Chapter 71 of Part II

  As the air force and other reinforcements arrived, the war in Siberia had become particularly childish. Alexander's army had already become weak after several consecutive attacks. The lack of food and logistical difficulties gave Old Alexander too many constraints. After learning that the entire Ural Mountains and Ural River, the boundary between Europe and Asia, had been completely occupied by the Chinese Empire, the troops suddenly lost their strength. If they still had a little dream of being able to break through before, now both his own troops and he himself were completely desperate. The days of being with family in distant Europe, drinking fine wine, gathering around the fireplace laughing and chatting, and dancing with beautiful women to the sound of elegant music, were already gone forever.

  Old Alexander looked at the airships moving in the sky and the troops that had slowly gathered, surrounding his only tens of thousands of people in this nameless depression. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In a low voice, he said to his son standing behind him: "This negotiation can't be blamed on you, it's a despicable conspiracy by the Chinese, even if someone else went to negotiate, they would have gotten the same result, you don't need to blame yourself too much, I will take all the responsibility and bear it."

  Looking at the soldiers lying on the ground, three or two of them, their bodies can no longer find any signs of complete clothes, the heavy loads were abandoned during the pursuit and siege, now the soldiers who can follow are all excellent soldiers.

  "Remember, when you return home, remember the Chinese idiom '韬光养晦' (hide one's light and nurture in obscurity). I think our Alexander family's glory has disappeared with my failure. So, I hope you can bear the pressure and ridicule at home, bear the mockery and sarcasm of other nobles, and bear the coldness and abandonment of His Majesty."

  Alexander looked at his father's face and said slowly, "Father, do we...I still have a chance to return home? Are you kidding me? Is it really God saving me?" As he spoke, he became agitated and shouted in front of the father he had always revered. Finally, he collapsed to the ground, muttering, "I'm still so young, I still have such a long way to go."

  Old Alexander grasped Alexander's body with his own thick hands and slapped him. He said in a low voice: "You coward, are you or are you not the son of Duke Alexander? Are you or are you not a person of our Russian nation? You don't deserve it if you don't cheer up for me. If you don't, then never recognize me as your father again, and you will no longer be a person of the Russian nation."

  Old Alexander looked at his son and held back tears, calming down a bit, affectionately stroking his son's head: "Omomtovsky, you are the only heir of my Alexander family. As the patriarch of this generation, I will not allow you to die. Don't worry. Also, do you remember what I just told you? As a descendant of the Alexander family, I hope you can bear the heavy burden and don't be afraid of being ridiculed by those ignorant nobles at home. They only know how to mock. The revival of Russia will depend on your hands. I hope you can take it on, do you understand?"

  Alexander also calmed down from his earlier fear and said: "I understand, Father. I will do everything according to your wishes."

  Old Alexander looked at his son and nodded: "Alright, you can go back now. I think I will do the last thing for our family."

  As he watched his son return to the tent, Old Alexander's gaze returned to the outside of the entire military camp. The Chinese army had slowly advanced more than 100 meters again. According to their previous combat experience, where they stood was already within their effective range. The airships in the sky occasionally dropped some food, which was enough for his own army to start killing each other. Old Alexander no longer had the desolate expression he had when talking to his son, replaced by a momentum, a disregard for life and death. Alexander waved his hand at the guards beside him: "Raise the white flag."

  Li Keming looked at the white flag slowly rising and said to a school officer wearing a white air force uniform next to him, "Indeed, he is the first wise general under General Blue Sky, known as Silver Fox Wu Jin."

  That man named Wu Jin, with his thin face and weak physique, looked very frail at first glance. With a smile on his face, he said: "Commander, you're overpraising me, who doesn't know that in the army, you are this...". He raised his thumb as he spoke. Then he continued: "This time I just happened to be lucky, let's put it bluntly, who doesn't know that under the layer-by-layer encirclement of the great army, except for Commander Zhao Blood Dragon, who would dare say they wouldn't surrender? Those Russians aren't people with a strong sense of honor, surrendering is only a matter of time."

  Li Keming chuckled and said, "Blood Dragon Zhao, haha, this name seems quite fitting. Haha, you ghosts actually dare to give him such a name, just wait and see how he'll skin you alive."

  Most of the domestic leaders have grown up in these four or five years, plus the advanced weapons and ammunition, so when they first led soldiers, they basically didn't encounter too much difficulty. Now, although they are all twenty-three or four, the oldest, such as Lei Feng, is only thirty-five or six years old. Therefore, there is still no atmosphere of seniority and evil in the army. Except for being strict on the battlefield, military officers at all levels are still friends in private gatherings, but under the supervision of the two well-known intelligence units, Zhu Xiao's National Security Troops and Ming Feng's Troops, no one dares to use their power to help their friends get promoted. Politics is still clear at this time.

  Wu Jin smiled and quickly made a gesture of innocence, saying: "Commander Li, this wasn't taken out by me. Although it was spread from our air force, the name was actually given by Commander Lan. We just helped with the publicity."

  Li Keming smiled and said: "Alright, I didn't say I was going to betray him. Let's go take a look at Old Aleksandr's appearance and what he wants."

  The fragile defense line of the Russians opened up a gap, and Li Keming calmly walked in. Facing the Russian army beside him, he showed no fear or panic. Old Alexander looked on with admiration, thinking to himself: "When will Oomtovskii have such momentum and charisma?" He walked up and said: "The defeated general, Alexei, Emperor of the Russian Empire, descendant of the four great dukes of the House of Romanov, current head of the family. General of the Russian Army, surrendering to your country."

  Li Keming silently cursed in his heart: "This old fox, stating his own worth to show his submission to us, it seems he wants us not to touch him. Truly an old fox." At the same time, a smile appeared on his face: "No need to be modest, Duke Alexander's tactics were inferior to mine from the start. If it weren't for my Imperial Majesty's rage, who would have won or lost is still unknown. So, Duke, don't mind me, I'm just a famous military strategist in our country." He added, fearing Alexander might not understand: "As the great military strategist Sun Tzu said, 'Victory and defeat are common sense for military households.' No one can be invincible in battle."

  Alexander nodded bluntly, (to be honest, with his proud personality, he still thought that he had only lacked troops in this defeat, otherwise he would not have lost to the young man in front of him who was probably younger than his own son.) and said with a smile: "General Li, let's discuss the details inside the camp."

  Li Keming nodded and walked in, Alexander looked at the soldier who brought over some refreshments and said: "General Li, originally a defeated general has nothing good to negotiate about, but I hope to be able to talk with you, so there was this unusual negotiation."

  Li Keming also politely said: "Where, you are a senior, although we are different opposing forces, but seniors are still more respected, so just say your conditions and requirements."

  Old Alexander looked at Li Keming's eyes and said, "Good, straightforward. Then I won't be polite to you either. I only have one request to let my son return safely to Moscow. And I can help you bring the people of Siberia and all of Russia who were in Asia back to Europe."

  Li Keming quickly calculated in his heart and said, "Well, okay. Duke, I'll give you three months. I think that should be enough. I will take care of the safety of your army... and of course, the safety of your son as well. By then, I hope there won't be a single Russian left within our Chinese Empire's borders. What do you think, Duke?"

  "General Li, four months' time. I think within four months, I can completely resolve everything."

  Li Keming also nodded and said, "Alright, Duke. I think we will have a very pleasant cooperation. Then I'll take my leave. Let's meet at Yecelin Castle next time." After finishing speaking, Li Keming took Wu Jin and walked out.

  Under the diligent efforts of Old Alexander, all Russians were soon concentrated. At the same time, a huge city called New Chengdu was rapidly established under Yekaterinburg. In just four months, this city had taken shape. Unlike other cities without walls, this city was built relying on the Ural Mountains. The other three sides of the entire city were poured with concrete. The city is 5 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide, a perfect square city. Inside the city are only commercial and residential areas. Industrial and agricultural areas are all outside, and the outermost layer is the military district, where the headquarters of the 23rd Army of the 8th Group Army is stationed. The Yekaterinburg above is stationed with the headquarters of the 22nd Army. At the same time, the Northern Fleet had moved to the Arctic Ocean as a whole and became a true Northern Fleet.

  The current commander of the Eighth Army is temporarily acting as Peng Ying. So, after passing through the 22nd Army's inspection, all the residents led by Old Alexander were released. Old Alexander looked at his own army still stationed here and shouted wildly at our people: "Why haven't our troops been returned to our country yet?"

  The warriors of the 22nd army replied to old Alexander with a sentence, "Your country's Tsar has not sent the ransom yet, so we can't let you go, please forgive us. But your son has already gone back to run for you."

  Old Alexander heard that his son had returned to Moscow, and the angry look on his face disappeared. Instead, a smile appeared, muttering: "This Li Keming is still more trustworthy." As he said this, he picked up the pistol given by Li Keming and shot himself in the head, ending his life like this.

  Moscow, at this time, through the deliberate publicity of Mingfeng's troops, the whole Moscow, including the Tsar, knew that Alexander had committed suicide in Yelizavetgrad because he was delayed in sending personnel to deliver the ransom. Little Alexander, as the first heir to the title of Duke, naturally inherited his father's title. At this time, the new duke didn't even have time to celebrate and was busy running around for his father. Faced with Little Alexander's crying and pitiful appearance, those who were originally unmoved, his father's so-called friends and the four major generals, perhaps discovered their conscience and also put on a show in front of Aleksey.

  The ministers also saw the wind and persuaded His Majesty to redeem the elite troops of the army. In the end, the Tsar redeemed more than 30,000 soldiers at a price of one hundred taels of gold for each soldier, one thousand taels of gold for each officer, and ten thousand taels of gold for each nobleman. The body of old Alexander was also redeemed at a price of one hundred thousand taels of gold although he was dead.

  By then, as of November 1664, the Chinese Empire had occupied territories including Penglai Province (formerly Japan), Southern Chosun and Northern Chosun Provinces (present-day Korea and North Korea), southern mainland China (Australia), western coastal regions of North America, Annan Province, Southeast Asia, and vast areas of Siberia. The total territorial area reached an unprecedented 30 million square kilometers, directly bordering Europe's Russia and the Ottoman Empire.