, if His Majesty agreed to abdicate immediately and end the war. Then the British government will persuade the Italian government to accept the asylum application of His Majesty the Tsar and his family. From then on, His Majesty the Tsar and his family were allowed to settle in Italy, and every year they could receive an annuity from the Italian government secretly provided by the British royal family, which was sufficient for the daily expenses of the Tsar's family. Dear Zhang, Britain is showing the temptation of a devil, and ordinary people will certainly not be able to resist this temptation, and I used to think that His Majesty the Tsar is not an ordinary person who can resist any temptation. But I must now admit that I was wrong, and I was so wrong, that the Tsar was so moved by the temptation of this devil that he actually thought of abdicating! Once the tsar abdicated. This civil war in Russia would have ended immediately. ”

When Rasputin said this, Zhang Zongchang breathed a sigh of relief, to be honest, he didn't care whether the tsar abdicated or not, even if the tsar abdicated now. Zhang Zongchang turned around and returned to China, but there was no need to panic like Rasputin. After all, there are still quite a few nobles who want to kill Rasputin, and once the tsarist government falls, Rasputin, the Russian "sinner", will definitely be killed by the angry Russians.

"So, the Tsar has already promised to make this deal with the British government? What did the queen say?. Zhang Zongchang hurriedly asked.

"It's strange here, in the past, His Majesty the Tsar always obeyed His Royal Highness's words, but this time, no matter how His Royal Highness the Queen cheered for His Majesty the Tsar, His Majesty the Tsar was never able to break free. The temptation of the devil, although His Majesty the Tsar told the British Consul that he would give a formal reply to the British Government's offer of a deal the day after tomorrow or the day after, but it seems to me that he was moved. He compromised, he actually wanted to abdicate

In the end, Rasputin gritted his teeth, indeed, he had always thought that he could completely control the Tsar in the palm of his hand, but now that he realized that it was not so easy to control a person. Especially when the person has power in his hands.

Speaking of which, Rasputin is just a favorite of the Tsar, his power comes from the Tsar, and one day the Tsar distrusts him, then Rasputin also falls out of favor.

Although he was not highly educated, Rasputin also knew that there was a tradition in Russia that once the tsar's favored retainer lost power, the favored retainer would soon die, which frightened him very much, and it was for this reason that he rushed to Zhang Zongchang's headquarters to ask the Chinese general of the Far East Army for help.