Rasputin of the East

42

Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Front of the Russian Imperial Army

“General Brusilov.”

“I see the Count and the Princess.”

Brusilov greeted us politely as soon as the two of us entered.

Olga was lying on my bed in the armored train commander’s dormitory, saying she was sick and feeling sick, so Tatiana was the only one who came to meet Brusilov.

“Let’s go ahead and get straight to the point. The imperial order was to fly a double-headed eagle over Constantinople in the shortest possible time and by any means. What about Romania and Bulgaria?”

“Romania has not yet declared war, but it is no different than participating in the war. Currently, with the cooperation of the Romanian Railway Authority, discussions have been completed on the issue of railway movement to Bulgaria and fuel supply.”

“What happened to Bulgaria? Do you really want to fight?”

“I don’t think I’m going to go to war.”

“Then, should it be seen as hostile?”

With a worried expression on my face, Brusilov added:

“First of all, the Bulgarian side is not refusing to negotiate, but it seems to be paying attention. So, in my judgment, I urged the Bulgarian side to either side with us, pave the way, or go to war, or choose one of the three.”

“Good job. You have to do bats as much as you can. I have something to add to that, would you mind?”

“What are you going to say?”

“It’s not a big deal, it’s a time limit. If there is no response three days before the start of the operation, Bulgaria will be regarded as showing hostility and will invade, or something like that.”

“I will pass it on. And is there anything else the Southern Front can do for you?”

“Please take good care of the back of our heads. Of course, there will be nothing to protect in the first place.”

“What does that mean?”

When Brusilov made a puzzled expression, I gave a brief explanation. If the Northern Front were toppled over in Berlin, they would come as close to their noses as possible, so they would launch an all-out offensive on the Eastern Front. it would be

“No matter how precious Austria-Hungary may be, it cannot be more precious than Berlin.”

“… that’s logically correct, but then something is odd.”

“What do you mean?”

“Signs of an enemy offensive have been detected on the southern front.”

“……Yes?”

“A large-scale German offensive on the southern front is predicted.”

“A tribute, or is it not deception? No matter how much a revolution in Austria-Hungary is about to happen, do you have an enemy right in front of Berlin and attack the South?”

“I think it’s very likely, but… we’ve definitely noticed a massive movement of enemies. Some units even identified divisions and regiments.”

“Then it is more likely to be a deception. How can you manage information so poorly?”

It is common to flirt with the enemy by leaking false offensive information to the enemy.

Unintentional but realistic examples include the German army’s attempt to shovel Manstein’s sickle, which was only collecting dust due to leaks of the existing operational plan during the invasion of France, to f*ck the French army. There are many instances in history of creating identity and documents, meticulously manipulating even valuables, and then throwing it into the sea and letting it flow into the German army, causing the Germans to misjudg the Allied offensive purpose.

Can’t the German military think of such a deceptive tactic?

Above all, if it comes to the Southern Front, it is a one-sided story that is only good for us. So I don’t trust it any more.

“Then should we support the Southern Front forces in the North?”

“It makes no sense. The enemy probably intends to carry out two strategic units of siege and annihilation, but it would be nice if the Southern Front Army did not suffer the same if the forces of the Southern Front went up.”

If I had been in Warsaw, the story would likely have been different, but even if I go up and down now, I will lose.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“First of all, this campaign is important. If the Ottomans were to be strengthened alone or suffered a level of damage equivalent to the collapse of Constantinople, virtually meaningless on the front line, the Balkans would effectively fall into our hands. If we lose half of Hungary and the Balkans, will Austria survive?”

can it be It’s not even worth half a penny.

“Assuming Austria resists the war, if we advance to Ljubljana taking advantage of the northern front offensive and cooperate with the Italian army in the Alps, the entire southern part of Austria will collapse. The Italian army will advance into southern Germany, and you can win by focusing on the German forces deployed on the northern front. Theoretically.”

“Even if we fail, we have to hold on until the middle of next year, but there is almost a year left. In the middle of next year, the Allied Forces will launch a massive offensive, and while the main force is locked in Poland, it can cause great damage on the Western Front.”

Then, Borsilov said.

“Did you just say ‘theoretically’?”

“The question is whether the Empire can hold out until then. How long the Northern Front can withstand, how far can the enemy advance, and above all… how much blood is shed.”

The last one is the problem.

industrial ability? Even if Warsaw collapses, it will be able to survive to some extent.

Even if you lose all Poland, it is still possible to block it.

But sacrifice cannot be ignored.

What sparked the decisive fire in the Russian Revolution was the Brusilov Offensive, which, ironically, was called Russia’s greatest victory on the Eastern Front.

Propaganda for my capture of Constantinople? No matter how much religious fanaticism is, how many people would be more than happy to have captured Constantinople than the letter of his son’s death thrown in front of them?

Of course, Russian public opinion is close to ‘Constantinople must be reclaimed, at any cost!’, but the standard of public opinion itself is a problem.

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Most of the people of the Russian Empire are serfs, and although the serfs were officially liberated by the decree of Alexander II, and Stolipin worked hard to nurture free people, the liberation of the serfs is an unfinished feat.

However, public opinion is the standard for intellectuals and those who can afford to live a little. The sample itself is wrong. Rather, most people today are struggling with extreme economic hardship and debt, so is Constantinople really meaningful?

I don’t know much about serfs, but I think it probably doesn’t mean much. Even if you want to suck the soup, you have to have the strength to hit it, right?

Of course it will depend on how much Stolipin has made the serfs better, and how well I have rooted out the dissidents, but always be prepared for the worst. In that respect, it is militarily bearable or close to victory, but the worst situation is that a revolution breaks out in the rear and the war has to be stopped.

I was worried about that, so Irina was sent to Moscow too.

“In other words, the point of this fight is not military victory or defeat, it is a question of whether the war ends before the second Bloody Sunday.”

The original history is 1917. How about now?

“It doesn’t really matter how much damage you do. The impact on the citizens is the problem.”

The most typical example is the Chinese New Year offensive.

The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, which launched surprise attacks during the Tet and Chinese New Year truce customary during the Vietnam War, failed to achieve any tactical goals.

Originally, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong should have cooperated to carry out the military operation, but the movement of the North Vietnamese Army was delayed due to various circumstances, and the North Vietnamese Army on the sortie melted like ice cream under the American attack, and it was of no help. The Viet Cong suffered from organizational collapse.

In terms of warfare, all attacks were blocked except Hue and Khe San, and later Si was also recaptured by US and South Vietnamese forces. The Viet Cong retreated on their own under the pressure of the United States to deploy the .

At that time, the damage of the failure of the Chinese New Year offensive was so great that the North Vietnamese side evaluated that the operation itself had suffered an impossible level of damage for several years.

However, strategically, Hue was occupied and the US embassy in Saigon was attacked, causing casualties, which ignited anti-war public opinion in the US.

After reassuring the people that the war would soon be over, when it became known to the public that the entire Vietnam area would become a sea of fire, a large-scale anti-war movement broke out in the United States, and eventually the United States withdrew from the Vietnam War.

The dilemma I had was that we could be the same.

What if, while we occupy Constantinople and promote domestic propaganda, Warsaw is taken away by the German offensive and there are huge casualties or large-scale sieges?

Even during the Russo-Japanese War, the Pacific Fleet suffered massive damage from a Japanese surprise attack, and the Baltic Fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Tsushima. The land was not acquired at all.

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Media control will also have its limits, so who can guarantee that the second bloody Sunday will not happen?

No, if it was the Second Bloody Sunday, that would be the Russian Revolution.

I have entrusted the full power to Irina, but it is difficult to be reassured.

“We will attack and subdue Constantinople and negotiate an end to the war with the Ottoman Empire. We need to clear the Ottoman front as quickly as possible and move north to minimize damage.”

“Is it possible? The occupation of Constantinople…. Countess would be good enough to become the second Mehmed II, but how quickly would it be possible, and what if the Ottoman Empire resisted?”

“It is enough to dismantle the whole country. General, do you know why an empire is an empire? In other words, why is a country called an empire called an empire?”

Why couldn’t a country called an empire no longer exist in the 21st century?

“Isn’t Rome supposed to be an empire?”

“That doesn’t mean… didn’t there exist empires before Rome? Alexander’s Hellenistic Empire (Greek Empire), Persian Empire, etc. Do you know what those empires are called empires by?”

“What is it?”

“It is said that various peoples were placed under the imperial court and ruled. It cannot be generalized, but the king of a country is usually responsible for only one people, but one emperor must rule many peoples. Just like that Austria-Hungary.”

The Russian Empire also has quite a number of ethnic minorities, and China indiscriminately assimilated numerous minority ethnic groups to an overwhelming number, but even the Han Chinese, the main ethnic group, is nothing but junk food mixed with various ethnic groups.

Persia, Greece, Rome, and Great Britain were no different in that they ruled over numerous peoples.

Napoleon’s French Empire and German Empire are different stories, but in any case, it is clear that the Empire is inherently a very vulnerable political system in the age of nationalism.

Is it different from the Ottoman Empire?

‘I can’t.’