The situation of the war in the Far East turned in July.

First of all, on July 13, the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was in the heart of the Russian Empire, was finally completed, and it finally connected the vast empire from end to end.

The benefits of the completion of the railway for the Tsarist Empire were unthinkable. He not only greatly improved the exchange and transportation between Europe and Asia of the Tsarist Empire, but also played an irreplaceable role in the domestic stability of the Tsarist Empire.

Of course, this also made it easier for the Tsarist Empire to transfer troops from Europe to the Far East.

Every month from August, more than 40,000 Russian soldiers arrived in the Far East to join the battlefields in the Far East.

In a short period of time, the Tsarist Russian army did achieve a balance with the army of the island country, except for the extremely tragic offensive and defensive battles, the territorial changes were not too much.

By September 1904, the Far East had 280,000 Russian troops and 430,000 island troops, adding up to more than 700,000 troops.

With Russia and the island nations investing more and more in this war, there is little hope of ending the war in a short time.

Both countries were prepared for a protracted war, and sought more resources and financial support from their allies, France and Britain, respectively.

Of course, the increased demand for arms as a result of the war is no longer exclusive to Australia.

France, the United States, Great Britain, Germany and many other countries are involved in this arms trade, selling large quantities of arms to Russia and island countries.

However, because of the treaty of their respective allies, French arms were exported only to Russia, while British arms were only exported to island countries.

In addition, the German Empire was attracted to the Tsarist Empire, and did not export weapons to the island countries.

This also led to the fact that only Australia and the United States were actually exporting arms to both countries at the same time.

However, Australia still has a larger market share than American arms thanks to advanced weapons from Britain and Germany.

Australia's arms exports in this war are second only to the United Kingdom, and even slightly higher than France, which is enough to show how important it is to plan ahead of this war.

As time progressed, the Pacific Fleet's flagship, the Crown Prince, was repaired and rejoined the Pacific formation.

This also led to the Pacific Fleet forming a slight advantage over the combined fleet of the island nation, which is also the reason why the land battlefield fell into a protracted offensive and defensive war.

In fact, if we only talk about combat effectiveness, the army of the island country actually has the advantage. After the Restoration, the country underwent large-scale replacement of the equipment of the army and navy, and the training was modeled after the German Empire, which had the first army, and the British Empire, which had the first navy.

As for the Russian army, in addition to a small number of elite troops whose training is ahead of the army of the island countries, there are also most of the troops whose training is worrying, and even the weapons and equipment are very backward.

And because of transportation restrictions, the army of the island countries in the Far East is almost twice as large as the Russian army, and it also has a full advantage in numbers.

If it weren't for the fact that the Pacific Fleet could rely on its slight advantage and occasionally provide a little firepower assistance to the army, I am afraid that Lushun's hold would not have been so smooth.

Although the current offensive and defensive battles in Arthur still maintain a delicate balance, the actual huge casualties are only known to Russia and the island nation.

While these casualties are not enough to debilitate the two countries, they are painful enough until they achieve their strategic objectives.

So far, the island nation and Russia have spent 130 million yen and 90 million rubles respectively on the war, both of which have exceeded 10 million pounds.

If this balance of offensive and defensive warfare continues in Arthur, the expenses for both countries will be very large, and it will be accompanied by a large number of casualties.

Naturally, island nations understand this. And compared with the Tsarist Empire, the island nation is the side that cannot be lost.

The basic position of the Tsarist Russian Empire was in Europe, and even if the hegemony of the Far East was lost, it would not have much impact on the status of the country.

But island nations are different. The island nation is based in East Asia, and it is an island nation in the sea.

If the island nation loses this war and loses the navy that it has developed for many years, then the island country's dream of hegemony will be completely shattered, and the island country will become a regional power at most, and it will be impossible to get involved with the great powers.

The more you think about this kind of thing, the more terrible it becomes, and the people of the island country naturally don't want such a thing to really happen.

Fortunately, soon after the outbreak of the war, the island nation carried out two initial mobilizations in the country.

These two mobilizations added nearly 400,000 available troops to the island nation, half of which had already been sent to the battlefield.

In order to achieve early results and turn the war back into an encounter rather than an offensive and defensive battle, the island nation once again sent 200,000 troops to occupy the eastern and central parts of the battlefield.

Compared with the transportation time of more than a month for the Tsarist Russian Empire, the transportation time of the island army's army only takes less than two or three days, which has an absolute advantage.

As expected, after another 200,000 troops, the ratio of the Russian army to the army of the island countries in the Far East came to almost one to three.

The large number of island troops also made it more and more difficult for the Tsarist Empire to deal with, coupled with heavy casualties and insufficient logistical supplies, Lushun gradually had a crisis.

Of course, with a sufficiently large army, the current battlefield is not Lushun, and it can even be called multi-point flowering.

The army of the island country took one to defend and tried to conquer Lushun, and the other to attack Keliaoyang, Shahe and other places in the north.

As the war progressed, the attitudes of the soldiers of the island nation and the Russian soldiers gradually became two extremes.

At this time, the bushido spirit of the island country did play an important role, even if the comrades around them suffered heavy casualties, the soldiers of the island country were not afraid of death and bravely launched a charge.

And on the side of the Russian army, the casualties of every teammate increased the fear on the faces of the Russian soldiers.

In order not to affect the interests of Europe, more than half of the troops sent to the Far East were improvised peasant soldiers.

These people may have been ordinary peasants six months ago, but half a year later they were guarding the Far East in the lands of the Far East, which were not part of the Russian Empire.

Don't these people want to defend their homes and country? Of course, but they are even more afraid of death. Because they don't have enough time to train, they have no defense against what is really happening on the battlefield, and it is natural that fear and panic will be born.

At the end of October 1904, the island nation mobilized more than half of its artillery and launched an unprecedented bombardment of the Arthur Fortress.

These guns can be described as varied, and if you look closely, you can even distinguish the different styles of the three countries, the British, German, and American styles.

Of course, German-style artillery was sold to them by Australia, which made at least two million pounds in profits from this war, and even the military factories and military-industrial complexes expanded considerably.

Russia also counterattacked at first, and even requested support from the fleet. However, the island fleet took the opportunity to challenge the Pacific Fleet, and in order not to be attacked by surprise, the Pacific Fleet could only hurriedly line up for defense, and its support for the army was naturally interrupted.

On the side of the Russian army, the number of artillery was far behind the army of the island country, coupled with the problem of insufficient logistics, after only two rounds of resistance, the reserve of artillery shells was already insufficient.

Of course, the Russian soldiers at this time had no other ideas, they just wanted to find a solid corner to shrink in, and wait for the bombing of the island country to end.

But what no one expected was that the bombardment lasted for several hours, although it was round after round, but the time in the middle was not enough for the Russian army to counterattack.

What the Russian soldiers did not expect was that in such a big bombardment, the island country actually sent a force close to the Fort Arthur and boarded the fort without the Russian soldiers paying attention.

You know, the shells don't have long eyes, and the island country still bombarded the Lushun fortress in a large area.

There is a high probability that this army of the island nation will be overwhelmed by its own artillery fire, but there is no expression of fear on their faces.

The Russian soldiers began to panic, they felt that they were at war with the devil. Isn't a person who is not even afraid of death the devil?

At the beginning of October, the fortress of Arthur, which had been held for half a year, was finally broken, and the island nation had completed the first task in the war, which was to uproot the Russian supply depots in the Far East.

After the capture of the Fort Arthur, the situation in the Far East War was dramatically reversed.

The islanders once again returned to the state in which they had begun the war, unstoppable in the Far East, and wantonly stormed the city.

The 60,000 Russian defenders of Fort Arthur lost more than 20,000 killed and more than 30,000 taken prisoner. And the Fort Arthur was also reduced to ruins in this bombardment.

The conquest of Lushun still had a great impact on the Tsarist Empire. Previously, the Russian Empire had two ways to transport supplies to the Far East, one was through the recently completed Trans-Siberian Railway, and the other was by sea, arriving at the port of Arthur by land.

But after the Lushun fortress was conquered, the port of Arthur also became very scarce. In such a situation, sea transportation is basically impossible. The only logistical support that the Russian army in the Far East could rely on was the Trans-Siberian Railway.

At the end of October 1904, on the premise of paying huge casualties, the island nation successively advanced the battle line to the north dozens of kilometers in Liaoyang, Shahe and other places.

At the beginning of November, the main force of the Manchurian Army again went north and encountered the main force of the Russian army stationed in Mukden.

At this time, the ratio of forces between the two sides has become 400,000 to 170,000, and the island army has an absolute advantage.

More important than the numerical superiority was Marshal Oyama's unique strategy.

The main direction of attack of the island nation was the right flank of the Russian army, but Russia had a reserve force of more than 30,000 men on the right flank.

In order for the Russians to transfer these reserves to the left flank, Marshal Oyama sent the Fifth Army on the right flank to the left flank openly, but in fact secretly detoured to the right flank, with the aim of luring the snake out of the hole, so that the Russians could transfer the right flank reserves to the left flank and strengthen the defense of the left flank.

In fact, the Russian Marshal Kuropatkin really fell into the plan, he saw the movement of the islanders' troops, so he transferred most of the right flank reserves to the left flank to prevent the left flank from being attacked by a force.

But what I didn't expect was that on the third day alone, the right flank of the Russian army was fiercely attacked.

And two armies of the island nation have gone around the rear of the right flank, forming an encirclement.

This put the Russian army in a difficult position. Although the main battlefield was around Mukden, the battle line stretched for more than 100 kilometers.

It is impossible to get troops from other regions to come to support in a short period of time. But the reserve forces of the right flank are currently less than 10,000 men, and it is impossible to help the war on the right flank.

In order to protect the left flank of the army, the two armies on the left flank could only stand still. Marshal Kuropatkin again ordered the reserves to return to the right flank to protect the positions of the right flank.

But this is a position that stretches for hundreds of kilometers, and the reserve troops are running back and forth like this, and the soldiers are already exhausted.

On the fifth day, the reserve troops successfully returned, and without any rest, they plunged into the battlefield.

Because of the numerical superiority, the main forces of the island nation launched an attack on the left flank of the Russian army on the premise of maintaining a fierce attack on the right flank.

The attack on the left flank appeared to be relatively evenly matched, but the purpose of the islanders was only to drag the left flank of the Russian army.

With the impact of the main force of the island army, the casualties on the right flank of the Russian army are getting bigger and bigger, and the defense line is shrinking step by step.

In order to save the positions on the right flank that were about to be lost, Kuropatkin ordered the Russian left flank to abandon its position and retreat to the north of the Hunhe River, so that it could compress the front and draw out a part of the army to strengthen the right flank.

However, the numerical advantage of the island army's army was too great, and such a transfer was not enough to make up for the balance of the right flank.

As the headquarters of the Manchurian Army once again mobilized a force to the left flank of the Russian army, the balance previously maintained by the left flank was also broken, and both the left and right flanks of the Russian army fell into a disadvantage.

In mid-November, the island's troops broke through the defensive line of the Russian First Army and began to make a detour from the left flank.

At this time, Marshal Kuropatkin really couldn't sit still. Once the island army successfully detoured, then the more than 100,000 Russian troops in the Far East would be surrounded by the island army.

Once the more than 100,000 troops are lost, the Far East will be like a young lady who has taken off her clothes, and she will be slaughtered.

In a hurry, Marshal Kuropatkin ordered the whole army to urgently retreat in the direction of Tieling.

Because it was a temporary order, the situation with the retreat of the entire Russian army was also quite chaotic.

Cavalry, because they did not participate in the encounter, was also the highest priority in the retreat.

But the baggage of the cavalry seriously blocked the way to retreat, and in addition to the fact that many soldiers were in disarray, the various units lost command among themselves.

The island army took advantage of the chaos to enter, first with an artillery attack on the retreating Russian army, and then launched a final assault.

As a result, almost a quarter of the Russian army fell into the encirclement of the island army, but the main force was also considered a successful retreat.

After a series of bitter battles, the island army did not have the strength to pursue it for the time being, so the main purpose was to destroy the encircled Russian army.

If the fall of Arthur was the first blow to the Tsarist Empire, then the fiasco of the General Battle was the second blow to the Tsarist Empire.

When news of the defeat reached Russia, the commander-in-chief of the Far East, Marshal Kuropatkin, was immediately removed from his post and Li Nie was appointed commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern Army.

Not satisfied with the defeat in the war, the Russians started the third round of conscription at home, and mobilized some warships in European waters to form the Second Pacific Fleet, in a vain attempt to restore maritime superiority in the Far East.

The war has developed so far as to surprise Russia and the island nations.

Although the situation in the Far East is currently dominated by the island countries, both countries have paid a considerable price for this war.

So far, more than one million troops have been invested by both sides in this war, and even the total number of troops mobilized has exceeded two million.

From February at the beginning of the year, the war has continued into November at the end of the year.

At present, both Russia and the island nation have spent more than 50 million pounds on this war.

Although the island nation has achieved its strategic goals so far, it has also paid a considerable number of casualties.

At least 100,000 soldiers from the island nation were killed in the war, and 300,000 were injured in varying degrees of severity.

The Russian army also suffered heavy casualties. Although the casualties were not as large as those of the island nation due to the early defensive battles, the Russian army gradually suffered heavy casualties in several encounters in the later stages.

At least 80,000 Russian soldiers died in the war, and more than 200,000 were seriously and lightly wounded.

In mid-December, with the arrival of the Second Pacific Fleet, Russia regained superiority on the seas.

A steady stream of Russian soldiers also arrived on the Trans-Siberian Railway, barely holding on to the situation on land.

But such a balance is also unacceptable to both countries. For every day the war lasts, it costs at least £100,000 each to Russia and the islands.

Especially when launching a large-scale war, the consumption is even several times greater.

What country can afford such enormous attrition? Even the once powerful British Empire was dragged down by such a war of attrition in two wars, not to mention the Tsarist Russian Empire and island nations, which were already economically and industrially backward.

At the end of December, at the dawn of the new year, both countries could not bear such huge attrition and launched a new offensive.

Both Russia and the island nation had been preparing for this offensive for a month, and the weapons and ammunition they had accumulated were enough to consume for a long time.

Of course, in order to save up on these ammunition, they also spent millions of pounds of money and a lot of resources for it.

But the outcome of the war was a great disappointment for both countries, and although the casualties were very heavy, the situation remained in a delicate balance.

Although the Russian army was inferior in numbers, the new reinforcements were all elite troops in the European part, and their combat effectiveness was not weaker than that of the island army.

In addition, it is equipped with a large number of new weapons, which is also the reason why it has been able to stalemate with the army of the island country.

In this way, after lasting for more than three months, the Tsarist Empire finally took the lead in not being able to hold on.

However, it is not easy to say about the island government at this time. The war has cost them more than 600 million yen, and the number of dead and wounded soldiers is as high as 600,000.

If it weren't for the Tsarist Russian Empire to give up first, I'm afraid the island country wouldn't have lasted long.

With the abandonment of the Tsarist Empire, the major powers that were originally behind the scenes also stood in front of the stage and began to try to mediate the war.

However, the major powers also maintained their previous attitudes, with Britain and the United States supporting the island nations, and Germany and France supporting the Tsarist Empire.

Although Austria-Hungary and Germany were allies, Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia had territorial disputes and hatred, and therefore maintained a neutral position in the war.

Unlike in history, although the Tsarist Empire is currently at a disadvantage on land, it has an advantage at sea and is already in a relatively balanced state with the army of the island nation.

This also led to the fact that although the Tsarist Empire accepted defeat, it was very confident.

As long as the final outcome of the peace talks is not as desired by the Russian Empire, then the continuation of the war is inevitable.

During the negotiations, Russia and the island nations were still at war, and the smoke of gunfire in the Far East had not stopped.

It was precisely because of the delay in the war that there was no breakthrough that the island nation finally had to compromise with the Russian Empire, and both sides signed a contract that could be reluctantly accepted.

Witnessed by the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, and Australia, the envoys of Russia and the island nation signed their names, and the Portsmouth Peace Treaty officially came into force.

Unlike in history, the pact was less pronounced in terms of its weakening of Russia.

First of all, like the historic Portsmouth Treaty, the Russian Empire did not accept any reparations.

Second, the Russian Empire did not accept the cession of any colonies and lands to the island nations, and only a part of its interests in the Qing region could be accepted.

Although the island countries were not satisfied with this result, the plan of Britain and the United States to weaken the power of the Tsarist Empire in the Far East had been realized, and even if the island countries wanted to continue the war, the support of the two countries for the island countries would decrease.

What's more, the Tsarist Empire was not without the possibility of victory. Compared with the army, which can obtain a large number of troops through mobilization, the navy, which cannot grow in a short period of time, is an important factor in determining the superiority of the Far East.

It is a pity that with the arrival of the Second Pacific Fleet in the Far East, the island nation has no possibility of surpassing the Russian Far East Fleet in terms of navy.

Coupled with the fact that the Russian army was tightly guarded by the position, the continuation of the war only increased the attrition of the island nation.

Whether it is a huge financial consumption or more military casualties, it is unbearable for the current island government.

Therefore, obtaining a part of the benefits in the Far East can be regarded as a result that the government of the island country can reluctantly accept.

After all, the island country also knows that if it continues to be consumed, it will inevitably provoke greater anger in the Tsarist Empire.

If, at the risk of offending its allies, Russia transferred most of its forces from Europe to the Far East, the balance of war would be tilted in the direction of the Russian Empire.

Although the island countries said that they were at war with the Tsarist Empire, they were only facing a part of the forces of the Tsarist Empire.

The complete Tsarist Russian Empire was definitely not something that could be defeated by an island nation, and this was well known to the island people before the war was launched.

In April 1905, the Russo-Japanese War, which lasted one year and two months, finally ended. The war was one of the largest in modern times, with more than 2 million troops mobilized on both sides, and more than 300,000 dead and more than 400,000 wounded.

The island nation reaped some of the benefits of the Far East and gained the right to monopolize Korea, which was a bit of compensation for the misfortune.

At least after this war, European and American countries have begun to value island countries, regard them as powerful countries, and even have the potential to compete for the last power.

6,200 words big chapter, ask for support!

(End of chapter)