Chapter 1111: The Tsar’s Government Busy with Infighting
Chapter 1090 – The Czarist Government Busy with Infighting
St. Petersburg, the Japanese government suddenly announced the news of the break in diplomatic relations came, the tsarist government up and down are dumbfounded, all a – how dare the Japanese ……
No matter why they dared, it happened anyway. Besides being angry, the Tsarist government had no choice but to face reality.
Just as the tsarist government came out of its state of confusion and clamored to give the Japanese some color, something even more intolerable to the tsarist government happened.
On February 8, 1904, the Japanese launched a direct and undeclared attack on the Russian army in the Far East.
Well, the Japanese government helped the Tsarist government make its choice. At this point, there was nothing to argue about, there was no choice but to fight whether they wanted to or not.
Of course, a temporary strategic contraction to abandon the Far East and wait for the opening of the Siberian Railroad before settling with the Japanese might have been a more rational choice, but the Tsarist government couldn’t do it.
No great power can tolerate the fall of the country without declaring war, the tsarist government really if you choose to hold back, it is estimated that the domestic population will have to revolt.
The arrogance of the fighting nation is not covered, can tolerate anything, just can not tolerate the tsarist government to go.
From this point of view, the original time and space will be the Russo-Japanese War pot on the head of Nicholas II, that is purely in the wrong person.
The Japanese are fighting over, the tsarist government can not just be beaten not to fight back, right?
Of course, Nicholas II is not without responsibility. The biggest problem lies in the strategic error of judgment, wishful thinking that the Japanese do not dare to launch an attack, did not make war preparations in advance.
Now the situation is similar to history, the butterfly effect influence although big, but still not able to change the subjective judgment of the tsarist government.
If not the front sent war reports, the tsarist government could not believe that the Japanese actually dare to undeclared war against the Russian Empire.
Can only say that the Japanese government chose the wrong time to attack, if in the April Fool’s Day or the day before the launch of the attack, the tsarist government most likely will be the front war report as a fart to let go.
……
At the end of the day, after a few years of being emperor, Nicholas II’s qi cultivation has improved a lot, and has been able to barely restrain his emotions.
“War has broken out, what are the government’s plans?”
Anyone who knew Nicholas II knew that the calmer this situation was, the more angry it meant the Tsar was.
Even though this strategic miscalculation was a joint effort, the government had to take the initiative to take the blame.
Prime Minister Sergei Witte stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, with the Empire’s power in the Far East, it will be difficult to defeat the Japanese, and in the short term we can only take a defensive position.
It is imperative that we concentrate our forces and hold on to a few strategic locations. When the Siberian Railroad opens, then we can send large forces to reinforce it.
The next step is to try to gain the support of the Vienna government. Although there was the Russo-Austrian Alliance, it was only signed with Austria and did not represent the Holy Roman Empire.
With Franz the Great’s style, the support will definitely be there, but the exact size of the effort will depend on our next diplomatic maneuver.
However, the Japanese this time undeclared war, not only violates the international practice, the same is also to the Vienna system provocation, I guess the Vienna government is now also very dissatisfied with the Japanese.
If we can get the full support of the Vienna government, then it will be much easier to win the support of the international community.
In any case, we are, after all, a European country, and no European country wants to see Europe lose to the Japanese natives.
The Philippine War, which preceded it, is a case in point. For the sake of the white world’s face, innately European countries should favor us more.
It would be better to pull in Spain if possible. The Philippine War was just less than ten years ago, and the Spanish would never mind beating the crap out of them if they had the chance.
With Spain’s help, the landing problem is no longer difficult. With Shinra holding the British in check, it’s still not difficult for the Imperial Navy and Spanish Navy to join forces and defeat the Japanese Navy.”
There was nothing wrong with the general idea, but the details were full of holes.
Holding on to a strategic location is easy to say, but if you really do it, you will have to face a lot of problems.
First of all, the first problem is “material”. Although the Russian army in the Far East stockpiled a part of the material, but obviously not enough to support to the Siberian Railway opened.
The original time and space of many keyboard warriors spraying the Russian army command error, but do not know a lot of “mistakes” are had to do.
No matter how big the strategy is not as important as the stomach, the commander’s first thing to do is not to win the war, but to find a way to fill the stomach of the soldiers, to meet the strategic supply of materials.
Soldiers decentralized when, but also on-site supply of some of the materials, once the soldiers are concentrated, it is necessary to test the logistics.
Strive for the support of the international community, that is more subtle. Spain is Spain, Russia is Russia, in the European world this is two very different concepts.
It is true that the European world does not want to see the whites lose to the natives, but this is just folklore and does not represent the position of the governments.
Governments were willing to support Spain in the first place, that is because the decline of Spain is no threat to everyone, and there is a god Luo lead to seek the bad luck of the Japanese, we are naturally happy to do a favor.
The Russian Empire is a different story, even Shinra is afraid of Russia, and the rest of the countries are even more so.
Pulling on the “European” banner is useless, about the Russian Empire actually counts as a European country, or counts the Asian countries of the debate, the later generations did not understand, and now there is no need to say.
In addition, the tsarist government’s past style of hegemony, but also offended a lot of people. There are definitely more people who want to see the Russian Empire lose than those who want them to win.
Against this backdrop, everyone who doesn’t fall on their backs is already very much giving face, and they still want to support them, so dream on!
If the Japanese government hadn’t been equally obnoxious, I guess public opinion would have been lopsided long ago. The general trend is such that it cannot be reversed by the power of individuals.
The only viable option was to bring Spain into the fold. Unfortunately, the Czarist government chose the wrong time to do so.
During the Philippine War, the Spanish government would have made an alliance with them, but now it is better to forget about it!
The Spanish government was already exhausted by its own internal conflicts, so who cared about retaliating against the Japanese?
Of course, there was no actual retaliation, but there was still no problem with moral support.
It is estimated that do not have to go to pull together, the Spanish government will spontaneously help to wave the flag, but also limited to wave the flag.
These problems, as the prime minister Sergei Witte naturally will not fail to see, even if he did not realize for a moment, the think tank will remind.
There is a reason why he is pretending to be confused. Can not destroy their own prestige is one aspect, more importantly, or political needs.
Strategic miscalculation is the need for someone to be responsible, as the prime minister is certainly to blame. Don’t want to roll out in the dust, then you have to find a way to remedy the situation.
The key to deciding whether to win or lose a war is still strength, and there is no way to reverse the contrast in strength in the Far East, so naturally you can’t turn the tide.
However, the tsar has asked, Sergei Witte can not pretend not to hear, not to mention that there is no way.
Politics, is the first have to cope with. As for the next battlefield how to fight, that is the military thing, as the prime minister is responsible for the logistics on the line.
The words just fell, Mikhailovich’s expression was tense. I don’t know if the army can complete the plan, anyway, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can’t complete it.
Being affected by the fish in the pond, Mikhailovich also did not care to give the prime minister face, immediately retorted: “Prime Minister, do not forget that there are still the British.
We have the Russo-Austrian alliance, and the Japanese have the Anglo-Japanese alliance. Whether one wants to admit it or not, the most powerful in the Far East are the British.
Including this war, most of it was planned by the British. Without them behind it, the Japanese government wouldn’t have the guts to go to war with us.
What we have to do now is not only to fight the Japanese government, but also to play the game with the British.
With the British messing things up, it is simply impossible for us to gain the support of the international community, and the European countries will not easily take sides.
The only ones that the Foreign Ministry can really win over are the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. With the British holding us back, it will also be difficult for the two countries to provide us with substantial help in the Far East.”
There was no way around it, the British Empire was just so bullish these days. Even with the strong rise of the Holy Roman Empire, it still couldn’t hide the power of Britain.
What’s more, the Far East was originally dominated by the British, and the Holy Roma were all inserted at a later stage, and their influence in the region was far less than that of the British.
If not for the prestige of defeating France, it would probably still be treated as a second-rate country. Now the conflict between Shen Luo and Britain, in addition to interests, there is also the “name” of the dispute.
Individuals can be indifferent to fame and fortune, but the country can not. Without the prestige of fame as a deterrent, it is inconvenient to do anything.
Minister of War Evgeny: “It’s not just diplomacy that’s a problem, it’s also the military. We have a limited number of troops in the Far East, and the Japanese can mobilize several times that number to fight.
Strategic contraction would have been the best option, but the Empire is not prepared for war and has limited supplies stockpiled in various places.
In order to safeguard logistics, we can only divide our forces into garrisons and resist, buying time for reinforcements to arrive.
Militarily speaking, whatever we do now is less important than getting the Siberian Railroad open to traffic.
I propose that from now on, the Siberian Railroad be constructed around the clock, in order to open it to traffic in the shortest possible time.
The second thing is to organize a material procurement mission immediately and go to Europe to purchase strategic materials; if we are late, the Japanese will get the jump on us.”
Falling on his sword, perhaps!
But politics is supposed to be a dead end, strategic miscalculations always require someone to take responsibility, and if the prime minister doesn’t take the blame everyone will have to take the blame.
Taking responsibility is not the same as leaving immediately, when to leave is still to be seen from the battlefield. If the front line wins, all will be happy.
In the original time and space, Sergei Viktor was forced to leave his post after a year because of his responsibility and the fact that the Russian army was losing on the front, in order to give an explanation to the country.
As for the anti-war and political disagreement with the Tsar on the latter day internet, that’s complete bullshit and probably not even a trigger.
The Russo-Japanese War is the Japanese first hand, the tsarist government is only passive response to the war, there is no choice, anti-war can not let the front line light beatings do not fight back, right?
Political disagreement, that’s even more bullshit. From the beginning of the succession of Nicholas II, Sergei Witte was a minister of the tsarist government, a mix is more than ten years, but also was promoted to the prime minister.
If there was a political disagreement, there would be no such drama. With Nicholas II’s style, people he didn’t like were usually just kicked out.
If there is a choice, Evgeny also do not want to fall into the well. But there is no way, continue to make peace, it will not be long before it will be his own turn to be unlucky.
War is not child’s play, what is the situation on the front line, no one knows better than him, the Minister of War.
Do not take precautions in advance, behind a series of defeats came, and how to end?
Just look at the wording of the “divide and conquer”, “resist”, “buy time”, that is clearly to let everyone be ready to receive “defeat at the front! That’s clearly to prepare everyone to receive a “defeat at the front”.
The reversal of the Siberian Railway is still after the opening of the railroad, who let this railroad construction time, later than the original time and space?
Even if you don’t take the lives of French laborers seriously, there is no way to get the railroad open all at once!
The situation has already collapsed, the following people are still scrambling for power, shirk responsibility, spare Nicholas II’s temperament has been improved, that can not help it.
Only to see him slammed the table, angrily reprimanded: “Have come to what time, you one and all do not want to solve the problem, but instead here scrambling to shift the blame, do not forget your status!”
This was a problem that every monarch had to face. If the people below are in harmony, one has to worry about them colluding; if the people below are constantly fighting, it will affect the efficiency of political governance.
In a sense, this was the paradox of a monarch.
In normal times, everyone likes to play with the checks and balances of power and let those below them fight with each other; at critical moments, they want those below them to be united.
There is no doubt that bureaucrats who fulfill both requirements at the same time simply do not exist. Most people are selfish, and bureaucrats are no exception; everyone has to think for himself first.
Don’t think that they really enjoy political struggles, more often than not, they still have no choice. Where there are people, there is a jungle, and where there are bureaucrats, there are factions.
Even if they want to stop, the people below them will not agree. In the vast majority of times, a step back in politics is not a wide sea and sky, but an abyss of ten thousand feet.
Now, for example, if the ministers’ positions were unified, Nicholas II might be happy on the surface, but he would certainly be unable to sleep at night.
As for solving the problem?
As a matter of fact, the various departments have already begun to act. The Ministry of Finance is trying to raise money, the Ministry of War is mobilizing troops, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working like a swarm of bees.
Actions are actions, but they are mostly reactive. No one can expect to come up with the perfect program in just a few hours.
If Nicholas II had called a meeting later, the situation would definitely have been much better. If not, it wouldn’t have been a bunch of unfulfilling platitudes.
……
In the Far East, as the initiator of this war, unprecedented fervor was shown in Japan. The Japanese government had just issued a conscription order, and a wave of enlistment erupted.
The people of Tokyo, in particular, perhaps stimulated by the previous embassy case, are now showing extra fervor.
Whether it is government offices, schools, stores or factories, all of them have put up propaganda slogans saying “Shame on you”.
The felons who were sentenced to death in the embassy case have been invited to shrines as heroes, and there is a constant stream of ceremonies in the private sector.
If it were not for the concern for the face of the legation, it is estimated that the Japanese government has personally come down to offer sacrifices. In short, the result of the previous trial has now been overturned by the Japanese.
Even the Japanese students who were already prepared to take the examination for promotion to Nanyang University have now put down their books and devoted themselves to this war which decided the destiny of the nation.
Against the background of the whole nation clamoring for vengeance, the few rationalists could not make waves at all.
“Anti-war”, that doesn’t exist. Even the members of the anti-war faction now obediently kept their mouths shut, and at most they secretly thought about it in their minds when no one was around.
Even foreigners in Japan are affected. As an ally of the Russians, the Shinra embassy in Tokyo had kept a much lower profile in recent times.
In this regard, the Russian Embassy case was still valuable to Japan, at least it struck a blow to the arrogance of the embassies.
As the saying goes, the barefoot is not afraid of the shoes, and now Japan is that barefoot. National sentiments are mobilized to the extreme and will explode with the slightest stimulus.
Only this kind of mental stimulation is obviously not sustainable. If the frontline armies keep on winning, then this can continue for a long time.
On the contrary, once the frontline army suffered a great defeat. The fragile Japanese national spirit will immediately trigger an avalanche.
Gambling on the nation’s luck is not only about the army and colonies, but also the national spirit.
Now Japan has once again embarked on the original time and space of the old road, lose everything; win is the national fire rebirth, casting the foundation of the country, the world and one more power.
(End of chapter)