The attendants did not dare to disobey Nikolayevich's wishes, and rushed to the British and German embassies with people, but the guards at the gate hurriedly stopped them, and the attendants directly asked the guards to disarm, and then rushed into the office building and escorted Powell and Swart out.

Powell and Schwarter's faces were full of anger and confusion, and they asked in a loud voice, "What are you doing here?" Why arrest us? ”

The squire smiled and said, "I'm just doing what I'm told. ”

Powell asked angrily, "Acting on orders?" On whose orders? ”

The squire said, "Lord Nikolayevich, of course. ”

Schwart said on the side: "This is impossible, our German Empire has helped Mr. Nikolayevich so much, it is impossible for him to arrest us, you quickly take us to meet Lord Nikolayevich!" ”

The attendant smiled: "You don't have to worry, I'll take you to see him." ”

As he spoke, the attendant took the two ambassadors, Schwart and Powell, to the Winter Palace, and Nikolayevich sat on the main seat, his face sinking like water, surrounded by a group of soldiers with guns, all eyeing each other.

Powell saw that there was not even a chair beside him, and immediately understood that Nikolayevich was trying to let him stand and speak, and felt that he had been greatly insulted, his tone became stern, and he said to Nikolayevich: "Speaker, what do you mean by this?" Why are we standing and talking? Are you treating us like criminals? ”

Nikolayevich snorted coldly, walked up to Powell with the telegram, threw the telegram on him, and said in a cold voice: "Powell, let's talk openly and honestly, it's no longer interesting to hide it." ”

Powell threw the telegram on the ground and said disdainfully, "What does a telegram say?" ”

Nikolayevich said: "You Britain and Germany, from the beginning did not think of really supporting me, what you said is just dragging me down, and then using me to confuse Lin Yuan, your real purpose is not to compete with China for Russia at all, but to occupy Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries in the name of fighting for Russia, and then use these countries as a buffer zone between China and Europe!" ”

After Nikolayevich said this, the scene was quiet, Powell and Swart's faces showed complicated expressions, there were surprise, shame, and confusion, and after a few minutes, Schwart coughed lightly and said: "Since Mr. Nikolayevich has guessed our intentions, then we will no longer conceal it, yes, our intention is indeed not to compete with China for Russia, but to support the independence of non-Russian regions around Russia, establish a buffer zone, and isolate Chinese forces." ”

Nikolayevich nodded, snorted coldly, and said: "You disappeared when the Chinese army attacked Tsaritsyn, did you just go back to China to arrange this matter?" ”

Powell nodded lightly and said: "Yes, but we are not going back to China to arrange this matter, but listening to the superiors to arrange this matter, I can tell you clearly, this plan comes from the German Emperor Wilhelm II, and the British Prime Minister and Empress also approved this plan." ”

Nikolayevich sneered: "That's why you turned a blind eye to the establishment of the Russian People's Republic, right?" ”

Powell and Schwarter nodded slightly, and Nikolaevich continued: "You have been missing for so many days, what you did should be as simple as returning home to listen to an order, right?" ”

"Yes, we also had activities in Poland, Ukraine, etc., met with our people, communicated this plan, and these things must not let you know, so we did not meet you," Powell said. ”

Nikolayevich took a deep breath, calmed the anger in his chest, and then said slowly: "You don't dare to compete with China for Russia, it's too timid." ”

Powell smiled bitterly and said, "You are to blame for this." ”

Nikolaevich frowned and asked in exclamation: "Blame myself?" It's your business not to dare to compete with China for Russia, what does it have to do with me? ”

Powell said helplessly: "When we supported you to overthrow the Tsar, we really wanted to use you to control Russia, but you are more greedy for enjoyment than the Tsar, am I right?" ”

Nikolayevich was ashamed when he heard this, Powell was right, he was indeed very greedy, and he was not much like the tsar of the year.

Powell saw that Nikolayevich did not speak, so he said: "Dear Mr. Nikolayevich, can we go?" We're going back, you can make peace with Lin Yuan this time. ”

Nikolayevich had already guessed that Powell knew about his peace with Lin Yuan, and he was not surprised to hear Powell say this, but he snorted coldly and said, "Want to leave?" It's not that easy! I've already decided, arrest you and Swatt and give them to Lin Yuan as gifts! ”

Swart shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, "It's useless for Lin Yuan to want us, he will still release us." ”

Nikolayevich didn't say much, waved his hand and asked his subordinates to escort Swart and Powell down, and then personally sent a telegram to Kong Mengru, asking Kong Mengru to discuss the matter of seeking peace with Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan was very generous, he did not pursue Nikolayevich at all, and let Nikolaevich surrender according to the original agreement.

Lin Yuan's real concern was the national independent states supported by Britain and Germany, which formed a ring in the west of Russia, like a wall, between Russia and Western Europe, and without breaking this wall, it would be impossible to enter Europe by land.

Of these countries, Estonia, which is closest to the north, is the most important brick in the wall, because Estonia is close to the Gulf of Finland, and after China occupies Russia, the Chinese fleet can be stationed in St. Petersburg, and the west into the Gulf of Finland can enter the Baltic Sea, and out of the Skagerrak Strait can threaten the British mainland.

If Estonia also enters China's sphere of influence, the Chinese fleet will be able to enter and exit the Gulf of Finland unimpeded, and if Estonia becomes the sphere of influence of the West, it will be equivalent to installing a pair of eyes next to the Chinese fleet, and every move of the Chinese fleet will be monitored!

Lin Yuan looked at this string of wall-like countries, and thought to himself: "No matter what, we have to take Estonia down, but what method is needed to take it here?" The biggest difficulty now is not in the military, after all, we have a certain advantage over the German heavy divisions, and the biggest difficulty now lies in politics. ”