For the war with the Xia Empire, military and political officials at all levels of the Russian Empire had long been mentally prepared, but they did not expect that the Xia Empire would brazenly launch a war at this time. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Tsar Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, after receiving a telegram from the front on the morning of the 22nd, immediately summoned relevant members of the cabinet to the Winter Palace for consultations, which were attended by Prime Minister Pyotr Arkadyvich Stolypin, Chief of the General Staff Yakov Grigorievich Zhilinsky, and War Minister Vladimir Alexandrovich Sukhomlinov.

The Tsar was the first to speak: "The empire is hard, you should work together until the army of the Xia Empire is driven away." Now let's talk about how the Empire should respond. ”

The Chief of the General Staff spoke first: "Your Majesty, the Xia Empire launched a multi-pronged offensive at the same time, we cannot attack in an all-round way, the number of the Wheel Army, the Empire is not as good as the Xia Empire, the Wheel of weapons and equipment, the Imperial Army is even worse, I suggest that the Caucasus Military District should be mainly defensive; The war in the Central Asian Military District was the greatest threat to the empire, and additional cavalry should be sent to support it. ”

The Minister of War said: "Your Majesty, I am not worried about the Central Asian region, the Governor of Turkestan who is also the commander of the military district, Alexander . Vasilyevich. General Samsonov is good at cavalry combat, and will definitely use the mobility advantage of cavalry to drag down the army of the Xia Empire, their logistical supply lines are too far away. On the contrary, I am most worried about the Far East, which is too far away from the Empire, and the Xia Empire sent secret troops to occupy Irkutsk, cutting off the material supply of the Far Eastern Military District, and without reinforcements, I am afraid that they will not hold out for long. “

Imperial Prime Minister Stolypin said: "Your Majesty, it seems that the Xia Empire is bound to win the Far East, but their northern theater has deployed more than a million troops, and we are not opponents in any case." Having lost the Far East, I am afraid that the Siberian Military Region is also very dangerous, and the plains of Pingchuan cannot stop the attack of the Xia Empire at all; I'm more worried about the Ottoman Empire, which is very militarily powerful with the support of the Xia Empire and Germany, and they will definitely take advantage of the war between the Empire and the Xia Empire. ”

The Chief of the General Staff, Zhilinsky, said: "Your Excellency, the Ottoman Empire is not to be feared, and we will make it impossible for them to go north with a little trickery. ”

The tsar eagerly asked, "What should be done?" ”

"Your Majesty, the way is to intensify the contradictions between the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, as long as the Balkan war breaks out, the Ottoman Empire is powerless even if it wants to take advantage of the fire." Zhilinsky said.

The tsar immediately decided: "Okay, just do it, let the Balkan war drag down the forces of the Ottoman Empire, and the General Staff will be in charge of this, and it must be done well." “

"Yes, Your Majesty, and I will never disappoint you." Chief of the General Staff Zhilinsky assured

The tsar asked again: "The Caucasus Military District is mainly defensive, and Central Asia uses mobile forces to contain the enemy, I am afraid that it is not safe, as long as the enemy suddenly exerts force, he can rush to the Volga River valley, directly threatening the security of the core territory of the empire, which is no better than the Far East." “

Stolypin, the Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, was an excellent politician who saw the current world situation very clearly, and he said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, even the Xia Empire defeated the entire army of the Caucasus Military District and the Central Asian Military District, and they did not dare to cross the Caucasus Mountains and the Urals, otherwise they would be enemies of the entire white state, I don't believe they would be so stupid." What I am most worried about is that after the defeat of the Far Eastern Military District, the Xia Empire will concentrate a million troops in their northern theater to attack the Siberian Military District, and there will be no danger to defend all the way, and they will fight until the Ural Mountains, which will be a disaster for the empire. ”

The Minister of War said: "Your Excellency, the winter in Siberia is long and cold, and most of the officers and soldiers of the Xia Empire are from the tropics, and it is difficult for them to adapt to such a climate. ”

The Chief of the General Staff said: "Your Excellency is too optimistic; The Northern Theater of the Xia Empire has been established for so long, so many troops have been deployed there, and they have not done anything to the empire for so many years, their purpose is to let the officers and soldiers gradually adapt to the cold climate in the north, and they have sent a lot of mercenaries and garrisons this time, and most of the regular army is used as reserve troops, which is to take into account the problem of severe cold. Moreover, I am afraid that the Far Eastern Military District will simply not hold out for the arrival of the cold winter. ”

Tsar Nicholas II was very worried about the judgment of the prime minister and the chief of the general staff, if Central Asia was lost, the Xia Empire's army would take advantage of the situation to hit the Ural Mountains and occupy all the Asian regions, even if they did not attack the territory of the European part, it would be a serious loss for the empire, and hundreds of years of efforts would be wiped out in an instant, which he absolutely did not want to see. So he asked, "What should I do?" If they lose territory in Asia, the empire has no strategic depth to speak of, which is a devastating blow to the empire, and they will threaten the security of the empire in Europe at any time in the future. ”

Prime Minister Stolypin suggested: "Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, we have signed an entente with Britain and France, this time the empire is facing such great difficulties, we must pull them into the water and let them fight side by side with the empire, if the empire is defeated, lose the territory of the Asian region and a large number of troops, then it will break the balance of power between European countries, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, etc., they will lose the imperial containment, they will definitely go all out to fight back against Britain and France, their situation will be even worse than the empire, I believe that they can see this serious consequence and will definitely give full support to the Empire. ”

The Chief of the General Staff said: "Your Excellency, I am sure that Britain and France will not wage war against the Xia Empire for the sake of the Empire, and if they do, Britain will certainly lose its colonies in India, and even most of its colonies in Africa, and France's interests in Africa will be seriously threatened, which will be a disaster for them; I suggest that the empire expand its regular army to more than 4 million as soon as possible, deploy 1 million troops each in the Siberian Military District and the Central Asian Military District, and deploy 1 million troops on the European border, leaving 1 million mobile troops; In addition, I propose to expand the Cossack cavalry by more than 500,000 men as soon as possible; Then launch a winter counterattack against the Xia Empire to recover the territory now occupied by the Xia Empire. ”

The Tsar felt that the words of the Prime Minister and the Chief of the General Staff were reasonable, it was better to rely on others than on oneself, the war between the Russian Empire and the Xia Empire determined the life and death of the empire, and now he must go all out to prepare for a counterattack, otherwise he would not have any confidence in the face of the powerful Xia Empire, so he supported the proposal of the Prime Minister and the Chief of the General Staff, and decided: "Okay, expand the cavalry by another 500,000 people, and support the operations of the Caucasus Military District and the Central Asian Military District at any time; The regular army was first expanded to 4 million men. ”

In the past, the Russian Empire announced the expansion of the army to 2.6 million, and the framework of armies, divisions, and regiments of various countries had been laid, and as long as soldiers were recruited and supplemented to various armies and divisions, the scale could be immediately expanded to more than 4 million people.

Because the Xia Empire had been selling grain at low prices for so many years, and had maintained a state of peace with Russia, their situation was much better than in history, and the social class contradictions were not as fierce as in history under the Prime Minister's reforms.

Moreover, under the strong military pressure of the Xia Empire, Tsar Nicholas II devoted himself to economic and political reforms, which made the Russian Empire much stronger than in history, forming an army of 3.5 million and conscripting 500,000 Cossack cavalry, which was not a lot of pressure for them.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of War replied with great pleasure.

After thinking for a while, the tsar said: "Since there is an agreement, we can't easily let Britain and France go, they just don't declare war on the Xia Empire, at least they must vigorously support the empire in terms of economy and armaments, this work is planned by the prime minister and then start negotiations with Britain and France, and must win enough benefits for the empire." ”

The Prime Minister immediately replied: "Yes, Your Majesty! ”

"And how should the Far Eastern Military District and the Siberian Military District respond?" The Tsar continued to ask.

"Your Majesty, I propose to appoint Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich as Governor-General of Siberia and also Commander of the Siberian Military District, who will command the army to carry out a winter counterattack against the Xia Empire and relieve the crisis in the Far Eastern Military District," said the Chief of the General Staff. There is no better way to deal with the Far Eastern Military District at present, and I suggest that the Far Eastern Military District abandon the rural towns and concentrate all the local troops and cavalry in a few large cities for defense, and at the same time allow them to conscript on the spot, and do not limit the scale of their conscription; In parallel with the expansion of the Empire, I suggest that it is necessary to increase troops to the front. ”

Now the tsar did not have much army to send, so he decided: "Okay, then send the imperial uncle to Siberia to stabilize the situation, send 1 cavalry corps to the Caucasus Military District, and 2 cavalry corps to the Central Asian Military District and 2 cavalry corps to the Siberian Military District." Issued an order to the Far Eastern Military District, allowing them to abandon rural towns and concentrate on defending several key cities, allowing them to conscript troops on the spot in an unlimited number, emphasizing that they are forbidden to take the initiative to attack, they must be mainly defensive, and they must hold out until the arrival of winter; The Chief of the General Staff issued mobilization orders to the major military districts, the empire entered a wartime state, and all units must be ready to go to the battlefield at any time, especially the Ural Military District and the Volga Military District, which must be ready for defense, which is the last line of defense of the empire. ”

The tsar believed that the numerous permanent fortifications built in the Far Eastern Military District would certainly be able to block the enemy's offensive by relying on the operation of several years.

The establishment of the Cossack cavalry division was about 8,000 people, and the number of each corps was 25,000 people, and sending more than 100,000 cavalry to the front line was really insignificant.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The tsar continued: "The officers and men recruited by the War Office will give priority to replenishing the Caucasus, Central Asian and Siberian Military Districts, at least doubling the number of officers and men in their troops. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, I promise to complete the task within 15 days." The Secretary of War assured.

The Minister of War also knew the importance of Siberia for the Russian Empire, and suggested: "Your Majesty, I propose to send Deputy Minister of War Alexei Andreyevich Polivanov as an assistant to the Grand Duke to assist in the winter counteroffensive of the Siberian Military District. ”

The Tsar understood the importance of Siberia, and at the same time the political significance of the imperial uncle's responsibility, and the winter counteroffensive could not be missed, so he agreed to the advice of the Minister of War and said: "Well, I believe in the ability of General Polivanov, and it is a very good partner for him to be the assistant to the imperial uncle; At the same time, let the imperial uncle take a Janissary Army to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Siberian Military District. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." The General Staff immediately replied that he felt that in this way the Siberian Military District would be foolproof, and even in the event of a winter counteroffensive, it would be possible to expel all the troops of the Xia Empire from Russian territory.