I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 264 Otsu Incident

In order to meet George as soon as possible, Nicholas did not visit carefully along the way and stayed in each area for no more than 3 days.

After meeting George, Nicholas was no longer anxious and spent a week in Nagasaki.

It may be that George emphasized the Japanese threat to Nicholas too many times. Nicholas was very interested in Japan. He even bought a clog commonly worn by the Japanese and tried it on himself.

Since Japanese men can also wear women's clogs, George did not tell Nicholas what the difference was between the clogs worn by Japanese men and women.

Nikolai's interest in anything was short-lived.

After trying the clogs, I forgot about the clogs and went to buy a folding fan.

The shop owner introduced to Nicholas that the folding fan was invented in Japan.

Nicholas didn't know much about it and looked at George out of habit.

George scoffed.

The Japanese not only insist that the folding fan was invented in Japan, but also say that the folding fan of the Qing Empire originated in Japan.

There are no records about fans in Japan until the 7th century AD.

Across the sea, it is said that fans already existed in the era of Yao and Shun.

So if the Japanese want to talk, let them talk. Anyway, this matter has nothing to do with the Russian Empire.

But then the shop owner said that Japanese swords were also invented in Japan, and George couldn't help it.

"Understand it. It's a small country with few cultural traditions and little family wealth. Whenever they see something good, they want to take it home, regardless of whether it was stolen or robbed."

George spoke in Russian, which the shopkeeper did not understand.

Naturally, the translator couldn't translate these words, so the shopkeeper smiled and nodded in agreement.

Nicholas and George of Greece laughed happily.

The shop owner was disappointed because no one bought it.

"We'd better go back and have a drink. What's so interesting about this crappy place -"

Greek George doesn't like Nagasaki and prefers to go back to the hotel and learn to dance with geishas.

"You don't mind being dirty, and you don't mind being raw or cold!"

George didn't like anything associated with prostitution.

George knew that many Japanese insisted that geishas were not prostitutes in their profession.

This is not flaunting, but driving up the price.

Anyway, Greek George has been playing music every night and being a groom every day these days.

In order to make money, the government organizes citizens to sell their bodies overseas on a large scale. How much moral integrity can you expect Japanese men to have?

George raised his fingers. Those so-called geishas who are not prostitutes can be lined up from Nagasaki to Kyoto.

Don’t get me wrong, not George of Amur, but George of Greece.

"What do you mean?"

George of Greece becomes a tiger when he talks about it.

Once you get sick these days, it's a terminal illness.

"That's what you understand."

Under George's supervision, Nicholas finally made no mistakes.

Alexeyev was creative and organized a ship review ceremony for Nikolay.

Nicholas went away happily, and then came back dejected.

"What does this guy mean?"

Nikolai's self-esteem was severely hit. The warships of the Siberian Fleet were really too broken.

It doesn't matter if the warships are old. There aren't any decent fleets in East Asia.

There are few key points to break, which allows Nikolai to break the defense directly.

Only three warships participated in Alexeev's so-called ship review. The remaining warships were not at home, but parked at their berths unable to move, and fell apart as soon as they moved.

At this point, can we expect the Siberian fleet to protect Vladivostok?

"It means that no matter how biased the empire is, when it equips the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet with battleships, it should at least equip the Siberian Fleet with a few cruisers—"

Although George had not had many interactions with Alexeyev, he also hoped to increase the strength of the Siberian fleet.

Without a fleet, there would be no confidence and no right to speak in this sea area. No matter how powerful the army is, it will never be able to swim from Vladivostok to Japan.

George did not expect the Siberian Fleet to be stronger than the Qing Empire's Beiyang Navy.

It can't be inferior to Japan.

Japan has begun to build a navy, but the Siberian fleet is still silent.

"George, in order to prepare for the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the past two years, military expenditure has been reduced by nearly one-tenth. The military is already very dissatisfied, and the navy is even more dissatisfied."

Nicholas could only sigh.

If possible, Nikolai also wants to replace the entire Siberian fleet with battleships.

It's a pity that I can only think about it.

"You go and ask for the money, and I'll figure it out."

George is still in a familiar pattern.

"Why don't you come!"

Nicholas spread out his hands, whether he wants money or not, he is here and it is up to you.

There is nothing George can do, this is all he can do.

On May 5, Nicholas and his party arrived in Kyoto and were warmly welcomed by the emperor and the government.

George is the commander-in-chief of the Amur Military District and receives as much attention as Nikolai.

Army Minister Yamagata Aritomo took the initiative to approach George, hoping to strengthen exchanges between the Japanese Army and the Amur Military Region.

Yamagata Aritomo was quite smart and did not use the Japanese Army to benchmark the Russian Army.

"Do you have an army?"

George acted extremely arrogant.

Japan really does.

But the history is not long either.

In 1884, Japan established six regular army divisions for the first time on the basis of the old army, namely the 6st to th Divisions. However, the Japanese divisions during this period were not large in size, with only about people per division, and their weapons and equipment were not advanced enough. They were not equipped with the latest magazine-type rifles, or even smokeless gunpowder.

Therefore, the Japanese Army has to put extra emphasis on its will to fight, because Japan, let alone Russia, cannot even compete with the Qing Empire when it comes to equipment.

"Duke, although Japan's national power is still very weak compared to the strength of the Russian Empire, please give Japan the respect it deserves."

Youpeng from Shanxian County was very angry. What happened to being slapped in the face?

“A country without strength is not worthy of respect——”

George is arrogant.

In George's view, these words were equally humiliating to Shanxian Youpeng.

As long as Shanxian Youpeng has some backbone, he should be tit for tat with George.

"Hey! What you said is so right, that's why we have to learn from you——"

Shanxian Youpeng was not only not angry, but also became more respectful.

George had a headache.

Are you Japanese so mean-spirited?

No wonder.

The core of Japanese culture is self-esteem. Discussing self-esteem with Japanese people is to play the piano to an ox.

If you think about how Japan served the United States in a previous life, you will understand the virtues of the Japanese.

Therefore, talking about good neighborliness, friendship, and mutual assistance to the Japanese is totally the opposite. They treat the Japanese as nothing more than that. If they don’t obey, they will be beaten and starved for three days, and then they will just watch the door.

This is why the more arrogant George is, the more respectful his friends are.

Of course there are side effects to this.

The more respectful you are now in Shan County, the more cruel you will be when you have a chance to retaliate.

Moreover, the learning mentioned by Shanxian Youpeng is really not just talk.

If George nods in agreement, then the Japanese will flood into Vladivostok and run around Amur.

"That's not impossible."

George will definitely not let the Japanese go to Vladivostok.

But George can let Fu Tuan come to Japan for exchange.

The situation in Japan is similar to that in Russia. Both the navy and the army want to seize the country, and both want to use force.

The Russian Empire is concentrating its Chinese efforts to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, but it wants to be tough but cannot be tough for the time being.

Japan, on the other hand, does not have this strength at all, and it is all based on fantasy.

British colonies are spread all over the world, and the Royal Navy is invincible. It places more emphasis on sea than land, and uses all its resources on the navy as much as possible.

The current income of the Japanese government is loans in addition to crooked ways. The whole country is betting on everything, just like a gambler who loses his eyes and doesn't consider what the future will bring.

So George wanted to see if he could lead Japan onto another path.

For example, firepower is king.

Japan has no money, so it can only take the path of suffering.

If George can make the Japanese army toughen up and equip it with a large number of artillery and machine guns, then the development of the Japanese navy will be affected.

Allowing the Japanese Navy to purchase one less warship may have a fatal impact on future naval battles.

Japan's several wars were all military adventures. As long as they lost once, Japan would be doomed.

"Then we must have a good drink!"

A friend from Shan County took the initiative to toast George and drank it all in one gulp.

George just tasted it.

No matter how bad George behaved at the banquet, no one would have a fit on the spot.

So the guests and hosts at the banquet had a great time, and Nicholas returned satisfied.

After spending two more days in Kyoto, Nikolai went to Otsu on May 5th.

Before setting off, George ordered an armored RV to be prepared for Nicholas.

Nikolai didn't want to take the RV. He and Greek George both wanted to take an open-top rickshaw to Otsu.

"Nikki, don't forget how your grandpa died."

George, you're welcome. The royal family is assassinated every day, so why don't they have any memory?

"George, don't worry, in the Far East, who dares to assassinate the crown prince of the Russian Empire!"

George of Greece disagreed. The Japanese were so delicate and easy to push down, so how could they have any evil intentions?

"Nikki, if you don't agree, I won't let you go."

George uses his uncle's power.

"George——"

There was pleading in Nicholas's eyes.

Now George couldn't refuse.

Nothing happened on the way to Otsu, and Greek George laughed at George for being overly cautious and not giving Nicholas a perfect experience.

Coming out of Mayor Otsu's house, Nicholas and Greek George were clamoring to go to the market.

In the market, Greek George bought a walking stick made of bamboo.

The streets in Japan are very narrow. When a rickshaw passes through the street, pedestrians on the road actively step aside to allow the rickshaw to pass first.

In order to ensure Nikolai's safety, the Japanese government also deployed police to maintain order along the way.

The May sun beats down on your body, making you drowsy with its warmth.

George didn't drink at the banquet just now. He was focused on staring at the rickshaw that Nicholas was riding in.

So at the moment Tsuda Sanzo drew his sword, George directly pulled out his gun and knocked Tsuda Sanzo to the ground.

George's reaction was still a little slow, and Nicholas was slashed by Tsuda Sanzo on the right side of his forehead.

What makes George angry is that Tsuda Sanzo is not a passerby, but a policeman arranged by the Japanese government.

What the hell does this mean?

(End of this chapter)