Master Yuan, start!

If it were any of the countries like Britain, France, the United States or Germany, their citizens would probably be worried.

But the Russians are different. Even if the Trans-Siberian Railway has not yet been completed, it will not prevent them from following their Tsar father to the end.

They prefer tyrants to cowards.

The Trans-Siberian Railway was originally planned to be built simultaneously in both directions.

One side starts from the Ural Mountains at the junction of Europe and Asia and is built eastward; the other side starts from Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean and is built northward and westward.

Eventually, the Trans-Siberian Railway was scheduled to be joined at Skovorodino, more than 100 kilometers north of Mohe.

But plans are plans, and reservations are reservations.

During its early construction, the railway did not encounter many difficulties thanks to the weak Arctic warm current and the flat West Siberian plain.

However, after entering the Central Siberian Mountains, the steep rise in terrain and strong cold currents became the number one problem.

When building the line east of Lake Baikal and north of Heilongjiang, the Russians encountered extremely hard permafrost, which made it extremely difficult to break through the ground with iron pickaxes.

In a year, there are only about three months of construction time in the summer. During these three months, work can only be done during the day, which is far from meeting the construction schedule requirements.

So historically, the Russians set their sights on China and built a "Middle East Railway", also known as the Chinese Eastern Railway, through the heart of Heilongjiang Province.

But the Russians in this time and space did not have such an opportunity. The railway line was built intermittently after crossing Lake Baikal, and after it was repaired, it often underwent multiple reworks.

The railway line built in Vladivostok in the east is not troubled by permafrost for the time being, but due to Iktanga's deliberate obstruction, Russia cannot find enough manpower, and currently it is only built from Vladivostok to Blagoveshchensk on the Heilongjiang River.

Although everyone knew that Vladivostok did not have a stable supply line, the Russian army in the Far East did not feel nervous at all.

This is inevitable. At this point in time at the end of the 19th century, the Russians absolutely did not take the Qing army seriously.

Whether it was the more than one hundred Cossacks in the Kangxi period fighting a draw with thousands of Eight Banners, or the Russians extorting large tracts of land in China's Outer Northeast without any evidence during the Xianfeng period.

Given the historical record, it is difficult for the Russian army not to underestimate it.

Cold weather has always been considered the best helper of the Russians. The Poles and the French have successively fallen in the Russian winter.

What's more, the "Braid Army" has never been taken seriously by the Russians.

Yuan Shikai did make a great name for himself in East Asia, but it was limited to East Asia.

The victorious National Defense Army awakened the long-forgotten memories of the Celestial Empire in small countries such as Japan, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia.

However, to Europeans, this was just news from a remote country that occasionally appeared in newspapers.

It occasionally becomes a topic of conversation, but once I put down the newspaper, I put the matter aside.

Europe is the center of the world.

Just like the Chinese in later generations, they might be surprised by the news on social media that Tanzania once learned from the People's Liberation Army and that its commander graduated from the Shijiazhuang Military Academy.

But it was just a surprise. No one thought that Tanzania, which was invincible in East Africa, could last a few rounds against the People's Liberation Army.

But this does not prevent Tanzania from becoming the overlord of East Africa, beating up Libya and kicking Uganda.

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The French had been defeated once by Yuan Shikai, and the British Second Far East Fleet was eyeing the Taiwan Strait.

That is why they were frightened by Yuan Shikai's claim that "I am invincible among the great powers, and I can exchange one for one with the great powers", and they allowed the National Defense Army to move south without daring to send troops.

But a tiger skin is just a tiger skin after all. When facing Russia, which has the top military capabilities in Europe, this skin will not have much intimidating effect.

The Russian government is different from the French one. It does not have to worry about votes or cabinet rotation. Its army is recognized as the European gendarmerie by the major powers of Britain, France, Prussia and Austria.

It can be said that in terms of pure army, the Russians are generally recognized to be stronger than the French, and the French army has become second-rate.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the French Army was downgraded again and became completely second-rate in the eyes of Europeans.

In their minds, the ranking is probably Russians, Germans, French, British, and Austria-Hungary.

...

At night, the firelight illuminated the Russian camp.

"Soldiers, enjoy tonight's feast and the delicious brandy! The French are only cheering for us, it's not their turn to take action!"

The Governor of the Amur River, Khovskoy, raised his right hand to congratulate the gray animals in front of him.

Opening champagne at halftime, no, it’s not even opening champagne at halftime, the war hasn’t even started yet, and the Russians are already preparing to reap victory.

If Khovskoy understood Chinese, he might say a few more words about victory and defeat.

What is "Russia has three wins and China has three losses"?

What is "XX million versus XX million, the advantage is mine"?

It's not difficult to speak it out.

The Russians cheered in the military camp in the snow. A few hundred kilometers away on the banks of the Songhua River, Yiktang'a had already gathered his troops and was planning to deal with an old matter of the Sixty-Four Villages in Jiangdong.

Half of the Heilongjiang border defense force were from the original Eight Banners outside the Great Wall. In addition, there were a small number of Solon people serving as vanguards, and a small number of Daur and Oroqen people serving as guides.

The remaining half were all Han people who came from Guandong.

A total of more than 2 people, which seems to be a lot, is already the largest number of troops commanded by Heilongjiang generals in history.

But in fact, these people can only be used as a sprinkle of water in Heilongjiang Province, which is three times the size of Anhui Province.

After receiving the news that Yuan Shikai was heading north, Yiktang'a couldn't wait for the National Defense Army to march north, so he planned to go and test it first.

But before leaving, he received another telegram from Yi D, asking him to contact the Russians as soon as possible, but to avoid armed conflict.

However, Yiktang'a's original intention was not to make peace with the Russians. He wanted to use the Sixty-Four Villages in Jiangdong as a stronghold to force the Russians to make concessions.

What should we do when we receive this telegram?

Chapter 285: Map of the Outer Northeast

"Report!!!"

Yiktang'a was lost in thought when a shout came from outside the hall.

"Is there a thorn in my heart? What's the matter?"

Wu Daji stood up and looked at the soldier in front of him whose eyebrows and beard were covered with snowflakes.

"Master Yi, Master Wu!" The soldier fumbled and took out a wax-sealed letter from his arms and raised his hands above his head.

"My lords, the Russians on the other side of the river have sent a message saying that their New Year is approaching and they would like to invite you two lords to cross the river to drink together and discuss the various affairs of the Sixty-Four Villages in Jiangdong, in order to establish friendly neighborly relations with Russia."

"Good neighborliness?" Wu Daji murmured as he took the letter from the soldier.

"It's sealed with wax and stamped with a seal. Yaoshan, this is undoubtedly a foreign custom. But why did the Russians invite you and me at this time?"

"Eighty percent likely, some agreement was reached with the imperial court, right?" Yiktang'a thought to himself when thinking of the telegram sent by Yi D, but he did not speak aloud.

The telegram from the imperial court, from Yi D, was a secret message, and Wu Daji, a Han Chinese, was unaware of it.

Although Yi and Wu have worked together in Heilongjiang for many years, and Yiktang'a is not a die-hard Manchu supremacist, some barriers always exist no matter how close their relationship is.

"It's really strange. Can the old Russians even speak of good neighborliness?"

Wu Daji smacked his lips, his mind completely focused on the letter, and he didn't notice the change in Yiktang'a's expression.

"Yes, if we were friendly neighbors, why would the Russians resort to such despicable means to forcibly occupy the 64 villages in Jiangdong?"

Yiktang'a withdrew his thoughts and focused his energy on the east bank of the Heilongjiang River, where disputes had frequently occurred recently and the largest gathering place of Chinese in Outer Northeast China.

Sixty-four villages in Jiangdong!

This is a piece of land east of the confluence of the Heilongjiang River and the Jingqili River where the people outside the Great Wall live. There are dozens of settlements there, which are called the Sixty-four Villages of Jiangdong.

It is about 150 miles long from north to south and about 080 miles wide from east to west, with an area of ​​more than 7 square kilometers, which is about twice the area of ​​Shanghai in later times.

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As shown in the picture, the light gray area is the area of ​​Jiangdong 64 Village.

The Qili River, the essence of the Heilongjiang River, is specially marked in blue.

The Russians call it the Jieya River, and the Chinese call it the Jingqili River.

Although these lands were ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Aihui and the Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty.

However, the two sides agreed that the Chinese government has jurisdiction over the people of the 64 villages in Jiangdong, where the Chinese have lived for generations and on the east bank of the Heilongjiang River.

In other words, although China did not own this land according to the treaty, it had control over the land in disguise because it enjoyed the right to govern the local people.

Fathers give birth to sons, sons give birth to grandchildren. As long as the Chinese people continue to live and multiply here from generation to generation, theoretically, China will always own this territory.

This is not because the Russians are stupid, nor is it because Qing officials used reason to "intimidate" Russia. Fundamentally, it was just a practical need.

When Russia was blackmailing Outer Manchuria, there were not many citizens living in this land of more than one million square kilometers.

If the Chinese people in the sixty-four villages in Jiangdong were expelled, they would face a serious food crisis.

The Sixty-Four Villages of Jiangdong are located in a large basin, surrounded by the Lesser Khingan Mountains and the Greater Khingan Mountains. The winter temperature is warmer than other areas at the same latitude.

This is one of the only two places in the Outer Northeast region suitable for farming, so a large number of settlements were formed very early on.

The remaining place is the Sanjiang Plain, which is famous in later generations and is the location of the Great Northern Wilderness granary.

Theoretically, the Sanjiang Plain even extends beyond the national border, and part of it is in Russia.

However, due to political reasons, the area that has been fully developed is still the Chinese part.

Although in later generations, the large amount of abandoned Russian land adjacent to the Sanjiang Plain attracted many Chinese to rent and cultivate it, the overall level of development is still relatively low.

In other words, the Russians 100 years later did not understand how to farm in Outer Manchuria, let alone the Russians 100 years ago.

The Russians wanted to ask the people of the sixty-four villages in Jiangdong for help, so they kept the people.

0It’s just that they never show an attitude of begging for help, but instead act arrogantly as benefactors.

7 After the signing of the Treaty of Aihui, as the Russians continued to migrate Cossacks and retired soldiers to the area, their demand for food from the Sixty-Four Villages in Jiangdong also increased.

The Russians know that they cannot rely on others for food security. In addition to relocating retired soldiers, they also have plans to introduce farmers.

But the plan did not go smoothly.

The reason is that although the temperature in Northeast Asia is cold, it is essentially different from that in European Russia.

Although Outer Northeast China is located at a high latitude, it also has a temperate monsoon climate with rain and heat occurring at the same time, making it suitable for growing crops such as soybeans and wheat.

The Chinese are a natural farming race, and people from the mainland are quite experienced in how to grow these things.

However, the farmers from Russia were only good at growing traditional European crops such as barley and oats, and had no experience in tending wheat and soybeans.