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* * *

Goebbels might stay in Paris to prepare for the last stand.

Well, that would be a good plan.

With the continued surrender of the army, there’s not a soul to trust, so it might be better to redirect Group A to Paris.

It could very well be the army I left behind for just that purpose.

Then, we should consider this side to be a red faction as well.

That probably means Goebbels is over there, and he’ll wage the final battle with the French Commune. That’s the gist of it.

“Goebbels probably ran to France, right?”

“Yes. That’s what we are figuring.”

Hmm, then it might be a bit tough for France to go all in.

Though the troops were somewhat scattered, the remaining red German army and the Commune army uniting is not something to take lightly.

For now, we might need to regroup.

And speaking of that, I suddenly found myself looking at the list of those who had excelled in this campaign against Communist Germany.

“Chief of Staff. This is the list.”

There shouldn’t be any enemies, but I was curious about the individuals who’ve been active from various nations.

And what I found was unexpectedly familiar faces to me.

“The German Empire’s Walter Model has been quite active.”

“Yes. Rommel from the Danube is also a significant figure. Of course, we have many notable individuals, including General Ungern, a master of mobile warfare.”

Rommel was there?

That’s surprising. Honestly, I thought Rommel would remain in Communist Germany.

Well, when Karl Liebknecht first revolted, it was said to have been suppressed by terror.

“Either way, we will eventually lead Europe after the war. There’s no need to intentionally clash with them.”

Once we reach France, it won’t be long now.

The French Commune might have its government toppled again, but at the very least, they will fight fiercely.

Yugoslavia is going to struggle for its national existence, and now that we see the reds dying without even surrendering under the pretext of purification from Communist Germany, they will likely cling on desperately.

“Their resistance will be fierce.”

“Our soldiers are quite exhausted too. With the collapse of Communist Germany, the Royal Navy will start moving again, isolating France.”

We’ve pushed through so far.

But crossing from Moscow to the entire German territory to stand off on the French front is taking too long.

It might be nice to just push straight through. But at least I want to take care of my soldiers.

It’s about time to start launching some nukes. Don’t you think?

If the French Commune is determined to fight, our losses will become tiresome now and even after we get restructured.

That’s why I suggest regrouping now.

Currently, the nuclear targets are Paris and Belgrade.

Let’s leave Italy as it is, it feels too miserable to nuke it. Ethiopia could handle it alone.

So let’s definitely move forward with Italy.

The main assault will be taken care of by Ethiopia, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

“Well, that’s good. We need to regroup first. Now that the Ethiopian army landed in Italy, let’s focus on that area.”

I’ve heard Ethiopia is doing quite well. Capturing Italy shouldn’t be too difficult.

“Yes. Understood.”

“But if we leave it like this, won’t the enemy’s defenses become solid?”

Ungern looks disappointed, licking his lips.

Of course, he sees the option of attacking immediately, but we’ve pushed too hard already.

The entire territory of Germany is a tough nut to crack for the war, and the Danube’s land isn’t intact either.

We need to regroup using the homeland and the Balkans.

That’s just my opinion though.

I don’t want to add to our army’s casualties any further, so it’s time to utilize what’s been created by the Perun Project.

For now, I suggested to set that aside and just focus on regrouping.

“Before that, let’s make sure to secure Italy firmly. Leaving it half-heartedly over there feels wrong.”

We’ll leave securing the occupied areas to the German Empire that has reclaimed its homeland. The Danube Defense Army is also heading down to capture Italy.

I’ve heard the Danube Army is also heading south to Italy? They can take it without a hitch.

Honestly, we could push through like this, but since Spain is already crossing the Pyrenees and stabbing away, those guys will be in chaos.

We could take a short break in the meantime and then go in.

“The Italian army is currently blocking the Danube Defense Army in the Alps.”

“That’ll probably tire them out a bit.”

It’s tough for the Italians to block the Danube Defense Army, especially with a landing happening at the same time.

They won’t even have the strength to conquer Greece. For them to block the Danube Defense Army, they’ll have to work hard.

And in the meantime, if Ethiopia finishes things up? I can’t let that slide.

“Yes, Your Majesty. And there are reports of Anastasia supporters emerging within Italy.”

Anastasia supporters? What the heck is that?

I haven’t particularly sowed anything there, right? Why would that suddenly appear?

“Why on earth?”

“Well, every country has its own quirks, doesn’t it?”

“Still, it’s a bit unexpected.”

Well, when a country is on the brink of collapse, such things can happen.

There are also places where the Communist Party is calmly just a political party.

They might have been hiding underground or simply acting like one political party.

But what about Mussolini? Is he going to flee or something?

“Isn’t Mussolini likely to run away?”

“Actually, not long ago, the Italian Communist Party sent someone with a message.”

At Drozdovsky’s words, I blinked.

For the communist side to send a message means they are practically done for, right?

“Oh, is that so?”

I previously mentioned that it’s fine to keep things at the military level and not bring it to me.

I figured they’d come to me for negotiations or requests for peace, rather than their home country.

The same thing happened with Yugoslavia.

“Yes. However, the request was too ridiculous. They want to reinstate the king and return to pre-Great War conditions like Yugoslavia – what a request for peace.”

“Let’s treat it as a draw. I see.”

What absolute nonsense.

Just think about it. What reason do we have to accept such demands?

It doesn’t make sense. That said, I wouldn’t expect them to last long.

“It makes no sense; it was decided to delay the response on the military side according to Your Majesty’s wishes.”

“Like stalling for time to let Mussolini escape. It means giving hope to those fools.”

Will Mussolini truly run?

Looking at the original history, it seems likely he would. But can the Ethiopian army catch him before that?

If it comes down to it, I could capture him all at once in Paris later.

But still, if we’re capturing, it would be nice if Haile Selassie took care of that.

“We’re fine either way, but I doubt the Emperor of Ethiopia will let him go easily.”

“Yes. Emperor Haile Selassie has landed all over Italy, it seems.”

He has intentionally landed at various places to ensure Mussolini doesn’t flee.

How dumb must they see the situation to split forces like that and land everywhere. Fine, let’s leave them be for now.

“Well, now let’s take a moment for ourselves. Only the soldiers are suffering from the wars chosen by the high-ranking folks.”

“Indeed, our Tsar cares for the people.”

“And I’ve heard that there are quite a few injured in this battle. Is there a military hospital?”

“Yes, there is a temporary military hospital on the outskirts of Berlin.”

“I’ll go check it out personally.”

I once read online a story that goes:

War is started by the high-ranking individuals while the innocent youth die.

Whether it’s the Allied forces invading Communist Germany under the pretext of preemptive war to catch reds or Communist Germany invading the Danube, painted as a revolution for workers. All wars are started by the high-ranking folks.

Leaving Mussolini aside, he isn’t worth mentioning.

Regardless, they are dying because of wars chosen by those at the top.

If you think about it, in the Ukraine-Russian war, Putin didn’t run in with a gun himself.

They might throw around various justifications like neo-Nazis or NATO, but that’s all just noise. In the end, it escalated to a nuclear war.

I would eventually start a war to catch Communist Germany. It’s the soldiers who will die in the end. At the very least, I should show my face at a hospital.

* * *

Upon arriving at the temporary military hospital in Berlin, it was packed with injured soldiers.

Indeed, no matter how good the weaponry, casualties are unavoidable.

Nurses were bustling about caring for patients, and military doctors looked busy, going back and forth between the rooms.

That must mean there are quite a few injured soldiers.

As I walked down the hall, the smell of disinfectant filled the air, reminding me of how I had just been playing around in the command unit, and I felt guilty for no reason.

“Whoa! It’s Tsar!”

“Oh, Your Majesty has come to visit personally!”

As soon as they saw me, the soldiers greeted me warmly, and I made sure to wave and encourage each one.

I didn’t really know why, but I felt like I had to do this.

For example, I held the hand of a soldier moaning with a red-stained bandage tied to his arm and gave him a warm look.

“What’s your name?”

“Ivan Ankopsky, Your Majesty.”

Ivan Ankopsky. Hmmm, a Russian man’s name, one I’m quite familiar with.

Why are there so many ‘ski’ names in Russia?

Thinking that, I also asked with a bit of concern.

“You seem to have bled quite a bit; is your injury all right?”

“I got to see Your Majesty, so of course, I’m fine! I can return to battle soon!”

Right, it’s the kind of injury you could recover from and return to fight.

Just a bit of bandaging, is all it takes.

I can’t exactly say “Please go out there, fight, and die for me!” after all!

So what I could do was give him good-natured encouragement and a ‘buff’.

“Don’t overdo it. The thought of a soldier like you diving into enemy lines and dying while I’m just sitting in the command unit is the saddest thing for me.”

“Y-Your Majesty, **cough cough**.”

It’s good to have some form of a fresh image now and then.

After all, work like this is best done regularly during the right times.

So, as I looked around a bit more, I noticed an exceptionally noticeable figure.

Yes, quite an unusually young woman stood there in this place.

She looked barely in her twenties.

To put it bluntly, she was an astonishing beauty that seemed out of place. But despite being beautiful, her face was shadowed, perhaps hinting at a bit of darkness from crossing the front lines.

I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere, but I couldn’t quite place it.

This woman was staring at me with a nervous face, and then she bowed her head deeply.

So I wondered if she was someone I knew, prompting me to ask.

“You’re a female soldier? You look rather young. What’s your name?”

“I am Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Your Tsar.”

Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Ah, I remember who she is.

Isn’t she quite the notable female sniper from the Soviet Union?

“A sniper, huh?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I was injured in the last battle while fighting a sniper from Communist Germany.”

Oh. It’s fascinating to see someone I’ve only heard about in stories. She looked young and beautiful.

I never expected her to still be around in current Russia.

Since she’s fighting against Germany, I wonder if she enlisted voluntarily? In times like this, I sometimes wished I were a man too.

But what good would that do, given that I’m already this age as a woman?

“She’s said to be the best sniper in the Kingdom of Finland, Simo Häyhä. I hear she recently defeated the best sniper of Communist Germany.”

Drozdovsky whispered as he followed me.

Simo Häyhä is definitely a figure that made remarkable achievements against the Soviets in original history.

It seems she has joined the Finnish kingdom’s army as history diverged.

“I see. I hope you continue your efforts.”

I gave Pavlichenko a light pat on the shoulder.

Even though I dislike the reds, I quite like this woman.

I mean, isn’t it a fantasy to have a female sniper active on the battlefield?

Even after the nuclear war, in Korea, snipers were placed around to guard their territories.

At that time, it was mostly women who took on the sniper roles.

Didn’t the Soviets have a similar approach to nurturing female snipers in a way?

Well, that’s enough about that. Let’s get to what I was preparing.

“Honestly, I must admit, I’m not worthy of being your mother.”

“Though I am a saint and have worked hard to uplift Russia, it was all impossible without the help of the people. This war, though a preemptive one due to fears of an attack on the homeland, I’ve imposed death and sacrifice upon you all by directly entering Germany. How can a mother lead her children to death?”

That’s a fair point.

A mother should never lead her children to their deaths.

I revealed this point very candidly, primarily to convey that I recognize your sacrifices.

The reds and Churchill, having evolved into Mister Dunkirk, are of a different breed than me.

It’s true that the damage inflicted upon the British army doesn’t come close to what we’ve endured.

“Your Majesty.”

“There must be many fallen soldiers. I wonder if I can be considered a worthy mother after watching my children die from the command unit? But one thing is certain.”

Every injured soldier that fell within my line of sight held their gaze upon me and went silent.

“All of you here, fallen soldiers, as well as the countless White Army soldiers preparing for battle at this moment, are the true heroes of this nation. Your dedication and sacrifice will bring victory in this war to destroy communism and lift Russia onto the foundations of a hegemonic power.”

Your sacrifices hold immense value.

I will undoubtedly achieve victory in this war through your sacrifices.

“I make you one promise. On the front in France, there shall be no sacrifices equivalent to those in Germany. And before this year is out, you shall walk on well-maintained roads amidst the Rasputitsa and return to your homelands, including Moscow, to be welcomed by the people.”

So, let’s see what their reaction will be?

 

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