"Yesterday I received a telegram from Petersburg to the Minister of War of the Russian Empire Alexei. Sent in the name of Infantry General Kutparokin. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

"The Russian War Minister sent you a telegram?"

"Actually, it's his secretary."

"Secretary? Well, what's the content? ”

"He regrets to inform me that some of the first deliveries we have delivered to the Russian army have mysteriously disappeared, including three armored vehicles, 14 mortars and 29 boxes of artillery shells."

"He's kidding?"

"No, I think he's serious."

"I don't think so, Qin." "According to the schedule, the arrival time of the cargo ship carrying the armored vehicles should be the morning before yesterday, and according to the efficiency of the Russians, they will not find out that three armored vehicles are missing so quickly, and they will not be able to send you a telegram so quickly." ”

"Makes sense." Qin Lang nodded, and then said, "But that cargo ship used to add coal in a port in Germany. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if one day the German Army was conducting exercises and the shadow of our armored vehicles appeared. ”

His words surprised Rachel. "Do you think it was the Germans who stole our armored cars?"

"Yes." Qin Lang nodded again.

That happened - in another timeline, another world - at the end of the war between Russia and Japan, the Russians commissioned the French automobile company to build armored vehicles for them, and the quantity ordered was thirty-six, but three were actually produced, but only one was sent to Russia, because the other two disappeared mysteriously when the transport train passed through Germany, and soon after took part in the exercises of the German army.

It's just a little bit of history, a not-so-interesting story, but it's enough to prove that it was possible for the Germans to do that kind of thing.

Maybe they're not repeat offenders, but they have a criminal record.

However, this was something that Rachel didn't know, but her trust in Qin Lang made her not question it.

"You must have done it by the Germans?" She thought for a moment, then looked up at him. "Okay, Qin, if this matter is true, what are you going to do about it? Nothing else, but I don't think it's likely that you will get our stuff back from the Germans. ”

"You're right, Rachel, but luckily we can claim compensation from the Russian Empire. Our Minister of War would do well to pray that he did not forget to insure what we had given us. Qin Lang replied.

"I don't think that's what his secretary was sending you a telegram for."

"Yes."

"It's not for the sake of additional orders...... I mean, lend-lease. ”

Rachel furrowed his eyebrows slightly. Rent. Qin Lang came up with a new way of doing business, but she still didn't like it, and it didn't look like it was off to a good start: if the Russians refused to pay compensation, what else could he do to get the company's money back? And those armored vehicles and weapons that are destined to be lost in the war, no matter how you look at it, the Russians are likely to pay zero compensation, and how is he going to solve it?

Of course, maybe he had a way, maybe the Russians would be able to keep the contract, but Rachel still hoped they wouldn't make any new loan requests. If they need weapons and ammunition, it is better to pay in full for the goods in one lump sum, although the country that lives on French loans does not seem to have the financial capacity to do so.

Perhaps that's part of the conundrum he says the Russians face.

She thought about it and heard Qin Lang say, "No." The Russians did not intend to lend or order any more heavy weapons, they decided to buy French goods - the damned French used their loans to exert pressure" - after the end of the military campaign to suppress the Boxers, His Majesty suddenly found that he had used every ruble in the treasury in this operation, and that the Chinese reparations would take decades to be fully paid, and that he had to borrow money from France in order to solve his financial problems, so the French took the opportunity to take control of his country. We can continue to sell the gadgets that have just been developed to the Russians. As for the telegram from the Secretary of War, it had no other purpose than to tell us what had happened, to dissociate itself from it, and to ask us to deliver the remaining weapons as soon as possible. ”

"How did you reply?"

"I told the Minister of War that we would deliver the remaining weapons and equipment on time and send them directly to the Far East."

Her eyebrows furrowed again. "You didn't raise the issue of compensation?"

He shook his head and said to her in a cautionary tone: "Just three armored vehicles and fourteen mortars, Rachel, there are times when we have to take a risk for the sake of our plans. ”

"It's just your plan, it's just yours." Rachel whispered, giving the impression that she had some resentment—and to some extent, she did. He had too many plans that she and others didn't know about, or couldn't see the details, and while they were good for the company, they also strengthened his grip on the company, which he was already strong enough in the first place.

This is not a situation that will always be accepted.

She continued, and then said: "But why did you tell the Russians that we would send the remaining weapons and equipment directly to the Far East? This is not in line with our basic policy...... Policies that you make yourself. You said that our dealings with the Russians need to avoid irritating the nerves of the Japanese and not affecting our business with them. ”

"Because things have changed. If weapons were still transported according to the original scheme, it would have taken at least a few months for the Russian troops in the Far East to get them, but at that time, perhaps, they no longer needed those weapons. He sighed, but in disguise.

It was always clear to him that Russia would not be able to deliver weapons from its European part to the Far East in time. The Far Eastern Railway, which was planned to take 12 years and 350 million rubles, but which had actually cost the Russians close to 1.5 billion rubles, could never be completed before the end of the war - even if Nicholas II, who smelled the smell of war, ordered to speed up the construction and increase the appropriation, the pace of construction would not improve at all - the extremely harsh natural environment of Siberia and the vodka-loving nature of the Russian people were creating obstacles to the project, and if the Russians were going to break through them, then they needed a project called " steel", and an institution called the Cheka, but now they had only "the supreme emperor and absolutist monarch of all Russia", his "German woman" and a bunch of aristocratic bureaucrats whose incompetence rivaled that of the Manchu aristocracy.

There is also a farmer from Siberia named Rasputin, but this will only be a problem in a few years.

But in any case, since the Trans-Siberian Railway has not yet been completed, Russia cannot maintain a large military force in the Far East, nor can it commit new troops in this region in time. Admiral Alekseev, the Governor-General of the Far East and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Reich, had only an army force of 160,000 men and 8,500 sailors, and although his opponent was no more than 600,000 light infantry lacking heavy weapons, the situation of the Russian army was not much better.

Moreover, 160,000 grey cattle, even if their commander is called Geokir. Konstantinovich. Zhukov, or Konstantin. Konstantinovich. Rokossovsky, or whatever, they're still going to fail; And it is known that Admiral Alekseev was a complete fool, who once had the move of equipping each battalion with a general, did not dare to do anything without instructions from Petersburg, and was able to climb to his current position only because he was the uncle of Nicholas II.

If he could command the Russian army to win the war, then it must have been a manifestation of God, but in reality, God does not really exist.

So the direction of the situation is obvious, according to the current situation, once the war breaks out, the Russian army in the Far East will not hold out for long, the only thing to be thankful for is that St. Petersburg has already sent reinforcements, 100,000 people, and many more troops are being assembled and will soon depart.

But it also meant that every road to the Far East would be clogged with struggling soldiers and logistical wagons, and if the remaining weapons and equipment were to continue to be sent to the European part of Russia, they would not reach the front in time.

"Therefore, I decided to send the remaining weapons and ammunition directly to the Far East." Qin Lang's fingers crossed and rubbed together, "And ......"

With just one word, he stopped, and didn't say anything, as if to get Rachel's interest.

He did it.

"And what?" She asked.

"The British, through our friends in Washington, sent a message asking us not to send the weapons ordered by the Russians outside the Far East."

"Why?" Rachel guessed that, anyway, it certainly wasn't because of the Japanese.

"A few weeks ago, a personal letter written by Nicholas II to his sister Archduchess Olga last November was poked out." Qin Lang deliberately squeezed out a regretful expression, "In this letter, His Majesty the Tsar talked about the war between Britain and the Boers, and said in a pleasant tone, 'I am glad to realize that I alone have the means to fundamentally change the situation of the war in Africa, it is very simple, it is enough to order Turkestan's troops to mobilize and drive to the border, and the most powerful navy in the world cannot prevent us from killing them where the British are weakest.' ”

"What does that mean?" Rachel didn't understand, "What is he talking about?" ”

"Afghanistan, Persia and India." Qin Lang smiled, "Not only that, but in fact, he has already turned his ideas into actions. ”

"I have not heard of a direct conflict between Russia and Great Britain."

"But Russia reneged on its promise of the seventies not to bypass Britain in Afghanistan and forced the Turkish government to promise not to cede the right to build railways on the southern shore of the Black Sea to other countries, and then took control of Persian tariffs through loans."

His explanation made Rachel laugh, and laughed and laughed. "As you can imagine, London must be in a rage."

Qin Lang was also laughing, looking very happy, although in reality, he did not think that his explanation was the whole reason - British policy was overshadowed by a person named Francis. Bertie's bureaucracy made it very clear, "If Japan and Russia unfortunately go to war...... Britain's goal was to localize the war. That is, we will remain neutral when there are no third countries at war...... If France were allowed to side with Russia, the two countries would defeat Japan, and as a result, the Troika Pact would be restored, and the three countries would be the masters of China, and we would be sidelined...... If Russia prevails over Japan in a landslide victory, or if it unites with France to defeat Japan, and we go to the rescue of Japan so that it does not fall to the detriment, then we will have a feud with France and Russia, and the defeated - and probably ungrateful - will not be able to use it as an instrument against Russian expansion. If Japan defeats Russia...... It would be unbelievable to defeat once and for all an army and navy power like Russia, which has infinitely rich natural resources and a large population. Russia will reorganize itself and compete again in the future. However, if the Liaodong Peninsula were to be occupied by Japan as a prize for war, this contest of power might be postponed for a long time. The Liaodong Peninsula is in Japanese hands, which will make it impossible for Russia and Japan to reconcile, which is beneficial to Britain and Europe. Russia will contain the Yellow Peril, and Japan will contain the Russian disaster......"

To put it simply, it is still the glorious tradition of the British Empire, the policy of continental equilibrium that makes Europe restless. Even if Russia had not invaded Britain's sphere of influence, Britain would still have taken the means to balance its power with Japan, ensuring that their war would be a gladiatorial battle without a winner.

That's good, of course, if Britain is willing to buy a batch of new weapons made by UMBRELLA instead of Japan, and deliberately leaks information to make France pay for the weapons purchased by Russia.

It's a shame.

Qin Lang regretted for a moment, and then changed to a serious expression. "It is clear that it is for this reason that London will agree to sell five capital warships to Japan. As for us, the British could not prevent us from delivering the weapons lent by the Russians, but at least they could convince us to send them where they were supposed to go, and not be used by the Russians to strengthen the military in other areas. ”

"And you said yes." Rachel's laughter finally ended, and her expression became cautious again. "And what about the Japanese? Don't you worry about them getting irritated anymore? ”

"That's already an irrelevant question."

"Why?"

"As you remember, Dewey once told me that the Navy was going to sell some old warships to Japan and Russia." He paused for a few seconds, to create a surprising effect, "because the Japanese had re-selected the ships of the Royal Navy, and Washington had sold them all to the Russians." ”

And he succeeded again.

"Oh, my God." Those were the only three words she uttered in a minute-long period. (To be continued.) )