For a long time, Ding Yuntong believed that before the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, Tsarist Russia was incapable of interfering in the affairs of the Far East. This is a period of strategic opportunity, a golden opportunity to take control of the situation in Northeast Asia before China is fully powerful.

During this period, the British Empire was reappointed prime minister in 1880 until he stepped down in 1885, and for more than five years, the so-called "glorious isolation" policy was pursued. Britain remained silent about European foreign affairs, and no matter how Germany, Austria, France, Russia, Italy, and other countries were in turmoil, Britain always stayed out of the matter. Although there were also interventions in Asian countries, they were much more restrained than before and after, and when the Conservative government in Salisbury came to power in 1885, they immediately abandoned this policy and began to annex Burma.

At the same time, the European powers were frantically forming factions, Germany and Austria had formed a military alliance, Germany had already turned to Austria-Hungary on the Balkan issue, and with the support of Germany, Austria-Hungary had seized Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Berlin Conference, which completely angered Russia.

Later, Italy lost the battle for Tunisia to France, and in a fit of rage, it also joined the arms of Germany, forming the Triple Alliance. However, there were unresolvable territorial disputes between Italy and Austria-Hungary, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire's continued occupation of Venice, which laid the foundation for the future rupture of the alliance.

In the face of the Triple Alliance, France faced the threat of Germany and Italy at the same time, Russia had to face Germany and Austria-Hungary at the same time, and the tariff contradiction between Russian agricultural products and German industrial products intensified. France and Russia therefore needed friends, and although a formal agreement was not signed until 1891, the two countries were rapidly approaching.

In order to connect feelings, Russia began to build the Alexander III Bridge on the Seine River in Paris, France, and France funded the construction of the Holy Trinity Bridge on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia.

When the French fleet visited Russia, the band on board played the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise", and Tsar Alexander III took off his crown in respect, which was absolutely shocking in Russia. The Russian tsar advocated autocracy and hated republicanism, and the "La Marseillaise", as a symbol of the French Revolution, was banned in Russia. And this time the tsar actually paid tribute to the tricolor of the republic and the "Marseillaise", and the rapid development of friendship between the two sides can be seen.

At a time when these major powers are arguing for the partition of Africa and are preparing to convene an international conference to discuss it, Ding Yuntong has every reason to believe that China should be able to handle its neighboring affairs comfortably in the next two years.

But now the situation has changed, and Russia has a showdown with China in a thorough, unreserved attitude!

Russia, as the top power of Shijie (at least Russia itself thinks so), such a tough statement, whether justified or unreasonable, if it ends in nothing, shrinks back in disgrace, then how can Alexander III face domestic public opinion.

Ding Yuntong carefully recalled that during the Sino-Japanese War, Russia was obviously inclined to Japan, and the only European and American countries that lent money to Japan in the name of the country was Russia.

It can be seen from this that although such a strong reaction in Russia today is unexpected, it is also reasonable, and there must have been a period of internal brewing. So how should China respond?

And that's exactly what happened.

Russia's expansion in Europe has been hampered and is gradually turning its attention to the east. It takes time for a polar bear to turn around, but time waits for no one, and within a few years, the Korean Peninsula has been completely controlled by China, leaving little place for outsiders. And Japan was knocked to the ground with a blow, and if it didn't die, it only had half a life left. The general trend of East Asia has been decided, and Russia is beyond the reach of the whip, and it has the heart but is powerless.

Now the situation in Outer Mongolia has reached a critical moment, and Russia has long been economically infiltrated in Outer Mongolia, almost monopolizing the foreign trade in this region, and has been in close contact with many princes and ministers.

Now, if it is served by China, Russia will not have any room for development in the East, and although Outer Mongolia is very inconvenient, it is after all closer to Northeast China and the Korean Peninsula, and this is the basis for Russia's ability to intervene to a certain extent.

As early as the advance of the Guards into Outer Mongolia, Russia had already made up its mind.

The Russian Foreign Minister even made a clear statement to the Tsar: "If Russia cannot retain its influence in Outer Mongolia, then Siberia will be under the threat of the Yellow Peril in the future." Given the rapid pace of China's industrialization, its national strength will be further enhanced in the near future. Therefore, it is more meaningful for Russia to resolve a showdown with China now than to have a showdown in the future. ＂

By the time Liu Jintang triumphantly marched, Russia had already gathered all the armed forces in the neighboring areas to the Baikal region, forming a Baikal army of about 25,000 troops, which was smaller than the official army.

By the 25th, the situation in Outer Mongolia had also undergone drastic changes.

First of all, the Tushetu Khan and Chechen Khan, who jointly sent troops, not only stopped the offensive, but also secretly provided materials for the Zasaktu Khan. The Sayin Promise, which had been in front of each other, began to send out small groups of rangers to attack the supply lines of the Guards. All of a sudden, the Guards became unusually isolated in Outer Mongolia.

After receiving the report from the front, Ding Yuntong suddenly understood that he was too contemptuous of Russia, and he couldn't imagine that Lao Maozi was operating silently in Outer Mongolia and already had great influence. Moreover, the resistance of the Zasaktu Khan was also unexpectedly tenacious, and in the face of the fact that the two guards divisions could hold on for so long, it could not be ruled out that they would receive material supplies from Russia.

At this time, he regretted that he had been in a hurry before, and before he had fully grasped the situation, he rashly made a big move, making it difficult to ride a tiger now. You must know that between Tibet and the British-occupied India, after all, there is still a circle of small countries, Gurkha, Sikkim, and Bhutan. Outer Mongolia, on the other hand, is next to Russia.

Keep fighting, now that the Guards are embattled in Outer Mongolia and backed by Russia, these princes will resist to the end. In such a vast land, even if additional reinforcements are sent, it will be a long tug-of-war.

If you don't fight, I am afraid that the central government will lose face, which will greatly increase the arrogance of these princes.

The most important thing is that once Russia really uses force, with China's current strength, will it have a chance of winning? Now is not the time for a duel, and a complete turnaround with Russia must be avoided until the Guards are massively expanded.

Thinking about it, Ding Yuntong can only endure this evil breath, and he has to ride a tiger even if it is difficult! Lie down and taste the courage, judge the situation, the big husband can bend and stretch, and it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, and he must not die to save face and suffer the crime. He sent an order to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Zeng Jize to come and see him.

On August 27, Zeng Jize met with Russian Minister Bo Baifu, declaring that China was "open-minded" to the peaceful settlement of the Outer Mongolia issue and that he respected Russia's "special commercial interests" in the Outer Mongolia region.

On the same day, Liu Jintang's army began to withdraw to Uriya Sutai, Kobdo and Kulun City one after another.

China's figure is so soft that Russia is quite surprised, and the tsarist government was speechless for a while, and the original preparation of a bunch of strong words and arguments is useless.

The two sides went back and forth, and on August 31 in St. Petersburg, a memorandum of understanding was signed by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rhymeny and Chinese Minister Yang Ru. The two sides reached several points of consensus on the Outer Mongolia issue: a ceasefire in Outer Mongolia; Outer Mongolia is part of Chinese territory, but enjoys a high degree of autonomy; The Chinese government does not station troops in Outer Mongolia; Respect and protect Russia's commercial interests in Outer Mongolia, and so on.

After that, Liu Jintang led the Guards to withdraw from Outer Mongolia.

This memorandum was generally favorable to Russia, in order to grant a high degree of autonomy to Outer Mongolia and prevent the national unification of China; By restricting the stationing of troops, it has weakened China's sovereignty; In the name of commercial interests, the peculiarities of Russia in Outer Mongolia were emphasized.

Looking at the content of the memorandum, Ding Yuntong was silent, originally he hoped to first settle at home and then with the outside world, complete the "reunification" of the country, and then concentrate on expanding outward and maneuvering with Britain and Russia.

But this line of thinking is wrong, the heavens do not fulfill the wishes of the people, others will not follow their own jihua, and now it seems that one of the first goals of China's future policy is to deal a heavy blow to Russia and force it to abandon its ambitions in the East.

This goal must be made clear to the highest degree, and all the policies of the State must be subordinated to this goal.

Diplomatically, it is required that Britain should not continue to be provoked in the south, that there should be no more actions similar to Burma, and that Britain should at least remain neutral in future decisive battles with Russia.

Internally, in the next few years, the Guards will be massively expanded in order to build up a military strength that can compete with Russia. You know, Russia is very different from Japan, it is a powerful country with a huge heritage, rich resources, a huge number of troops, brave Russian soldiers are hard-working, not afraid of death, known as "gray yellow cattle", the entire Russian military machine, although the production is rough, the action is slow, and there are a lot of problems, but if it is really mobilized, its power can make any powerful country on Shijie fearful, known as the "steam steamer".

A duel with such an opponent requires not only Ding Yuntong's personal determination, but also the consensus of the entire nation, and the entire country must mobilize for this war, because it is countless times more difficult to defeat a polar bear than to defeat Japan, a wolf cub that has not yet grown up.

Moreover, while carrying out a general mobilization against Russia, it is necessary to make a decisive breakthrough on both internal and external fronts.

First of all, the Blackstone Society must be dealt a heavy blow so that it cannot make trouble at a critical moment. At this time, Yuan Shikai and others have already completed the control in Hong Kong, and according to the intelligence, Tan Sitong will arrive in Hong Kong before the middle of next month to carry out a secret activity.

Second, before going to war with Russia, it was necessary to deal another devastating blow to Japan so that the morale of the Japanese nation could not be reunited. Because in the war between China and Russia, China will inevitably not be able to closely monitor Japan, once the wolf cub licks his wounds and grows into a vicious wolf, then East Asia will never be at peace, and China will not be able to pass through other places under its control.

After thinking about the strategy, Ding Yuntong endured a bad breath towards the Russians and set his eyes on Japan again, at this time the Japanese civil war had reached the moment of decisive battle.