Chapter 459 Supporting the Northeast’s Successive Victories
Before Qu Shaoyang declared the independence of Dongbiandao, the Russian envoy stationed in Beijing submitted a note with four clauses to the Qing court.

The content of the note mainly required Tsarist Russia to return the three northeastern provinces, and the Qing government would be responsible for protecting the railways and Tsarist Russian employees. If there were no further unrest, Russia would withdraw within three years.

The number and location of the existing Qing garrison troops need to be discussed with Tsarist Russian officials. No additional troops may be added or transported to the three northeastern provinces, and patrol soldiers are not allowed to use artillery.

The Shanhaiguan, Yingkou and Xinmintun railways were returned.

Li Hongzhang did not dare to make a decision on his own, so he sent a telegram to the court, asking for instructions.

A few days later, the Russian representative in Beijing, Bosneff, submitted a draft to Li Hongzhang, attempting to use Daosheng Bank to monopolize the finance of the three northeastern provinces and all leasing rights.

Li Hongzhang naturally could not agree to such conditions, but the Russian envoys kept pressing, and the court was under considerable pressure.

After the signing of the Boxer Protocol, various countries received compensation and gradually withdrew their troops from Beijing and Tianjin.

However, the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu were still in Xi’an and had not returned to the capital.

At this time, the imperial court was in a dilemma. It wanted to return to Beijing smoothly, but it also did not want to agree to too many conditions from Tsarist Russia.

They were afraid that the other powerful countries would follow suit and thus they would lose more interests.

Therefore, when the news came that the Eastern Circuit Inspector had led his troops in uprising, the imperial court was also very surprised and worried that it would lead to even greater trouble.

The Empress Dowager Cixi originally wanted to order the dispatch of troops to quell the rebellion in the East Road, but where could the troops be dispatched at this time?
The governors-general of the southeast protected each other, and the Governor of Shandong Yuan Datou and the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang organized their own mutual protection, and all refused to send troops to participate.

The military forces in the Beijing-Tianjin area had been almost exhausted when the Eight-Nation Alliance attacked.

Even Nie Shicheng, who had won a great victory at Motianling, intimidated the Japanese pirates, and obeyed the court’s orders in everything, died in Balitai in isolation due to factional struggles in the court.

At this time, someone suggested that it would be better to wait and watch the fight between the two tigers from the mountain, and let the rebel army in the east fight against Tsarist Russia.

If the righteous army in the east is defeated, the imperial court will not need to send troops to encircle and suppress them, saving trouble and effort.

If Tsarist Russia was defeated, it would save some energy at the negotiating table, so that Tsarist Russia would not continue to occupy the Northeast and refuse to withdraw its troops.

The Empress Dowager Cixi did not want to adopt this suggestion. The Northeast was the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty and it was related to the ancestral foundation and should not be taken lightly.

But what if it is not adopted? Right now, the imperial court has no soldiers to mobilize and no generals to use.

In the end, the Empress Dowager Cixi had no choice but to accept this reality.

No matter how Zengqi requested for support, this side just said that the two palaces returned to the palace and the Eastern Daoyi Army was left to Zengqi to deal with.

Not only was the imperial court paying attention to the war in Liaodong, but the righteous army in the east was also winning battles one after another and conquering many cities.

Countries such as Britain, Japan and the United States also began to pay attention to the situation in the Northeast and the Eastern Righteous Army.

Because Nicholas II did not recognize that the Russian troops occupying the Northeast belonged to the Eight-Nation Alliance, he refused to withdraw his troops and attempted to monopolize the Northeast.

Both Britain and Japan felt that their interests were seriously threatened, so in the winter of the Xinchou year, the two countries formed an alliance to limit the expansion of Tsarist Russia in the Northeast.

At the same time, US Secretary of State John protested to the Qing Dynasty and Russia, opposing Tsarist Russia’s monopoly of the economic rights and interests of the Northeast.

Japan has always regarded Tsarist Russia as the biggest threat and enemy in their efforts to seize the Northeast.

Therefore, Japan was happy to see that Tsarist Russia suffered repeated defeats and was beaten back step by the moral army in the east.

There were even people in the Japanese headquarters who suggested that they could make appropriate contact with the Eastern Righteousness Army and provide some assistance.

Let Tsarist Russia suffer a little more, and it would be best if it could retreat in the face of difficulties.

Although this suggestion was rejected, it can be seen from this that the Eastern Righteous Army has entered the sight of the great powers.

The moral army in the east won victory after victory, and Tsarist Russia was defeated. When the news reached St. Petersburg, Nicholas II was furious.

While calling Alexeev and others fools and idiots, he also clamored to send more troops to the Far East to completely wipe out this rebel army.

However, it is a severe winter and the Far East is freezing cold. How can it be easy to send more troops?

As for the Qing Dynasty, the railways had been torn to pieces due to the destruction of the Boxer Rebellion and the uprising of road construction workers.

Without railways, how could the soldiers be transported? They couldn’t go on horseback, could they?
It is unrealistic to increase troops, and it is not easy to mobilize military forces within the Qing Dynasty.

The main reason was that Tsarist Russia occupied too many cities in the Northeast, especially along the railways, all of which were heavily guarded.

At this time, there are rebel forces resisting in various parts of the Northeast. If a large number of troops are mobilized to encircle and suppress them, other rebel forces will take advantage of the situation and move in.

There are quite a few troops stationed in Luda, but the geographical location there is very important. Once the troops are mobilized and the Qing government or Japan take the opportunity to seize it, the losses will be huge.

Nicholas II had no choice but to order Alexeev to mobilize all available forces to encircle and suppress the rebels.

At the same time, they put pressure on the Qing government and ordered it to send troops to encircle and suppress the rebellion.

At the end of the Xinchou year, the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu returned to the capital from Xi’an.

Faced with the relentless pressure from the Russian envoys stationed in Beijing, the Empress Dowager Cixi used the excuse that she was physically exhausted from the long journey and temporarily postponed the handling of affairs at court.

After the Dongbiandao uprising, Zhang Xiulan, the county magistrates of Kuandian, Huairen, Andong and other places, as well as their families and properties were escorted to Fengtian City.

When Zengqi saw these people, he felt angry and helpless, and couldn’t help but blame them.

However, the law does not hold everyone responsible, and besides, these people are innocent.

The Dingbian Army was in the hands of Qu Shaoyang. No one had heard of the news beforehand, but he suddenly controlled them all. What could they do?
Everyone had no choice but to stay in Fengtian City, then report to the court to apologize, and then use various connections to smooth things over and protect themselves.

Zhang Xiulan had some foundation in the imperial court. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he became sworn brothers with Wang Xiuzhi, Sun Baoqi, Pan Kejun and Yuan Shikai, and they had a good relationship.

So I tried to contact my friends and ask them to help mediate.

Among the five brothers, Sun Baoqi went to Xi’an with the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu when the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing.

So after learning that the two palaces had returned, Zhang Xiulan immediately went to the capital with a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, and rare antiques, trying to find a way to smooth over relations and avoid blame.

Thanks to Zhang Xiulan’s manipulation, he was not only not convicted, but was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Shengjing, responsible for the finances of Fengtian and related compensation matters.

In this way, Zhang Xiulan returned to Fengtian from the capital to assist Zengqi in handling various affairs.

In the blink of an eye, it was the spring of the 28th year of the Guangxu period. The severe winter passed and spring returned to the earth.

After a winter of rest, the Dingbian Army has recovered to its best condition.

In fact, everyone was not idle during this winter. They fought many small battles with the Tsarist Russian army.

The Tsarist Russian army was good at positional warfare, constructing fortifications, and building fortresses.

The fortress of the Tsarist Russian army was built very well. In addition to the combat area, there was also a living area, including dormitories, kitchens, field hospitals, grain warehouses, etc.

Basically, there is a lot of food stored in those fortresses, so it is no problem to hold out for a few months.

But people, besides eating and sleeping, have other needs. Especially these Russian soldiers, who were used to the days of eating and drinking, how could they be willing to stay in the fortress all the time?

There wasn’t a lot of vodka in the fortress, and there were no women.

So these people would go to the surrounding villages or enter the city from time to time to wreak havoc on the people.

The spies of the Dingbian Army disguised themselves as all kinds of people, mixed in with many towns, and got to know the lifestyle of those Tsarist Russian soldiers.

Based on the intelligence sent back by the spies, the Dingbian Army attacked at the right time and killed those Tsarist Russian soldiers.

Anyway, there is only one principle: fight if you can win, run if you can’t, take advantage if you can, and run away if you can’t.

After doing this several times, the Russian soldiers no longer dared to leave the fortress without permission.

As a result, many people in villages and towns were saved.

After the spring, Qu Shaoyang did not blindly attack towns and expand his territory. Instead, he took the time to bring people to help the people with spring plowing and farming.

Tsarist Russia was very powerful and strong, and it had the assistance of the Qing army. It was not something that could be conquered overnight.

Dongbiandao is the base of the rebel army, and most of the rebels are from Dongbiandao, so it must be managed well.

Only when the people live and work in peace and contentment can the rebel army develop steadily.

Fortunately, the Tsarist Russian army did not attack at this time. After helping the people to plant the crops, the Dingbian Army began to build fortifications and fortresses, and helped the villages to build fences, first stabilizing the rear and then planning other things.

Of course, Tsarist Russia did not give up on suppressing the morale-boosting army in the east.

Instead, after the beginning of spring, a cholera epidemic suddenly broke out, starting from Fujia Dian in Harbin and heading south along the railway.

Tens of thousands of people have been infected across the board, with nearly 20,000 deaths.

Moreover, the vast majority of those infected were members of the Tsarist Russian army, and their condition was extremely serious.

Under such circumstances, the Tsarist Russian army was unable to take care of itself, so how could it have the time to encircle and suppress the rebel army?

Another reason was that the Tsarist Russian officials were busy negotiating with the Qing government.

Originally, the Qing government and Tsarist Russia had reached a consensus on recovering the three northeastern provinces, and all that was left was signing a contract.

As a result, because of the Eastern Road uprising, the Russian side had an excuse to deny the agreement and withdraw its troops.

At the same time, the Russian side made exorbitant demands and added seven unreasonable demands in addition to the originally negotiated terms as additional conditions for withdrawing its troops from the Northeast.

The main contents include that the Qing government is not allowed to open new trading ports in the three northeastern provinces, nor is it allowed to allow foreign countries to establish consulates in the three northeastern provinces.

No other foreigners may be employed among public servants in China, the territory of the three northeastern provinces may not be ceded, leased or otherwise transferred to other countries, etc.

After the news of Tsarist Russia’s seven unreasonable demands came out, it aroused stronger opposition both at home and abroad.

Patriotic figures in the country expressed that they could not accept such conditions and called the relevant departments of the Qing court, urging them to never allow the Qing court to recognize these conditions.

Overseas students also spoke out, unanimously opposing the unreasonable demands of Tsarist Russia.

Then, many people began to express their support for the Eastern Righteous Army, believing that what they were doing was to safeguard the integrity of the country and was beneficial to the country.

Various countries protested to Tsarist Russia, accusing it of its new actions in the Northeast.

At the same time, Japan sent a note to the Qing government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanding that the Qing government refuse to recognize Tsarist Russia’s seven conditions for withdrawal.

The Tsarist Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to issue a statement to the United States, denying any intention of monopolizing the Northeast.

Qu Shaoyang, who was in Dongbiandao, also learned the news through some channels.

So they immediately issued a manifesto to expose the ugly face of Tsarist Russia in its attempt to monopolize the Northeast.

At the same time, it also revealed that Zengqi had signed a series of clauses with Tsarist Russia to sell out minerals, railways, and forestry, and denounced Zengqi as a traitor.

Afterwards, Qu Shaoyang, Chen Yunhan and others assembled a team of 50,000 people.

The troops were divided into two groups. One group started from Xiuyan, took Ximucheng, and attacked Haicheng. The other group started from Fenghuangcheng, passed Lianshan Pass and Motianling, and headed for Liaoyang.

Haicheng and Liaoyang are the gateways to Fengtian, and these two cities are of vital importance.

When the Russian army learned the news, they immediately mobilized troops to defend outside the two cities, and Zengqi also quickly dispatched troops to defend.

But no one expected that these two attacks were actually feints, and the real main force, led by Qu Shaoyang, quietly set out from Andong.

After the two battles broke out, they quickly captured Gaiping and Xiongyue, and then attacked Yingkou and Niuzhuang.

During this winter, the Dingbian Army had placed spies and insiders everywhere, and now it finally worked.

People from all over the country had long been dissatisfied with the atrocities committed by Tsarist Russia, and supported the Dingbian Army openly or secretly, some providing guidance and some tipping off the troops.

There were even more capable people who had fully understood the Russian army’s defensive fortifications, firepower deployment, etc., and directly drew a map and handed it over to the Dingbian Army.

In addition, cholera had spread to southern Liaoning, and a large number of Tsarist Russian troops were infected, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness. Therefore, the journey was very smooth.

The Dingbian Army, like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, directly cut off the passage to Luda, Haicheng and Fengtian.

Before the Russian army could react, the Dingbian Army successively captured Yingkou and Niuzhuang, and then attacked Anshan Station, and together with another force surrounded Haicheng.

Haicheng is a town with a very important strategic position. It connects to Liaoyang and Fengtian in the north, Yingkou in the west, Xiongyue and Gaiping in the south, and can control Lüda.

Haicheng is known as the gateway to Fengtian and is an important transportation hub.

Otherwise, the Qing government would not have attacked Haicheng five times during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. This place was simply too important.

Haicheng was surrounded and Liaoyang was in danger of being lost. At this time, Zengqi in Fengtian and Alexeev, a high-ranking official of the Tsarist Russia in Kwantung, were completely panicked.

Zengqi hurriedly sent a telegram to the court, stating that the situation in Fengtian was serious and that the righteous army in the east was coming with great force. Once Haicheng was captured, Fengtian would be in danger.

Zengqi pleaded with the court to send reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise the foundation laid by his ancestors would be destroyed.

As for Alexeev, he was a member of the court faction in the Tsarist army and was said to be the illegitimate son of Emperor Nicholas II’s grandfather, and thus Nicholas II’s uncle.

This highest-ranking official of the Tsarist Russia’s Kwantung Province actually could not ride a horse, fight a war, or command a warship.

Because he was very fat and a member of the royal family, he was privately known as the “Two Hundred and Eighty Pounds of Holy Meat” in the Russian army.

Alexeev was stationed in Lushun to actually maintain Nicholas II’s status in the Far East and manage his wealth.

He had no interest in fighting and no ability to do so.

This person’s only passion is drinking vodka and watching musicals.

Isn’t it ridiculous to let such a person command the battle?
(End of this chapter)