Tsarist Russia is the one of the seven countries with the deepest contradictions with China, and in addition to various sovereignty disputes, the two sides also have territorial disputes of more than one million square kilometers, so the progress of negotiations with Russia has been slow.

Although both China and Russia know that territorial disputes will eventually be resolved by force, both sides are smiling in front of the media that there will be no war between the two countries and that both sides are willing to resolve these differences peacefully.

The two sides tacitly used this to appease public opinion and the people at home and abroad, because they were worried that once the signal of war was released, it would lead to a large-scale withdrawal of foreign capital from the two countries, and their domestic businessmen would also transfer a large amount of capital and assets abroad, which would have an adverse impact on the national economies of the two countries.

Both the Beiyang political axe and the Tsarist political axe are trying their best to hide the possibility of war between the two countries, but they are secretly actively preparing.

Russia continues to increase its troops in the Far East, and the number of Russian troops in the Far East has reached 200,000, of which 150,000 are front-line troops, and another 50,000 are engineering infrastructure troops. This unit was sent specifically to build the Far East to build various strategic and tactical bases for the Russian army, including supporting the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Since the Qing-Russian War, the Russian political axe, which has suffered a great loss, plans to complete the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway with a length of 10,000 kilometers in the next ten years. However, the harsh weather and permafrost in Siberia made it difficult for the construction team to build the railway. The railway, which was originally budgeted at 200 million rubles, has risen to 1.48 billion rubles, or 164 million pounds or 822 million dragon dollars, after eight years of construction.

Such a huge expenditure on road construction is equivalent to ten years of military expenditure of the Russian army. In addition to natural causes, the cause of this result is more the politics of Tsarist Russia. Witte was in charge of the Ministry of Finance and Communications, and his officials took advantage of the railroad construction to enrich themselves.

The Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff Department built large-scale fortifications on the boundary river at the junction of the three northeastern provinces with Russia, relying on the Yalu River, the Ussuri River, and the Heilongjiang River for defense. It has also set up a northeastern inland river defense fleet composed of more than 60 inland river gunboats and destroyers to patrol the river and confront the river surface on many occasions with the newly formed Amur river defense fleet from Russia to safeguard China's national sovereignty and interests.

Since Wang Chenhao became the prime minister of the cabinet, with the operation of various departments of the Beiyang political axe, many things no longer need Wang Chenhao to do in person. Wang Chenhao only needs to deal with some important national affairs, and other matters are handed over to the subordinates of various departments. However, Wang Chenhao has never relaxed his control over the power of the military, especially the soundness of the intelligence department, Wang Chenhao can see any wind and grass, and know who supports him and who opposes him.

In the Prime Minister's Office, the two major intelligence agencies from the political axe and the military, Li Bing, director of the National Homeland Security Bureau, and Li Guodong, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, both of them are from Wang Chenhao's chief of guard, Wang Chenhao trusts them the most, and now they are all entrusted with important responsibilities as the top officials of the two intelligence departments.

The Department of Homeland Security and the CIA are both intelligence agencies responsible for gathering domestic and foreign intelligence, covering all walks of life. However, the Department of Homeland Security is primarily responsible for domestic security, eliminating foreign espionage organizations in the country, cracking down on domestic and foreign forces that intend to pose a threat to political agencies and personnel, and maintaining the country's security. The CIA is mainly responsible for collecting foreign intelligence, and has successively set up intelligence stations in major countries and key strategic points in the world to collect intelligence and hand it over to the top level of the political axe to provide a basis for decision-making.

The two major intelligence departments are under the direct control of Wang Chenhao, but they are not subordinate to each other. The advantage of this is that the two major intelligence agencies will contain each other, so that one side will not become bigger and unable to control it. However, the disadvantage is that the intelligence of the two sides is not shared, resulting in the duplication and waste of some resources.

But for Wang Chenhao, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages at the moment, and it is worth the necessary waste for him to ensure his absolute power and consolidate his rule.

According to the regulations, Li Guodong and Li Bing will go to the Prime Minister's Office every Friday afternoon to report to Wang Chenhao on their work in the past week.

Today, the duo brought the latest information.

"Report to the Prime Minister, the CIA has received accurate information that the Russian political axe has changed the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the new railway line is close to the border of Outer Mongolia, and the length of the change is about 3,000 kilometers, which is slightly longer than the previous railway line, 700 kilometers, but the difficulty of construction has dropped by two-thirds."

Li Guodong's report surprised Wang Chenhao, and the progress of the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway directly affected Tsarist Russia's strategic attitude toward China. The Trans-Siberian Railway has been rerouted in the middle section, which has been extended by 700 kilometers but is two-thirds less difficult to build, which means that the construction of the middle section of the railway is half ahead of schedule.

Wang Chenhao frowned and said, "Are the Russians crazy?" Build a railway close to our border, and if war breaks out, we can easily destroy it. ”

Wang Chenhao was still a little unconvinced, and then asked, "Is the news reliable?" ”

Li Guodong nodded and said: "Don't worry, my lord, the news is absolutely reliable, and our intelligence officers have repeatedly confirmed that it is correct after intercepting the information. ”

Wang Chenhao suddenly smiled: "That's really good! Heaven can still live for evil, but it is impossible to live for self-inflicted evil, and the Russians are digging their own graves! ”

Li Guodong agreed: "The lowly position also thinks so. It's just that although the officials of the Russian Ministry of Communications [***], this proposal was approved by the General Staff of the Russian Army, and no matter how stupid the Russians are, it is impossible for them to make such a low-level mistake. ”

Wang Chenhao said: "The Russians are very arrogant and conceited, and their arrogance cannot be ruled out, but it is also possible that there is a hidden trick in it. ”

At this time, Li Bing said: "I think the Russians should be tired of it." ”

Wang Chenhao and Li Guodong looked at Li Bing in unison, and Wang Chenhao asked, "Tell me your opinion." ”

"Yes!" Li Bing received the order and said: "On the surface, it seems that the Russians are committing a taboo by building railways on the border of our country, not only will we laugh at the Russians, but even people with a little military knowledge in other countries will say that the Russians are looking for death." ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, knowing that Li Bing still had a following.

Li Guodong hurriedly said: "Come on, don't sell it!" ”

Li Bing smiled slightly and continued: "The Russians' railway is close to the border of Mongolia in our country, and everyone knows that once a war breaks out between China and Russia, our army can quickly send troops from Mongolia to destroy the railway communication lines of the Russians, so that the Russian army in the Far East will not get reinforcements and supplies, and there will be no suspense in this war, and it will definitely be our victory." But the Russians did just that, making us all think that their heads were in the water and let our guard down. ”

Wang Chenhao asked: "You mean that the Russians are secretly Chen Cang on the Ming Plank Road?" ”

Li Bing nodded and said: "The prime minister is right, the humble post has recently received frequent security reports from Kulun and other Mongolian foreign banner areas, which said that many princes and ministers in Outer Mongolia are dissatisfied with your appointment as prime minister, and are worried about the situation of Emperor Guangxu. Fearing that these Mongolian palace ministers would collude with the Banner Man Yu Party to the detriment of the Lord, he sent a large number of security personnel to the Forty-Nine Banners of the Six Leagues of Inner Mongolia and the Eighty-six Banners of Outer Mongolia. The Kulen Security Department then conducted an in-depth investigation, and found that the Russian consul in Kulen secretly planned to plot against the Mongol Jebtsundan (Mongol king) Bahutuktu, among whom Prince Hangda Dorji and the Grand Lama Chelin Zimit were suspected of rebellion. ”

Wang Chenhao frowned and asked, "Is there any evidence?" ”

Li Bing shook his head and said, "There is no direct evidence yet. ”

Wang Chenhao quickly calculated in his heart, Mongolia and the Manchu Qing Dynasty are iron buddies, and now that Guangxu has become the nominal emperor, the banner people have lost the actual right to rule over China, and Mongolia, which is separated from Manchuria, will naturally not be reconciled. Since Wang Chenhao did not reform the Mongols, many Mongol princes still had military power in their hands, which brought opportunities to a group of disgruntled people.

"You can't act rashly without direct evidence."

"Humble duty understands!"

"I remember that when the parliament was reformed, I had already ordered those Mongolian princes to be transferred to Beijing to serve as parliamentarians, why are they still making trouble in Mongolia?" When Wang Chenhao carried out the reform of the political system, in order to override the rights of the original officials in the provinces, all the principal officials of the provinces were transferred to the National Assembly to serve as senators and representatives. There were quite a few Mongolian princes who served as councilors in Beijing, including Khalkha Saiyin Noyan Zasak, Prince Nayantu, and Korqin Auxiliary Duke Bodisu among the imperial ministers. Amur Linggui, Prince of Korqin Zasak, Tumut Zasak, Beizi Bu Zabu, Duke of Korqin Fuguo, Qi Chengwu, son of Prince Nayantu of Khalkha, King of Karaqin Zasak County, Gongsang Norbu, King of Khalkha Chechen Khanbu County, Dorzi Palam, King of Khalkha Zasakbintu County, King of Korqin Zasakbintu County, King of Bahrain Zasak County, King of Naimanzasak County, Suzhuktu Batur, etc.

Most of these people chose to acquiesce in the fact that Wang Chenhao controlled China, and some even supported Wang Chenhao's reforms. Among them, Prince Amur Linggui and Gongsang Norbu were the first Mongolian nobles to join the Beiyang Army and enter the Beiyang Army University for further study.

However, Li Bing explained to him that some Mongolian princes and ministers did not enter Beijing, and some secretly left the parliament building because they were ill.

Wang Chenhao nodded, turned around and came to the wall on the left, and stretched out his hand to open the curtains.

On the wall behind the curtain was a huge map of the world, more than four meters high and eight meters long. It contains a detailed geographical map of the countries of the world.

Wang Chenhao's eyes were fixed on the territory of China and Russia, and a red line in the middle went from Moscow to Vladivostok, that is, the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Wang Chenhao's gaze shifted to the middle section of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which happened to be the junction of Outer Mongolia and Tsarist Russia.

"If the Mongols rebel, then the Russians don't have to worry about us attacking their railways, and in turn, the huge strategic depth of Mongolia is a natural barrier for us, and the same is true for Tsarist Russia."

Li Guodong said: "Since the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, all the fortifications of the Central Plains to Mongolia have been abolished, and hundreds of trade routes have been established between Mongolia and the Central Plains for more than 200 years. In the event of a Mongolian rebellion, the Russian army can attack the hinterland of our country from any trade route through Mongolia. And if we lose the strategic depth of Mongolia, we will fall into a very passive situation, because we need at least 1.5 million troops to defend a front of 5,000 kilometers. ”

"Yes! You're right! Wang Chenhao seemed to see through the conspiracy of Tsarist Russia and said: "Since the Russians have decided to revise the line of the Trans-Siberian Railway, it means that they have enough confidence to convince Mongolia." ”

Li Bing and Li Guodong suddenly asked nervously, "My lord, are we going to take action?" ”

Wang Chenhao waved his hand, suddenly smiled mysteriously, and said, "Since the Russians are playing dark Chen Cang with us, then we will give him a plan." Don't alarm the Mongol princes and ministers for the time being, just keep an eye on them. Let the Russians build a railway on the Mongolian border, and we'll do it when they're almost done. ”

Li Bing and Li Guodong looked at each other the same, and immediately understood Wang Chenhao's purpose, and the latter immediately praised: "My lord's plan is clever. ”

The Trans-Siberian Railway cost a lot of money, and the Tsarist Russian political axe paid huge financial expenses for it, and if the Trans-Siberian Railway was not completed in one day, the Russian political axe would have no money to fight. And Wang Chenhao's strategic purpose is the same as the original intention of launching the Russo-Japanese War back then. At that time, it was said that it suddenly declared war on Russia when the Trans-Siberian Railway of Tsarist Russia was not yet completed, so that the situation in the Far East of Tsarist Russia fell into a passive situation from the beginning. It was not until Tsarist Russia worked overtime to finish the last 300-kilometer railway, forcibly opened the railway, and transported the Russian army from Europe to the Far East in a steady stream that the war situation could be stabilized. As a result, the Russo-Russian War ended in a compromise rather than a complete defeat of Russia as Ben had hoped.

It can be said that the Trans-Siberian Railway was crucial for the war in the Far East. Although the future Sino-Russian war will be different from the Russian-Japanese war, Wang Chenhao can learn from the experience of the Russian-Japanese war. At that time, it was said that it was impossible to attack the Trans-Siberian Railway of Tsarist Russia, so that Tsarist Russia forcibly built the railway to save the defeat, and the two sides compromised to end the war. Now that the opponent has been replaced by China, more than half of the lines of the Trans-Siberian Railway of Tsarist Russia are close to the Chinese border, which gives Wang Chenhao more tactical methods against Tsarist Russia.

In Wang Chenhao's plan, he first asked the Russians to happily complete the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, let the huge amount of more than one billion rubles of the Tsarist Russian political axe be spent on the railway, so that Tsarist Russia had no money to develop the domestic economy. Once the war starts, Wang Chenhao will cut off the Trans-Siberian Railway of Tsarist Russia and cut off the supply of the Tsarist Russian army. The [***] team does not need to take the initiative to attack, as long as they guard in the trenches and play a war of attrition with the Russian army, they can be defeated.

Of course, this is just a strategy in Wang Chenhao's mind, and there is still a gap between it and its actual implementation.

"Is there any movement in Guangxu?"

It was Li Bing's task to monitor Guangxu, and he only listened to what he said: "Recently, Guangxu is very honest on the surface, but secretly he has intimate discussions with a group of royal sects such as Ruijun Wang Zaiyi, and most of the people involved are banner nobles, and Guangxu's relationship with Cixi seems to have eased, and Rong Lu often goes in and out of the Buddha Fragrance Pavilion with Guangxu. ”

Wang Chenhao smiled faintly, Guangxu was unwilling to become the emperor of the light pole It had long been expected, but it was Guangxu and Cixi who came together again that made Wang Chenhao a little surprised. But Wang Chenhao was not too surprised, because Guangxu and Cixi were imprisoned and the other was set aside, which can be described as sympathy. The battle between Guangxu and Cixi was the direct cause of Wang Chenhao's infighting, if it weren't for the infighting between the two of them, Wang Chenhao would not have been able to be called a Chinese talent reader so quickly and smoothly.

"Monitor them closely, and don't take them by surprise unless there is enough evidence."

"Yes!"

Li Bing received the order, and Li Guodong said at this time: "My lord, I think you should quickly abolish Guangxu, this world is originally our Han people, let the banner people occupy it for hundreds of years in vain, and it should be returned to us!" ”

Wang Chenhao said: "If we defeat the First Sino-Japanese War, then now we will abolish the Guangxu people and definitely agree with both hands." But we won that war, and we won the subsequent war against Russia and the war against Spain, so that the Chinese people will inevitably have some good feelings towards this Guangxu. At this time, if I abolish Guangxu as a courtier, I will definitely lose the hearts of the people. ”

Li Bing also understood Wang Chenhao's situation at this time, so he asked, "But you can't spend it like this, right?" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled: "Don't worry! This Guangxu won't endure for a long time, we will have a chance! ”

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao convened a meeting of key officials of the Ministry of National Defense to discuss possible Russian military action against China.

At the meeting, officials of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff Headquarters made reports on their surnames, and finally Wang Shizhen summed up.

After research, Beiyang Zhengax decided to set up three major military regions in the north in order to deal with the military invasion of Tsarist Russia from the north. The three major military regions are the Fengtian Military Region, the Yanjing Military Region, and the Lanzhou Military Region.

Among them, the Fengtian Military Region directly governs the three provinces of Shengjing, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, controls the armies of the three provinces, makes unified dispatch, and defends Amur Province and Korea in Tsarist Russia. The Yanjing Military Region has expanded from the original garrison area, that is, the Gyeonggi region, to the military affairs of the four provinces directly under the central government, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Henan, and shoulders the strategic and tactical tasks of defending the surrounding areas of Gyeonggi. Among them, Inner Mongolia, as the northern gate of the Yanjing Military Region, shouldered the military threat of defending against the Central Siberian Province of Tsarist Russia. The military region's bases are located in Nanyuan and Beiyuan, with 500,000 reservists. Among them, Beiyuan is garrisoned by garrison troops, which nominally belongs to the Yanjing Military Region, but in fact the Ministry of National Defense has no actual right to mobilize, and is directly under the command of Wang Chenhao. The Lanzhou Military Region has under the jurisdiction of the armies of Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Tibetan Provinces, and is responsible for the defense of the Tsarist Russian Transcaucasian Army, the Afghan Army, and the British Army in India. The military base is located in Lanzhou, with 700,000 reserve soldiers.

(To be continued)