-Downfall-

A month later, France was divided into two governments: the Commune government, centered in Paris, and the Third Republic government, based in Bordeaux.

　The Commune government, secretly supported by Germany, quickly took control of the north and east, while the republican government, supported by foreign powers such as Britain and the United States, barely managed to hold the west and south. The situation was reminiscent of the French Civil War, and things were becoming increasingly chaotic.

　News of the incident reached Russia, displeased Tsar Nicholas II.

"The Allies are truly disappointing. If they had held out a little longer and gone down together with Germany, it would have been a great help... but they're useless."

　However, when he finds Lenin's name among the leaders of the Commune government, his eyes widen and he is speechless.

"Comrade Lenin..."

　It was a quiet mutter that no one could hear but the Emperor himself, but the rare look of shock on his face caught quite a bit of attention.

"Your Majesty?"

"...Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

Even Stalin recognized Lenin's abilities. Additional reports reveal that even Trotsky had traveled from London to Paris.

"The Third Republic will be destroyed."

　Stalin was well aware of Lenin's political charisma as well as Trotsky's talents as a military leader.

(France will eventually be taken over by the Commune under Trotsky. After all, he was the man who led the country to victory in the bitter Russian Civil War...)

　Stalin concluded that the weak French Third Republic could not be defeated in a head-on battle.

(Anyway, what has happened can't be helped. Comrade Lenin is one thing, and Trotsky will probably be assassinated with an ice axe someday... but the real problem now is the German army.)

　Although no formal peace had yet been concluded, France, now in a state of civil war, had in effect agreed to a separate peace with Germany.

(Then the remaining coalition would be Britain, Italy, and our Russian Empire...)

　But with Britain across the sea and the natural fortress of the Alps in Italy, the next target for the Germans was undoubtedly the Russian Empire under Nicholas II.

　It is said that the German army was already following the Schlieffen Plan, withdrawing troops from the Western Front and sending them onto trains bound for the Eastern Front.

"There's no other way... Chief of Staff!"

　Hearing the Emperor call his name in a loud voice, Chief of Staff Mikhail Alexeyev stiffened in shock. He could vaguely imagine what kind of unreasonable demands he would be made to make.

"Your Majesty...that-"

"What?"

　Nikolai's sharp gaze pierced Alexeyv. The rebuttal that had been trying to form was swallowed down by the pressure.

　Attack before you are attacked - that was the creed of Tsar Nicholas. Of course, he had no intention of giving up the Eastern European countries he had seized.

(However, supplies are already reaching their limit. The guerrillas in the occupied Eastern European countries are also active. They can't afford to launch an attack...)

However, even if they resisted, they would only be taken care of by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and in the end, Tsar Nicholas would not be convinced until someone else lied and said, "We can attack." If that's the case, there's no point in arguing.

"The Army is already preparing plans for a major attack on Germany. If His Majesty gives the order, we can put it into action within a week."

　While silently apologizing to the soldiers, Alekseev recited the words Nikolai was most likely hoping for as if on a loudspeaker.

　＊＊＊

　As expected, it was the soldiers on the front lines who suffered the most.

　The German General Staff had predicted that Russia would not sit idly by and watch France surrender, and had strengthened its eastern front as much as possible. Their efforts were successful, and the Russian military's operational plan was almost perfectly accurate.

"Forward! If we don't move, we'll just become targets for artillery fire!"

　Mannerheim himself traveled to the dangerous front line to encourage his soldiers. On the other hand, this meant that morale was so low that a commander had to go to the front line.

(Damn you incompetent intelligence bureaucrats! Wasn't the enemy being drawn in by a diversionary force heading for Poland?!)

　Currently, the 4th Army led by Mannerheim is heading north from the occupied former Austrian territory, aiming for Berlin. Although the initial breakthrough was successful, it was thwarted by a sudden and powerful counterattack when it reached Dresden.

"Damn, the enemy's artillery fire is too intense! What is the progress of the cavalry that has charged in?!"

"We can't see anything because of the smoke from the shells! The cavalry seems to be isolated in various places, and their current location is unknown!"

　The Imperial Russian army adopted the infiltration tactics used in the Brusilov Offensive and even deployed newly established tank units, but it seems that the German army had anticipated this and had taken thorough measures.

"Don't panic! The Russian forces are spread far and wide! We have the numerical advantage! Just focus on defeating the enemy in front of you!"

　However, they still could not break through the German defenses.

　In fact, after a thorough analysis of the Brusilov Offensive, the German General Staff had determined that the collapse of the Austrian army was not due to physical destruction, but rather to the psychological effects of confusion and demoralization caused by the surprise attack.

　So they decided to change the shape of the trenches, switching from a "line" to a "plane" of defense. By building independent perimeter defensive positions, they could continue fighting even if their troops were surrounded by an attack from behind.

　In that case, it would be the Russian cavalry that would be in danger, having penetrated deep into the enemy camp. Cavalry originally lacked firepower and was extremely vulnerable to enemy counterattacks. Even in the Russo-Japanese War, cavalry charges against enemy camps had caused heavy losses.

　＊＊＊

　Since France withdrew from the front, the change in the situation on the battlefield has been dramatic.

The German army was exhausted by the prolonged war, both economically and in terms of human resources, and felt that any further prolonged war was unfavorable. Although they had defeated France, the island nation of Great Britain was still alive and well, and Italy was still remaining. Moreover, behind the British backdrop, the United States was preparing to intervene soon.

　In this situation, the German army decided that to win the war it was necessary to achieve a decisive victory over the Russian Empire as quickly as possible, and Chief of Staff Ludendorff wanted to take the Russian capital, Petrograd, before the American Expeditionary Force arrived, thus forcing an armistice.

　Ludendorff, in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan, reduced the scale of the Western Front, leaving the Italian front and the Balkans to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and immediately sent a large army to the Eastern Front, making full use of the railways. In conjunction with this offensive, the Prussian General Staff planned to inflict devastating damage on the Russian army by thorough infiltration tactics, the use of aircraft, the large-scale use of poison gas, and the introduction of tanks.

　At this time, 1.5 million Russian troops were stationed on the eastern front, but with the disappearance of the western front, the allied forces, including the Austrian army, deployed a large army of 1.7 million to the eastern front, and for the first time since the start of the war, the allied forces' military strength exceeded that of the Russian forces.

　In contrast, the Russian military's response can be summed up in one word: reckless.

　Driven by patriotic public opinion and political considerations that ``territories won with the blood of tens of thousands of heroes'' such as Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Poland, and East Prussia could not be abandoned without a single battle, they launched a large-scale offensive that exceeded the limits of their supply networks and which can only be described as militarily incompetent.

　Berlin is just around the corner. If the army could just hold on a little longer and take the capital before enemy reinforcements arrived, everything would be fine.

　Rather than optimism or complacency, the emotional desire for "everything to go well in a little while" led them to carry out a reckless operation based on a scenario that was convenient for them. However, it didn't take long for them to realize that the price was not cheap.