Tsar Nicholas II reluctantly accepted the fact of naval defeat, but was not willing to lose, and prepared to find a place in the land battle, to speed up the expansion of the army, and to form an expeditionary force to relieve the Russian army in Vladivostok in the Far East.

After giving instructions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte, the Minister of the Navy, the Grand Duke of the Navy, and the Chief of the Army General Staff, Gorrosky, he let the three of them go.

But not long after, Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte hurried back to the Kremlin with a telegram, asking to see Tsar Nicholas II.

As soon as Witte saw Nicholas II, he handed over the telegram in his hand and said: "Your Majesty the Tsar, French President Faure has sent a telegram, thinking that after the defeat of the navy, we Russia and France will be in a weak position in the confrontation with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and if we continue to fight with Lin Daxin, this weakness will become more and more obvious, so the French hope that our Russia will end the war with Lin Daxin in Asia and turn our attention back to Germany and Austria-Hungary." ”

After reading the contents of the telegram, Nicholas II rubbed it vigorously with his hands, rolled the telegram into a ball, threw it aside, snorted coldly and said: "Hmph! The French really don't have a backache when they stand and talk, our entire Far East except Vladivostok has been occupied by Lin Daxin, and even more than 4 million square kilometers of land east of the Lena River have been occupied by Lin Daxin's troops, so how can we end the war between Russia and Lin Daxin! Do you want us in Russia to give up millions of square kilometers of land in the Far East and Eastern Siberia! ”

The 12th and 13th Divisions of the Dingbei Army, under the leadership of two division commanders, Zhang Zuolin and Li Yuandong, took the city of Amur lightly, and the army went all the way north. Start from the outer Khingan Mountains and go east to the Lena River above. Up to the easternmost Bering Strait and the Kamchatka Peninsula, more than 400 million square kilometers of land are basically occupied.

This more than 400 million square kilometers of land is vast and sparsely populated. The total number of troops of the Russian army is less than 5,000 people, even the Russian civilians are only more than 100,000, and Russia's development of these places is not enough, so there are not many Russians, and the two Dingbei Army's A integrated divisions have completed the great contribution of expanding the territory by more than 400 million square kilometers.

The commander of the Siberian theater of operations, Kuropatkin, had already sent several corps to the cities of Yakutsk, Zhigansk, Oryokminsk, and Bodaibo, which were important cities on the west bank of the Lena River, and sent reinforcements to the cities of Yakutsk, Zhigansk, Oryokminsk, and Bodaibo, fearing that the Dingbei Army would cross the Lena River and continue its offensive in central Siberia.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte asked: "His Majesty the Tsar." How do we send a telegram back to the president of France? ”

Nicholas II hesitated for a moment and said: "We still need funds and weapons from the French, and you will tell the French of the predicament we are facing on my behalf in a tactful tone, and no country can abandon millions of square kilometers of land!" Tell the French, although the navy has been defeated in this war, we still have a strong army of millions in Russia, and the final victory still belongs to our Russia! ”

Then Nicholas II sneered and said: "The French want us to end the war, but can that Lin Daxin end the war?" After the defeat of the navies of the two countries, I don't think the French want to stay out of it. That greedy Lin Daxin would not let go of the French colonies in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in Asia, and the French were so bad that in order to keep their colonies in Asia, they fought a war with Lin Daxin's army in their French Asian colonies. ”

The Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, at the official residence of the British Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, London, England. Brought British Admiralty Chancellor Campbell to the Prime Minister's Residence.

Prime Minister Salisbury, who was sitting in a chair behind his desk, said to Campbell with a telegram in his hand: "Count Campbell, this is a telegram from French President Faure, take a look!" ”

Campbell took the telegram and read it quickly. After putting down the telegram thoughtfully, he asked, "Prime Minister, what do you think?" Should we, the British, meddle in the affairs of France's Asian colonies? ”

It turned out that the telegram was sent by French President Faure in the hope that the British would stop Lin Daxin's attack on the French Asian colonies of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. In his telegram, Faure made it clear what would have been a good idea of the impact that Lin Daxin would have on Britain if he had occupied Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Sue British Prime Minister Salisbury that if Lin Daxin occupies France's Asian colonies, it will not only be a disaster for France, but also an extra bomb for Britain.

Prime Minister Salisbury said: "As French President Faure said in a telegram, if Lin Daxin's forces occupy Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, which are French colonies in Asia, then Lin Daxin's territory will border our Asian colonies of Myanmar, and Lin Daxin has already occupied the Philippines, and then occupy the above areas, which is equivalent to getting closer and closer to our Malaysia and Singapore." It is not a good thing for us to have such a neighbor as Lin Daxin next to several important colonies in Asia in our Britain, and I will feel unsteady even if I sleep in London! ”

Campbell nodded and said: "Lin Daxin, a Qing Dynasty man known as a military strongman in the Far East, is really surprising, the last time his Northeast Navy was able to defeat the combined fleet of the Italian Navy and the United States Navy in the naval battle of Manila Bay, relying on the sneak attack of submarines, and this time it relied on a few airships that came out of nowhere to defeat the powerful fleet of the French Navy and the Russian Navy, which are among the best navies in the world, and the navies of the two countries have almost gone back decades, you must know that it is our British Royal Navy, In the face of the French navy and the Russian navy united, there was no certainty of victory. If his forces occupy the French Asian colonies of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and become neighbors with our British colonies, our British fleet in Asia will have to at least double its strength to deal with this imposing neighbor, it will be too difficult for us in the Royal Navy, you must know that our British have colonies all over the world and need the Royal Navy to guard them. ”

Prime Minister Salisbury sighed and said: "Yes, that Lin Daxin is a submarine and an airship, I have never been able to believe that these advanced war weapons can be built by backward Qing Dynasty people!" ”

Campbell said with a wry smile: "Lin Daxin's submarine is very advanced, which is recognized by all countries, until now, all countries still know nothing about the number and performance parameters of the submarines under Lin Daxin's command, I heard that this time the French Navy and the Russian Navy combined fleet in order to guard against Lin Daxin's submarine, carried a large number of depth charges, but Lin Daxin's submarine did not appear this time, the attack did not come from underwater, but from the sky, several behemoth-like airships bombarded the 2** ship indiscriminately, It is also normal for the French and Russian navies, which have no anti-aircraft weapons at all, to suffer a crushing defeat. ”

Prime Minister Salisbury shifted his sitting posture and said: "I have asked the arsenal in London to start building giant airships, and also began to manufacture anti-aircraft guns in large quantities, and all the warships of our British Royal Navy will be equipped with anti-aircraft guns in the future to prevent the bombing of warships by airships!" ”

Campbell nodded, building giant airships, installing anti-aircraft guns on warships, and equipping the army with anti-aircraft guns, which have been put on the agenda of several world powers after the Battle of the Gulf of Ussuri Sea, and as the most powerful country in the world, Britain is not far behind.

Prime Minister Salisbury continued: "It seems that we Britain must meddle in the affairs of France's Asian colonies, and we must not allow Lin Daxin to occupy France's Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos!" Count Campbell, what is the strength of our Royal Navy's Far East Fleet in Singapore? ”

As the British Secretary of the Navy, Campbell is almost familiar with the British Navy's fleets around the world, and when he heard Prime Minister Salisbury ask about the strength of the Royal Navy's Singapore Far East Fleet, he immediately said: "At present, our Royal Navy's Singapore Far East Fleet has 4 Sovereign-class all-steel battleships, 2 Majestic-class all-steel battleships, 4 ironclad battleships, 4 new large armored cruisers, 4 old ironclad ships, 4 old armored cruisers, 4 new protective cruisers, and 4 new destroyers. 36 torpedo boats and 12 small gunboats. If the British were to meddle in the affairs of the French colonies, the Royal Navy could also draw warships from the Chinese fleet in Hong Kong and the East India fleet in India. However, our warships in Asia have not yet been equipped with anti-aircraft guns, and if war really breaks out, our Royal Navy in Asia may face the bombardment of airships in the same fate as the French and Russians. ”

Prime Minister Salisbury nodded after listening, Britain has 6 all-steel battleships and 4 ironclad battleships in Singapore alone, adding up to 10 battleships, which is not not powerful, but in the face of the strong Northeast Navy, especially the Northeast Navy with airships, the strength is still weak, but Salisbury believes that meddling is not equivalent to the outbreak of war, as long as Britain shows its attitude, that Lin Daxin should not make a stupid choice.

Prime Minister Salisbury said: "Let the Far East Fleet of the Royal Navy immediately start to modify some of the small-caliber rapid-fire guns on the warships in Singapore, and change those small-caliber rapid-fire guns into anti-aircraft guns that can shoot at air targets, and then let the Far East Fleet send some warships to Da Nang in Vietnam to stop Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy from attacking the French colonies." Which admiral was the commander of the Far Eastern Fleet? ”

Campbell said: "The commander of the Far East Fleet is Admiral Roland of the Royal Navy, and we only send a part of the warships of the Far East Fleet. ”

Prime Minister Salisbury's eyes flashed with a gleam, and then said: "We sent warships just to show our British attitude, not to fight with the Northeast Navy under Lin Daxin!" (Want to know more about Rise 1892?) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner, select Add Friends to add an official account, search for "qidianzhongwenwang", pay attention to the official account, and never miss every update again! qdzww) (To be continued......)

R1052