Rasputin of the East

43

The second hand moves in one direction while ticking.

At one point, the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand stopped at one point.

4. 12. 12. 4 am.

At the same time, the sky and the earth vibrated, and the cannons spewed out flames.

Thousands of shells covered the sky and turned the ground upside down, signaling the start of the offensive.

The target is Constantinople.

It was the city of longing for the Russian Empire.

***

“The Ottomans are retreating!”

The captain shook his head at the report of the non-commissioned officer.

“What the hell are these guys doing?”

I haven’t even fired a few shots. This was because the number of troops deployed in this area by the enemy was too small and morale was low.

“Well, good is good, isn’t it? They didn’t anticipate the offensive at all…”

“Is that possible? Constantinople, we sang the Constantinople song, and there is no common sense that we did not know that we were coming.”

In response, Captain Vasilebsky angrily brought his binoculars to his eyes.

“Is there something? Or are they just assholes with nothing?”

***

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Mustafa Kemal shook her head.

“Enemy forces wear the coat of arms of the minimum field force, the interior service force. A number of tanks were observed.”

“Oh God.”

It wasn’t that he had a deep religious faith, but it was a situation that made even such a person seek God.

The British were still confronting them, and rather, a fleet reinforced from the home fleet was dropping artillery shells on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

“The Bulgarians must have betrayed me, otherwise I would have heard the news that Bulgaria had been invaded earlier.”

The arrow on the map was pointing towards Constantinople along the shores of the Black Sea.

“When Constantinople falls, the empire is over.”

Retreat and fight back? you can try

However, it is only an effort to delay death somehow, and the empire will eventually collapse.

The Empire has already surpassed the capacity of its existence just to maintain its own body.

Armenia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Trabzon, Izmir, none of them can be defended.

In fact, Mustafa Kemal had no reason to keep it. He was initially negative about the Ottoman Empire because he believed that the Turkic National Republic of Anatolia was the future.

But that was it, and I had to stop it now. But with what?

If he runs right away, Russia can block it. But then they will occupy Gallipoli and advance further into Constantinople.

Any indication that they are going to launch an additional offensive is clear to anyone.

‘Are you going to surrender to Russia or to Britain?’

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Mustafa Kemal, called Ataturk in the 21st century, had to be in serious trouble.

At this rate, defeat is inevitable.

Giving up what you have no choice but to give up boldly. Cut off the rotting arm, cut off the leg through which the poison spreads.

Thus, even if the body was left with no arms or legs, it had to survive.

Even if he lost everything, he had to protect at least Anatolia.

Who will accept such a deal?

Is there room for dialogue with the UK? Will Russia keep the Anatolian Peninsula intact?

His troubles deepened.

***

German Empire, Berlin.

“Did the Interior Ministry advance into the Ottoman Empire? Is it certain information?”

“Yes! I’m sure. The same report was also posted by the Ottoman Military Advisory Group, and the Ottomans are on their way with literally all defenses collapsing. I can’t even hold my ankle properly…”

“How long will it take for the enemy to reach Constantinople?”

“It will arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest.”

“……. What?”

“Two days at most.”

“Does that make sense? Are they fighting?”

It was an advance speed that made no sense in common sense. What kind of Ottoman Empire did not cut the railroad because there were only assholes?

“But… they are actually advancing at that speed.”

As I said that, Ludendorff was speechless.

In fact, except for Kemal, who has not yet received the name of Ataturk, it is also true that the Ottomans are assholes.

“How about Operation Barbarossa? then?”

For a moment, Ludendorff’s face hardened.

Obviously, the operation itself becomes easier, but that is a short-term part.

It is true that the Ottomans are assholes, but it is also true that they are supporting the Russians in the Caucasus, the British in Gallipoli, and the British in Mesopotamia.

And no one thought that the Ottomans could save Constantinople.

But now I can’t even bite.

“All three do. I can’t even come back now.”

“…Barbarossa, we will start as scheduled.”

***

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Moscow, Luvka.

“…that crazy.”

Irina was shocked to see the report.

It wasn’t originally in her field, but I was able to realize that something was wrong with this situation.

‘I wondered why this content was posted……’

She looked away, wiping away a cold sweat.

“Isn’t this, the report wrong?”

“If you go to the market, you won’t know. Chief Deputy. To be honest, I don’t want to believe it either.”

“…… No way, make an appointment with the Interior Minister, what the hell did you do to get to this point! No, more than that… You left this behind?”

Irina’s already pale face was white enough to compare with high-quality paper.

***

I leisurely read the reconnaissance report.

“I thought you were going to stop me at least once.”

I didn’t know that I would fight the Sifahi in my lifetime.

Of course, they are not Sifahi. Like the Janissaries, the Sifahi were absorbed into the disbanded and modernized cavalry and disappeared.

Unlike the Janissaries, they were disbanded peacefully, but anyway, they were not Ottoman cavalry units.

Of course, the situation of having to block the tank units with cavalry became pitiful and pitiful, but, I know, there was no reason for me to bring the Cossacks into a fair and face-to-face confrontation.

The enemy built a defensive line in the direction of Edirne.

It’s not a very good place to defend. It is all plain and wide.

It would be better to narrow the area of the front and block it with elite troops, but there are many large cities in front of that.

We couldn’t have left those cities defenseless, so the idea of erecting a line of defense against us in Edirne is not wrong.

It’s just that they don’t have enough skills to do that.

“General Wrangel wants to fight and is going crazy, so tell Wrangel to take the lead.”

It would not have been possible to dig a trench. The region has so many detours that it is far wiser to engage in cavalry warfare as the Russian doctrine of war against Germany.

However, against the cavalry we will send out tanks.

“All right.”

“Gentlemen, this weekend in Hagisa Sofia, let the soldiers go to confession. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes! dismissal!”

The subordinates shouted in a loud voice.

Come to think of it, I was really talented. Tukhaschensky, who was promoted to regimental commander by my own authority after the last battle, Wrangel who took command of tanks in addition to cavalry, Konstantin Rokosovsky, who was awarded a medal in the last battle, and was promoted to major by me.

‘By the way, Tukhaschensky was the commander of the tank regiment under Wrangel.’

No wonder they put new weapons ahead of their time on such talented people and sent them out against the Ottomans, the assholes, but they won’t lose.

Certainly, this battle seemed to be expected.

‘If the opponent is not Mustafa Kemal, no matter who goes, it will be a victory.’

Ataturk is a monster just by looking at his record.

Gallipoli’s operation itself was like an asshole, so even if it passed, the Turkish army, which had 9 times the air power, doubled the cannons and machine guns, and had only 130,000 and 96,000 troops, in every way in the defense of Edirne, the Caucasus Campaign, and the Turkish War of Independence. His strategic and tactical abilities are real, such as winning the 3 weeks of non-stop fighting at the Battle of Sakharia in an overwhelming situation, and destroying the Greek army in Domlufnar.

I’ll have to put it together with Tukhassevsky or Rokosovsky to find out…. To be honest, I still lack experience, and those heroes of World War II aren’t there yet.

Fortunately, that Ataturk is now commanding the defense, receiving shells fired by the British navy at the Gallipoli bridgehead, which the British have not yet given up on.

In other words, unless Atatürk is using his clone technique, it is likely that someone else will command the troops here. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that there is no one in the Ottoman Empire to care if it is not Ataturk.

‘That person, how can I not use it.’

As a Turkish nationalist, I thought it might be possible to form a cooperative relationship in moderation, although it would be impossible to bring it down, but that is the story after the capture of Constantinople.

At that moment, the door to the armored train’s command room swung open.

“It’s urgent!”

“Something?”

Seeing the signalman’s pale, weary face, I had a gut feeling that something unusual had happened.

“The massive German offensive on the southern front has begun!”

“…. Southern? Aren’t you wrong about the North?”

“This is the Southern Front! The size of the army is huge! He is undoubtedly the main character!”

***

Southern Front Headquarters.

“Sir, the phone is connected.”

“I see.”

Taking the receiver, Brusilov spoke quietly.

“It finally happened.”

“Didn’t there be any contact from the Northern Front?”

“Yes, if the offensive had started, there would have been no communication from the other side.”

“… I don’t understand.”

“I am, too. It would have been better to attack the northern part than to gather this amount of troops and wage a decisive battle.”

It must have already been revealed to the allies that the Home Affairs Army was in a position to immediately support the Southern Front.

Then there is no internal military force in the north. Just as Ataturk can’t be in Gallipoli and Edirne at the same time, I can’t be in the North and South at the same time.

Then it would have been wise to hit the North with this power. Although the Russian army concentrated a significant portion of its troops there to fill our void, it was not likely that the German army would be unable to penetrate the Russian army, which had a large number of new recruits.

“Isn’t there a possibility that this might be an Austrian-Hungarian offensive?”

“The German flag has been identified. In particular, the unit at the forefront is the Bavarian Army. It’s pretty much the same thing we figured out before the fight started.”

“Bavaria.”

“In addition, Saxony, Baden, and Württemberg have been identified.”

The German army is made up of five armies. The Prussian, Saxony, Baden, and Württemberg forces were the actual main forces.

Except for the Prussian Army, the armies of all four countries are semi-subordinate to Prussia, but even the headquarters are used separately. Of course, the scale is small, so if you combine the armies of all four countries, there are only two field troops, and the Bavarian Army alone has one field army.

“Then at least…”

“There may be a mix of Austrian-Hungarian forces, but only the Germans have sent at least two field troops. I don’t know what scale the counterattack was planned, but it’s quite a lot for a private person.”

“Then the main focus is the Southern Front….”

“Yes.”

I know rationally. No matter how absurd what is left after removing all the impossible, that is reality.

But my instincts were still sounding the alarm.

‘Why didn’t you change the offensive axis?’

Knowing we’re there, going head-to-head with us? That’s bullshit, and you don’t even know the basics of strategy. Because there is only one thing that can honestly respond to a head-to-head match when we have an advantage.

Obviously, there was something.