After all, the Russian army despised the tenacity of the Japanese, and after receiving limited supplies of food, steel, and other materials provided by the British, the Japanese soldiers and civilians began to show the bravery and tenacity of the Russians jaw-dropping, and the Russian army had to pay a huge price in casualties for almost every step forward, despite the continuous support from the rear, but with the passage of time, the Russian offensive inevitably began to be frustrated.

By the early spring of 1897, the Japanese had relied on huge losses and began to gradually contain the offensive of the Russian troops in Honshu with the support of relatively abundant manpower.

In terms of population ratio, Japan is still an agricultural country in the truest sense of the word. However, in the 30 years since its Meiji Restoration, Japan has established a relatively sound industrial system, especially its various military industries, which can very quickly produce all kinds of weapons and ammunition materials urgently needed by the front line of its own army without shortage of logistical raw materials. Regardless of the quality of the army, the Japanese government could have built up an extremely large army force in a very short period of time, especially since the British had already made it clear that they were supportive, and strictly speaking, no one would be able to destroy Japan from its own territory at this time.

By May 1897, even the Russian army itself was gradually feeling a state of inadequacy on the battlefield. Constrained by the same poor logistical situation on its own, the Russian Far Eastern Army had to repeatedly order the reduction of the area of operations, and began to withdraw its combat units from Honshu for the first time in midsummer.

At a time when Japan was suffering great sacrifices, Russia's own losses in the war were equally staggering. Different from the Russo-Japanese War in the original history, at this time, when Russia had not built the Trans-Siberian Railway, just to maintain the loss of ammunition and weapons of the Russian army on the front line, the Russian Far East Fleet had already emptied the entire Far Eastern Territory, including Vladivostok. What worries the Russians even more is that while they are deep in the Japanese battlefield, their Asian neighbor Seris has completed a one-year plan for the second expansion of its army, expanding its original 24 divisions from less than 560,000 to 50 divisions with an astonishing strength of nearly 1.2 million troops. Under the influence of these factors, the Russians, who were under pressure, had to temporarily slow down the pace of their expansion.

In this way, in the midst of the advance and retreat of the Japanese and Russian armies, the time slowly came to July 1897, when the Russian army had completely withdrawn all combat units from Honshu, and the Japanese army had also recovered its own devastated territory on the island of Honshu.

……

St. Petersburg, Russia

In 1703, in order to express his determination to compete with Finland for access to the sea, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great personally built Peter Fortress on Rabbit Island in the delta of the Neva estuary in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. In 1712, the Russian capital was moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and for more than two centuries, St. Petersburg developed into the political, economic, and cultural center of Tsarist Russia.

After years of painstaking management, St. Petersburg has long become a famous beautiful city, as the capital it has hundreds of rivers running through the city, the whole city is beautiful, the Orthodox style of beautiful cultural landscapes are everywhere here, known as the Venice of the North. Of course, the absolute heart of the city is still the magnificent royal residence, the Hermitage.

The Hermitage is located in the center of St. Petersburg, with the Neva River on its backdrop and a wide square right in front of it. It is a majestic three-story building, 22 meters high, 160 meters wide, 200 meters long, more than 2 kilometers long, covering an area of 900 acres, with a total of 1,050 halls of various sizes, 110 marble staircases, 1,886 gates, and it seems that only such a magnificent and solid palace can be worthy of the supreme authority of the Tsar, the supreme ruler of this empire.

"So, the Far Eastern Army failed in the Honshu campaign?"

On the throne in the Alexander Hall of the Winter Palace, Tsar Nicholas II asked casually.

Tsarist War Minister Kurobatkin cautiously replied, "No, it's not a complete defeat, at least Hokkaido is still in our hands, and Governor Aleksayev's grain war is also perfect, if it weren't for the intervention of the British, Japan would have perished long ago, my majesty." ”

"Damn British!! Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Far East!! Their shadows can be seen everywhere!! ”

Nicholas II clenched his fists angrily and said as he waved.

Kurobatkin straightened up and said, "Your Majesty does not need to be disappointed, at least Japan's Hokkaido has been obtained by our country, and in the future, the Far East Fleet's access to the Pacific Ocean will no longer be subject to any restrictions." His Majesty also heard that the Fort Helena Fortress, which was built under the personal auspices of Governor Aleksayev, had been completed, and that the local people had been completely converted. ”

"Homecoming? Are there still Japanese people there? They are all about to be killed by the Far Eastern Army! Nicholas II scoffed.

"This ......" Kurobatkin looked at the tsar in front of him speechlessly.

"Forget it, let Count Witte step up the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway!" Nicholas II waved his hand and said, "In addition, Fort Helena will continue to increase immigration, and I will completely occupy this island in the Far East!" By the way, several newly built warships on the Baltic side were sent to me to the Far East, to hell with the Japanese! ”

"Do your will, Your Majesty!"

Kurobatkin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back......

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A week later, East Asia, the Republic of Seris

"Führer! The British sent a note requesting a note. ”

Chen Zeyu, who was playing with his beloved wife in the Xiangshan Hot Spring in the western suburbs of Beijing, frowned slightly and took the telegram handed by the guard Huang Hanlin.

"To His Excellency Chen Zeyu, Head of State of the Seris Republic,

It has been learned that Tsarist Russia has sent a fleet of warships of its Baltic Fleet to the Far East, and in order to maintain long-term peace and tranquility in the Far East, I would like to request on behalf of the British Empire that your country keep pace with our country in the matter of the arrival of the Russian fleet in the East. I have appointed Mr. Enix, Counsellor of the Embassy of the British Empire in your country, as Chargé d'affaires a.i. for the coordination of your country, and I ask you to receive him and to give him all the facilities to which his task will be accorded as far as possible.

Once again, the highest respect of the British Empire!

(Signed): Sir Arthur Balfour, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the British Empire

June 11, 1897 in London"

It can be seen from this concise and polite message that this is not just a note sent to Seris, and if Chen Zeyu is not mistaken, all the countries along the route from the Baltic Sea to the East Asia and Pacific have already received such a note message.

"The Russians have a lot of fun this time" Grabbing the telegram in his hand, Chen Zeyu muttered to himself as he walked, "Is it the butterfly effect again......

Wu Xiatong, the beloved wife beside him, also heard the voice at this time and immediately wondered, "Butterfly effect? ”

"Oh, nothing, just a note from the British."

Chen Zeyu confused his beloved wife's question, and handed back the message in his palm to the guard.

"Let Minister Lee Eun-bok of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receive you."

The end of the 19th century was a critical period in the transition between Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, and the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 was the last time Britain strategically suppressed the Russians. Since then, Britain, France, and Russia, two former out-and-out rivals, will gradually ease their relations under pressure from the emerging power of Germany, and sign a large number of memorandums of understanding involving each other's interests.

At this time, the East Asian theater was tantamount to advancing the Russo-Japanese War by nearly a decade, and Britain had not yet felt the competitive pressure of Germany at this time, and it would be something the British would be happy to see if Russia was weakened by any means. It's just that I don't know where the butterfly wings will set off a super hurricane this time, Chen Zeyu is holding his beloved wife's soft wings while thinking silently about his thoughts.

……

In June 1897, a group of warships sailing from the Russian Baltic port of St. Petersburg crossed the Belt Strait after an 11-day voyage and arrived in the eastern waters of Britain, but along the way, except for the German port of Kiel, the other port cities in Denmark, Sweden, France, Britain and other places refused the Russian fleet's request for supplies.

On June 14, after the fleet passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, the Russians were once again given a cold shoulder by Spain, Italy and other countries bordering the Mediterranean. The small country of Greece agreed to the Russians' demand for coal, but it also did not allow the officers and men of the fleet to go ashore to recuperate. What is even worse is that on the day the Russian fleet arrived in Egyptian ports on the 17th, it was only learned that the British had refused to allow them to pass through the Suez Canal.

As a last resort, the Russian fleet had to re-route and re-sail out of the Strait of Gibraltar after revisiting the Mediterranean scenery for thousands of nautical miles along the way.

On 3 July, the Russian fleet was refueled with as much fresh coal as possible in the Portuguese port of Lisbon, and having no idea where it would be resupplied a second time, the Russian fleet had to take advantage of every opportunity to load more coal. In addition to the coal tanks that were filled, bags of coal were piled on decks, in bathrooms, engine rooms, and officers' cabins, in short, where they could be filled, and then the Russians once again embarked on a "journey" around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

Not to mention the dismal encounter with the Russian fleet, while Britain and Russia were wrestling, the distant Americas also suddenly broke out into war.