The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 337 Complex Geopolitics

On December 1733, 12, a heavy snowfall turned the entire Omsk Fortress into a pure world. In the sky, snowflakes fell as lightly as feathers, as if countless angels were dancing in the air.

There were few pedestrians on the street, only a few merchants in thick fur coats hurried by, their footsteps left a series of marks of varying depths on the thick snow, which were gradually covered by the snow.

Snow covered every corner, as if everything was swallowed up by this white world. Occasionally, a sharp cold wind blew through the sparse shops on both sides of the street, rolling up a flurry of snowflakes, as if even time was frozen.

However, in this seemingly silent snow scene, you can occasionally hear the barking of dogs or the footsteps of pedestrians in the distance. These sounds are particularly clear and warm in the silence of the snow.

In the distance, the walls of Omsk look even more majestic against the backdrop of white snow. The snow piled up on the walls, forming a thick layer of snow. On the walls, the white snow and the red bricks form a sharp contrast.

Covered in snow, the ancient Orthodox church in Omsk looks even more solemn and majestic. The spire of the church is looming in the snow, as if it is a passage to another world.

Baron Fedor Smolov, the Russian Empire's special envoy to Qin, looked at the heavy snow outside through the window, sighed heavily, and drank the vodka in the glass. Then a spicy and warm feeling rose in his stomach, making the pores all over his body seem to open up in an instant, and he felt extremely comfortable and excited.

"Your Excellency Baron Smolov, I estimate that this heavy snow will last at least one day and one night. By then, you will see a completely different Omsk city, which is simply magnificent and beautiful!" Vasily Berezutsky, the governor of the Omsk Military District, also walked to the window with a glass of wine and said with a smile: "When the weather clears up after the snow, we can take a few sleds and take hunting dogs to the nearby woodlands to hunt and get more prey. That's right, after the heavy snow, those animals will be eager to run out to find food, and the thick snow will seriously hinder their escape speed. If we are lucky enough, we may be able to capture extremely precious sables and silver foxes."

"General Berezutsky, I may disappoint you." Baron Smolov shrugged and said with a wry smile: "I am very afraid of cold and don't like this cold winter at all. When I was in Moscow, every winter, I wanted to stuff myself into a blazing stove to make myself feel more warm. Oh, the environment in our Russian Empire is so bad that there are four or five months of long winter every year. To be honest, I really envy those countries in the warm southern regions. They can live and work freely all year round. I have to admit that the wealth created by those warm countries will definitely be much greater than that created by our Russian Empire. Because they have more production time than us in a year."

"Your Excellency Baron, I think you are not the only one in the empire who envy and yearn for those warm southern countries." The Berezut Christian Army nodded and agreed: "So, during the time of the great Peter the Great, our Russian Empire formulated a strategic direction for external expansion, which is to advance to the warm south in addition to advancing to the ocean. In the past few decades, we have seen the Black Sea, touched the Caspian Sea, and even reached the Pacific Ocean in the east. Although we are currently encountering various setbacks, I still firmly believe that with the unyielding faith of our Russian Empire, we will definitely gain more warm southern territories. At that time, we will also be bathed in the warm sunshine and warm breeze in the winter."

"General Berezutsky, I sincerely admire your confidence and determination." Baron Smolov slowly walked to the fireplace and felt the warmth of the charcoal fire. "However, our Russian Empire is indeed in an unspeakable predicament and faces major challenges in all directions. If we want to realize Peter the Great's grand strategy back then, I'm afraid it will take more time and energy."

"Baron, are you worried about the safety of the Yenisei Governorate?"

"Yes, the Tatars in the east have attacked us again. Judging from their record over the past decades, I am indeed very worried about the safety of the Yenisei Military District." Baron Smolov sighed. "Last year, I was ordered by His Majesty the Tsar to visit the Qin State in the east, preparing to persuade them to launch an attack on the Tatars in the direction of Khalkha Mongolia to reduce the military pressure on the Yenisei Military District. However, it is very regrettable that the Qin people rejected our suggestion and did not want to spend a huge price to rashly launch an expedition across the desert and jungle for the benefit of our empire. Their eyes are always on the northwest and northeast. Oh, by the way, now they may face the military threat of Qi in the south. Haha, Qin's protectorate Annan was conquered by Qi, and then another puppet regime pro-Qi was established."

"Your Excellency Baron, even without the help of the Qin people, we can firmly defend the territory of the Russian Empire." The Berezut Christian Army said disapprovingly: "You know, more than two months ago, our Omsk Military District and Tomsk Military District mobilized a large number of soldiers and armed volunteers to support the Yenisei Military District. According to our rough statistics, there are more than 6,000 soldiers gathered on our Eastern Front. Such a large number of troops is an extremely powerful force in the entire Siberian region, enough to destroy a large indigenous kingdom."

"General Berezutsky, don't underestimate the military strength of the Tatars," Baron Smolov said solemnly. "Information from different channels shows that the Bohai Kingdom is a regional power with a population of more than 500,000. They have a well-trained army and weapons that far exceed those of our Russian Empire. They also have strict government institutions and local governance methods. They are not some ignorant indigenous kingdom."

This Omsk governor was previously just a groom of Duke Ernest Biron, the favorite (lover) of Empress Anna. He knew nothing, but because he was good at flattery and kept the Duke's several good horses fat and strong, he won the Duke's favor and got this position.

Perhaps in his eyes, the entire Eastern world, except for the Qin State, was filled with ignorant and barbaric natives who were allowed to be expelled and killed by the Cossacks, just as they had been a hundred years ago.

What a ridiculous and stupid idea!

In the East, not only did the Qin State have trains, a very magical and fast means of transportation, but the Ming State also had trains.

I heard that with the economic support of Qi State, Bohai State will also build a railway across the east and west ends of the country in the next ten years.

Look, this is what an ignorant and barbaric indigenous country could do?

You should know that in the whole of Europe, only England, Ireland, the Netherlands and France have several railways with a length of tens to more than a hundred versts, and the operating rights of most railways are still in the hands of Qi people.

The total railway mileage of these countries is not even as long as the railway mileage in Qi's India.

In the Russian Empire, let alone building railways, we did not even have enough financial resources to maintain and repair the public roads between cities, making every long-distance journey an extremely painful experience.

Although we don't want to admit it, the truth is very cruel. Our Russian Empire is not only more backward than other European countries, but is also far inferior to the Qin State.

Although the population of Bohai Kingdom was far smaller than that of the Empire in Siberia, the latter was particularly good at fighting. Whether it was the array battle of musketeers or the long-range assault of cavalry, they had obviously undergone rigorous military training, which was far beyond the ability of the imperial soldiers temporarily recruited from a group of farmers to cope with.

What was even more speechless was that the weapons and equipment of the Bohai Kingdom were more advanced and superior than those of the Imperial Army. Their artillery fired quickly and accurately, and their muskets had a longer range. In particular, the sniper rifles equipped by their hunters could accurately hit their own important targets from two to three hundred meters away. During the decades of love-hate relationship with the Bohai Kingdom, the Imperial Frontier Army never dared to fight with it in the open field. They could only defend themselves by relying on fortifications and taking advantage of the terrain to resist the Bohai Kingdom's repeated attacks.

Who made the army guarding Siberia a third-rate force composed of ruffians, criminals, thugs, gamblers and adventurers?

After all, the focus of the empire has always been in Europe. It is impossible to put too much energy in the far east, let alone send the empire's elite regular army over.

"By the way, General Berezutsky, your Omsk Military District has transferred limited troops to the Yenisei Military District. Will the local defense be seriously weakened?" Baron Smolov suddenly thought of something. "Under this situation, will the Junggars on the southern grasslands take the opportunity to attack us? You know, the caravans returning from Qin and Siberia are stranded here. If they are attacked, we will suffer heavy losses."

"Oh, Baron, your worries are totally unnecessary." The Berezut Christian Army said with a smile: "Launching a military offensive in such a cold winter is a complete act of suicide! Endless heavy snow, extremely cold weather, and the inability to obtain any effective supplies along the way are enough to plunge an army into a huge disaster. As far as I know, the Tatars generally only launch military operations in summer and autumn, but their targets are the Kazakhs who are weaker than them. Of course, they sometimes venture to attack the fortresses and castles held by the Qin people and loot some rare daily necessities. However, invasions and harassment of our Omsk Military District rarely occur. After all, it was we who gave them some selfless help during their difficult times that enabled them to overcome the difficulties with difficulty."

After hearing this, Baron Smolov's mouth twitched and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

This time, the envoy visited the Qin State and invited them to attack the Bohai State together, but was ruthlessly rejected by the other party. One of the important reasons was that the Qin State accused the Empire of secretly providing weapons support to the Dzungars, which seriously violated the cooperation agreement between the two sides and was a blatant provocation to the Qin State.

The Qin government sent a warning to the empire through an envoy that if it wanted to continue to maintain normal economic, trade and military cooperation between the two countries, it would prohibit all commercial exchanges with the Dzungar Khanate, cooperate with Qin in implementing a strict trade blockade against it, and send troops to attack Dzungar in accordance with the military agreement reached by the two sides many years ago.

Seven years ago, in order to open up trade with the East, the Empire sent a large delegation to the Qin State. While the two sides reached a series of trade cooperation agreements, the Empire promised to send troops as agreed. The two sides jointly attacked the Dzungar Khanate, thereby completely eliminating this aggressive grassland kingdom.

However, the empire never seriously implemented this agreement. Not only did it not send troops to attack the Dzungars, but after the Dzungars were severely damaged by the Qin State and lost the Ili River Valley, which was their foundation, the empire secretly provided them with a large number of weapons to help them slowly recover.

The Semipalatinsk Fortress (now the northeastern city of Semey in Kazakhstan) located on the banks of the Irtysh River was the most important trading post between the Empire and the Dzungar Khanate. Here, imperial merchants exchanged firearms for the other side's cattle, sheep, furs, gold and silver, earning excess trade profits.

Later, the Qin State captured Ustkaman, 160 miles southwest of the Semipalatinsk Fortress, and built a city and fortifications there, stationing troops. The empire then moved the trading location with the Dzungars to Omsk to avoid the Qin State's eyes and ears.

Why was the Russian Empire like this?

Because, deep in the heart of the empire, there was a deep fear of the Qin State, or rather a hint of dread, worrying that with the demise of the Dzungar Khanate, there would no longer be any buffer space between Russia and the Qin State, and the two sides would inevitably collide head-on.

The Qin State was a great Eastern country with a population of hundreds of millions, and their wealth was beyond the reach of others. What made Russia even more fearful was that the Qin State also had a huge army of more than 600,000 people, of which the number of well-trained new-style troops exceeded 100,000, and their combat effectiveness was almost comparable to that of the empire's most elite guards.

And how many people are there in the Imperial Guard?
Just over 16,000!

Can you imagine? Once Russia and Qin become enemies, hundreds of thousands of Qin troops will rush into the empire. Who can stop them?

Decades ago, the Qin State's sphere of influence was limited to the south of the Great Wall and the east of the Hexi Corridor. However, in the course of wars with the Tatars (i.e. the Qing Dynasty) and the Dzungars, they gradually crossed the Great Wall, passed through the Hexi Corridor, and incorporated the vast desert and the vast Western Regions into their territory.

Dzungar, a rising grassland empire, was beaten to the ground and on the verge of death by the Qin State after decades of continuous attacks. It had to retreat to the Kazakh steppes and gradually move away from the traditional sphere of influence of the Mongols.

Let's ask ourselves, if we, the Russian Empire, want to defeat Dzungar, we have to mobilize a large number of troops from the core areas of Europe. At the same time, like the Qin State, we have to relocate hundreds of thousands of farmers in a short period of time to cultivate the land and provide logistical supplies.

But if this happens, the empire will be unable to defend the core areas of Western Europe, and there is a high probability that it will be invaded by hostile countries such as Sweden and the Ottoman Empire.

If Russia does not feel fear in the face of such a powerful Eastern empire, it would absolutely be deceiving itself.

Therefore, although the Russian Empire was eager to deepen its trade ties with the Qin State and build a stable trade channel to the East, under the strategic planning of the empire's "wise men", it still did not want to cooperate with the Qin State in launching a military strike against Dzungar.

There is no other reason, it is determined by complex geopolitics.

Faced with the more powerful Eastern empire, the Russians naturally preferred to work hard to maintain a limited-power Dzungar Khanate among themselves.

(End of this chapter)