(Thank you for the monthly pass of the book friend Prancing Horse Tianshan and the calm heart!) ）

"Dear Prime Minister Witt, it is a pleasure for you to be able to come to England, and I ask you to pay the highest respect to His Majesty the Tsar on my behalf!" British Prime Minister Marquess Salisbury held a wine glass and came to the bearded Russian Prime Minister Sergei ? In front of Werther, he said with a smile on his face.

"I am very honored to be requested by His Excellency the Prime Minister, and after meeting Her Majesty the Queen tomorrow, I will also pay tribute to Her Majesty the Tsar!" Russian Prime Minister Sergei? Witt said. The empress of Tsar Nicholas II was none other than the granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

"Your Excellency, your country has recently been subjected to the most barbaric treatment in the Far East, which is a provocation by China in the Far East against Western civilization, and Britain is deeply outraged!" Said the Marquis of Salisbury.

Sergei? A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Witt's eyes, wasn't the Marquis of Salisbury rubbing salt in Russia's wounds? Russia was forcibly reclaimed by China, which was a disgrace for Russia, and now, the Marquis of Salisbury has brought it up, which makes Sergei? Werther was very upset. There are also many contradictions between Russia and Britain. For example, Russia wants to find an outlet in the Indian Ocean, but Britain has tried every possible way to contain Russia, so that Russia has never been able to open a way out of the Indian Ocean. Russia's expansion into the Far East, and Britain was constantly dragging Russia back, which made Russia very dissatisfied with Britain. And now, the purpose of this gathering in Britain is also very clear to the Russian side. Sergei? This time, Witte came to England at the behest of the Tsar to ask for benefits.

"Your Excellency the Marquess of Salisbury, I have to admit that the rise of China has indeed posed a very serious threat to Russia's interests. However, China's military strength in the Far East is not strong, the army is only less than 100,000 troops, and the navy only has a few old warships, which is not the opponent of the Chinese at all. So, we can only choose to compromise! "Sergey? Witt said.

"Your Excellency Witt. That's why we have to unite and deal with China together! Only in this way can we protect our interests! Said the Marquess of Salisbury.

"Huh!" Sergei? Witt shook his head with a smile, and then said, "Your Excellency the Marquis of Salisbury, do you think that even if we unite. Will it be able to defeat China? Maybe. In terms of the navy, it is able to defeat the Chinese navy. But after defeating China's navy, will China surrender? Not necessarily! China also has an elite army of more than a million. If they don't surrender, we won't have the slightest way to defeat them! "Although. Russia is also a large army country, but its standing army is only a million people. Now, the Chinese army also has a standing army of more than one million, which makes the Russian side very nervous.

"Your Excellency Witte, what if the Russian and Japanese armies join forces? There may not be no chance to defeat China! Naval side. If the Japanese Navy is unable to defeat the Chinese Navy, the US Navy will do the same. In addition, our country and the French Navy will not sit idly by. As for the land war, it will depend on Russia and Japan. The Russian army is invincible in Europe! Said the Marquess of Salisbury. Although Russia's land forces often rely on numbers to win, the strength advantage that other countries cannot resist is enough to make other countries' scalps tingle. Although Russia now has only a standing army of a million. But if they want, they can lightly arm millions of troops. Those honest serfs were more than willing to obey the orders of their tsarist "little father", and those weapons went to fight the enemies of Russia desperately. This is also something that Britain is very envious. Britain has the world's largest navy, and its army is not weak. But the number of troops is too small to be able to take charge on its own.

"Your Excellency the Marquis of Salisbury, the Japanese army is only 400,000 men. Even if they double in size. It is estimated that China will not be able to defeat it. China, on the other hand, is constrained by the fact that the land area is too large. Our forces are concentrated in Europe and cannot be transferred to the Far East at all. Unless, the Trans-Siberian Railway can be built. However, that damn railway, which cost countless funds, is far from being opened to traffic! "Sergey? Witt said hatefully.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is a railway line that runs through the east and west of Russia. From Moscow, via Ryazan, Samara, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Chita, Khabarovsk (Boly), to Vladivostok (Vladivostok). With a total length of 9,2 km, it is currently the longest railway in the world. However, the railway is still under intense construction. It is not yet known when it will be able to open to traffic.

Beginning in the 6th century, Tsarist Russia frantically expanded its territory in Asia, seizing the entire Siberian region, which covered an area of more than 2 million square kilometers, accounting for nearly the land area of Asia. It is a place of endless forests and grasslands, fertile soils, and rich mineral resources, which many people call the "Golden Cellar". However, Siberia was too far away from the European part of Russia to be developed for hundreds of years. Because of its harsh natural conditions, since the end of the 6th century, successive tsars have used it as a penal colony for hard labor.

At the end of the 9th century, Russia began to enter a period of industrialization. In order to develop the domestic economy, the tsar began to pay attention to the Siberian region. More importantly, at that time, Britain, the United States, Japan, and other powers were fiercely competing on the international stage in the Far East, which highlighted Siberia's strategic position. In order to firmly occupy this land, far from Europe, and to implement the "Far Eastern policy" of Tsarist Russia to encroach on Asia, the tsar decided to build a large railway through the whole of Siberia.

In fact, as early as the middle of the 9th century, the relevant departments had carried out a lot of demonstration work for the construction of railways. In 90, Tsar Alexander III officially issued an order to start construction from Vladivostok, the easternmost point. In May 9, Crown Prince Nicholas (later the last Tsar Nicholas II) visited Vladivostok to preside over the groundbreaking ceremony of the railway. In July 92, the railway was built from Chelyabinsk to the east. Due to the importance of the matter, the highest Russian authorities always attached great importance to the project, and in 92 the "Special Management Committee of the Trans-Siberian Railway" was established, with Crown Prince Nikolai himself as chairman.

However, the construction of the railway was extremely difficult, in addition to the dense rivers, lakes and mountains, and the vast area of permafrost, the harsh climate became the biggest test. In Siberia, winter temperatures can reach an astonishing minus 50C, and in midsummer, temperatures can reach almost minus 40C. Huge temperature differences often cause steel to crack and equipment to be damaged.

Under extremely harsh conditions, thousands of poor Russian peasants and laborers were involved in the construction. They braved the bitter cold and heat to build bridges and lay sleepers, and many died of exhaustion. In addition, Russia had to pay a high price for the construction of the railway. As a relatively backward country in Europe, Tsarist Russia had to spend almost all its strength to afford the staggering costs. From 9 years to now, Russia has paid nearly a billion rubles for this railway, which is more than 100 million pounds when converted into pounds. And now, the railway has only been built to Irkutsk, and it will take at least 5 years to complete the entire line. And now, the Russian government has run out of money.

The Marquis of Salisbury was silent, he heard Sergei? What Werther meant was that the Russians wanted the British to support Russia on the railway, such as lending money to Russia so that Russia could continue to build the railway. However, the British side also has their concerns. Once the Trans-Siberian Railway is fully opened, it will also have great disadvantages for the UK. Once the railway was opened, Russia would certainly be able to increase its control over the Far East, and the Russian army would transport a steady stream of railways to the Far East, so that Britain would no longer be able to stop Russian expansion in the Far East.

"Damn, now we have to face the rise of China, let the Russians build the railway, and then go and fight hard with the Chinese!" The Marquess of Salisbury thought secretly.

"Your Excellency Witte, in order to contain the development of China, the British Government is willing to support Russia, and we will join forces with the French Government to make a loan to the Russian Government, so that Russia will be able to build the railway as much as possible. However, we also have one condition. That is, once a war breaks out in the Far East, Russia must cooperate with Japan and defeat China on land! Said the Marquess of Salisbury.

Sergei? Witte was very excited, he didn't expect that the Marquis of Salisbury would agree to his request so easily, so he immediately replied: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, once the railway is built, we will let those yellow-skinned monkeys know how powerful the Slavic warriors are!" "Russia is also very hostile to China. If nothing else, it is said that last year China forcibly withdrew Russia's privileges in China and did not recognize the unequal treaty signed between the Manchus and Russia, which made Russia very frightened. During the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Russia seized more than 1.5 million square kilometers of land from China. If China wants to return more of these lands, Russia will have no choice but to go to war with China. Now the British are willing to support Russia in building the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is undoubtedly the best situation.

"Well, then, I wish us success!" The Marquis of Salisbury said with a smile. It is no longer an extravagant hope that Russia will come forward on land and defeat China. Russia is a powerful country known as a steam steamroller, even Napoleon could not defeat Russia, once Russia's military strength exploded, China, a rising power, will definitely not be able to resist.

PS: The third update is here! Tomorrow's fourth watch, there is an update in the early morning!