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* * *

Russia is still conserving its strength. Every day, they’re developing new weapons, and their resources overflow within their own country, without the need for colonies.

It’s as if their entire population is popping out children like they’re on some kind of steroid, aiming to give birth to daughters resembling the Tsar. They’ve surpassed 200 million without colonies, and in terms of army size, their forces are equivalent to the combined armies of Britain, France, and the Low Countries.

After this war, if only Russia remains unscathed, it will naturally become the balance of power in Europe and take the lead.

The British Empire, which draws strength from its colonies, lacks the resources to manage them, implying they’ll fall to Russia even without a war.

“Wait a minute, doesn’t this mean only Russia benefits?”

“Prime Minister, what do you mean?”

“This… we need to hurry up the offensive!”

It’s too favorable for Russia.

While stalling to buy time could be an option, if we let it drag on, Russia will gobble up the fully-cooked meal after putting in the time.

In that sense, we must quickly subdue Communist Germany.

We need to capture Germany and have whoever in charge, be it the Kaiser or anyone else, gather the Allied forces again.

“Huh?”

“Weren’t the Communist forces driven out in America?”

“Yes. It seems the Black Reds are wreaking havoc with guerrilla attacks everywhere, but it should come to an end soon.”

There isn’t much time left.

Until now, Russia lacked a justification to intervene, and who knows what they’re thinking.

Now that America is stabilizing, Russia will soon cast its eyes back to Europe for war.

“Italian forces can be ignored; the real main body is Germany. We need to strengthen our offensive against Germany. We must block them before Russia intervenes.”

By the time Churchill was frantically preparing the offensive, the German Free Socialist Republic was contemplating an attack as the Allies were underwhelming.

Of course, this was merely a contingency plan.

If the Allies really turned out to be weaklings, he thought of launching a soul-challenging attack just once.

This way, he could aim to expedite the communist takeover of France, and no matter how crazy Communist Germany might be, if Russia intervened later, they wouldn’t be able to handle a two-front war.

Even the Germans here knew the moment a two-front war opened, they were doomed.

“Hmm, so what’s the operation plan?”

“Comrade, the Schlieffen plan seems most feasible.”

This meant they’d revisit the Schlieffen plan once more, like in history, or something close to it.

Looking at the encirclement now, using the Schlieffen plan would be impossible, let alone something akin to the Schlieffen grandpa plan.

Anschluss, the Munich Agreement eating up Czechoslovakia, and Poland had all been taken by Germany, and even now, solidifying this encirclement was a bigger gamble than Nazi Germany ever took.

One significant factor remained unchanged—Germany’s military was similar to Nazi Germany because Goebbels had tried to embrace the Junkers more broadly.

The German Communist Party figured that at least when war broke out, the Junkers would help defend Germany.

But Goebbels’ blunder lay elsewhere.

While some Junkers were on board, there were also those, tied to the goal of overthrowing this communist regime, who thought that the communist regime should be brought down by the Allied powers.

Especially since the leader of the Allies, Britain, was also a monarchy, they hoped Britain would help in toppling the system.

Of course, it was a bit irritating that they had to rely on British assistance, but if they resisted, defeat was a clear outcome.

Initially, they aimed for Goebbels’ assassination, but the military was swarming with political officers, and the forces guarding Goebbels were no joke, making assassination impossible.

Coincidentally, those infamous figures we know from the Blomberg-Fritsch incident, Werner von Blomberg and Werner von Fritsch, managed to escape to Austria, but many other Junkers went there as well. However, figures like Manstein were absent.

Manstein, who rather thought the communist regime was failing and that life in the Second Empire was better, decided to connect with East Prussia and planned a scything operation similar to original history.

He thought he’d surrender if surrounded by the Allies due to the failure of the scything operation.

Well, they’d have to act according to the situation if it didn’t get accepted.

Unexpectedly, Goebbels liked this strategy.

‘If we could encircle them by passing through the Ardennes forest, we might spark a revolution within France.’

A revolution was plausible.

It was a tough time for Germany compared to the original history, and honestly, Goebbels was beginning to feel the pressure.

While they were holding up so far, Germany was bound to collapse if things kept going like this.

They needed to speed up the time frame for the communist takeover of France.

The plan that surfaced at that time was one that could encircle the Allies.

It was on an entirely different level compared to the existing method. A perfect gamble for current Germany.

It wasn’t just an ordinary gamble; it was a soul-looting gamble compared to original history, but it promised quicker communist takeover of France if successful.

If successful, a communist revolution; if failed, annihilation.

There were only these two options, and regrettably, Germany had no choices other than these.

Thus, the operation was passed by Secretary Goebbels. Manstein leaked this information to the Allies, led the German forces to surrender to the Allies, and then intended to join Ludendorff’s German forces still alive, commanding the German Empire in East Prussia.

But.

“Are you kidding me? You think the desperate fools are going to establish this kind of plan? Going through a forest? This looks like a scheme to bind our troops. They’re deliberately leaking information so our troops get trapped for a breather. If this is genuine, I might as well eat mint chocolate with my nose, which the Empress of Russia loves so much.”

It was outright ignored by Churchill, who was losing the remaining few hairs on his head to prepare for the offensive.

* * *

Austrian Empire, Vienna

Meanwhile, in Vienna, Austrian Empire, Hermann Göring rushed to find Chancellor Hitler.

“Prime Minister, isn’t this the opportunity? If the British or the Kaiser of East Prussia regain control of Germany’s mainland…”

Upon hearing Göring’s words, Hitler shook his head, indicating no.

It seemed obvious that wouldn’t happen, and as Göring tilted his head, Hitler stood up to point at the wall map of Europe.

It might seem that way at first glance, but it was mistaken.

“You can’t do that. Goebbels is preparing something. The Allies aren’t trying to execute a war of attrition to isolate Germany; they’re only aiming for an offensive, sustaining losses in trench warfare.”

While tracing his finger along the Low Countries, France, and Germany’s borders on the map, Hitler continued.

It was flowing in a manner similar to World War I.

Moreover, rumors suggest that the performance of the communist German tanks is quite commendable.

Austria has started producing tanks through Škoda in a manner different from original history.

Ultimately, Hitler was spurred on to push tank production due to concerns that it would turn into ground warfare.

But the reds lurking deep in Austria ended up transferring their tank designs to Germany.

They should have caught them sooner.

“Then, what is Goebbels preparing?”

“Do you know how the Russian Empire fell?”

Hitler witnessed much while fighting as a German volunteer in the Russian Civil War.

The Bolshevik’s ability to incite and the foolish Slavs who fell for their manipulation.

And he studied how the Russian Empire collapsed.

Communists are those kinds of people.

Like trying to seduce a spurned woman, they seek to corrupt people and make them as red as themselves.

Of course, one could attribute it to the inferior Slavs, but too much has changed now.

When seeing Britain and France, they are no different, and above all, it looks like the Aryan blood they claim to be the true bloodline of Communist Germany are admitting their inferiority.

“It was because of Lenin. No way!”

“At that time, the German Empire sent Lenin to Russia to end the Russian front, leading to the revolution. Thus, they could finish the Russian front with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.”

Germany cleverly used the bomb called Lenin.

Thanks to that, the Russian Empire collapsed, and the current Empress of Russia was established.

To reduce just one front, they created a rival stronger than the Russian Empire.

“But right now, there’s no one like Lenin, is there?”

Right. There isn’t.

But within France, there exists the French Commune, and the French government, being in such a mess, lacks the ability to deal decisively with those proposing solutions.

Yes, France allows revolutionaries to dwell within.

Truly horrifying.

“In place of that, there’s the loyal French Commune to Berlin. If Goebbels has been in contact with them for a long time and induces a revolution? Right now, they can’t break through Germany’s defenses, but if they leverage the anti-war sentiment, the Commune could have a chance.”

If the Allied offensive can withstand for several more rounds.

Then the French Commune will gain strength.

“Indeed, if France turns red in an instant, that’s the end for the British.”

Exactly. In that case, Britain will be isolated.

No matter how strong the Royal Navy, they may fail to retreat their army in time.

“That’s right. Britain has all the elite forces from the British Isles. I’ll keep an eye on it. If the British army suffers serious damage in this battle, will their colonies tumble?”

Churchill is currently conscious of Russia.

He’s so focused on Russia that he’s rushing to finish off Germany before it can settle with America.

But such urgency will ultimately crumble the Allies.

While they could attack Communist Germany early to widen the front.

Austria is still unprepared, and even if they manage to catch Communist Germany by luck, they would be torn to shreds by the Allied powers.

“Indeed, I can’t help but admire the Prime Minister’s insight.”

“What’s next? It’s Austria. We need to fortify the borders, including Sudetenland.”

Hitler drew a line with his finger along the German border on the map.

Now is the time to solidify defenses.

“Shouldn’t we block Italy as well?”

“Having waged total war in Africa but still unable to capture it, and being crushed by the French Mountain Division, they’re no great power. Two divisions should be sufficient. The Minister of War has already acknowledged that.”

Honestly, it seems Italy can be managed, not out of negligence, but sincerely.

Still, other preparations must be ensured to avoid divisions if war breaks out later.

So far, between Poland and Ukraine, we’ve managed to re-incorporate Galicia-Rodomeria, which was teetering due to Poland’s antics and Ukraine’s Russian annexation.

“Then let’s prepare for a great compromise as planned.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

It’s time for Austria to be reborn truly.

* * *

Unlike the European nations, Russia was remarkably peaceful.

Maybe the only thing is that requests for arms purchases from Austria have increased? Can’t help it with Austria.

Hitler probably knows Germany won’t crumble easily.

The same goes for the Balkan countries.

“Just as Your Majesty predicted, the Allies cannot push Germany away.”

At Maria’s words, I nodded slightly.

That’s right. They won’t be easy to collapse.

Although they’ve turned as red as can be, their unity is likely to be better than during the Empire days.

“We must also consider the perspectives of the invader and the defender. The invading Brits and French might think, due to their experiences in great wars, that they will win this time easily~ such complacency, yet they also remember the nightmares of trench warfare. On the other hand, for Communist Germany, if they lose again, it’s truly over. Furthermore, since Britain and France initiated this war, it’s perfect for Goebbels to incite.”

Of course, no matter how good a mindset one holds, it can’t surpass the quality of weapons.

Regrettably, these communist Germans have procured weapon schematics through spies.

Even if the quality is poor, it won’t be that hard to develop weapons based on the designs.

“Churchill seems quite desperate. He could inflict sufficient damage just by isolating them.”

It’s not that easy.

Churchill isn’t a fool; he knows well this attack will cost them heavily.

But having started, there’s the pride of the colonial empire on the line, plus the urgency heightens as they wonder when Russia will intervene.

“They’re likely keeping an eye on us. Both Communist Germany and ourselves. They plan to make a decision between the two while we’re bound to America.”

One of them has to fall.

But neither side thinks they will be the one to go down.

For now, Goebbels has long-prepared strategies, while Churchill, though somewhat hastily, still has superior strength compared to Communist Germany.

Though we assert we can easily finish off America, in reality, we’re providing a convenient stall.

Even by coincidence, Huey Long requested talks with MacArthur, leaving our army lingering in America.

I’m doing this on purpose.

To make that European war unfold even more fiercely.

Those guys are probably worried sick.

Surprisingly, since Russia is dragging its feet in the American Civil War, there’s psychological pressure involved, you know?

The longer the Civil War drags on, the more it becomes uncertain when it will end.

If the meetings between Huey Long and MacArthur result in America coming back together, we could minimize our damage even further.

“Your Majesty, it seems Churchill is preparing an offensive.”

Soon after, new news arrived from the military.

Churchill is gearing up for an offensive. This isn’t unexpected; I saw it coming.

That’s typical. Churchill would want to go for a big win.

Britain has probably heard of the talks between MacArthur and Huey Long in America.

The true enemy for him isn’t some communist Germany; it’s Russia.

Even if war isn’t possible, he would want to topple Germany and divide the lands among the victors, placing Europe under Britain’s sphere while competing with Russia.

He may not be different from Communist Germany, but for us, he poses a threat as someone with goals.

From the relevant documents, it seems the Allies are planning to push down across Germany’s national borders.

It looks like Churchill is moving too hastily. Well, it might be that this is the only option left.

Then, how will our Goebbels respond?

 

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