"So Yuan Shikai's troops and equipment all come from Tsarist Russia?" Rong Lu said after reading a secret letter.

"Basically, the news I received from Beiyang is that Russian ships dock at Tianjin from time to time. Then Yuan Shikai's people went to receive these supplies." Prince Qing nodded.

"Then Li Hongzhang allowed Yuan Shikai to do mischief under his nose?" Ronglu frowned and said, this is not Li Hongzhang's style.

"This Li Hongzhang is now busy helping his precious disciples deal with the Russians. The Russians have assembled tens of thousands of troops at the border, and the news coming from the northeast is that Xu Jie and Iketang'a are not going to deal with them either. In this way

First of all, Li Hongzhang naturally doesn't want to provoke Yuan Shikai. And..." Prince Qing stopped talking.

"And Li Hongzhang still wants to sit on the sidelines and watch? Let's see who takes the top position before making moves? This old fox." Ronglu said bitterly. In fact, Ronglu underestimated Li Hongzhang's purpose. Beiyang decided to be the oriole this time!

"Is there any other news?" Ronglu asked after putting away the secret message. He had also heard about Yuan Shikai's purchase of weapons and equipment from the Russians. If it was just to verify this information, there was no need for Prince Qing to specifically

Come over and discuss it with yourself, just find someone to send a letter.

"It is said that Yuan Shikai's people recently went to Tianjin to pick up the goods, but the Russian ship did not arrive. And now the Russians and the Japanese have started fighting. I am afraid that Yuan Shikai will not be able to obtain new equipment in a short time." Prince Qing said in a low voice.

"Is there such a thing?" Ronglu was shocked, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ronglu is a smart man. He knows very well that even if the rear party concentrates all its efforts to expand the army, due to the problem of weapons channels

, the pace of the rear party army has always been

One step slower than the opponent. Now that the Russians suddenly stopped helping Guangxu, this is an opportunity for the rear party, and Ronglu knows that Yuan Shikai has not completed the final preparations. The rear party has also not completed it. But during this period, the gap between the two sides will be the smallest.

time, it must be utilized.

"In addition, the cooperation between the emperor and the Russians may be detrimental to Beiyang. Otherwise, Guangxu would not be busy with a coup in Zhili, and the Russians would send troops to attack Beiyang on the Yalu River." Prince Qing said with profound meaning.

"Well, it makes sense. As long as the collusion between Guangxu and the Russians at home and abroad can be confirmed, then Guangxu will become a national traitor. Is Beiyang afraid that he will side with us?" Ronglu also came to the spirit. This

The plan was really good. In his opinion, if Li Hongzhang simply faced the emperor and the queen mother, it would be very difficult.

He may be hesitant. But if foreign countries are involved, Li Hongzhang will definitely declare war on the party that colludes with foreign countries. What's more, the Russians and Beiyang have fought against each other in the Qing Dynasty War, and they are basically hostile now. As long as Beiyang decides to help

If the rear party follows the rule, then there will be no suspense about the outcome of the war!

"Then should we talk to the Queen Mother and take action immediately? Now is the time when the imperial party is at its weakest." Prince Qing said.

"His Royal Highness King Qing, please make preparations. The veteran's northwest training army is also waiting for the Queen Mother's order." Ronglu nodded and said.

Soon, the suggestions of King Qing and Ronglu were adopted by Cixi, who decided to strike preemptively two weeks later. According to King Qing's suggestion, Cixi's emissary also told Li Hongzhang the information about the collusion between the Russians and the imperialists. Li Hongzhang also pretended to be surprised and

Although he showed a certain degree of goodwill, Li Hongzhang secretly discussed with Xu Jie and others via telegram what to do.

After many telegram exchanges, a rough plan has been initially formed. First of all, judging from the current situation, the Imperial Party still has some advantages. In order to better "balance" the strengths of both parties, Beiyang decided to immediately provide Ronglu with a

Approval of arms, of course, is much more

Numbers are some old and backward things. At the same time, in order to stabilize both sides, Beiyang decided to show goodwill to Ronglu and at the same time reveal part of the party's plan to Yuan Shikai through secret channels. Losing both sides is the best result, so Beiyang needs Yuan Shikai

Some preparation.

The fact that the Hou Party is going to launch a coup is undoubtedly a very important signal. It is thought that after many preparations, the forces of all parties will finally show off! Both the Imperial Party and the Hou Party will definitely join forces with the decadent Qing Dynasty after this battle.

In ashes, Beiyang, as the country's most powerful force, although powerful, is not absolutely sure whether it can control the situation in the country in a short period of time and counterattack the Russian aggression. Ri himself has taken action in order to regain the lost territory. For this purpose

ribenzheng

Fu decided to put everything he had at stake. Naturally, the Russians would not give up this opportunity that they had bought with a large amount of money and weapons. Even though Japan had begun to declare war on Russia, Russia still did not want to give up this opportunity. As for the British, they also

Very excited. Although the Sino-Japanese War organized the Russian expansion into the Qing Dynasty, the Russians still obtained ice-free ports and large tracts of land from Japan. Now the British need Beiyang to concentrate all their efforts on Russia! This will ensure the British influence in the Far East.

Interests are not violated!

At this time, what made Xu Jie hesitate was the decision to deal with Russia. According to Xu Jie's plan, Japan would appear as cannon fodder for the Russians to attack the Northeast, and Japan did not "live up" to Xu Jie's high expectations.

In an undeclared war not long ago, a Russian brigade was sent into the icy Japanese sea. The furious Russian Far East Fleet launched an attack on Japan like a mad bear. And the Japanese navy is also smart.

, after wiping out thousands of Russian troops, they obediently retreated to the Hiroshima area. However, the Russian fleet did not stop doing anything, and almost the entire army pressed forward. On the one hand, it supported the Russian army in the battles of Akita and Miyako, and on the other hand, it launched a counterattack against Japan.

Attack on Japan's sea transportation lines. In just a few days, Japan's sea transportation lines were basically cut off. Except for a few ships that could escape by luck, everything else became a record of the Russian Navy.

Although Japan had stockpiled a large amount of supplies before the war, and although the Japanese army still maintained its offensive, Xu Jie knew very well that if this situation continued, Japan's arms reserves would be exhausted in at most 2 months, and

In four months at most, Japan's food supply will be exhausted. Japan will be defeated by then. Xu Jie is not concerned about Japan's own life and death. What he cares about is how much benefit China can gain from this war.

Sitting back and watching Japan's defeat can theoretically provide a stable period of at least 3 to 4 months. But then what? Perhaps Beiyang can basically solve its domestic problems during this period. But the overall strategic situation will fundamentally deteriorate. Russia is in

3 to 4 months is enough time for Japan to surrender or even

Even if it completely surrenders, Russia's power in the Far East will be further extended. Even if the attack on Beiyang is missed due to time issues, the Russians will still make a sure profit! This is the purpose of Xu Jie's simultaneous weakening of Russia and Japan.

It's okay to go against the grain and beggar your neighbor, but you can't make your enemy stronger!

Secondly, Russia's original plan did not intend to use the Japanese. Therefore, at this stage, the Russian military strength is prepared according to the standard of dealing with the Beiyang family alone. But now that the Japanese have joined, Russia will inevitably increase its troops, and

After Japan is solved, will Russia's army of more than 100,000 people take advantage of the situation and launch an attack on Beiyang from the northeast? Answer

It is completely possible! Maybe it is really difficult to support the more than 100,000 troops in the Far East by relying solely on the Russians, but it would be enough if Russia looted Japan and then used war to support the war. More importantly, the French finally

It secretly helped Russia, so after Russia solved Japan, the strengthened Russian navy and army could still launch an attack on Beiyang.

Third, the British factor. Long before Japan launched the war, the British had requested Beiyang to provide support for Japan's actions through various channels, and even asked for direct combat with the Russian Far East Fleet in addition to supplies and transportation. Of course,

Xu Jie could not directly agree to this request. The British instead threatened to reduce aid to Beiyang. The relationship between Beiyang and the British

The relationship gradually cooled down, and Xu Jie knew very well that for a long time to come, the country's development would need the help of the United Kingdom. The war with the Russians could never be resolved by a war. For long-term strategic needs, Beiyang needed

Support ri at the right time. Don't let ri take advantage, but at the same time don't let ri lose!

In this case, Xu Jie decided that the Beiyang Fleet will cover the transport fleet to Japan in one month. As long as the Russians do not attack the Beiyang Fleet or attack the Japanese ports where the Beiyang Fleet is temporarily stationed, the Beiyang Fleet will not take direct measures against the Russian Navy.

hostilities. Subsequently, Xu Jie will decide based on the domestic situation whether to act as a mediator to force Russia and Japan to stop, or to take the initiative

Attack the Russian mainland and the Far East Fleet. Xu Jie, the foreign strongman of the Russian army, is very clear that in the historical Battle of Fengtian, the Russian army actually lost to the Japanese army in a field battle even though it had a considerable advantage in strength.

, this is enough to prove the power of the Russian army. In this case, Xu Jie doesn't mind getting some benefits from the Russians while handling domestic affairs!

Subsequently, Beiyang began to carry out operations according to the plan. A batch of old Krupp 75mm camp guns and machine guns were sent to Ronglu's northwest army training camp. Yuan Shikai also obtained the information that the rear party might take action from the information deliberately leaked by Beiyang.

According to the news, although Yuan Shikai was quite dissatisfied with taking action at this time, he still had a large number of troops that had not been re-equipped. Although the weapons were relatively advanced, the arms supply was almost completely dependent on external sources because he did not have direct control over the military factories. There was not much ammunition reserve.

In this way, outside Bei Jing City, troops from both sides began to enter their positions, and a chilling atmosphere enveloped the entire Bei Jing area. Neither side showed much interest in Bei Jing City, whether it was the Forbidden City, which was a symbol of the feudal dynasty's rule, or

It was the Summer Palace that Cixi had built with so much effort. Neither side sent too many troops to deploy in the forty-nine cities, because both Ronglu and Yuan Shikai knew very well who could conquer the city.

By controlling the periphery of Beijing, whoever can eliminate the opponent's military power can ultimately control the entire Beijing. The strategy of concentrating on solving the opponent's effective forces, regardless of the gains and losses of one city or one place, was realized by both sides of the war in 1899!

Thanks to book friend Croaking Frog for his monthly ticket and evaluation vote. Thanks to book friend Breeze for his monthly ticket support, and book friend Ashurom for his evaluation vote. When I woke up this morning, I found that the collection has grown slightly. The author was very pleased, but once
Chapter completed!