-Don't take a single step back!-

By the way, in real life, Nicholas II made the huge blunder of deciding that the rise in patriotism following the outbreak of World War I had weakened the momentum for the revolution, and so scaled it back.

　However, with Stalin (the Iron Man) now installed in him, Nicholas II was no longer so careless.

"Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, and Alexei, listen to me: most rebellions and revolutions can be managed if you can secure the loyalty of the army and the secret police."

　Nicholas II is teaching his four children the art of rulership with a straight face. This is one of the few times Nicholas II could spend time with his family during the war, as he was very busy.

"Enrich the army and the secret police and ensure their loyalty at all costs. Ignore the rest."

　By the way, the third daughter Maria is not here because she has been sent to England for a political marriage to maintain the alliance. She has been enthusiastically approached by Lord Mountbatten, and her engagement is said to be imminent. Nicholas II was also pleased with the royal wedding of the Romanov princess to Louis Mountbatten, the great-grandson of Queen Victoria and a nobleman.

(It's about time we found suitable partners for the remaining children.)

　Regarding the succession to the throne, Stalin believed that Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia and was in poor health, would be unable to rule directly.

　Stalin was cold-hearted, or perhaps an iron man who was not easily influenced by human feelings. If he was asked to choose between his family and his country, he would choose the latter without hesitation. In fact, he did not try to help his eldest son, Yakov, when he was taken prisoner, and he grew tired of his second son, Vasily, who was a spoiled brat, and he never tried to establish the "Stalin dynasty" and let his family inherit the dictatorship.

(Alexei should follow the example of the British and Japanese royal families and remain "reigning but not ruling." His brother Mikhail or cousin Kirill should support him as regent, and the royal family should be integrated with the party, the army, and the secret police...)

　The basic concept was a combination of developmental dictatorship and monarchy, as would later be seen in countries such as Saudi Arabia, and Nicholas II sought to preserve tsarism in a pragmatic way.

　**

　Empress Alexandra was not present at this gathering. In real life, the couple had a good relationship, but Stalin, who had become an atheist because of Communism, and Alexandra Feodorovna, who was superstitious, did not get along.

　This rapid advance was made possible by a new German tactic known as the "Infiltration Tactic." It was a culmination of trench-breakout tactics that had been gradually improved during trench warfare, and consisted of the following four stages:

　① Bombardment: Concentrate bombardment in a short period of time to paralyze the enemy.

　② Infiltration: "Shock troops" armed with poison gas, flamethrowers, grenades, and submachine guns infiltrate through gaps in the enemy's defenses.

　3) Detour: Prioritize speed and ignore enemy defenses, and detour to the enemy's rear at the commander's discretion.

　4. Neutralization: Destroy communication stations and headquarters to disrupt and neutralize the enemy's command system.

　The infiltration tactic was also called "Blitzkrieg without tanks," and placed emphasis on neutralizing enemy forces with soft means rather than destroying them with hard means. This marked a departure from the traditional "annihilation warfare theory" that had been used since Clausewitz, and led to great success for the German army.

　Two months after the start of the war, German forces occupied Riga in Latvia. Riga was Russia's third largest city after Moscow and St. Petersburg, and its fall dealt a significant blow to the Russian army.

　However, in the German Eastern Army, which should have been in a victorious mood, Chief of Staff Erich Ludendorff was raising his voice.

"---You're saying that further infiltration tactics are impossible?! What do you mean?!"

"The exhaustion in the field has already reached its limit. If we continue to use infiltration tactics like this, our forces may lose a strategic victory in exchange for a tactical victory."

　Facing him with a bitter look on his face is Oskar von Fuchsel, commander of the 8th Army, one of the first generals to make extensive use of infiltration tactics and arguably the foremost expert on them in the German military.

　The fact that Fuchel is opposed to the use of infiltration tactics carries no small weight.

"Infiltration tactics, in which small units avoid strong enemy bases and attack weak points, require high ability and skill from the commander of the small unit that carries them out. Machine guns and cannons can be replenished as many times as necessary as long as the factory is intact, but a good field commander is not so easily replaced."

"Is it really that draining?"

of training to move collectively.

　Even if there was some time to prepare before the battle, there was no room for training in shooting, which required a lot of money, materials, and time. Even if a large number of new recruits were trained to shoot guns, they would not be able to withstand a battle against the German army, which had been through many battles.

"I guess I got the short end of the stick."

　Mannerheim was not one to complain too much, but even he found this mission too much. No matter how competent a man he was, he was being asked to lead an army of fresh recruits into battle while all fronts were in retreat and the main forces were being held in the capital in preparation for a counterattack.

(Well, it doesn't matter. Unlike the other generals, I'm the commander of a defeated army, so I have nothing left to lose.)

　In this terrible situation, there was no hope of victory, and the higher-ups probably had no hope of it. For the commander, it was a mission that was clearly damaging to his career from the start. Of course, he could make excuses as much as he wanted, but doing so would only make him appear even more incompetent.

　But still, I had no choice but to do it.