Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

The Tsar's special envoy, Fedor Alekseyevich Golovin, and his deputy, Semyon Kornitsky, entered the council chamber of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital city of Veterans. This was the third meeting between the Russian and Veterans sides.

The first time, the State of Wei dispatched Luo Wenliang, a senior official in the Ministry of Rites, to Moscow, demanding that Tsarist Russia return the Yaksa territory it had seized and withdraw from the Argonne region. Luo Wenliang did not meet the Tsar, but only with the Tsar's courtier, Rytishev. Rytishev was very courteous and warmly received Luo Wenliang and his party, but he was unyielding on the territorial issue, refusing to withdraw from Yaksa and Argonne, and demanding that the State of Wei recognize Tsarist Russia's ownership of these two territories. There was little room for further discussion, and the meeting ended in discord.

The second time, with the recapture of Omsk by the SS, Tsarist Russia's attitude softened somewhat. Tsar Alexei I dispatched Slavich as plenipotentiary ambassador to Kulun (Ulaanbaatar) of the SS for negotiations. The Great Khan of Lotus sent Minister of Rites Zuo Shedou to Kulun to receive the Russian envoy. Zuo Shedou treated the Russian envoy with courtesy, but insisted on the original terms regarding the territorial issue, again demanding that Tsarist Russia withdraw from Yaksa and Agonkhba. This time, Tsarist Russia's attitude softened somewhat. Although it still refused to hand over Yaksa, in the Agonkhba region, it advocated dividing the territory according to the line of actual control.

On the surface, Tsarist Russia made some concessions, but in reality, even with the full force of the Russian army led by Grand Duke Miloslavsky, they could not completely occupy Agonkhba. The garrison, under the command of Governor-General Narisun of Ezil, even launched several counter-offensives. Since they couldn't swallow it whole, Tsarist Russia simply used the actual line of control as a bargaining chip. When the news reached the Qianqing Palace, the Great Khan of the Lotus Palace sneered repeatedly, "The Russians are cunning. Do they think I'm an ignorant child? Tell them they must return all the land of Yaksa and Agonkhba, not an inch less!"

Both sides maintained a hardline stance, meaning neither had room for compromise, and the second round of talks ended without result. Alexei I blamed the failure of the negotiations on Slavich's incompetence, ordered Slavich's recall, and appointed Golovin and Kornitsky as the chief and deputy envoys for peace negotiations, respectively. He also sent the two to Beijing to attempt direct contact with the Tsarist central government. One was a hereditary nobleman, and the other had served as the Tsar's secretary; in Alexei I's eyes, they were loyal and highly capable individuals.

The two men were indeed very capable. Upon arriving in Beijing, they immediately began to win over pro-Russian figures within the Wei court, such as Grand Secretary Nasutu and the Wei emperor's brother-in-law, Obodui Ulanghai. Through these pro-Russian figures, they discerned the Wei emperor's bottom line: all the lands of Yaksa and Agonkhba must be acquired. They also learned that the Wei emperor did not intend to escalate the war and that it would cease once the established objectives were achieved.

This was crucial because when the two arrived in Beijing, the Imperial Army had already captured Yaksa and besieged Nerchinsk. Nerchinsk was not previously among the territories claimed by the Imperial Army. Alexei I instructed them to ascertain the true intentions of the Imperial Emperor: did he intend to escalate the war? Did he also harbor ambitions for other territories of Tsarist Russia besides Yaksa and Agonkhba? Intelligence from Nasutu and Obotui-Ulanghai indicated that the Imperial Emperor did not intend to expand the war; the siege of Nerchinsk was merely a ploy to force the Russian army to withdraw from Agonkhba. Golovin quickly sent word back to Moscow. Upon learning the Imperial Emperor's true intentions, Alexei I was overjoyed, praising Golovin and Kornitsky highly, and ordering them to expedite the lifting of the siege of Nerchinsk, even offering to cede some of the occupied Agonkhba territory if necessary.

However, neither Kornitsky, Golovin, nor Tsar Alexei I could match the cunning and shrewd Lotus Khan in their political maneuvering. In fact, there were no truly "pro-Russian" factions in the Davidian court. The so-called pro-Russian ministers in the eyes of the Russians, such as Grand Secretary Nasutu and the Emperor's brother-in-law Obodui Ulanghai, were all acting on the orders of the Lotus Khan to be pro-Russian. The cunning Sultan deliberately instructed these ministers to approach Russian envoys, accept their gifts, and speak openly in favor of Tsarist Russia at court meetings. His aim was to use these "pro-Russian" figures to release false information to Tsarist Russia, thereby misleading the enemy's decision-making. Just when Alexei I believed that the Emperor of the Great Viking had no plans to expand the war and had not fully mobilized in Russia, the military machine of the Great Viking was already fully operational, ready to resolve the northern threat once and for all when the time was right.

The Great Khan of Lotus planned a five-pronged attack on Tsarist Russia. In the Algonkhba direction, the goal was to drive the Russian army out of Algonkhba and simultaneously threaten Russian forces in the Volga and Don river basins. This route was the longest, and transporting supplies and provisions from the homeland was extremely difficult, making it the most challenging. Even so, Sultan decided to reinforce the myriarchy with 5,000 troops and allocate a large amount of military equipment and supplies. In the Kazakh direction, the objective was to capture Tobolsk and control a vast area east of the Ural Mountains to the Ob River basin. In the Mongolian steppe, the objective was to capture numerous fortresses from Chukubakhin to Yeniseisk, controlling a vast territory from the Yenisei River basin to the Lake Baikal basin. In the Nerchinsk direction, the objective was to capture Nerchinsk and Irgensk, then continue north to seize Yakutsk and control the Lena River basin. In the Nurgan direction, the objective was to advance north to capture all Tsarist Russian strongholds along the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and coordinate with the garrison forces in the Nerchinsk direction.

On the surface, due to logistical pressure caused by the long distance, the number of troops in each army was not large, and the total force fighting against Russia was only over 80,000. However, this was the largest force that the Great Wei Kingdom could mobilize in the north, and the money, food and supplies consumed exceeded those of the previous major war with a scale of 500,000 people.

Sultan was so confident because it was already October, and Hu Lianqi, the Minister of Revenue, had indeed kept his word and secured ten million taels of military funds for him. With money came boldness, and he naturally wanted to make a big move. As a veteran of countless battles, he knew the principle that the longer the logistical supply line, the more difficult the battle. He ordered Prince Baoyin of Chu to besiege Nerchinsk without attacking, hoping to lure the Russian troops in the Ob River, Yenisei River, and Ezil River (Volga River) basins into the Nerchinsk region to deal with them. To prevent Baoyin from running out of troops, he also granted him the authority to command Nuningji and the troops stationed in the northern desert.

In order to continue to mislead Tsarist Russia, he ordered the garrison in all regions except Nerchinsk to exercise temporary restraint until November 1st, and to take unified action. He also ordered Grand Secretary Nasutu and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Jiao to treat the Russian envoy well and to show as much "goodwill" as possible.

When Golovin and Kornitsky entered the council chamber, they found that in addition to Foreign Minister Wang Jiao, their old acquaintance Nasutu was also there, and he was seated in the main seat.

Upon seeing the two envoys, Nasutu, the leader of the "pro-Russian faction," beamed with smiles. "You two envoys have come a long way and must be tired. Please take a seat and have some tea. The Great Khan has appointed me to oversee these peace negotiations, so please do not be shy."

Seeing that he was in charge of the peace talks, Golovin felt a sense of relief, thinking to himself that there was hope of fulfilling the mission entrusted to him by His Majesty the Tsar! (End of Chapter)