Maybe send 20,000 troops across thousands of miles.
For any European country, this is a major event that requires national support.
As for the Ming Empire at this time.
An army of 20,000 is just a partial division.
Emperor Zhu cannot be allowed to give too much priority to the war on the North Sea.
However, today in the Zhengda Guangming Hall of the Old Summer Palace, Emperor Zhu gave priority to discussing the war with Tsarist Russia with his courtiers.
"Your Majesty, I think that if the Russians are smart, they will not seek to fight with our army in the field, but will choose to rely on the bastion and river port in Irkutsk to consume me. At the same time, they may also send elite cavalry to harass us. military logistics line, and may even open up a new battlefield in Central Asia - which is closer to the core of Tsarist Russia."
The current chief of general staff is Wang Dayong, who previously led the troops below.
"Russians don't dare to go out to fight in the city?"
Zhu Daohua felt that this analysis was a little unreliable - Emperor Zhu's intuition was correct, because now the scouts on both sides of the front line had begun small-scale confrontations, but due to the long distance, Zhu Daohua at the rear The emperor has not yet received the information that the other party has launched a massive attack.
"Your Majesty, according to our intelligence, Tsarist Russia regarded Irkutsk as their most important stronghold in the East. Since more than a hundred years ago, they have built large star forts in this area. ."
There is a model of Irkutsk Castle on the sand table at this time.
There are a large number of small star forts scattered around a large star fort. Shooting from various forts that facilitate cross-fire will definitely make the attacker pay a huge price.
Emperor Zhu nodded.
It seems that this is indeed the case. If it were him, he would not give up defending the city and choose to go out to fight.
"Can they support tens of thousands of people fighting in Irkutsk?"
Zhu Daohua frowned and said.
Wang Dayong said: "Your Majesty, they can rely on the Yenisei River for supplies."
Zhu Daohua nodded upon hearing this.
"It seems that this battle will be delayed for some time."
Zhu Daohua thought.
But you can definitely win.
Because the plan to capture Irkutsk was already formulated, the 20,000 troops in the early stage were just the vanguard. Later, Emperor Zhu had ordered the heavy artillery troops to start setting off.
The outdated bastion of Tsarist Russia cannot withstand the current powerful heavy artillery bombardment!
but
If the Russians are defeated this time, will it wake them up, and even Europe as a whole?
Zhu Daohua thought.
He looked at the situation in Irkutsk, and then ordered someone to pull up another sand table.
This is a huge map.
A huge area from the Liaodong Peninsula to Sakhalin Island.
They are all carefully crafted according to proportions.
Detailed information such as rivers and mountains are marked.
You can see it clearly at a glance.
“The Northeast Development Corporation has sent agronomy experts to investigate, and is also preparing to build a railway connecting Aihui, Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, and Dalian Port. In addition, railways from Beidu to Shenyang and Haishengwei to Harbin also need to be built at the same time. planning."
Zhu Daohua pointed to the map of Northeast China and said.
"In addition, Heilongjiang has very good river transportation functions. A port can be established at Miaotun at the outlet of the sea, and areas along the river suitable for establishing river ports can be found."
"In this way, the immigrants from the Northeast can be divided into three parts. One part is Liaodong, advancing inland along the Liaohe River, Songhua River and other rivers, with Shenyang, Changchun, and Harbin as the centers."
"The other way is to rely on the port of Vladivostok to expand to Xingkai Lake. In the future, it can be advanced along the railway to Harbin."
"The third road starts from the seaport of Heilongjiang and relies on the Heilongjiang river transport!"
As Zhu Daohua finished speaking, the ministers present looked at the map of Northeast China with some doubts on their faces.
This matter of immigration and border expansion is left to a company to take the lead.
Although the Ming Dynasty and the emperor held the majority of the shares in this company, it still made these ministers who were scholar-bureaucrats a little uneasy.
If the Northeast Development Corporation becomes bigger, wouldn't it become the "shadow government" of Northeast China?
Where was the Ming court located?
Zhu Daohua also understood the concerns of the Ming courtiers present.
He smiled and said: "The Northeast has not been developed yet, so there is nothing to worry about. Anyway, we are crossing the river by feeling the stones now. And if this Northeast model can be successful, it can be used elsewhere in the future!"
"What is the current situation of immigrant recruitment in Central China?"
Zhu Daohua looked at Gu Song, the left minister of the cabinet in charge of this matter.
Gu Song hurriedly said: "The recruitment of immigrants from all over the Central Plains is going very smoothly. The first phase of 50,000 households has been recruited. All the strong men are receiving musketry training in Dengzhou and are waiting to board the ship. Households have also been allocated."
Zhu Daohua nodded. Fifty thousand households means 250,000 people.
Fortunately, Liaodong and Vladivostok already have old military camps as their foundations, and they are also mature areas that the Ming court can firmly control.
The only thing that needs attention is the situation at the Heilongjiang Estuary.
There are some indigenous tribes controlled by Tsarist Russia active there.
According to the plan.
Twenty thousand of the first batch of 50,000 households will be allocated to the Heilongjiang Estuary, where the Ming Army will station a brigade.
After the first batch of 50,000 households has gained a foothold, the second batch of 200,000 households will arrive in batches in the spring of next year!
The resettlement of 500,000 households was completed within three years.
If this was left to the Ming Dynasty, I don’t know how much it would cost.
But now this matter is handed over to the Northeast Development Corporation. The resettlement contracts are signed with the Northeast Development Corporation. How to establish the settlement, how to open up wasteland, how to establish management, health care and other systems are all in accordance with the previous It is a summary of the experiences and lessons learned from the reclamation in Lanfang, Liaodong and Vladivostok.
One hundred and fifty households constitute a village, and a management committee is elected through elections. In the early stage, collective labor is used to develop the land, and in the later stage, labor is carried out as a family unit. The Northeast Development Corporation purchases farm products at a guaranteed minimum price and sells agricultural tools and daily necessities at market prices. , In addition, Northeast Development Corporation also needs to provide medical services at lower than market prices, including selling medicines and building hospitals.
What the Ming court could do was establish an education system.
In this way, collective farms could be established in various parts of the Northeast according to almost the same process.
Occupy all the land that can be developed into cultivated land as quickly as possible.
The total population of five million is enough for Northeast China to form a positive economic cycle.
Three years of work.
The benefit lies in the future.
For Emperor Zhu.
The importance of the war in Irkutsk is indeed not one thousandth as important as the expansion of the Northeast.
This battle is too important for the Russian Empire
Mikhail Kutuzov, who followed the army south, thought.
But now Mikhail's face is very solemn and full of worry.
Because among this army going south.
The idea of underestimating the enemy is almost undisguised.
The regular troops of the Russian Empire mobilized from Moscow were full of inexplicable confidence in this battle with the Chinese.
This made Mikhail even more worried about the prospect of this battle.
He raised this issue numerous times to Crown Prince Paul and commander Admiral Repnin.
But they were all ignored - he was just a defeated general, and he was also deprived of military command and his position as governor of Eastern Siberia.
Therefore, Mikhail's words now have no impact on this army at all.
Mikhail, who was riding on the horse, couldn't help but show a look of despair on his face.
he knows.
It is very likely that he will witness an unprecedented defeat of the Russian Empire.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, our opponent is not the regular army of the Ming Army, but the remnants of their defeated Qing Empire, and their number is not large, only 20,000." General Repnin's confidence comes from his experience in Russia and Turkey Victory on the battlefield.
The Ottoman Guards were very elite, but they were still defeated by the Russian Empire's troops several times.
And in Moscow at this time.
In the eyes of many Moscow nobles.
The Chinese Empire was similar to the Ottoman Empire. It was a typical eastern feudal classical empire.
They may have a large population and a fairly wide area of rule.
But its military capabilities are not as strong as those of Western countries.
This is especially true in terms of military mobilization and military organization capabilities - the Ottomans can purchase a large amount of advanced equipment, but hasn't the Russian Empire taken away the fertile Black Sea coast land on the southern battlefield?
Maybe Ming Dynasty is better than Osman.
But what they encountered now was not the regular army of the Ming Empire.
It is just a remnant of the former Qing Empire that was incorporated.
If you don't even dare to take the initiative in the face of such an army.
Then when facing the regular army of the Ming Empire, wouldn't the Russian Empire directly hand over its eastern territory to the Chinese?
"Is there no regular army of the Ming Empire?"
Crown Prince Paul frowned.
"According to the intelligence, the Ming Dynasty's Generalissimo only sent a staff group to command this army. What we are facing is the army of the former Qing Empire. They are the defeated generals of the Ming Army - and according to the intelligence, they and The Ming army was almost overwhelmingly defeated in the war and had no ability to fight back!"
Admiral Repnin curled his lips and said.
These days, he was a little annoyed by Mikhail's failed remarks.
So Mikhail was sent to the logistics force.
But now he no longer dares to underestimate the Ming army.
"Perhaps the Ming army is really a little more powerful than us. But there is no reason for us to be afraid of the Qing army that was defeated by them."
"If we are afraid of even the former Qing Empire's army, which was vulnerable to the Ming army, then how can the Russian Empire be a neighbor to the Ming Empire?"
Admiral Repnin said.
"That's right, we must show the courage and combat effectiveness of the Russians on the battlefield!"
Prince Paul of the Russian Empire took a deep breath and said.
(End of chapter)
