Struggle in Russia

After careful consideration, Shuvanov decided to carry out two things at the same time. He personally sent the letter to Sevastopol, and then put Mrs. Petrovna in charge of Zhenia.

Some people may find it strange that Shuvanov could send a trustworthy person to Sevastopol to deliver a letter, and he continued to stay in Kiev to preside over the situation. Why did he go there himself?

The reason is simple. Shuvanov is very cautious. Although it is still not completely certain that Titov's disappearance is caused by the hostile faction, he still believes that his disappearance is extremely abnormal, and even if there is no evidence, it must be regarded as the real enemy. Started to treat.

And this letter must be very important, otherwise Count Uvarov would not have asked Titov to go there in person, so from the perspective of the overall situation, he must be responsible for this key matter in person before he can rest assured.

And as mentioned earlier, Shuvanov had a vague sense of urgency in his heart. He felt that if he didn't send the letter quickly, it might delay the big event. Although he didn't know where this sense of urgency came from, he trusted his intuition.

"Sir, which route should we take to Sevastopol?"

Facing the steward’s inquiries, Shuvanov once again fell into deep thought. There are no more than two routes from Kiev to Sevastopol. Either go straight to Sevastopol by land, or go directly to Sevastopol from Odessa or Niger. Gulaev by boat. Titov chose the latter route before, which is a little closer than the former, and it is more comfortable to go to sea in Odessa or Nikolayev without having to run around.

After thinking for a while, Shuvanov ordered: "Arrange the troops and go to Odessa!"

This decision made the butler a little strange, because according to the general thinking, since Titov had an accident in Odessa, it can at least show that it is not particularly safe to go to Odessa. What about the food?

Shuvanov said with a smile: "It is precisely because of this that I have to go to Odessa to go to sea. If someone really conspires, they will never expect that I will continue to go to Odessa. This is called a surprise!"

The butler suddenly realized, praised Shuvanov's brilliance again and again, and then hurriedly summoned people to prepare for the escort.

Because of time constraints, Shuvanov didn't even need a carriage for this trip, he just rode on the road, and with more than 20 guards, he hurried out of Kiev, heading south all the way to Bai Tserkovy.

There was no need to spend more words on this journey. In one day and one night, Shuvanov and his guards rushed to Bai Tserkovy. Here he ordered the guards to rest for a while, and then he went on the road alone.

Of course, it is not accurate to go alone on the road.

Instead, he set off immediately after gathering another group of guards that had been prepared in the city.

"Sir, are we going to Odessa or Kherson?"

Shuvanov replied without looking back: "Kherson!"

Well, this guy is really not ordinary cunning. He nominally went to Odessa to take a boat, but in the blink of an eye he took another group of people and went straight to Kherson. Kherson is a very important place. It is the throat of Ukraine entering the Crimea Peninsula. After passing Kherson and going south is the Piricop Isthmus. As long as you pass through this opening, you will enter the Crimea Peninsula.

In other words, Shuvanov made a false shot, but in the end he chose to go by land. This guy is no ordinary chicken thief, what he says and what he actually thinks makes people unable to guess at all.

He not only changed the road suddenly, but also left a warrant, ordering another subordinate who was similar to him to take the previous guards and continue to march towards Odessa, making the illusion that he continued to Odessa. Once Mingxiu planned the plank road and secretly kept Chencang, what he did was a trick of falsehood and reality.

Three days later, he rushed to Kherson with his troops, and he was not relieved until he entered Kherson. Because he was also worried along the way, and was always on guard against someone intercepting him, but fortunately, this bad situation did not happen, and the road was unimpeded and safe.

However, Shuvanov was only slightly relieved, because he had only completed two-thirds of the journey to reach Kherson safely, and there was still one-third of the journey to go, and in his opinion, this section should be the shortest in the whole journey. It's been a dangerous journey.

Why do you say that? Because Shuvanov is very clear that the Crimea Peninsula is already the site of the Black Sea Fleet, and the Black Sea Fleet has an unprecedented influence on this piece of coastal area including Odessa and Nikolaev. All the officials here, big and small, are inextricably linked to the Black Sea Fleet.

Is there a problem with the relationship with the Black Sea Fleet? Isn't Berkh the commander of the Black Sea Fleet? Then why is Shuvanov so nervous?

The reason is very simple. As the head of the third Ukrainian department, Shuvanov is very familiar with the situation of the Black Sea Fleet. Although Berkh is the commander, there are not many people who convince him up and down. Cornino Lazarev and Nasimov actually had greater influence, and almost all the people left behind by Lazarev listened to these two, and Berkh's control was actually limited.

It may be that Berge, the headquarters in Sevastopol, can really control everything. Outside of there, Berge's influence is very small. And Shuvanov is very clear that Lazarev is a reformist, and his students naturally tend to be reformists. In view of the relationship between reformists and conservatives, he feels that if there is an enemy who makes Titov disappear, then the Black Sea The suspicion of reformists in the fleet is very high. Naturally, the closer he gets to other people's sphere of influence, the more careful he should be.

Fortunately, Berge still has some contacts in Kherson. The local mayor is his, and Shuvanov is also familiar with this, so after arriving in Kherson, he immediately sent someone to contact the mayor and asked relevant circumstances.

Why just ask about the situation instead of coming to help directly? This was because of Shuvanov's cautiousness. He knew that the mayor was actually very conspicuous in Kherson, and he could easily be targeted if he contacted him rashly. Just in case, don't go to the door.

"Count, I haven't heard of anything unusual! Everything in Savastopol is normal, and Your Excellency the Commander is busy fighting with that special envoy!"

Shuvanov frowned. In his opinion, no abnormality is the biggest abnormality. Since Uvarov is busy writing letters, it means that the situation is very serious this time, and the struggle between the two sides is fierce. May it be peaceful?

However, he did not explain the truth to the mayor, but asked, "Fighting against the special envoy? What's going on? Tell me in detail..."