Time passed quickly, about half an hour had gone by when Minister of War Prince Dolgorukov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Nesselrode, and Count Orlov, head of the "Third Department" arrived at the Catherine Palace together with the Military Attendant.

When the three ministers pushed open the door and entered the room, the voice of Nicholas I reached their ears: "You have arrived!"

The three ministers hurriedly knelt to salute Nicholas I, who waved them over.

The three of them walked together toward Nicholas I in the room, where Nicholas I was standing in front of a long rectangular table, his head bowed, and his forefinger constantly tracing on the table.

As the three ministers approached Nicholas I, they discovered it was a map of the Near East, scaled at approximately 1:50,000, laid out on the long rectangular table.

Prince Dolgorukov and Carl Nesselrode felt a sense of unease swelling within them.

Since the last time Carl Nesselrode and Dolgorukov deceived Nicholas I, both Carl Nesselrode and Dolgorukov had been distanced from the center of power to varying degrees. Especially Carl Nesselrode, who now only dealt with some less important diplomatic meetings.

Currently, the Russian Empire's military and diplomacy were tightly controlled by Nicholas I, and all matters, big or small, required direct reporting to him.

As for Count Orlov, leading the "Third Department," since Nicholas I himself did not manage espionage operations, Count Orlov had a slightly better understanding of the Near East.

Once Carl Nesselrode and others stood before Nicholas I, Nicholas I immediately said to them: "The Ottoman Empire has already declared war on the Russian Empire! It is estimated that it won't be long before the French Empire also declares war on the Russian Empire, so I have gathered you here to ask if you have any ways to enable the Russian Imperial Army to enter here more quickly!"

Nicholas I pointed to the location of Constantinople, speaking passionately to the two ministers beside him: "The Aus Empire has declared war on us, and we must take action as well, so I called you over to ask what thoughts you might have?"

As soon as Nicholas I finished speaking, Prince Dolgorukov, who was somewhat blunt, immediately told Nicholas I that he needed to understand the number of Russian Imperial troops in the Danube River region, as well as the number of Ottoman Empire troops deployed in the Danube River region.

As soon as Dolgorukov finished speaking, Nicholas I turned his gaze to Orlov.

As the head of the Third Department, Orlov immediately pointed to the map to explain to Prince Dolgorukov the deployment of 130,000 Russian Imperial troops in the Danube River region, and then told Prince Dolgorukov the approximate numbers at the Ruse Fortress Group and the Silsicote Fortress Group.

After understanding the basic information, Prince Dolgorukov asked Nicholas I for a pen, and Nicholas I promptly ordered the Military Attendant to find a pencil for the staff to use in drawing.

Not long after, the Military Attendant found a pencil and handed it to Prince Dolgorukov, who began to annotate Orlov's intelligence on the map with the pencil, while Carl Nesselrode and others watched Prince Dolgorukov.

"Done!" exclaimed Prince Dolgorukov after marking all the necessary places, and a brand-new map appeared before them, densely covered with arrow symbols and numbers representing troop strength.

On Silistra and Ruse, "20,000" and "30,000" were clearly marked, with two arrows pointing towards these two directions.

Nicholas I examined it carefully for a while, then immediately asked Prince Dolgorukov whether there would be simultaneous actions on the Ruse and Silistra Fortress Groups.

"No, Your Majesty! What I mean is to choose one of the two fortress groups as the main attack direction!" Dolgorukov shook his head and explained to Nicholas I.

"I have an army of 130,000, entirely capable of launching attacks on these two places simultaneously! Just like in 1828!" Nicholas I, who had experience leading troops, asked Dolgorukov, as he had always held a grudge about what happened in 1828.

"Your Majesty, a large-scale deployment of troops would cause serious logistics and supply problems!" Dolgorukov responded to Nicholas I, "Too many troops in combat will only result in twice the effort with half the result! Besides, neither Silistra nor Ruse is suitable for large-scale army maneuvers; an army of 30,000 is already sufficient to spread out."

"Then how should the remaining troops be handled?" Nicholas I asked Dolgorukov.

Dolgorukov laid out his plan, firstly dividing 50,000 troops from the 130,000 to head southwest of Bucharest to deter the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while the remaining 70,000, led by the Guard Army as the vanguard, with dozens of cannons, would attack the Silistra Fortress Group, striving to eliminate all Ottoman Empire troops within the Silistra Fortress in a short time. As long as the Silistra Fortress Group was conquered, then Bulgaria would be an open path behind them.

However, Prince Dolgorukov specifically emphasized the need to quickly take the Silistra Fortress to prevent the likely emergence of French troops.

Confronted with the strategic advice given by Prince Dolgorukov, Nicholas I held a different view, believing that the Russian Imperial Army should first conquer the Ruse Fortress, and after taking Ruse, move to the southwestern region to instigate Serbia into independence. The Serbian nations, long oppressed by the Ottoman Empire, had already harbored much anger, and Nicholas I believed they would become the best allies of the Russian Imperial Army.

"As long as the Slavic nations can unite, we can definitely defeat any enemy!" Nicholas I said enthusiastically to Dolgorukov, already dreaming of becoming the 'Little Father' of the Balkans.

Carl Nesselrode questioned the naive ideas of Nicholas I, asking whether he wished to maintain the friendship between the Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire (Carl Nesselrode was also unaware of Austria's betrayal of the Russian Empire).

Nicholas I immediately nodded in affirmation, and after Nesselrode knelt and bowed once more, he said, "Your Majesty, forgive my presumption! If you truly wish for the Austrian Empire to stand with us, then please abandon your recent thoughts!"

"Why?" Nicholas I asked Nesselrode with confusion once again.

"Your Majesty, there are also many Serbs within the Austrian Empire! If those Serbs respond to your call and incite unrest, the Austrian Empire may very well be dragged to the other side! For a multi-ethnic nation like Austria, the greatest fear is ethnic rebellion! We cannot push them into the enemy's camp!" Nesselrode sincerely advised Nicholas I.

Nicholas I, after a moment of contemplation, let his rational side prevail over his emotional side and approved Dorogorukov's plan.

Subsequently, Dorogorukov spoke to Nicholas I about the plan Prince Menshikov had once devised, which involved a strike on Sipuno Port.

Nicholas I suddenly recalled that a few months ago, when the Ottoman Empire had just rejected the Russian Empire, Prince Menshikov, upon returning from the Ottoman Empire, had mentioned this plan to him. However, at that time, Nicholas I had rejected Menshikov's plan, citing excessive recklessness.

In view of the current situation, Menshikov's plan seemed to have a certain degree of feasibility.

"Do you think Menshikov's plan can accomplish the strategic objectives proposed by the others?" Nicholas I inquired of Dorogorukov.

Menshikov's strategic plan was to swiftly destroy the Ottoman Empire Navy and then force Britain and France to be unable to aid the Ottoman Empire, thus allowing the Russian Empire to secure victory.

Dorogorukov shook his head and candidly told Nicholas I that he also doubted the realization of Menshikov's vision. However, even so, the Russian Empire still needed to preemptively destroy the Ottoman Empire's naval forces, for only in this way could logistical supplies be guaranteed.

After all, the volume of maritime transport supplies far exceeds that of land transport.

Only after gaining control of the Black Sea could the Russian Empire truly achieve the capability to strike accurately at will.

Even if the French Empire came to assist, it would require some time, and as long as this time gap was utilized to gain an advantage, the Russian Empire could destroy the Ottoman Empire before it even responded.

Regarding Prince Dorogorukov's request to eliminate the Ottoman Empire Navy, Nicholas I immediately agreed.

Thereafter, Nicholas I summoned the Military Attendant once again and ordered him to bring over Prince Menshikov, who had been idle at home for several days, as he wished to hear Menshikov's plan firsthand.

When the Military Attendant arrived at Menshikov's home, Menshikov's wife initially displayed an expression of surprise, but then immediately adjusted and warmly received the Military Attendant. The Military Attendant promptly conveyed to Menshikov's wife that Tsar Nicholas I had urgent matters to discuss with Prince Menshikov.

"Come with me!" Prince Menshikov's wife said to the Military Attendant.

The Military Attendant followed Menshikov's wife upstairs to the third floor, where he found Prince Menshikov in a bedroom.

At that moment, Prince Menshikov exuded a strong smell of alcohol, with disheveled hair that seemed unkempt for weeks, and eyes that once had the sharpness of a hawk now filled with bloodshot veins, giving him an inexplicable air of decay.

"Who are you?" Menshikov inquired shakily of the Military Attendant before him, as the Attendant appeared to morph from one person into multiple in his vision.

"Prince, His Majesty orders me to escort you to Tsarskoye Selo!" the Military Attendant calmly informed Prince Menshikov.

"Tsarskoye Selo... Hmm! I'm not going to that place... It's full of liars and thieves!" Menshikov drunkenly bellowed at the Military Attendant. "I won't return to that place!"

"But, my orders are to bring you there!" the Military Attendant pleaded earnestly with Menshikov, and then glanced toward Menshikov's wife for assistance.

Menskikniv's wife, looking at her intoxicated husband, offered an apologetic smile to the Military Attendant and asked him to wait outside for a while.

Seeing this, the Military Attendant had no choice but to comply. Half an hour later, Menshikov appeared before the Military Attendant, showing no signs of having been intoxicated.

"Let's go!"

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