Winter Palace, dark night.
It is said that Tsar Nicholas I, who was extremely energetic and worked 18 hours a day, was still in high spirits at this time. He was in his office with his brother Grand Duke Mikhail and his confidant Vice Admiral Menshikov, Paske Army General Veitch and Field Marshal Peter Wittgenstein stood together in front of a map of the situation around the Black Sea, discussing whether to "pay" the Ming Dynasty and ask Zhuge Weidao to "deliver the goods" quickly.
"Your Majesty, I have personally boarded the Hero, experienced the battleship galloping on the sea at a speed of more than 20 knots, and witnessed with my own eyes the terrifying power of a salvo of eight 280mm main guns. I can guarantee that the British Empire is the most powerful The Sovereign is completely vulnerable to this Hero. One Hero can fight at least five Sovereigns! As for the Haohan, it is also the most powerful armored cruiser in the world. If it fights the Sovereign one-on-one, it will be extremely powerful. The bigger one may be able to win! If you let me command the fleet with the Hero and the Hero as the core, I am absolutely confident that I can control the sea in the Aegean Sea and completely block the external military routes to Constantinople from the sea.
If they are lucky enough, the naval infantry arriving in the Aegean Sea on two fast troop transport ships can even suddenly land in important areas along the Aegean Sea coast, catching the Turks by surprise!
In addition, there is a radio station installed on the Hero. Zhuge Weidao also promised that if we buy 5 Heroes, he can give us five more radio stations. In this way, the Hero can maintain communication with the eastern and western armies attacking Turkey at any time! "
"Your Majesty!" Marshal Peter Wittgenstein, a veteran who participated in the Napoleonic Wars, knew the importance of battlefield communications. He immediately said to the Tsar, "these five radio stations are of extremely high value! With them, not only do things The two armies and the fleet on the southern front can keep in touch at any time, and all of us can keep in touch with Your Majesty at any time. The armies distributed in three distant battlefields will have a truly timely and effective unified command!"
Army General Paskevich, who had just won the war with Persia, was also moved by the old marshal's words, "Your Majesty, if we can buy more radio stations and equip each division with one, it will be great." That would be great!”
The tsar glanced at the general who had just been awarded the title of Count of Yerevan and thought: "Wouldn't it be better to equip each battalion with a radio? The question is where will the money come from? Not to mention that it will be available in a year or two. The four hero-level items delivered are priced at 10.88 million, which is the current expenditure of 9.99 million plus three 6.66 million. The Rakshasa Kingdom will have to immediately spend 29.97 million. The other four heroic-level items require at least a deposit, one of which is 1 million. , it’s just another 4 million, almost 34 million silver dollars, and it’s gone. Fortunately, the Baku oil field has made money in the past two years. Tens of millions of tons of oil can be sold for two to three billion silver dollars every year, otherwise it would really be unaffordable. !”
At this time, Grand Duke Mikhail came close to the Tsar and whispered: "Nikolai Pavlovich, Natalie Pavlovna is right. You must make drastic internal reforms and Constantine Choose between Constantinople. Reform or take Constantinople!"
Of course Nicholas I did not want to carry out drastic reforms. He was not a good person, he was just an extremely conservative imperialist!
In his view, although serfdom in the Rakshasa Kingdom was backward, it could only be improved slightly and could not be abolished across the board. Otherwise, the trouble of abolishing serfdom would be greater than maintaining serfdom.
Since it is impossible to abolish serfdom, the only option is to capture Constantinople!
Perhaps after taking Constantinople, relying on his reputation as the "Eastern Roman Emperor", Nicholas I could announce the abolition of serfdom, and let the landlords lose a little money and allocate some land to the liberated serfs.
But Britain’s position and Princess Victoria
"Nikolai Pavlovich," Grand Duke Mikhail saw Nicholas I still hesitating and said to him, "Ming Dynasty is the number one opponent of the British Empire. If we show enough strength in the war against Turkey, With our strength, we will become the targets of the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain! The marriage of Grand Duke Alexander and Princess Victoria will not change under such circumstances."
Nicholas I was finally convinced and nodded heavily: "Okay, I will sign the contract tomorrow, and then ask Natalie to go back immediately and tell Zhuge Weidao that I must send my heroes to the Gulf of Riga as soon as possible!"
"Master, master, wake up quickly, Madam's call"
When Zhuge Weidao was sleeping soundly on the bed with Nalandili in his arms, Ah Li's voice came dimly to his ears.
"What? Madam Natalie?" When he thought of Natalie, Zhuge Weidao suddenly woke up. These days, he was waiting for Natalie's call every day.
This is because whether Nicholas I dared to combine the Eighth Russo-Turkish War and the Ninth Russo-Turkish War (Crimean War) was extremely critical to the First World War planned by Zhuge Weidao. of.
The reason is also very simple. If Maozi wins Constantinople, the cards will be stunned! Not only can it openly declare that it is Eastern Rome, but it can also draw a large group of Slavic friends in the Balkan Peninsula into its own camp, and the Eastern Roman Empire can be restored.
And once Eastern Rome recovers, what will happen to the powerful powers in Central and Western Europe? Austria, France, Prussia, Spain, the Kingdom of Sanin, Portugal, etc., are they going to unite to form a Western Roman League or something?
In addition, what should Britain do if it hangs alone off the coast of Europe? Support Eastern Rome or Western Rome?
If Daying is going to stir up trouble again, he has to choose a side between the two major groups, right? You can’t have both Western Rome and Eastern Rome, right? If that's the case, then who is greater, Great Britain or Eastern and Western Rome? Who will be the leader? Who is the younger brother? Such a major alliance cannot quarrel every day, so how can it have the time to fight against the Ming Dynasty? When the time comes, Daying will have to appease the Great Alliance and at the same time come to fight the Ming Dynasty. Isn't this a loss?
And no matter who Da Ying chooses, the other one will be Da Ming's ally.
In this way, it is impossible for the Ming family to single out all or most of the white people. The Ming Dynasty will always have a powerful white military group as an ally. Ming Dynasty, which has no allies, can challenge the whole of Europe alone. With a European military group as an ally, isn't it a sure win?
So when Zhuge Weidao heard that Natalie's call came, he quickly ordered: "Quick, get the phone!"
Well, there is a "mobile phone" in Zhuge Weidao's family. It's still a mobile phone with a drag line. It means dragging a telephone line and being held in front of Zhuge Weidao with a tray by Ali. Is it advanced enough?
"Hello, Natalie?" Zhuge Weidao picked up the phone receiver and asked, "Dear, are you okay? Dili, A Kong, I and I miss you very much!"
"Who are Dili and A Kong?" A very serious male voice came from the phone. He spoke in Rakshasa, but he could obviously understand Chinese.
"You are." Zhuge Weidao asked.
"I'm Nikolai!"
It's the Tsar!
"Your Majesty," Zhuge Weidao replied quickly, "Dili and A Kong are pets that Natalie and I raised together."
"Oh," the tsar on the other end of the phone did not ask any more questions, but said formally, "Zhuge Daozi, I have signed the contract. The Rakshasa Kingdom will purchase a total of 5 Hero-class ships, 1 Haohan-class ship, and 2 Nanjing-class ships. Island class. In addition, you are also responsible for helping us upgrade a Sovereign class and a Hongwu Emperor class that are being built at the Nikolayev Shipyard. Finally, I also need you to transfer the first One Hero-class, one Hero-class, and two Nandao-class ships were delivered in batches to Rakshasa. As for the price...the upgraded Sovereign-class and Hongwu-class will be discussed later. The other ships will be based on your and Menshikov's instructions. The lieutenant general has discussed the matter. But I can’t pay you in cash, but I have to pay with Baku oil!”
