The wrath of Tsar Nicholas II was enough to shock the world, and in early February 1902, due to bad weather in Siberia, the attack of a million-strong Russian army in the direction of Nebuchu was blocked, so half of the army was transferred to the Outer Mongolian plateau.

With the fall of the seven states of the Russian Far East, a large amount of military and strategic materials stored in the army were all financed by the enemy, making it impossible for the Russian army to replenish the Far East. However, Nebuchu did not have facilities for large-scale hoarding of supplies, and the daily consumption of materials by millions of Russian troops was very alarming, so the Russian high command was ordered by Tsar Nicholas II to transfer to the Outer Mongolian region and plunder the supplies of the Outer Mongolians on the spot to replenish them.

The plundering of the Russian army in Outer Mongolia immediately aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Outer Mongolians, as well as fierce resistance from some Outer Mongolian tribes. The Russian army made Outer Mongolia restless, and the princes of Outer Mongolia, such as the living Buddha Jebuzundan and Hangda Dorji, were even more bitter.

At the beginning, Jebtsundan and Hangda Dorji and others turned their backs on the Chinese Empire, mainly to expand their power and interests in Outer Mongolia. Now it is good that the Russian army suffered a big loss in the Far East but went to Outer Mongolia to plunder, and spread the losses of the Far East to the princes and ordinary people of Outer Mongolia, making Outer Mongolia restless. As a result, the economic interests of these Outer Mongolian princes were hit hard and suffered heavy losses, and many people immediately regretted it.

After the Russian army moved into Outer Mongolia, it only supplied on the spot, and because of the heavy snow and cold winter, it did not launch an offensive against the Chinese Emperor [***] in Inner Mongolia. However, the Russian Cossack cavalry regiments continued to sweep, often attacking the outposts and barracks of small garrisons on the outskirts of the Chinese Emperor. However, the Fourth Theater Command of the Chinese Empire also did a good job of precautionary work against the surname, heavy machine guns and lightning guns and other weapons played a huge role in the defense behind the fortifications, basically the number of casualties of the Russian army was more than twice that of the Chinese Emperor [***], and soon the Russian cavalry units that did not outweigh the losses gave up the harassment and turned to other tribes in Outer Mongolia to sweep, and the slaughtered Outer Mongolian herdsmen were used as the soldiers of the Chinese Emperor [***] to replenish the number.

The cold winter finally made both Chinese and Russian [***] teams choose a strategic defensive posture, and from the beginning of February to the beginning of spring, there were no large-scale battles between the two armies, only a few hundred skirmishes at the company and platoon level.

In the third month of the war, when Russia lost seven states in the Far East, and without any naval bases, Nicholas II, who had already gone crazy, dared to send a navy to the Far Eastern Pacific.

On January 3, 1902, in order to cover up the embarrassing situation of the total annihilation of the Russian Far East Fleet, stabilize the people's minds, and deter the enemy, the Russian Admiralty announced that it would send a more powerful expeditionary fleet to the Far East, planning to defeat the Chinese Imperial Navy and cooperate with the Russian Army to recover the lost territory.

After that, the Russian Admiralty forced the major Russian shipyards to work overtime to complete a large number of unfinished warships, and finally formed the Second Fleet in the Far East after two months of grinding.

On March 8, the Second Fleet of the Russian Far East was established, and the commander of the fleet was Vice Admiral Rozed Steffansky. It commanded twelve battleships, seven large armored cruisers, nine cruisers, eleven destroyers and ten auxiliary warships, and five tugboats.

Among them, the first echelon: Duke Suvorov (flagship of the commander of the 1st fleet), Alexander III, Borodino, Oriel, Crown Prince, Glory; Second echelon: Nikolai I (flagship of Rear Admiral Fleklsham), Navarin, Chesma, Catherine II, Sinop, Georgy; Third echelon: Admiral Apraksin (flagship of Rear Admiral Nebogatov), Pobedonosets, Admiral Senyavin, Admiral Ushakov, Admiral Tmysk, Admiral Revere, Admiral Sevastopol; Cruiser detachments: Oleg (flagship of Commander Rear Admiral Enkvest), Borgo, Aurora, Vladimir, Dmitry, Bright, Diamond, Pearl, Emerald; In addition, there are 10 frigates, 8 auxiliary vessels, and 4 tugboats.

The total tonnage of the whole fleet reached 300,000 tons, which is almost the main essence of the Russian Navy. Among them, nearly a quarter of the capital ships are only two years old, the other warships are basically new ships, most of them are less than half a year old, more than one-third of the warships have just been outfitted, and most of them have not yet undergone sea trials.

Such a huge fleet really frightened all countries in the world, and European and American countries all praised this huge fleet.

The New York newspaper in the United States said: "The Chinese Empire has finally provoked the Tsarist Russian Empire, and such a large fleet expedition to China has once again plunged the situation in the Far East into a state of flux." ”

The French and German newspapers touted it, "Let the humble yellow man see the power of the white race!" "They vigorously praised the Russian expeditionary fleet for one purpose, that is, to hope that the Russian national debt in their hands would appreciate, and in the worst case, it would not fall further.

Only the British analyzed it more objectively, and the naval elite headed by Fisher, the British Third Sea Lord, believed that the Russian Far East Second Fleet seemed huge in terms of quantity and total tonnage, but in fact compared with the warships of the same category in the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, the Russian warships did not have an advantage in speed, tonnage, or armor protection.

Comparing the battleships, the most elite battleships of the Second Fleet of the Russian Far East are the newly built Borodino-class, which is not at all the opponent of the Dengyun-class or Jianwei-class battleships of the Imperial Chinese Pacific Fleet. Although the speed of the two is about the same, in terms of firepower output and armor protection capabilities, the Russian ships are at a disadvantage.

Compared with large armored cruisers, the Admiral Apraksin class large armored cruiser of the Second Fleet of the Russian Far East is just a simple and improved version of the Russian class, although it is not inferior to the Hunter class of the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire in terms of armor, but it is much inferior in terms of firepower and speed, especially in front of the upgraded and strengthened version of the Hunter-class large armored cruiser of the Wind Catcher-class class, the speed lags behind more, and the firepower and armor are also at a disadvantage. Once a fierce battle breaks out between the two sides, Admiral Apraksin will definitely not be an opponent of the Wind Catcher.

Looking at the cruiser detachments of the two sides, the cruiser detachments of the Russian Navy are almost all at the level of the first decade of the last century, the ships are older, the hull layout is not very reasonable, the firepower is not strong enough, and the speed is not fast. On the other hand, the cruiser detachment of the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire, the nine Haiqi-class cruisers are a perfect combination in terms of speed, firepower, and armor, and can give full play to the comprehensive combat effectiveness of the cruisers. The Haiqi-class cruiser built by Britain for the Imperial Chinese Navy represents the current technology of the world's top cruisers, and the three ships of this class built by the Chinese Empire have not been greatly changed, which is enough to prove that this cruiser is still advanced.

In the end, Fisher threw out his most proud masterpiece, revealing for the first time in front of the press the news of the new concept of the hunting ship, acknowledging that Britain had developed a more lethal torpedo boat destroyer to counter the French and Russian high-speed torpedo boats. At the same time, Fisher also claimed that a large number of destroyers installed by the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire were torpedo boat destroyers in the British Navy.

Fisher made a comparison in this regard in terms of hunting ships. He claimed that the Imperial Chinese Navy had at least 100 hunting destroyers, of which the Second Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy had nine squadrons of 54 hunting destroyers. With such a large fleet of destroyers, it is too easy to deal with the Second Fleet of the Russian Far East, which lacks ocean-going frigates.

In the end, Fisher claimed that the Russian fleet could only go to the Far East to die, and that it was just another stepping stone to increase the influence of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

Leaving aside the words of Fisher and the British naval elite who shared his attitude, the British political axe did not want the Russian Far East Fleet to go to China, because the British political axe did not have Fisher's insight, and they did not think that the Chinese Imperial Navy could defeat the Russian Far East Second Fleet. They believed that if it was not possible to destroy this Second Fleet in the Far East, then Russia would return to its maritime supremacy in the Far East, which was not good news for Britain. Therefore, the British political axe authorities had no choice but to vigorously agree with the remarks of Fisher and others, slash the Russian Second Fleet, and vigorously praise the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, in the hope of undermining the self-confidence of the Russian Navy, and it was better to make the Russian Navy give up the idea of going to the Far East.

However, the Second Far Eastern Fleet of the Russian Navy set off, and with the will of Nicholas II, they embarked on the expedition in the face of mixed international public opinion, despite the pressure of the passive situation of the fall of the Far East.

The Russian expeditionary fleet departed from the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea and was scheduled to arrive in the Far East in three to four months, but Britain, as an ally of the Chinese Empire, was asked by the Chinese Empire to prohibit Russian warships from passing through the Suez Canal. As a result, the Russian expeditionary fleet would have to take five to six months to reach the Far East.

Such a long expedition was not happy with the officers and men of the Russian Navy from the very beginning. The Russian Navy has long been dissatisfied with many middle- and lower-level officers and soldiers, and the "communist ghost" over Europe has gradually infiltrated into the navy, and more importantly, the Far Eastern fortress Vladivostok has fallen, and the Russian expeditionary fleet has no way to gain a foothold in the Far East.

Before the expeditionary fleet left the Baltic Sea, it heard along the way that the Imperial Chinese Navy had arrived in Europe, and together with its ally Britain, it was preparing to intercept the expeditionary fleet halfway, which caused panic among the people of the Russian expeditionary fleet, and only four days after its departure, it suspiciously attacked the fishing boats of Norway, Sweden and other countries as reconnaissance ships of the Chinese Empire, which led to serious international negotiations.

Britain had by this time ended the Boer War, and Europe's diplomatic isolation from Britain had weakened. In order to divert the diplomatic spearhead of European countries, and at the same time to help the Chinese Empire gain the initiative in the diplomatic offensive against Russia, Britain took the opportunity to accuse the Russian navy of arrogance, provoked European countries to exert diplomatic pressure on Russia, and successfully pointed the diplomatic spearhead of European countries at Russia.

Although the Russian government apologized with all its explanations, Britain did not want to let Russia go, but continued to use this as an excuse to put pressure on European countries and prohibit them from supplying the Russian expeditionary fleet.

Naturally, the European countries were angry with the Russian Expeditionary Fleet, and under British pressure, they maintained strict neutrality and forbade the Russian Expeditionary Fleet to provide supplies and port services for rest. France, on the other hand, had already secretly made a promise of neutrality with the Chinese Empire, and now it had an excuse.

Surprisingly, however, Germany was so active that it sent a caravan loaded with coal and other supplies to follow the Russian expeditionary fleet to the Far East.

Yanjing, the Forbidden City.

"By the time the Russian expeditionary fleet arrives in the Far East, it is estimated that the Empire has defeated Russia and ended the war."

At the Imperial Council, almost all the civil and military officials thought so, and their confident attitude made Wang Chenhao happy, but Wang Chenhao was worried about the conspiracy behind the Russian expeditionary fleet.

Ruan Zhongshu saw Wang Chenhao's worried look, so he asked, "Your Majesty seems to be worried. ”

As soon as Ruan Zhongshu said this, the civil and military officials suddenly noticed the worry on the emperor's face.

Wang Chenhao said: "Russia has lost the fortress of Vladivostok, and even the entire seven states of the Far East. Not to mention whether the Russian expeditionary fleet has the ability to recapture the fortress of Vladivostok, just because they have traveled a long way to the Far East without even a place to dock for supplies, and the battleships cannot fight at all without maintenance after half a year of sailing, why should they engage the Imperial Navy that is waiting for work? ”

Zhang Feng said: "Your Majesty means that the Russians know that it is inappropriate and insist on taking risks? ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, and Zhang Feng said with a smile: "Your Majesty may be too worried, the Russians want to save face, and they are still like this in front of the white Europeans, not to mention that this time they have suffered a big loss in front of us yellow people." In his opinion, the Russians are doing nothing more than proving to the whole world that Russia still has a strong naval force and that Russia has not lost its original hegemony at sea. Just imagine, the Russian Army is expected to launch a full-scale offensive as soon as the weather warms up in April, and it is impossible to wait for the Navy to arrive in the Far East before starting the operation. Therefore, the minister thought that this expeditionary fleet was just a show for the countries of the world. ”

Zhang Feng's words also have some truth, and many officials agree with it.

At this time, the Minister of the Admiralty, Deng Shichang, came out and said: "Your Majesty, the only possibility is that the Russian expeditionary fleet docks at the Cam Ranh Bay naval base in France, its ally, for supply and repair, and then wags war against the Imperial Navy in the South China Sea, attracting the Imperial Navy from the north to the south, thereby relieving the pressure on the Russian army to recover the Far East." ”

Lin Taizeng, Minister of the Navy Military Command Department, also came out at this time and said: "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks so. However, the minister was also concerned about whether Russia had reached a secret agreement with Germany and the Zoben. Because on the Korean Peninsula, Germany built a strong fortress base on Jeju Island, which was not inferior to the Vladivostok fortress, and stationed the German Asian fleet. However, the country has been secretly colluding with Russia, Germany, and France, and has received financial support from the United States, and has been expanding its armaments and warfare. Today, the Combined Fleet has taken shape, and its warships are British-built, which are inferior to the warships of the Imperial Navy, but far more powerful than the warships of the Russian Navy. ”

Deng Shichang and Lin Tai were important naval officers, and they always paid attention to the maritime situation around the empire, so they immediately thought of these factors.

The words of the two of them immediately alerted Wang Chenhao and some of his ministers to the fact that if Russia really colluded with Germany and Ben, it would really be a thorny problem.

"What do you think?"

Wang Chenhao was also unsure, so he asked everyone.

Wang Shizhen frowned and said: "What Lord Deng and Lord Lin said is not unreasonable, I heard that Germany has also purchased a large number of Russian war bonds, and if Russia loses, Germany may also lose a lot." ”

"All European and American countries have said that they have maintained strict neutrality in the Sino-Russian War, but Germany is the only one that has supplied the Russian expeditionary fleet, and may allow the Russian expeditionary fleet to dock at German ports in the Pacific, and may even allow the Russian expeditionary fleet to rest at the Jeju Island naval base," Yang said. ”

Zhang Peilun added: "The combined fleet has recovered its vitality, and the possibility of joining forces with the Russian expeditionary fleet cannot be ruled out. Besides, the proximity of Ben to Vladivostok and the Far Eastern states, and the fact that there are many good ports for the Russian fleet to dock and replenish, cannot be ignored. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "It's really not easy for the little one to be able to rebuild a huge fleet in such a short period of time. The actions of the Germans were also hostile and could not be ignored. ”

Zhang Feng thought for a while, and suddenly said, "Your Majesty, the minister doesn't think that he dared to participate in the war. According to the Sino-British Treaty of Alliance, if the empire was attacked by more than two enemy countries, Britain would also enter the war. ”

Then Zhang Feng smiled again: "Therefore, the minister is very willing to let Xiao Yuben participate in the war." ”

The people did not know why, and asked, "What is the explanation?" ”

Zhang Feng said with a smile: "If Ben participates in the war, Britain will also participate in the war, and with the strength of Britain, our hope of victory is even greater." ”

Wang Chenhao and the ministers thought about it and immediately understood what Zhang Feng meant.

"No!" At this time, Wang Shizhen suddenly said: "If Ben participates in the war, Britain will enter the war in accordance with the Sino-British Alliance Treaty." However, let's not forget that Russia and France are also in entente relations, and Britain will enter the war, and France will also enter the war. Since Germany has openly supplied supplies to Russia, it means that Germany hopes that Russia will focus all its energies on the Far East, and if China and Britain and Russia and France go to war, Germany will reap the benefits, and even Germany will add a fire and completely consume the forces of France and Russia in the Far East. ”

Wang Chenhao and the ministers were stunned for a moment.

After a long time, Wang Chenhao suddenly burst out with a sentence, "Isn't that a world war?" ”

(To be continued)