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* * *

If Goebbels was aiming for that, then the possibility is even greater.

“Speaking of which, what about America?”

Ultimately, the civil war occurring over there will play an important role for us. We need to end the American Civil War quickly so we can minimize our losses and extract as many interests from America as possible.

“I hear Spain is fighting worse than expected.”

That makes sense. They just finished their own civil war. Even if they made the trip to America for a bite, the fighting spirit of their soldiers won’t match their desire to protect their own country.

In any era, if you’re not willing to fight, you’ll lose the war.

As a result, the best the Spanish army can do is defend.

For me, I just hope Spain can maintain some forces to poke at France from behind.

No matter how you look at it, if Germany wants to win against us, that’s the only way.

“Tell Spain to only defend.”

There might be limits with just Patton alone.

MacArthur seems to have the White House firmly under control, but he doesn’t really have that many troops.

More than anything, many World War I veterans have already crossed over.

In any case, capturing the communists is our responsibility, and even if we catch Trotsky, we must thoroughly show it’s Russia’s role and quickly enter World War II as well.

Right now, our army gets flustered just at the mention of communists. The White Army splits from the Russian Imperial Army and, as the civil war unfolds, it forms a vengeful army, tightly knit with hatred towards the Bolsheviks, intending to crush any Bolshevik.

“Let’s send the expeditionary force as planned.”

“Wasn’t it only to capture Trotsky?”

For example, there’s that possibility. They might stubbornly resist, saying, “How dare you touch our Secretary!” At the very least, they wouldn’t crumble instantly.

We should give them a bit of help.

“Even if Trotsky gets captured, the American Communist Union will try to hold out since they have been hoarding resources.”

For instance, if a war breaks out in Europe, Russia will ultimately have to retreat! Something along those lines.

Ultimately, it’s a battle of wits.

Who stabs whom, and who finishes things off quickly. That’s the fight.

In that battle, Europe’s hegemony will be decided, some will fall, and some nations will be completely destroyed.

In that hell, the Russia I change must reshape the world.

“Preparing an army for that time, huh?”

“While ending things quickly with America through the expeditionary force, please get ready to intervene in Europe in case of emergencies.”

I hear Austria has also gathered quite a bit of an army while forming a combined robot, not as much as during World War I, but still significant.

If Austria becomes our meat shield as per our plans, we should minimize damage while striking Germany and England, pressuring England and France to seize the initiative.

Right. Then, the quality of weapons is important. Don’t we have rockets?

“In that case, the quality of weapons will eventually turn the tide of the war. Unlike during the Russian Empire, we are producing our own weapons now. Weapons different from our enemies.”

“You mean rocket weapons?”

Even though rockets might not end the war, they can at least be a threat to the enemies.

Rockets have advanced immensely recently.

“Yes. The rocket weapon has been operational, right?”

The combination of Tsiolkovsky and Goddard made for a fantastic duo.

In original history, Tsiolkovsky, who should have died long ago, lived longer instead. Perhaps he pushed on diligently for his dream, but thanks to that, he rushed the development of rocket weapons.

Until the 1920s, progress was sluggish, but once the ability to weaponize appeared to some extent, development began actively in the 1930s.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The hit rate is still low, but hitting cities isn’t a problem.”

As the weaponization of rockets began, Goddard and Tsiolkovsky established a separate army rocket research lab.

Hearing about Russia’s space development project, Werner von Braun from Austria has also jumped on board.

He initially didn’t plan to engage in NTR.

Simply put, he informed the anti-air agreement countries of Russia’s rocket project to gather those interested in rocket development, and Austria was keen on military unification and tanks but had no interest in rockets. Thus, he found himself caught in this dilemma.

Weapons will likely be produced much faster now.

“Then, we must prepare for when the war breaks out.”

“Yes. I will deploy them.”

History may turn upside down, and Communist Germany might not make the V2, so we’re making it instead.

Still, the legacy of rockets must continue.

Russia will lay the groundwork for their journey into space.

Upon hearing this, Communist Germany openly criticized that the Tsar of Russia sucks the life blood of the people to create his plaything. If so, they won’t develop them, or they’ll have to start research from zero, making it tough.

Around the same time, Beria successfully developed the world’s first jet fighter with a jet engine, while in original history, he was notorious as the NKVD chief.

And the blueprints for that were passed on to figures like Igor Sikorsky, so probably various airframes will emerge.

Later, Beria aimed to return to the Okhrana and figured he had done enough, rising to the head of the Okhrana’s Asian branch.

That guy certainly has some skill.

Then Beria received new orders from someone he liked.

“Congratulations Beria. No one has succeeded like you, despite being a Bolshevik.”

“Your Majesty, I have never genuinely been a Bolshevik.”

“You know that well. Then, I’ll be giving you a secret order. You need to go to the Northern Manchuria branch; there’s work for you to do.”

And so, I was sent to Northern Manchuria to begin my activities firsthand.

I’m thinking of contacting Mutaguchi Renya, considering the worst case scenario, to report on the situation in Southern Manchuria and plan to send it to Kentucky.

Now, it’s slowly time to bring up another matter.

Saying we are on the brink of war means our territory might be trampled by enemy boots. We must avoid that kind of situation at all costs.

“If we are on the brink of war, isn’t the most crucial thing to prevent them from invading our territory the Perun Project?”

This time, it was the Black Baron who first brought it up.

The Russian version of the Manhattan Project, the nuclear development project of the Russian Republic, is what they call the Perun Project.

Perun is the thunder god and sky deity in Slavic mythology of Eastern Europe, the main god.

Russia has named various projects related to the development of significant military weapons.

For example, for tanks, which were horrendous during World War I, it was called the T Project, and the aerial aircraft carrier project is the Veloe Project. The jet fighter project was the Beria Project, and nuclear development is called the Perun Project.

Originally, I was going to call it the Tsar Project, but wondered if I should mention the code name.

Later, I could change it back to the Tsar Project and include hydrogen bomb research as well.

As the Second Sino-Japanese War intensifies, we must rush to develop asymmetric weapons, with nuclear armament being essential.

The start of war is indeed just around the corner.

We could make some profits from the American Civil War and take advantage of various outcomes afterward, so we needed to produce it even if we had to go into debt.

Fortunately, I had some knowledge on this, and there were quite a few resources, plus we could obtain uranium from Bulgaria.

Let’s make it early! Thanks to the preparations I made, everything moved quickly.

Seeing the Black Baron confidently declaring it, things must be progressing well.

“What’s the status of the Perun Project?”

From what I hear, various facilities have already been installed.

In original history, the Soviets used spies to steal nuclear-related technology from abroad, but surprisingly, even during the German-Soviet War, they were exploring nuclear options.

We are far ahead of that.

“Thanks to you, Your Majesty, nuclear physicists like Georgy Flyorov and Igor Kurchatov have made progress with the experiments, and development is expected to be completed by the early 1940s.”

A nuclear weapon will be created by the early 1940s. That should happen much earlier than in original history. The research is evidently progressing at lightning speed.

But with speed comes the need for caution.

“The dangers of radiation must be clearly communicated.”

I instructed the researchers to firmly remind everyone of the dangers of radiation.

I may have started it, but I can’t directly get involved in the nuclear project; that’s essentially ongoing under the White Army carrying out the Perun Project.

Therefore, I ordered the White Army to increase awareness of the dangers of radiation.

I don’t know everything, but there have likely been cases of people becoming victims of radiation without realizing it.

I certainly can’t afford to let precious researchers and scientists be lost.

I quietly issued instructions through the White Army to use the remaining Bolsheviks to announce the dangers of radiation.

If I’m not going to use the Bolsheviks in this way, then when would I? I’ve kept some Bolsheviks alive for this very moment.

“Experiments have already been conducted with several living Bolsheviks selected from the second nuclear research institute in Siberia.”

Experiments. I bet it’s the same as those I know of. You know, the pictures of those who were exposed in history. They probably faced something like that.

It’s unfortunate, but what can I do? If they were upset, they shouldn’t have acted like Bolsheviks.

The Bolsheviks were deployed during the last road construction, and some of those who managed to survive must be put to good use like this.

Well, using war prisoners or abducting foreigners for experiments isn’t the same, is it?

If I were a true dictator, it might be different, but I can’t do such things while being a Saint with various imperial titles.

But you know? Bolsheviks are different, right?

I’ve already repeatedly stated that communism is a plague, and Bolsheviks are insects.

In other words, treat insects like insects. It’s only natural to sacrifice them for humanity.

The issue is whether Einstein, who didn’t view nuclear weapons very positively, will have something to say when he sees the radiation experiments.

“What will Dr. Einstein say?”

Dr. Einstein probably won’t be oblivious to this.

Even if he doesn’t know, he’ll likely have complaints.

In any case, it’s already done, and it’s not like I specifically ordered it, so it’s not my concern.

“I’ve kept it secret from the doctor, and I’ve also given the guilty opportunity for the sake of protecting the researchers’ bodies. So it’s fine.”

That’s a relief, but that means the Bolsheviks will be wondering about it.

What happened to the Bolsheviks implicated in that experiment?

“What about those Bolsheviks?”

What, indeed, happened to those Bolsheviks? In response to my question, the Black Baron frowned, as if he’d seen it himself or had pictures of it.

“They died horribly in ways I can’t even express in words.”

Well, this is no different from biological experimentation. But still, it’s something that must be done someday.

Originally, people won’t feel danger unless they face it directly.

“That’s a fitting death for the Bolsheviks.”

After all, reds should die that way. They should be granted death in various meanings.

In any case, I never insisted they specifically experiment on Bolsheviks.

I just warned that radiation is harmful to the human body. If they don’t believe me, I told them to experiment on Bolsheviks.

“But how did Your Majesty know?”

“Indeed. It’s a bit questionable that the scientists didn’t particularly believe your words and went ahead with experiments. But you warned them about the dangers, didn’t you?”

I don’t know how much the dangers of radiation are known in this era.

I’ve seen pictures of how patients exposed to radiation die in the future.

“Those Bolsheviks even cursed this nation and Your Majesty, despite being Bolsheviks from Russia.”

Ah, I guess so. Originally, when a person is dying horribly, they tend to curse anyone.

With nothing they can do, cursing is all they have.

“Cursing, huh? That’s hilarious.”

They’re already receiving enough curses.

Living in a world where nuclear war has broken out. And the bizarre lives of an old man and Anastasia.

Honestly, all of this feels like a curse to me.

Still, my reason for making nuclear weapons is ultimately that one day, nuclear weapons will be inevitable.

What I’m doing is to ensure that Russia doesn’t end up being like a modern-day gangster nation and to tear down the hegemonic country of China while also preparing a countermeasure against America.

The root cause of the nuclear war was China, after all.

We must tear apart that perpetrator, China, and prevent Russia from falling into the hands of a dictator crazed with power. We should put mechanisms in place to ensure that the power doesn’t destroy everything through war.

There’s already a lot to do and I’ve been cursed enough; such curses are of no concern to me.

Now, all that remains is to mobilize our capabilities to create a boatload of weapons before World War II starts.

With that strength, we won’t be invaded and instead charge towards Communist Germany.

Yeah. My ultimate goal is the extermination of communism.

 

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