The Far East was only called by Tsarist Russia. In the mouths of the Qing people, this land was called the Ussuri River Basin, the Heilongjiang River Basin, the White Mountains and the Black Waters, the Land of the Wild Jurchens, and the Oroqen Safari Land.
This vast land was completely undeveloped in this era. None of the cities had any modern flavor. There were no factories, no railways, and even very few common post roads in the pass.
This is a life-saving land left by the Manchus. In their minds, even if Zhu Yuanzhang appears among the Han people hundreds of years later and drives them away, the Manchus will end up like the Mongols. Continue to live on the land where their ancestors lived for generations and look for opportunities to rise again.
Unfortunately, things went against their wishes, times changed, and the medieval century was gone forever like a surging river. The Manchus did not wait for the Han people to invade beyond the Pass, but encountered even more brutal barbarians from further north.
The Rakshasa ghosts, a nation that was unknown to everyone during the Kangxi period, swept in again after more than a hundred years of silence. This time, there was no saint king to lead the Manchus and Rakshasa ghosts to fight. , more than one million square kilometers of land were ceded to Tsarist Russia without the slightest outbreak of war.
At this point, the Manchu Longxing Land became fragmented and was no longer what it was before.
Open the map and look at the current Far East region. It is basically divided into four parts. The geographical dividing lines are three major rivers.
Heilongjiang flows from west to east. To the north of Heilongjiang is the Oroqen and Outer Mongolian hunting lands cut off by Tsarist Russia. To the south of the river is Heilongjiang Province.
The Wusuli River flows from south to north and eventually merges with the Heilongjiang River. The west bank of the Ussuri River is Heilongjiang and Jilin, while the east bank is the cut off wild Jurchen and Oroqen hunting lands, including numerous gathering areas for Han people outside the Pass. Vladivostok is at the southernmost end of this area, across the sea from North Korea. .
The Heilongjiang and Ussuri rivers join together and are renamed the Amur River, flowing northeast and into the Tatar Strait. Opposite the estuary is Sakhalin Island.
The main battlefield of this war was on the east bank of the Ussuri River, because the focus of Tsarist Russia's Far East strategy was Vladivostok, and they needed a deep-water port and an eastern starting point for the Trans-Siberian Railway.
On the contrary, the number of Tsarist Russian soldiers in the north of Heilongjiang is extremely rare. There are only one or two sentries on some traffic arteries, with more than ten people stationed in each squad. The entire territory is undefended.
Xiao Letian's plan for this war is very clear. In April, Heilongjiang was still in the river closure stage. In the late Qing Dynasty, the earth did not have the greenhouse effect, and the winter was long and cold. If the entire Heilongjiang was to be completely thawed, it would have to wait until at least the end of April and the beginning of May.
Since the Manchus in the Far East have basically not invested much in infrastructure construction, there are very few officially built roads. Once the frozen soil dissolves in large areas in May, the entire Baishan Blackwater will turn into a quagmire.
What the army fears most when setting off is this kind of weather. The more modern an army is, the more it relies on heavy equipment. The transportation of artillery alone is a big problem.
There is not much time left for the Far East Volunteer Army. They must completely eliminate the Russian army in Vladivostok in April and stop the enemy before the Russian reinforcements arrive at the Amur River to cross the river.
That will be a very critical war. Tens of thousands of Central Asian Russian cavalry will launch a desperate attack at the last moment when the river is still passable. The Russian commanders are not fools. They know that once the Amur River thaws, the cavalry army will be destroyed unless they have men and horses. They have wings, otherwise they would never cross the river.
The Far East is a vast and sparsely populated area with low productivity. Not to mention that there is wood everywhere for shipbuilding, but felling and processing requires manpower and technical work. Where can I find the manpower and technical work?
Do we need tens of thousands of cavalry and war horses to cross the river on rafts? Become a living target for the Chinese?
As long as Xiang Shaolong's army can hold on in the decisive battle on the Amur River until the river thaws, then there will be no suspense in this battle in the Far East.
Build a permanent defense line across the Amur River, and then convene a meeting of the people of the Far East region in Vladivostok to formally declare the founding of the Far East State. At that time, the Chinese will help them through the difficult moments at the beginning of the founding of the country. In just one summer and autumn, the Far East State will be able to Once again, 50,000 to 60,000 regular troops were trained.
By then, with guns in hand, money behind the Chinese people, and uninterrupted diplomatic efforts, the great powers will recognize the status of the Far Eastern Kingdom one by one, and this country will be established.
It sounds simple, but the battle must be fought step by step, and this battle is expected to be difficult.
First of all, Vladivostok must be solved quickly. This is the largest city in the Far East and the location of the future capital. If it is not solved first, the army will not be able to send troops northward.
After Vladivostok was solved, they had to quickly move eight hundred miles north. Before the Russian reinforcements were about to cross the river, the volunteers had to block the south bank of the Amur River and build a defense line.
This is a battle of time and a battle of blood and fire. The volunteers not only have to fight for time with Russian reinforcements, but also have to fight for time with the gradually warmer weather.
The more important point is that Xiao Letian and Zai Chun must arrive in Europe in July. This is an unchangeable strategy that has been formulated. Even if the Long Ye war does not go well, the Zhiyuan will have to leave by then.
Rushing from Asia to Europe, fortunately the Suez Canal has been opened, which has reduced the journey by one-third, but the time spent on the road is still nearly two months.
1869 is a race against time, and the winner will eventually become the king of East Asia.
Prepare for war, prepare for war, prepare for war! As the Zhiyuan galloped north, the vast area east of the Ussuri River, centered on Vladivostok, had completely turned into the main battlefield.
More than 10,000 Russian troops huddled in the main castle of Vladivostok and scattered bastions around it. As far as they could see, the arrogant Chinese had built the offensive front right under their noses.
Soldiers were everywhere. The 40,000-strong army was so dark that there was no end in sight. The forest in the distance was shrinking every day. The soldiers cut down massive amounts of wood to build forward positions.
The indigenous peoples of the Far East have all been mobilized. The Han, Oroqen, Jurchens, Mongols, and Fusang warriors, all tribes that are unwilling to be ruled by the Rakshasa ghosts, have sent their best young men.
The volunteer army led by General Xiang has strict discipline and never bullies the people, and the volunteer army is rich and powerful. They have foreign guns, cannons, bayonets and daggers made of hundred-forged steel, melon grenades, wooden handle grenades, and even snowflake-patterned bushido shipped from Fuso.
These are the favorite treasures of men outside the customs. Many of them are good treasures that you would never dare to dream of. Today, as long as you follow General Xiang, you can get them.
"The third regiment and the first battalion sent a company of brothers to the beach to receive the latest supplies! The Prime Minister has sent us arms again, let's go."
