I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 643 Destroy it, I’m tired
William II's speech was a case of putting the blame on someone else. The reason why Russia formed an alliance with Britain and France was not because of the benefits Russia gained from Britain and France, but because of the German-Austrian alliance.

The conflict between Russia and Austria-Hungary in the Balkans was irreconcilable. Even if Germany only took a neutral stance, it would not force the Russian Empire to join the Allies.

George didn't care about William II's speech. At the beginning of the new year, the Balkan countries gathered in Adrianople to celebrate that Polis had an heir.

Elizabeth gave birth to a son on January 1, which happened to be the Russian New Year.

George was officially promoted to grandfather, but he still had no say. Catherine made the decision and named the little crown prince George.

According to tradition, on the Russian New Year, the kings of the Balkan countries would go to St. Petersburg.

The situation this year is special. The chaos in St. Petersburg has caused widespread concern among kings of various countries.

George had to appease them one by one.

Ferdinand made a public wish at a New Year's celebration banquet that George would never leave Constantinople.

George responded very cleverly. The empire was considering moving the capital to Constantinople, and George would definitely not leave.

This answer obviously did not satisfy Ferdinand, and Ferdinand hoped that George could make a clearer statement.

Ferdinand didn't care whether the empire moved its capital or not.

If George left Constantinople and returned to Amur, it would be hard to say whether Transylvania would still be part of the Romanian Kingdom.

Georgi was even more worried because he had not yet obtained the Asia Minor Peninsula that George had promised him.

Nicola of Montenegro was also stimulated by the gains made by various countries and hoped to obtain an outlet to the sea.

While Polis was completely immersed in the happiness of becoming a father, Stamboliysky and August were both eager to see George become the regent of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

It doesn’t matter whether there is a regent or not, because Polis will take power this year.

Both Catherine and Anne hoped that George would agree to serve as regent and continue to provide protection for Polis.

If George served as regent, then if Boris made any mistakes during his administration, it would be George's fault.

"This is what you should do as a father! You must do it!"

Catherine no longer had any expectations for George, and Grand Duke Yuriev was George's limit.

Polis is only 22 years old and has a promising future.

Polis also had no objection to George serving as regent.

George strongly disagreed.

"Young eagles must grow into eagles and cannot always be under the protection of their elders."

George spoke earnestly, hoping that Boris would have the courage to shoulder the responsibility.

Whether George serves as regent or not will not affect Boris's personal rule. If anyone dares to oppose Boris, George will show him the brutal side of the Russian Grand Duke's character.

"I always worry that I can't do as well as you--"

Boris showed a strong dependence on George, which was exactly what George was most worried about.

"When I was 9 years old, your grandfather was assassinated. Your grandmother and aunts went to France, leaving me alone in St. Petersburg. If possible, I also want to have a father to rely on—"

George opened his heart to words he had never said even to Anne.

"Your grandfather had a difficult time as well. When he succeeded to the throne, the empire had just lost the ninth Russo-Turkish War. Your great-grandfather committed suicide after being defeated in the war. At that time, the country was in turmoil and there were wolves all around. Your grandfather became the Tsar in such a difficult environment and he didn't have a father to rely on."

George's memory of Yaer was already very vague, he only remembered that Yaer was tall.

"So, why is Brother Nicky——"

Boris couldn't understand why Nicholas, a man from the Romanov family, messed up everything.

That's not right, George and Boris are both men from the Yuriev family.

That's it!

Polis' confidence grew.

"Brother, you have to work harder, don't be worse than me in the future."

Alexander had no pressure, as he still had to wait many years before becoming Grand Prince Yuriev.

"Would you like to come to Bosnia and be a governor?"

Once Boris has firm confidence, he will immediately get into the state and maximize the benefits.

Let Alexander be the governor of Bosnia. Even if George doesn't care about Polis, he will not ignore it for Alexander's sake.

"May I?"

Alexander was eager to try.

"Can't!"

George was annoyed, you are still guilty.

Boris has a stable character, and with mature and steady people like Stamboliyski and August assisting him, nothing serious will happen.

Alexander is impulsive and needs to be tempered before he can stand on his own.

In order to help Alexander mature, George is also considering whether he should let Alexander start a family.

The candidate is ready. Among the daughters of Nikola Montenegro, two are still unmarried. As long as Alexander has no objection, Nikola Montenegro would be happy to do it.

Goryeo Lee Hee also had an idea, but his daughter was not of the right age.

Li Xi mainly placed his hopes on his sons. His three sons were not married yet and were about the same age as Alexandra. Li Xi had announced early on that whoever could marry Alexandra would be the crown prince of Goryeo.

George didn't have any objections, the key point was Alexandra.

Alexandra is 175 cm tall, but none of Li Xi's sons is over 170 cm tall.

Even if they were as tall as George, Alexandra probably wouldn't look down on them. This is really not discrimination.

Yes, but it’s definitely not because they are Koreans—

Alexander was very sad. He hoped to gain George's recognition like Boris.

Alexandra comforted Alexander that sooner or later he would become the real Grand Prince Yuriev.

"I would rather I never be--"

Alexander was in a low mood.

What finally brought Alexander out of the haze was the feather duster that Anne hadn't picked up for a long time.

Haha, what emotions? They're all pretentious. Just give him a beating.

William II was also prepared to attack the British and French forces.

Last year, Germany shifted its main focus from the Western Front to the Eastern Front, but the effect was a little bit, which did not meet expectations at all.

At a military meeting at the end of last year, Falkenhayn decided to shift the main attack direction from the Eastern Front to the Western Front.

Hindenburg firmly disagreed, and finally William II made the decision that the Chief of the General Staff had the final say, which led to William II's New Year's speech.

Wilhelm II wanted the Russians to reflect.

After the New Year, the German army sent a new batch of mobilized soldiers to the Western Front, preparing to launch an attack in Verdun.

This time, the German army deployed 50 divisions with a total strength of 125 million, accounting for half of the total German strength on the Western Front.

From this we can see that William II truly loved Nicholas, and the number of troops deployed to the Eastern Front was less than one-third of that deployed to the Western Front.

The defenders in the direction of Verdun were French troops. Joffre mobilized 75 divisions with a total force of 120 million.

The battle began on February 2, which was January 11 in the Russian calendar.

Once the German army got serious, the French army was completely unable to withstand it.

Poincaré sent telegrams to St. Petersburg, London and Constantinople every day, hoping to get more reinforcements from London and hoping that the Russian army could launch a supporting offensive against the German and Austrian armies from the north and the Balkans to disperse the German forces.

George's response was to order Vasily and Brusinov to bombard Budapest and Zagreb, further squeezing the defenders' living space.

On March 3, Nicholas' chief of staff, Ruzynski, arrived in Constantinople.

Ruzynski was only the chief of staff of the Russian army on the northern front.

The Chief of the Russian General Staff is still the former President of the General Staff Academy, Yanushkevich.

After resigning as commander of the Northern Front, Ruzynskiy went to Crimea to "recuperate."

After Nicholas Jr. resigned, Ruzynski was appointed.

Nicholas hoped that George could deploy ground troops to truly contain the German-Austrian coalition forces.

"General, do you think so too?"

George did not think the Galician conqueror was so shallow.

"Your Excellency Marshal, this is a request from His Majesty and the Chief of the General Staff. What can I do?"

Ruzysky had no choice. Nikolai had really been cheated by Britain and France thousands of times, but he treated Britain and France like his first love.

"Tell Januszkiewicz that General Hindenburg has prepared a trap for him to fall into."

George didn't believe Hindenburg was unprepared.

With the example of Nicholas the Younger, although Hindenburg was weak in offense, he was still able to defend.

Modern warfare relies too heavily on artillery.

The German offensive at Verdun went smoothly in the early stages, successfully breaking through the French defenses and approaching Paris.

Before the outbreak of the World War, the French commander Henri-Philippe Pétain was only the commander of an infantry regiment. He rose rapidly after the outbreak of the war, and within just one year, he was rapidly promoted from the commander of an infantry regiment to the commander-in-chief of the army group.

Pétain responded appropriately. Facing the frenzied attack of the German army, the French army retreated in an orderly manner. Only after the German army broke away from the artillery cover did Pétain organize a counterattack and inflict effective casualties on the German army.

Since the German Fifth Army led by Pétain and Crown Prince William were fighting back and forth, George was not in a hurry and let them fight slowly.

When France decides to move its capital to Bordeaux, it will not be too late for George to deploy ground troops.

"His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff has prepared a life jacket for himself."

Ruzynski was pessimistic and disappointed. When he came to Constantinople, the Russian army on the northern front was making preparations for the attack.

"Suka BuLei!"

George was so angry that he started swearing.

George didn't know why some people in St. Petersburg always refused to learn their lessons.

It was understandable that little Nicholas made the mistake he did, after all, there was no precedent.

When Hindenburg attacked Warsaw the previous year, the British and French forces were playing poker in the trenches and living in peace with the Germans. Later, a movie called "All Quiet on the Western Front" was made based on this history.

Now facing a fierce attack from the German Army, the French Army once again asked the Russian Army for help.

George was able to fire a few shots at Budapest and Zagreb. By referring to the standards of the British and French, George had fulfilled his responsibilities as an ally.

"Your Excellency Marshal, please cooperate with the attack on St. Petersburg no matter what."

Ruzynski was a staunch royalist. Although he knew it was inappropriate, he still hoped that George would cooperate with the Russian army on the northern front.

Remember his attitude now.

(End of this chapter)