The current situation is even more unfavorable to Russia.

When Sakharov had to mobilize troops from Europe to support the East, in the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had long been impatient, took the opportunity to send troops to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Most of the residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina were Serbs and Croats. The Treaty of Berlin in 1878 stipulated that these two provinces were managed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but they still belonged to the Ottoman Empire in name.

In the early 20th century, the Balkan national liberation movement rose. The Austro-Hungarian Empire attempted to completely annex these two provinces as a base for expansion to the Balkans.

Before 1908, Joseph I's original plan was to win over Russia to jointly divide the Ottoman Empire's territory in the northwest of the Balkans. At the same time, Russia also wanted to take the opportunity to modify the Black Sea Strait system in order to implement its policy of moving south.

In February 1908, Russian Foreign Minister Izworsky openly clamored at a cabinet meeting that if Russia continues to adopt negative policies on the Balkan issue, Russia may suddenly lose all his efforts over the past century. At this time, the Russian army is advancing all the way in Xinjiang, and in Siberia, although two major military bases are occupied, as long as Irkutsk is still in the hands of the Tsar, ‘the east of Lake Baikal can be recaptured at any time.’

Based on this, the two enemies, Nicholas II and Joseph I, hit it off on the Balkan issue.

The "olive branch" extended by the Austro-Hungarian Empire is another reason why Sakharov was determined to transfer troops from Europe. However, at this moment, news came that Russia was beaten by the Chinese army in Asia and was searching for teeth.

Imperialism has never had the habit of sharing benefits with others, especially when the other party is already obviously weak.

When Joseph I learned that Russia was deeply trapped in the Asian quagmire, he immediately abandoned the Russians and unilaterally announced the incorporation of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Russians who were put on a strait immediately protested to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and threatened war, but Joseph I did not abandon him at all.

Because at this time Sakharov had transferred some of his troops to the east.

At the same time, Germany clearly expressed its support for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's actions. Nicholas II had no choice but to seek support from Britain and France and demanded an international conference to resolve the dispute.

However, Russia's efforts did not receive support from Britain and France.

On the one hand, because he was dissatisfied with Russia's private agreement with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and because he was not prepared for forceful interference, the British Parliament decided not to intervene in the dispute between Russia and Austro-Hungarian Empire for the time being. The French government was angry that Russia unilaterally transferred the troops originally stationed in Europe, which made it possible for itself to face greater pressure from Germany, and therefore did not support Russia's actions.

Russia, which is temporarily isolated, can only actively seek to resolve the Balkan dispute through diplomacy while actively expanding its military at home. However, although Russia has millions of reserves, it is not possible to pull them onto the battlefield in one or two months.

With the Russian threat temporarily lost, Joseph I was ready to enjoy his victory. However, a situation that unexpectedly happened to her.

In Bosnia, the annexation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire aroused the indignation of the Slavs in the southern region. The people of the Polish and Black provinces clearly expressed opposition to the rule and slavery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and strongly demanded a merger with Serbia.

At the same time, Serbia has always hoped to obtain Poland. The two provinces of Black and Black have made direct export of agricultural products. However, Austro-Hungary's unilateral action shattered the dream of Serbia, so Serbia regards the annexation as a humiliation.

On May 17, the Serbian government protested to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and began military mobilization, while seeking assistance from Russia.

As a major power on the European continent, how could the Austro-Hungarian Empire take the threat of war from a small country seriously? What's more, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has Germany's support.

Joseph I naturally refused to convene an international conference and gathered troops on the border between Austria and Seychelles to threaten.

Faced with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbia realized that it seemed too confident. The Russians were actually supporting them, but at this time, Russia was deeply involved in the war against China and could not guarantee itself. What substantial support does it have for Serbia?

Faced with the aggressive Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbia, who was alone in power, was immediately scared and could only accept the status quo. But in this way, Serbia's road to westward has been closed, and only by focusing on moving south and hoping to obtain Albania, which is still Turkish territory, can break through.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's open annexation of the Ottoman Empire's nominal territory in the Balkans indirectly led to the formation of the Balkan alliance and jointly plundering the remaining territory of Türkiye in Southeast Europe.

Since the first Moroccan crisis, other countries have been hostile to it, which has made Germany attach great importance to the alliance with Austro-Hungary. This conflict in the Balkans has revealed this intimate relationship, which in turn poses an obvious threat to Russia and Serbia. As for Russia and Serbia, although they have not responded with tough actions, they have also strengthened their ties to fight against the German-Austrian alliance.

At the same time, this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire successfully annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, allowing Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire to see the role China can play in restraining Russia's military power. Therefore, the two countries began to strengthen political and military cooperation with the Qing government.

Britain and France also see that China may play a role in the Middle East issue.

In June, Britain and France first proposed to mediate war disputes.

In fact, the British Far East Fleet stationed in Singapore and the French Far East Fleet in Saigon have begun some unfavorable actions. However, Zai Tian pulled out four battleships and four battlecruisers in one breath, effectively suppressing the arrogance of the Far East Navy of the two countries. Unless the two countries openly send larger fleets from their homes, the Qinglong Flagship Fleet will not be suppressed in the South China Sea.

The strong appearance of the Chinese navy also caused the French internal debate for two months to see whether to send a powerful fleet across half the earth to intervene in the war. When the Russian army was unable to achieve military goals in the northwest and north, it would be irrational for the French army in Indochina to launch a land military operation against China rashly. Similarly, if the success of the military operation on the road cannot be guaranteed, it is meaningless to just send a fleet to travel around the Far East.

After all, the fleet cannot get ashore.

It is no longer 1840. The Qing government's development of industry and the development of the Northeast completely freed northern China from its dependence on the food and economics of Jiangnan. This dependence was difficult to threaten China even in 1890, let alone now.

It is precisely because the vast northern regions of China changed from relying on Jiangnan to relying on grain bases in Northeast China that the Qing government could not compromise on the issue of Russia, because this was tantamount to handing over its lifeline to the enemy.

As for the Russian fleet, without the support of the British and French, they could not even pass the Strait of Malacca.

This time, Zai Tian exposed part of his family, which was to ensure that China could achieve the greatest results in the negotiations of this war, rather than being taken advantage of by other sinister powers.

But the Qing government's "sword" also attracted political pressure from Britain, France and the United States. The British government, which did not take the Chinese seriously, suddenly discovered that in the Far East, there was a country that could add four Fearless Class battleships every year.

By 1908, after three years of technical accumulation and expansion and transformation of shipyards, China's four major shipyards could achieve the construction of the Great Emperor class - that is, the British "Defensible" class battleships. With the capabilities of the four major shipyards, each shipyard could maintain the construction speed of one ship starting, one ship launching, and one ship serving in three years. In other words, if the Qing government was willing, starting from 2008, four "Great Emperor" class battleships would enter the navy to serve every year.

This does not include armored cruisers and battle cruisers built simultaneously by other shipyards.

There is no doubt that when such a huge fleet appears in Asia, the so-called global strategy of Britain will completely disappear. Asia will become the Asian for the Chinese!

Another person who showed "fear" about China's huge fleet was the United States. In 2006, when the Qing government threw an extremely large industrial order to the United States, the orders involving rifles, artillery, ammunition, trucks, steam locomotives, iron ore, oil, etc. put Roosevelt's "Great Navy" policy on the verge of bankruptcy.

A large number of industrial enterprises have shifted their production focus to a more profitable trade with China. At the same time, in order to transport these industrial products, the ships and steel used to build warships were also changed to freighters. By 2008, due to Taft's coming to power, this situation was even more crazier.

But China's demonstration of its naval strength has forced some U.S. lawmakers to re-examine Theodore Roosevelt's policies, which is likely to lead China and the United States into a naval arms race.

What Zai Tian is most worried about now is Russia. In his opinion, Nicholas II is just a cooked duck - a stubborn mouth. The rest has become three points of military and seven points of diplomacy.

It is not easy to ensure that the fruits of victory do not shrink and avoid being blackmailed by Britain and France.

Zai Tian doesn't care about delaying time on the ceasefire issue.

Now, in terms of economic strength between Russia, it is obvious that the Tsar will not be able to withstand it first. Although the internal contradictions of this expanding empire have not yet completely erupted, Zai Tian has time to wait for the opportunity to force the Tsar to make concessions.

However, Zai Tian himself did not think about what he wanted to get from the Russians at this time.

In Zai Tian's eyes, Siberia is now like garbage.

North and east of Lake Baikal, there are either frozen wastelands or mountains and steep mountains, with nothing but trees. And like the Chita, Amur, North Sea and Irkutsk areas that are now under control, most lands are not suitable for planting crops except for the Great River Basin.

In Siberia's relatively developed agriculture, there are only Altai, Novosibirsk and Omsk. The land there is fertile like the Songnen Plain, but the area is a hundred times that of the Songnen Plain. However, these places are already very close to Europe and Russia. If Zai Tian wants such an area, it will really force Nicholas II to fight to the death.

China is not short of coal, and Siberia does not have much oil, so iron ore can be obtained from Australia in the future. In addition to needing more grain-producing areas to support the increasing population, Zai Tian really couldn't think of what Tusiberia was.

Of course, before this, we must completely drive the Russian army out of China's territory!

The two main field forces of the First and Fourth Army of the West Siberia have been in stalemate with the Sixteenth Army of the Guards in Tarbachtai for a week. Because in the previous few mobile wars, the two armies lost all their heavy artillery, now, Kampf, who was trapped in Tarbachtai, does not have a good response to the Guards' offensive like a tide.

According to Kampf's plan, the remnants of these two armies should now retreat to Urzar, rather than defending Tacheng. However, the military orders given to him by the Tsar and the Army headquarters were not allowed to retreat, and they had to wait for the arrival of reinforcements, so he could only delay for a while.

But as the supreme commander of this mobile force, Kampf had realized that the battle had entered a state of decay. Because of the fall of Irkutsk, General Kulopatkin could not have devoted all of Western Siberia's troops to the south, and General Belyayev's middle army group also needed support. Therefore, in his opinion, the rescue that might come could not achieve the task of expelling opponents and recapturing the battlefield.

Now, let him take the remaining 45 infantry battalions and 20 cavalry companies to fight against nearly 3 divisions and heavy artillery units with no support from heavy artillery, with a total of nearly 60,000 troops, which is tantamount to commit suicide.

Faced with this situation, Kampf knew that if he wanted to survive, he had to change his tactics.

"We do not have the materials to build fortifications, lack sufficient infantry to consolidate positions, and even less sufficient artillery and machine guns to deal with the opponent's attack. Under the suppression of enemy machine gun fire, our cavalry cannot disrupt the opponent's deployment through assault. Even if the cavalry fights to the death and disrupt the opponent's rhythm, we will be surrounded by the consumption of the enemy around us."

"The remaining infantry regiments of the First Army and the Fourth Army lack mobility and heavy weapons - heavy weapons are now concentrated in units above the regiment level for centralized use. So, after some thought, I decided to cover the withdrawal of the Siberian First Army from the position first, and then rescue other front-line troops as much as possible."

After repeated weighing, Kampf was sending such a telegram to Kulopat Blonde.

This telegram was equivalent to verdicting the death penalty of the Fourth Army of West Siberia.

In the Ejuhe River, the connection between the Fourth Western Siberian Army and the First Army has been cut off. It is being attacked by more than 20,000 people from the 16th Division and the cavalry brigade of the group army. The time they exist can be calculated in hours when the mobile forces and artillery are exhausted.

As for how much the First Army can run out, it all depends on Kampf's rescue operation.

Kampf has a clear understanding of the situation. His troops have nowhere to be praised except for their mobility advantages. Let the cavalry charge against the other party with machine guns and mortars? Kampf does not think that carbines and sabers can be compared with these monsters that fire more than 400 bullets per minute. But now, Kampf has no choice.

Kulopatkin had to accept Kampf's plan.
Chapter completed!