Chapter 969: The Tsar Has Been Wronged (Please Subscribe)

Old Mountain Palace, the Hall of Imperial Supremacy.

The ninth day of the ninth month, in the ninth year of Hongxing of the Great Ming.

"Your Majesty, our Chahar cavalry truly did all they could at the Battle of Ulaan Seikan Mountain. If not for the sudden appearance of a thousand Russian streltsy, who broke our Chahar cavalry with heavy muskets, our Chahar would have annihilated the Setsen Khan and Khorchin forces in one stroke."

The one pushing the blame for the Chahar defeat onto the "Santa Clauses" was Chahar Guhalun. He looked travel-worn, and had lost more than a little weight since the last time he was seen at Tianjin — it seemed the campaigning north of the Gobi had taken its toll on him.

Zhu Cilang, Emperor of the Great Ming, stood with his arms crossed before a map hanging on the wall, his brows tightly knit, his face dark and somewhat frightening.

Lately he had been receiving bad news every few days!

First, the Dinghai anchorage had been raided by a Spanish fleet, and all twelve galleon-type warships had been burned!

However, the Regional Commander of Dinghai reported that they had destroyed five Spanish warships with twelve 24-pounder cannon and captured some three hundred Spaniards who had fallen into the water — that report sounded a bit false! So the Navy Department did not believe it and had already sent people to investigate; the report had not yet come back.

Then the expeditionary fleet that had pounced on Manila Bay sent a memorial via the Navy's Hong Kong Regional Commander, saying they had found Manila Bay empty and had to occupy a small bay outside it, naming it Success Bay — that place seemed to be Subic Bay, a decent spot, but for now it appeared to be of little value.

Immediately after came more bad news: the Spanish fleet that had raided the Dinghai anchorage had also struck the Ryukyu Kingdom on the way, expelling the Great Ming's commercial superintendent!

Moreover, the Satsuma Domain of Japan showed signs of colluding with Spain!

And today, word of defeat had come from the Khalkha Mongol front, along with news that Russia had intervened with troops!

"What were those Russian soldiers wearing? What kind of weapons did they use?"

The question came from the Prince of Condé, who now held the title of Duke of the Great Ming and had also been given the office of Advisory Minister. Though both were honorary, the prestige and salary were no less real, and he could attend meetings at the Marshal's Office.

Before hearing Chahar Guhalun's report today, Zhu Cilang had summoned him to the Hall of Imperial Supremacy at Old Mountain Palace.

"Those Russian soldiers all wore red coats and red caps, and their weapons were matchlock muskets and battle-axes."

What? Zhu Cilang was taken aback. Red coats and red caps? What kind of getup was that? The prototype for Santa Claus? And battle-axes — how were they used? For hacking or for throwing?

"How were their battle-axes used?" the Prince of Condé asked again.

The Prince of Condé had spent many years in China and could already speak fluent Nanjing dialect.

"They were used to rest the guns on," Chahar Guhalun replied. "They rested their matchlocks on the battle-axes to fire."

Resting guns on big axes? Emperor Zhu turned to look at the Prince of Condé, as if hoping to hear his opinion.

"They are the Tsar's streltsy!" the Prince of Condé said. "The streltsy are Russia's elite troops, highly effective in battle, especially skilled at dealing with steppe cavalry. They are better than the Ming army's matchlock musketeers, though not as good as flintlock musketeers."

Matchlock musketeers were always inferior to flintlock musketeers, because the latter fired faster and could form tighter formations to increase fire density.

"So Russia really has intervened in our war with the Khalkha?" Zhu Cilang still found it somewhat hard to believe.

The Great Ming Celestial Dynasty was so formidable, yet the Tsar actually dared to attack — he had real nerve! Worthy of being Peter the Great's own father!

"It must be the Kingdom of Spain stirring things up!" the Prince of Condé said. "Without Spain's instigation, Russia could not possibly aid the Mongols in going to war with the Great Ming."

"The Russians would listen to Spain?" Emperor Zhu remained somewhat doubtful.

"Not only Spain, but also the Holy Roman Empire! As long as the Holy Roman Emperor is still a Habsburg, Spain wields considerable influence on the European continent. Moreover, there are irreconcilable conflicts between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Once Russia ends its war with Poland, it will throw itself into conflict with the Ottoman Empire, and at that point Russia will need the support of the Habsburg dynasty."

"Has their war with the Poles ended?" Zhu Cilang asked.

"It is nearly over," the Prince of Condé said. "Perhaps it has already ended! Because the war between Sweden and Poland is about to begin — perhaps it has already begun."

"Sweden and Poland — oh, now I remember!" Zhu Cilang nodded. He recalled Henryk Sienkiewicz's trilogy, With Fire and Sword, The Deluge, and Fire in the Steppe — these three novels told the tearful history of the Poles in the mid-to-late seventeenth century, and The Deluge was about Sweden's invasion of Poland.

The Prince of Condé did not know that Emperor Zhu had read The Deluge, and assumed that His Majesty had some understanding of that trifling business between Poland and Sweden. So he nodded and said: "Because the girl-king of Sweden's House of Vasa suddenly took it into her head to go to Rome and become a nun, the Vasa dynasty's rule in Sweden came to an end. And the heir chosen by the girl-king was not a member of the Polish Vasa dynasty, so the friendly relations between Poland and Sweden ended there, and a succession dispute over the throne remained between the two royal houses.

Poland's John II Casimir laid claim to the Swedish throne — in fact, he was the legitimate heir to the Swedish throne! His grandfather Sigismund III had held both the Swedish and Polish crowns, but because of the conflict between his Catholic faith and Sweden's Protestantism, he was deposed by the Swedish Riksdag, and the throne fell to the girl-king's grandfather, Charles IX.

And the girl-king was eccentric, unwilling to marry, and therefore had no children. After abdicating, she passed the throne to her cousin Charles Gustav — which was clearly a mistaken decision!"

Zhu Cilang thought to himself: So the war in The Deluge was stirred up by a Swedish girl! And this Swedish girl's sudden whim had let Russia extricate itself from the war with Poland and turn to oppose China — wasn't this butterfly effect a bit too large?

Of course, if Alexis I, Peter the Great's father, knew what Zhu Cilang was thinking right now, he would certainly weep and cry out that he had been wronged!

Because Alexis I had not extricated himself from the western front at all. How could he tolerate Charles X (the King of Sweden) seizing the Polish throne? — Actually, when the Swedish army invaded, the nobles of the Polish Republic thought Charles X wanted to become King of Poland, so they had no desire to fight the Swedes to the death in defense of Poland's House of Vasa, and were already prepared to elect Charles X as king.

But Charles X was unwilling to convene the Polish Sejm. His goal was to partition Poland, with Sweden swallowing one piece of it. However, Alexis I did not know Charles X's intentions; like the Polish nobles, he thought Charles X wanted to become King of Poland.

If Poland and Sweden were to share a monarch again, would Russia even survive? So after the ceasefire with Poland, Alexis I threw himself without pause into war with Sweden. Sweden in those days was a European great power, with an army rivaled only by France. How could Russia of that time possibly challenge Sweden on one side and go to war with the Great Ming on the other?

And do not think the Great Ming could not reach Russia — the Great Ming's vassal, the Dzungars, bordered Russia directly!

Zhu Cilang furrowed his brow and began to speculate: "So you are saying that Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and Russia have very likely already concluded an alliance aimed against the Great Ming?"

"Correct!" the Prince of Condé nodded emphatically. "The Great Ming is clearly not the only enemy. France and the Ottomans are also targets of this military alliance — perhaps England as well!"

"England?" Zhu Cilang asked. "Because England is attempting to meddle in the Caribbean?"

In October 1654, England had dispatched an expeditionary force to the Caribbean, attempting to seize Hispaniola; failing that, it turned and occupied Jamaica.

That move unquestionably touched Spain's bottom line! So war between Spain and England was inevitable, and relations between France and England rapidly drew closer as a result.

In Europe, an international alignment of an Anglo-French alliance against Spain was taking shape!

And the Prince of Condé had not long ago received a personal letter from Louis XIV, hoping he could persuade the Great Ming to join the Anglo-French alliance and jointly oppose the Spanish world empire!

(End of Chapter)