I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 304 Sino-Japanese War

Nicola and Alex are not engaged yet, so Nicola needs a reason to meet Alex.

Nicola is good at finding places. If the Queen is at Frogmore Castle, Nicola and Alex will choose to meet at Osbolm Castle, and vice versa.

Both castles are owned by the Queen.

In order to make Alex familiar with Orthodox Christianity as soon as possible, Nicholas also brought a priest to explain the teachings of Orthodox Christianity to Alex.

In addition to studying, Nikolai also teaches Alex Russian.

Alex will write poems for Nicholas in English.

"When are we going to the Far East?"

Anne didn't like London. The city made her feel depressed.

"I'm afraid we have to wait a little longer. After the prince's wedding, there will be the wedding of Xenia and Alexander, and we have to return to St. Petersburg."

George was helpless because he didn't have to attend these weddings.

The attitude of the former Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, towards George represented the vast majority of British people.

"I helped you get out of trouble, shouldn't you be grateful to me?"

Anne's character is more deserted.

"No, I will try to minimize my trips back to St. Petersburg."

There's nothing we can do about it.

"Are we going back to St. Petersburg every year from now on?"

"Honorable Super Duke Yurievsky, you really gave us a big problem."

For example, at the wedding of Romania Crown Prince Ferdinand and Princess Mary earlier this year, George did not come back.

Princess Mary is Prince Alfred's eldest daughter.

If George was in the Far East, he wouldn't come back specifically because of these things.

Less than one-third of the tasks in Chelyabinsk have been completed.

George wanted to scold someone, but he didn’t know who to scold.

The Marquess of Salisbury is not here to seek revenge, and he should indeed be grateful to George.

Xenia is Nicholas's sister, Alexander is Xenia's uncle, and George doesn't know why Asan agreed to let Xenia marry Alexander.

The Tsar was in poor health, and Nicholas had to preside over the Imperial Council while also worrying about his own life-long affairs. He really couldn't take care of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

George now only hopes that the Trans-Siberian Railway can be opened to traffic as soon as possible.

Albert's eldest son died last year, and Albert became the second in line to the British throne, so Albert's wedding was much grander than George's.

"You have allowed us to discover the Empire's weaknesses, and we should indeed be grateful to you."

George inevitably encountered the hatred of British nobles and officials at the palace banquet.

As of now, nearly half of Amur's tasks have been completed.

George never admitted that he had anything to do with the war in the Malay Peninsula.

Because of the failure of the Malay Peninsula, a serious crisis of confidence broke out in the current British Prime Minister William Gladstone, which gave the Marquis of Salisbury the opportunity to form a government again.

Gladstone served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom four times starting in 1868 and was an evergreen figure in the standard political arena.

Since 1880, the British Prime Minister has always been between the Marquis of Salisbury and Gladstone. The Marquis of Salisbury resigned twice, both related to Gladstone.

"So have you found a solution?"

It was not a big deal for George to watch the fun.

"Of course, there is a solution to every problem."

Salisbury was tough-talking.

It is actually easy to make up for weaknesses. Forming a powerful army comparable to the Royal Navy can solve most problems.

It's a pity that the UK can't do this.

Even if it is as strong as Britain, it cannot develop its navy and army in an all-round way and can only focus on its navy. Salisbury is not looking for trouble, but hopes to deepen his understanding of George through communication.

No one would find fault with George on such an occasion.

George is now known as a "barbarian". If he offends George, he will offend the royal families of the two most powerful countries in the world at the same time.

Nicholas comes to find George with Albert, the protagonist of the wedding.

"George, thank you for coming to my wedding."

Albert was still very polite and took the initiative to thank George.

"My pleasure."

George was full of surprise. Nicholas and Albert looked so much like twins.

"It's amazing, it's like we are looking in the mirror!"

Nicholas was in a good mood, and he had a great time getting along with Alex these past few days.

"Nikki, you must remember to remind Sani not to admit the wrong person——"

George could only lament the power of genes.

"How is it possible, Sani will not admit the wrong person!"

Nikolai has faith in Alex.

Both weddings went smoothly, and it was already November when George and Anne returned to Vladivostok.

Everything is normal in Vladivostok.

What was abnormal was Japan and the Qing Empire.

In September this year, the "Yoshino" armored cruiser Japan ordered from the United Kingdom arrived in Japan and joined the Japanese Navy.

Although the "Yoshino" has a tonnage of only 4150 tons, its speed reaches an astonishing 23 knots, making it currently the fastest warship in the world.

The main guns of the "Yoshino" are four 4mm 152-caliber rapid-fire guns produced by the British Armstrong Company. The rate of fire is as high as 40 rounds per minute. It is also the fastest naval gun nowadays.

After the "Yoshino" was put into service, the total tonnage of the Japanese Navy reached 5.4 tons, twice that of the Qing Imperial Navy.

日本陆海军在去年提前完成了自1885年开始的十年扩军计划，已建立起一支拥有63000名常备兵和23万预备兵的陆军，包括6個野战师团和1个近卫师团。

Everyone knows that Japan is heavily armed and its target must be the Qing Empire.

The Qing Empire should have realized it, but for some reason, they did not take any action.

"I told the Qing officials I was familiar with that Japan was preparing for war with the Qing Empire - the Qing officials not only didn't believe me, but laughed at me for being a simpatico."

Mulinder was worried that the war between the Qing Empire and Japan would affect the development of Vladivostok.

Mu Linde's business is all in the Qing Empire. Once the Qing Empire is defeated, Mu Linde's business will definitely be affected.

"Is Japan capable of defeating the Qing Empire? It's unlikely -"

Ye Luoxin didn't believe Mu Linde's judgment.

Purely in terms of national strength, the gap between Japan and the Qing Empire is too big.

"Nothing is impossible. People of the Qing Dynasty do not lack courage. The Qing Empire, haha——"

Milyutin personally experienced the era when millions of square kilometers were seized from the Qing Empire through blackmail alone.

This is also thanks to the fact that Amur has introduced enough Chinese over the years that Milyugin changed his view of the Qing people. Otherwise, Milyugin's evaluation would be even worse.

"How is our land doing?"

George knew the outcome of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894. The only thing he was curious about was how it would break out.

Next year will be the Year of Jiawu.

"We're having some trouble across the Amur."

Ye Luoxin's face was filled with shame. He was responsible for this job.

(End of this chapter)