In addition to the emperor, there are seventy-nine virtuous ministers and Emperor Guan Temple, after worshipping forty-three monarchs, Wang Feng and others walked backwards, for these eighty predecessors, Wang Feng has no intention of starting, just simply go to worship it, at the same time, the golden ~~ hall of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, is full of a violent atmosphere!

The Russian Emperor Alexander II perched on a throne with a scepter, a middle-aged man in his early forties, with short brown hair, a square face, a neatly trimmed mane that almost covered both sides of his face, a beard on his lips, a slender and tall figure, and a humiliating anger in his eagle eyes.

Just now, I received news from the Far East that China beheaded 8,000 Russian prisoners of war at the founding ceremony in front of hundreds of thousands of people and representatives of European and American countries!

If the annihilation of 50,000 Russian troops a few months ago was just shocking, then the collective execution of prisoners of war is a humiliation for Chi Guoguo, which is a slap in the face of the Russian Empire, which cannot be tolerated by any country!

Below the Russian Tsar, the highest administrative body is the Council of Ministers, which can be understood as the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty, and there is also the First General Office of His Majesty the Tsar, which has more real power, which is similar to the Military Aircraft Department of the Qing Dynasty, and the Council of State, which is the highest judicial body and the highest supervisory body, and the State Council, the highest legislative body, can only play a mere formality role in the formulation and implementation of Russian policy due to the Tsar's strength.

You know, the support base of the tsarist autocracy in Russia is very broad, and it is not afraid of the winds of freedom and democracy blowing from the west, and the Russians generally believe that a strong and prosperous Russia needs a strong tsar to lead. Liberal democracy and republican philosophy did not suit Russia, and the tsar was the steward responsible for the lives of all Russian peoples. Also the father of all Russians.

At this time, dozens of members of the Council of Ministers and the First Office were howling. Anger is the theme of the golden ~~ hall, and revenge is the word that appears most frequently!

"Silence!" Alexander II slammed his scepter and shouted.

It has to be said that the victory in the Crimean War brought Alexander II incomparable prestige, and the golden ~~ hall that was originally like a duck field instantly quieted down, and dozens of pairs of green eyes looked at the throne.

"Gentlemen!" Alexander II said coldly: "China's brutal behavior has challenged the dignity of the Russian Empire, and we must give a strong counterattack, now it is not a question of whether to retaliate, but how?" What is the scale of the retaliation? What is the goal of revenge? Please see each other. We need to arrange it as soon as possible, otherwise it will make our European neighbors laugh and breed undeserved delusions in Turkey. ”

The Russians have a violent personality and take revenge on China, and a consensus is reached without discussion, and just outside the Winter Palace, there are tens of thousands of angry people marching and petitioning, shouting slogans to pacify China, so to speak. There is a high degree of unanimity among the government and the opposition on retaliating against China.

Chernyshevsky and Herzen, the most prominent leftists who opposed serfdom, also appeared in the petition.

Bursts of shouts entered the golden ~~ hall, and Duke Lerov, the chief minister of the First General Office, bowed: "Your Majesty the Emperor, have you heard the voice of the people?" The people demand that you lead Russia to the Far East. To wash away the shame with the blood of the lowly yellow monkey, I strongly ask you to issue a national mobilization order to raise an army of two million. Converge into a torrent of revenge into China! ”

"Yes, kill them all. Snatch up their women and wealth and occupy China. Let us Russians multiply forever in that warm and rich land! ”

"Your Majesty, you order, I, Baron Hadeniaf, am willing to lead all the men of the family to be your vanguard!"

"I am also willing to be the vanguard of His Majesty the Emperor!"

There was a constant chorus of echoes around, and there was a cry for war.

This is different from the war against Europe, the war against Europe is actually Russia lost more and won less, how did the victory in Crimea come about, everyone knows that if 80,000 people were beheaded in the war against Britain and France and other European powers, it would never be so crowded, the key is that it was the Chinese who slaughtered Russian prisoners of war, and China has been labeled as a weak country due to the defeat of the Qing-British war.

In the eyes of the Russians, it is strange that 50,000 troops were completely annihilated, and they do not believe that China has the ability to defeat 50,000 Russian troops head-on, and they do not think that it is related to conspiracy and trickery, or even to the mastermind behind the European and American powers.

The European and American powers' contacts with China, not only with the Qing court, but also with the Democratic Alliance, with which they clashed several times and maintained active trade exchanges, gave them a deep understanding of the great changes in China.

However, Russia's contacts were limited to the Qing court, and he had no contact with the Democratic Alliance, and his impression of China only came from the Qing Dynasty, so it is not surprising that he was so arrogant.

However, there are still people who understand, and General Gorchakov, who once replaced Prince Menlev during the Crimean War, hesitated and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I think that the use of troops against China needs to be carefully considered."

"Gorchakov, what do you mean? Are you trying to make enemies of the people of all Russia? Before Gorchakov finished speaking, Duke Lerov buttoned down a big hat on his head.

To tell the truth, Gorchakov was very unimpressed with these nobles who held great power, and did not even look at Duke Lerov, but still looked at Alexander II.

Alexander II said with a blank face: "General Gorchakov, please continue." ”

Only then did Gorchakov say: "If we collect two million troops to attack China, then our forces in Europe will become extremely empty, and who can guarantee that Prussia, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and other countries will not be ready to move?" Even Britain and France may be involved, and once the above countries reach an alliance against Russia, it will be very dangerous for us, so the number of troops involved in the attack on China cannot exceed five or six hundred thousand, after all, Europe is our focus.

Secondly, although Russia straddles Europe and Asia, and borders China at the eastern end of its territory, it is sparsely populated, and after the loss of His Excellency Murajoviv's 50,000 troops, it is no longer capable of launching a direct attack on China, and must transfer troops from Europe itself.

Your Majesty, fighting against China is different from fighting in the Crimea, first of all, because of the problems of logistics support, too many troops cannot directly attack China through the tundra of Siberia, according to my estimates, even if only 30,000 to 50,000 people are sent at one time, it will bring a heavy burden to our country, and only relying on these 350,000 troops to attack China, how effective it will be, I am afraid only God knows.

Therefore, if we want to attack China, there is only one way to go, that is, to attack China's Xinjiang through Central Asia, and then continue to advance inland after gaining a firm foothold in Xinjiang, which means that the prerequisite for our revenge is to occupy Central Asia, and Central Asia has the three khanates of Kokand, Bukhara and Khiva, I suggest that Your Majesty should attack these three countries first, which can not only expand the territory of the Russian Empire, but also serve as a springboard, use local resources to replenish, reduce the burden on the homeland, and also recruit servant troops from the locality, Charge for the Russian army! ”

Alexander II's eyes lit up, although he was angry, he did not lose his mind, Gorchakov's proposal was undoubtedly very sound and feasible, he had already approved it at the first time, but still asked downward: "Gentlemen, what do you think of General Gorchakov's proposal?" ”

"Yes, yes, I agree, I agree!" After the initial outrage, echoes were heard.

After all, China is too far away from Europe, even if the Russian magnates look down on China, but logistics support is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed, 50,000 troops through thousands of miles of uninhabited Siberia, at least 1 million troops will be consumed in the Crimea logistics materials, this price is indeed too great, and Gorchakov's proposal to use Central Asia as a springboard is a good solution to this trouble.

Although the Russians are irritable, they are not stupid, and in the centuries-long war of expansion, they have gradually developed a cunning and dark national character.

Alexander II said aloud: "Pass my order, before the end of the summer, I ask to gather at least half a million troops to conquer the three Central Asian countries, and our young men are willing to serve the Fatherland, I express my heartfelt thanks as the emperor of the Russian Empire, and now, all of you, go out and prepare." ”

"Yes, my esteemed majesty!" Everyone bowed and bowed, and exited the golden ~~ hall one after another.

With the order of Alex II, Russia's huge war machine quickly started, in fact, the mobilization of 500,000 troops in the Democratic Alliance Army, can be described as doing its best, but in Russia if you do not consider the pressure on logistics, it is really not much.

There are two sources of military strength in Russia, the first is the professional army, that is, the upper nobility provides officers, and the freedmen provide soldiers, of course, the freedmen can obtain knighthoods and promote to nobility by virtue of their military merits.

For example, the Russian army deployed in the Far East of Central Asia, including the 50,000 troops who were completely annihilated by the Democratic Alliance forces, belong to the first category, and the annihilation of such an organized army is indeed cutting the flesh of Russia.

The other is the army from the feudal lords, where the lord's children and relatives serve as officers at all levels, and the foreman holds grass-roots positions such as sergeant major, and the source of soldiers comes from serfs.

Do not think that serfs were forced to go to war, on the contrary, the enthusiasm of Russian serfs to serve as soldiers was much higher than that of free people, and this was the only way for them to get rid of serfdom.

Although the quality of serfs is very low, not as good as Britain, France, Prussia and other mainstream European countries, but serfs grew up drinking bitter water, and can naturally endure the harsh environment on the battlefield, in this regard, it is stronger than European countries, and the base of serfs is very large, according to statistics, the population of Russia in 1852 was 69.5 million, and the proportion of serfs was more than 80 percent, and after deducting the old, weak, sick and disabled, and women, the theoretical mobilization potential was about 10 million.

This is a very terrifying number, although Western European countries look down on the Russian army, they dare not take it lightly, including Wang Feng, they must be cautious! (To be continued.) )

PS: The golden ~~ hall turned out to be a violation~~forbidden~~ word, this is the one I don't understand the most~~forbidden~~ word, does anyone know why?