-Individual Circumstances-

The great victory of the Brusilov Offensive gave Russian forces control over most of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Galicia, giving them control over more than half of the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

　However, what remained of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would prove to be surprisingly resilient from this point on.

"Hungary is Austria's greatest ally and greatest enemy"

　Such rumors had been circulating at the Vienna court even before the war, and this perception was not entirely wrong.

　In the old Eastern European powerhouse that was once the Habsburg Empire, the largest majority was German at just 24%, followed by Hungarian at 20%, Czech at 13% and Polish at 10%, and Hungary was combative towards Austria for most of the time.

As a result, the Habsburg Empire was forced to compromise and reformed into a Dual Monarchy through the "Ausgleich," dividing the empire into the "Zisleitanien" ruled by Austria and the "Transleitanien" ruled by Hungary.

　However, after the fall of Translaitanien, one of the areas in the west of the country, in the Brusilov Offensive, all the remaining imperial forces came under the command of the Cislaitanien government, and the exiled Hungarian nobles were forced to submit to the Vienna court.

　Ironically, after the bitter defeat and loss of territory, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was once again back under German rule, with a centralized government and military control on the verge of being established.

"All people of the Danube, unite! We will never forgive the Slavic invaders! Now we can truly unite and reclaim our stolen homeland!"

From Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Emperor Franz Joseph I called for unity among the many refugees and citizens alike. This was the cry of an emperor who had ruled the empire for over 60 years and was loved by all the nations of the empire for his gentle and honest personality.

"The greatest mistake I have made is not understanding nationalism. But that remains the case to this day. We need each other. I believe that this empire should be a federation in which all nations have the right to self-government."

　There was a moment of silence, and then cheers rang out from the entire square.

　This is because the long-cherished wish of all ethnic minorities - Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians, Italians, Slovenes, Croats, and Ukrainians - has come true.

　With the collapse of the empire looming, even the vested interests of the Germans and Hungarians were forced to make concessions.

"Today, I hereby declare the federalization of the Empire and the establishment of a National Government Cabinet!"

Though consistently conservative throughout his long reign, Franz Joseph I finally embarked on major reforms of the empire towards the end of his life.

　The emperor, who had often said that if he tried to implement reforms, the patchwork Habsburg Empire would collapse, finally made this decision after seeing the empire sliding down the slope to collapse.

　Thus, the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to fight to the end and strengthened its defenses with the support of Germany.

　**

　At a time when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the brink of collapse and undergoing reforms, diplomatic pressure was also coming on Russia.

　France and the UK.

At first, Britain and France were happy about the great Russian victory that would lighten the burden on the Western Front, but they suddenly changed their attitude when Austria was on the verge of surrender.

　He said, "We will never forgive Russia, a cowardly country that forces its allies to endure hardship and then reaps the benefits."

　In fact, that was exactly what Stalin was aiming for, so in that sense it can be said that his strategy was successful.

　Above all, according to the man himself, "During the Great Patriotic War, they forced 70% of the Nazi German army onto us and forced us into a war of attrition for three years, and then only landed in Normandy one year before the end of the war when victory was certain, and then tried to take the credit for themselves, so we have no right to criticize them."　　

　However, there is a limit to everything, and both Churchill and Roosevelt were considerate enough to demonstrate their support by carrying out strategic bombing of Germany.

(I don't care what happens to the Westerners, but it would be troublesome if they were to push them too hard and end up making a separate peace with Germany. Let's let them have a little glory.)

Finally, domestic political considerations put a stop to further escalation.

　At that time, factionalism remained strong in the Imperial Russian Army, and other generals were beginning to express dissatisfaction with Brusilov being the only one to achieve success.

　Of course, the same can be said for Nicholas II, aka Stalin. He was a true dictator, and he knew very well that to maintain power, it was not enough to just "defeat external enemies."

(If Brusilov becomes a "hero," I'll be in trouble. There can only be one hero on Russian soil, and that has to be the emperor).

There is a proverb in the East that says, "When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked."

　Usually it is used in a negative sense, such as "rulers use heroes only when it suits them and discard them when they are no longer needed," but as a practical matter, the existence of someone with greater popularity or ability than the ruler destabilizes politics.

　Even if the person himself does not intend it, if people gather around him, factions will be formed, which will undermine the legitimacy of his rule and in the worst case scenario, lead to civil war. There was a reason why King Charles VII of France and Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I treated Joan of Arc and Belisarius coldly in the latter half of their reigns.

(Brusilov himself is probably not ambitious, but the military has achieved too many successes in this war...)

If the military becomes too successful, its political influence will become too great for even the emperor to ignore. The military will start to wage wars in the interests of the military rather than the nation, and eventually will even be willing to remove emperors and bureaucrats that they dislike.

　Finally, as a practical matter, supplies could not keep up with the rapid expansion of occupied territory.

　For these reasons, Nikolai finally gave the order to cancel the operation.

　Thus ended the Brusilov Offensive, and for some time afterwards the Russian Empire was preoccupied with maintaining its rapidly expanding territory, wiping out guerrillas, and maintaining supply lines.

　＊＊＊

　In Verdun, France.

The officers' quarters assigned to the Russian-French Expeditionary Force (REFF) have been designed to be as simple and space-saving as possible in order to save on supplies.

　As the only female officer among them, Tatiana was exceptionally assigned a private room and various efforts were made to improve her living conditions.

　She puts a stylish lamp that she bought in Lyon on her desk during her vacation, changes the plain curtains and bedspreads to cute floral patterns, puts flowers she picked nearby in a vase to decorate the windowsill, and uses ceramic dishes and tea utensils...While the men are increasingly finding it troublesome and are starting to regress, saying "at worst, a place to sleep is enough," she continues to put up a courageous and tearful resistance.

(I don't mind mud, bugs, or the smell of men's sweat anymore, but as a woman there is still a line I won't cross.)

　After completing her daily duties of meetings, entertaining others, and inspections, Tatiana changed into her pajamas and returned to her room, the only space where she could relax, where she collapsed onto the futon, pulling herself together.

"Oh, by the way, I received a letter today."

　In the Allied forces, mail was delivered regularly, but the weekly letters from her family were one of Tatiana's few pleasures. Every evening, it was her daily routine to quietly read them while drinking tea with lots of jam in her small officer's room.

"Fufu, Anastasia and Alexei. They're causing trouble for Olga again."

　Judging from the letter, her family in Russia seems to be doing well. Her younger sister Maria in England has also received an enthusiastic proposal of marriage from Lord Mountbatten, with whom she is currently engaged.

"Maria, stop being so stingy about English food being so bad and just hurry up and get married. Your partner is handsome, rich, and the great-grandson of Queen Victoria. It's not a good match."

　Thinking about this, Tatiana opened the next letter, and her cheeks, which had been smiling until then, twitched.

"Wow... it's from my father."

　To be honest, Tatiana hated the letters her father sent her.

　Of course, there's a reason for that.

"...…on second thoughts"

　Tatiana opened the letter as usual and immediately found a string of cursive writing in an incomprehensible language. Russian cursive writing is already so complicated that it looks like scribbling to foreigners, but Nikolai's writing was even worse.

　"What if the enemy steals it?" they were so paranoid that they converted it into something only they could understand. To do this, they even had the intelligence department create a special code table for them.

　This alone was enough to disgust Tatiana, but the bigger problem lay in the contents.

　--War is a mobile war! Break through in one go and take control in one go! Don't be afraid of some casualties!

--A battle is neither a point nor a line! It is a surface and a solid! Think comprehensively!

"...Self-improvement?"

　I seriously wanted to throw it away.

　Although it seems that the father is trying to encourage his son in his own way, the substance of the message is unclear. It seems like a list of whatever came to mind on the spot, rather than a logically constructed sentence.

　It also contains very abstract things like, "It's fine if the artillery fire doesn't hit the target, as long as it explodes!" and "Don't let captured enemies escape! Absolutely!"

"It's no good... I honestly have no idea what Father is talking about..."

In fact, Nikolai intends to teach theories such as "operational tactics" and "deep attack doctrine" that led the Soviet army to victory in the Great Patriotic War, but Nikolai, who was a politician, only has a rough memory of military theory. He is just scribbling down what he can remember from memory, so it is no wonder that Tatiana is confused.

"...I guess you're going senile, father."

　In the end, Tatiana was at a loss as to what to do and decided to consult with the other generals.