Australian Storm 1876 - Chapter 1083
Chapter 1083 Selfishness
Unexpectedly, the exiled Nicholas II was stubbornly unwilling to leave Tsarist Russia, which made the previously formulated plan a mere scrap of paper.
In the final analysis, it was Nicholas II who fantasized about restoration, and once he left Tsarist Russia and went into exile abroad, the dream of restoration would be far away, which was something he could not accept no matter what.
On March 8, 17, at the request of the workers and soldiers in St. Petersburg, the Tsarist Russian bourgeois government had to arrest Nicholas II and his family and imprisoned them in the Imperial Village. It has been more than four months.
For the Tsarist Russian bourgeois provisional government and the State Duma, the family of Tsar Nicholas II is a hot potato, and it is the best solution to be able to send them out of the country.
For this reason, the provisional government of Tsarist Russia once wanted to send them to England to defect to King George V, the cousin of Nicholas II, and the British Parliament has also approved it.
But King George V rejected the proposal out of self-interest and fear of causing political unrest or even a plague-like revolution.
And the olive branch extended by the Ocean Empire, Nicholas II refused after considering it.
The current chaotic political situation in Tsarist Russia and the strong support of a large number of old aristocrats made Nicholas II have the illusion that he might be able to stage a drama of the return of the king with the great prestige of the Romanov Dynasty, like Napoleon, to restore in Tsarist Russia.
Australia
Li Fushou looked at the report from the Far Eastern Territory, and he really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It’s so stupid to be caught dead without realizing it!
in this report
Nicholas II hoped that the Empire would continue to increase its troops to Vladivostok. At least two armies of about 700,000 troops were needed, and they could obey his command.
Converged Siberia and the Russian Armed Forces of the Far East and became a powerful weapon for him to restore the Romanov Dynasty.
Li Fushou can only say that this idiot is sick, and he is not very sick.
Nicholas II thought that his two daughters were worth two armies and that the empire should dispatch a large army to help him regain the throne.
This also reminded Li Fushou, and asked him to reconsider whether the marriage with the Russian royal family was appropriate?
In the imperial study
The important members of the cabinet and military officials gathered together. Li Fushou sent the report from the Far East and instructed Liang Ruhao, deputy director of the secretariat, to read it and make it public together with the Tsar’s secret letter.
then asked; “This matter is related to national policy, what do the ministers understand?”
Prime Minister Zhang Li did not answer immediately, but looked at Field Marshal Mo Rufeng, meaning that he would come forward and interpret it from the perspective of the Ministry of War.
Marshal Mo Rufeng couldn’t refuse, so he could only stand up and replied with a bow of respect;
“Report to the Holy One;
The Royal Army is sending troops from the 3rd Army to Europe, and the 4th Army is also gearing up to arrive in Europe before the end of the year.
Thus
The Royal Army will maintain a total of 1.2 million troops in 4 armies in Europe, and reserve 250,000 to 300,000 additional troops in Panama, Guantanamo and Norfolk Naval Base in North America, ready to support the European battlefield.
We still need to maintain more than 200,000 troops in the North American Governor’s Mansion to deter the United States and Japan. Together with the Republic of Virginia garrison and the local army, the total number of the Royal Army has exceeded 2.1 million.
In summary
The Royal Army has no additional troops that can be used in the direction of Siberia. At most 50,000 to 60,000 people can be deployed. Any more will affect the fulfillment of the obligations of the allies, which will inevitably lead to serious dissatisfaction in Britain, France and other countries.
Now, most of the 3rd Expeditionary Army has landed in Europe and will soon be used on the Western Front.
And the leading troops of the 4th Army also set off one after another. If it is used in the Far East, only the remaining troops of the 4th Army can be mobilized, and other troops cannot be adjusted.
Unless the war is mobilized again, expand the size of the army to fight in both directions.
Weichen secretly thought that it is not appropriate to make enemies everywhere and rashly open up the second battlefield in Siberia, where the harsh environment of ice and snow is extremely unfriendly to the imperial soldiers, and it has extremely high requirements for the maintenance of advanced military equipment, and the combat effectiveness is greatly reduced.
Weichen has a little opinion, please ask your majesty to judge. ”
The objections of the Ministry of the Army are already obvious. After Marshal Mo Rufeng took the lead to speak, other cabinet officials and generals spoke one after another. Most of the opinions were in favor of an appropriate increase in troops, preferably 40,000 to 50,000 people. Waiting for the development of the current situation, the policy is reserved. right to change.
Li Fushou followed his good deeds, and passed the decree that the cabinet would handle it according to the result of court deliberation, and mobilized the 127th Division from the mainland to Vladivostok to be stationed in Vladivostok.
This move is already the greatest goodwill the Empire can make.
As a member of the Allied Powers Alliance, the Ocean Empire’s main military direction is in Europe, with the victory over the Allies as the core, there is no doubt about this.
However, the internal political turmoil in Tsarist Russia aroused great attention from the Allied Powers. In particular, the labor force, which Britain and France and other countries regarded as a beast of a flood, gradually gained a dominant position in the chaotic political situation, causing great anxiety in the Western world.
Britain, France, foreign countries, Italy, the United States and other countries have realized that Tsarist Russia is facing the danger of rapid reddening, which will have a huge impact on today’s world structure, and have adopted tough response policies one after another.
Recently, Britain, France, foreign countries and other countries have sent notes to the Russian capitalist provisional government;
If the red tide cannot be contained, the Allied Powers will not rule out the use of force to intervene to block, isolate and attack the armed forces of the Russian workers and prevent the red tide from spreading to the whole of Europe.
Today, the bourgeoisie, workers and Belarusian royalist forces in Tsarist Russia are intricate and intricate. Armed struggles are constant, like a hodgepodge. The appearance of various forces is dizzying. Advantage.
This is also an important reason why Tsar Nicholas II felt that he was okay. He hoped that one day he would rise to the top, and the followers would gather to realize the restoration of the Romanov Dynasty.
If we analyze the current three forces in Tsarist Russia in depth, the bourgeois provisional government has the most powerful army, the Belarusian royalist party is deeply rooted in the vast countryside, and has the support of the Balkans and Cossacks. underestimate.
The weakest is the labor force. They exist widely in the urban working class. They have the strongest desire to overthrow all the old and decadent institutions, and the most determined revolutionary will.
Li Fushou knew the general trend of historical development. The workers of Tsarist Russia experienced four years of arduous armed struggle and will win the final victory.
The process was twists and turns, especially during the period when the foreign intervention army and the White Guards besieged Moscow, the situation was the most critical, and the workers’ power was in danger of being completely destroyed.
If the imperial army intervenes when it is weak, it has the ability to nip it in the bud.
But doing so is not in the interests of the Empire.
The situation after the World War, the political, military and economic power of the Ocean Empire has become too large to be ignored, and it will definitely play an important role on the world stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world powers such as Britain and France, coexisting and co-governing.
Now that the Tsarist Russian Empire has collapsed, the Ottoman Empire is about to collapse, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not last long.
After these thorns that challenge the old international order are settled one by one, maybe… the targets of Britain, France, Italy, the United States, the Netherlands and other countries will be aimed at the Ocean Empire.
At this time, the emergence of a huge red empire in Eastern Europe, which will continue to bring heavy pressure on Europe, will be a necessary condition and an indispensable prerequisite for maintaining the close and friendly cooperation between the Ocean Empire and the Western world.
The Ocean Empire needs such a shield in front of it, and it must be big enough and strong enough.
Russia is such a best choice. From the perspective of the long-term interests of the empire, it should not destroy the original historical trajectory, but should follow the trend.
A huge red empire stands in Eastern Europe. It is full of aggression in its bones and has a major influence on the Black Sea coast and the Balkans, which can arouse sufficient vigilance and precautionary awareness in European countries.
Li Fushou clearly realized that the growth of the Ocean Empire still takes time.
If there is a good international environment for peaceful development for another 20 years, the empire will grow to the level of an unstoppable world hegemony. The world powers such as Britain and France can only choose to cooperate, and there is no other way.
Li Fushou is indeed not interested in the cold Siberia region, nor does he intend to expand in the Far East, but he has set his sights on another part of Russia, the Crimea Peninsula.
From a Geopolitical Perspective
History follows the trajectory known to Li Fushou. Russia’s new regime will have a huge impact on Europe. In the post-war interest division, the Ocean Empire’s territorial claims to Crimea can gain the support of most European countries, but Does not include the UK.
This is because the military presence of the Ocean Empire in the Crimea Peninsula will greatly share the pressure of Europe, and European countries are happy to see it.
As a hegemon that dominates the global situation, London naturally harbors a strong suspicion of countries that can threaten its global hegemony, and is even more reluctant to see the Ocean Empire extend its power to Europe.
The European countries headed by France do not have the need to defend their global hegemony, so they welcome the Ocean Empire to play a more important role in Europe and be more friendly.
The British are different. Maintaining the global hegemony of the British Empire and suppressing all possible competitors are related to the fundamental interests of the United Kingdom.
After the Entente won the two key battles of the Somme and Verdun successively, the attitude of the British underwent a subtle change.
This is reflected in the British public opinion’s propaganda for the Imperial Expeditionary Force. For example, the recent “Chocolate Street” incident that has been hotly discussed by the public has brought the 3rd Expeditionary Army, which is recuperating and training in the UK, to the forefront.
Among the volunteer soldiers recruited by the British Expeditionary Force, “community battalions” and “street battalions” account for a large proportion. These infantry battalions composed of relatives, friends, acquaintances, fathers and sons or old acquaintances in the community have high cohesion and strong combat effectiveness. Running away alone is rare, and was originally the proud trump card of the British Expeditionary Force.
However, in the hellish Battle of the Somme, as many as 76 community battalions were wiped out, more than 130 infantry battalions suffered heavy losses and more than 450,000 casualties, which led to the appearance of Widows Street and Widowstown in large local neighborhoods. and the widow community.
The neighborhood that lost most of the young and middle-aged men also lost its vitality and fell into a miserable storm.
at this time
The expeditionary force of the Ocean Empire, full of youthful vitality, arrived, and the young men full of vitality and full of hormones disturbed the originally quiet community to boil.
No matter it is day or night, on the streets where the soldiers of the Imperial Expeditionary Force visit a lot, there will always be a large number of beautiful women. A piece of chocolate or a handful of toffee can be taken away, and a pack of cigarettes can be spent overnight. Many have developed into lovers. Relationships, especially the officers…
This is the origin of the “Chocolate Street”. Originally, this kind of thing happened one after another when the first army arrived, but now it has become a common practice, and even attracted a large number of British women from other places to come and activate the local economy.
Early 20th Century
British society is quite conservative, many things can be done but cannot be said, once it comes out, it will be a scandal.
For various reasons, the London government tried its best to suppress public opinion at first, and adopted a tolerant attitude of turning a blind eye. Who knows how many of these soldiers who are about to go to the French battlefield will survive?
The problem is that the results of the Battle of the Somme were astonishing;
The Ocean Empire Expeditionary Force launched the “air-land battle” as a big killer, and carried out a series of strangulations on the disgusting German army.
Seeing the unstoppable rise of the Ocean Empire, all kinds of envy, jealousy and hatred of the British came to mind, and the mentality was particularly unbalanced.
Since then, reports of incidents similar to the “Chocolate Street” have emerged one after another, smearing expedition officers and soldiers in various ways, and all kinds of non-cooperation and hindrance have appeared, which is simply a pandemonium.
This triggered a strong backlash in British public opinion. The perception of the Imperial Expeditionary Force changed from positive to negative. The estrangement and friction within the Entente countries intensified, and internal friction increased.
After entering 17 years
The UK is worried about affecting the international status of the pound, and has adopted a non-cooperative attitude towards the “Golden Ocean International Settlement Act”, which further aggravates internal friction and affects international trade in materials.
Seeing that the world war ushered in the dawn of victory, the internal conflicts of the Allied countries increased rapidly, and it was reflected in the battlefield. and surrounding areas.
As a result, at this critical time, important logistical materials, including diesel, were not available, and the army was forced to stop.
The 1st Expeditionary Army is a highly mechanized armored corps. It is very dependent on logistics supplies. People can continue to fight without food. The armored vehicles can only break down without fuel.
under these circumstances
The expeditionary force responded quickly, guarding Brussels and surrounding important towns to prevent German counterattacks, and then refused to go any further.
To fight, you British and French, we can’t fight anyway.
The 3rd Army, which arrived in the UK to resume training, was not in a hurry to deploy to France, but continued to carry out rehabilitation training under the pretext of insufficient logistical supplies.
According to the words of Emperor Li Fushou;
The responsibility of jointly safeguarding world peace is ours and yours. In the final analysis, Britain and France play a leading role in the main battlefield in Europe. Since no one is in a hurry to end the war, it is better to wait.
The Belgian campaign, after the rapid progress in the early stage, defeated the defense of more than 700,000 German troops, liberated most of Belgium’s territory, and then fell into a strange stalemate.
The Anglo-French Allied Forces launched two subsequent offensive operations, losing nearly 100,000 troops. The Germans fought back resolutely, and they met with blood.
Now the two sides have begun to dig trenches and stick to it, entering the stage of stalemate.
In the final analysis, it was selfishness. After winning the glorious title of “Liberator of France”, the Ocean Empire Expeditionary Force fought hard in the early stage of the Belgian campaign and achieved brilliant results.
Britain, France and other countries do not want to see the glory come together and win the title of “Liberator of Belgium” again. The mentality is inevitably seriously imbalanced, and there are more small movements in secret.
As a result, the troops that could fight in front were all held back, and when it was their turn to go, they couldn’t solve the Germans, and a Belgian battle turned into an anticlimactic tug of war.
(end of this chapter)