I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 660 George's First Telegram

Last winter, Amur carried out a second mobilization, this time with 10 troops.

Including the Gao Ri Corps and the East India Corps, a total of 25 new recruits are currently being trained and will probably arrive in the Balkans in June.

George drew troops from four armies to form the First Balkan Army and marched to Crimea.

The troops George mobilized were all from the Gaori Corps.

The commander of the First Balkan Army was Runev, commander of the 1st Amur Army.

Alexander applied to George to go to Crimea with Runev.

Alexander has changed a lot in the past year. He is no longer impulsive and acts more cautiously. He has also become more taciturn and learned to hide his emotions.

George hoped that Alexander could learn to get along with different people, and agreed to let Alexander go to Crimea with Runev.

But at the same time, he warned Runefe not to let Alexander serve as the military commander.

Alexander has never attended military school, has not received any systematic training, and probably does not have George's golden finger, so he should be cautious. He must not make any mistakes during this sensitive period.

Kerensky's tactics worked for Alexeev and Ruzysky, but not so much for George.

George sent a telegram to St. Petersburg, not to pledge allegiance to the Provisional Government or the Provisional Executive Committee, but to demand the immediate release of Nicholas.

Nicholas has already abdicated and his property has been confiscated, so why is he still being locked up?
Will they be satisfied only if Nicholas is executed?

This was the first telegram George sent to St. Petersburg after Nicholas abdicated.

After the telegram arrived in St. Petersburg, the Provisional Government and the Provisional Executive Committee held separate meetings to discuss whether to release Nicholas.

We definitely cannot let them go. What if Nicholas goes to Constantinople and joins forces with Grand Duke Yuriev? Who will deal with the million-strong army under Grand Duke Yuriev's command?
But it's not okay to keep it closed.

Now that George has made the request, if St. Petersburg does not respond, no one knows what George will do next.

This brings us back to the previous question.

"Grand Duke Yuriev and Your Majesty grew up together and have a very good relationship—"

Witte advocated the release of Nicholas.

"He is no longer Tsar, he is now Nikolai Romanov."

The Minister of the Army and Navy, Guchkov, interrupted Witte.

Guchkov was the founder of the October Party and served as Chairman of the State Duma. After the outbreak of World War II, Guchkov served as Chairman of the October Party.

"Well, since he's a normal person now, what's the point in keeping him locked up?"

Witte really couldn't understand. As the Minister of the Army and Navy, don't you know what a million-strong army means?
Guchkov did not dare to release Nikolai because he understood it too well.

When Nicholas signed the abdication decree, there were three people present, namely Ruzynsky, Shulgen, and Guchkov.

If Nicholas were to be restored, Guchkov would certainly be liquidated.

"Instead of imprisoning him, we asked him to reflect on himself."

Guchkov's reason left Witt dumbfounded.

Do you believe this yourself?
The key is how to make Grand Duke Yuriev believe it.

"We should first obtain his forgiveness and then hand him over to Grand Duke Yuriev."

Foreign Minister Pavel Milyukov, like Ruzynski, is a staunch Russologist.

Milyukov was a professor at Sofia University in the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the founder of the Constitutional Democratic Party.

Milyukov had a complex character. He opposed the Tsar, but did not want to overthrow the monarchy. Instead, he wanted to transform the feudal system into a constitutional monarchy.

Miliukov was against the war, but his youngest son died fighting for the empire.

As a representative of the bourgeoisie, Milyukov opposed the Soviet Union, but at the same time he stood on Russia's side when Russia went into foreign war.

"Will he forgive us for overthrowing his rule?"

Even Kerensky could not stand such political naivety.

The ministers were deadlocked, all eyes focused on Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov, the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government.

Lvov was a descendant of the Rurik dynasty and one of the largest landowners in the Russian Empire. He and Milyukov were both founders of the Constitutional Democratic Party.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Lvov presided over the work of the Ten Associations.

After the outbreak of World War II, Lvov served as chairman of the General Committee of the Union of Local Self-Government Institutions, responsible for civil affairs in the rear.

"The main question now is, if Grand Duke Yuriev starts a war, do we have the ability to stop him?"

Lvov hopes to solve the problem fundamentally.

The ministers looked at Guchkov again.

Guchkov's face turned red instantly. You don't expect me to stop him, do you?

"That question should be asked to General Alexeev—"

Guchkov knows how to pass the buck.

The ministers looked at Lavr Kornilov, the commander of the St. Petersburg defense.

Alexeev was not here, but at the front headquarters. Kornilov was the only professional soldier present at the meeting.

"Grand Duke Yuriev - yes, Grand Duke Yuriev. He is very dangerous and very powerful. There is one thing you may not have noticed. Not only does he have a million troops, he also commands almost all of the empire's air force and navy -"

Kornilov told the truth that he couldn't win.

Ministers can talk as much as they want without taking any responsibility.

Kornilov dared to talk big, and the only outcome was defeat and death.

Kornilov's words made the ministers frown.

George was the Minister of the Navy, and Kirill was in name only. The marines he brought with him consisted of only 600-plus people, and they were not front-line combat troops. They were all logistics personnel cobbled together.

George did not even need to send troops from Constantinople. He only needed to dispatch the Baltic Fleet stationed at the Kronstadt naval base, which was enough to defeat Kornilov.

The Air Force of the Russian Empire was directly formed by George. All the people from top to bottom were George's people. The air force airport in the suburbs of St. Petersburg was the only area that the Provisional Government and the Provisional Executive Committee did not control.

"So we have no choice but to hand over Nikolai Romanov to Grand Duke Yuriev."

Lvov made a final summary.

The ministers looked frustrated and said nothing.

This is like a scholar meeting a soldier, he cannot explain his reason clearly.

If it were a debate, any minister could fight Grand Duke Yuriev for three hundred rounds.

After Nicholas stepped down, the provisional government sent people to Constantinople many times to win over George, but except for Witte, no one else even met George.

What Lvov didn't expect was that the Provisional Executive Committee did not agree to hand over Nicholas to George.

Lvov took the initiative to take Kerensky to see Lev Davidovich Bronstein, the chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee.

Bronstein was born in 1879. He was a Hebrew. In his youth, he was exiled to Siberia for opposing the Tsarist autocracy. After Nicholas abdicated, he returned to Russia from the United States.

It was incredible that Bronstein was elected chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee as soon as he returned to Russia.

Bronstein lived abroad for a long time and had no influence in Russia at all. He was arrested when he passed through Canada on his way back from the United States because the British considered him a dangerous person.

Under pressure from the Provisional Executive Committee, the Provisional Government rescued Bronstein.

After Bronstein returned to Russia, he began to make trouble for the Provisional Government. Regardless of whether the Provisional Government's decisions were beneficial to Russia or not, the Provisional Executive Committee firmly opposed them.

Lvov gave George's telegram to Bronstein and asked him to read it himself.

The content of George's telegram was very tough, claiming that if the Provisional Government did not hand over Nicholas, George would find a way to solve the problem himself.

"Solve it? How does he want it solved? Come to Petrograd himself? That's great, we can try him together with Nikolai Romanov."

Bronstein was a lunatic, and he probably thought that George had come to St. Petersburg alone.

"If Grand Duke Yuriev comes to St. Petersburg, he will bring his armored corps with him. How will we respond then?"

Lvov was patient, which is why he became the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government.

After Nicholas abdicated, Vasily asked George to send troops to attack St. Petersburg.

If George really did that, the person who would probably be the happiest would be William II.

The current situation is that the Russians are completely disappointed with the Tsar and urgently need a reform to bring some changes to Russia.

The provisional government was a rookie, and the slogans of the provisional executive committee were indeed very inflammatory, otherwise the royalists would not have been so powerless to fight back.

When it comes to rebellion, George is more professional than Lvov.

The Provisional Government was totally unsuited to Russia’s national conditions and was doomed to be short-lived due to the incurable weakness of the petty bourgeoisie.

The Provisional Executive Committee was even more dangerous. They had the support of workers and soldiers, and the assistance of foreign capital. The reason why George was on high alert was that he was worried that the officers and soldiers of the Balkan Corps would be influenced by the Provisional Executive Committee.

Who does George represent?

The royal family and aristocracy.

Now the Provisional Government and the Provisional Executive Committee have not yet taken action against the royal family and the aristocratic groups.

If George raised an army now and captured St. Petersburg in a lightning speed, what would happen next?
Still let Nicholas be the Tsar? Or Nicholas abdicates to Alexei, and George becomes the regent?

In that case, in a few years, Russia will still be a stagnant pool.

What George wants is to destroy before to build.

"If Grand Duke Yuriev rebels, he will go from being a 'royal military god' to a traitor and the instigator of civil war. That will be the most advantageous situation for us."

Bronstein sneered, saying that the idiots in the Provisional Government simply did not understand that Nicholas was the only bargaining chip in St. Petersburg.

With Nicholas' family in hand, St. Petersburg could at least negotiate with George.

If Nicholas' family is handed over to George, St. Petersburg will be at George's mercy.

Lvov frowned. The situation was far more serious than he had imagined.

Lvov frowned in thought and did not notice the eye contact between Bronstein and Kerensky.

(End of this chapter)