Chapter 420 July 7, 1905
As early as the fall of Arthur Military Port, Britain expressed its willingness to mediate and hoped that the war would end as soon as possible.
The reason why Britain wants to mediate is not because it feels sorry for the Russian Empire, but because it does not want the Russian Empire to be weakened too much.
For Britain, the Far East is just an overseas interest, and Britain's fundamental interests are still in Europe.
Europe is now an alliance between Germany and Austria, and Russia and France. Two major military camps have been formed. France is already slightly weaker. If the strength of the Russian Empire is further weakened, Europe will be unbalanced.
So London hopes that St. Petersburg's great nephew will stop.
London also does not want to see Japan's excessive expansion of strength, which will also affect British interests in East Asia.
Nicholas already had a grudge against the Anglo-Japanese alliance, so how could he let Britain get his wish.
After George became the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in Kwantung, the Russian defense line has been stabilized, and George is organizing a counterattack.
If the Second Fleet successfully reaches the Far East and joins the Siberian Fleet, the Russian Empire can still win.
All this came to nothing after the Second Fleet was completely wiped out.
On June 15, US Secretary of State John Hay once again expressed to St. Petersburg that the Russo-Japanese War could be mediated.
At this time, St. Petersburg was in greater turmoil than last year.
On May 1, during a demonstration in Warsaw, Russian troops opened fire and 30 workers died.
On the 10th, Łódź police killed 10 people.
On the 15th, the funeral ceremony for the deceased turned into a parade. Angry people threw stones at the Cossacks. The Cossacks fired back, killing 25 people.
That night, the angry crowd began to attack the police and patrolmen, and killed those who refused to surrender, which turned into a riot.
As of June, peasant riots broke out in 104 of the 501 counties in Europe and Russia.
The real fatal blow to St. Petersburg was the uprising of sailors on the ironclad Potemkin that broke out on June 14.
Since the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, uprisings and riots in the Russian Empire have been limited to workers and farmers. The army, as the basic base, has not been affected.
The "Potemkin" was just completed and put into service this spring. At that time, the Second Fleet had already set off, so the "Potemkin" was not incorporated into the Second Fleet.
On June 14, before the "Potemkin" was preparing to go to sea for training, because the soldiers did not want to eat smelly beef, a conflict broke out with the officers, including the captain, first mate, and officers on duty. Seven officers were killed and the remaining officers were arrested by the sailors.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the management committee composed of 30 sailors called up the uprising and officially separated from the Imperial Navy, shocking the whole world.
On June 18, St. Petersburg called back to Washington and agreed to negotiate an armistice with Japan.
In order to strive for better negotiation conditions, Nicholas sent electricity to George, hoping that the Kwantung Russian army would launch an attack on the Japanese army.
George strongly opposed making peace with Japan and informed St. Petersburg of his combat plan. He hoped that Nicholas would strengthen his confidence and give the Kwantung Russian army some time. George would definitely win the war.
The rebellion of the "Potemkin" dealt a heavy blow to Nikolai's confidence. Nikolay now does not trust anyone, and he is also half-trusting of George.
After George submitted the battle plan to St. Petersburg, Nicholas convened a royal meeting to evaluate George's battle plan.
"Both the Pacific Fleet and the Second Fleet have been completely wiped out. Is the Siberian Fleet capable of cutting off the connection between the Japanese mainland and Kanto? It's simply ridiculous!"
Vladimir's response to George Battle plans were dismissed.
Before Sergei was assassinated, Vladimir was restrained by Sergei and did not dare to be too presumptuous in front of Nikolai.
Now that Sergei is gone, Alexei is the Minister of the Navy and is colluding with Vladimir.
Paul Alexandrovich, another uncle of Nikolai, was exiled abroad by Nikolai and was not allowed to return to his country because of his intermarriage with his Italian mistress in 1902.
So now there is no one around Nicholas who can speak for George.
“Since there are submarines in the Amur Military District, why not report it to the Navy Ministry?”
Alexei's dissatisfaction with George reached its peak.
As the Minister of the Navy, the best parts of the three major fleets of the empire have been annihilated by the combined fleet, and the only remaining "Potemkin" has also rebelled. Alexei is now a truly polished minister. .
Now Alexei looks at the Siberian fleet again, no matter how he looks at it, he doesn’t like it.
Who is responsible for the annihilation of the three major fleets?
From Alexei’s standpoint, it must be George’s.
In any case, Alexei himself could not be wrong.
Nicholas did not question Alexei, he looked numb and heartbroken.
"If George had the ability to defeat Japan, he would never have made such a plan!"
In order to oppose George, Vladimir has reached the point of being desperate.
“George is not consuming Japan at all, but buying time to eliminate dissidents and monopolize power. Look what he has done during this time, drive Kuropatkin away, kill Zasulich, Appointing his cronies to important positions, except for Linevich in Kanto - no, Linevich may have been bribed by George, otherwise Linevich would not be reused. "
Vladimir's crazy output seems reasonable.
George has indeed taken over all power in the Far East.
But you can’t blame George.
Alexeyev and Makarov failed to live up to their expectations. They died and were demoted. This gave George the opportunity to monopolize power.
If Vladimir is capable, Nicholas can also appoint Vladimir as governor of the Far East.
However, Vladimir did not accept it——
“If the Amur Military District hands the Siberian Fleet to the command of the Navy, it is not irreversible——”
Alexey brought up the old matter again.
"The war should be stopped, and the troops from the Far East should be transferred to Poland to counter the rebellion. Compared with the Far East, St. Petersburg is more important."
Vladimir also did not give up.
Nikolai had a splitting headache and countless thoughts. Now this complicated situation was far beyond Nikolai's ability.
“Nikki?”
Alexey noticed something unusual about Nikolai.
“Nikki, did you hear that?”
Vladimir is still pressing forward step by step.
"I -" Nicholas' expression seemed to be a smile but not a smile. As soon as he said a word, his expression suddenly froze and he slumped on the chair.
Nicholas was not pretending to be ill, he was really ill, and he was very ill and was in a coma for a while.
The crown prince was still young, Nicholas suddenly fell ill, and imperial affairs were jointly decided by the Council of Ministers and the Imperial Council.
While Nicholas was alive, the Imperial Council was always chaired by Vladimir.
The person responsible for presiding over the meeting of ministers is Professor Bergmann, Speaker of the State Duma and President of St. Petersburg University.
How can a university professor rival the Grand Duke?
So after the merger of the Council of Ministers and the Imperial Council, Vladimir was in charge.
The first resolution of the joint meeting was to send Witte as representative to the United States to start negotiations with Japan.
Subsequently, George received an order from the Joint Conference that the Kwantung Russian Army would withdraw in batches and go to various parts of the empire to quell rebellions.
At this most critical time, the Siberian Railway was bombed again.
Before the negotiations ended, George was still responsible for frontline defense, so the management of the Siberian Railway was transferred to the Secretary of Transportation, and George's power shrank again.
George no longer cares about the Trans-Siberian Railway at this moment.
After the order from St. Petersburg was issued, Linevich led the First Army to withdraw in batches. There was a gap in the defense line. George had to pull up the Yu and Ni divisions to fill the defense line.
In view of the fact that reinforcements from St. Petersburg have stopped, Yelokhin returned to Amur and continued to recruit reserves into the army.
George said that he would stick to Siping.
Do what you say!
Even if St. Petersburg surrenders, George will fight the Japanese to the end.
Alexander came to say goodbye to George, the Kwantung Russian army withdrew in batches, and his work was over.
If George does not withdraw, St. Petersburg can surrender, but George will not surrender.
"George, why do you have to-"
Alexander smiled bitterly, he didn't want to surrender, but the situation was beyond his control.
"Go back and say hello to Nicky for me."
George didn't talk nonsense. Everyone has his own ambitions and can't force it.
Alexander’s persuasion was useless and he could only leave.
"George, you have to be careful."
Milyugin was worried that George would take risks.
"Old man, are you still willing to be my chief of staff?"
George hopes Milyutin can stay.
“Of course! Although I am 90 years old, I can still hold a rifle!”
Milyujing grew stronger as he grew older, and was fearless.
Brushinov is not leaving either. He has received orders from St. Petersburg to return to St. Petersburg immediately and lead the Guards to counter the rebellion.
After learning of George's decision, Brusinov simply resigned from the Guards and joined the Amur Military District, preferring to start over as a private.
Like Brusinov, there were nearly 400 officers and more than 100,000 Cossacks who also decided to stay.
“Grand Duke, I stay here voluntarily. As long as you don’t withdraw, we will never withdraw until we die!”
Brusinov's uniform had all the Guards emblems removed, and the saber given to him by Nicholas was brought back to St. Petersburg by his adjutant and returned to Nicholas.
“Decided?”
George is not surprised, 140 million Russians can always find like-minded people.
Brushinov opened the door to George's office.
400 officers lined up neatly in front of George's office. Among them were captains who had served in the army for more than 20 years, and some young men who had just graduated from the military academy.
Someone had just returned from the front line, and his uniform was still stained with blood.
Someone just came from the hospital, still wearing bandages.
There are members of the nobility.
There are also civilian children.
Although they have different backgrounds, they all have a fiery heart.
Looking at the determined faces.
George suddenly felt a little sore in his nose.
“Have you considered it carefully? Next, we may not have reinforcements——”
“We are not afraid!”
Brushinov’s voice is louder than a cannon .
"Your military merits may not be recognized by the military headquarters -"
"Go to the bloody military headquarters!"
The roars of four hundred people went straight into the sky.
"Very good, return to the position and hold on to it. Victory will eventually belong to us!"
George was in a excited mood. After all, so many years of hard work were not in vain.
"Hurrah!"
July 7, 1905, George will always remember this day.
(End of this chapter)