Chapter 1175: Xiao Qian's Strategy

His subordinates offered suggestions, but Ushakov did not answer in a hurry; instead, he looked at the map before him and pondered silently.

Being able to become the first Admiral of the Tsarist Russia navy, Ushakov was naturally no simple character.

He was very cautious; he knew that he was facing the famous general of the Longyan Empire, Xiao Qian, and he did not believe that he could defeat Xiao Qian so easily.

Over the past few days, he had studied this Xiao Qian's military record...

It could be described as extremely formidable.

Xiao Qian had been a general for over twenty years and had almost no defeats.

The only defeat was at the hands of Liu Zheng.

Terrifying.

This was absolutely a terrifying thing.

Moreover, Ushakov did not, like other Tsarist Russia generals, always look down upon Longyan.

Don't be ridiculous.

A country with thousands of years of traditional culture—could it be underestimated?

He had once studied various Art of War within Longyan Culture, and he naturally knew that Longyan was full of hidden talents and was worthy of his vigilance and caution.

Another important reason for his caution was the Plague they had released themselves.

Humans can distinguish between enemy and friendly forces, but viruses do not distinguish between friend and foe.

Once their own people were also infected with the Plague, the harm would be devastating.

Although they had sufficient protective measures, what was the Plague? That was the Black Death!

The predecessor of the Tsarist Russia Empire—the Grand Duchy of Moscow—was also once a victim of the Black Death; although hundreds of years had passed, the fear of the Black Death in their hearts still remained.

Before the Plague, everyone is equal...

Furthermore, he did not know if the protective measures he had prepared would still be effective in war. In war, anything is possible.

"Wait a little longer. Wait for news from inside the Longyan Empire before deciding."

Ushakov frowned and said.

If it were another country, Ushakov would choose to act directly, but Longyan was different; Longyan was full of hidden talents, and there was also Liu Zheng.

When preparing to invade Longyan, he had already begun to study the country of Longyan. In recent years, the most famous person in Longyan was the Xiliang youth named "Liu Zheng."

In economics, military affairs, Astronomy, and calendars, he seemed to possess talent beyond that of ordinary people. Not only that, but not long ago, he even personally solved the Malaria that had plagued the world for thousands of years!

Malaria was even more difficult to deal with than the Plague; since Liu Zheng had solved Malaria, perhaps the Plague would not have much effect on them either.

However, for him, one piece of good news was that Liu Zheng was currently not in the country.

Not being in the country made things much better...

But he still had to wait, to wait for the attitude of the Longyan Empire, to see if the Longyan Empire would take further action regarding Kuye Island.

Ushakov was waiting for news from Longyan, and Xiao Qian on the Longyan side was also waiting for Ushakov's move.

He had been reducing the number of personnel in the island's garrison for three consecutive days, yet Ushakov was actually still able to remain motionless!

"This guy is truly formidable..."

He was truly somewhat impressed by Ushakov's patience.

Xiao Qian was not afraid of wearing Ushakov down; after all, their logistics were far stronger than Ushakov's. The supply line from Tsarist Russia to here was much weaker than the supply line Longyan provided him.

But even so, he wanted to have a battle with Ushakov as soon as possible.

The desire for revenge was, of course, one of the reasons, but the greater reason was for the long-term peace and stability of this place.

For Tsarist Russia, Vladivostok was the harbor they dreamed of. In addition, the Siberia region controlled by Tsarist Russia was mostly high plateaus and mountains, which were not suitable for human survival. In the Far East, only places like Vladivostok and Boli were suitable for long-term survival.

Ice-free Port.

It was still the trouble caused by the Ice-free Port.

If Tsarist Russia wanted to have any influence in Asia, they had to take this Ice-free Port.

Therefore, under such a need, as long as Tsarist Russia had limited military power, they would definitely set their sights on this place;

Conversely, looking at Longyan, Longyan had vast territory and abundant resources, with many places suitable for living and development. People could barely accept places like Liaodong, but Longyan people were unwilling to settle in the Outer Khingan region, where living conditions were even harsher than in Liaodong.

And...

It was still that same reason.

Longyan had ports everywhere; there was simply no such thing as an Ice-free Port.

Therefore.

One side had a strong desire, while the other had no real need. Over time, perhaps Tsarist Russia would lead troops and civilians to move in during a military vacuum in the Northeast of Longyan, causing a de facto occupation. At that time, wanting to expel them would be difficult.

Therefore, the best Method was to hurt Tsarist Russia and make them afraid. As long as Ushakov was defeated here, it would make them dare not have any ideas about Kuye Island for a very long time!

"This Ushakov is truly able to endure. You tell me, if I were to die, would he make a move?" Xiao Qian asked with a chuckle.

"???"

Hearing this, the group of adjutants and generals were all stunned!

"Don't look at me like that. I mean a fake death. If I, the supreme commander of Longyan, were to fall in battle, I don't believe he could still hold back."

"But General, Ushakov is cunning and calculating. A mere fake death might not be enough to get him to take the bait!" General Wang said.

"Indeed, so it must be done realistically. Report to Jinghua that I have contracted the Plague and died in my tent yesterday, and ask Jinghua to send another great general."

Xiao Qian laughed.

He couldn't endure it for even one more day...

Just now, this idea had suddenly popped into his head.

A fake death!

In military operations, the greatest taboo is changing generals at the last minute!

In this situation, let's see if this Ushakov can still hold back!

"General, doing this is a crime of deceiving the monarch..." the military advisor said cautiously from the side.

After the military advisor finished speaking, the surrounding generals began to discuss it; seeing the state of the generals, Xiao Qian felt a moment of helplessness.

"I say, have you all forgotten that we now have a constitutional monarchy, so where would the 'deceiving the monarch' come from?"

Hearing these words from Xiao Qian, the generals finally realized.

Xiao Qian knew very well that since Ushakov had not made a move for so long, he must be monitoring the movements in Jinghua; as long as the Jinghua side made a move, the "credibility" of his own death in battle would greatly increase!

However, the news could not be transmitted at all, because at this moment, the entire Northeast was in chaos.

At the very beginning, the Plague only spread in the military camps on Kuye Island, but by now, many settlements throughout the Northeast had outbreaks of the Plague.

And when he received news from outside the pass, Xiao Qian was very shocked.

Upon learning that the epidemic was the Plague, Xiao Qian had already isolated the infected with the fastest speed and had also contacted the government outside the pass.

It was normal for a Plague outbreak to occur, but the sheer quantity and the vastness of the area truly exceeded Xiao Qian's expectations by a great margin.

Although the Plague on their Kuye Island had basically been brought under control...

But what about other places?

This was still very serious.

After all, there was only this one medical team.

"Someone, invite Lord Liu over."

The development of the situation was no longer something that Xiao Qian, a frontier army commander, could control; now, compared to fighting a war, what was more important was controlling the Plague in the Northeast Region!

If it were not handled well, then the entire Northeast, with its millions of people, would be in imminent danger!

The general commander for Plague prevention, Liu An, quickly arrived at Xiao Qian's military tent; when he learned that the Plague in the Northeast had spread,

he was also very shocked.

Because, when the Plague appeared on Kuye Island, he had anticipated that the Plague on Kuye Island would lead to small-scale outbreaks in the Northeast due to military logistics, so he had already given advance notice to various cities in Liaodong, telling them the Method to handle it in a timely manner once problems arose.

A hundred or eighty people would be acceptable, but in the current Northeast, most of the Boli area had fallen, there were numerous settlements on the Songnen Plain harmed by the Plague, and the many cities on the Liaohe Plain were the same...

"Lord Liu, what should be done about this?"

Xiao Qian looked worried.

"This Plague is unprecedented in scale, and the number of infected is rare; relying solely on our few dozen people is like trying to put out a cartload of burning firewood with a cup of water. General, I need your help."

Liu An thought for a moment and said while cupping his hands.

"For the country and the people, I am duty-bound, but I wonder, what can I do for Lord Liu?" Xiao Qian asked.

"Currently, the regions outside the pass need a large number of experienced epidemic prevention personnel. The soldiers have all experienced it once; if you send them there, they will surely be able to suppress this Plague with the fastest speed!"

"Oh?"

Xiao Qian's eyes brightened when he heard this.

Transferring people; this was naturally no problem.

Although, in terms of the battlefield, it was not a good thing.

But it was beneficial to his entire plan.

Why say that?

Because if Xiao Qian intended to fake his death!

Adding these soldiers of the army, and then "fleeing" the battlefield in various ways, wouldn't this play become even more realistic?

And...

He could even add a little more to the act...

For a moment, Xiao Qian became somewhat excited.

"I wonder how many men Lord Liu needs?"

"The Plague is coming on fiercely; let's start by supporting with twenty thousand," Liu An said while cupping his hands.

"What?"

Hearing this number, Xiao Qian frowned.

His excitement from just a moment ago was instantly extinguished.

Twenty thousand?

Isn't this a joke?

He absolutely dared not do that!

"General, are there any difficulties?"

"As you can see, my garrison strength on Kuye Island is only fifty thousand. Because of the impact of the Plague, there are only over forty thousand soldiers with full combat capability now. If I were to transfer another twenty thousand, only twenty thousand troops would remain."

"We are facing the Tsarist Russia Army, which is well-equipped and several times our number; I am worried that we won't be able to hold it," Xiao Qian said worriedly.

This also caused Liu An to fall into deep thought.

Although he was only a doctor and did not understand military affairs, he also knew that Kuye Island was the gateway to the Northeast and must never be lost!

In this way, it really left him in a dilemma.

Now, the one with the bigger headache was Xiao Qian.

The spread of the Plague in the Northeast was a responsibility he could not bear, but the responsibility of losing Kuye Island was one he could bear even less.

The only solution was to have a decisive battle with Tsarist Russia before supporting the interior; as long as Tsarist Russia was beaten back, he could return his forces to the Northeast to support the people.

What gave Xiao Qian a headache was that Ushakov simply would not send out troops. Although the news of his own "death in battle" had already been sent to Jinghua, at this moment, the focus of Jinghua should all be on the Plague in the Northeast, and the death of a "non-lineage" military general like himself should not be taken seriously.

Since the method of dying from illness was not powerful enough, then he would have to add some fuel to the fire.

Rebellion.

If a rebellion were to occur here, he did not believe that Ushakov would still remain inactive!