The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 949 The Russian Empire had only two friends: Britain and the United States!
Steam mingled with the -20°C wind at St. Petersburg's train station as a special train from Riga pulled up on the platform, puffing out white smoke. British Secretary of State for India, Randolph Churchill, emerged from the gilded carriage door, his frozen boots crunching on the snow. He had barely exhaled two puffs of breath when Russian Foreign Minister Giles opened his bearskin cloak and gave him a Russian-style hug, reeking of vodka: "God bless your safe arrival! The London-St. Petersburg railway is much warmer than Siberia, isn't it?"

“Whether it’s warm or not depends on the real destination.” Churchill glanced at the end of the platform—two rows of guards stood like ice sculptures, their bayonets gleaming blue under the gaslight. He lowered his voice, as if discussing some shady deal: “Just like the destination of your fleet, which can change the temperature of all of Europe.”

Giles chuckled twice, then pointed to a luxurious carriage parked not far away: "Let's get in and talk. It's too cold today; even I, a Russian, can't stand it."

The carriage wheels rolled across the frozen Nevsky Prospekt. Inside, the warmth from the fireplace made Churchill feel as if he were in a greenhouse. His fingertips traced the frost-covered windows as he casually remarked, "Rear Admiral Fisher has set sail with his fleet—two Lord Nelson-class battleships and two Typhoon-class armored cruisers—and should be in Malta by now." He suddenly turned and stared intently at Giles. "They will assist your Black Sea Fleet in the defense of the Suez Canal; after all, the Turks are unreliable!"

Giles' smile froze on his face. He knew all too well the weight of this arrangement—the two twin 305mm main guns of the Lord Nelson-class ships could tear apart Russian ships from 10000 yards away, while the two elite Emperor-class ships of the Black Sea Fleet were as fragile as porcelain when facing the Nelson-class ships with 14 first and second-class heavy guns! Although the Royal Navy was suffering a crushing defeat in the Pacific, crushing the Russian fleet would be a piece of cake.

Even a single Nelson-class destroyer could wipe out the entire Russian Navy!
“Shouldn’t your country be the one to defend India?” Giles tried to suppress his fear.

"The Taiping army is headed for Port Moresby." Churchill slowly pulled out a Havana cigar and cut it open. "Seven million square kilometers inhabited by only two million people—what a perfect place for immigration! For the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which has six hundred million people to feed, it's fatally attractive. As for India," he scoffed, lighting his cigar, "there are three hundred million mouths to feed there; the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wouldn't even want it if it were given away for free. Your Excellency Foreign Secretary, you Russians must clearly recognize who your friends are and who your enemies are. At this crucial moment, you absolutely, absolutely must not force the British Empire to make the decision to abandon Australia!"

Outside, the wind and snow howled, while inside the vehicle, all was deathly silent.

Giving up Australia meant, of course, making peace with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

Although Australia looks very large on the map, it was not essential to the British Empire. Its importance was far less than that of India, or even more important than the division of the European continent.

Of course, a German Empire that unified Central and Western Europe would also be a nightmare for Russia!
Therefore, the friendship between the Russian Empire and the German Empire was destined to be only temporary!
After a long pause, Giles finally spoke slowly: "Alright, the Russian Empire must take Constantinople! It's a matter of whether the Tsar's rule can be consolidated! Russia must win!"

Randolph Churchill laughed: "Just Constantinople?"

Giles paused for a moment, then seemed to understand something and quickly added, "And the other nine provinces in the Marmara region!"

The so-called ten provinces of Marmara are actually the key areas controlling the Turkish Straits. Taking these ten provinces would mean that Tsar Alexander III had mastered the art of "winning Russia".

"That's all?" Randolph Churchill looked at Giles. "Is there anything else?"

"."

Randolph Churchill exhaled another puff of his cigar: "What about the Balkans? Hasn't your Russian Empire always claimed to be the protector of all the Slavs in the Balkans? What? Now you're not protecting them anymore? Are you going to hand them all over to the German Empire?"

Giles's face was gloomy.

This was the most troublesome problem for the Tsar and his ministers!

Most of the Slavs in the Balkans are still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire!
If Tsarist Russia had conquered the ten provinces of Marmara, even if the Ottoman Empire hadn't collapsed, it wouldn't have been able to maintain its rule over the Balkans. What would have happened to the Slavic countries and regions forced to submit to the Turkish Empire if the Ottomans had fled?
Would the Russian or German Empire agree to let us surrender?

Handing over these Slavic compatriots to the German Empire—how could Tsarist Russia, waving the banner of Pan-Slavism, possibly win? Moreover, the German Empire was already very powerful! If they first conquered Red France, then the Slavic countries of the Balkans, the German Empire would control over a population of over 100 million! At that point, the question for the Russian Empire wouldn't be whether it could win, but whether it could survive!

Seeing that the Russian Foreign Minister was speechless, Randolph Churchill laughed and said, "Your Excellency, please tell His Majesty the Tsar that the Russian Empire has only two friends: Great Britain and the United States!"

The malachite fireplace in the Winter Palace's council chamber glowed red-hot, yet the air was colder than the Siberian wilderness. Tsar Alexander III sat regally on his gilded throne, the vodka in his crystal glass motionless. Giles, bowing before the emperor, reported, each word like peeling the fur off a polar bear: "Churchill has stated… Britain is willing to tacitly accept our takeover of Constantinople and the nine provinces of Marmara, and furthermore, the Slavs of the Balkans… will also be given to our Russian Empire."

War Minister Varnovsky slammed his fist on the table: "Damn the British, they want to put us on the war machine against the German Reich!"

Navy Minister Shestakov, his face ashen, muttered, "One of their Nelson-class battleships could destroy all our battleships and armored cruisers. And once the Ottoman Empire withdraws from Europe, those Balkan Slavs..."

This is a tough situation! Pan-Slavism has been boasting about its superiority for so many years!

Now, would the Russian Empire, out of fear of Germany, cease protecting its Slavic brothers?

"Shut up!" the Tsar growled. He rose and walked to the huge world map, his index finger tracing the line from Constantinople to the red line of the Suez Canal: "The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's target was Australia, the German Empire's target was France, but Britain has its butcher's knife pointed here..." He turned and swept his gaze across his ministers, "Tell me—who are Russia's true enemies? And who are Russia's true friends?"

This is truly an incredibly difficult multiple-choice question!
If you choose Britain and the United States, Russia will have to fight the powerful German army! If you choose Germany and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the British fleet will have to storm the Black Sea and wipe out the entire Black Sea Fleet!

Moreover, Britain could simply cede Australia to make peace with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
How can Russia win then? If it can't win, how can the Tsar's rule be stable?

Furthermore, after Germany dominated Western and Central Europe, could Russia really survive?

It seems that no matter what choice is made, Tsarist Russia is likely to perish!

The Tsar stared at the vast German territory on the map—a population of eighty million, with Krupp steel alone producing several times more steel than Russia. He recalled his grandfather Nicholas I's dying lament: "Russia has only two friends—the army and the navy." Now the navy was at Britain's mercy, and the army was certainly no match for Germany. Once Germany unified Central and Western Europe, only annihilation awaited Russia!
"Snapped"

The Tsar smashed the glass in his hand, along with the vodka inside, onto the floor: "Tell Churchill... Russia accepts the friendship of Britain and the United States."

In the study of the Winter Palace, Tsar Alexander III and Randolph Churchill sat facing each other. The firelight from the fireplace illuminated the Tsar's somber face, while Churchill leisurely sipped his Russian tea, as if they were merely discussing tomorrow's weather.

“Your Majesty,” Churchill put down his teacup, his tone relaxed, “the British Empire is willing to recognize Russia’s full sovereignty over the Marmara region—including Constantinople, Bursa, Edirne, Tekildah, Çanakkale, Kocaeli, Bilgek, Balıkesir… but Crete must belong to Britain.”

The Tsar frowned: "Crete?"

"Yes," Churchill smiled. "Crete is of vital importance to Britain; it is a strategic pivot in the eastern Mediterranean. But rest assured, we will not interfere with Russia's assistance in or liberation of the Slavic brother states in the Balkans."

The Tsar tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "You mean, Russia can dominate Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, the Principality of Moldova, and the Principality of Wallachia?"

“Of course,” Churchill nodded, “as long as Russia remains in NATO and, together with Britain and Red France, curbs the ambitions of the German Empire.”

The Tsar's face instantly darkened: "And Red France?" His voice was filled with undisguised disgust. "Those thugs who beheaded Louis XVI?"

Churchill sighed: "Your Majesty, without Red France, no one in all of Europe will be able to stop the German Empire's land supremacy! It will be an empire even more powerful than the Napoleonic Empire!"

The Tsar remained silent for a long time, his gaze fixed on the flames in the fireplace. He thought of the vast industrial capacity of the German Empire, the roar of the Krupp cannons, and Moltke's General Staff's deadly battle plans... If the German Empire annexed France, who would be the next target?

"The Russian Empire has only two friends," the Tsar finally spoke, his voice low and firm, "Britain and the United States. Red France is neither a friend nor an enemy of Russia!"

Churchill smiled slightly and raised his teacup: "A toast to our friendship, Your Majesty."

The Tsar did not raise his glass, but simply looked at him coldly: "But remember, Russian friendship comes with conditions."

“Of course,” Churchill nodded. “The British Empire has always valued the interests of its allies.”

(End of this chapter)