I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 644 True Face

George was determined not to be influenced by anyone anymore and he rejected Ruzynski's request on the grounds of the Balkan Alliance.

It’s not that George doesn’t want to fight, but the Balkan Alliance countries don’t agree, and George has no choice.

Ferdinand's attitude was very representative. He was unwilling to let Romanian soldiers die for the British and French forces.

If the Russian Empire was attacked by the German-Austrian coalition, Ferdinand would have no choice but to lead the Romanian army to fight for the Russian Empire.

The Kingdom of Romania was an ally of the Russian Empire and had no relations with Britain or France.

Ruzynski can use moral blackmail on George.

There was nothing Ruzynski could do about Ferdinand.

On March 3, the Russian army on the northern front launched an attack on the German army from Dvinsk and Lake Naroch as planned.

Yanushkevich was a typical academic general. The battle plans he formulated were very detailed and had very strict time requirements with no tolerance for error. For example, he required a certain unit to reach the combat position within a specified time. If it could not arrive within the specified time, it would affect the execution of the entire plan.

The snow had not yet melted when Januszkiewicz made his plan.

It was already spring when the Russian army began its operation.

In Yanushkevich's plan, the four armies of the Russian Northern Front and the eight armies of the Western Front launched a frontal attack on the German 4th and 8th Armies, hoping to annihilate the German army.

At the very least, the German army must be driven out of Russian territory.

The Russian army deployed a total of 60 troops.

The German 8th and 10th Army had a total strength of 50.

The 2nd Army of the Western Front made the greatest progress, penetrating as far as 9 kilometers into German positions.

Most of the Russian troops only advanced about 2 kilometers before their attack became exhausted. Due to the muddy ground, the reserve troops were unable to reach the battlefield within the specified time.

Two weeks after the campaign began, the attack was forced to stop.

The offensive lasted just two weeks, causing 12 casualties to the Russian army on the northern front.

The German losses were around 6 men.

Although the Russian attack did not fully achieve its goal, it was very effective in containing the German army.

After the Russian attack, the German offensive in Verdun was forced to suspend for four weeks and six reserve divisions were transferred to the Eastern Front.

William II was so angry that he smashed his favorite crystal glass.

In a rage, William II cursed Nicholas to go to hell, and gradually began to lean towards Hindenburg in the conflict between Falkenhayn and Hindenburg.

What George did not expect was that some St. Petersburg newspapers attributed the failure of the Russian attack to the inaction of the Balkan theater.

A general who wished to remain anonymous revealed to the editor of Les Echos that Grand Duke Yuriev refused to launch an attack on Austria-Hungary before the offensive began in order to support the Russian army on the northern front.

"If the Balkan theater could take action, the result might be completely different. Unfortunately, Grand Duke Yuriev is no longer just Grand Duke Yuriev of the Russian Empire. He is also the emperor and regent of the Kingdom of Bulgaria—"

In the report of Les Echos, the editor published the general's words word for word.

L'Echo is the official newspaper of the Union of October 17th.

The October 1905th Alliance, also known as the "October Party", represented the interests of the bourgeoisie and the landlord class. It was founded in November 11. Its leaders were former State Duma Chairman Guchkov and current State Duma Chairman Rodzianko.

Demeter did not consider the Echo report threatening because the Octobrists did not have absolute influence in the State Duma.

"The Octobrists are so arrogant, they are proud of Rodzianko as Chairman of the State Duma, and some of their younger ones, such as Kerensky -"

Demeter disliked the Octobrists.

"Wait—who is Kerensky?"

George finally heard the name.

George remembered this name because of the Kerensky Provisional Government.

According to the history George knew, after Nicholas abdicated, Kerensky organized a provisional government, which became the highest ruling body in Russia at that time.

Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was born into a calfskin family in Simbirsk. He graduated from St. Petersburg University with a degree in law, married the daughter of General Baranov, and was elected to the State Duma as an Octobrist.

Three years earlier, Kerensky was detained for eight months for criticizing the judicial system.

According to relevant regulations, Kerensky could not be elected as a member of the State Duma.

"We can send a telegram to Chairman Rodzianko asking him to put a stop to the nonsense in Echo."

Demeter was worried about the impact on George's reputation.

"No, whatever they want."

If George didn't stop them, he would not have the heart to do it.

What George didn't know was that because of this report, there was almost a huge quarrel within the October Party.

The Octobrists represented the interests of the big bourgeoisie and the big landowners.

George himself was the most powerful capitalist in the Russian Empire and one of the largest landowners.

The Amur Governor-General's Office was even the financial backer of the October Party.

The Echo had always been a staunch supporter of the Tsar, otherwise it would not have survived the many purges of the St. Petersburg media industry. After asking the editor-in-chief of the Echo, Rodzianko learned that Kerensky was the imperial general who did not want to reveal his name.

"How come I don't know, when did you join the army?"

Rodzianko asked Kerensky why he provided false information to Echo.

“We need to make our voices heard more and expand our influence so that we can get more seats in the Duma.”

The State Duma will be re-elected next month, and Kerensky hopes to reverse the decline and help the October Party become the largest party in the Duma.

"You must be crazy! Don't you know that you will incur the displeasure of Grand Duke Yuriev?"

Rodzianko also had no idea where Kerensky got the courage from.

"Grand Duke Yuriev is drifting further and further away from St. Petersburg, otherwise he would not have rejected your Majesty's request. What kind of behavior is this? This is disobedience! This is open rebellion! Am I wrong? If the Balkan Corps launches an attack, Grand Duke Yuriev is fully capable of defeating the Austro-Hungarian Empire!"

Kerensky was unhappy with his lack of fear of power.

"You don't understand at all! You are a complete layman in military affairs. Grand Duke Yuriev is a military god! Do you think you are better than Grand Duke Yuriev?"

Rodzianko is self-aware, which is the fundamental reason why he has become an evergreen in Russian politics.

"I am indeed not as good as Grand Duke Yuriev - but since the Balkan theater has the ability to defeat the Austro-Hungarian Empire, why not do it?"

Kerensky did not think he had done anything wrong.

"What will happen after defeating Austria-Hungary? Draw all of Germany's millions of troops to the Eastern Front - is this what you want?"

Rodzianko was very angry. He had always valued Kerensky, but he did not expect Kerensky to be so short-sighted.

Kerensky was dumbfounded; he had never thought about this question.

Kerensky was too junior to know the strategy George had developed for the Russian Empire before the war.

This man also had no military ability at all. After the establishment of the Provisional Government, Kerensky appointed himself commander-in-chief of the Russian army and launched the Kerensky Offensive against the German army.

Kerensky's attack achieved no results and instead lost the last hope.

Three months later, the October Revolution broke out, Kerensky fell and went into exile.

"It is impossible for the German army to concentrate all its troops on the Eastern Front. If so, the British and French forces will attack the German army from the Western Front!"

Kerensky was quite quick-witted.

"After last summer, do you still trust so-called allies?"

There was a flash of disgust in Luo Jiangke's eyes. This man was not fit for any important task.

What Kerensky didn't know was that Grand Duke Yuriev's power in St. Petersburg was far greater than he imagined.

Later, the editor-in-chief of Echo called Kerensky and the Petrograd Printing House, which had always had a good cooperative relationship with Echo, would no longer undertake all printing business related to Echo.

Kerensky was very angry because there was more than one printing house in St. Petersburg.

"I called all the printing houses and they made it clear that they would not take our business."

Konstantin, the editor-in-chief of Echo, was Kerensky's political ally and had always been cheering for him. Without Konstantin's help, Kerensky would not have had the opportunity to be elected as a member of the State Duma.

"Why? Can't we offer twice the price?"

Kerensky was a Hebrew and firmly believed that money could make the world go round.

"I'm afraid not. This is not a problem that can be solved with money."

Constantine regretted it deeply. He only now remembered the relationship between the St. Petersburg Printing House and George.

When George was in charge of military reform, he cleaned up the publishing industry in St. Petersburg. All small printing houses were banned and private printing presses were confiscated. In the whole of St. Petersburg, only three printing houses were allowed to continue operating.

All three printing houses have close ties with the Yuriev family.

"I don't believe it if it's sent to Finland for printing. Can Grand Duke Yuriev cover up everything?"

Kerensky did not believe in evil.

"That won't work either. The Finnish commander-in-chief, Mannerheim, is a friend of Grand Duke Yuriev. They both served as the Tsar's aide-de-camp."

As the editor-in-chief of Les Echos, Constantine must be familiar with people like Mannerheim.

After the outbreak of World War II, Mannerheim first served in the Russian Army on the Northern Front. After Nicholas became the commander-in-chief of the Russian Army on the interior front, he appointed Mannerheim as the commander-in-chief of Finland, responsible for the mobilization of Finland.

Like George, Mannerheim was once a staunch royalist.

Mannerheim still is.

Kerensky was silent for a long time and didn't even notice that Constantine hung up the phone.

Constantine was worried about Kerensky's safety, so he rushed to the apartment where Kerensky lived and found that Kerensky was drunk.

"This damn world is like hell, it makes it hard to breathe - Constantine, listen to me, we must completely overthrow this dark empire and let the flag of democracy fly high over St. Petersburg!"

Kerensky finally stopped pretending and showed his true face.

(End of this chapter)