A cold snap from the Arctic Ocean mixed with light snow hit St. Petersburg. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoDespite the cold wind and snow in the air, for the Russians, such a snow is not worth mentioning at all, it is this light snow...... In such a cold winter, even the snow blown by strong winds is heavier than that. Especially when the sun is not completely obscured by the clouds.

Well, such weather is almost equal to a sunny day.

It was a good day, in the winter in St. Petersburg, but for the civil and military ministers of St. Petersburg, they could not enjoy the barely bright sunshine - the war broke out!

Just a few hours ago, the Chinese Consul General in St. Petersburg handed over to the Foreign Minister a letter from the Northeast authorities severing all diplomatic ties with Russia – well, the Northeast authorities, and even in that severance of diplomatic relations with the very direct and obscure words "in view of the current situation...... Forced to ...... The authorities in the Northeast will have to resort to diplomacy...... The most straightforward ...... Action ......"

Even Werther, who was recognized as the most proficient diplomat in the Russian Empire, was in doubt when he received the letter of renunciation, was this a declaration of war? Isn't it like, is this a broken book? Nor is it really, because the Northeast is not a country.

But what is it?

Just when the officials in St. Petersburg did not know how to respond, news of the war suddenly came from the Far East, not even from the Sino-Russian border, but from China, and this is the strangest place.

“…… The consul in Dalian had confirmed with the authorities in the northeast, and the authorities in the northeast had indeed sent their troops, as was the telegram from Vladinivsk......"

When Werther arrived at the Winter Palace, he saw that the Minister of War Kuropatkin had arrived early, and Kuropatkin was standing there, if you looked closely. He didn't seem to have washed up yet, and it seemed that he had stayed up all night, at least he got up early, and when he saw the appearance of the Minister of War, Werther's mind suddenly "chuckled".

Now what everyone wants to talk about is no more obvious. It's a matter of war.

"The war broke out, Nikolavich sent a telegram, the Chinese attacked the port of Konstantin, sank two battleships of the Pacific Fleet, severely damaged a battleship and an armored cruiser, and in the Primorsky region, except for the telegraph from Vladinivsk, telegraphs from other regions were no longer available, but in Amur. But we can see a steady stream of Chinese troops entering the coast, and I will have a major decision to announce......"

Facing the newly walked in Werther, Mikhail III, the Tsar of the Russian Empire, originally he never thought that he would become a Tsar, but the assassination that happened in Japan changed everything His two older brothers, Nikolai and George, were assassinated by the Japanese on the same day, as Alexander III's smallest hammer. 7 years ago. Only 16 years old, he inherited the throne because of his youth. So his way of running the country was very simple – he left things in charge to the ministers, and it was with his full support that Witte was able to carry out drastic reforms in Russia over the past seven years, although those reforms were more focused on the economy, but his efforts were to maximize Russia's national power.

As for the ambitious "Grand Fleet" plan, it was also possible to implement it entirely thanks to the economic reforms carried out by Werther. Only then will they be able to obtain sufficient funds to back it up. As the most powerful finance minister in the Russian Empire, he was also a trusted minister of Tsar Mikhail III. At this important time, Mikhail naturally wanted to ask for his opinion and opinion.

"Therefore, I would like to hear Aiqing's opinion!"

Mikhail III, with a melancholy face, looked directly at Witt and said in a deep voice.

"Please speak up!"

After a moment's silence, Witt looked towards Kuropatkin. Asked rhetorically.

"Your Majesty the Tsar, please!"

Werther's voice was not loud, but it was enough to reach the ears of Mikhail III.

"Now that the army in the northeast has attacked Russian territory, our fleet has been attacked, our territory has been trampled on, and Russia has never been invaded without responding to it, so if we do not react, then our weakness will threaten the very existence of Russia."

Raising his head, Witte looked at His Majesty the Tsar in front of him, and his words paused slightly.

"Now only by throwing all our strength and fighting can we force the authorities in the Northeast to realize their mistake! But what we have to figure out is, who is our enemy? It's the Northeast, or it's China! ”

There is no doubt that for Witte he did not want to see war, but that does not mean that he would be afraid of war, and the same words can be applied to the Russian Empire, which has never feared or feared war, was, and still is.

And for Witte, he knows better than anyone else that Russia must respond in the strongest possible way, otherwise the whole world will be rude to Russia's voice, let alone give Russia any respect, and if the imperial authorities cannot maintain their "national prestige", then the Russian people will not be able to accept it.

Because of this, on the way here, although the news about the front line was still vague and even confusing, he still made a choice.

"Sergey, that's exactly what I thought, and now that you're thinking the same, then I think I know what to do!"

Mikhail's words relieved Mikhail, who had been opposed to all the expansion that had emanated from the court over the past few years, including in Asia, and whose answer had undoubtedly paved the way for future operations in the Northeast.

"As for our enemies, given the current situation in China, I believe that our enemies should be the local authorities in the northeast, so the traditional declaration of war is undoubtedly not suitable, and Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong and the other governors are not enemies of Russia......"

Perhaps for the Russians, they can arrogantly think that China is vulnerable, and only need a light push to completely solve the big and fragmented empire, but they clearly know that China involves the interests of too many countries, maybe they can ignore Britain and the United States. But France, Russia's largest creditor, also has a wide range of interests in China, and over the past period of time, France has more than once told Russia that any Russian ambition against China must stop north of the Great Wall.

In the face of France's warnings, Russia must make certain concessions. Of course, for the Russians, they also knew very well what would happen if Russia reached south of the Great Wall, and not only would they encounter a strong backlash from various countries, but the governors of the Guannai would also be very likely to resist Russia by all means.

The Tsar's words made Werther breathe a sigh of relief, at least now his worst fears could be avoided, after all, the Northeast is not equal to China. As long as Russia's enemies are only the Northeast, then the situation will undoubtedly be more favorable for Russia.

"Alexey, now about the front, is there any further news besides those previous ones? The Northeasterners are now in position? How is the Army prepared to deal with all of this now? ”

"Sergey, according to the plan we made a few years ago, my proposal is to send an army of 250,000 to 500,000 to solve the Far East problem in one fell swoop, and the first step is to disarm the authorities in the northeast and occupy Dalian. It is even possible to occupy Mongolia as well as North Korea ......"

Kuropatkin's answer made Wert's brow furrow slightly, and in his opinion, the plan was too arrogant. Through the war against Japan, he was convinced of the price to be paid to achieve such war goals.

"Although I do not doubt that Russia has this capability, Your Majesty ......"

Bowing slightly at Tsar Mikhail III, Witte issued another warning.

"The war with the Northeast will not only cost us a lot of money and require us a lot of sacrifices, but above all if we do not get out of it quickly, and thus weaken Russia. Then there is no doubt that Europe will take advantage of this favorable situation to bring us an unexpected blow......"

Rather than focusing on Asia, Witte focused on the overall interests of the Russian Empire, and in fact, expansion in the Philippines appeared to have given Russia a coveted piece of tropical colonization and rich economic returns. But politically unwise, Britain could no longer tolerate Russian expansion, and even France was quite critical of it.

It can be said that Russia's expansion has come to an end, and if Russia blindly plunges its forces into Asia, then the neglect of Europe is very likely to lead to disastrous consequences, and it is precisely for this reason that Witte is unwilling to see Russia's full-scale advance into the Northeast, more precisely, he is unwilling to invest too much Russian power in Asia.

"Don't march to Dalian now, in any case, because it's out of place...... We have two interests in China – one is the railway, and the other is commerce. The occupation of Dalian did not mean that the war could be ended, nor that sufficient commercial interests could be recovered. It is very likely that when the military operation begins near Dalian, the Governor of Northeast China will flee to the interior and continue to direct the troops in this war, and we will not be able to blockade Northeast China as we did with Japan, because there are thousands of versts of land connections between Northeast China and North China, and our military occupation of Northeast China will most likely cause the governors within China to be wary of Russia's actions, which is very likely to lead to them supporting Northeast financially and militarily. This would undoubtedly be an extremely unwise move. ”

Witte undoubtedly knew more about the reality of China than anyone else, and before coming to the Winter Palace, he was most worried not about the war, but about the boundaries of war, and although he was most worried that the court would regard all of China as an enemy, he was more worried that the military occupation of the northeast would provoke a strong backlash from the governors of Kannai.

"Sergey, if we don't occupy Dalian, then how can we teach this group of arrogant Chinese, their governors should now be glad that we did not regard them as enemies, instead of providing support to the authorities in the northeast!"

Kuropatkin said with some arrogance, and when the words fell, he looked at the tsar and said.

"Your Majesty, the governors of China will definitely stand by and watch! They would even love to see us eliminate a potential and formidable adversary! ”

"Standing by and watching? My Majesty! ”

Before Kuropatkin's words fell, Witt interjected sharply.

"Maybe there are nine governors in China, and their governors have different minds, and their courts have become an ornament, but we must not forget that they are all Chinese! Perhaps, they will not directly give support to the Northeast, but if we show that we want to occupy the Northeast and control the Northeast, then, they will not hesitate to give support to the Northeast, even if it is only secret support, please don't doubt this, Your Majesty, there is a saying in China called the cold of lips and teeth, for Li Hongzhang, the existence of the Northeast may be a threat, but it is also a barrier, so that he does not need to face the threat from us, but how we occupy the Northeast and Mongolia, then, Li Hongzhang: Is it possible for him to accept it? Your Majesty, Li Hongzhang may not be the emperor, but among the governors of China, his appeal is undoubted! ”

Seeing that His Majesty seemed to be thinking about his words, Werther hurriedly said in an accentuated tone.

"And why push their power to the enemy when it is possible for us to use their strength? With their help, we can put an end to the problems in the Northeast in a shorter time. ”

With their powers!

Mikhail looked at Witte and motioned for him to continue.

"Your Majesty, there are a total of nine governors in China, they are the same as the Chinese people, they have long been unable to tolerate the rule of the Tatars in China, overthrowing the rule of the Tatars can be said to be the current consensus in China, but the nine governors contain each other, but they all have to maintain the status quo, in the past many years, the nine governors have formed three competitors with Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong and Tang Haoran as the main ones, their strength is to contain each other, and they cannot form an overwhelming advantage over any of the two sides, That's why they maintain the status quo, Your Majesty, what if, we tell Li Hongzhang that Russia will support his reunification with China, and would be happy to see Yu Northeast replace Tang Haoran's dominance? ”

Looking at His Majesty thoughtfully, Witte continued.

"Your Majesty, since other countries can accept our occupation of Northeast China and North Korea, but Your Majesty, please don't forget that there are already more than 40 million yellow people in Russia now, and if another 50 million yellow people are added, then it will undoubtedly be disastrous for Russia! Your Majesty! ”

Werther's words made Mikhail fall into deep thought, his eyes were dark in the night sky, but his heart was calm - 40 million yellow people, those who were once Japanese, are now the second largest ethnic group in Russia, second only to Russians!

"Werther, will Li Hongzhang accept this suggestion?" (To be continued.) )