The defeat of the Russian Imperial Army at the Battle of Chumikan, coupled with the previous defeats, Russia had lost nearly 1.5 million troops, and the elite of the Transcaucasian Army was lost, and it was no longer capable of launching an offensive against the Chinese Empire.

On 15 July, the General Staff of the Chinese Empire issued an order to the First Theater Command to counterattack on all fronts, ordering Duan Qirui's Second Front Army, Liang Huadian's Third Front Army, and Xu Bangjie's Fifth Front Army to take advantage of the victory to pursue and lift the siege of Tengda and Skovorodino, and attack the remnants of the Russian expeditionary force at Handegal, so as to completely drive the Russian army back to the west bank of the Lena River.

The day after receiving the order, Duan Qirui, Liang Huadian, and Xu Bangjie met and decided to dispatch more than 100,000 new troops to urgently reinforce the Tengda front, and ordered the Mongolian cavalry regiment to go out of the Otor Pass, taking advantage of the fact that the rear troops of the Russian army were not ready, and raided to achieve major results. Other units seized the time to rest and recuperate, and strove to regain their strong combat effectiveness within half a month to a month.

At the same time, while the First Front continued to fight hard at Tengda, the Russian Right Wing Army did not know the news of the total annihilation of the Left Wing Army, so the offensive was still very fierce.

Three days later, reinforcements arrived from the Second Front, and after 100,000 fresh troops were put into battle, the Russian offensive was suddenly suppressed.

At this time, the commander of the Russian Right Wing Army, Paulnev, had already learned the news of the total annihilation of the Left Wing Army. Paulnev did not dare to order the whole army to know about this, but urgently ordered the Russian troops on the front line to stop the attack and quickly retreat.

On July 19, the Chinese Emperor [***] began a counteroffensive, chasing and attacking the retreating Russian troops all the way, driving the Russian army back to the fortress of Nebuchu and encircling it.

It was only at this time that the Russian army suddenly realized that the original left flank army group had been completely annihilated, and the million-strong army was wiped out in an instant, and this blow made the morale of the Nebuchu defenders extremely demoralized.

The Russian high command only learned about it three days after the end of the Battle of Chumikan, because the Chinese Emperor [***] had raided Handega and taken the opportunity to capture Yakutsk, which only informed them of the total annihilation of Army Group Left.

There was a huge earthquake up and down Russia, like an atomic bomb exploding. The whole Moscow people were panicked, and some Russians even shouted that the Chinese Emperor [***] had hit the outskirts of Moscow.

The Russian High Command urgently ordered Paulnev to hold the fortress of Nebuchu and not to allow the Chinese Emperor [***] to go further west. At the same time, 100,000 cavalrymen of the Russian Cossack cavalry regiment in Outer Mongolia rushed to the Nebuchu fortress for reinforcements. However, when the Cossack cavalry regiment arrived at the perimeter of the fortress of Nebuchu, the Chinese Emperor [***] had already surrounded Nebuchu and could not enter at all.

The news of another crushing defeat of the Russian army in the Far East quickly spread around the world, and the European and American powers were extremely surprised by the crushing defeat of the Russian army.

The British Times immediately jumped out to attack Russia, saying that "the gendarmes of Europe are not the armies of Europe after all, and the Battle of Chumican proves that the Russian Army has been reduced to second-rate." ”

The New York Times magazine of the United States temporarily revised its edition, and the headline reported the information provided by the reporter who accompanied the army in the Chinese Imperial Army, Fuer, elaborated in detail the comprehensive strategic and tactical layout of the Imperial Chinese Army, and described the strong combat effectiveness and advanced weapons and equipment of the Imperial Chinese Army at great length, and finally took "the Tsarist Russian Army has finally become a stepping stone and sent the Imperial Chinese Army to the throne of the strongest army in the world" as the finishing touch.

The major German newspapers were very jealous, although they had to affirm that the Imperial Chinese Army had achieved brilliant results and had surpassed the results of the German Army's rise, but they still insisted that the Imperial Chinese Army was a student of the German Army, and this was the result of the hard work of German instructors, and the German Army was still the first in the world, and the Imperial Chinese Army ranked second in the world.

No one refuted the report that the German media had put gold on their faces, after all, the Imperial Chinese Army did receive strong support from the German Army in its initial stages.

The French media have vigorously called on the French political axe to send troops to help Russia, and if Russia is further defeated, then France's national defense security will be worried.

How can the French political axe not know what is at stake, in addition to scolding the Russian army for waste, France does not want Russia to suffer a fiasco. But France also realized the strength of the Chinese Emperor's [***] team, and Britain was watching from the sidelines, so it was impossible for the French political axe to intervene in the war, but it could not sit idly by.

As a result, the French political axe immediately intervened to mediate, calling for an armistice between the Chinese Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire. In this regard, the Tsarist Russian Imperial Political Axe also expressed its willingness to negotiate with the Chinese Imperial Political Axe.

The British political axe shocked the powerful combat power of the Chinese Empire, and previously overestimated the combat power of the Chinese Empire, and now the Chinese Imperial Army has achieved an overwhelming victory, and Britain's vain attempt to use the Sino-Russian war to weaken the national strength of China and Russia at the same time is bankrupt, and the rise of a powerful Chinese Empire is not in the interests of the British Empire. In particular, the British Empire had great territorial disputes with the Chinese Empire, as well as Hong Kong Island, the Yunnan border, and the Tibetan border, and Britain was worried that the powerful Chinese Empire might force Britain with a great victory, so it could not watch the Chinese Empire grow bigger, and needed to balance the balance of power between China and Russia.

Therefore, the British political axe also used the opportunity of French mediation to intervene in the mediation ranks as an ally of the Chinese Empire.

At this time, the Chinese Empire had already consumed 600 million dragon coins for this war, and although it had won a great victory, its own losses had exceeded expectations. Wang Chenhao, the emperor of the Chinese Empire, was not a reckless emperor, he always regarded the United States as the number one potential enemy in his heart, so he devoted himself to developing the national economy so that he could compete with the United States in the future.

Under the influence of Wang Chenhao's thinking, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire officially replied to the French and British political axes on 22 July, expressing their willingness to negotiate with the Tsarist Russian Empire.

On the 25th, the Chinese Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire held negotiations at the level of vice minister of foreign affairs at Yanjing.

The two sides first announced that they would cease military operations as of the beginning of the talks. Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire proposed an armistice and conditions.

China's terms for an armistice:

First of all, China and Russia restored the Sino-Russian border demarcation stipulated in the Treaty of Nebuchu signed in 1689, and all the territories of the Chinese Empire occupied by the Tsarist Empire were returned. All treaties signed between China and Russia that China considers unreasonable should be nullified.

Second, the disputed area in the treaty negotiated by Nebuchu, i.e., the area between the Trans-Khing'an Mountains and the Wudi River had not been previously determined (because the Trans-Khing'an Mountains were divided into two veins at the source of the Udi River, the southern vein entered the sea in Henan, and the northern vein went up along the Beihai Sea and entered the sea in the Bering Sea), should be divided according to the requirements of the Chinese Empire.

Third, the revised Treaty of Nebuchu of the Chinese Empire stipulated that the Outer Khingan Mountains (Starov Mountains) and the Udi River (Lena River) were the revised New Territories, and the east to the Bering Strait was to China, and the west to Russia; The south of the Trans-Khingan Mountains, including the Trans-Khingan Mountains, belongs to China, and the north belongs to Russia.

Fourthly, the Tsarist Empire, as compensation for waging war against the Chinese Empire, should compensate the Chinese Empire with the area south of the line of the Western Great Khingan Mountains (Yabugnov Mountains) - Lake Berhail (Lake Baikal) - East Sayan Mountains - Western Sayan Mountains as war territory.

Fifth, the Tsarist Empire, as reparations for waging war against the Chinese Empire, should pay 100,000,000,000,000,000 pounds as war compensation to the Chinese Empire.

Sixthly, it was agreed that all things that had been done before the covenant would be put to rest, and that the Russians would all return. Since the two countries have been settled on forever, if there are fugitives afterwards, they will not be accepted and should be repatriated.

Seventh, the Chinese Empire regained control of the Korean suzerainty, and Tsarist Russia was no longer allowed to interfere.

Eighth, the two sides recognize each other's colonial suzerainty in other parts of the world, as well as related colonial interests.

As soon as these eight articles came out, the Russian negotiators immediately burst into flames and opposed them angrily.

Undoubtedly, these clauses are overlord clauses, not only ceding millions of square kilometres of land, but also demanding 100 million pounds in compensation. The land is too large, the reparations are too much, and the Tsarist Russian Empire is also a powerful country in the world.

The Russian side refused on the spot, and the meeting lasted 15 minutes, and the two sides broke up unhappily.

Subsequently, the Russian political axe openly stated that it could not accept such harsh terms.

The Chinese Empire took a hard line and said it did not accept the continuation of the war.

Britain and France tried to continue to mediate, but neither China nor Russia paid any attention, so the war continued.

In order to force Russia back to the negotiating table, the Chinese Emperor Wang Chenhao issued an edict ordering the officers and men of the navy, land and air forces to move forward bravely and continue to inflict heavy losses on the enemy.

On 26 July, in response to the emperor's decree, the General Staff of the Chinese Empire ordered the Imperial Chinese Army to launch an all-out counterattack in the direction of Nebuchu and Kulen respectively, and at the same time ordered the Pacific Fleet of the Navy to rearm and prepare for battle against the Second Fleet of the Russian Far East, which was about to rush to the Far East.

On 3 August, the Fourth Theater of the Chinese Empire launched the Battle of Bayan-Ulan Mountain, and the 200,000 Imperial Army and more than 200,000 Royal Cavalry Regiment launched a fierce offensive against the Chechen Khan of Outer Mongolia.

On 4 August, a large-scale cavalry battle broke out between the Royal Cavalry Regiment and the Russian Cossack Cavalry Regiment at the foot of the Bayan-Ulan Mountain. 200,000 Mongol cavalry and 70,000 Cossack cavalry fought fiercely in the pastureland, and the two sides fought an unprecedented decisive battle with the ancient cavalry tactics. In the end, the Royal Cavalry Regiment relied on its numerical superiority and army artillery support, and after paying a huge price of 30,000 casualties, it defeated the Russian Cossack Cavalry Regiment in one fell swoop and annihilated more than 50,000 enemies.

After the defeat of the Cossack cavalry regiment, the Mongol army of the Chechen Khan was completely annihilated by the Chinese Emperor [***] in less than two days after holding the Chechen Khan banner Wendur Khan, capturing more than 30,000 Outer Mongolian troops.

In the following three days, in retaliation for the Chechen Khan's invasion of wolves, the Chinese Emperor [***] caused the civilians of Outer Mongolia to be looted by the Russian army, and launched a bloody massacre of more than 30,000 prisoners of war in the Chechen Khan Banner to punish them for aiding and abetting the crime.

Wang Yingkai, the new commander of the Fourth Theater of Operations, turned a blind eye to this, because the law did not blame the public, but only reprimanded the generals of various armies who participated in the massacre of prisoners. The battle report reported to the General Staff was rewritten as the total annihilation of the Chechen Khan's army, and there were no prisoners.

On August 10, the Chinese Emperor's [***] troops pointed directly at Kulen, and the remnants of the Cossack cavalry of the Russian army immediately withdrew, and the main members of the rebels such as Jebtsundan also fled from Kulen and took refuge in Uriya Sutai.

On the eleventh day, the Chinese Emperor [***] occupied Kulun. The next day, the Sanyin Noyan Department detained Kan Zhebu Zundan and Hangda Dorji and others in Uriya Sutai, changed the banner, declared obedience to the leadership of the Chinese Emperor, and handed over more than 30 major rebels including Jebu Zundan to the Fourth Theater Governor's Department.

In the following three days, the flags of Outer Mongolia changed their flags one after another, declaring their submission to the rule of the Chinese Empire. In order to avoid being slaughtered like the Chechen Khan, the banner owners expressed their unconditional surrender.

On 15 August, the whole territory of Outer Mongolia was restored.

At the same time, the Chinese Empire's offensive and defensive war against the Nebuchu Fortress also entered a critical moment, and when the Nebuchu Fortress was in danger, the Tsarist Russian political axe had to return to the negotiating table, saying that it could accept the restoration of the provisions of the Treaty of Nebuchu in 1689, and also accept the division of the disputed area proposed by the Chinese Empire to repair the Treaty of Nebuchu. However, the refusal to cede Baikal, Nebuchu and other places required a reduction in the amount of reparations.

In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire stated that the cession of territory was a foregone conclusion, and that His Majesty the Emperor had made a decree, and that there was no reason to change it. However, on the amount of compensation, the Foreign Office said that it would make concessions and reduce it to 80 million pounds.

This condition was still unacceptable to the Russian political axe, but the Russian negotiators did not dare to refuse directly, saying that they could study it and ask the Chinese Emperor [***] to suspend the offensive against the fortress of Nebuchu.

On 17 August, Wang Chenhao, the emperor of the Chinese Empire, instructed Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi that the fortress of Nebuchu could be suspended to save face for Britain and France. However, when Wang Chenhao then convened the Imperial Council, he demanded that the Navy's Pacific Fleet should find an opportunity to destroy the Russian Second Fleet in the Far East.

Beginning in June, the ships of the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy entered the docks of major shipyards for repair and maintenance, and the maintenance and repair had been completed one after another.

After systematic repair and maintenance, the ships have replaced the barrels worn out by long-term and high-intensity training, and the good maintenance work has made the ships almost as fast as they left the factory.

On 19 August, the Central Intelligence Agency of the Chinese Empire intercepted information from the German colony of Papua Guinea that the Second Fleet of the Russian Far East would go to the ports of the German colony of Papua Guinea to replenish supplies and carry out simple ship maintenance and maintenance.

Since Germany was the only country that provided the Russian Navy with supplies and ship maintenance, the Admiralty could be sure of the true surname of this piece of information.

As a result, the Admiralty convened a meeting to discuss how to destroy the Second Fleet of the Russian Far East.

Since this Russian fleet has sailed a long distance of more than 15,000 nautical miles from the Baltic Sea to the Far East, the mud and aquatic weeds at the bottom of its warships have seriously affected the speed of its warships, which can be reduced by at least one or two knots and up to five or six knots, the maximum speed of its capital ships has dropped to less than 16 knots, and the speed of its cruisers has generally dropped to less than 19 knots. After a long voyage of six months, the personnel on the Russian ships were exhausted, coupled with the path to the African tropics, the spread of diseases in the Russian fleet, and the serious non-combat attrition of the Russian army, which had greatly affected their combat effectiveness. In addition, most of the Russian warships are new ships that have just been launched, and most of them have not had time for sea trials, and many shortcomings cannot be repaired after they are exposed, which is bound to reduce the combat capability of the warships. Now that the Chinese Emperor [***] has won a decisive victory in the Far East, I am afraid that the morale of the Russian army will be severely hit, and the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

For these reasons, the Admiralty considered that the conditions were ripe for the destruction of the Second Russian Far East Fleet, and that what was lacking was an opportunity.

According to intelligence, the Russian fleet will enter German Papua Guinea from the Indian Ocean via the south coast of the Dutch East Indies for replenishment. And it was already very close to the Chinese Empire's Guam naval base, and Liu Buyun of the Naval Command Department suggested that the Imperial Navy secretly stationed in Guam to try to intercept and destroy the Russian fleet before it entered the German colony for supply and repair, because if it waited until the Russian army had supplied and repaired before fighting, its own losses would increase.

The Admiralty immediately agreed to Liu Buyun's suggestion, so Lin Jianzhang and Du Xigui of the Navy Fleet Command and other generals made detailed arrangements for the overall battle plan and launched operations.

On 23 August, the main force of the Pacific Fleet of the Second Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy moved south and stationed at the Guam Naval Base. Accompanying the capital ship to the south was a submarine fleet from the Huludao Naval Base, a total of ten Han-class submarines.

The Han-class submarine is a submarine project just completed by the Chinese Imperial Navy, due to the failure of the last Qin-class submarine sea trial, Holland and Lake learned a lesson, and in a period of up to two years, they worked hard to improve the defects of the Qin-class submarine, and finally launched the Han-class submarine test ship before the Sino-Russian war last year, and conducted three months of complex sea trials, the results showed that the Han-class submarine has met the operational requirements of the Admiralty, and has set a record of hitting the target ship 500 meters away in the live ammunition target. As a result, the Han-class submarine was approved by the Admiralty and submitted to Congress for appropriation to build it.

Han-class submarine displacement (surface / underwater): 530t/660t, the main engine uses 2 Diesel 4-stroke diesel engines (for surface navigation), 2 motors (for underwater navigation), double propulsion shaft arrangement, power (surface / underwater): 700 horsepower/390 horsepower. The speed reaches 14 knots on the surface and 10 knots underwater, and the cruising range is 2200 nautical miles at 10 knots.

In terms of armament, 5 450 mm torpedo tubes (including 4 bow and 1 stern torpedo tube) were used, and 12 torpedoes were loaded. A 47-mm rapid-fire gun of a Qin-class submarine was still used, with 300 rounds of ammunition in reserve. A simplified version of the radio system can be used to tow antennas for underwater radio communication. The periscope equipment and ventilation equipment were improved, the safe diving depth was 61m, and the number of submariners was 35.

Ten Han-class submarines were built in the same class, namely bighead carp (CN-SS-17), crucian carp (CN-SS-18), Tuantou bream (CN-SS-19), tilapia (CN-SS-20), Widower (CN-SS-21), yellow mackerel (CN-SS-22), Jiyingyu (CN-SS-23), red fish (CN-SS-24), yellow mackerel (CN-SS-25), and yellow croaker (CN-SS-26).

The ten Han-class submarines arrived at the Guam Naval Base with the Pacific Fleet, and then were arranged to operate in the waters off Guinea in German Papua, in the Bismarck Sea, the Coral Sea, the Solomon Sea, and the Arafura Sea, the most important of which was in the Arafura Sea, because that would be the direction in which the Russian fleet would enter Papua.

(To be continued)