I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 626 Overestimating one’s own capabilities
Actually, Alex cannot be blamed for this. Both George and little Nicholas have large armies under their command. If Alex is completely unprepared, she would not be a qualified queen.

Nicholas already trusted George very much. If it were someone else, George would go to Constantinople, and Anne and the children would have to stay in St. Petersburg as hostages.

Although this is the truth, George still felt uncomfortable.

George is not without roots in St. Petersburg. If Alex has plans against George, George will be able to receive the news in advance.

The next day at Alexander's place, George learned even more explosive news.

The real reason that led to little Nicholas' resignation was a letter from Alex to Nicholas.

After the fall of Warsaw, Alex wrote in a letter to Nicholas: If he (Nicholas Jr.) still has to serve as the commander of the front, let all the failures fall on his head.

Alex didn't seem to realize that this vicious curse was not only for little Nicholas, but also for the Russian Empire.

Little Nicholas' stronghold held no secrets from the Winter Palace.

The reverse is also true.

The fact that letters between the Tsar and the Queen could actually flow out of the Summer Palace shows the chaos in St. Petersburg.

After deciding to serve as the commander-in-chief, Nicholas' spirit was in an extremely excited state, and he finally began to kill decisively like a real tsar.

On July 7, Nicholas appointed Samarin, the chief noble of Moscow, to replace Sarleb as director of the Orthodox Church.

On the 6th, Nikolai appointed Khvostov to replace Sheglovitov as Minister of Justice.

As the factions of Nicholas the Younger and Sukhomlinov successively lost power, Nicholas was forced to use a group of veteran generals, including Kuropatkin, who served as the commander-in-chief of the Russian army during the Russo-Japanese War.

Fortunately, Nikolai did not call Alexeev out of the grave.

Nicholas and the old generals held military meetings in the Summer Palace or Tsarskoye Selo every day. The old generals showed their abilities and came up with ingenious strategies. Some suggested recalling the main force of the navy from the Mediterranean to cover the landing of the Guards in Hamburg and attack the German army from behind.

Others suggested withdrawing the 11th and 12th Armies from the Balkan theater to reinforce the European theater, on the grounds that George had the Balkan Coalition Forces and the Gao Ri Corps, which were sufficient to fight against the German-Austrian coalition forces.

George bid farewell to Nicholas and returned to Constantinople.

Before leaving, Nicholas hosted George for a banquet at the Summer Palace.

This was George's first time eating at the Summer Palace during his return to St. Petersburg.

"Let us forget for the moment all other problems, including important national problems, but not those that are absolutely necessary for the present moment. Nothing should divert our thoughts, will, and strength from the only goal now, which is to drive the Germans out of Russian soil!"

Nicholas was very excited, as if victory would be within his grasp as long as he started.

George reminded Nicholas not to underestimate the enemy, Hindenburg was definitely a good opponent.

Hindenburg was indeed a good opponent for George.

But not for Nicholas.

Nicholas probably couldn't defeat Hindenburg.

On the train back to Constantinople, George finally received a reply from Queen Mother Maria.

Maria said in the letter: It's all her - she alone will be responsible for everything that is about to happen, and this is not what my lovely child should do.

Maria is right.

But what's the point of talking about it now? Alex doesn't need to be responsible for anyone else, only for her husband and her children.

George has too many people to answer to.

Mišić's invitation to Boris to become King of Serbia sparked strong opposition in Belgrade, and the Serbian Parliament demanded the election of a new king.

Mišić personally led the Serbian army to Belgrade, arrested all Serbian parliamentarians who opposed Boris becoming king for treason, then dissolved the parliament and declared martial law in Belgrade.

Whether to quit or not, it doesn’t really matter. Belgrade’s total population is less than 3000 now, and it will take at least 20 years to return to the pre-war level.

Yankov is relocating the population from the former demilitarized zone along the Black Sea estuary in preparation for post-war negotiations.

Stamboliyski personally led Bulgarian officials to the 11th Army-occupied areas to appease local residents. The occupied areas here included not only Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also Romania and Albania.

Nikola of Montenegro has returned to Cetinje and resumed his rule over the Kingdom of Montenegro.

Prince Sto still serves as the theater liaison officer.

On July 7, George returned to Constantinople, and Demeter handed George a list of unsafe people.

There are a total of 125 people on the unsafe list. All of them have failed the review of the Security Department and have more or less some problems.

George didn't have time to sort them out one by one, so he transferred all these people from the headquarters to completely eliminate the hidden dangers.

On July 7, Vasily launched an attack on the outer defense line of Budapest. The armored vehicles finally came into play. With the cooperation of heavy artillery units and the air force, it took only 15 hours to break through Mackensen's defense line.

On the 18th, the Russian army surrounded Budapest.

Demeter was very happy. Budapest was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. If Budapest was captured, it would be a major victory for the Russian army in the Balkans.

George sent a telegram to Vasily, ordering him not to launch an attack on Budapest, but to surround and attack the reinforcements.

Although the Kingdom of Hungary was in a state of disrepair, it had an elite Guards Army with a total strength of about 4 divisions and 6 men.

Including Mackensen's Corps, the Budapest garrison exceeded 20. If the Russian army wanted to capture Budapest, the casualties were expected to be over 10.

George ordered the 13th Army led by Demeter to set up positions around Budapest, while Vasily led the 12th Army to snipe possible reinforcements.

The 11th Army led by Brusinov must also be prepared. If the German army comes to support, the 11th Army must outflank the German army and strive to fight a beautiful annihilation battle.

Brusinov called George back and said that his troops were severely dispersed and only 7 troops were left for outflanking.

George sent telegrams to Ferdinand and Georgi respectively, urging the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Greece to speed up mobilization. At the same time, he sent telegrams to Mario and Yerokhin, ordering Amur to begin mobilization.

So far, all the reinforcements George has transferred from the Far East, except for the Fu Division, the Ha Division and the Ni Division, are from the Gao Ri Corps.

Amur has been focusing on improving its industrial capacity since the outbreak of the war and has not yet been mobilized.

Petrograd can no longer be relied upon now, so we should be thankful that Nicholas has the ability to withstand Hindenburg.

If George wanted reinforcements, he could only find a way from Amur.

Ye Luoxin did not disappoint George. In the first phase of mobilization, 20 people were mobilized, more than half of whom were of Chinese descent.

(End of this chapter)