The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 367 Strategic Shift
Russian Tsar Alexander, who was hiding in Kovrov, lived one day at a time and spent the winter of the twenty-second year of Tiangong in a daze.

When the weather was freezing and the ground was frozen, the Ming army stopped its large-scale operations and news from local Russia was difficult to convey.

Alexander had a rare period of peace and quiet, without having to worry about dealing with things.

However, this rare good time could not last forever, and the spring of the twenty-third year of Tiangong arrived almost in the blink of an eye.

The snow and ice began to melt, and the sky and earth began to regain their color.

The local agencies that the Russian central court could still contact, mainly small garrison troops in various places, successively sent new news for the new year.

Alexander found that things were taking a turn for the worse on all fronts.

First of all, on the most critical western front, the Ming army led by Napoleon seemed to have abandoned the tactics of advancing step by step, and suddenly attacked and directly occupied Moscow.

Alexander jumped up immediately after seeing this information:
"What happened? How did Moscow suddenly fall? The last intelligence showed that there was no trace of the Ming army around Moscow!"

Alexander read the relevant reports over and over again and found that there was only a little content in total.

The patrols around Moscow only confirmed that the Ming army attacked and captured Moscow, but there was no explanation as to how the Ming army got there.

Because the party involved has absolutely no idea.

Russia was now in a semi-paralyzed state, and it was already very impressive to be able to tell Alexander that the Ming army had arrived in Moscow.

Alexander became extremely anxious:

“According to previous reports, the Ming army on the western front may have suddenly advanced nearly 200 kilometers.

"And there are only 200 kilometers between Kovrov and Moscow. The Ming army's planes may discover us at any time...

"What should we do now? Should we move?"

Alexander began to panic.

Foreign Minister Nesselrode tentatively suggested:
"Your Majesty, General Bagration has returned to Georgia in the Caucasus region ahead of schedule. Should we move to Georgia?"

Alexander subconsciously wanted to agree.

As a result, Kutuzov directly reminded:
"Your Majesty, before you decide to go to Georgia, you might as well take a look at the other piece of news below, the news from the southern battlefield..."

When Alexander heard this reminder, he had a bad feeling in his heart.

His hands were trembling slightly for some unknown reason. He glanced at the report below with some excitement, and then his eyes widened:
"Tsaritsyn has fallen - how is this possible -"

Kutuzov sighed and said:
"The Ming army took control of Constantinople last year, and now the entire Black Sea coast is under the threat of the Ming navy.

“From Romania to Georgia, it’s no longer a safe place.

"The Ming army's corps in our south occupied the Crimean Peninsula last year, and they will definitely not be idle after the beginning of spring this year.

"Tsaritsyn is such an important place, no Ming army general would ignore it unless he is a fool.

“More importantly, the Ming army in the south has already formed last year’s refugees into vassal soldiers.

“They used these vassal soldiers as guides, advancing quickly along the coastline and rivers, and conquering cities at a pace that was like marching.

"The situation along the Black Sea coast should be completely out of control. We cannot move to the Caucasus region now."

Alexander was cold all over:

"Where should we go? To the Ural Mountains? To Yekaterinburg?"

Kutuzov smiled bitterly and said:
"Of course you can go, the Ural Mountains are probably the safest place in the country.

"No matter how the Ming Dynasty attacks, the Ural Mountains will definitely be the last to be occupied."

Alexander was very decisive:
"Okay, let's go right away and start packing. General Kutuzov should also pack his things."

Kutuzov simply shook his head and said:

"Your Majesty, my mission is to defend Moscow. Now that Moscow has been lost, I can no longer retreat from Kovrov.

"The key is that someone must stay here to slow down the Ming army's advance as much as possible.

"Besides, I am already seventy years old. I don't have the energy to travel long distances, and I won't regret dying in battle."

Alexander was a little overwhelmed after hearing this.

It seems that there is a lot of meaning behind Kutuzov's words.

But Alexander no longer had the energy to understand, and just said dryly;

"Then I'll leave this to the General."

Alexander said goodbye to Kutuzov and immediately hurried to urge the servants and soldiers to pack up.

The next morning, he set out on horseback to the east, escorted by a team of guards.

Kutuzov, accompanied by several guards, saw Alexander off at the intersection outside the city, and then returned to the headquarters to organize a defense plan.

On the other side, the Ming army reorganized itself briefly in Moscow and then continued its large-scale advance eastward.

First they captured Vladimir, then headed straight for Kovrov.

According to the intelligence from the Western Factory, Russian Tsar Alexander was in Kovrov. If the Tsar could be captured, operations on the Russian battlefield would become much easier.

After the vanguard passed Vladimir, they began to encounter stiff resistance.

A large number of defensive facilities appeared in the wild, and the local defenders did not collapse at the first blow like in other places.

Davout, the French-Polish general in charge of commanding the operation, immediately became happy, thinking that the Russian Tsar might really be in the small town ahead.

Davout immediately requested more air force support, and at the same time mobilized more artillery and armored vehicles to launch an attack.

It took three days to annihilate tens of thousands of Russian troops and finally force their way into the small town of Kovrov.

As a result, the Tsar was not captured, only Kutuzov and a group of middle and lower-level Russian generals were captured.

Davout came directly to Kutuzov's headquarters and angrily asked the officers and Kutuzov around him:

"Where is the Tsar? Where is the Tsar?"

Kutuzov said with a smile:
"You are well-informed, but not well-informed enough. His Majesty the Tsar did come here, but he left long ago."

Dawu was a little annoyed and cursed:
"The so-called Tsar of Russia is obviously a coward and a wimp."

Kutuzov said:

"Your Majesty the Tsar dared to challenge the Ming Dynasty. After seeing the strength of the Ming Dynasty, he still insisted on continuing to resist instead of surrendering directly. This can be called bravery."

Davout frowned and looked up at the old man Kutuzov:
"It's more stupid than brave, he just can't bear to give up his position as Tsar.

"If he knew how powerful the Ming Dynasty was before the war started, the situation would definitely not be like this now.

"If he can cooperate with the Ming Dynasty and surrender and pay tribute, the Ming Dynasty will not make things difficult for him.

"He insisted on conspiring with Shunguo to fight against us, which led to this situation."

Kutuzov knew that Davout was telling the truth, but he could not admit defeat verbally:
"It is normal for information to be biased before a war. If anything, it would be stupid to continue resisting now.

"But your majesty would rather be a foolish warrior than a clever coward."

Davout felt that he could not win the argument with the old man, so he simply ignored him and sat down. He dictated a simple report and asked the accompanying correspondent to record it and send it to Napoleon in the rear by telegraph.

After receiving it, Napoleon did not feel regretful like Davout, but instead felt a little relieved.

Alexander was in Kovrov, and he had to capture him, otherwise it would be like deliberately indulging the enemy and being suspected of harboring an enemy for his own benefit.

But if he really caught Alexander, that would be an inappropriate achievement.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty could not give himself the title of prince, so he could only add more land to himself.

The current Polish Kingdom is large enough, large enough to arouse the emperor's vigilance even in peacetime.

Giving yourself more fiefdoms wouldn't even be considered a good thing.

If Alexander wanted to escape, he could only run eastward. To the east was the Ming Dynasty's Central Asian Legion. So he could let Yang Yuchun, who was from the Ming Dynasty, capture the Tsar.

Napoleon sent word of Alexander's escape to other theaters of operations while continuing to plan the battle on his own side.

Russian Tsar Alexander himself, having escaped death at Kovrov, now led his troops on a hasty march eastward.

Alexander's ultimate goal was Yekaterinburg in the Ural region.

But before they had traveled halfway, just as they arrived in Kazan, they received a series of bad news.

Most of the news was bad from the East.

Mainly in the area east of the Ural Mountains, traces of the Ming army were found along almost all important rivers.

Including the Lena River, Tungus River, Yenisei River, Irtysh River, Ob River, as well as the Ili River, Syr Darya River and Amu Darya River within the territory of Shun State.

The sources of these rivers are all in the Ming-controlled area, and their lower reaches all lead to the territories of Russia and Shun State.

These rivers are natural supply lines.

The way the Russians expanded eastward and occupied Siberia in the past was to explore and open up along the rivers in the summer, rather than traveling through the inland jungles.

For areas where there are no rivers, the Russians only have nominal ruling power, and their actual control capabilities are very limited.

However, in that era, if other countries came here, they could only adopt similar methods, and they might not do better than the Russians who were accustomed to cold regions.

In the eastern part of the Shenou continent, there are actually four relatively independent geographical regions with different natural environments.

Arranged from south to north, they are tropical and subtropical forest zones, subtropical and temperate monsoon zones, grassland zones in the interior of the continent, and subarctic and temperate coniferous forest zones.

The lifestyles of residents in the four regions were very different, and cross-regional warfare was extremely difficult in the agricultural era.

Before the industrial age, wilderness development and imperial expansion usually expanded in the east-west direction along the latitude lines, within the same geographical area and natural environment.

Very little expansion occurs longitudinally along meridians, which would span multiple geographical regions.

The early Russian expansion in Asia was focused on the coniferous forest area at the northernmost tip of the continent, rather than the grassland corridor area in the middle of the continent.

The direct conflict between the Russians, who came from the coniferous forest area, and the local monsoon region regime of Shenzhou broke out in the Heilongjiang River basin rather than the Mongolian grasslands.

The Russians explored and developed along the Heilongjiang River, and clashed with local tribes ruled by the Qing Dynasty, and ultimately lost the battle.

The Russians were also relatively powerless when facing the steppe tribes in the early days.

It was not until the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution in Europe had already begun to take shape, that Russia finally conquered the three khanates in Central Asia.

And from beginning to end, they were unable to capture Mongolia.

Now Russia's colonial outposts in Siberia are basically located along these rivers.

Now the Ming Dynasty directly uses similar methods as the Russians to seize the Russian colonies along the river.

The Ming army had an overall advantage in weapons, and had mass-produced diesel and gasoline engines that could drive various small motor boats.

Their combat efficiency is more than an order of magnitude higher than that of the Russians.

Although the Russian residents in Siberia suffered less losses than the Russian mainland last winter, they would still be no match for the Ming army even if they were intact.

After Alexander learned about these situations, he was immediately shocked, angry, and confused:

"This...what should I do? Ming troops have appeared on the Ob River. Are the Ural and Yekaterinburg still safe? Should I still go to Yekaterinburg?"

For the first time, Alexander felt that Russia's territory was not infinite, and he suddenly felt that he had no way to escape.

The Ming army is taking action on the east, south and west sides. Is he going to escape into the Arctic Ocean?
Seeing that Alexander was in a panic and entanglement, Nesirrod, who was following him, interrupted cautiously:

"Your Majesty, should we try to contact the Ming people again?"

Alexander's reflexive question:

"What can we do by contacting the Ming people now? Can the Ming people still offer any valuable conditions at this time?
"According to what was said last year, if we surrender now, we will only be granted the status of a free citizen, without any noble title."

Nesirrod said subconsciously:

“Not necessarily. It might have just been a negotiating gesture at the time. Their bottom line might not be what they said directly.

“Moreover, even if the entire Russian territory is completely occupied by the Ming Dynasty, if we surrender in that situation, we may not just be ordinary free citizens.

"At the same time, Russia and Ming have no hatred. Ming attacked us Russia only to conquer the world.

"So even if we surrender at the last minute, the Ming Dynasty will have no reason to impose any punishment on us."

Alexander shook his head and said:
"As a diplomat, have you never specifically learned about the decision-making habits of Emperor Tiangong of the Ming Dynasty?
“Emperor Tiangong’s political credibility is extremely high, and this evaluation can be interpreted in both positive and negative ways.

“Positive understanding means keeping promises and being tolerant.

“Of all the formal promises he made to others, he has never reneged on them.

"For the vassal monarchs who are willing to cooperate and for the foreign monarchs who are willing to surrender, they can all be treated with considerable tolerance.

“The opposite understanding is that the cold decision will not change.

“The countries and forces he decides to destroy will certainly not survive.

“He said he would not give us better terms and would not allow us to bargain again.

"So now there is no need to discuss meaningless things with the officials of the Ming Dynasty."

Nesirrod bowed and nodded:
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was nervous at the time and did not think it through thoroughly."

Alexander sighed and waved his hand, indicating that Nesirrod should not take it to heart, and then ended this simple intelligence summary meeting.

Alexander continued to struggle for several days over whether or not to continue the transfer.

However, after receiving the news that the Ming army had captured Kovrov, he decisively led his troops again and began a strategic shift.

Alexander continued to head towards Yekaterinburg, but he knew in his heart that he didn't have to actually arrive there in the end.

The key is when the Ming army can catch up with him, or when they can block him.

Alexander believed in Nesirrod's final judgment and felt that even if he was captured when he was at his wit's end, the Ming Emperor had no reason to punish him.

That is why Alexander can continue to persist and make strategic shifts.

(End of this chapter)