In the guest house of the military government in Dafeng, Dong Shuheng finally read the last battle report.
This battle wiped out more than 50,000 Russian troops. It really devastated the Russians in the sparsely populated Far East.
However, for the Tsarist Empire, which had an army of millions, this loss was just drizzle.
You must know that the regular army only accounts for less than half of the more than 50,000 people. Most of them are armed serfs. These people are not even comparable to the militia of the Huai Navy.
So this battle has not decided the outcome.
It is still unknown by whose hands the deer of the Far East died!
If the war in the Far East is ended now, it will not be a cost-effective thing for the Huai Navy.
Because in addition to annihilating tens of thousands of Tsarist Russian troops and gaining thousands of prisoners, they unexpectedly lost their lives.
Huai Haijun doesn't have any benefits now.
This war has cost Dong Shuheng several million taels so far. Although many of them are considered long-term investments in the Far East.
But will Huai Haijun do business at a loss? A businessman will endure temporary losses because of long-term interests, but this is only to obtain greater profits in the future.
How can we make back the money spent in this battle?
Naturally, you have to get it from your opponent.
According to Dong Shuheng's knowledge, the Heilongjiang River Basin is a huge treasure house. Naturally, it is better to keep it in his own hands.
What? You said the Qing court would intervene?
The intelligence from the capital has been passed to Dong Shuheng. With such a big thing happening in the Heilongjiang Basin, the Huaihai Navy naturally has to pay attention to the reaction of the Qing court.
But what did the Qing court do?
News of Tsarist Russia's invasion of Heilongjiang reached the capital, and all the big guys in the capital unanimously advocated a full retreat.
In modern terms, it is strategic contraction. The order has been issued to the Heilongjiang generals. The military camps and villages on the south bank of Heilongjiang must be moved south to the Songhua River Basin.
Anyway, there are only so many people here, it will be nice to redistribute the land after they are relocated.
The Qing government did not care about those people on the north bank. In their eyes, those people were just savages.
As for Heilongjiang officials, they reported that people from the Huaihai Company were also operating in the Heilongjiang Basin.
This did not attract much attention from the Qing court. Every year, people ignored the court's ban and went to both sides of Heilongjiang to do business, selling some daily necessities and collecting some mountain products.
Not only Huaihai Company but also other businessmen will also go to Heilongjiang to do business.
If it was said that Dong Shuheng wanted to go there to rebel, the civil and military officials in the dynasty did not believe it.
You must know that the famous Ninggu Pagoda, an important distribution center, is still located in the south of Jilin.
The Heilongjiang Basin, especially the north bank of the Heilongjiang River and the lower reaches, was regarded by the imperial court as nothing more than an area inhabited by savages.
Even if criminals are exiled and dispatched, they will not be placed so far away.
If Huai Haijun really got there, the people in the court would definitely applaud him.
If Dong Shuheng was willing to give up the land between the two rivers and go to the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, Emperor Xianfeng might make him the King of Bohai.
Wouldn't it be nice to give him a piece of useless land and let him fight to the death with those Russians?
It's not that Dong Shuheng looked down on the Manchu people, their understanding could only reach this level.
Otherwise, the Russians would not have cut off millions of square kilometers of land without firing a shot during the Second Opium War.
You discard it like a worn shoe, but I regard it as a treasure!
The land left by our ancestors, even if it is a desert with no grass growing on it, even if it is a reef hanging alone offshore, even if it is a snowy land with ice and moon all year round, it is still a treasure.
Thinking of this, Dong Shuheng wrote in his reply telegram: "The enemy can come, and I can go too."
Of course, the command is not such a simple sentence.
After this battle is over, at least the Far East and the Heilongjiang River Basin can settle down in a short period of time.
Coupled with the strategic contraction of the Qing court, the Huai Navy almost completely controlled the entire Heilongjiang Basin.
Dong Shuheng plans to divide the entire Heilongjiang River Basin into two military regions for management.
From the Ussuri River to the east, to Vladivostok in the south, to Magadan and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the north, and to the North Pole. Dong Shuheng divided it into the Far East Military Region, with Lin Wei as the commander of the military region.
The military region is stationed in Temple Street, where a Temple Street Market will be built, and the military government will dispatch officials to manage civil affairs.
A naval port will be built in Vladivostok in the south, and the North Sea Navy will be formed based on Bao Youzhi's Nanyang Navy light cruiser detachment.
The North Sea Navy uses Vladivostok as its home port, Kuye Port, and Yokohama, Japan as its ports of call. The North Sea is its main defense area.
The Heilongjiang River Basin in the upper reaches of Khabarovsk is divided into the Heilongjiang Military Region, with Wang Xiao as the commander of the Heilongjiang Military Region.
Dong Shuheng is preparing to prepare the second batch of immigration fleet to go to Heilongjiang this year. The first batch will mainly build two settlements, one in Khabarovsk and the other in Jiangdong area.
This time the Jiangdong area was greatly damaged by the war.
Dong Shuheng decided to give some compensation to these Jiangdong people.
Now that the Qing government has completely ignored them, they will become people under the rule of the Huaihai Navy, and they will naturally be able to enjoy the construction dividends brought by the Huaihai Navy.
Heishui City abandoned by the Qing army will become the headquarters of the Heilongjiang Military Region.
The status of the Heilongjiang Navy still remains independent. Their station is located in Khabarovsk, which can take care of both the upstream and downstream, and can also cruise the Ussuri River Basin.
If the Heilongjiang generals of the Qing court made some small moves, they could even enter the Songhua River.
Of course, more militiamen must be organized to go over. In the upper reaches of Heilongjiang, Dong Shuheng is preparing to form a militia corps.
Build a string of more militarized farms along the Heilongjiang River. He has now basically figured out that if the Russians want to expand to the Far East, the most convenient route is to go down the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River.
As long as the upstream is guarded, the pressure on the downstream will be much smaller.
Just having a farm is not enough, at least a large fortress must be built in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang.
Without a strong military town, it would be impossible to stop the Russians.
At the same time, if there is a military stronghold in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang, it can threaten Tsarist Russia's rule in Lake Baikal and Siberia at any time.
Thinking of this, Dong Shuheng thought that Lin Wei and Wang Xiao should switch positions.
Not only that, he also wanted to transfer all the cavalry in Shandong and the Far East to Lin Wei.
Because the source of Heilongjiang is the Mongolian Plateau. Although it was occupied by the Russians, the most people who could live there were Mongolian herders.
Today's Mongolians have long lost the wild nature of their ancestors.
After hundreds of years of training by the Manchus, the Mongols not only reduced their population, but most of them believed in the Yellow Sect and became obedient people.
They are no longer a group of wolves, but a group of sheep.
Dong Shuheng thought that Lin Wei could go upstream to build a military town along the river, and rely on this town to establish trade relations with the local Mongols.
Absorb a group of poor herdsmen and form a cavalry regiment based on the existing cavalry.
If the Huaihai Navy wants to change offensive and defensive positions with the Russians, it must control a cavalry regiment.
The Mongolian Plateau plus Siberia is really too big. Before the railways, the only way to control this place was through the ancient arm of cavalry.
He dictated his plan and Wei Yuxiang recorded it.
Wei Yuxiang also organized the plans dictated by Dong Shuheng. Finally, he compiled five orders, which were given to Wang Xiao, Lin Wei, Bao Youzhi, Du Hang and Cai Shusen of Shandong.
Cai Shusen was also a little frustrated this year. He didn't win the Huaihai Navy's big battle, and the trained troops were drawn out in batches by Dong Shuheng.
Dong Shuheng didn't want this either. Cai Shusen was one of the people he trusted most. Dong Shuheng would not be at ease if someone else took that position in Shandong.
The control of the Huai Navy there was very weak. If the general had any objections, Dong Shuheng would not have time to react.
These plans will also be sent to the military headquarters and the military government respectively, and many matters still require their cooperation.
In fact, Dong Shuheng sorted it out and found that the most critical issue now is immigration. This year's immigration target of 200,000 has not been completed, so Dong Shuheng had to add new immigration targets.
Only when there are people to defend the territory, Dong Shuheng will not be so stupid as to think that after defeating the Russians, the Far East and the Heilongjiang River Basin will be his.
At the end of the order, Dong Shuheng also issued orders for the autumn offensive to several generals in the Far East.
It is now July, and there are still more than three months left for the Huai Navy to carry out military operations.
After October, the weather in the north will get cold rapidly, and the long cat winter will begin there.
Therefore, Dong Shuheng ordered Du Hang to lead the Heilongjiang Navy to cooperate with Lin Wei to go up the river to explore the situation upstream and establish a stronghold.
The most important thing is to sneak attack the Chita area where the enemy's troops are weak.
The Chita area is backed by Lake Baikal and has been a place operated by Tsarist Russia for many years. Lin Wei did not intend to occupy any place this time, but he must destroy it.
Dong Shuheng’s message to Lin Wei was: Just do what the Russians did.
Dong Shuheng is not afraid that his soldiers will become cruel because of this. In such a difficult place in the north, if human nature remains cruel, it will be difficult to survive, let alone develop and grow.
In the Far East Military Region, Bao Youzhi cooperated with Wang Xiao to send troops to control Magadan, the Tsarist Russian stronghold on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Establish farms, forestry or fishing ports on the original stronghold. Leave a part of the regular army and militia behind to carry out armed settlement.
Dong Shuheng wanted to completely occupy this place this time and cut off the North American part of Russia from its domestic connections.
Although the conditions here are relatively harsh, the furs and other resources here are of high value when taken to the south.
Since entering the Far East, Huaihai Company and Great Wall Company have had a stable supply of furs, and their annual income from them has also been considerable.
The dignitaries in the capital as well as the gentry and landowners in the interior were the patrons of these luxury goods.
Fur has become another important tool for making money in Dong Shuheng's hands.
These furs can even be exported. In the past, the source of European furs was basically monopolized by the Russians.
Now Huaihai Company has also joined the fur competition.
Dong Shuheng also ordered Bao Youzhi to continue attacking the Tsarist Russian colonies in North America and force them to abandon their coastal strongholds.
The purpose of American companies is to make money, but when they found that the Americas not only could not help them make money, but also became a bottomless pit of money.
Dong Shuheng believed that they would give up there on their own initiative.
As for asking Huai Haijun to directly occupy it now, it's not that Dong Shuheng doesn't want to. It's that he doesn't have the strength or the energy now.
After entering North America, Dong Shuheng was directly connected to the British and American forces. How to deal with the relationship with Britain and the United States then became a problem.
Therefore, it is better to manage the Far East well. It is just across the sea from Alaska. When the Russians can no longer hold on, they can send a fleet to take it back.