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"Your Excellency, is there no other way? Do you have to abandon the Siberian Plain? "Tsar Nicholas II stared closely at the Minister of War Alexei? Nikolaevich? Kuropatkin asked. In his eyes, there is a lot of emotion, anger, sadness, disappointment, and so on. These territories were slowly expanded by the ancestors, but now, all of them have been lost in his hands. This made him feel a deep sense of shame and doubts about his own abilities. If there was any other way, he would never agree to it.

"Your Majesty, there is no other way now. The equipment and individual soldiers of the Chinese army are much, much stronger than ours. It's hard to imagine how different it was a few decades ago. At the beginning, a few thousand Russian warriors were able to beat China to their knees and beg for mercy, but now, the Chinese are no longer to be underestimated. Although, everyone doesn't want to admit it. However, this is the case, China has risen, and no country can stop China's progress! If Marshal Gurko's troops do not retreat, what awaits them will be all wiped out by the squadron. When the time comes, it will be even more difficult for us to stop the squadron from attacking westward! "War Minister Alexey? Nikolaevich? Kuropatkin said. In fact, even if Marshal Gurko retreated now, he was very skeptical that how many Russian troops would be able to safely retreat to the Urals. After all, the back road has been cut off, and it is necessary to break through the defense line of the Chinese. It's not that simple.

"So. Is it still possible for us to subdue the Siberian Plain? Tsar Nicholas II asked. Let him give up such a large piece of land. He is really unwilling!

"Your Majesty, this, the minister doesn't know. The specific situation depends on the follow-up development! "War Minister Alexey? Nikolaevich? Kuropatkin said. In fact, even he himself did not believe that Russia had any chance of recovering these territories. After all, China's national power is booming, while Russia's is dying. After China is getting stronger. It is simply impossible for Russia to defeat China and regain these territories seized by the Chinese.

Tsar Nicholas II was also silent, and he was very difficult to decide.

"Your Majesty, Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Your Excellency the Minister of the Interior, and Your Excellency the Director of the General Administration of Orthodox Affairs ask to see you!" At this time, the waiter came in and reported. Because of the urgency of the situation, Tsar Nicholas II also sent someone to summon them.

"Knock to see Your Majesty!" When several people came, they all saluted like Tsar Nicholas II.

"Your Excellency, Minister of War, tell them the specific situation!" Tsar Nicholas II said.

So, War Minister Alexei? Nikolaevich? Kuropatkin hurriedly told several people about the specific situation. However, after everyone knows the specific situation. The faces of each one were very ugly, and they didn't think of it at all. The situation will get so bad.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it should be agreed to let Marshal Gurko lead the army to retreat. The army in the hands of Marshal Gurko is already our last army, and if it is lost again, then Russia will not have extra troops to resist the attack of the Chinese! "Prime Minister Sergei? Witt said.

However, Tsar Nicholas II was still somewhat undecided. After all, it makes him very distressed to let such a large area of Siberia be.

"Your Majesty, I can't hesitate anymore. Once the Chinese surrounded Malianovka, Marshal Gurko would not be able to retreat even if he wanted to. As for the Siberian Plain, even if we really defeat and have to negotiate peace with the Chinese, we should be able to keep the Siberian Plain. Although the appetite of the Chinese is large, Central Asia and Eastern Siberia are enough to satisfy their appetite. In addition, even if the empire loses this battle, it will only be a temporary defeat. The fact that the Chinese can win in this war does not mean that the Chinese can still win in the next war. China and Britain, France, the United States, and the Empire have formed mortal enemies. In the future, our countries will definitely join forces to fight China. In the next war, as long as the empire can be ready. Well, it is not a dream to defeat China and recover all the land! "Sergey? Witte knew what the Tsar was thinking, and he told him what he expected to happen in the future, hoping to convince Nicholas II with this.

Sure enough, listened to Sergey? With Werther's words, Tsar Nicholas II's face looked a little better. A temporary failure does not mean a permanent failure. Even if this battle is lost, Russia still has a chance to win the next battle. At that time, Russia will definitely be able to take back all the territory. Moreover, in this war, although Russia lost, it also realized its own shortcomings. Prepare well before the next battle, and Russia will surely win. Coupled with the fact that several major powers in the world are enemies of China, Russia will definitely be able to win the next war. At that time, Russia will not only recover the territory seized by the Chinese, but also cut off a piece of meat on China's body to make up for the losses in this war.

Although he had a decision in his heart, Tsar Nicholas II did not make a decision immediately, but looked at the head of the General Administration for Orthodox Affairs, and his confidant was quite Donoschev.

"Your Majesty, the minister also believes that exchanging space for time is the best way to deal with the Chinese, just as Marshal Kutuzov did with Napoleon!" Pobedonoszev also said.

Tsar Nicholas II couldn't help but be amazed at how similar the Chinese invasion of Russia was to the French invasion of Russia. At that time, France was the hegemon of Europe, and all European countries had to surrender, which was even more powerful than China's now. But in the end, it was Russia that won the final victory. He believed that even if there was a temporary defeat, the final victory would belong to Russia.

"Very well, since everyone agrees, then order Marshal Gurko to retreat!" Tsar Nicholas II said.

Soon, the telegram reached Marshal Gurko, who could not help but breathe a sigh of relief after receiving the telegram that the Tsar agreed to retreat.

Immediately after that, Marshal Gurko summoned a meeting of the generals of the Russian army to inform them about the current plight of the Russian army and the orders of the tsar. Sure enough, after learning that the back road was cut off, these Russian generals were shocked one by one. But Tsar Nicholas II agreed to their order to retreat, which reassured them a lot. Now the only problem of retreat is how to break through the Chinese defenses in Boyevoi. However, Marshal Gurko already had a way.

Having given the order that the whole army would retreat tomorrow, Marshal Gurko ordered the four newly formed Cossack regiments of the Russian army to set off overnight and rush to Boyevoy. He did not ask these Russian troops to attack the Chinese cavalry, but asked them to establish a defensive line on the perimeter to prevent the Chinese cavalry from affecting the retreat of the Russian army. The Chinese cavalry had great firepower, and if the Russian Cossack cavalry took the initiative to attack, they would suffer heavy losses. But if you don't fight hard with the Chinese cavalry, the Cossack cavalry may not be weaker than the Chinese cavalry. As long as the powerful firepower of the Chinese cavalry could not be brought into play, then it would not be possible to defeat the Cossack cavalry lightly.

Early the next morning, the Russian army began to retreat westward. Because they were fleeing for their lives, these Russian troops moved very quickly. This made Marshal Gurko very emotional. If it is in the middle of the offensive, how can these Russian troops not be able to defeat the squadron if they have such a rapid speed?

When the Russian army retreated, the squadron also began to attack Malianovka. However, they did not encounter the slightest obstacle along the way. On the night of August 19, they captured Malianovka, which was empty.

After learning of the large-scale retreat of the Russian army to the west, the Minister of the Chinese Army, Cai Yun, on the one hand, ordered the 1st and 3rd Cavalry Corps occupying Boyevoy to try to intercept the Russian army. At the same time, the 1st, 4th and 5th armies were ordered to also pursue the Russian army and destroy as many Russian troops as possible.

It's just that in the process of retreating, the Russian army broke out with a very strong will to survive. When attacking, they are often not afraid of death. The 1st and 3rd Cavalry Corps attempted to stop the Russians, but both were met with heavy attacks. Although they inflicted huge casualties on the Russian army, their own losses were not small, and they finally had to retreat to the city of Boyevoy.

Marshal Gurko led the Russian army to retreat quickly to the west, while the squadron was in hot pursuit. The two cavalry armies were even waiting for an opportunity to bite a large piece of fat on the Russian army. This made Marshal Gurko angry enough, but he knew that the Russian army could not stop, and once it was caught up by the main force of the squadron behind, it would be dead. The Cossack cavalry of the Russian army also desperately dragged the Chinese cavalry, even if its own losses were huge, it also created favorable conditions for the withdrawal of large troops.

In the end, Marshal Gurko led his army to retreat to Chelyabinsk half a month later, and when the retreating 500,000 Russian troops arrived in Chelyabinsk, there were only more than 200,000 left. The rest of the people were all lost on the way. It's just that the situation at this time has changed dramatically. The final peace talks between Russia and China had begun, and Tsar Nicholas II finally bowed his noble head and accepted the harsh conditions offered by the Chinese side.

Tsar Nicholas II made such a change not because of military defeat, but because of civil strife in Russia. Large-scale civil strife broke out in Russia, which made it impossible for Russia to continue the foreign war, and had to shift all its strength to dealing with internal strife. (To be continued.) )