After Nicholas II decided to expand the army by 2 million, it was the time to be complacent, turned his head to look at the Minister of the Navy, Grand Duke Vicky, and thought that half of the main force of the powerful Russian Navy could only retreat in the port of Vladivostok, and he did not even have the confidence to fight with Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy.

However, he also knew that Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy was indeed a rebellious existence, as a country's local navy, it was ranked among the top few navies in the world, and Nicholas II admired Lin Daxin a little in his heart, not only did he have a lot of money, but he was also willing to spend money.

However, in this war, the Northeast Navy could not ignore it, so Nicholas II said to Grand Duke Vich: "Now Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy has not attacked the port of Vladivostok, and I believe that the Pacific Fleet and a large number of shore defense guns in the port of Vladivostok should be able to hold the port of Vladivostok." Although it is said that the war between our Russia and Lin Daxin is mainly carried out on land, but in the future, we will always face the Northeast Navy when we seize the Northeast Navy Fortress, do you have any plans for the Admiralty? ”

Grand Duke Vechi shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said: "Your Majesty the Tsar, if you want to attack the naval fortress in the Northeast, you must face the powerful Northeast Navy, and the Pacific Fleet in the Far East alone has no hope of victory at all, and you can only mobilize all the main warships of our Russian fleets in Europe, 10 all-steel battleships, 6 large fast armored cruisers, 6 ironclad battleships and 12 protective cruisers to the Far East. After joining forces with the Pacific Fleet, it is possible to win, and the probability of victory is no more than 30%. ”

Although the Russian Pacific Fleet plus the main fleets of Europe. The displacement is also more than 600,000 tons, but the Northeast Navy's total displacement is still more than 800,000 tons, including the captured American and Italian warships, plus the newly commissioned warships, that is, excluding the warships sunk in the Battle of Manila Bay.

Moreover, the Northeast Navy has always grown up in the flames of war, but the Russian Navy has not experienced a major war for many years. Far behind the officers and men of the Northeast Navy, this is also the main reason why the Minister of the Navy, Grand Duke Vicky, does not have the confidence to defeat the Northeast Navy.

Tsar Nicholas II frowned and said: "But want to completely occupy the Northeast." You have to face the Northeast Navy, you can't dodge, is there any way to do it? ”

The Minister of the Navy, Grand Duke Vicky, and the Chief of the General Staff of the War Department, Gorrosky, looked at each other and both shook their heads. Says there is nothing to be done. The navy fights with strength, and in a naval battle, its strength cannot compare with that of the Northeast Navy, so it will only end in defeat, and there is no way to take advantage of it.

At this time, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte said: "Your Majesty the Tsar, the minister has an idea. ”

When Nicholas II heard this, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Witt, what can you do?" ”

Witte said: "The minister thought from the joint fleet of the United States and Italy, can we Russia find a naval power to unite together to deal with Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy!" ”

Werther's words made Nicholas II fall into deep thought, and after a few minutes. Nicholas II nodded slowly, thinking that Werther's idea was not a good solution to the problem.

Nicholas II said: "But which country are we looking for to unite." What is the interest of that country and our Russia to unite against Lin Daxin? ”

The Admiralty Archduke also thought that this was a good idea, so he said: "Your Majesty the Tsar, Japan has been vigorously developing its navy in recent years, and they ......"

Before the Grand Duke could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Nicholas II, who waved his hand and said: "Japan can't." They are also ambitious for Lin Daxin's northeast, if they unite with Japan. They will definitely demand the interests of the Northeast. This is unacceptable to our Russian Empire, and the Northeast must be completely controlled in the hands of our Russia, and this point cannot be changed. ”

Several important ministers of Russia looked at each other and nodded, it is indeed as His Majesty the Tsar said, the fat meat in the northeast, it is absolutely impossible for Russia to let it slip away from its mouth.

After a moment of silence, Witte said again: "Now the United States and Italy, which are considered to be naval powers in the world, have just suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Lin Daxin, and they should not have the strength in a short period of time, and they will not provoke Lin Daxin." Excluding Japan, and Britain and Germany, which have always been hostile to our Russia, we can only choose the French navy. ”

Nicholas II nodded and said: "France is a good object, but France will not unite with us Russia to deal with Lin Daxin for no reason, do you want to give Mongolia to France, but France may not look at Mongolia." ”

The Northeast region was already in Nicholas II's pocket, and it would never be touched by other countries, even Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, which he also wanted to become Russian land. However, if he could exchange the Mongol region for the French to send troops, he would be very willing.

Witte said: "Your Majesty the Tsar, you have forgotten that Lin Daxin still has a territory, which is very close to the French colony of Vietnam, that is, the Philippines, the original Spanish colony that Lin Daxin has just obtained. ”

When Nicholas II heard this, a smile appeared on his face and he said: "Hehe, yes, and the Philippines." Werther, do you test the French, are you interested in the Filipino sense? If France is interested, our Russian Navy plus the French Navy, which is not weaker than ours, hehe, is enough to defeat the Northeast Navy under Lin Daxin! ”

Nicholas II paused for a moment and continued: "It's just that the Philippines is a bit lightweight, hasn't France always wanted to form an alliance with our Russia to contain Germany, which is becoming more and more powerful in armament development?" Werther, if France is willing to send the main naval force to deal with Lin Daxin together with our Russian navy, not only can the Philippines give the French, but also tell the French, that we Russia are willing to form an alliance with France to deal with the increasingly powerful Germany. ”

The Russian-French alliance formed in 1893 in history may be because of Lin Daxin, a small butterfly. Flapping his little wings, some events in history have been fanned off the rails, and now they are all in 1898. The Russian-French alliance has not yet been formed.

The Elysee Palace in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, is the official residence and office of the President of France, originally the palace built by the Count of Ewell in 1718, and Napoleon's Empress Josephine also lived in this palace, and has been the official residence of the President of France since 1873.

French President François? Fili? Faure, being with his mistress Margaret? Steinher's bed in a lounge at the Élysée Palace was tumbling when there was a knock at the door. Ignoring the knock on the door, Fore continued to speed up the impact, preferably shuddering. Lying on top of his mistress.

The knock on the door continued, and Fore said to his mistress, "Baby, you wait, I'll take care of things." Come back and we'll continue! ”

His mistress Margaret? Steinherr couldn't help but wink and said, "Honey, I'm waiting for you to come back, we haven't had a good time yet!" ”

Fore got dressed and walked out of the lounge, and when he saw 1 of the president's office staff outside the door, he frowned and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

The staff member understood that his president was on a date with his lover, and hurriedly said: "Mr. President, the French Minister in Russia has sent you a very important telegram. With that, the staff member handed a telegram in his hand to President Faure.

Faure took the telegram and looked at it, and was immediately surprised, and read it carefully. Then he pondered for a moment and said to the staffer: "You go and inform Vice President Lubet and Secretary of the Navy Grevy to come to my office at once!" ”

Soon after, French Vice President Lubet and Navy Minister Grevy came to President Faure's office.

Faure handed the telegram to the two men, and Lube and Grevy read the telegram one after the other. They all showed surprised expressions.

After reading the telegram, Vice President Lube first said: "I didn't expect that the Russians would come to us to unite and deal with Lin Daxin, the military strongman in the Far East in the northeast of the Qing Dynasty, and even on the condition of the alliance between the Philippines and Russia and France." Mr. President, what do you think about this? ”

President Faure said: "If the Russians only offer the Philippines as a condition, I will reject the Russians." We France will not provoke that Lin Daxin for the sake of a small Philippines. His naval strength is not even weaker than that of our French Navy. But the Russians also offered a Russian-French alliance as a condition, which made me hesitate a little. ”

Vice President Lube thought about it for a while and said: "I think we should agree with the Russians, the telegram said that Russia is ready to mobilize another 2 million troops to invest in the war against Lin Daxin, and Russia can also invest millions more troops to join the war, and the northeast of the Qing Dynasty will definitely be seized by the Russians, and the title of Russia's European steamroller is not called in vain." We in France only need to send a navy and destroy Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy together with the Russian navy, and then we can get an alliance with Russia to deal with the reckless Germans. ”

President Faure nodded and said: "I also have such a plan, but the Northeast Navy under the command of Lin Daxin is very strong, and if we fight, the loss of our French Navy will not be small!" ”

Vice President Lubet continued: "We have invested a huge amount of money in the navy over the years, and with the current strength of our French navy, plus the Russian navy, it should not cost much to achieve victory!" ”

President Faure said to Secretary of the Navy Grevy: "Grevy, do you think that our French Navy plus the Russian Navy can easily defeat Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy?" ”

Minister of the Navy Grevy said proudly: "Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, after several years of rapid development, our French Navy has established a very powerful navy, with 22 all-steel battleships, 16 large fast armored cruisers, 18 ironclad battleships, 36 protective cruisers, 30 destroyers, plus 23 old ironclad ships and old armored cruisers, and more than 200 torpedo boats, not to mention the union with the Russian Navy, that is, our French Navy itself, can defeat that Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy alone. ”

In recent years, France has been engaged in naval military competition with other naval powers in the world, vigorously developing its own navy, and has built 22 battleships of three classes alone.

The Charlemagne-class all-steel battleships with a displacement of 11,693 tons are the same type of warships as the two all-steel battleships built for the Japanese Combined Fleet, and France has built a total of 8 for its own navy.

The Charlemagne-class all-steel battleships with a displacement of 11,100 tons were built in a total of 6 ships, with a maximum speed of 18 knots, waterline armor 200 mm to 368 mm, deck armor 50 mm to 90 mm, main gun turret armor 380 mm, secondary gun turret armor 200 mm, and conning tower armor 380 mm. It is equipped with 2 double-mounted 40-caliber 305 mm rapid-fire main guns, 10 single-mounted 40-caliber 138 mm rapid-fire secondary guns, 8 100 mm rapid-fire three-stage naval guns, 20 47 mm rapid-fire guns, 4 450 mm torpedo tubes, and a crew of 560 people.

Of the 13,500-ton Cecilia-class all-steel battleships with a standard displacement, 8 were built, and the all-steel battleships of this class were also the same type of warships as the Borodino-class all-steel battleships built by France for Russia.

In addition, France has 16 large fast armored cruisers of 4 classes, 4 Admiral Charles class ships with a displacement of 6,800 tons, 4 Joan of Arc class with a displacement of 11,092 tons, 4 Kwittun class ships with a displacement of 9,400 tons, and 4 Duprai class ships with a displacement of 10,500 tons.

The French have a relatively large class of protective cruisers, with 36 units of 16 classes, and the French destroyers have 4 classes of 30 units.

In addition, 18 ironclad battleships and 23 old-fashioned ironclad ships and old-fashioned armored cruisers still have a lot of combat effectiveness.

President Faure nodded, the French Navy has developed considerably in recent years, plus a batch of warships that have just been launched, the displacement of the French Navy is comparable to Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy, and even surpasses some, and the quality of the French Navy's warships is one point stronger than the Northeast Navy that has been scraped together, so he said: "Since you all agree to form an alliance with Russia, I will immediately submit an application to the parliament, and I believe that those old men in the parliament will also agree!" ”

In the end, because France hoped to form an alliance with Russia to jointly contain Germany, the top government and the parliament reached an agreement after discussion, agreed to the request of the Russians, and decided to send the main force of the French Navy to destroy Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy together with the Russian Navy. At the same time, France also provided Russia with 10 divisions of weapons and several hundred artillery pieces free of charge.

At this point, the Russian-French alliance against Germany was formed, but after the formation of the Russian-French alliance, the first thing was to deal with the Northeast Navy, which was thousands of miles away. (To be continued) R655