-Is Paris Burning?-

"Our homeland is in danger!"

　On September 15, Paris quickly turned into hell. The German army mercilessly bombarded the city, which had ignored the surrender call. The intense bombardment quickly reduced the City of Light to a pile of rubble, and fires and smoke exacerbated the damage.

　However, the ruins and rubble caused by the intense bombardment turned into countless barricades, ironically transforming Paris into a fortress city. The French government had already completed its evacuation to Bordeaux, and in the capital, the 6th Army and the citizens were preparing to fight to the death.

　Then, on September 20, the German 8th Army finally began to enter Paris, supported by fierce artillery fire. However, Paris had been reduced to a mountain of rubble by artillery fire and fire, and had become an impregnable fortress city. In the ruins, enemies and allies fought over every single building and room, resulting in fierce urban fighting. Even when the German army charged into the concrete ruins, the French army put up a stubborn resistance on the upper floors and in the basements, and even if they completely occupied them, they would launch a counterattack using the underground passages and sewers.

In addition, the French army selected soldiers with good shooting skills from each army, prioritized their assignment to the Paris defense force, and stationed snipers throughout the city. Traditionally, it was considered cowardly to target officers and commissioned officers, but the unwritten rules of the good old days crumbled in the face of the rationality of total war. And the loss of the specialized officers and commissioned officers, unlike the easily replaceable soldiers, would later have a body blow effect on the German army.

"Paris is hell! It is not the city of flowers, it is the city of death!"

　The Prussian General Staff received daily cries of dismay from the German troops fighting on the front lines. Images of the quagmire of urban warfare were sent overseas by the increasingly widespread media, and even reached Nicholas II in Petrograd.

(Reminds me of Stalingrad...)

　Nikolai Stalin harks back to the past and praises the courage of Soviet soldiers who fought bravely in the city that bore his name, a turning point in the Great Patriotic War.

　**

"Your Majesty, the siege of Paris has reached a complete stalemate. In the meantime, both sides have dug trenches all the way to the English Channel, and it seems that this 'Western Front' is already showing signs of being a long-term battle."

At the Stavka (the headquarters of the Imperial Russian Army) in Baranavichi, a key railway transportation point in Belarus, Nicholas II and his generals were reporting on the war situation while spreading out maps.

"It's just as I expected. Britain, France, Germany and Austria are plunging into a quagmire of war with no end in sight."

　The generals around him roared in praise. Stalin nodded generously in response to their fawning attitude, but inside he was not at ease.

(Phew... That was a close call. I need to raise the reputation of the French a bit.)

　To repay the French for their efforts, Russia launched an all-out offensive on the eastern front with 1 million soldiers, with the 1st and 2nd Armies deployed in East Prussia, north of Russian Poland, and the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th Armies deployed in Galicia-Lodomeria, Austro-Hungarian, to the south.

　By the way, the 6th Army is responsible for defending the capital while keeping a close eye on domestic rebellions, and the 7th Army has been deployed to the Caucasus in preparation for Turkey's entry into the war.

　As for the Central Powers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had deployed the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Armies on the eastern front, and the 5th and 6th Armies towards Serbia, making them equal in numbers to the Russian army.

　On the other hand, the German army's only defensive force was the newly established 9th Army, which had been hastily mobilized after the outbreak of the war.

(...It's not that different from the historical facts.)

　This was Nikolai, aka Stalin's, honest impression after seeing the military force distribution map.

　The humiliating defeat at Tannenberg was studied in detail in the Soviet Union, and Stalin had the general outline of how it unfolded.

　If my memory serves me correctly, in actual history the German 8th Army, having been defeated by the Russian 1st Army, was simply shifting to the Western Front, while the German 9th Army, led by the famous duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, was waiting for me in East Prussia.

　The commanders who are said to have been the cause of the defeat in real life have not changed.

　The commander of the Russian 1st Army was General Rennenkampf, as in the historical record, and the commander of the 2nd Army was General Samsonov. However, the idea that the cause of the defeat was the rift between these two men was a misconception on the German side. In reality, the plan was easily exposed due to a lack of supplies and the use of unencrypted radio signals.

　It may be said that it was a rookie mistake, but in actual fact, Nicholas II, out of consideration for Britain and France, urged the Russian army to advance without sufficient preparation, which led to the Russian army advancing beyond the limits of wired telegraphy, and without any code theory, they had to rely on unencrypted radio communication. As a result, the German army, which had eavesdropped on the plan, defeated them one by one - this was the truth behind the Russian army's great defeat at Tannenberg.

"So, what's your opinion, Chief of Staff?"

"While keeping an eye on supplies, I think we should launch offensives in both East Prussia and the north and south of Galicia."

"I guess so."

Considering how long it had taken to delay the start of the war, it was a lackluster operation, but the Russian Empire's army was not sophisticated enough to pull off a stunt like a spectacular surprise attack and blitzkrieg to take control of the enemy capital in one go as soon as the war began.

　In fact, the German army knew that they could not do such a thing, and that is why they implemented the Schlieffen Plan (Aufmaschine I. West).

　First, there was the issue of supplies. Strictly speaking, Poland was a satellite state of Russia, and its internal affairs were not unified with Russia, so the railway standards were different. Soldiers had to transfer trains near the border, which required a lot of time and effort, and the German-Russian border had no paved roads on either side for security reasons.

　In addition, East Prussia was largely undeveloped, with numerous rivers, forests, lakes, and hills, making it difficult to see through and unsuitable for an advance. The few roads and railroads that existed could easily be identified by the Germans, and the key transport links were fortified by the Germans.

　At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed into Stalin's mind: the dreaded Nazis had once used tanks to traverse the seemingly impenetrable Ardennes Forest and annihilate the Allied forces.

　Now it's time to give it back to them. How satisfying!

"How about using a tank? It can penetrate through forested areas--"

"That's impossible."

　It was Chief of the General Staff, Mikhnevich, who cut down Nikolai's idea with one stroke.

"There really are no decent roads in East Prussia. It's one thing to have roads in the forested areas along the French border, where there are at least some well-maintained roads, but the area around Lake Masuria, where the German army is stationed along our border, is a marshland covered in lush conifers, and even the forest roads rot due to the moisture from the rain and mud."

"... (smiles)"

　This is a very valid point that cannot be argued. In fact, the German army was able to break through the Ardennes forest in World War II thanks to the good fortune of well-maintained roads, but during Operation Spring Awakening on the eastern front, tank units of both the German and Soviet armies were forced to halt their advance due to mud and rain from melting snow.

　This was the case even for tanks made with technology 30 years in the future, so if they had followed the orders of Stalin, also known as Nicholas II, and deployed tank units at this time, a disastrous outcome would have awaited them. Although he was not ignorant of future knowledge, Chief of Staff Mikhnevich's conservative thinking ultimately saved the Imperial Russian Army.

　However, Nicholas II nodded and replied briefly, "I see," but there was no smile in his eyes.

　Regardless of what he pointed out, I don't like the way he directly contradicted the Emperor in front of so many people. Doesn't he understand that if his authority is damaged, the pyramidal hierarchical chain of command of the military will be shaken?

"Chief of Staff, well said. I'll remember what you just said."

　Regardless of Mikhnevich's fate afterwards, the Russian military's policy was solidified for the time being.

　Almost exactly as in real history, the game launches offensives in both the north and south, but it doesn't rush forward out of deference to the troublesome British and French. It carefully manages to get supplies and slowly but surely chips away at enemy territory with the support of infantry numbers and firepower.

　As their nickname "Steam Roller" suggests, they are not flashy, but they crush all resistance in a straightforward and honest manner. That is the way the Russian Imperial Army fights.