Chapter 1159: Sinister Means

"Boom—!"

"Boom—!"

Ushakov watched the current battle situation on Kuye Island coldly.

The attacks from the Tsarist Russia navy had almost never ceased since his arrival.

However...

The brow of this naval Marshal, who was absolutely ranked number one in the history of Tsarist Russia, was slowly furrowing at this moment.

The previous failure of Andongliefu had led the people of Tsarist Russia to believe that it must be a case of one incompetent general exhausting three armies.

But when Ushakov arrived at the scene of the battle, he realized...

Things were not that simple.

He had clearly underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Longyan army.

It had already been a month...

More than a month!

They still had not taken Kuye Island!

The fury of Peter the Great from within Tsarist Russia had already made these generals begin to tremble with fear.

The Longyan...

Were they really that unafraid of death?

For a long time, they, the people of Tsarist Russia, had been called a fighting nation.

For a long time, they had not had any real conflicts with the Longyan. This made Ushakov's assessment of the Longyan's combat effectiveness not very accurate.

This made this resolute-looking naval Marshal somewhat displeased.

"Marshal, a letter from Saint Petersburg!"

"Marshal, His Majesty, he..."

Several consecutive letters made Ushakov's mood turn even worse.

Peter's urging regarding the Far East battle situation made him very unhappy.

Those Noble lords back home had even started discussing whether he, Ushakov, the greatest naval general of Tsarist Russia, was as useless as Andongliefu!

Bastards!

They were all just a bunch of parasites!

Ushakov cursed fiercely.

In the letter, Peter the Great informed him that he was issuing an ultimatum, ordering him to end the battle in the Far East and take Kuye Island within one month!

One month...

Looking at the current level of resistance from the Longyan, who could take it?

"Marshal..."

"This..."

A group of deputy generals also looked at each other in dismay.

One month?

Was the Great Emperor not being too impatient!

Ushakov took a deep breath.

It seemed that without using some special Method, this tough battle would be hard to win...

"Special Method..."

A sinister look flashed in Ushakov's eyes.

His reputation in history was one of being decisive and ruthless.

He was known as the guardian deity of the Tsarist Russia navy.

If one wanted to protect one's own people... then one had to be ruthless toward others!

He pondered for a moment.

Then he said: "Do you remember how two of our Tsarist Russia towns disappeared during peacetime?"

The group's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

Plague!

Naturally, they had heard of it; for Tsarist Russia, that was a truly terrifying event!

The disappearance of two towns out of thin air was definitely no small matter for Tsarist Russia. Afterward, the areas surrounding those two towns were littered with corpses, the plague ran rampant, and thousands upon thousands of rats made people tremble with fear. Even now, they still had no Method to deal with those plague-carrying rats...

A living Hell!

An absolute living Hell!

"The Marshal means..."

"This..."

The complexions of the group all turned pale.

Would that not be too inhumane?

Ushakov took a deep breath and finally made his decision: "Go and prepare!"

"Yes..."

The voices of the deputy generals in response were

very somber.

The battle on Kuye Island continued, only the defender had changed from Niu Chaofeng to Xiao Qian.

Xiao Qian, a famous general of Longyan, leads the Qingzhou Armored Soldiers, who are also one of the top-tier units in Longyan.

Niu Chaofeng is a commoner, yet he could defend Kuye Island leading some folk militias without systematic training; Xiao Qian's elite troops, naturally, are even more capable.

But despite this, Xiao Qian still finds it somewhat strenuous to deal with the Tsarist Russia offensive.

Fortunately, this is, after all, on Longyan's own soil, and reinforcements are continuous.

The Tsarist Russia Army led by Ushakov continues to attack, but it has had no effect at all.

Today, after leaving behind over five hundred corpses, Tsarist Russia retreated in defeat once again; this is already the thirty-first rout of the Tsarist Russia Army this week.

Sound the gongs and retreat.

Xiao Qian's deputy generals help him remove his battle robe.

Exhausted after a day, Xiao Qian picks up the wine nearby and takes a fierce gulp.

"General, what exactly do these barbarians want? Could it be they have run out of soldiers?"

"That's right, the cannon attacks these past few days don't seem to be much either..."

"Should we... launch a counterattack?"

Xiao Qian's face darkens.

Counterattack? What are you thinking?

Do you think only Longyan has reinforcements? The Tsarist Russia front line is actually not stretched very thin... and waterway transport cannot be compared to land transport.

There is something fishy!

This Tsarist Russia must be up to some trick!

Xiao Qian is actually full of doubt; ever since they took over the defense of Kuye Island, the Tsarist Russia Army's offensive has never stopped.

At the beginning, the momentum of the attacks was very fierce; although they still could not gain a foothold on Kuye Island, they did cause a certain amount of casualties to Xiao Qian's army.

But in the last few days, the rhythm of the Tsarist Russia offensive has clearly slowed down, and both the frequency of attacks and the number of people landing on the island have dropped significantly.

Previously, they could still cause some casualties to Xiao Qian's army, but later, they were just pointlessly throwing their lives away on the coast.

"I don't know what conspiracy they have; perhaps they are waiting for us to relax and be careless. Go back and tell the soldiers to keep their spirits up twelve-fold. As long as the Tsarist Russia Army does not retreat for a day, we cannot relax for a moment!"

Although the war is in their favor, Xiao Qian dares not have the slightest negligence. Kuye Island is, to a certain extent, the barrier of Liaodong. Once Kuye Island is lost, then Vladivostok, Hailanpao, and Boli will be in jeopardy. Once the Outer Khingan and the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains are taken by Tsarist Russia, Liaodong will become the eastern granary of Tsarist Russia.

"General, more soldiers have fallen ill!"

Xiao Qian is observing the battlefield in the distance when a military doctor walks over with a nervous expression.

"Fallen ill again?"

Hearing this, Xiao Qian frowns slightly.

The day before yesterday, over one hundred soldiers fell ill; yesterday, the number of sick soldiers climbed to five hundred!

The military doctor determined it was due to the Qingzhou Armored Soldiers not adapting to the environment and climate of the Northeast. Measures had already been taken, but who would have thought that on the third day, soldiers would still be falling!

"How many have fallen this time?"

"Reporting to the General, today, over eight hundred have fallen ill. Not only that, but there are also thousands of soldiers whose bodies have shown discomfort to varying degrees."

The military doctor bows, trembling with fear.

"Eight hundred? Thousands?"

Xiao Qian narrows his eyes. In just three days, over a thousand people have fallen. Even if it were just not adapting to the climate, this intensity is a bit too high, isn't it?

Moreover, the condition has not been alleviated but has instead spread further. This matter is not that simple, is it?

"General, after our several military doctors discussed it, we feel this is likely not a failure to adapt to the climate, but rather..."

"Rather what? Speak!"

"It is... a plague."

The military doctor lowers his head and says this

with a sense of despair.

A plague!

In this era where medicine is not advanced, a plague—a disease with such wide transmission and high mortality—is undoubtedly an existence like the Grim Reaper. Upon hearing these two words, even Xiao Qian, who has seen big events, is stunned.

A plague is no joke. Once a plague spreads through the army, these fifty-thousand-plus people will turn into fifty thousand withered bones before long!

It is not just on the island; the Northeast Region behind Kuye Island is also at risk.

These days, no fewer than a thousand logistics personnel have been traveling between Kuye Island and the Northeast Region...

No one knows if those people are carrying pathogens.

"Are you sure?"

The military doctor nods; he would not dare to speak nonsense about such a big matter.

Upon confirmation, Xiao Qian clenches his fists tightly.

"This matter must be kept absolutely secret. If it leaks out and causes panic, I will behead you!"

"General, the top priority now is to isolate the severe cases!"

"I know that, of course, but I also know that once the soldiers on the island fall into panic, their combat effectiveness will definitely be greatly reduced. When the Tsarist Russia Army attacks then, can you hold them off?"

For Xiao Qian, the plague is terrifying, but the Tsarist Russia Army eyeing them like tigers from outside is an even more terrifying existence.

If the plague spreads, they might survive, but once the red-haired devils charge onto Kuye Island, they will definitely die!

"Is there any method?"

"This... your subordinate is dull and has not yet thought of any method. However, your subordinate does know of someone capable of solving this matter, but this person has an extraordinary status, and I fear he will not take action," the imperial physician says with difficulty.

"If he can solve the plague, even if he were the Heavenly King himself, this General would still have him brought here. Tell me, who is he!"

"The current Chief Minister, Liu Zheng."

"Ahem..."

Xiao Qian coughs twice; just now, he was acting a bit too arrogant.

"Report this to the imperial court immediately!"

"Have them send physicians over!"

However, for Longyan, a plague was not a big deal.

Because previously, Liu Zheng had already managed the spread of a rampant plague once before.

Therefore.

At this moment, no one took it seriously...

It was just that...

They did not expect that this plague was different from ordinary plagues.

They would also pay a heavy price for this.

Saint Petersburg.

In order to keep the morale of all the armies in the Western Regions theater high, Peter began to offer heavy rewards!

Capture the Wusun region, and be rewarded!

If Yanqi is also captured, there will be more rewards!

Not only were gold and silver awarded, but four hundred thousand bottles of Vodka were also prepared!

The Russians were born in an extremely cold zone, and Alcohol was an essential item for them to deal with the bitter cold; to a certain extent, their dependence on Alcohol was no less than the dependence of addicts on opium!

Upon hearing this news, the flagging morale of Tsarist Russia soared to unprecedented heights!

Recently, they had been fighting very miserably; if this batch of strong spirits were transported to the front line, no one could guarantee whether this "fighting nation," stimulated by Alcohol, would make a concerted effort to capture Yanqi and Qiuci.

This news naturally could not escape the eyes of Qian Feng; he knew the severity of the problem, so he had to find a Method to resolve it.

Between Saint Petersburg and Wusun, they did not have enough armed forces to raid the Tsarist Russia transport convoys; since force would not work, they could only use their wits.

This matter was not simple, and it gave Qian Feng, this intelligence chief, a massive headache; however, after a closer inspection, he discovered that the person in charge of this reward for the army was actually Menshikov!

What a turn of events!

Qian Feng's father was currently doing business in millet with Menshikov, and following the massive

profits brought by the grain exported from Longyan, they had already completely gained Menshikov's trust.

Where there is a first, there is a second.

The millet trade was about to be completed, and at this juncture, Qian Fugui proposed to purchase Vodka at a high price; presumably, the greedy Menshikov would not refuse. As long as the demand was large enough and the gold and silver offered were sufficient, Menshikov would certainly set his sights on this batch of "imperial wine."

As long as they could make enough trouble with this batch of "imperial wine," they could not only weaken the morale of Rumyantsev's army but also make Peter the Great's right-hand men turn against each other!

With the Marshals at odds, the combat effectiveness of the Tsarist Russia army would be greatly discounted!

It could even further intensify the conflict between Menshikov and Peter the Great!

Three birds with one stone, a permanent solution!

"Father, lean in closer."