Chapter 1157: European Turmoil

"Trash! You are all a bunch of trash!"

In the Tsarist Russia Imperial Palace, upon seeing the battle report, Peter fiercely threw the wine glass in his hand.

The frequent setbacks in the East Sea naval battles had left this ambitious Emperor with no appetite, and now, Rumyantsev had actually fallen into a predicament on the Northwest front as well!

How could this let him sleep?

This was not the great war he had imagined!

His own Tsarist Russia Army, invincible everywhere, how could it be trapped in a tiny Western Regions?

And...

The one leading the army was Rumyantsev, his trusted general!

Peter slammed the table in anger, with a bang, giving Yekaterina, who was to the side, a start.

"Your Majesty..."

Yekaterina was startled and hurriedly tried to comfort Peter.

"War has always been this complicated; why must Your Majesty harm your own health..."

She took Peter's wine and set it to the side.

"What do you know!"

Peter I did not explain anything to her, took another drink of wine, and walked to the map.

Originally, once the Tsarist Russia Army took Wusun, they would have a forward base for invading Longyan, and furthermore, with just one more step forward, they could take Qiuci and Yanqi!

These two places were the throat of the Silk Road; as long as these two cities were in their hands, then Tsarist Russia would stand in an invincible position!

With the Tsarist Russia Army's momentum like a rainbow, plus the seasoned Rumyantsev, Peter I believed that taking the Western Regions and taking Liangzhou was only a matter of time!

But now, this Tsarist Russia Army was simply trapped in the Wusun region, unable to advance even an inch!

This was the very thing that gave him the biggest headache!

These Longyan people really have some tricks up their sleeves!

"Reinforce, continue to reinforce!"

Peter roared angrily.

Peter had always been full of confidence, but Rumyantsev at the front lines of the war was not so optimistic.

Logistics.

The battle line was stretched too thin; their logistics could not keep up.

Supporting an army of two hundred thousand might not be much for an agricultural power like Longyan, but for Tsarist Russia, it was no small burden.

The Tsarist Russia of Peter I's reign had not yet abolished Serfdom, and the social productivity under the Serfdom system was extremely low; the domestic grain reserves were already limited, and coupled with the consumption from the "Russo-Turkish War" and the "Northern War" that had occurred not long ago, the "food security" of Rumyantsev's field army really could not be guaranteed.

And what was different from the past was that when they attacked the Ottoman and the countries along the Baltic Sea, they could maintain the army's daily consumption through War-Nourished Warfare, but that would not work here.

The Wusun region was mostly desert and mostly nomadic peoples; in the event of war, this place was nearly an "empty land," and with Zou Sheng's "Scorched Earth," one could not even find shrubs here.

Additionally...

There was also the Tata Organization coming to harass them from time to time...

Rumyantsev knew that the Longyan people just wanted to drag them to death in this desert.

Their logistics could only rely on Russia itself, but the Tsarist Russia logistics were in the hands of the powerful official Menshikov, and he was not sure if Menshikov would cut off his grain...

The war situation, which seemed active, was actually very passive; Rumyantsev needed to win a quick victory.

Rumyantsev on the Western front had a worried look, and Ushakov on the Eastern front was the same.

The repeated fierce attacks had actually failed to take Kuye Island, which had already caused his mindset to change.

The previous commander-in-chief, Andongliefu, had already been dismissed; if he still could not achieve any military success here, his fate would be no better than Andongliefu's.

Kuye Island, he must take it, no matter what method he used!

One by one,

British warships flying the Union Jack slowly sailed out from the horizon.

On the deck of the lead ship, Luojinsi was using a Telescope to scan the sea in front of him.

Originally, Luojinsi was supposed to go to a military prison, but after discussions among the Councilors, it was decided to abandon his punishment and re-employ this fellow.

Because they were also very clear that the reason for Luojinsi's failure was not that Luojinsi was too weak or stupid, but that the Longyan Yinzhou ships were simply too strong.

The British were very confident in the combat effectiveness of their Royal Navy; that was a super maritime hegemon that had successively destroyed the Spanish Invincible Armada and the Dutch Invincible Armada!

The Yinzhou ships that could defeat such a great fleet were definitely not to be underestimated.

Longyan's influence had already penetrated to Suez; wanting to seize the Suez Canal meant conflicts with the Longyan navy were unavoidable. Under these circumstances, re-employing a capable Luojinsi who had experience fighting the Yinzhou ships was undoubtedly the best choice.

This time, Longyan's Chief Minister Liu was coming to Europe... this made the people of Europe unable to sit still.

Coming to attend the Suez Canal opening ceremony?

The devil believes you!

You are definitely here to stir up trouble!

Although Britain had accepted Longyan's invitation in an official ultimatum and would come to attend the Suez Canal opening ceremony, this meant that they not only acknowledged that Australia was already someone else's, but also acknowledged that the Longyan people had entered Europe...

But...

Britain was the current global Empire on which the sun never sets!

Would they be willing to watch the Longyan people be so arrogant?

Therefore, Britain still dispatched a powerful fleet, as well as Luojinsi.

Observing the situation on the scene at any time, if necessary, they would not mind getting involved...

"Luojinsi, are we really going to attack Suez? With our current combat effectiveness, we are still not the match of the Yinzhou ships. I think it would be better to first take Egypt, which is occupied by the French, and use Egypt as a base to launch a joint attack with the army; that would be safer."

Luoweier is a relatively conservative man, even conservative to the point of suffering from a mild case of "dinosaur inflammation"; without one hundred percent certainty, he does not want to break out into a direct conflict with this mysterious great Eastern power.

Hearing this, blue veins bulged on Luojinsi's forehead, and the Telescope in his hand was also squeezed until it cracked.

The dignified Royal Navy Invincible Armada actually choosing to cooperate with the army because of fear of the enemy's maritime power—to him, this is a disgrace!

What made him feel even more stifled was that although this suggestion was infuriating, he could only choose to accept it!

Although he very much wanted to lead the fleet to compete with the Longyan fleet and take revenge, he could not afford another failure.

The last failure almost sent him to a military prison; if he were to fail again this time, then what would await him would be the guillotine.

"Longyan! Sooner or later, I will plant the flag of Britain inside your Imperial Palace!"

"Captain, thirty nautical miles ahead, the French Fleet has been spotted!"

Luojinsi was being ruthless in his heart when the observation sentry shouted out.

Hearing the sound, Luojinsi hurriedly used the cracked Telescope in his hand to observe the situation of the French Fleet.

As the distance closed, the scene in the lens became clearer; the previously blurry shadows now allowed one to see the French crew signaling with flags at the bow.

"This is French territorial water; non-French vessels are forbidden from entering!"

"Captain, what should we do?" the first mate asked anxiously.

"Load the cannons, annihilate them!" Luojinsi ordered.

"Luojinsi, those are merely French Scout ships; annihilating them will surely alert the French Navy. It would be better to sail away from here, take a detour, and head straight for Alexandria to annihilate their fleet while they are completely unprepared; that would be more secure."

Luoweier gave his advice from the side, but Luojinsi would not listen at all.

"Luoweier,"

"do you think that we, the noble Anglo-Saxon people, need to launch a sneak attack to beat this group of weak Gaul?" Luojinsi asked.

Having experienced one defeat, the once incomparably arrogant Luojinsi now urgently needed to find his dignity back in the Mediterranean Sea.

Luoweier was speechless, but thinking about it, it was indeed correct. France is a strong power on the European continent; although their army is strong, their navy is inferior by a hundred thousand miles. They might not have the certainty to beat the Yinzhou ships of Longyan, but cleaning up these few broken little French ships is more than enough.