Chapter 167 Are you ready for the civil war?

- Pearl Harbor, Pacific Army Staff Headquarters.

Chen Ping held the coffee and stood quietly in front of the map, locking his eyebrows and not saying a word.

Behind him, Long Guozhang kept paating with a thick cigar in his arms. He also looked restless and uneasy. There were people coming and going in the corridor, and the staff who got the news were even more busy. In the next war room, they calculated one plan after another.

Battleships Chesma, Sinop, Admiral Nasimov and Admiral Kornilov heavy cruisers (Honolulu calls armored cruisers heavy cruisers), plus the first batch of Russian support fleets that have arrived and entered the port of Lushun for wintering, with a full of four battleships, six armored cruisers and four protections. The total number of cruisers, plus small warships in Shanghai, is as high as 26!

If the Russian Far East Fleet in everyone's eyes is just old-fashioned models and not a big threat, then the new Chesma and Sinop are completely battleships of the same level as the Arctic star. Most importantly, the Russians have a total of six heavy patrols, the smallest of which is equivalent to the determination class. As for several heavy patrols modified from ironclads, they have completely surpassed the determination class!

Nicholas II is going to launch it with all his strength! And he is not as stupid as the outside legend. At least now the fragile situation in the Far East has been mastered by him, so he sent such a powerful support, which is obviously to launch a big offensive.

He said that he was disabled and could no longer compete for hegemony in the Far East for at least a few years. Although their new Chief of Staff of the Army and Navy, Prince North Shirakawa, continued to send army soldiers to North Korea in an attempt to keep this expanding forward base, without the containment of the navy, the army could only rely on tens of thousands of troops that lacked supplies to support more. How long?

And from the perspective of scale, the Russians' ambition is obviously not only aimed at Japan. You should know that the total tonnage of Japan's navy today is not as good as that of an Arctic star battleship. In the absence of opponents, the goal of sending such a large-scale fleet to the Far East is obvious!

According to intelligence, Beiyang has been hiding in Lushun and Weihai to protect ships since its last defeat. Qing Zheng Axe also compromised not to intervene in North Korea. In this way, it will let the ambitions of the Russians go. When the second batch of Russian warships arrive, it will undoubtedly be a catastrophic disaster for Beiyang!

The Beiyang Marine Division has lost its enterprising heart, saying that I can only watch Russian [***] ships run rampant. So what will the Russians, who have the largest fleet in the Far East, do?

"Report, Tianjin Urgent News, the Russian ambassador met with Li Hongzhang this morning. It is said that it is to discuss 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 felt a deep fog. At this time, Russia went to see Li Hongzhang. What on earth did he want to do?

"Yuanshou, how long do you think I can last?" Long Guozhang sucked a cigarette hard and walked to Chen Ping. Chen Ping put down the coffee and shook his head: "If the Russians do it alone, it's not so easy for North Korea to take it."

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

Chen Ping frowned and nodded: "The Russians contacted Li Hongzhang at this time. They must want the Qing Dynasty to send soldiers to attack him together? Even if the Qing Dynasty disagrees, I'm afraid they will ask for the opening of Lushun Port as a forward base!"

"No way!"

After hearing the hypothesis, Long Guozhang's gloomy face was almost dripping out of water. If the Russians used the pretext of attacking North Korea and the soldiers rented Lushun Port, then it would not be so easy for the Qing Dynasty to take it back! And the Beiyang sailors stationed there, I'm afraid...!

If Nicholas II was bolder and took the opportunity to lease Lushun to send the army to land directly, then the whole Liaodong would quickly fall!

Did you really do it last time? So as soon as Germany left, the Russians came to pick peaches again? Long Guozhang can't laugh or cry. I don't know what's good about this cake in the Far East. Everyone wants to take a bite!

"With the strength of the Japanese army, the Russians launched it with all their strength, and it is impossible to successfully take North Korea, and the British are also desperately transporting supplies and soldiers to reinforce North Korea for me! So I think the goal of the Russians is the Northeast! North Korea is just an excuse!

Pap!

The cigar that Long Guozhang held in his mouth fell to the ground, and the cigarette butt suddenly turned bright and dark, as if he was crying the carelessness of the owner. But Long Guozhang had no time to pick up the cigar. Chen Ping's words made his back cold, because if this hypothesis is true, I'm afraid that Lushun, Weihai, Qingdao, and even Tianjin will be shrouded in the cannons of the Russian fleet!

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

Hearing the information, Chen Ping immediately outlined it on the map. After half the pay, he threw down his pen and turned to look at Long Guozhang and said, "According to the time, the Russians will arrive in Nanyang in half a month. They definitely need to replenish coal and rest in Annan, which is controlled by the French, so I estimate that they will arrive in a month at most! "

One month!

At that time, Vladivostok should also be thawed. This carefully built Far East fortress is finally going to play a role!

"Young master, what will you do?" Chen Ping muttered to himself, took a deep breath, and picked up the already cold coffee again: "Guo Zhang, let the fleet be ready!"

"Yes!" --

"What's going on! Why did a batch of support fleets suddenly appear? And there are battleships! What on earth does your Cokebo eat?! The consequences of dissatisfaction are terrible. Master Li's saliva almost drowned the brother-in-in-law and intelligence head around him. If the previous assassination was a Kkob classic, then it is stupid now!

Li Mo doesn't understand why he provoked the two battleships, Chesma and Sinop, who have never been to the Far East in history. Is the young master really so bad?!

Seeing that the Russian fleet under its own eyes has two more new battleships and two heavy patrols, if this is wartime, it will already mean failure!

Duan Fei bit his lips. Now is not the time to explain. What's more, there is no need to explain. It's right or wrong. Although the Russians mobilized two battleships under the pretext of the exercise, this does not mean that the Ministry of Intelligence has made no mistakes. If the two intelligences could be considered at that time, there would have been no It's today!

In the car, Li Mo quickly came to the staff headquarters. Although the current situation involves more the navy, he can still see a lot of army staff rushing in and out.

In the hall of the staff headquarters, the pace was hurried and noisy. Ouyang Xiu and Huang Fuqi, the heads of the third regiment of the second regiment, who got the news, were hiding in the corner and whispering with several captains. Naturally, the topic was the Korean incident that had just happened, and the situation in the Far East after the arrival of the Russians. I saw Li Mo. When they came in, everyone immediately straightened their chests and saluted.

Li Mo was not in the mood to greet them. After a salute, he immediately walked to the middle conference room. He opened the door and saw that in addition to Chen Ping and Long Guozhang, even Li Enfu had come. The three of them smoked cigarettes and their faces were a little solemn.

After nodding with

and the three people, Li Mo quickly ran to the front big map and checked it carefully.

The Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Malacca, the Taiwan Strait, Li Mo's fingers followed the road to be taken by the Russian fleet all the way north until it stopped at the prominent North Korea.

Judging from the distance, at the speed of the Russian [***] ship, it will take at least a month to reach Vladivostok. After arriving, it will take about a period of rest. Then at the end of May and the beginning of June, the Russian army should also arrive at that time, that is to say, I still have more than two months to prepare for the response. The situation in the Far East has been completely changed by myself.

The only thing that is still unclear is how many troops the Russians will invest, whether it is the maximum of 50,000 as previously estimated, or if something like the second batch of support fleet suddenly appears, I'm afraid it won't be troublesome.

That's a disaster!

Li Mo looked away from North Korea and turned to the Liaodong Peninsula next to North Korea and the Shandong Peninsula opposite. He jumped twice between his eyebrows and suddenly looked up and asked, "Do you know the deployment of the Qing army in the northeast?"

"At present, about 100,000 Qing troops are stationed in the northeast, mainly concentrated in Heilongjiang, Shengjing and Jilin. There are also some Yi troops in Lushunkou to assist in defense. In addition, more than 20,000 people who have withdrawn from North Korea are currently stationed near Fengtian." Chen Ping pointed to the map and introduced, "In terms of the number of people, it is enough to resist the Russians, but the Eight Banners of Jilin and Fengtian have been abandoned for a long time, and the Green Battalion is also useless. Only the Yi army and those who have returned from North Korea can have a little combat effectiveness."

"Is it really unstoppable for Russia's occupation of the Northeast?"

After listening to Chen Ping's general introduction, Li Mo was finally relieved. At least there were more than 100,000 Qing troops in front of him. No matter how strong the Russians were, it was impossible to finish the Qing army in one gulp. Therefore, everyone was not very worried about the land war. What they were really worried about was the Russian Far East Fleet.

Especially the two new battleships that have never left Russia in history. By the time they join the Far East, the Russian Far East Fleet, both in terms of overall quality and quantity, have subtly overwhelmed the Pacific Fleet, which will be a very large fleet that wants to control the Far East and even the Pacific Ocean. Threats!

"Why don't you do it first? Ambush the Russian fleet in Malacca? Master Li gritted his teeth, but soon gave up the idea. If Britain supports itself at this moment, it's okay to fight without declaration! But now, I'm afraid it will be more isolated!

What's more, Tirpitz is still in the Far East. No one can guarantee that Germany will wear a pair of trousers with Russia, so he must not choose to go to war at this time.

But if you don't take the initiative to intervene, it doesn't mean you don't fight! Whether it is out of personal feelings or the need to curb Russia's expansion, it is inevitable, so the most urgent need now is to find a forward base for the troops!

Master Li's eyes stopped on the Liaodong Peninsula, and a bold idea suddenly rose up, and he could no longer contain it like a flood.

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

Master Li is no longer Li Mo a few years ago. Now he is the supreme commander of this army. He must consider all aspects, especially 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 Russia's deliberate release of false information and the secret increase in the number of warships, they are determined to go through this muddy water. 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!"

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

"I just discussed with Guozhang and Mr. Li. We might as well send the fleet to take the initiative to attack, take advantage of the unstable foothold, and destroy the second batch of Russian support fleet, forcing them to be unable to launch an attack!"

"Is it impossible to curb Russia from attacking again?" Li Mo frowned and suddenly stared at Chen Ping.

Looking at the young master's eyes, Chen Ping took a deep breath, and suddenly picked up the baton and walked to the map. He walked along the northern border of the Qing Dynasty and said solemnly, "From the northwest to the Tangnu Wuliang Sea and then to Vladivostok, Russia has deployed a total of about 80,000 troops in the northern border of the Qing Dynasty, but this kind of force 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, so if the army from the north wants to fight to Yanjing City, it will face the resistance of the Qing army and the troops along the way, which is too un cost-effective for them."

"So the Russians are most likely to take a breakthrough. According to the previous Nighthawk's investigation of Vladivostok, they must want to start from Vladivostok and go south to Jilin. In addition, they may also land directly from Liaodong, so that they can form a north-south attack, forcing the Qing army to be powerless.

"But this also requires a premise, that is, to completely destroy the Beiyang Marine Division and capture Lushun. Only in this way can the fleet enter and exit the Yellow Sea smoothly. Therefore, I personally think that the purpose of the Russian fleet's arrival this time is very likely to target the Beiyang Marine Division."

"Once the Russians control Lushun and defeat Beiyang, we will have to face another possibility, that is, Russia's attack Tianjin! Straight to the capital!"

"Fute Tianjin!"

Chen Ping's words, not to mention Li Mo, even Long Guozhang and Li Enfu have widened their eyes and dare not agree. You should know that Tianjin is the gateway to Yanjing. Once Tianjin fails, I'm afraid the Forbidden City can't be saved!

Although the Russians have never fought Tianjin in history, Chen Ping's words reminded Li Mo that the pattern and history of the Far East have been completely changed by him. Once the Russians control the northeast, who can guarantee that Nicholas II, who is known as a madman, will not covet the Forbidden City? What about it?

You should know that the two battleships, Chesma and Sinop, both belong to the Russian new warships, and have been deployed to the more important Baltic Fleet. Now the southward Far East has completely changed the historical corridor. What can't happen?

Li Mo took a breath. Chen Ping's prediction may be a little extreme, but there is nothing wrong from his point of view. Although the British have been supporting the Qingzheng axe against Russia over the years, the Yellow Sea War saw that after the Qing army was weak, their attitude towards the Qingzheng axe changed, forcing the Qing army to withdraw from North Korea.

At the same time, the Beiyang Marine Division, which had the advantage of equipment, also showed them the external strength of the Qingzheng axe to the small fleet, so the Germans asked to rent the port, and the Russians would not care about the deployment of troops. And everyone knows that if it was really a land battle, the British would not dare to intervene!

The Far East has become a new hunting ground. The new round of division has actually begun since I defeated him, but this is not good news for Li Mo, because he wants a complete China, not a China that has been battered with holes. Once the Russians are really as Chen Ping predicted, in the Qing Dynasty The Pacific Army, without any base, could only stare at the Russian iron horses raging!

Just as Li Mo was stunned, Chen Ping threw a possibility again, frowning and waving the baton seriously: "If you want to completely destroy the Beiyang Marine Division, you must destroy the remaining ships and occupy Lushun. Thinking of Germany's sudden request to lease Qingdao, I suspect that the two families may have reached some kind of agreement. It's just that the Germans are worried that the British will get involved, so they let Russia stand out, so that he can wait until the two sides are about the same time, and take the opportunity to mediate and force the Qing Dynasty to cede Qingdao, or even the whole Shandong Peninsula!

Looking at everyone's shocked eyes, Chen Ping continued: "As the most important maritime force in the Far East today, the Russians naturally want to know our attitude, so Germany chose to visit us at this time, just to know whether it is possible for us to intervene in the Far East war!"

"In this case, I think we might as well do it thoroughly and take the lead in occupying Lushun and Yantai and stationing 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 Qing Dynasty from the sea, they must fight first. Defeat us!"

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

Seize Lushun!

Seize Yantai!

Li Enfu and Long Guozhang both took a breath of cold air! Chen Ping, what do you want to do?

Looking at Chen Ping with bright eyes and straight body, and then looking at Long Guozhang and Li Enfu with stunned eyes, Li Mo knew that it was time to make a choice!

After asked Li Enfu 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 to pick up the last layer of fig leaf. Both Li Enfu and Long Guozhang knew that with the sudden march of the Russians into the Far East, the Pacific Army had reached a crossroads!

Looking at the cigarette butt of Li Mo's fingertips, everyone was waiting quietly.

Suddenly, Li Mo turned around and extinguished 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 people."

"Yes!"

"The fleet enters wartime control and is on standby at any time!"

"Yes."

"Mr. Li, please take care of the logistics!"

"Don't worry, young master."

Li Mo's eyes swept over the faces of the three people. Every time he looked at one person, he gave an order. Finally, he suddenly took a deep breath and asked, "Three gentlemen, Li Mo and you have come to this day. At this moment, I just want to ask one question, are you ready for the civil war?"

(to be continued)