-Home Front Control-

Successive defeats on the front lines were creating great tensions within Russia itself.

　Nearly three years after the start of the war, the Russian military had 75,000 officers and 4.5 million soldiers, with mobilized forces reaching 14 million. Since the peacetime military strength was 40,000 officers and 1 million soldiers, the large-scale conscription caused serious labor shortages in rural and urban areas.

　In particular, in rural areas where young men and farming horses were taken to be war horses, harvests fell by about 20%, and even in cities, where 70% of the workers were working in munitions factories, there was a shortage of civilian goods. In addition, when attempts were made to mobilize the ethnic minorities of Central Asia, who had previously been exempt from conscription, to serve in the rear, rebellions broke out and were put down after bloodshed, showing the end of the situation.

　However, unlike in real life, the rebellion has so far been suppressed.

　This was because Nicholas II's brutal repression of the nobility, workers, and peasants had been successful in delaying the outbreak of World War I.

　The spearhead of this movement was the increased number of secret police.

　The secret police in the Russian Empire included the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Police Department Security Bureau Okhrana, and Russia as its operational force Imperial Military Police. 

　Not content with the status quo, Tsar Nicholas II expanded its powers and personnel considerably, developing it into a new Ministry for State Security (MGB), with the goal of replicating the Soviet Union's People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) that he knew so well.

　Unlike the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications police, which are solely responsible for preventing crimes against individuals and investigating perpetrators, the Political Police is primarily responsible for cracking down on anti-government activity that threatens the nation. Its role is wide-ranging, including monitoring the public, suppressing rebel elements, operations overseas, and counterintelligence against foreign spies, and even the military is no exception to this surveillance.

"A government without a secret police is like a state without a standing army. Just as there is a standing army to protect against foreign enemies, so there must always be a secret police to protect against internal enemies."

　With the generous support of Nicholas II, the MGB's personnel increased to about 100,000. As for the Gendarmerie, they remained military in rank and status, and expanded to 300,000 as the de facto "Russian Home Army" under the MGB.

The head of the MGB was to be Grand Duke Mikhail, the younger brother of Nicholas II and second in line to the throne.

　Grand Duke Mikhail, who had been living abroad due to a morganatic marriage, returned to Russia at the start of the war to command a cavalry unit called the "Wild Division." This was a powerful unit made up of volunteers from six ethnic minorities in the North Caucasus, and his ability to unite different ethnic groups was recognized.

　The commander of the Gendarmerie, the operational force, was Cossack Cavalry General Alexei Kaledin, known for his competence and bravery.

　The majority of the Gendarmerie soldiers were made up of Cossack soldiers who were deeply loyal to the imperial family, and in particular, the non-Russian-speaking ethnic minorities were favored, as they were thought to be able to "ruthlessly crush the enemy." In addition, the Cossacks were allowed a certain degree of autonomy in their homelands in exchange for pledging loyalty to the emperor and serving in the military, and as an ethnic minority and semi-privileged class, they actively supported the regime in order to survive, forming a kind of coexistence relationship.

　Furthermore, to prevent rebellions from occurring within the regular army, Tsar Nicholas II ordered his cousin, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, third in line to the throne, to set up a "Politburo" within the army. In short, they were political officers.

　Initially, the political officers were appointed to oversee volunteer units made from prisoners of war, such as the Czech Legion, but Stalin, aka Nicholas II, realised their usefulness and ordered their expansion to the entire army.

　**

"Does Your Majesty doubt our loyalty?"

　At first, there was considerable opposition from within the military, but Nicholas II gathered his officers and gave them a careful lecture.

"There seems to be some misunderstanding about the new political officer system. They have no right to interfere in military operations, nor to dismiss officers. The purpose of the political officers is, first and foremost, to instill loyalty and patriotism in the soldiers."

　Unlike volunteer soldiers, the Russian Empire had a conscription system, and low-ranking soldiers were nothing more than "peasants in military uniforms." Many of the officers, many of whom were aristocrats or landowners, were loyal to the imperial government, but Stalin expected little loyalty from soldiers who were conscripted and thrown into the battlefield without even knowing the purpose of the war.

In fact, the Russian Revolution was caused by this, when soldiers refused orders to fire on fellow demonstrators, killing their officers and spreading the rebellion, which led to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty. However, knowing the historical facts, Stalin has no intention of making the same mistake.

"We must crack down on revolutionary ideas such as French socialism, as well as British and American liberalism. If such disruptive ideas are brought into the military, which should be forged with iron discipline, we will no longer be able to win battles that we can win."

　After being personally persuaded by the Tsar, the officers finally seemed to be convinced.

"I certainly felt that discipline had been lacking recently."

"These new recruits still have that student mentality, so we need them to have more awareness as soldiers."

"We need to instill more 'military spirit' in them."

　Unlike previous wars which ended in short battles, World War I saw unprecedented large-scale and rapid conscription. As a result, training periods were greatly shortened, and many of the new recruits who were thrown into the front lines after only about two weeks still felt like workers or farmers when they went to war.

　So some of the best veteran soldiers are assigned as "political officers" to instill in the soldiers the three values ​​of patriotism, military spirit, and loyalty. Of course, they also monitor the soldiers to make sure they are not tainted by revolutionary ideas, but their main job as veterans is to educate new recruits, provide mental care, and act as a bridge between the soldiers, many of whom are farmers and workers, and the officers, many of whom are aristocrats and landowners.

　In reality, political officers were similar to class representatives or the most senior non-commissioned officers in modern armies.

　Perhaps thanks to the efforts of Nicholas II, although there were successive defeats on the front lines, it could be said that it was a blessing in disguise that there were no mutinies by the soldiers.

Grand Duke Kirill's political officers kept a tight rein on the front-line soldiers, and Kalezin's gendarmerie crushed all internal demonstrations. In addition, the MGB, headed by Grand Duke Michael, had over 1.5 million people. Unofficial collaborators were expanding nationwide, creating a surveillance society based on a thorough network of mutual surveillance.

＊＊＊

On the other hand, Nikolai's limited military knowledge limited his knowledge: he could remember which weapons were useful in the Great Patriotic War, but he didn't know the details of their use.

　While Dr. Popov's "walkie-talkie" and Dr. Sikorsky's "airplane" are clearly contributing to the battlefield, there are also researchers who cause trouble in the field with inventions whose use is unclear.

　One of these people was Dr. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who would later become the "father of rocket development." Taking advantage of Russia's abundant land, a weapons testing facility was built on the outskirts of Moscow, where rocket launch tests are carried out almost daily.

　but--.

"...I can't win today either."

"...Yeah, not a single shot hit me."

　They had had the same conversation countless times over the past few days. Princess Tatiana and Dr. Tsiolkovsky, who had come to inspect the facility, both slumped in despair.

　Basically, a projectile is useless if it doesn't hit the target. However, due to the structure of a rocket, the accuracy of the shot is unstable due to the effects of wind and initial velocity.

"It would be better to use a rifle or a howitzer. At least those two are more likely to hit the target."

　When Tatiana muttered in a nonchalant manner, Dr. Tsiolkovsky retorted in annoyance.

"At least it's better than a machine gun."

"..."

"..."

"Ah."

　The idea struck them at the same time. That is to say--

　It's a reverse idea that you don't have to hit the target.

"Why didn't I notice this until now? We just need to gather the numbers!"

"That's right! Think of it as a cannon version of a machine gun and use it for suppressive fire!"

　Portable infantry firearms can be broadly divided into two categories: rifles for hitting targets and machine guns for intimidating enemies by spraying bullets.

　However, there are no cannon-sized weapons that can fire continuously, and until now, the only way to carry out suppressive fire with long-range artillery fire was to line up a large number of cannons.

However, cannons are expensive, and training artillerymen requires mathematical knowledge and calculation skills, so it takes time.

　However, rockets have a simple structure and cost only about 20% of the cost of a cannon. They are easy to use and do not require complex expertise, so they should be able to be mass-produced, deployed, and operated by soldiers.

"For the same cost, we can get five times as many as a cannon. Even if it's a crude rocket, if you fire enough times you'll hit something!"

"Exactly!"

　An old man and a beautiful girl hold hands and take mysterious steps together like friends who have known each other for ten years. It doesn't make a very good picture.

"Well, let's demonstrate it in front of His Majesty as early as next week! I'll show him just how amazing rockets are!"

　A romantic vision of a great number of rockets bursting into flames was already blooming in Dr. Tsiolkovsky's mind.

　--And the following week.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!! Our forces are overwhelming!"

　Tsar Nicholas's loud laughter echoed throughout the rocket launch test site.

　In a word, it was spectacular... Tsar Nicholas was deeply impressed by the sight of 250 rocket artillery pieces roaring in unison, leaving trails of smoke and filling the sky.

　In the Russian Empire, where industry was still underdeveloped, even a division only had around 50 cannons, meaning the effectiveness of suppressive fire was limited.

　Of course, cannons have the advantage of high accuracy that rocket artillery does not have, but a low-tech Russian cannon, when used by low-skilled Russian artillerymen, is not going to hit many targets anyway.

So it would not have been a bad idea to just switch to rocket launchers. They were cheap, easy to assemble in large numbers, simple in structure, easy for amateurs to use, and sturdy... they were the perfect weapon for the Russian Empire, which had no choice but to compete with Germany with quantity over quality.

　Unfortunately, the industrial power of the Russian Empire was more than twice that of the German Empire. To make up for this disadvantage, it was inevitable that weapons development would place emphasis on productivity.

"Okay, I've decided! I am ordering the mass production and deployment of rocket artillery!"

　Decisions are made quickly in a dictatorial state. With a single word from Nicholas, the decision was made.