In the conference hall on the first floor of the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Hong Kong, the candles have been lit, and the closed-door meeting of the Russian crown prince's mission to China is still continuing. The room was filled with smoke, choking cigar smoke and the smell of Russian coffee.

Russian Governor of Irkutsk and Eastern Siberia Nikolai. Nikolaevich. Muravyov's report continues, and the content has shifted to defensive operations in the Far East. Although Muravyov did not believe that the Far East could really survive the onslaught of China, he did his best to defend it.

"Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, if you don't count the fleet you brought to the Pacific, there are currently only five warships in the navy under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Siberian Governor's Office that can barely fight, and the rest are some civilian ships with naval flags. Only about 3,000 army units can be put into battle, and even if you count the impromptu militia, there will be no more than 6,000 people. It is unlikely that this force will be able to hold the long northern bank of the Amur River, Sakhalin and Kamchatka. If the Chinese collective farms were scattered throughout Manchuria, I estimate that they would be able to mobilize at least 100,000 army troops into battle, which is not something that a mere 6,000 men can withstand. The only way is to expand our armament in Eastern Siberia as much as possible and to absorb Tatars into our army......"

"Tatars? Is it Buryats? The crown prince interrupted with a frown. The Buryats, the northern branch of the Mongols, were originally the masters of the Siberian region, but were later conquered by the Russian Empire and became oppressed, and it seems unreasonable to recruit them into the Russian army.

"No, not the Buryats." Muravyov said. "It was the Manchurians and Khalkha Mongols under the rule of Yixin, the Grand Duke of the Bohai State. The total is about 1.2 million. They can provide 10,000 to 15,000 men to mix with the Russian army, so that we can have enough troops in Eastern Siberia to focus on defending a few fortresses in the Amur Valley, Sakhalin, and Kamchatka. On the premise that several fortresses in the Eastern Siberian region can be held, it makes sense for our country to defeat the Chinese in the Khalkha Mongolia and Xinjiang regions. ”

Crown Prince Alexander took a sip of a cup of Russian coffee, calculating the gains and losses of the war in the East and China. The Chinese have an advantage in the Far East, and even if Muravyov can piece together 20,000 motley troops, there is still little certainty of victory, which is nothing more than holding on to a few fortresses to delay time. Although the battles in Xinjiang and Khalkha Mongolia are more certain, the Chinese may not be able to go on expeditions. If they concentrate on attacking Eastern Siberia, take Nerchensk (Nebuchu), the Albazin fortress (Yaksa), the area of the mouth of the Amur River and the Petropavlovsk military port. Russia will not be able to gain a foothold in the eastern part of Eastern Siberia, not even Alaska, and will lose at least a few million square meters of land! Although these lands did not have much economic value to Russia, they did not look good on the map after they were lost......

The situation in Khalkha Mongolia and Xinjiang, which are controlled by Russia, is more complicated, there are at least tens of millions of aborigines, many of whom are Minslin, and none of them know that Lu Dao is the two Great Qing Kingdoms, but they cannot be included in the Russian territory casually.

The Russian crown prince put down the coffee cup in his hand and asked in a low voice: "Is it possible to maintain peace with the Chinese?" At least not to go to war until the end of the war against the Turks, is there such a possibility? Perhaps we can recognize the Sino-Russian border demarcated by the Treaty of Nebuchu. Retreat south of Sakhalin and the Starov Mountains. ”

After the signing of the Treaty of Nebuchu, the Russians did not abandon their ambitions to expand into northeastern China. By the time of Daoguang, it had basically occupied most of the Chinese territory between Sakhalin Island (Sakhalin Island) and the Trans-Khingan Mountains (between the Stanov Mountains and the Amur River). Now that Crown Prince Alexander is ready to spit out all this fat in exchange for peace with China, he has really made up his mind.

Muravyov was silent for a long time, and then shook his head: "Your Highness the Crown Prince, the peace of the Russian Empire cannot be built on its own weakness and foreign gifts...... If China were hostile to Britain, France, Austria and other European powers because of the war against Turkey, would China abide by the peace agreement with China? ”

No! The Chinese will definitely take advantage of the fire to rob! Crown Prince Alexander thought to himself that if he were the emperor of China, he would definitely not give up such an opportunity for expansion. With hundreds of thousands of Western-style armies, a population of 40,000, and an industrial system no less than that of Russia, and with the support of Britain and France, it would be a fool not to expand into Eastern Siberia.

"And what about taking the Ryukyus, and then leaving a sufficiently strong fleet in the Far East? Is it possible to guarantee peace in the East? Crown Prince Alexander pondered, "As far as I know, the Chinese navy is very weak, they do not have first-class battleships and second-class battleships, and the naval academy has only opened, their fleet is basically amateur level, is that so?" ”

"Yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the fleet of the Chinese is indeed amateur." Although Muravyov was a vice admiral, he also knew a little about the navy. "The fleet you brought to Asia is enough to destroy the entire Chinese Navy, but the question is ...... Once our country is in a state of war with Britain and France, our Asian fleet will be in a terrible situation! ”

Crown Prince Alexander turned his head to look at Vice Admiral Putiyatin, who stood up and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Navy Pacific Fleet is not afraid of any enemy!" If the Empire was at war with Britain, France, and China at the same time, the Pacific Fleet could leave the Ryukyus and engage the enemy at sea, attack the enemy's convoys, block the enemy's shipping lanes, and harass the enemy's overseas colonies until the time of victory in the war came! ”

"Lieutenant General Muravyov, do you think this will work?" Crown Prince Alexander looked at Putiyatin again. The Governor of Eastern Siberia shrugged his shoulders and said with a wry smile: "But in this way, we will have one less fleet in Europe, and the naval superiority of Britain and France will be even stronger." ”

Putyatin said: "Admiral Duke Menshikov (Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Navy) believes that in the event of a war with Britain and France, the Imperial Navy will not be able to maintain its supremacy in the Baltic Sea in any case, and can only withdraw the fleet to the Kronstadt military port to preserve the strength of the fleetto deter China's coastal areas and the Spice Islands. ”

Not to mention, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Navy, Duke Menshikov, is really a little self-aware. Although the Russian Navy has a large number of people, its equipment is backward and its combat effectiveness is mediocre, so there is no pressure to bully the Turkish Navy and the Ming Navy, and it will definitely be a tragedy against Britain and France. Therefore, in the event of a war with Britain and France, then the Baltic Fleet will only be able to defend ships and control the enemy. Therefore, while the war has not yet started, it is also a way to transfer a part of the fleet to Asia to threaten the Ming from the sea.

Muravyov nodded: "Well, I support the plan to attack the Ryukyus, but before we attack the Ryukyus, we should first obtain the support of the diplomatic missions of Britain, France and the United States in East Asia." ”

The Russian prince was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Muravyov: "Lieutenant General, do you think there is such a possibility?" ”

Muravyov laughed: "Your Highness, the Ryukyu Kingdom is not a vassal of China, but a vassal of Japan. As you may not know, the diplomats and military personnel of Britain, France, and the United States in East Asia hate Japan very much. If we are willing to come forward and give them a good look, we will definitely get the support of Britain, France and the United States. ”

"For what?" Alexander looked at Muravyov in bewilderment.

"Because the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan, firmly pursued a policy of seclusion, rejected all requests from Britain, France, and the United States to return to our Russia, the opening of ports and trade, and did not allow foreign ships other than China and the Netherlands to obtain supplies from Japanese ports, and opened fire on ships from Britain, France, the United States, and Russia that tried to get closer, which almost caused public outrage." (To be continued......)