"This is the Russia I know!The glorious, fair Russian Empire!"
But what Kontrachenko didn't realize was that Kuropatkin had yet to review the detailed expenditure reports from the defense forces.
As the world reeled from Japan's crushing defeat, the British diplomat Herbert Giles, a man wielding significant influence over the empire's Far Eastern diplomacy, made haste to Hong Kong.
At the military base there, Giles met with Lieutenant General Patrick, the man who had first proposed a shared strategy of mutual destruction to Parliament. The plan had been to let both Russia and Japan bleed each other dry, allowing Britain and its allies to swoop in and divide Korea much like they had with China.
But now, with the plan in shambles, Patrick's career hung by a thread.
"I underestimated them," Patrick admitted, his tone bitter. "Who could have imagined the Russian Army would be this strong?"
