In one of the first-class cabin cars of the train, the decorations in the carriage are luxurious Baroque, the red oak wood floor, the wall skirt, the gold-inlaid crystal lamps, the Louis XVI sofa, everything in the carriage seems to remind people that this is not an ordinary first-class carriage, ordinary first-class carriage will never be as luxurious as this car, indeed, this is not an ordinary first-class carriage, but the "imperial carriage" specially prepared by the China Railway Company for His Majesty the Emperor, but since it was put into use, Most of the passengers in the royal carriage were domestic and foreign dignitaries.

At the end of the carriage stood a well-dressed Russian rear admiral, who was talking to a taller lieutenant [***] officer, both of whom had happy smiles on their faces, perhaps because the lieutenant [***] officer did not speak Russian, and the two were chatting in fluent German.

"Dear friends, your military operations saved Russia and the honor of the Russian army! I don't know how to thank you! ”

The rear admiral's beard trembled as he spoke.

To the major's gratitude, the colonel's officer only replied decently.

"Your Excellency General, defending the territory is what we should do, and if you can fulfill the withdrawal agreement, it is the best way to abide by the agreement!"

Prince Mikhail, who was sitting in the carriage, did not know that his attaché was outside with a hint of apprehension on his contemplative face.

This time he came to China by the behest of his brother, His Majesty Tsar Nicholas II of the Russian Empire, to discuss with the Chinese the Second Pacific Fleet to enter the Chinese Sandu Ao military port for rest and maintenance of warships.

In the scorching dust and mist of the land south of the Huai River, which was as white as lime from the sun, China, fields, grasslands, cities and villages swept by. There was an endless stream of cars driving on the main road, those cars turned lightly towards the railway intersection, from the speeding train, the convoy seemed to be stationary, those dark green canvas canopy trucks he had seen too much along the way, especially when turning from Siping to land, the Chinese even sent a regiment of troops to escort him all the way to Xia Xinmin by truck.

On the battlefield, trucks like this seemed to be everywhere, trucks were more suitable for the battlefield than horse-drawn carriages, and when he asked the officers who received him if he could purchase a batch of trucks from China, the officers complained to him about what trucks were not produced enough, and until now, the car companies had only supplied them with a few thousand trucks, and their own trucks were insufficient.

“…… We believe that if there are not enough attractive conditions, it will be difficult for the Chinese to agree to allow our fleet to enter Sanduao for maintenance, and if the Second Pacific Fleet enters Sanduao, it will inevitably cause a fierce backlash from Yuben, and in order to avoid a possible attack by the Yuben Navy in the south, China is very likely to reject us! ”

At this time, Lieutenant General Miklov on the side did not notice that Prince Mikhail was already a little distracted, at this time the train had begun to slow down, he knew that this was the train was about to enter the big station, every time it arrived at a big station, the train would stop and let the passengers get on and off, this was not his special train, even His Majesty the Emperor, it was just an ordinary train with a few more carriages.

"Is it possible for me to meet her in Nanjing this time?"

Prince Mikhail, who was somewhat distracted, had in his mind a distant but nevertheless unforgettable image, a girl he had met at the fundraising ball after the Chinese Queen's ship purchase performance in Paris, and there had never been a woman who could touch his heart as much as her. At first, he didn't know that she was the maid of the Empress of China, and in order to find her, he even published a newspaper in Paris under a pseudonym, but there was no news.

It wasn't until later, after accidentally seeing a photo, that he learned that the girl was actually the maid of the Empress of China, but unfortunately when he arrived in England, she had already left England.

Let's hope she's not married yet!

Prince Mikhail prayed in his heart that time will change everything, maybe dilute everything, but time will also make some things more unforgettable, more ...... "His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness ...... Prince"

Only then did Vice Admiral Miklov realize that His Royal Highness the Prince had lost his mind, and after a few calls, Prince Mikhail, who had the girl's appearance in his mind, came back to his senses, looked at Miklov, and knew that he was distracted, but he didn't want to admit it, he knew what Miklov was talking about, it must be the matter of the Second Pacific Fleet.

"Well, we're almost in Nanjing, aren't we? I thought that after I arrived in Nanjing, we could send a telegram to Rozhestwinsky and tell him that we were negotiating with the Chinese, and I believe that there will be good news soon! ”

As the first Russian royal family to visit China, the reason why Prince Mikhail came to China this time was for the Second Pacific Fleet and to give Rozhestvinsky some help.

The Russian Second Pacific Fleet has been attracting the attention of the world since it left the port, and it has also made Russia worried, everyone knows that this fleet will determine the fate of the Russian Empire, in order to give this fleet some help, Russia can be said to be fighting a diplomatic war, although along the way, this fleet is constantly accompanied by bad luck, but now, he has finally arrived, the last stop before going to the destination.

A month earlier, on March 16, Rogerst Winsky's Second Pacific Fleet had finally departed from Nosy Be, Costa Rica, and headed north. Before the departure, the French Admiralty specially provided the Russian fleet with three routes to choose from, one was to enter the Pacific Ocean from the Celebes Sea through the Lombok Strait, one was from the Timor Sea to the Pacific Ocean through the Torres Strait, and the other was to go through the Coral Sea bypassing Australia.

The French, who knew the Pacific, offered these three routes in order to avoid possible surveillance by the British and themselves, but Rogerstwinsky, the "general of the court", did not take any of them, but took the shortest road across the Indian Ocean, straight to the Nicobar Islands, then through the long Strait of Malacca, around Singapore, and north along the Malay Peninsula, to show everything openly to the British, And through the British, the Russian Pacific Fleet, which has 40 ships of various types, was shown to the world to cut through the waves, and the billowing smoke blackened half of the sky.

As Roger Stevensky expected, the march of the Russian fleet was truly spectacular, something special, which no one had seen before and never again. There was no fuel base, and all the ships of the Second Pacific Fleet after the departure of the German coal carriers had to go with their own fuel.

Like the Duke of Suvorov, which was designed with a full load displacement of 14,000 tons, it had a displacement of more than 17,000 tons each time it set off. A large ship can be loaded with coal like this, but a small ship can't, and a destroyer, torpedo boat, or something will run out of fuel as soon as it is opened in two days. In order to save fuel for the small ships, the large battleships and cruisers dragged the destroyer torpedo boats with cables and moved forward like old horse-drawn broken cars.

But the rope often breaks, and you have to stop and retie it. Anyway, it is not an exaggeration to call the voyage of the Second Pacific Fleet under the command of Roger Stevensky the eighth wonder of the world, and only energetic and indefatigable Russians can do all this.

On April 13, the Second Pacific Fleet, which had endured untold hardships, finally arrived at Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina. Just about to enter the harbor and drop anchor, load coal for water, the soldiers had not time to cheer and rest for a while, but in the evening of the third day, when the blue waves of Cam Ranh Bay were completely dyed golden by the setting sun, the commander of the French Far East Fleet took a cruiser ship to Cam Ranh Bay in person, according to the custom, first greeted Vice Admiral Rogerst Winsky, what condolences, what welcome, in short, he said the French politeness, and said that Roger Stevensky thought that these "flexible Frenchmen" This will finally come to its senses.

France was only a "friendly country" of Russia, not an ally of obligation. France's goodwill towards Russia was only due to its disgust with Britain and its ignorance of the small countries of the Far East, and of course the large amount of Russian bonds held by the French capitalist circles. But the claim of the British maritime hegemon that the supply of coal was a violation of neutrality had to be considered, and the defeat of the Russian army from last year to the present had made the French doubt the possibility of a Russian victory.

The French are diplomatic geniuses, they instinctively know who to be friendly with and when, and they will not continue to be friendly with an empire that has little hope of victory, in fact, for the sake of French interests, and also to prevent Russia from losing the last bit of possessions, France has long begun to secretly explore the mediation of peace between Russia and Russia, which is why it is "difficult" to "not allow coal" along the way.

"Lieutenant General Rogerstinsky, I didn't expect to be in the ...... when I just came from Surabaya Oh, you should know, in Surabaya, the Chinese fleet is still demonstrating against the Dutch, and they even opened their mouths to ask the Dutch for Borneo, what a bunch of oriental madmen, isn't it? No, I stayed there for too long, so I came to the Cam Ranh Bay base to let the soldiers rest, I didn't think you would come too, what a coincidence, this is my ship with brandy just shipped from Paris, I think we should make a toast to your great voyage, right? ”

With a smile on his face, like a natural diplomat, after the initial politeness, he with two glasses in his hand, when he personally poured a glass of wine for Lieutenant General Rogerstwinsky and handed it to him, subtly brought up the fact that Cam Ranh Bay was a French port, and that it was contrary to the principle of neutrality to provide a military port to a belligerent under the rules of war.

Originally, I thought that the French had changed his surname, but Lieutenant General Rogerstinsky, who took the wine glass with a smile, had a smile on his face, and looked at Major General Merissie with a smile on his face, Rogerstvinsky's heart was that sad and indignant.

"Oh my God, what the hell have the Russians done to deserve to be bullied by the whole world!"

Holding the glass, Roger Stevensky was eager to pour the wine on the face of the smiling Major General Merissie.

Cam Ranh Bay is a bullshit military port, although it is just a managerial bureaucrat, and at the same time a military illiterate, or even just a palace general who can only pat on the back for a while, but even if he is a military illiterate, he even knows the most basic military common sense, the home port of the French Far East Fleet is in Saigon, which is a well-known thing in the world, otherwise he would not have chosen here.

And when he entered Cam Ranh Bay, he had already ordered the soldiers to go ashore and check that in Cam Ranh Bay, apart from two Frenchmen running a telegraph office, there were only a few broken grass huts, and there was not even a bullshit pier where the Russians were not allowed to stay?

"The ......"

Although she was sad and indignant in her heart, and greeted Major General Merissie's mother in her heart, Roger Stevensky could only have a smile on her face.

"Rear Admiral Merissie, you know, I need to wait here for the Third Pacific Fleet, and once I join them, I will leave here!"

With a smile on his face, Rozhest Stevensky mentioned the Third Pacific Fleet that His Majesty had asked him to wait, and although he had repeatedly sent telegrams that he did not need the "broken fleet" composed of old ships, the Tsar still insisted on letting him wait, waiting for the Third Pacific Fleet, which would only lag behind.

"I'm very sorry, Vice Admiral Rogerstinsky, but it would be a violation of neutrality to provide you with any of the military ports on the list of the French Far East Fleet!"

Rear Admiral Merissie shook his head, but as he spoke, he accentuated the phrase "any military port on the list of the French Far East Fleet."

Unlike a real career officer, Rogerstvinsky spent most of his time in the court, was able to speak flawless French, and naturally knew the French way of thinking very well, and from this sentence of Merissie, he could already hear the implication of the French fleet commander in front of him that Cam Ranh Bay was a military port and therefore could not be used by the Russian fleet, in fact, it could be used as long as the French Far East Fleet did not have a port on the list.

"Then General Merissie, I don't know if you can give me a few days, it only takes a few days, I hope you can understand that if the sailors enter the harbor after a long voyage and fail to rest well, it is likely to cause the sailors to rebound, you see......"

Roger Stevensky understood that he could only be in Cam Ranh Bay, drifting on the sea. It was really drifting, and he couldn't go, for a very strange and helpless reason, because the Third Fleet, which His Majesty Nicholas II had sent to cheer him on, didn't know where it was.

But in the same way, he still needs to buy himself a few more days, that is, a few days, and with these few days, he may be able to find a port that has not been used by the French Far Eastern Fleet, in which case, he can wait there for the Third Pacific Fleet.

"Three days at most! After three days, I hope that Your Excellency will leave immediately, and of course, I will be here with you for these three days! ”

Major General Merissie politely replied, refusing to refuse, but always thinking about the "friendship between France and Russia."

"I hope Prince Mikhail can convince the Chinese!"

Faced with the ultimatum of the French, Rogerstvinsky prayed in his heart that perhaps now only the Chinese could help Russia.

(To be continued)