The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 341 General Mobilization of the Russian Empire

"What, Poltava is lost too?" Duke Ernst Johann Biron, director of the Russian Empire's Secret Criminal Investigation Office, exclaimed in surprise, clutching the documents in his hand.

The Cabinet Minister Count Andrei Ivanovich Osterman (the man who later staged the coup and left Yiliu's mother at home peeling peanuts) also had a sad face and sighed, and did not respond to the Duke of Biron's exclamation.

More than ten days ago, news came from the Volga River Basin that the Kalmyks (the Torghut tribe) assembled thousands of troops on April 4 and once again besieged the Tsaritsyn Fortress.

It was originally thought that with the solid defenses of the Tsaritsyn Fortress and the defenders' sharp firearms, those barbaric Kalmyks would be defeated again and suffer a shameful defeat.

However, they never expected that on May 5, the Kalmyks gathered more than 9 artillery pieces and four small sailing gunboats, sailed to the west bank of the Volga River, and approached to fire. For a time, the artillery roared, the entire fortress was rained down with bullets, and it was engulfed in flames, and the defenders suffered heavy casualties.

Yes, the enemy used a large number of shrapnel shells during the bombardment, which ignited countless wooden buildings in the city, causing a fire throughout the city.

What was even more horrifying to the defenders was that the enemy's artillery firing speed was not only extremely fast, but also extremely accurate. After only half a day of artillery bombardment, the Tsaritsyn Fortress lost fifteen city defense guns.

According to reports from frontline officers, the enemy's artillery fire was so accurate because of a hot air balloon that rose outside the city. From the basket hanging below the hot air balloon, a series of flag signals were sent out from time to time, as if providing accurate calibration for the artillery fire.

The bombardment lasted for three days. Most of the artillery on the city walls were destroyed, and many cracks appeared on the city walls. There were even signs of collapse at some ends of the walls.

It was obvious that the day when the city would be captured was not far away.

Just as the commander of the Volga Fortress, General Gavariye, was preparing to lead his troops to break out on a certain day, on the night of May 5, the Kalmyks outside the city secretly buried hundreds of pounds of explosives under the city wall, which blew a gap dozens of meters long in the city wall in one fell swoop, and then swarmed in and killed their way into the city.

It is really sad to say that out of the more than 1,800 soldiers in the entire fortress, less than 100 finally escaped to the rear, and the rest were slaughtered by the enemy. More than 4,000 residents in the city were all taken prisoner, and the fate that awaited them might be lifelong slavery.

It was May 5 when Moscow received the tragic news, which immediately shocked the entire imperial leadership.

Tsarina Anna I immediately ordered Lieutenant General Peter Lacy, commander of the Southern Army, to lead 8,000 Guards to Voronezh to immediately repel the Kalmyk attack and prevent them from further advancing into the heart of the empire.

However, the military crisis in the Volga-Don River Basin had not yet been resolved when warnings came from the southwest of the empire. The Crimean Khanate raided Poltava with more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry, annihilated more than 3,000 local defenders, and left the southwestern border defenses of the empire open.

Oh, how come the Kalmyks and Tatars suddenly became so powerful and launched the most fierce offensive, hitting the two softest and most deadly points of the empire respectively.

The Kalmyks captured the Tsaritsyn Fortress, which not only established a foothold on the west bank of the Volga River, but also allowed them to use it as a base to summon their fellow tribesmen hiding deep in the steppes on the west bank, thereby increasing their population size. At the same time, they also used it to open up a passage to the lower reaches of the Don River, connecting with the Crimean Tatars, and completely isolating the Russian army and settlements on the south bank, making them their target.

After capturing Poltava, the Crimean Tatars could threaten the important city of Kharkov to the east, flank Kiev to the northwest, and attack the Dnipro fortress to the southwest together with the Tatar troops on the south bank of the Dnieper River, thus regaining the western bank territory occupied during the Second Russo-Turkish War.

What is even more difficult to accept is that Poltava is of great political significance to the Russian Empire. During the Great Northern War, it was here that the great Peter the Great annihilated the main force of the Swedish army, turning the tide of the entire war and laying a solid foundation for the final victory over Sweden, and then initially establishing the empire's hegemony in the Baltic region.

Now, the Tatars took advantage of the empire's unpreparedness and seized this important stronghold, putting the entire empire into an extremely passive situation.

"Marshal Minich, is there any movement in the direction of Moldavia?" Duke Biron calmed himself down and turned to ask Marshal Burhard Christoph Minich, the President of the Army Academy and Chief Minister of Military Affairs.

"There is no movement from the Ottomans in Moldavia." Marshal Minich shook his head and said, "Does Your Excellency the Duke think that the Ottomans will launch a large-scale attack on the Empire?"

"Looking back at the several wars between the Empire and the Ottomans, they were all fought in Crimea and Moldova," Duke Biron said worriedly. "Now, the Tatars are advancing from Crimea and have captured the Poltava Fortress by surprise. So are the Ottomans waiting for a suitable opportunity to attack from Moldova and cooperate with the Tatars to seize Dnipro or Kiev?"

"Your Excellency, your deduction is very likely to happen." Marshal Minich nodded, agreeing with his point of view. "For now, we need to jointly propose to Your Majesty to immediately implement a general military mobilization in the empire to deal with the massive attack of the Ottomans."

"Military mobilization?" The chief minister of the Privy Council, Duke Gorogin, was stunned for a moment and hesitated: "The Ottomans have not yet officially declared war on the Empire, and their troops have not crossed the Moldavia border. Is it a bit rash for us to immediately implement a military mobilization?"

"Your Excellency, the Crimean Tatars have always been a vassal state of the Ottomans, and they are also the vanguard of their war of expansion. If this large-scale sneak attack was a military action organized and launched by them without the authorization of the Ottomans, it would be hard to convince people." Marshal Minikh said solemnly: "Therefore, facing the swift offensive of the Tatars, we have reason to believe that this is a formal invasion planned by the Ottoman Empire against our Russian Empire. Yes, the war between our two countries has begun. At this time, we should not allow any doubts and immediately launch a comprehensive military mobilization to repel the enemy's attack with powerful force."

Upon hearing this, Duke Gorokin fell silent. Deep down in his heart, he did not believe that the Ottomans would rashly tear up the Treaty of Pruth signed twenty years ago and then launch a large-scale military attack on the empire without declaring war.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire had a rift with the State of Qi and had been cut off from economic aid. The country's finances were in extreme deterioration, so it had no extra energy to launch a large-scale war against our Russian Empire.

Moreover, in recent years, the Ottomans have been in a tense armed confrontation with the Austrians in the border area over the suppression of the Bosnian Catholic rebellion. How could they have the "leisure" to start another round in Ukraine?

Gorokin vaguely felt that the attack of the Crimean Tatars and the sudden uprising of the Kalmyks in the Volga River basin were most likely the work of the Qi people. They were suspected to be targeting the ongoing crisis of succession to the Polish throne and trying to divert the empire's attention away from Poland through two local short raids.

On April 4, Marshal Pyotr Petrovich Lacy (an Irishman) led more than 21 Russian troops to fight with Swedish troops in Poland for several months. Finally, with the cooperation of thousands of Polish troops, they defeated the Swedish troops in the small town of Łomza. Then they marched towards Warsaw firmly. Leczynski, who was elected King of Poland, fled to Danzig and was protected by many local Polish nobles.

It seemed that as the Russian army captured Warsaw, they could immediately establish Augustus II as the new King of Poland, which was in line with the interests of the Russian Empire. However, they could not give up halfway just because they had to deal with the massive invasion of the Ottoman Empire and divert the subsequent material support to Marshal Lacy to the southwest, thus wasting such a great opportunity.

Furthermore, after suffering a great loss in Poland, the Kingdom of Sweden has begun to transfer more troops to Karelia and Finland, with the intention of invading the Russian Empire. What if the Crimean Tatars' invasion was just their routine "grazing" and was organized spontaneously, and the Empire had to mobilize the military and gather a large army to the Ottoman border, which would cause a misjudgment to the other side and really trigger a large-scale war between the two countries.

"How about this?" Count Ivanovich Osterman, the Minister of the Interior of the Privy Council, glanced at Duke Biron and said carefully: "The general military mobilization must still be carried out, and the troops in various places must be mobilized as necessary, but try not to make a big fuss and cause misjudgment by neighboring countries. At the same time, we sent two teams of envoys to the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire respectively, severely condemning their military invasion and asking them whether they want to officially enter a state of war with the Empire. If the Ottomans deny the responsibility for provoking the war, the Empire can ask them to severely stop the military actions of the Crimean Tatars and not escalate the military conflict between the two sides. After the Polish affairs are settled, the Empire can free up all its energy to carry out fierce revenge on Crimea."

As soon as Count Osterman finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement, and then turned their eyes to Duke Biron.

It was embarrassing. Among the officials gathered in the hall were members of the royal family, the chief minister of the Privy Council, imperial marshals, generals and many other important officials and dignitaries of the empire. However, all of them had to follow the Duke of Biron's instructions during the discussion and did not dare to offend the Tsar's favorite (lover) with words or actions.

Because His Majesty the Tsar trusted this Duke so much that he almost obeyed his every word. Although, this Duke did not work in the Privy Council, but was only the director of the secret criminal investigation office.

But it is precisely this secret criminal investigation office that is the most powerful and terrifying department in the Russian Empire.

Ever since Anna I succeeded the throne as Tsarina four years ago, she had been living in constant fear of a plot to overthrow her, and had used the Secret Criminal Investigation Office to carry out a large-scale purge of the Moscow nobility.

The Secret Criminal Investigation Office abused its power and arrested and detained many people on various pretexts in order to please the empress. It even resorted to groundless accusations and distorted other people's words, and then filed cases and made arrests on this basis. Some people were even arrested by the Criminal Investigation Office for making certain gestures that aroused suspicion.

During this period, more than 15,000 people were exiled to Siberia through the Secret Criminal Investigation Office, more than 4,000 people were arrested and their whereabouts were unknown, and more than 1,000 people were publicly executed, not including those who died in exile and detention.

Ivan Dolgoruky, the playmate and good friend of Peter II, was sentenced to death by the Criminal Investigation Department. Two other important members of the Dolgoruky family were beheaded, and the elder of the family died on the way to exile in Siberia. With her support, Biron listed various charges and imprisoned all the nobles who had opposed Anna I or the ministers who had offended him. These people either died silently in the dark cells or were exiled to the snowy Siberia to chop wood, making the entire imperial aristocracy in a state of panic.

It's not that no one has fought against this. Some nobles and ministers who were indignant about Biron's behavior reported his various illegal deeds to Anna I, accusing him of abusing his power for personal gain, accepting bribes, forming a clique for personal gain, and excluding dissidents, and requested that His Majesty the Tsar severely punish him.

However, these accusations were all rejected by Anna I, who also forwarded the letters of complaint to Billund.

As expected, those nobles and ministers who tried to overthrow Biron were met with cruel revenge. They were all killed and their families were destroyed, and their family property passed down through generations fell into Biron's pocket.

It is no wonder that Anna I trusted Biron so much, because this lover was so capable and pleasing to her.

During the reign of Anna I, Duchess of Courland, Biron was highly appreciated by her and was appointed Chief Minister of Finance of Courland, in charge of local financial and grain affairs.

It is said that Biron's youngest son Karl was born to him and Anna I, which shows how close their relationship was.

In 1727, the Second Russo-Swedish War broke out and the Swedish army launched a massive invasion of Courland. It was Billund who led a team of guards to protect Anna I and helped her escape back to the Russian Empire, saving the Empress' life.

When Anna I was in dire straits and suffered from the ridicule and harassment of many nobles in Moscow, it was Biron who stayed with her, maneuvered between the royal family and the aristocratic ministers, and provided Anna I with a certain degree of political protection.

Four years ago, Peter II died. The Supreme Secret Committee of Seven chose Anna I as the new tsar on the grounds that she had no domestic political background. They also forced her to sign an extremely harsh binding agreement, requiring her to hand over all power of the empire to the Supreme Committee and be a virtual monarch with peace of mind.

Faced with this situation, it was Biron who stepped forward again. After careful planning, he summoned more than 800 guards and surrounded the Privy Council in one fell swoop, forcing the Supreme Council to declare the agreement previously signed with Anna I invalid and return power to the Queen.

The lover was too talented, and the puppet became a dictator. Since the power was in the hands of Anna I, it was natural to share it with this capable lover, so Her Majesty the Queen obeyed the lover's orders and trusted him utmost.

Biron also relied on the Queen's unparalleled favor to call the shots in the empire and became a well-known gigolo in the world today.

Biron himself was a German, and most of the members of his ruling team were also his fellow villagers, known as the "German Court Party", including Biron, Andre, Ostermann and others.

Some frustrated nobles once privately complained that the entire Russian Empire was managed by Germans, and there was some truth to their saying.

Perhaps it is precisely because of the existence of the "German Court Party" including Biron that in recent years, the Russian Empire has been very close to Prussia and Austria, and has kept pace with them in many European affairs, with a subtle trend of establishing the so-called "German Alliance".

During this Polish succession crisis, the Russian Empire quickly reached a consensus with Austria and Prussia, firmly opposing Stanisław I Leczynski as the new King of Poland, but also disagreeing with August II's arbitrary change of the Polish succession law (because Poland at that time was an aristocratic democracy, that is, it was based on the free election of the monarchy and the free veto, among which the free election of the monarchy restricted the hereditary nature of the throne and the succession from father to son).

It was precisely because of the strong support from Austria and Prussia that the Russian Empire dared to ignore the warnings from Sweden and France, mobilize troops into Poland at the first opportunity, and actively interfere in the succession to the Polish throne.

Now, the Russian army has repelled the Swedish intervention forces and is about to achieve the empire's intended goal of supporting a pro-Russian Polish king. However, unexpectedly, two small characters in the south suddenly jumped out to hold the empire back, which is really unpleasant.

In the face of Polish affairs and the threat of Swedish invasion from the northwest, the empire seemed unable to cope with military threats from several directions for the time being, except for carrying out a general military mobilization and recruiting more troops.

"Since you all strongly advocate that the Empire immediately implement a general military mobilization, then I will petition His Majesty to issue this decree!" Biron looked at the ministers and generals present, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "In the coming period of time, let us work together to defeat all our enemies!"

(End of this chapter)