---

* * *

“I’ve made some prophecies before, but you shouldn’t believe them.”

“All I predicted was Japan’s major earthquake and the oil explosion site, nothing more.”

“Is there anything else beyond that?”

“Anyway, I could have hit that much without really trying.”

“So, does that mean it’s World War II??”

“Then how many troops are we supposed to mobilize?”

The members were deeply concerned.

“Oh, I can’t believe I let that slip.”

“Well, um. A large-scale war could occur again, right? It’s just a matter of possibility. I mean, surely France won’t be taken over by Communist Germany or anything like that. We must always be prepared, you see.”

“Are you saying that France will become a communist regime this time?”

“No, I’m not.”

It would be problematic if these people actually believed this.

What if Communist Germany turned out to be weaker than expected after all this seriousness?

Or what if wars break out separately?

It would be troubling to blindly trust my words.

Turkey needs to play a role as a foothold for expansion into Italy or Greece from the Mediterranean, so we must leave it alone.

“Oh, World War II. Hmm.”

“So, wait a second. Just a hypothetical. Just a scenario. Our Russia underwent a revolution during World War I. So, it means we must be cautious with various possibilities.”

This excuse should be good enough.

“Hmm. I understand what you mean.”

“Are we not discussing the Kurds right now? The war can come later. Just say we’ll provide medical support for now, if they really want independence.”

It’s ridiculous to say we will help with an independent war.

What about places like Syria or Iraq?

The Kurds in that area, and other ethnic groups under the occupation of the English and French would be whining for help.

That’s out of the question.

“How do we respond to Turkey?”

“Let’s just be honest. The Kurds were just using me to get support. Isn’t that right?”

Seeing the Kurds mentioning me while asking for support, it feels like they’ve already engaged in armed independence.

The situation seems obvious.

It’s a doomed situation, to be honest.

So, did they desperately mention me too?

“Yes, Your Majesty. Unless we’re targeting Turkey under the pretext of the Kurds, honestly, we have nothing to say if we capture the Kurds alongside Turkey.”

Yeah. Come to think of it, that’s true.

It’s downright disrespectful. How dare they say such things about me!?

Someone so stupid as to mention me while trying to be a puppet Tsar?

“How infuriating. So there’s no reason to hide it.”

Will Atatürk get mad if he finds out about this?

He might even lead the army directly.

“So, can I just be honest with Turkey then?”

“Yes. Let’s just be straightforward. There’s no reason to hide it. Since we gave them Constantinople, we need to reinforce to Russia that we are friends with Turkey. Oh, wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t we develop new weapons? Let’s ask Turkey to operate them.”

Shouldn’t we also try to test out tanks and aircraft while we’re at it?

Since we haven’t declared war yet, it might be better to experiment in Turkey.

I’m sorry to the Kurds, but we need to test the weapons.

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Since weapons are the most useful in war, we need to check the performance of our tanks and planes.”

No, wait a moment.

I raised my hand to continue speaking.

“And we’ll also provide the Kurds with weapons.”

“Wasn’t it just sending medical personnel?”

Come on. Sending only medical personnel wouldn’t serve as a performance test.

We need to give them some of the weapons we were using before to assess them.

“Just pass along some old weapons. Turkey wouldn’t complain about the quality, given that they’re fundamentally different. Oh, and we could also give them the weapons we received from Britain and France, right?”

We gave Chen Zhongming some new weapons, but excluding those, we still have plenty of British, French, and Mohsinan weapons.

We can toss those over to the Kurds as well.

“That’s a good approach. If we want to test the performance of the weapons, this would be better. The White Army will follow Your Majesty’s intentions.”

That should be sufficient.

I was glad to be present this time.

If I hadn’t attended the Duma and had just been wasting time, even though it’s true that we wouldn’t have started a war to conquer Turkey, discussions about punishing the Kurds attempting to exploit Tsarina’s authority could have arisen, and things might have escalated.

Of course, other members besides the White Army would have intervened.

Atatürk wouldn’t let this slip easily either.

If I’m not around, how do they expect things to turn out?

Anyway, since I made it known to this side, Atatürk can deal with it.

Yeah.

It’s the so-called “let them kill each other” strategy.

* * *

Turkey, Ankara

The matter of Kurdish support was conveyed to the Turkish government through the Russian ambassador.

Atatürk, who heard this news from Ilyinuy, was understandably enraged.

“How dare they ask for help from Russia?”

The Kurdish forces were already engaged in armed independence struggles, enough to send troops at any moment.

The timing was earlier than in actual history due to Turkey becoming weaker.

Growing annoyed that the Kurds were rallying arms, Atatürk was even more furious knowing that Russia was involved.

Hadn’t they been overtly attempting to break free, relying on Russia?

What did they believe in to be so brazen? Did they firmly believe Russia would assist them?

Even if it weren’t the case, he couldn’t just let them be after requesting help from Russia.

“Thank goodness that Russia informed us.”

“Well, should we even call that a relief?”

For what reason did they disclose this?

Russia could not be a country just run by the Tsar alone right now.

“In any case, if Russia sided with the Kurds and intervened, that wouldn’t be good, would it?”

Indeed.

Does Tsarina really want to have Turkey as an ally?

There should be several million elite troops already strengthened due to the civil war in Russia. Quite frankly, isn’t it a perfect opportunity to swallow Anatolia right now?

Rather than entering under the pretext of aiding the Kurds, they say they will help us instead.

While I don’t like sending medical teams to the Kurds, they can’t help but save face.

“Anyway, sending medical personnel means, um…”

Is it not giving the Kurds a glimmer of hope so they can continue to torment Turkey a bit longer?

“They had their own circumstances, you see. Instead, we now have the weapons provided by the Russian army.”

“Weren’t weapons sent to the Kurds?”

According to the dispatched officers, several trucks with Russian flags entered the Ararat Mountain area, they said.

Then, what’s the point? Aren’t they ultimately deciding to assist the Kurds as well?

Could it be that Turkey’s desire to be Russia’s ally was a lie all along?

If they annex Pontus Greece, wouldn’t that lead directly to Turkey?

“Isn’t this just a scheme for mutual destruction?”

“According to the Russian ambassador, all the weapons sent to the Kurds are old weapons used during the civil war or beforehand. They say they must save face for the Tsarina. What is sent to us are the new ones.”

Atatürk managed to feel somewhat relieved at Ilyinuy’s words.

After all, using the dispute between Turkey and the Kurds as a testing ground for weapons is somewhat nasty, but they’re still sending us new models. Old weapons might be something the Kurds still possess. Is that why they speak of merely sending medical teams?

“Yeah. That’s also good. How many weapons were supported?”

I doubt they provided many weapons, simply to gain some face.

It’s a humiliating position for Russia to help with the Kurdish issue to begin with. What sort of situation are they in?

“They firmly stated that the Kurds audaciously attempted to exploit the Tsarina’s authority, so they sent the new model automatic rifles from Pyotrov along with tanks and aircraft.”

“Tanks and aircraft? So they send us old weapons and medical teams in return? Well, they want to fulfill their role as a Saint, it seems.”

“Yes. That appears to be the case.”

Turkish National Government receives weapons, while only medical personnel is sent to the independence-seeking Kurds. It feels like we’re being manipulated by Russia.

“Let’s avoid attacking areas where Russian medical teams are present. There’s been a recent uprising from the anti-reformists as well, so we should make sure to suppress them effectively. I’ll go myself. You need to attend the Moscow air defense treaty date, right?”

“Is there any doubt? Then I’ll immediately mobilize the National Army.”

Atatürk set out personally with the army to advance towards Ararat Mountain, where the Kurdish forces were fortified, also wishing to see the new Russian weapons.

On the other hand, İhsan Nuri Pasha and Viroy Heski Teli, who had anticipated Russian support, expressed gratitude for the supply of weapons and medical personnel, but felt disappointed.

To be honest, they were expecting combat troops.

Having established themselves almost to the point of reclaiming Eastern Roman lands and reaching Pontus Greece, were they really going to let this opportunity slip by?

It seemed like a fitting justification.

“Support for combat troops is impossible. They say Russia has endured numerous wars and doesn’t have the resources for that.”

“Ugh. That’s disappointing.”

With so many troops, they shouldn’t lack the resources to wage war.

It signifies that the Tsarina of Russia would side with Turkey rather than the Kurds.

The fact that they supported with weapons should be seen in light of their situation as well.

“Well, they supported weapons as well, so that’s something to be grateful for, right? We were essentially trying to exploit the Tsarina from the beginning. So we’re lucky to get even this much.”

True, we received arms too, so we can’t ask for too much.

To begin with, we didn’t make any serious demands.

Had the victorious nations of the great war guaranteed the establishment of Kurdistan as promised, it would have been a different story.

“That can’t be helped.”

“Even so, the Turks can’t stop our will for independence!”

İhsan Nuri Pasha steeled his resolve.

The arrow had already left the bowstring.

During the Turkish War of Independence, seeing Russia intervene and Atatürk surrender, the Kurds hastily rallied together and rose.

They couldn’t stop now.

“İhsan Nuri Pasha! The Turks have mobilized their forces!”

“Does that mean the time has come?”

İhsan Nuri Pasha sprang up from his seat.

While the difference in power was evident, he had no intention of yielding.

When else could they ignite the flames of independence?

Right now, amidst the chaos of anti-reformists and anti-secularists within Turkey, this was indeed their opportunity.

Even if it meant risking death, they would not stop.

And.

Whirrrr! Boom boom!

The Turkish military began bombing using the Russian bombers at Mount Ararat. Below the mountain, Turkish infantry followed behind the advancing tanks.

“What on earth is that?”

“Our weapons don’t even work against those tanks!”

“Damn it!”

“Where did those weapons come from?!”

At least the Turkish infantry could be dealt with somehow, but they simply had no means to deal with those bombers.

During a time when they had no proper anti-aircraft weapons, the Kurdish forces, without international support holding out in Ararat Mountain, were just thankful to have machine guns, to be honest.

In such a scenario, bombers were the worst situation for the Kurds at Mount Ararat.

“The Turkish troops are closing in from all directions!”

“Damn it, let’s just fight for now!”

The Kurdish Independent War, initiated by İhsan Nuri Pasha and Viroy Heski Teli, began to collapse defenselessly before the Turkish National Army, armed with Atatürk’s intense will not to lose the Kurds.

Unlike actual history, they crumbled before Atatürk’s army even before establishing a nation in Ararat Mountain, ending up cornered at the edge of the mountain in their resistance.

Of course, it wouldn’t be accurate to claim that the Turkish forces completely suppressed the Kurds.

Ratatatata!

The machine guns set up on the mountain were overwhelming.

It was, after all, due to the Russian forces supporting Chen Zhongming having given away all their leftover supplies.

Of course, the Kurds had scattered so much that they couldn’t establish a nation anymore. Therefore, Atatürk tasked the remaining forces on-site with eliminating the remaining Kurdish rebels and returned to Ankara.

However.

“Isn’t it a bit much to have a machine gun up there?”

“Tanks can’t climb up mountains!”

“They should have bombed properly!”

Unexpectedly, the fighting in the mountainous terrain of Mount Ararat prolonged longer than anticipated.

 

---