Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

Inside the radio station.

Sergei wrote the telegram with shaking hands. He had to let Moscow know the seriousness of the situation and let them know that Su Zhengyang was not joking.

&34;To the Winter Palace in Moscow:

urgent!

China issued an ultimatum, demanding a response within two hours. If China did not agree to cede 160 million square kilometers of territory, the Northern Division would set out at 12:.

The Chief of the Military General Staff, Gudean, threatened that the entire Far East could be occupied within three days.

It is recommended to immediately...&34;

&34;Don&34;t bother.&;

A calm voice suddenly sounded. Sergei looked up and saw a middle-aged man in casual clothes leaning against the door frame.

"Let me introduce you," Zhang Luanyu said, "this is our Intelligence Bureau Director, Yan Shuangying."

Yan Shuangying walked in and picked up the telegram that Sergei was writing down: "Don't bother to access your communication channel. We can use it directly."

"What do you mean?" Sergei was stunned.

"It's very simple," Yan Shuangying smiled meaningfully, "We can crack any encrypted channel within three minutes. Including... your KGB's top secret channel."

Ivanov gasped.

"Don't believe it?" Yan Shuangying took out a document and said, "This is a secret telegram sent to you by Moscow last night. The content is about the instructions for today's negotiations, asking you not to give up an inch on the territorial issue because they believe in Sekt's promise."

Sergei's face turned pale. He had only seen the secret message this morning.

"So," Yan Shuangying continued, "don't bother thinking about the wording. Just send it directly through our channel and you will receive a reply in three minutes. After all..."

He glanced at his watch meaningfully: "Time is running out."

Sergei felt cold all over. Their encryption system, the KGB communication network that they were so proud of, was like a joke in front of China.

What does this mean? It means that all their deployments in the Far East and all their military secrets are in the hands of China.

"Start writing," Yan Shuangying walked to the door, "and tell Moscow that their "Far East Special Operations" plan has been completely exposed. Just last month, we intercepted all the details."

There was dead silence in the office.

Sergei looked at the telegram in his hand and suddenly realized a terrible fact: they had already lost in this game from the beginning. And the young president had already calculated everything.

The clock reads 10:15. There is still one hour and forty-five minutes until the deadline.

The Winter Palace in Moscow.

"This... this is impossible!" KGB Communications Director Kalenko stood up abruptly, "This frequency... this is the communication frequency of the Chinese!"

Nicholas III's face turned pale: "What do you mean?"

"Your Majesty," Kalenko said with cold sweat on his forehead, "This telegram was sent via the Chinese radio station. And... and they completely broke through our code system and directly connected to our receiving channel."

There was an uproar in the conference room.

"Let me see," Ivanovich, the top cryptologist of the KGB, pushed through the crowd and rushed to the telegraph machine. He carefully checked the signal characteristics and cipher parameters, but soon his face turned pale.

"How is it?" Nicholas III asked in a deep voice.

"This...this..." Ivanovich wiped the sweat from his forehead, "They cracked our code book. Not only can they send, but they can also receive. And..."

He swallowed and said, "Based on the signal characteristics, they have mastered our password system for at least three months."

"Three months?" Grigoriev exclaimed. "How is this possible? Our cryptographic system is..."

"It's state-of-the-art, I know," Ivanovich said with a wry smile, "but the Chinese...their code-breaking technology is much more powerful than we thought."

Nicholas III grabbed the telegram. When he saw the content, his face became even uglier.

&34；他们说已经截获了我们的&39；远东特别行动&39；计划，&34；沙皇的声音有些发抖，&34；全部细节。&34；

The conference room was dead silent. The plan was top secret, and even most people present didn't know the details.

"Your Majesty," Kalenko said tremblingly, "If what they say is true... then all our deployments in the Far East..."

"Everything is under their control," Nicholas III sat back on the throne heavily, "No wonder... No wonder Su Zhengyang dared to give us an ultimatum."

Ivanovich was still frantically checking the telegraph: "Their cryptographic technology... is too advanced. The encryption system we are so proud of is useless in front of them."

It was still sunny in Moscow outside the window, but there was an atmosphere of despair in the conference room of the Winter Palace.

The technological advantage they were so proud of was vulnerable in front of China. The military deployment they thought was secret was already transparent in the eyes of the other side.

And now, the other party even sent the ultimatum using their own communication system.

This naked technological crushing is more deterrent than any threat of force.

The clock read 3:15 PM Moscow time.

There is still one hour and forty-five minutes left until the deadline.

The Winter Palace in Moscow.

Nicholas III slumped on the throne, his face full of fatigue and humiliation. He looked at the telegram in front of him, his fingers trembling slightly.

"Take my PIN number pad," he said suddenly.

Grigoriev quickly handed over a faded black leather notebook. This was the secret code for private communications between the Tsar and ambassadors abroad, known only to a very few people.

Nicholas III wrote the telegram himself:

&34;Sergey:

Agree to China’s request.

[Grizzly bear enters the forest] [Jackdaws fly south] [Snow and ice melt]

[White Wolf Returns to its Nest] [Morning Star Sets in the West] [Dusk Has Not Yet Arrived]

[The iron tree blooms] [The spring rain is coming] [The dusk is dark]

-Nicholas&34;

No one present except the Tsar could understand what those strange phrases meant. But from the trembling fingers of Nicholas III when he wrote these words, everyone understood that it must be some special instructions.

"Send it through the Chinese channel," Nicholas III said tiredly, "Anyway... they have everything under control."

When the telegraph operator started sending the message, the Tsar walked to the window and looked at the Moscow skyline. His back looked so desolate.

"Your Majesty..." Grigoriev hesitated.

"No need to say more," Nicholas III waved his hand, "this day will come sooner or later. I just didn't expect..."

He smiled bitterly: "It will come so soon."

After the telegram was sent, there was a dead silence in the conference room. Everyone understood that this humiliating surrender telegram would forever change the situation in the Far East.

The codes hidden in the ordinary words may become the foreshadowing of a turning point in the future. But at this moment, no one dares to think about those possibilities.

Because they all saw how the great Russian Empire was defeated by a young man who was only 26 years old.

The sun was still shining brightly in Moscow, but the sky over the Winter Palace was shrouded in an impenetrable haze.

The clock read 3:30 p.m.

This moment will forever be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.