I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 661 The family must be neat and tidy
George did not wait for the Provisional Government to send people to him. While Lvov was trying to communicate with the Provisional Executive Committee, Yuri was taking action.

On March 3, Nicholas arrived at Tsarskoye Selo, accompanied by Dolgorukov, an official from the Palace Affairs Office.

Ekaterina's last name, Dolgorukova, is the feminine form of Dolgorukov.

Dolgorukov was a distant cousin of Ekaterina's father, and through Dolgorukov, Yuri learned the exact location of Nikolai's family.

Like the Winter Palace, the daily necessities needed for the Tsarskoye Selo were also provided by Yuri.

Yuri is not good-looking, even a little funny. He has a standard Mediterranean hairstyle, a big belly, and his nose is ridiculously red because he drank too much, making him look like a circus clown.

Yuri was good at dealing with people and quickly became friends with the Tsarskoye Selo guards.

Every three days, Yuri would personally drive a truck to deliver food and daily necessities to Tsarskoye Selo.

Yuri would secretly give a pack of cigarettes to the soldier who opened the door for him as a token of his gratitude.

Officers received more benefits, and Yuri would generously give them rings or even watches to show his respect.

Kotsebu, the chief guard in charge of the security of the Imperial Village, previously served in the Ulansky Regiment of the Guards. He had known the lady-in-waiting of the Queen, Verubova, since childhood. His brother had long served as the adjutant of little Nicholas and sympathized with Nicholas.

Through Kotzebue, Yuri and Verubova established contact and finally met Nikolay in person on April 4.

Nicholas' situation was very bad. He did not get enough respect in the Tsarskoye Selo. The soldiers disliked him and were rude to him. The queen's personal belongings were often lost. The soldiers also confiscated a pistol that Nicholas gave to Alexei on the grounds that he was not allowed to keep weapons.

This pistol is just a toy and cannot be fired at all. The bullets are also specially made and have no gunpowder.

One day in April, Nicholas was walking in the Tsarskoye Selo garden when several soldiers came over and pushed him with their rifle butts, shouting, "You can't go here, Mr. Nicholas Romanov, go back!"

All signs indicate that the living environment of the former Tsar's family is deteriorating.

On April 4, Yuri decided to hide Nikolai and his family on a delivery truck and leave Tsarskoye Selo.

In order to send Nicholas away from St. Petersburg, Yuri sent a telegram to Yuri of the Baltic Fleet, asking Yuri to send a ship to pick up Nicholas and his family on the Neva River and send them to Constantinople via the Baltic Sea.

The implementation of the plan was not smooth because Nicholas' family lived in too relaxed an environment. The Provisional Government transferred Kotsebu and drove Verubova out of the Tsarskoye Selo and imprisoned her in a prison in St. Petersburg.

The person who replaced Kotzebue was called Kolinbeski, who was soon replaced by Klovchenko.

Klovchenko had a close relationship with Kerensky. He was well educated and was not harsh towards Nicholas' family.

After this series of personnel changes, it was July 7th when Yuri saw Nikolay again.

During this period, the Provisional Government and the Provisional Executive Committee had been arguing over whether to hand Nicholas over to George.

The provisional government hoped to hand over Nicholas' family to George to appease George's anger.

The Provisional Executive Committee firmly disagreed, and Bronstein's attitude was very clear. If George took action, Nicholas's family would be executed, and the blame for forcing the former Tsar to death would be thrown on George.

What George and St. Petersburg were fighting for was not Nicholas' family, but the will of the Russian people.

After coming to power, the interim government notified its allies, emphasizing that Russia would continue to fight.

The Provisional Executive Committee demanded that all soldiers be demobilized, negotiate with the Germans, and withdraw from the war.

This was not surprising, as some of the members of the Provisional Executive Committee had been protected by William II.

This is hilarious.

Alex, who had always been considered a German spy, was found to be completely innocent after an investigation by the provisional government. Since the outbreak of the World War, she had taken the initiative to cut off ties with Germany.

On the contrary, some people who believe that Alex is a spy would rather sell out Russia's interests to achieve their own goals.

George watched coldly. According to his plan, all those people jumping up and down in St. Petersburg would have to die.

Ruzynski came to Constantinople again, this time to seek refuge with George.

One of the conditions for Britain and France to recognize the provisional government was that the provisional government had to continue fighting so that it could participate in the distribution of the fruits of victory after the war.

In mid-May, Kerensky came to the front to inspect the troops and planned an attack on Germany with Alexeev.

The situation of the Russian army on the northern front was very bad and they had no offensive capability at all.

After the abolition of the death penalty, millions of Russian troops fled, and large sections of trenches on the front were left unmanned. The soldiers were either discussing evening meetings or complaining to Kerensky about lack of supplies.

Alexeev told Kerensky that less than one-third of the officers were capable of combat.

After Nicholas abdicated, many officers left the army out of extreme disappointment, and some even left without saying goodbye.

In order to supplement the number of officers, many people who had no experience in leading troops were forced in. Some officers were nominated by the soldiers themselves. Their task was not to defeat the enemy, but to seek benefits for the soldiers who nominated them.

In order to boost the morale of the army, Kerensky gave a speech at the front line. When he said, "I can't provide you with a big meal, but I can let you die gloriously", he won the applause of the officers.

After the cheers, the atmosphere hit rock bottom.

I'm about to die gloriously, but I can't even have a full meal. This is worse than being a death row prisoner.

Considering the actual situation of the Russian army, Ruzynsky opposed the offensive and reminded Kerensky not to disrupt the peace on the Eastern Front.

After Nicholas abdicated, William II waited and watched to avoid provoking the provisional government, and ordered the front-line troops to exercise restraint and not take the initiative to attack.

Since the German army is not attacking, there is no need for the Russian army to attack. If they just keep wasting time like this, Germany will definitely not be able to outlast Russia.

Kerensky made the same mistake as the two Nicholas. He wanted to prove that he was capable of leading Russia to victory, and repeatedly emphasized "Russia's obligations in the Allied Powers" at the meetings of the Provisional Government.

Ruzynski had only one condition: he would not participate in a war in which Russians fought against Russians.

This was recognized by Brusinov and Dmitry, who also did not want to fight a civil war.

Vasily and Andrei, as well as Yankov, Peter, and Runev, who had just taken over as commander-in-chief of the First Balkan Army, demanded that troops be sent to St. Petersburg immediately.

Opinions within the Balkan League were also divided.

The attitudes of the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania were consistent with George's. As long as George gave the order, Bulgaria and Romania would mobilize.

The Kingdom of Greece and Montenegro have different opinions. Georgi proposed that even if the Russian problem is to be solved, it must wait until the end of the world war.

Nikola of Montenegro demanded that the safety of Nikola's family must be ensured at all costs.

George wanted to keep the country stable before he could fight against foreign enemies.

Whether it is coercion or compromise, we must reach internal consensus and then face the outside world in unison.

It was only then that Ruzynski realized that the Balkan war zone was not as monolithic as it seemed.

"At least our goals are the same."

George is optimistic and believes that seeking common ground while reserving differences is the right path.

George is making adjustments to the differences in the Balkan theater. Ruzeski and Brusinov do not want to fight a civil war, which is easy to deal with. Let Ruzeski and Brusinov lead the Russian troops to fight Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Andrei and his brother Peter have already formed a firm alliance of interests with George, and can only follow George to the end.

Vasily's attitude was the most resolute, and it was Vasily who proposed the "bloodbath of St. Petersburg".

George selected the Gao Ri Corps to form the Second Balkan Army, led by Vasily, and headed for Lviv.

Lviv is the dividing point between the Balkan war zone and the Russian army on the northern front, and it is also the junction of the positions of the German and Austrian armies.

George didn't even notice that the total strength of the Gao Ri Corps fighting in the Balkan theater had reached as many as 65.

In terms of population proportion, it is actually not that many.

The Kingdom of Serbia had a total population of 450 million and 44 troops participating in the war.

Australia, with a total population of 550 million, mobilized 50 Australians to form the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps to participate in the war.

When the war broke out, Japan's total population was 4900 million.

If George were to start mobilization, Japan alone could provide him with at least 200 million troops.

To George's surprise, Brusinov opposed the transfer of all the Gaori Corps, saying that it would seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the 11th Army.

The 11th Army has 30 troops, nearly half of whom are from the Gao Ri Corps.

George added the reinforcements that had already arrived in Constantinople to the 11th Army.

This batch of reinforcements totaled 25 people, of which 10 were from Amur, half of them were Chinese and half were Cossacks.

After three mobilizations, the total strength of Chinese troops fighting in the Balkan theater has reached 3.

In order to avoid hidden dangers, George also prevented the Amurs from engaging in a civil war.

After nearly three months of adjustments, the final result was that Brusinov still led the 3th Army, and Ruzynski led the 11th and 12th Armies to fight against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Vasily and Andrei led the Second and Third Balkan Armies stationed in Lviv, and they will be the main force in the next stage of operations.

Yangkov still led the 14th Army and, with the cooperation of the Greek army, was responsible for the Anatolian Peninsula.

The First Balkan Army, led by Runev, served as a reserve for Vasily and Andrei.

In June, Peter led four Gangut-class battleships back to the Kronstadt naval base to ensure control of the Baltic Sea.

The adjustment of the Balkan theater of operations had not yet been completed, and on June 6, the Russian army launched an offensive on the northern front.

This offensive was commanded by Alexeev, but because it was organized by Kerensky, it was called the "Kerensky Offensive."

As in previous battles, the Russian army had some advantages at the beginning of the battle, but was subsequently counterattacked by the German army and suffered heavy losses.

In the fierce fighting that lasted for a month, 4 Russian soldiers were killed, 2 were wounded, and 3 were captured.

After defeating the Russian army, the German army advanced rapidly and within just a few days, they advanced 145 kilometers to the north. Alexeev reluctantly admitted that the only factor restricting the German army's advance was their own supply line.

There are many factors that constrain the Russian army.

The Russian army remained on the offensive until July 7.

On July 7, under the organization of the Provisional Executive Committee, 17 workers and soldiers in St. Petersburg took to the streets, and the scene half a year ago was re-enacted in St. Petersburg.

The commander of the St. Petersburg Military District, Kornilov, ordered his troops to open fire on pedestrians in the name of "maintaining order in the city", causing more than 400 casualties. This is known in history as the July Bloody Incident.

This incident directly led to the fall of Lvov's Provisional Government, and Kerensky took office and officially became the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government.

The first thing Kerensky did after taking office was to declare martial law in St. Petersburg, dissolve the Provisional Executive Committee, and issue arrest warrants for its members.

Kerensky himself had forgotten that he was also a member of the Provisional Executive Committee.

Subsequently, the Russian army was defeated.

Due to Kornilov's outstanding performance in this incident, he replaced Alexeev, who was responsible for the failure of the "Kerensky Offensive", as the supreme commander of the Russian army.

On the second day of the "July Bloody Incident", Yuri drove his truck to Tsarskoye Selo again. This time, the truck was loaded with several large wooden barrels filled with vodka.

The vodka was given to the Tsarskoye Selo guards.

As the guards raised their glasses to celebrate, Yuri came to the room where Nikolai lived.

Yuri's plan was to hide Nikolai in a barrel and take him away from Tsarskoye Selo.

What Yuri never expected was that Nikolai refused to leave.

"Even if the whole of Russia kneels down and asks me to restore the throne, I will never agree!"

Nicholas didn't seem to understand the situation and was still dreaming.

"I will never forgive those who betrayed me, nor will I hand my son over to them to let them elect someone else, such as Mikhail or Kirill, if they think they have enough power."

Nikolay was very emotional. He had previously referred to Mikhail by the nickname "Misha", which was only used by relatives or friends.

"Tell George that I am grateful for everything he has done for me, but I cannot leave Russia in such a disgraceful manner. I am the Tsar and I have my dignity."

Nicholas did not think that his life would be in danger if he stayed in St. Petersburg.

"Your Majesty, the Provisional Government has broken with the Provisional Executive Committee. Now is the best time to leave St. Petersburg. The ship is waiting on the Neva River. As long as Your Majesty gets on board, you can immediately go to the Kronstadt Naval Base. General Peter and the Empire's most powerful nine all-heavy artillery battleships are ready to escort you to Constantinople—"

Yuri tried hard to persuade him, saying that the order he had received was to take Nikolai away, not kidnap him.

"If you don't want to go to Constantinople, you can go anywhere."

Yuri's words finally softened Nikolai's attitude.

"Well, if you can take Alex and the kids with you, I'll go."

Nicholas now lived separately from Alex and the children, and could only see them at mealtimes, and then only in the presence of an officer.

"Your Majesty, once you are safe, I will come back to pick up the Queen, the Crown Prince, and the princesses—"

Yuri can take as many as he can.

"No! Our family will never be separated."

Nikolai was so stubborn that Yuri wanted to knock him out and stuff him into a barrel.

(End of this chapter)