If in the Battle of the Somme, the British shocked the world by putting tanks on the battlefield for the first time, then in the Battle of Erzurum, the tank units of the expeditionary force fought on a large scale for the first time and achieved such great results, for the whole world, it ―――――― forget it, anyway, that's what it means.

Similarly, the Battle of Erzurum will be immortalized in the annals of history because of its miraculous victory.

However, before the history books are forever, because of the miraculous effect of the British Mark tank in the Battle of the Somme and the Type 15 tank in the Battle of Erzurum, all countries began to study tanks.

For example, France's Renault and Germany's AV7, but after obtaining the drawings of the Type 16 tank, it is difficult to say whether the Germans will develop a tank that is not much different from an armored car... In any case, it was a great joy for the Germans to get the drawings, and while other countries were jumping up and down, they did not forget to develop their own tanks―――――― the great powers were also very proud, in their opinion, Chinese could develop tanks, there was no reason why they couldn't develop them... At home, the masses are also celebrating the victory in the Battle of Erzurum, which is not one of the sporadic victories of the past, with nearly 200,000 enemy troops defeated at one time and nearly 100,000 prisoners captured, which is rare even on the Eastern and Western Fronts.

Considering that Jiang Baili only used more than 300 tanks from one brigade at that time, plus more than 50,000 infantry from seven divisions, such a record is even rarer.

It's just that at this moment of national jubilation, Jiang Baili, who is far away in the Caucasus, encountered many bad things.

This bad thing did not come from any side, but precisely from his allies, the Russians... Since the end of the Battle of Erzurum, Jiang Baili captured nearly 100,000 Turkish soldiers in one fell swoop, completely depriving the Turks on the Western Front of their offensive ability.

Of course, the Turks lost their ability to attack, but he Jiang Baili was not much stronger, because of the more than 300 tanks of the tank force, few of them could be driven now. If you want to continue the attack, you need to rest for a while, and if you don't fix all the broken engines of these tanks, at least let the soldiers below take a breath.

Fortunately, at this time, Zhang Shaozeng had already taken Baghdad, which made Jiang Baili feel a lot more at ease.

However, just when Jiang Baili gave the order and ordered the whole army to enter a state of rest.

The Russians, however, came to the door very shyly and expressed to Jiang Baili that they hoped to go to the tank unit to see it in person.

This idea was naturally rejected by Jiang Baili, because before the departure of the tank troops, Yan Guang had strictly ordered that no outsiders should be allowed to approach the tank troops, and this outsider even included the Chinese themselves... And although it was refused, the Russians did not give up.

It was only a few days later that the Russians came to the door this time, claiming that when there was no longer any threat on the Caucasian battlefield, they hoped that Jiang Baili would send tank troops to the Eastern Front to support the Russians.

With the Russians, there were also the British and French.

The people of the three countries will do this, firstly, because the situation on the Eastern Front is indeed very bad, so bad that the Russians are almost unable to hold on. The British and French knew very well what would happen to them if the Russians could not hold on... Again, although Jiang Baili can't be splashed with water, but when your tank troops arrive in Russia, they can't still be like this, right? When the time comes, the Russians will not study as much as they want? This is still polite, if you can't get it right, the Russians can still play a "tank theft" for you, just get a tank to dismantle eight pieces, and take Britain and France to study together... Of course, they also know very well that what Jiang Baili said doesn't count, what they really say is Yan Guang who is far away in Yanjing, but they know Yan Guang's position very well, and they are not convinced at all. That's why they adopted a roundabout policy, hoping to persuade Jiang Baili first, and then persuade Yan Guang.

It's just that while adopting a roundabout policy, apparently no one expected another thing to happen, that is..."The February Revolution..."

―――――――――― "February Revolution"

When it comes to revolutions, the first of the two most famous revolutions in China is the "Xinhai Revolution", which is also the most influential revolution in China, and it was this revolution that brought the Manchu Qing Dynasty to its complete demise.

The second revolution was probably the "October Revolution", because although China was a socialist country in later generations, it was the "Hammer and Sickle Party" that led it, so the "October Revolution" was a household name in China, and it was also the occurrence of this revolution that announced the official establishment of the Soviet Union.

However, before the "October Revolution", there was also a "February Revolution"... Since the outbreak of the European War, as Russia's losses on the Eastern Front have continued to become heavier, strikes and riots in Russia have not stopped, but the scale has not been very large. It was not until early 1917 that the largest strike action since the European War broke out in Russia.

The reasons for the outbreak of the revolution included the destruction of the Russian economy by the First World War and the dissatisfaction of the common people with the rule of the Tsarist political axe. When Nicholas II appointed himself supreme commander and led the Russian army on the Eastern Front, he entrusted the political axe to his wife, Empress Alexandra, and other officials. Moreover, he mistrusted Rasputin and made him make the political axe full of corruption and chaos in internal affairs. The situation in the country became increasingly tense, as Russia's entry into the war later caused many problems, especially economic ones.

In World War I, as a result of Russia's accession to the side of the Entente. In addition, at the request of the Entente countries, in order to cooperate with the war on the Western Front, the Russian army took the initiative to launch attacks many times to meet Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire in the south. The Russians initially suffered a slight victory, but faced the embarrassing situation of fighting on multiple fronts and suffered serious setbacks, such as a heavy defeat at the Germans in East Prussia.

Declining factory output, inefficient railway systems, and extremely inadequate logistics contributed to Russia's several failures. At the same time, the Russian army's tactics and tactics were outdated and backward, and the army leaders brought personal grievances into the battlefield, resulting in a crushing defeat for the Russian army after the start of the war. Later, at the request of Churchill, then Secretary of the Admiralty, in order to cooperate with the landing operations of the British army and relieve the pressure on the Western Front, the Russian army launched a summer offensive, suffered heavy losses, more than 1 million prisoners, and domestic rule was in jeopardy.

By the end of the war, more than 1.7 million Russian soldiers had been killed and 5.9 million wounded. There were many deserters, and the ability of generals and officers was mediocre, so that the overall morale was low. Some units went into battle without sufficient ammunition to match their weapons. In the Russian rear, there was a severe famine and a shortage of supplies. Due to the onslaught of the German army and the blockade of the border, the Russian economy was finally brought down. The Duma, which had some liberal members, suggested to the tsar that a constitutional monarchy similar to that established after the Russian Revolution in 1905 and abolished by him shortly thereafter, but he refused.

The cold winter of February 1917, food shortages, poor livelihoods, and economic collapse had all the triggers for a popular uprising. As a result, the workers of St. Petersburg (then Petrograd), the capital of Russia, took the lead in a strike, which began the revolution.

On March 3, workers at the Putillov plant, a large factory in St. Petersburg, declared a strike. Striking workers were dismissed, leading to strikes in other factories. As some demonstrators demanded an increase in the supply of bread, some workers at the factory found reasons to continue the strike. Although there were occasional clashes between demonstrators and the political axe army, there were no casualties on the first day.

In the days that followed, striking workers gathered in St. Petersburg, and tensions grew.

On March 8, protesters staged a series of gatherings and rallies to celebrate International Women's Day, and gradually politicized the activities. For the first time, the participants used slogans that are more sensitive in Russia, such as "No to the war!" "And" to end the dictatorship! And so on. The February Revolution finally broke out. This time, there were clashes between the police and the people, resulting in deaths and injuries between the two sides. The demonstrators prepared their weapons and looted the police headquarters.

On 10 March, the Tsar sent a large group of soldiers to sweep the city. Initially, the soldiers embraced the political axe and killed many demonstrators, but the tide of the uprising intensified as more and more soldiers turned against the enemy and supported the uprising. At this time, the tsar was deeply disturbed, so he dissolved the Duma and ordered the election of a provisional committee.

The tsar learned of the demonstrations in Petrograd and decided to take a train to Petrograd to maintain the situation in the hope of improving the situation. However, the real reason for his return was that his children, including his only son, Crown Prince Alexei, had contracted measles, so he had to return to the Tsar's Villa near the city to accompany them.

However, when he arrived at his destination, the generals who greeted him all urged him to abdicate. On March 15 (March 2 in the Julian calendar), the Tsar announced the abdication of his son and nominated his brother Mikhail? Aleksandrovich? Grand Duke Romanov succeeded to the throne.

However, with all the troops in Petrelgrad on the side of the demonstrators, the Grand Duke rejected the throne on 17 March, and the Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for 304 years, came to an end. After the February Revolution, elections were first held for the Petrelgrad Soviet, and the Provisional Axe was initially formed with the support of the Duma and the Soviets. As a result, there was a rare coexistence of two regimes in the history of Russia, one was the temporary political axe of the bourgeoisie, and the other was the "Hammer and Sickle Party"...―――――――――― what happened in Russia shocked the world, after all, the Romanov dynasty had ruled Russia for 304 years. Of course, Britain and France at this time were not particularly hostile to the newly formed Russian political axe, so it was at least nominally ruled Russia by a bourgeois political axe, not the later "hammer and sickle party".

After the establishment of the New Deal, Britain and France both strongly demanded that the New Deal Axe inherit the responsibility of Russia and continue to exert pressure on Germany on the Eastern Front. After all, if Russia doesn't play, then they will have to bear all the pressure on Germany.

The demands of Britain and France are exactly what the Provisional Political Axe wants to do.

The Provisional Axe strongly advocated the continuation of the war until the Entente achieved a "final victory." The "Hammer and Sickle Party" feared that the officer corps would take counter-revolutionary action, so on March 14 it issued the famous "Order No. 1" in the name and power of the "Hammer and Sickle Party", thereby depriving the officers of their right to military management and training. This order spread throughout the armed forces, and despite the Provisional Axe's order to the contrary, the result was what the Bolsheviks expected - a loss of discipline in the troops.

The Russian army and navy collapsed like ice melted in the spring. The mutinous soldiers and sailors killed many officers, and others were simply deposed by the soldiers' assembly. By mid-April, an estimated 50 percent of the officer corps had been purged, many of them experienced soldiers―――――― everything was like the Great Purge on the eve of World War II.

Lenin and other Bolshevik supporters entered Russia via Germany to oppose the Provisional Axe.

And just as Britain and France feared, Germany stopped all military operations on the Eastern Front, lest the Russians reunite to defend their homeland, and took advantage of the calm on the Eastern Front to transfer troops on the Eastern Front to the Western Front and the Italian Front... However, these have nothing to do with China, especially Jiang Baili, because of the "February Revolution", he finally got rid of the entanglement of Britain, France and Russia, because at this time neither Britain nor France nor Russia had the heart to care about the tank technology of the Chinese... In the same way, Chiang did not need to worry that the newly formed Russian political axe would find trouble for him, after all, the Caucasus and Armenian battlefields were also part of the entire European war, and the Russians would not make any unwise moves in the event that they might anger Britain and France.

And now Russia is in chaos, if it were not for their own expeditionary force in the Caucasus, I am afraid that the Turks would have caught up long ago―――――― in fact, the Turks in history also took advantage of the opportunity of Russia's civil strife to take the Caucasus.

Of course, when the defeat of Turkey is over, how much land he swallows, how much he will naturally have to return ... Although there was no need to worry about the Eastern Front or the attitude of the new Russian political axe, Jiang Baili still had something to worry about, that is, the security of the logistics line of the expeditionary force.

While the Dardanelles Strait was still closed, the expeditionary force had three routes to connect with the country, one was the Siberian Railway, the other was the newly opened Persian Gulf -- the Tigris River, and the other was the Dilan Railway.

The Persian Gulf is currently in the hands of the British, and the Tigris River from Basra, Baghdad to Mosul has also fallen into the hands of China and Britain, so this logistics line does not need to worry about security at all―――――― except that the transportation capacity is too weak and requires some headaches... In fact, after the successful capture of Baghdad, the British had already begun to consider transferring Mesopotamia to China, after all, after the capture of Mesopotamia, the British who had been safe and sound in the Middle East refineries had no need to stay here at all... In addition to the Tigris, the two remaining logistics lines, the long Trans-Siberian Railway, are now completely paralyzed, because there are so many areas he has to pass through, and those areas are still in a state of chaos. Coupled with the huge problems of the economy in Russia caused by the perennial war, even if there is a train passing by, I am afraid that the supplies on it will be rushed up, and then there will be no scum left... At present, the only thing that is still stable is probably the Dilan Railway.

It's not that the Dilan Railway is not chaotic, it's just that the territory of Central Asia is not as big as Siberia after all, and Central Asia is also a vast and sparsely populated place, plus the expeditionary force also has some garrison camps in Central Asia. Moreover, after the abdication of the Russian emperor, there was chaos in Russia, and after Yan Guang obtained the consent of Britain and France (he also consulted the consent of the Russian Provisional Political Axe, but they did not agree, fortunately, there is no need for Russia's consent now), some of the national defense forces originally stationed in Dihua and Lanzhou all entered Russia's Central Asian region, and almost all of them were stationed on some transportation arteries.

Of course, Britain and France did not fail to think about what would happen if the expeditionary force could not leave in Central Asia.

But considering that Russia is now only experiencing the chaos that will inevitably go through after the establishment of the New Deal, Britain and France are no longer worried. What's more, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, plus with the help of Britain and France, as long as the civil strife in Russia ends, even if the Chinese want to rely on it, I am afraid it will be impossible ... However, I am afraid that Britain and France would not have imagined that in a few months, the Provisional Political Axe of Russia, which at least nominally maintained a unified political axe, would face a new round of revolutionary storm, and when this storm was over, the new Russian political axe would be dominated by the "Hammer and Sickle Party," which Britain and France regarded as mortal enemies.

At that point, not to mention whether the nascent Soviet political axe is capable of expelling the expeditionary force, I am afraid that it will be Britain and France begging China to keep their troops in Central Asia... After all, compared with the members of the "Hammer and Sickle Party" in the Soviet Union, in the eyes of Britain and France, China is no longer a threat. And this is also the reason why Yan Guanghui funded the Soviet Union, although in the future the Soviet Union will definitely become China's number one enemy.

But in the same way, the Soviet Union will also be the number one enemy of the capitalist countries of Britain, France, the United States and Germany, and in a world dominated by the West, a strong China is too conspicuous, so it would be a great thing if a Soviet Union could stand up and attract firepower for China... Just like later generations, when the Soviet Union was still alive, the United States and Britain and other countries even considered including China in NATO, but what about after the collapse of the Soviet Union? If it weren't for the sudden appearance of a Comrade bin Laden, who attracted more than ten years of firepower for China, I'm afraid ... The significance of the existence of the Soviet Union was like this for China, and it was specially set aside by Yan Guang to attract the firepower of Britain, France, the United States, and Germany. Until China is so strong that it no longer needs to fear anyone... And now, Yan Guang's task is to continue to secretly fund the "Hammer and Sickle Party" in Russia until they succeed in the "October Revolution", fortunately survive the "Soviet Russian Civil War", and finally become the enemy of the whole world...

(To be continued)