St. Petersburg, Hermitage.

The Winter Palace is a blue and white building, three floors high, the palace is about 230 meters long, 140 meters wide, 22 meters high, in a closed rectangle, covering an area of 90,000 square meters, with a construction area of 46,000 square meters, there are 1,057 halls and rooms, 1,886 doors and 1,945 windows.

Built in 1711 by the famous Italian designer Rastrelli, the Hermitage is an outstanding example of Russian Baroque architecture in the mid-18th century, until 1917, the Hermitage was the residence of successive tsars, and in 1922 the Hermitage became part of the National Emirtash Museum, one of the four largest museums in the world, along with the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Today is August 9, 1900, and the owner of the Winter Palace is the last tsar of Tsarist Russia, Nicholas. Alexandrovich. Romanov, i.e. Nicholas II.

Some say that Nicholas II was a mediocre monarch because he was jealous of good, capable, assertive ministers, and that Nicholas II feared that his ministers would take away his military power, so Nicholas II trusted those who were perfunctory and good at flattery.

However, no matter how mediocre Nicholas II was, he also led the capitalist reform of Tsarist Russia, perfected the industrial system centered on heavy industry, and made Tsarist Russia's power, especially military power, grow rapidly.

I have to say that Nicholas II, compared to our Tongzhi, Guangxu, Xuantong and the like of the Qing Dynasty, is not a little bit stronger, not to mention developing the country, enhancing national strength, and resisting foreign captives, even an old woman who hides in the deep palace all the year round can't fight, so why say that Nicholas II is mediocre?

Not to mention that Nicholas II is mediocre and a talent, but this guy is keen on foreign expansion, and it is an indisputable fact that he is keen on foreign aggression.

Anyway, what is it, forget it, don't mention it.

Let's talk about today's Winter Palace, the Winter Palace is particularly lively today, and the reason is that the Tsarist Russian army is invincible, not only playing a very heavy role in the Eight-Nation Alliance, but also has reached Yanjing City at this moment, seeing that the day of breaking the city is just around the corner, and more importantly, the war in the three eastern provinces is going very smoothly, so the tsar proposed to hold a celebration banquet.

These guys, who claim to be Western gentlemen, men are brightly dressed and women are sexy, and they are staging an ambiguous drama in the Winter Palace, but in the middle of the banquet, His Majesty Tsar Nicholas II suddenly left with a displeased face, and then several important ministers also left the banquet scene one after another, so that the remaining gentlemen and beauties were a little unsure of what to do.

In the conference hall, Nicholas II sat in the middle, his face no longer had the warm smile he had just had in the hall, and all that was left was a gloomy face, and the Minister of War Kurobatkin, who slowly entered the hall, also showed a wry smile when he saw this scene, while Foreign Minister Muravyov was secretly slightly upturned at the corners of his mouth, and as for Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte, he was immobile and silent.

"Originally, today was a good day to celebrate, but a telegram from the Far East made my mood extremely bad in an instant, General Kurobatkin, let's introduce the details." Nicholas II spoke with some irritation.

"Yes, Your Majesty." After Kurobatkin bowed and stood up, he continued: "The Far East Hailan Pao Urgent Electricity, the Trans-Siberian Railway, in the section of the Velutes Grand Canyon near Aledrovsk, was artificially blasted, and General Nitls, who went to Hailan Pao to take over Gribsky, fell into the canyon with the special train, and all the soldiers on the special train died. ”

Hiss!

Obviously, what Kurobatkin said made the other two ministers present take a breath of cool air in an instant, and it is no wonder why His Majesty the Tsar has a gloomy face and is about to drip water.

After a pause, Kurobatkin continued: "According to the report, the incident should have happened three days ago, in fact, on the day of the train incident, the Alekrovsk railway station was also attacked, a military train from Boli escorting booty was also attacked, and a company of escort soldiers, along with all the staff of the station, were killed. ”

Hiss!

The sound of inhaling cool air sounded in the mouths of Muravyov and Witt again, but before the two of them could ask questions, they only heard Kurobatkin, and then said: "Three days ago, Colonel Villar, the acting commander of the Hailanpao garrison, received a report from the staff of the Alekryovsk railway station and sent a Kazakh cavalry battalion to check, but that night, they were all wiped out near the Jieya Bridge. ”

"This, this, how is it possible, how can the weak Qing Dynasty have such a fighting force?" Foreign Minister Muravyov finally couldn't help but jump out and ask.

"yes, how can this be, have you found out who did it?" Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte couldn't help but ask.

"Hmph." Nicholas II just snorted coldly and did not say much, but looked at Kurobatkin.

"It happened three days ago, but Colonel Villar made it clear that it was only the afternoon of the next day that the accident with the Kazakh cavalry battalion was discovered, the accident at the Aleksandsk station was discovered only yesterday, and the incident at the Felutes Gorge was discovered only two hours ago." Kurobatkin said bluntly.

"Have you found out who did it?" Muravyov was impatient.

Kurobatkin shook his head and said helplessly: "I suspect that the Chinese did it, because the Chinese in the entire Aledrovsk town left with the attackers, and many of the Russian people in the town said that those attackers spoke the Chinese language." ”

"Huaxia?"

"Daqing?"

"Impossible?"

Including Nicholas II were very skeptical of this result, if the Chinese had such a strong combat effectiveness, then the Eight-Nation Alliance could still enter Yanjing City, then how could the other four-way armies of Tsarist Russia be as powerful as a bamboo.

In fact, Colonel Villar still has one more thing that he dare not say, that is, the two trains are gone, of course, even if he does, it will only make the high-level scold a few more words.

The suspicions of the three were not surprising at all, and the Minister of War Kurobatkin was also suspicious, but when he remembered the private telegram of the former governor of the Amur Province, Commander-in-Chief Gribsky of Hailanpao, not long ago, he suspected that the defeat of Heihetun might have been carried out by the Dongying people.

But in fact, Dongying's forces are mainly distributed in Mukden and Jilin, and there are almost no Dongying people in Heishui Province.

"Well, Dongying people, it is very likely that after the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War, all the indemnities received by the Dongying people were used to expand the armament war, even in the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Dongying people not only dispatched the most personnel, but also dared to fight the most, and their combat effectiveness was indeed good." Foreign Minister Muravyov said bluntly.

"Dongying, this is a despicable nation, they have done everything, hum, I think we should electrify and let the South Road army teach them a good lesson." Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte said.

As soon as Witte finished speaking, Nicholas II frowned obviously, while Kurobatkin and Muravyov sneered in their hearts, secretly scolding a big straw bag, now that the three eastern provinces have not yet arrived, how can they erect another strong enemy, the Dongying people are not as easy to bully as the Qing people.

Yue Weihua definitely didn't think of what he did, even including the victory in the Battle of Heihetun, Lao Maozi was even willing to suspect the little devil who was not in touch with the wind and horses, nor did he doubt him, and he didn't know whether to say lucky or sad.

The four of them discussed for a while, and then Nicholas II concluded his argument: "Whoever did it, my great Tsarist Russia, will make them pay, and we must find out as soon as possible who did it, my Minister of War, what strategy can your War Department work out?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, we have preliminarily formulated two plans."

"The first plan, there is still a division of mobile troops in Irkuz in the Far East, if it is normal to reinforce Hailanpao, it only takes one week, but now that the Trans-Siberian Railway has been damaged, it may take about ten days."

"The second plan, to transfer troops from Boli and go up the Heishui River, only takes five days, but Boli only has one regiment of mobile troops, which may not be enough, so it is necessary to draw out a cavalry regiment from the Northwest Road Army, bypass the city of Morgan from the ********, and then force directly into Aihui."

"Two plans, the fastest will take five days?" Nicholas II frowned, paused, and continued: "How many troops does Hailan Pao Shang have, and can they attack immediately?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, Hailan Pao's troops are less than 3,000 people, and they lack artillery and fleets, and the situation on the other side has not been clarified, I think, if they are forced to send troops, I am afraid, the consequences will be unpredictable." I have to say that the person who can become the Minister of War is definitely not a person who is incompetent.

"So which plan do you think is better for the War Department?" Nicholas II asked, it is clear that Nicholas II is not the kind of mediocre person, otherwise, if he is replaced by the emperor of China, I am afraid that he will be arbitrary.

"After analysis, the staff officers of the War Department believe that the first plan is better, mainly because the Northwest Road Army is still in the ******** steppe expedition, and their real target is Qihar, the provincial capital of Heishui Province. Kurobatkin said bluntly.

"Okay, then choose the first option."

"Your Majesty, if you choose the first option, then how should the commander of the army in the direction of Hailan Pao be decided?" Kurobatkin asked.

Because the Lieutenant General Nitters, who went to replace Gribsky, had already died before leaving the division, and now the acting commander of the Hylando garrison was a colonel, and it was impossible for him to really become the commander.

"Where's Gribski?"

"Back to Your Majesty, Lieutenant General Gribsky, you should be on the train back to the city now, and the call came two days ago, and you are still in Irkuz." Kurobatkin said.

"Hmph, Kurobatkin, I think Gribsky must be your old subordinate."

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is your subordinates who have not trained Gribsky well, so that Your Majesty's reputation will be damaged."

"Don't come with me, you tell him that if you lose again, you don't have to come back to see me."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I think General Gribsky will definitely disappoint Your Majesty."

"I hope so."

……