The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 836 The Two-Headed Eagle Gets Beaten on Both Sides

May 25, 1804, the 29th year of the Guangzhong reign of the Great Yu Dynasty in China, the 9th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, the 17th day of the fourth month in the lunar calendar.

After a brief rainy season on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, the battle to capture Astrakhan resumed, a campaign that had lasted for a full year since the siege began in May 1803.

At this point, besieging a fortified city is that difficult. During World War II, you could simply destroy the city and engage in street fighting, but now, you don't even have the right to engage in street fighting.

After Mogongling painstakingly transported the massive 68-pound mortar from the river and destroyed several outer fortresses, he was unable to attack the inner city of Astrakhan.

Of course, by this point, Astrakhan had lost most of its strategic role. The Russian army inside the city didn't even have many ships, making it virtually impossible for them to land and contain the Yu army.

Given this situation, Mo Gongling left 10,000 men to continue cooperating with the navy to find ways to bombard the inner city of Astrakhan.

They would also occasionally send hundreds of commandos up into the inner city to launch a surprise attack, keeping the Russians in Astrakhan in a state of high tension.

The main force of the central army, numbering 40,000, began to march north along the Volga River. The northern army in Orenburg, unable to break through Orenburg, also began to leave the Obsch Heights where Orenburg was located and head south.

The two armies joined forces and selected 30,000 cavalrymen, forming a pure cavalry legion consisting of dragoons, light cavalry, and a small number of heavy cavalry. Centered on Mogongleng, they were divided into fifteen chiliarchies, each two days apart, and headed west across the Volga River highlands and across the Volga River to disperse and plunder the Don River plain on a large scale.

Some troops even made the move to rush northwest to Moscow.

This is a combat plan that severely tests the commander-in-chief's command ability, as well as the quality and combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers below.

Ordinary armies cannot pull off this kind of operation. Even a slight miscommunication, a minor command error, or a misjudgment of the situation could lead to unbearable consequences.

But Mo Gongling lived up to his reputation as the top general of the imperial clan. He used his superb command skills to bring out the advantages of the Great Yu army's soldiers, whose quality far surpassed that of the Tsarist Rus' Empire.

Mo Gongling's command system was like an aircraft carrier, and the fifteen cavalrymen of the thousand households that were sent out were like carrier-based aircraft taking off from the aircraft carrier. Centered on the command system, they crushed everything they could encounter within the radius.

At dusk, two hundred kilometers west of Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad), in a small town called Pronin, Mogonglen set up his command tent.

A gust of evening wind blew in, bringing with it the heavy smell of blood and the cries of women and children.

Pronin is a small town inhabited by Cossacks, and it is quite militant. Even teenagers can operate flintlock pistols and hide in the mountains to snipe. When Mogongling's personal guards, numbering in the hundreds, attacked the town, it took them some time.

Wang Lian took a huge piece of black bread, used all his strength to cut off a small piece, threw it into the broth to soften it, tasted it, and then his eyes suddenly widened.

It tastes terrible!

Wang Lian wanted to spit out the piece of black bread, but then he remembered how hard it was to get food, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and eat it, his eyes full of disgust.

There is sawdust and chaff.

"Holy crap, there's mud in it too! This is absolutely inedible!"

Mo Gongling looked at Wang Lian and smiled helplessly. This guy insisted on trying the Russian black bread, and there was no way to stop him. Even the horses hesitated when fed this stuff.

Wang Tingzhen, a military commander from Huai'an, said with a smile, "We sift the fine clay five times, mix it with rice water and tea leaves, steam it, grind it again after shaping, and add a small amount to the grain to make cakes. This increases the weight and makes us feel full. We also ate this kind of thing during the great chaos in Chinese history."

"It has to be someone like Lord Wang, a scholar descended from heaven, who is knowledgeable and worldly-wise." After saying this, Wang Lian handed the remaining large piece of black bread to the warhorse behind him.

The horse had come to greet us happily, but after smelling the aroma, it immediately tilted its head, widened its eyes, and carefully checked it before neighing twice in dissatisfaction.

After hesitating for several seconds, under Wang Lian's murderous gaze, she reluctantly picked it up with her mouth and nibbled on it intermittently.

"These Russians are so poor they eat dirt, but we have our Holy Emperor on the throne, so we can eat human food properly." Wang Lian first made a few pretentious compliments to the emperor, then immediately looked at Mo Gongling and said:
"General, the resistance we are encountering is becoming increasingly fierce. In many places, the Rakshasa people have begun to spontaneously organize themselves to harass our army."

Although they can't do much damage to the army, it's becoming increasingly difficult for us to conceal our movements.

These Rakshasa lives are worthless. Even if we trade one of them for ten, we would still be at a huge loss. I suggest that we stop heading west and start turning back.

I see that the Russian army in Chalijin is not planning to leave the city, so let's call it a day."

Military strategist Wang Tingzhen also felt a little apprehensive. "Thirty thousand men sounds like a lot, but on such a vast plain, it's really just a sesame seed on a pancake."

We cannot possibly collapse the Tsarist Rus' Empire with only 30,000 men. The General should make a decision as soon as possible.

Mo Gongling knew all this, of course. Four or five million people lived on this plain alone. This place was also where the Tsarist Rus' Empire produced its elite troops. Once the Rus' people used their numerical advantage to hold them back, they might not be able to get out.

But Mo Gongling had no choice, because he went to see the terrain of Tsaritsyn (Volgograd), and this city was even more difficult to attack than Astrakhan.

The main city of Tsaritsyn is an alluvial island at the confluence of the Tsaritsyn River and the Volga River.

The city was built entirely to fortress standards and was continuously reinforced throughout the centuries-long history of the Tsarist Rus' Empire. The cannons on the fortresses and emplacements could cover every corner without any blind spots, and even flintlock muskets could be used to attack landing troops.

At the same time, the city covers a very large area and can accommodate at least 60,000 to 70,000 people. It has no shortage of troops, and its hinterland is full of grain-producing areas, so it has no shortage of food and is not afraid of being besieged.

Because the Volga and Tsaritsyn rivers have abundant water and vast basins, it would be virtually impossible for 200,000 people to completely surround the city.

"This battle was not intended to destroy the Tsarist Russian Empire, and given the current transportation situation, it is impossible to achieve that."

But our army has traveled 20,000 li to get here. The journey alone will take more than a year. Even if all the grain and supplies were transported from Hezhong and Beiting, it would still be a journey of four or five thousand li.

"With such a huge expenditure and such a high cost, we must achieve some results; otherwise, who can afford to mobilize every year?"

Mo Gongling knew that the current situation was indeed very delicate, and his soldiers were also somewhat uneasy. Therefore, after some consideration, he told Wang Tingzhen and Wang Lian about the ultimate goal of this battle.

Everyone knew it was impossible to destroy the Tsarist Rus' Empire, but the war was still fought in order to weaken it to the greatest extent possible, force the Tsar of St. Petersburg to the negotiating table, and at least secure ten to fifteen years of peace for the four provinces of Anxi.

Ten to fifteen years later, the Han Chinese population in the four provinces of Anxi was estimated to reach around eight million, and cement plants, gun factories, steam engine factories, and so on were also established.

At that time, there would be no need for large-scale mobilization from the Central Plains. The combined strength of the four provinces of Anxi and the Liaodong vassal state would be enough to confront the Tsarist Russian Empire. Only then could the Great Yu truly secure its control over Central Asia.

Mogongling's current adventure is forcing the Russians, or more precisely, putting pressure on the Tsar of St. Petersburg.

Let the Tsar influence Kutuzov of Tsaritsyn, forcing the Russian army out of this fortress that the Great Yu is unlikely to conquer in order to pursue and annihilate them.

"We are in trouble, but the Rus' people are in even more trouble. They have lost tens of thousands of troops and suffered repeated defeats. Now we have even reached the Don River Plain, which is the core territory of the Tsarist Rus' Empire."

Our indiscriminate slaughter is like Sun Wukong entering Princess Iron Fan's belly; I refuse to believe the Tsar of St. Petersburg can tolerate it and won't exchange his banana leaf fan for peace!

"I am relieved to hear the General say that," Wang Tingzhen said with a sigh of relief. As long as Commander-in-Chief Mo Gongling was not blinded by the current success, that was all that mattered.

"Then let's grit our teeth and hold on a little longer, and make a big scene inside the Rus's stomach!"

. . . .

Mo Gongling's prediction was correct; at this moment, St. Petersburg was already deeply shocked by the news that the Dayu army had entered the Don River Plain.

Rumors even began to circulate that the Khitan Empire had dispatched an army of over one million, led by the Tatars, to destroy the Tsarist Rus' Empire.

Such rumors were terrifying, directly leading to a massive capital flight from the already impoverished Salar Empire. Panic gripped St. Petersburg, with food prices rising three times in a single month. Tsar Paul I had to send his guards into the streets to arrest unscrupulous merchants profiting from the national crisis in order to temporarily stabilize prices.

Meanwhile, the news was spreading rapidly westward, immediately attracting the attention of the Karelian region of Finland, which was not under the firm control of the Tsarist Rus' Empire, as well as the three smaller regions of Poland and Volynia, which the Tsarist Rus' Empire acquired after the complete partition of Poland, and much of western Ukraine and Belarus in later generations.

The people here were already unwilling to accept the fall of their country and the cruel exploitation by the Tsar. When they heard that the Khitan Empire was coming to destroy the Tsarist Rus' Empire, a surge of undercurrents arose. Many people were waiting for the Tsarist Rus' Empire to fall so that they could immediately come out and restore their independence.

In the Winter Palace, in the basement late at night, pine torches were still crackling and burning.

Tsar Alexander Pavlovich, the crown prince of the Rus' Empire, also known as Holy King Alexander I, sat upright in the main seat. He rubbed his cheeks, which were numb from intense tension, to make himself look less tired.

"His Majesty Caesar was afraid, he was terrified, and he even muttered things like 'We will all become Khitan serfs' during a state meeting."

"This is truly shameful! The Third Rome only lost tens of thousands of men; how could it possibly be on the verge of collapse?"

Paul I was indeed a fragile monarch. The shadow cast on him by his mother, Catherine II, during his childhood was so great that he was even frightened by the power of the French Consulate and Napoleon thousands of kilometers away.

Now that the battle on the eastern front has turned out this way, with even the Don River plain being ravaged by the Khitan cavalry, Paul I is naturally even more afraid.

However, Crown Prince Alexander did not join in the chorus of angry criticism against Paul I, because it was pointless and would neither solve the problem of the Khitan army appearing on the Don River plain nor his current predicament.

"Can we mobilize troops from other places to support the Don Plain?" Crown Prince Alexander asked after Paul I's voice had subsided.

“No, not even a thousand men, unless the empire is willing to give up the vast tracts of land it has so painstakingly acquired,” said Baron Gustav Moritz Amfelt, the Crown Prince’s confidant who had fled from Sweden, shaking his head.

This is the biggest problem and danger of the Tsarist Rus' Empire. They face great challenges on both the east and west sides of the empire, but the empire is not strong enough to deal with both challenges at the same time. They can only choose to deal with one side and compromise with the other.

Currently, the army fighting against the Great Yu in the east numbers 160,000, while the empire can still mobilize about 150,000 to 160,000 troops.

However, once these troops are mobilized, the Tsarist Rus' Empire will be unable to control the territories it has so painstakingly conquered.

Crown Prince Alexander shook his head firmly; the Third Rome could not possibly give up the precious land west of Kiev that it had painstakingly acquired.

They also could not relinquish the territories of Wallachia and Modavia, which they had seized from the Ottoman Empire, nor their deep influence over these two principalities.

"This is intelligence obtained from Tsaritsyn. Take a look." Crown Prince Alexander's level of expertise is clearly far superior to that of his father, Paul I.

He had already guessed what Mogongling was going to do, so he secretly sent someone to contact Kutuzov in Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) in advance to consult with this most powerful general in the Tsarist Russian Empire.

This is no easy feat, because when Crown Prince Alexander's grandmother, Catherine II, passed away, she intended to bypass his father, Paul I, and pass the throne directly to him.

The reason Crown Prince Alexander ultimately chose to back down was because his father, Paul I, had already secured the loyalty of a core group of the Imperial Guard, including Kutuzov. If he were to succeed to the throne, a father-son war would immediately erupt in St. Petersburg.

Crown Prince Alexander was not confident of victory and did not want such a thing to happen, so he ultimately chose to back down, allowing Paul I to smoothly ascend to the throne.

Therefore, there is a deep-seated old grudge between Crown Prince Dassan and Kutuzov.

"The general's opinion is correct. As long as Tsaritsyn is not lost, even if the Khitans destroy the entire Don River Plain, they will not be able to achieve their strategic objectives."

Moreover, I do not believe that the Khitans have the strength to completely destroy the Don River Plain. The current number of 30,000 to 40,000 cavalry is their limit; any more than that and their logistics will not be able to keep up.

Meanwhile, we also have 80,000 troops at Tsaritsyn, which can cut off their retreat at a critical moment, putting them in extreme danger.

Baron Amfelt strongly agreed with Kutuzov's words: as long as the Russian army of Tsaritsyn remained, and as long as Tsaritsyn was not lost, the Khitans could be worn down and driven away.

But Crown Prince Alexander slowly shook his head, because what he wanted was not to solve the immediate problem, but to reach a relatively fair peace treaty with the Khitan Empire.

However, if things remain as they are now, the Third Rome simply doesn't have the leverage to reach a relatively fair treaty with the Khitans, and a humiliating treaty is unlikely to be very fair.

If a fair and mutually acceptable peace treaty cannot be reached, then even if the Khitans withdraw this year for various reasons, they can choose to come back next year, and the initiative is entirely in the hands of the Khitans.

The Third Rome needed to maintain a garrison of nearly 100,000 men in Tsaritsyn indefinitely in order to somewhat contain the harassment and plundering by the Khitans.

Crown Prince Alexander trembled involuntarily; if this were to happen, the Third Rome would be finished.

Leaving aside whether he could afford the cost, even if he could, the Third Rome would still face the disastrous consequence of its continuous westward expansion, which was something he could not accept at all.

“Your Highness, we have over four million people on the Don River plain, of whom at least eight hundred thousand are brave and skilled Cossacks, while the Khitan cavalry that have invaded here number only thirty to forty thousand.”

Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky, the Crown Prince Alexander's chief advisor who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke.

Only this person knew what the Crown Prince was thinking, and only he dared to tell the Crown Prince this matter at this time.

The reason why the more than four million Rus' people in the Don Plain, especially the eight hundred thousand Cossacks, could not contain the thirty thousand Khitan cavalry in their homeland was that they were unwilling to fight for Paul I.

Otherwise, at least tens of thousands of knights could be selected from the 800,000 Cossacks. Even if they were all armed herdsmen, they would be fighting on their homeland. With the advantage of familiarity with the geography and the ability to defend their homeland, they could certainly force Mogongling's 30,000 cavalry out, if not win.

The reason these people are now unwilling to fight for the Third Rome and Paul I is simple: Paul I's policies have severely hurt the nobles of the Don Plain.

They'd love for things to escalate even further, since most of the dead and those robbed were serfs who, in a legal sense, no longer belonged to them.

The Tsarist Russian Empire is a family enterprise controlled by the Tsarist family, who are the largest shareholders, with the family patriarch also serving as chairman.

The hundreds of noble families below are minor shareholders, while occupying important positions.

But now, Chairman Paul I not only liberates the serfs, but also begins to promote the knighthood system, turning nobles who own shares (minor shareholders) into knights directly under the Tsar.

It's equivalent to stripping minority shareholders of their equity and leaving them only as high-level employees.

Unless someone is mentally deficient, all nobles would refuse to cooperate.

Speransky stared intently at Crown Prince Alexander, “To prevent the Khitan cavalry from wantonly slaughtering the people of the empire and robbing our property on the Don River plain, we must have the local nobles organize the people of the empire on the Don River plain.”

To get the nobles to give their all, they must be shown hope.

The words were spoken tactfully, but to Crown Prince Alexander, they were like a thunderbolt.

It was his father, Paul I, who harmed the nobles, and only the blood of Paul I could serve as a symbol of an end to this harm.

"I, I..." Crown Prince Alexander stammered several times, unable to utter the simple six words, "What do I need to do?" After all, this was patricide, and even more so, the murder of the monarch.

“Your Highness doesn’t need to do anything, because someone will take care of everything. You just need to show your attitude.” Speransky knew exactly what the Crown Prince was going to say, so he gave a straightforward answer.

Paul I's mad and perverse actions should have been put to death by the nobles long ago. However, the nobles were unaware of Crown Prince Alexander's intentions and feared that if they killed Paul I, Alexander would not only not end the current policies but would also hold them accountable.

Even in the Tsarist Rus' Empire, killing two generations of monarchs in succession was too terrifying, so the nobles who planned to assassinate the emperor had to find out what Crown Prince Alexander was thinking before they dared to act.

As long as Alexander demonstrates a different approach to governance than Paul I and shows no intention of seeking revenge for his father, then the crown prince will indeed need to do nothing further.

(End of this chapter)