-- Pearl Harbor, Pacific Army General Staff Headquarters.

Chen Ping took his coffee and stood quietly in front of the map, frowning and not saying a word.

Behind him, Long Guozhang was pacing with a thick cigar in his mouth, also looking restless and restless, the corridor was full of people, and the staff officers who got the news were even more busy, calculating one plan after another in the war room next door.

The battleships Chesma and Sinop, the heavy cruisers Admiral Nasimov and Admiral Kornilov (Honolulu calls armored cruisers heavy cruisers), plus the first Russian support fleet that had already arrived and wintered in Port Arthur, there were four battleships, six armored cruisers, four protective cruisers, and the small warships in Vladivostok, for a total of twenty-six!

If the Russian Far East Fleet in everyone's eyes was only some old models and did not pose much of a threat, then the new Chesma and Sinop were completely battleships of the same class as the Polar Star. The most important thing is that the Russians have a full six heavy cruisers, the smallest of which is equivalent to the determination class, and as for the several heavy cruisers converted from ironclad ships, they have comprehensively surpassed the determination class!

Nicholas II is going to go all out! And he is not as stupid as the outside world legend, at least now that the fragile situation in the Far East has been mastered by him, so he will send such a strong support, obviously to launch a major offensive.

Although their new Chief of Staff of the Army and Navy, Prince Kita-Shirakawa Nohisa, constantly sent army soldiers to Korea in an attempt to keep this expanding forward base, but without the containment of the navy, how long could they support the army with only tens of thousands of supplies lacking supplies?

And judging from the scale, the ambitions of the Russians are obviously not only aimed at the Polar Battleship, you must know that the total tonnage of the Navy's navy today is not comparable to a Polar Star battleship, and in the absence of opponents, sending such a large fleet to the Far East, the goal has been revealed!

According to the intelligence, since the defeat of Beiyang in the last war, it is still hiding in Lushun and Weihai to avoid the war, and the Qing Zheng axe has also compromised not to interfere in North Korea, so that the ambitions of the Russians will be more indulgent, and when the second batch of four Russian warships arrives, it will undoubtedly be a catastrophe for Beiyang!

The Beiyang Naval Division has lost its enterprising spirit, and he can only watch the Russian [***] ships run rampant, so what will the Russians, who have the largest huge fleet in the Far East, do?

"Report, Tianjin Urgent, this morning the Russian ambassador met with Li Hongzhang, it is said that he wants to discuss matters after the arrival of the Russian fleet." At the door, the intelligence officer brought the latest news.

Chen Ping's eyebrows were deeper, looking at the map, he suddenly had a feeling of being in a fog, what did Russia want to do when he went to find Li Hongzhang at this time?

"Yuanshou, how long do you say I can hold on?" Long Guozhang took a hard puff of his cigarette and walked to Chen Ping's side. Chen Ping put down the coffee and shook his head: "If the Russians do it alone, North Korea will not be so easy to take." ”

"You mean, the Russians will ......?" Long Guozhang's heart suddenly tightened.

Chen Ping furrowed his brows and nodded: "The Russians contacted Li Hongzhang at this time, they must have wanted the Qing Dynasty to send troops to attack Yu himself?" Even if the Great Qing State does not agree, they will probably demand the opening of Port Arthur as a base for advancement! ”

"No, it won't!"

After Long Guozhang heard the hypothesis, his gloomy face was about to drip water, if the Russians used the excuse of attacking North Korea and the soldiers pressed the border to lease Port Arthur, then it would probably not be so easy for the Great Qing Kingdom to take it back! And the Beiyang Naval Division stationed there, I'm afraid it's ......!

If Nicholas II had been more bold and took advantage of the opportunity of Lend-Lease Arthur to send an army to land directly, then the entire Liaodong would have fallen quickly!

Could it be that he really said that he was too ruthless last time? So as soon as Germany left, the Russians came to pick peaches again? Long Guozhang couldn't cry or laugh a little, he didn't know what was so good about the cake in the Far East, everyone wanted to take a bite!

"With the strength of their own army, the Russians will not be able to successfully take Korea if they launch it with all their might, and the British are also desperately trying to transport supplies and soldiers to reinforce Korea for themselves! So I think the goal of the Russians is the Northeast at all! North Korea, just an excuse!

Smack!

The cigar in Long Guozhang's mouth fell to the ground, and the cigarette butt flickered on and off, as if crying about the owner's carelessness. But Long Guozhang couldn't care about picking up the cigar anymore, and Chen Ping's words sent chills down his spine, because if this assumption was true, I was afraid that Lushun, Weihai, Qingdao, and even Tianjin would be shrouded in the cannons of the Russian fleet!

"Report, Tan Wang sent an urgent report, he has sent ships to the Strait of Malacca and Annam, and will monitor the upcoming Russian [***] ships at any time."

Hearing the information, Chen Ping immediately sketched it on the map, threw down his pen after half a salary, turned his head to look at Long Guozhang and said: "According to the time, the Russians will arrive in Nanyang in half a month, and they will definitely need to replenish coal and rest in Annam, which is controlled by the French, so I estimate that they will be able to arrive in a month at most!" ”

One month!

At that time, it was time for Vladivostok to thaw, and this well-built fortress of the Far East was finally going to play its role!

"Young Master, what will you do?" Chen Ping muttered to himself, took a deep breath, picked up the already cold coffee again, and leaned back: "Guozhang, let the fleet get ready!" ”

"Yes!" ――

"What's going on! Why did a group of support fleets suddenly appear? And there are battleships! What the hell is your Cokbo for?! "The consequences of wanting to be dissatisfied are terrible, the spit of Young Master Li is almost going to drown the brother-in-law and intelligence head next to him, if the previous assassination was a classic of Kekob, then now it is stupid!

Li Mo didn't understand why he provoked the two battleships Chesma and Sinop, which had never been to the Far East in history, could it be that the young master's character was really so bad?!

Seeing that the Russian fleet under his nose has two more cutting-edge battleships and two heavy cruisers, if this is wartime, it already means defeat!

Duan Fei bit his lip stubbornly, now is not the time to explain, not to mention that there is no need to explain, it is wrong to do it, right is right, although the Russians used the excuse of the exercise to transfer two battleships, but this does not mean that the intelligence department did not make mistakes, if the two intelligence could be considered together at that time, there would be no today!

Sitting in the car, Li Mo soon came to the staff headquarters, although the current situation involves more of the navy, because he can still see many army staff officers in and out of the busy work.

Ouyang Xiu and Huang Fuqi, the commanders of the Second Regiment and the Third Regiment, who had rushed to get the news, were hiding in the corner and chatting quietly with several captains, the topic was naturally the Korean incident that had just happened, and the situation in the Far East after the Russians arrived.

Li Mo didn't have the heart to greet them, and after saluting back, he immediately walked to the conference room in the middle, and opened the door to see that in addition to Chen Ping and Long Guozhang, even Li Enfu had already arrived, and the three of them were smoking, and their faces were a little solemn.

After nodding with the three of them, Li Mo quickly ran to the front of the big map and looked at it carefully.

The Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Malacca, the Taiwan Strait, Li Mo's fingers followed the path of the Russian fleet, all the way north, until it stopped at the protruding Korea.

Judging from the distance, with the speed of the Russian [***] ship, it will take at least more than a month to reach Vladivostok, and it will take about a period of rest after arrival, then it will be around the end of May and the beginning of June, and the Russian Army should also arrive at that time, which means that it has more than two months at most to prepare to deal with the situation in the Far East that has been completely changed by itself.

The only thing that remains a little unclear is how much land the Russians will commit, whether it will be a maximum of 50,000 as previously estimated, or if something like a second batch of support fleets suddenly appears, I am afraid it will not be a problem.

That's a disaster!

Li Mo took his eyes away from North Korea, turned to the Liaodong Peninsula next to North Korea and the Shandong Peninsula opposite, jumped lightly between his eyebrows, and suddenly raised his head and asked, "Do you know the deployment of the Qing army in the northeast?" ”

"At present, the Qing army is stationed in the northeast about 100,000, mainly concentrated in Heilongjiang, Shengjing and Jilin, and there are also some Yi troops in Lushunkou to assist in the defense, in addition to more than 20,000 people withdrawn from North Korea, currently stationed near Mukden." Chen Ping pointed to the map and introduced: "Judging from the number of people, it is enough to resist the Russians, but the Eight Banners of Jilin and Mukden have been abandoned for a long time, and the Green Battalion is also useless. ”

"Is it really unstoppable that Russia will forcibly occupy the Northeast?"

After listening to Chen Ping's general introduction, Li Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief, at least there were more than 100,000 Qing troops blocking in front, no matter how strong the Russians were, it was impossible to eat the Qing army in one bite, so everyone was not very worried about the war on land, and the real worry was still the Russian Far East Fleet.

In particular, the two new battleships that have never left Russia in history, when they join the Far East, the Russian Far East Fleet will have faintly overwhelmed the Pacific Fleet in terms of overall quality and quantity, and this will be a very big threat to the fleet bent on controlling the Far East and even the Pacific Ocean!

"Why don't you strike first? Ambush the Russian fleet in Malacca? Master Li gritted his teeth, but quickly gave up this idea, if Britain supports him at this moment, then it is nothing to declare war! But now, I'm afraid it's going to be even more isolated!

What's more, Tirpitz is still in the Far East, and no one dares to guarantee that Germany will not wear the same pants as Russia, so he must not choose to go to war at this time and take the initiative to go to war.

But if you don't take the initiative to intervene, it doesn't mean that you won't fight! This battle is unavoidable, whether it is out of personal feelings or the need to curb the momentum of Russian expansion, so the most urgent thing now is to find a forward base for the troops!

The corner of Young Master Li's eyes stopped on the Liaodong Peninsula, and a bold thought suddenly rose up, like a flood that could no longer be contained.

But the question is, all of you here are people from the Great Qing Kingdom, if you want to, how will they react? You must know that if you take this step, it will be tantamount to openly opening the curtain of civil war!

Young Master Li is no longer the Li Mo of a few years ago, now he is the supreme commander of this army, and he must take into account all aspects, especially the military spirit and morale, which is the cornerstone of everything he has!

Thinking of this, he immediately looked back at Chen Ping and asked, "What are your plans?" ”

Chen Ping immediately said: "Judging from the fact that Russia deliberately released false news and secretly increased the number of warships transferred, they are determined to wade into this troubled water, and with their current strength, they can't resist it at all, so we predict that the ultimate goal of the Russians may be the Qing Dynasty!" ”

Young Master Li nodded a few times in his heart, these years of training have made Chen Ping faintly feel like a commander, and he can see the true goal of the Russians at a glance.

"I discussed with Guozhang and Mr. Li just now, we might as well strike first, send the fleet to take the initiative, and take advantage of the unstable foothold to defeat the second batch of Russian support fleets, forcing them to be unable to attack!"

"Is it just to contain Russia's inability to attack again?" Li Mo frowned, and his eyes suddenly fixed on Chen Ping.

Looking at the young master's eyes, Chen Ping took a hard breath, suddenly picked up the baton and walked to the map, and said solemnly along the northern frontier of the Great Qing Kingdom: "From the northwest to the Tangnu Ulianghai and then to Vladivostok, Russia has deployed a total of about 80,000 troops in the northern frontier of the Great Qing Dynasty, but this kind of strength is not enough to launch a full-scale war. ”

"So I personally think that the Russians are not ready to fight a full-scale war, but we might as well assume that Russia really wants to fight a full-scale war, then if the army coming down from the north wants to fight Yanjing City, it will have to face the constant resistance of the Qing army and the troops along the way, which is too uneconomical for them."

"So the Russians are most likely to take a little breakthrough, judging from the previous Nighthawk's reconnaissance of Vladivostok, they must have wanted to start from Vladivostok and enter Jilin all the way south. In addition, it was possible for them to land directly from Liaodong, so that they could form a north-south flank attack, forcing the Qing army to be powerless. ”

"But this also requires a premise, that is, to completely eliminate the Beiyang Naval Division and seize Arthur, only in this way can the fleet be guaranteed to enter and exit the Yellow Sea smoothly, so I personally think that the purpose of the Russian fleet's visit this time is very likely to be aimed at the Beiyang Naval Division."

"If once the Russians take control of Lushun and defeat Beiyang, then we have to face another possibility, that is, Russia will attack Tianjin! Straight to Gyeonggi! ”

"Hit Tianjin!"

Chen Ping's words, let alone Li Mo, even Long Guozhang and Li Enfu widened their eyes, and they didn't dare to agree, you must know that Tianjin is the gateway to Yanjing, once Tianjin misses, I am afraid that the Forbidden City will not be able to be saved!

Although the Russians had never fought Tianjin in history, Chen Ping's words reminded Li Mo that now the pattern and history of the Far East have been completely changed by him, and once the Russians control the Northeast, then who dares to guarantee that Nicholas II, who is known as a madman, will not covet the Forbidden City?

You must know that the two battleships, the Chesma and the Sinop, belonged to the new warships of the Russians, and had been deployed to the more important Baltic Fleet, and now that the southward movement to the Far East has completely changed the course of history, what could not happen?

Li Mo took a breath, Chen Ping's prediction may be a bit excessive, but from his point of view, there is nothing wrong with it, although the British have been supporting the Qing political axe against Russia all these years, but in the Yellow Sea battle, after seeing the weakness of the Qing army, their attitude towards the Qing political axe has changed, forcing the Qing army to withdraw from Korea.

At the same time, the Beiyang Naval Division, which had taken advantage of the equipment, also let them see that the Qing Zheng Axe was strong and strong, so the Germans came to ask for the lease of the port, and Russia would not hesitate to deploy troops, and everyone knew that if it was really a land war, the British might not dare to intervene!

The Far East has become a new hunting ground, and a new round of partition has actually begun after defeating Yue himself, but this is not good news for Li Mo, because what he wants is a complete China, not a China that has been beaten to pieces.

Just when Li Mo was stunned, Chen Ping once again threw out a possibility, frowning and waving his baton with a serious face: "If you want to completely destroy the Beiyang Naval Division, you must defeat the remaining ships and occupy Lushun, thinking of Germany's sudden request to lease Qingdao, I suspect that the two are likely to have reached some kind of agreement, but the Germans are worried that the British will be involved, so they will let Russia take the lead, so he can wait for the two sides to fight about the same, and take the opportunity to mediate and force the Qing Dynasty to cede Qingdao, or even the entire Shandong Peninsula!"

Looking at the horrified gaze of everyone, Chen Ping continued: "As the most important maritime power in the Far East today, the Russians naturally want to know our attitude, so Germany chose this time to visit us, just to know whether we have the possibility of intervening in the war in the Far East!" ”

"In this case, I think we might as well do it thoroughly, take the lead in sending troops to occupy Lushun and Yantai, and station the fleet, which can not only force the Germans to give up their illusions about Qingdao and keep them away from the war, but also directly tell the Russians that if they want to seize Lushun and enter the Great Qing Kingdom from the sea, they must defeat us first!"

"If they choose to go to war, we can destroy the Russian fleet in the name of self-defense! If he chooses land warfare, we can use Lushun as an advance base, send the army to Yingkou in Jiaodong Bay, and quickly go north from here to take Mukden and block the Russians outside!

Seize Lushun!

Seize Yantai!

Li Enfu and Long Guozhang both gasped! This Chen Ping, do you want to do it?

Looking at Chen Ping, who was bright-eyed and straight-headed, and then looked at Long Guozhang and Li Enfu, who were staring with wide eyes full of astonishment, Li Mo knew that it was time to make a choice!

After asking Lee for a cigarette, he walked to the window and let the smoke go in and out of his chest.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn, Chen Ping's last suggestion was still to pick up the last layer of fig leaf, whether it was Li Enfu or Long Guozhang, they all knew that with the Russians suddenly marching into the Far East, the Pacific Army had reached a crossroads!

Seeing the cigarette butts on Li Mo's fingertips flickering on and off, everyone was waiting quietly.

Suddenly, Li Mo turned around and snuffed out the cigarette butt fiercely.

"Immediately integrate the three reserve regiments and two reading battalions currently in Ryukyu and Honolulu into the army, and at the same time upgrade the four regiments of the current first division to divisions to ensure that each division can have 10,000 men."

"Yes!"

"The fleet is under wartime control and ready to be put on standby!"

"Yes."

"Mr. Li, the logistics are up to you!"

"Young master, don't worry."

Li Mo's gaze swept over the faces of the three people, and each time he looked at one of them, he gave an order, and finally suddenly sighed deeply and asked: "Three gentlemen, Li Mo has come to this day with you, at this moment I just want to ask one word, are you ready to fight a civil war?" ”

(To be continued)