The Russian consul in Wuhan, Yeliosha, received a hard errand, a telegram from St. Petersburg that the Far Eastern Army was not going well and needed supplies from China.

"Why don't these officials die!" Sitting in a car equipped by the consulate, on the way to the presidential palace, Yelyosa was full of slander at the domestic bureaucracy, forgetting that he was also a member of the system.

After the founding of the Chinese state, Tsarist Russia set up a consulate in Wuhan, and at that time no country paid attention to this small and new country, so Yeliosa was sent to China as a loser in the domestic political struggle. In a depressed mood, he did not expect that Huaguo would become more and more important in the hearts of Nicholas II and the upper officials, and the attention he received would also increase, and although there were no countless ball parties in Wuhan, there were endless new things here, and the materials were very abundant.

Especially after the Chinese entered the war at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Yelyosa began to appear in the impression of Nicholas II frequently, which was very beneficial to his career. It's just that Russia's dealings with China are obviously in a low profile, and although they don't want to admit it, they are the case. Just like this time, he received a telegram from China, asking Yeliosa to ask for help from China, such a thing is really difficult for the consul of a world power to speak, and the Chinese civilians and officials are very unfriendly to Westerners, and they go to ask for help, I don't know what kind of trouble they will receive!

"Minister Zhang, St. Petersburg entrusted me to come to discuss with China the supply of materials for the Russian army in the Far East, because the materials provided by China cannot guarantee the high-intensity fighting of all the Russian troops, resulting in the offensive of the Russian army is not smooth, and I also ask China to pay attention to this issue and continue to deliver supplies to Vladivostok." Although it is a request for help, the posture of a great power cannot be lowered. I represent Tsarist Russia, a European steamroller, so you don't have to be too polite to a small country like China!

Yelyosa soon regretted his arrogance and rudeness, because Zhang Taiyan, the young foreign minister of the Chinese country in front of him, did not eat his own set, this person is as young as this country, so every word and action shows the naivety and arrogance of young people!

Zhang Taiyan: "Consul Yeliosha." Huaguo is not a vassal state of Tsarist Russia, not an ally of Tsarist Russia, I don't know where you got the confidence to give orders to our country? Is this what your Emperor Nicholas II asked you to do? ”

Hey! How dare this kid be so rude, even the British Prime Minister would not treat the diplomats of Tsarist Russia like this! Ye Liaosha frowned and said in a low voice: "I forgive Minister Zhang for being rude, after all, you and your country are too young to know that speaking in this world is based on your own strength." However, I would like to draw Minister Zhang's attention to the fact that the existence of the Tsarist Far East Army was the main battlefield of this war, which attracted the attention of most of the Japanese army, and this was the main reason why your country participated in the war and achieved a phased victory. If it weren't for the fact that we were fighting the Japanese in Manchuria. How did you manage to land in Japan? ”

What started as a plea for help turned into a gunpowder argument, with a proud consul representing the so-called great power and a young foreign minister with strong nationalist sentiments, and the two seemed to be fighting more and more fiercely.

"Consul Yeliosha, it seems that before China entered the war, your country's army was in an absolutely disadvantageous situation in the battle, the army was defeated in the Battle of Lushun, the Battle of Liaoyang, the Battle of Shahe, and the Battle of Mukden, and the Far East Fleet of the Navy was wiped out, and the Pacific Fleet, which had crossed thousands of miles across the ocean, was completely eaten up by the Japanese Combined Fleet. If it weren't for the help of China, the Japanese navy would have been wiped out. Cutting off the supply lines between the mainland and the Northeast, landing in Japan, and transporting supplies to Vladivostok, your country will probably have signed an armistice agreement long ago and accepted a humiliating peace! ”

There is a kind of person who takes help for granted, and even accepts help from others because he looks up to him, and never knows what gratitude is. This was the case with Yeliosha. Although what Zhang Taiyan said was very correct, the consul never thought that Tsarist Russia owed anything to China, but that China should be grateful and continue to provide supplies.

Discussions in formal diplomatic settings turned into scolding from street thugs, and it was almost like swearing and hands-on. An hour later, the two finally got over their addiction and slowly calmed down, and then Yelyosa realized that he was here to ask for help, and such a quarrel would not be able to complete the task!

Yeliosha, whose skin is thicker than the frozen soil of Siberia, said: "China must support supplies, otherwise the Russian army in the Far East will not be able to continue to attack, and then the Japanese army can only control most of Liaodong, please give an answer!" ”

Seeing that Yeliosa was impatient, Zhang Taiyan didn't have time to continue to grind with him, he had consulted Lu Liang before this matter came, Russia was in such an urgent need of supplies, and the purpose of besieging Mukden regardless of the cost must be to destroy the Japanese army in Liaodong and recapture the lost Lushun. For Russia, one Lushun is worth all the land in the Northeast, and this is the first ice-free port owned by Russia in the Far East, and its value to Russia is immeasurable.

Russia's desire for access to the sea has run through modern history, and in Europe, Russia's access to the sea has been tightly blocked by various straits and peninsulas, and finally obtained an outlet to the sea and ice-free ports in the Far East, how can it be easily abandoned?

However, China cannot allow Russia to monopolize the Northeast, and the confrontation between Japan and Russia in the Northeast is conducive to China's long-term strategy, so this time Yelesa is destined to return empty-handed.

"Your country is a world power, one of the great powers, and the Trans-Siberian Railway has reached Lake Baikal, so such a strong national power should be able to guarantee the supply of materials for the army!"

Yelyosa had a gloomy face and did not speak.

"Our country has just been founded, and its national strength is weak, and Japan's fighting has exhausted our country's logistics supply, and it is simply impossible to provide more supplies to the Russian army."

Ye Liaosha can squeeze out water from his face.

"According to our calculations, the first batch of supplies to Vladivostok is enough to ensure that the three armies of the Russian army in the Far East will conduct a large-scale battle, I wonder if Your Excellency the Consul can explain why your supplies are insufficient as soon as the battle begins?"

Ye Liaosha saw that he didn't plan to continue to provide supplies to Vladivostok when he came to China this time, Zhang Taiyan came to grind with himself, or hurry up and leave, so as not to suffer a run!

Zhang Taiyan looked at Yeliosa in the distance, squinted his eyes and said: "If the president hadn't provided a complete investigation of the current situation of Tsarist Russia, I really didn't know that this great power was so empty, the supplies from Europe to the Far East disappeared by two-thirds before they left the Ural Mountains, and the statues of gods were sent to the soldiers instead of bullets, how could such a ridiculous country win the war?" If it weren't for the honesty and toughness of the ordinary soldiers of Lao Maozi, the Cossack cavalry could still fight, and the Russo-Japanese War would have ended long ago! ”

Nicholas II of St. Petersburg was furious when he received Yeliyosha's telegram, and even threatened to clean up China, a country that did not know what to do, after defeating Japan! Of course, everyone listened to this as a joke, but the supplies needed for the battlefields in the Far East must be guaranteed, otherwise Lushun would not want to return to the hands of Russia.

The wish was good, but the reality was completely impossible, and the Russian army in the Second Battle of Mukden had to continue to suffer from a shortage of supplies, except for Kuropatkin's 1st Army, the rest of the troops were short of supplies, especially ammunition.

Both sides are facing the pain of a shortage of supplies, but the Russian army is in a slightly better situation. The battle in this case depends on other factors, the number of people on both sides is about the same, the quality of the soldiers is about the same, the artillery and other firepower are about the same, but one thing is very deadly, that is, the Japanese army has an excellent command group that surpasses the Russian army. The generals of both sides are not at the same level at all in terms of tactical cultivation and timing.

Katsura Taro seized the weakness of the Russian army's right flank, continued to invest troops to attack the right flank and continued to expand to the center, and Kodama Gentaro's Third Army even maneuvered in the direction of Tieling, with a posture of cutting off the rear of the Russian army. The Japanese army fought more with less, and even temporarily gained a battlefield advantage! In order to maintain the battle line, Linevich personally led two armies to reinforce the Second Army, and the old Maozi soldiers played the Japanese lifeless posture in Lushun, and fought hand-to-hand combat with Japanese soldiers many times, and finally succeeded in blocking the penetration of the Third Army.

The Second Battle of Mukden between Japan and Russia was once again at a stalemate, and at this time, the hungry soldiers were simply unable to attack, and while Katsura Taro and other high-ranking army officials were disappointed, Yamaguchi Aritomo and others saw an opportunity to end the war. The defeat of the Army represented the weakening of domestic opposition to peace talks, the voice of mediation prevailed, and the search for a way to end the war was found, and Japan finally saw hope for peace. (To be continued.) )