Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 139 >

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Moscow University Hospital. Russia.

“It must have been very difficult these days.”

“If I can make this country a little better because I am having a hard time, wouldn’t it be great?”

Stolipin, who was in a tired state just by looking at it, raised his upper body.

“three days.”

“……”

“I heard that he was unconscious for three full days and three nights. I heard that you slept two or three hours a day.”

“I’m feeling a little overkill…”

“Well, isn’t it time to take a break?”

“What are you talking about?”

Stolipin frowned.

“As soon as I heard the news of the collapse, the Duma demanded a new prime minister. The demand was particularly strong in the Social Democratic Labor Party. He even made solidarity with the Constitutional Democratic Party.”

“So, will you listen to that?”

“Doctors say you should take at least a few months off for treatment, but you can’t leave the post of prime minister for a few months.”

“Are you going to hand over the prime ministership to the rednecks?”

“The trigger is in our hands. And just yesterday, Kerensky (Alexandre Kerensky: Александр Фёдорович Ке?ренский) came to see me.”

“You didn’t hang your neck.”

“The Mensheviks have long since completely denied their ties to the Bolsheviks and have been cooperating with government initiatives. And Kerensky isn’t a particularly sharp person. He is also quite friendly with the bourgeoisie, so it will be very helpful in pushing industrialization.”

“Still, didn’t you curse a lot in the past?”

“I never took it to heart. At that time, I didn’t even talk about the work, but I bowed down first and came in.”

“Then, are you going to nominate him as prime minister?”

“I haven’t decided yet… but I can’t keep you prime minister. Reform has to go anyway, and now is an important time. We cannot leave it to the patient.”

And there was one more reason.

At present, both from Irina’s report and from the light of my intuition and future knowledge… The Great Depression had already entered the countdown.

And you don’t need at least one scoundrel to be held accountable for that, maybe if Kerensky does better than expected, then you won’t need it, but if you don’t like it, you’ll be held responsible for the Great Depression.

After all, the military power is in my hands, and the real power Duma has is not that great. No matter how you try to pass any law, it is impossible to block it with Olga’s unrestricted veto power. Above all, power comes from the gun barrel, and all Russian armed groups, especially the Capital Defense Force, are definitely in control of me and my aides. Just because Kerensky was one of the protagonists of the February Revolution in original history doesn’t mean you need to be intimidated.

“At any rate, farmland reform has progressed to the point where it is irreversible. You don’t have to be afraid that Kerensky will ruin your achievements. And now, industrialization is as urgent as land reform, and Kerensky, who is supported by various circles in the current situation, and is close with the bourgeoisie seems to be the right person.”

“If your Majesty has judged that way, there is nothing to say.”

Stolipin’s voice was mixed with gasps as if he was exhausted from just talking for a while.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t trust socialists. never.”

***

“I will not deny that I am a socialist.”

Kerensky quietly drank tea.

“But I am not an extreme left adventurer like the Bolsheviks. We can negotiate.”

“Are you guaranteeing that the revolution you are claiming does not pose a threat to the current system?”

“Aren’t the socialists who infiltrated the military still being hanged for treason?”

Kerensky, a representative figure of the moderate left that has been slaughtered on charges of treason, and the moderate left has been intertwined here and there, and the leader of the Social Democratic Labor Party, which has been making strides since the reform of the Duma, said naively.

“Power comes from the gun barrel, and in the past, royals and nobles were all military leaders. You’ve come this far because you’re also wearing a military uniform, and even if I were to form a cabinet, I wouldn’t be able to touch the military and related posts.”

“Will the military not listen?”

“Aren’t the military currently only following your orders? It is impossible to overthrow the regime unless I get you involved in the socialist movement. We just show the results.”

“I don’t really care if you gossip about me or not, but that’s the point.”

I put down the teacup.

“Can you meet our expectations, can you push forward the industrialization of the Russian Empire, and are you clearly aware of your position?”

Don’t climb up, there’s a lot of autonomy, but it’s no fun if you rebel against the system itself.

In any case, it is inevitable to put a socialist element in the reform, but that doesn’t mean your world has come or will soon come, and if you cross the line, you’re literally dead.

Kerensky wasn’t an idiot who couldn’t understand the meaning.

“Of course, thank you for your unreasonable expectations.”

Kerensky smiled.

It was an unreasonable expectation that, if interpreted literally, it would be possible to achieve industrialization in Russia, but there was also a slight irony as to whether he really thought he had the ability to overthrow the government.

‘Can not help it.’

The impeachment has already crossed a distant river, and all they can do is help redistribute their wealth.

Two people with different plans shook hands.

***

Apart from the coming of the Great Depression, the development of the aviation industry, which has developed remarkably, was encouraging.

As an act of espionage, the British took out blueprints of the aircraft carrier being studied and studied various things, but the actual construction of the carrier had not yet begun.

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Meanwhile, aircraft continued to evolve. Manfred von Richthofen, the red baron who did not die because World War I ended earlier than the original history, and Amelia Earhart, who achieved wealth and fame by making a non-landing flight in the Atlantic Ocean one step ahead of Lindbergh in this world It was also part of that.

In fact, it was also the imperial air technology propaganda squadron. In the first place, I bet the money for a round-the-world flight, and the Red Baron flew on his own plane, but Amelia Earhart is going to fly on our Russian plane.

To be precise, it’s not a purely Russian plane, it’s a joint venture with an American company, but what about it?

“So where are you going?”

“I am Richthofen.”

“Huh?”

Olga tilted her head.

“I’ve heard that Richthofen is the best in the Luftwaffe, but I don’t know if you have any long-distance flight experience?”

“Then are you Amelia Earhart?”

“yes.”

“It will be fun.”

While chatting for a while to bet, the two waved to the crowd.

The cheers of the audience shook the room.

“It’s a small bet for us, but in other countries there is talk of a huge gamble on the outcome here.”

“okay?”

“Well, I don’t know if it will happen in the Empire……”

While the two of us chatted, two men with imperial courtesy got into the cockpit.

“I hope there will be no accidents.”

***

Kingdom of Italy, Rome.

“Italy! Jim is back!”

With the declaration of Vittorio Emenuele III on the podium, the black shirt troupe offered a Roman salute to their monarch.

The citizens of Rome cheered their monarch on his return. In fact, I wouldn’t have been able to send it. A British Lewis light machine gun was aimed at them behind their backs.

Armed with semi-automatic rifles, automatic rifles and light machine guns, the Black Shirts marched through the city of Rome to show off their victories.

The fact that all of the equipment they were carrying were modified based on British SMLE, Lee-Enfield or Lee-Metfort clearly showed who supported them.

Of course, the Russian Empire also disposed of a large amount of old-fashioned weapons, but there were many Russian-made weapons that flowed into the enemy because they sold goods randomly for money rather than sponsored by a specific faction.

The British government, on the other hand, distributed weapons to the Italian National Army almost for free, and Germany also sold weapons in a streak.

The reason was simple. If Italy becomes communist in Britain’s Mediterranean strategy, there will be no force to check the Yugoslav navy and the Russian navy.

Germany actively supported the National Army to stabilize the border and prevent the spread of communist forces.

“Benito Mussolini, I command you, as the former monarch of Italy, to appoint you as Prime Minister and to form a Cabinet.”

“I will gladly accept it, Your Majesty.”

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Mussolini laughed.

Italy came into his hands. Not in Dannunzio, whom he was jealous of, but in his hands.

On this day, Benito Andrea Amilcare Mussolini seized power in Italy as the head of the Kingdom of Italy and the leader of the fascist party.

And the aftermath was fierce.

“Kill the rednecks!”

“Kill!”

Gunfire rang out all over Rome.

The frenzy that the Black Shirts began to unfold after the victory was confirmed was so violent that even Benito Mussolini himself could not control it.

Those who were identified as gangsters and those who cooperated with them were dragged out and marched through the streets, drenched in filth. Several Black Shirts pulled some of them out and shot them in the head with a Walther shotgun in the street, killing them horribly.

It was very merciful to be beaten to death by beating them with clubs, and those who died by neatly shot or decapitated were lucky.

There were a lot of people dying in a tragic way that I couldn’t even express. There were really communists, but there were people who just hated the members of the Black Shirts in the past, or were brought in for other reasons.

It was madness.

People, regardless of age or gender, who were labeled as ‘Red’ were hung up on trees, and people sang the national anthem of the Kingdom of Italy as if it was a festival.

No one dared to resist this madness. No one wanted to go into a pit or hang from a tree with those who lost their lives.

American journalist John Reed captured the scene on camera and captured his heartfelt disgust.

He himself was at risk. He was also a socialist.

However, even the Black Shirts were not yet crazy enough to touch foreign reporters, so he was able to continue his coverage without any problems.

Of course, in the midst of this madness, I wondered how much I could have done if I had to do the coverage.

People standing in front of a wall are shooting with light machine guns, people shooting guns at the heads of people who are crawling with blood to survive.

He intends to expose the barbarity of the so-called ‘third way’ to the whole world, without leaving a single trace.