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Recently, I’ve been having a bit of a dilemma.

I mentioned World War II.

Sure, only a handful of individuals already knew what I said, but still, during a gathering in the National Duma where new members have just entered office, I brought up World War II.

Ah, this is a bit concerning.

I mean, World War II should ideally happen as expected. But the ongoing Turkey-Kurd conflict doesn’t even count as a war.

I’m not a saint.

Thinking about the various military conflicts that will arise in Africa, and the Korean independence issue, I have been pondering contributing a little to the liberation of colonies after the Second World War, but I can’t be bothered with the Kurds right now.

Later on, if the independent fervor of the Kurds is heating up after I’ve thrashed Communist Germany, I might use that to my advantage. But not now, at least.

No, even if other things come to pass, it’s uncertain whether what I mentioned could all actually happen.

Possibly because of Communist Germany, laborers in the colonies might rise up. If that makes colonial governance difficult, who knows.

Sigh.

Thanks to my casual mention of World War II, it’s now become quite a hassle.

This is how ridiculous some discussions have come about.

“What if we move our factories for producing military supplies to Central Asia during the war?”

“We already did that during the civil war, so it’s no issue.”

Recently, new members have been suggesting that we should have moved the factories beforehand, showing their ignorance about the situation.

The factory topic has come up multiple times, but it’s significant that it’s coming from the lawmakers rather than the military.

If World War II doesn’t break out, I’ll really be embarrassed, you Reds.

Russia is just now a soaring two-headed eagle.

If they get all riled up about preparing for war, what kind of consequences do they expect?

First off, the Reds. Ugh! The anti-communist nation is gathering troops to take down Germany! It’s blatantly obvious they’ll re-arm.

France will likely find an excuse to reclaim the Ruhr they occupied.

In that case, doesn’t it mean we’ll have to rely on Trotsky to really take action in America?

Well, judging from the recent reports from the Okhrana’s American branch, there’s been a surge of Black people hanging around.

Is Trotsky going to cause some commotion?

If he genuinely manages to spark a communist revolution in America—

If America becomes communist—oh boy, that would be a handful. Who knows how the communization of America will unfold.

Whether it grows stronger or weaker. America’s just a massive cheat engine, so it’ll be tough for Russia to manage it.

Creating nuclear weapons first wouldn’t be bad, but the navy makes it difficult to take over North America.

And if America becomes the headquarters of communism, that’ll be troublesome.

Let’s erase that premise for now.

It would only be fortunate if France unexpectedly sparks a revolution and becomes a commune, and if England gets wiped out at Dunkirk, leaving the western front troops putting pressure on the new oh-hung.

Well, if France allies with Germany, one could argue it’s on par with World War II.

Seeing the current situation makes me worry that because of one slip of the tongue, if World War II really doesn’t break out, my approval ratings will plummet.

Unless they’ve already heard a bit about me. But that’s only the White Army or a very small number of high-ranking officials.

Should I provoke something bigger to erupt in Asia?

How about Japan not doing anything too reckless, like firing not two but about twenty nuclear bombs?

If only the Allied spies, dark independence fighters like Mutaguchi Renya, sabotage the European war for the UK, causing the Imphal operation to succeed, pushing into India, we could have a shot.

Then what happens with Japan in the face of war?

Regardless, if war breaks out, Russia must seize the right timing to intervene.

“Hmmm.”

Is there really no way? Is there a method to set something off?

Indeed, if France and Britain screw up the war, it’ll make the Duma flinch.

That would be the best scenario, even for the strength of Russia.

If World War II wraps up too smoothly, Britain and France might stick their straws into Germany and even maintain their colonies.

Who knows how it will pan out for America.

Truly, they’d need to be devastated enough that they can’t hold onto their colonies.

“Should I just let it happen on that side?”

After all, Britain’s been failing miserably trying to encircle Germany, so they might be considering that something could happen.

What sort of powder keg will our Communist Germany ignite?

It would be lovely if they confidently set something off.

“Woof woof!”

Belka barks enthusiastically, wagging its tail.

Was the shepherd supposed to be this kind of creature?

Having such a sturdy one is incredibly comforting.

“Belka, you’re lucky. Just playing with Vladimir gets you food, and you can run around to your heart’s content. Hah.”

Belka has gotten quite familiar now.

There’s nothing much to do here, and since I’m not in a romantic endeavor with anyone else, it’s just Belka or Vladimir. That’s why I’ve come closer to Belka.

It has no idea what thoughts run through my mind.

Due to my many past mistakes, the expectations of the Russian-Americans about me might have skyrocketed.

The National Duma is probably feeling the same pressure.

Now that I’ve casually mentioned war, they might be feeling the burden of it without realizing it.

Of course, it’s not like war is about to break out now, and since I murkily dropped the hints, no one’s panicking just yet.

While I was fooling around with Belka, Baron Beria came by.

“Your Majesty.”

I had told Baron Beria to keep an eye on the Kurdish situation.

The White Army has been largely responsible for the weapons support to the Kurds and Turkey. Anyway, isn’t this the new Russia’s weaponry being deployed?

Well, it’s unlikely a busy man would come to find me just because of the Kurds.

“What’s the situation with the Kurds?”

“They say the Kurds are on the brink of near annihilation in Mount Ararat.”

If they’re on the verge of annihilation, it seems Atatürk has really come prepared.

If he’s bringing all his troops, how can the Kurds ever hold out?

“How’s the performance of our weapons?”

“Thanks to our new weapons, they’ve been swiftly pushed back to the outskirts of Mount Ararat. The Ilya Muromets are also showing sufficient results.”

That’s somewhat reassuring.

The Ilya Muromets is a World War I Russian bomber, but it shouldn’t be hard to catch the Kurdish fighters up in the mountains.

Not that we have any actual anti-aircraft artillery in this era.

It’ll likely only be possible after some time passes.

“Hmmm, I want to make better bombers.”

This is something I genuinely lack knowledge in.

In a post-apocalyptic setting, there wouldn’t be any resource to build something like fighter planes. Besides, the only shelter is the one the army made.

I guess it’s best to gather up talents in the aviation sector early to boost our tech development.

“I’ve heard various aircraft designs are being developed at the Sikorsky Design Bureau. They also said the one sent this time was improved.”

Well, that’s a relief.

It would be a problem if our history rewrote the formation of the Soviet Union and we ended up weaker than them.

That’s why I’ve brought in rocket specialists to the maximum.

“Well, that seems sufficient. But we haven’t completely suppressed them yet?”

It’s quite disappointing that they haven’t been subdued completely.

Is Atatürk really that incompetent?

Or did the lack of population exchanges with Greece and ceding Pontus Greeks and Constantinople weigh heavily?

The difficulty of Atatürk’s strength itself could be an indication that Turkey might be weaker than expected.

Indeed, the National Assembly isn’t doing as well as in the original history, so it can’t be helped.

“There’s also the insurgency of the fundamentalists and anti-secularists within Turkey, and it seems the machine guns placed in the mountains are rather powerful.”

“Hmmm.”

Right. Holding machine guns in high altitudes may prove quite challenging.

Riding tanks up the mountains would also be a bit problematic.

I’d think there’d be some pathways for tanks if they were a nation built in the mountains, but to let it fall apart like this? That’s a bit sad.

No, it’s not like they’ve completely collapsed.

But an interesting idea crossed my mind.

I gently patted Belka’s head and spoke.

“I just thought of something interesting.”

“What is it?”

I don’t know if this can be called interesting, but trying it out once wouldn’t hurt.

After all, this concept initially came about from Mikhail Tukhachevsky’s deep operation theory in the Soviet Union.

What I’m getting at is—how about using transport planes to deploy troops on Mount Ararat?

“How about deploying troops on Mount Ararat using transport planes?”

“A transport plane?”

That doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Yeah, we could call this airborne troops, couldn’t we?

Aren’t airborne troops originated in the Soviet Union in ’31?

If we utilize that, we might have a viable shot at Mount Ararat.

“I may not know much about the military, but wouldn’t it be more effective to bomb while simultaneously deploying troops on Mount Ararat?”

Suddenly, that crossed my mind.

What if Turkish infantry goes right up onto Mount Ararat? We could capture them, right?

This is just a test with the Turkish army. If it turns out to be ineffective, we can just move on and continue our research.

“Hmmm, that’s a valid point. It’s a good method.”

Baron Beria seems different because we’ve altered history.

Rather than just hearing tales of the White Army heroes, he’s been diligently studying military doctrines and theories of mechanized warfare along with Mikhail Drozdovsky through the United States’ White Army framework.

“Let’s research that angle and subtly inform the Turks. Then we’ll also want to operate based on that line ourselves.”

So, it would be good to have airborne troops prepared in advance.

If we can get things rolling a few years ahead of schedule, we can put them to good use in the war.

“Understood.”

That doesn’t seem too shabby.

While we’re at it, let’s assist Turkey and create some airborne troops to operationalize.

Should we send volunteer soldiers to Turkey?

I wonder if that would even matter, given it’s not an urgent wartime situation. If we send voluntary troops to capture the Kurds, Atatürk won’t be pleased with that, either.

If our weapons given to the Kurds end up killing our volunteer soldiers, it’ll be a complete fiasco.

“By the way, what’s today’s schedule? I think we had something with Baron Beria today.”

Baron Beria is the Minister of Defense of the United States.

A busy man wouldn’t simply come to report on the Kurds to a puppet Tsar.

He’s likely got something important to convey.

“Yes. I’m scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of Austria, Karl Renner, Regent of Hungary, Miklós Horthy, the King of Romania, and Prime Minister Ilyinuy of Turkey, as well as the Tsar of Bulgaria.”

That’s quite a lot.

Given these figures, they must be members of the Anti-Communist Coalition.

“Oh, the Anti-Communist Coalition.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I’ll be meeting with foreign heads of state. I wonder how that’ll turn out.

The Kaiser of Germany and Poland, who are hostile towards Communist Germany, wrapped things up so easily, but with Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria involved, it’s certainly tricky.

Wait, wouldn’t now be a good time to mention the airborne troops since Ilyinuy is coming?

“I just thought of an interesting idea.”

“Really?”

“Let’s talk about the airborne troops to Prime Minister Ilyinuy. After all, we wouldn’t just have them sign the Anti-Communist Coalition and send them on their way, right?”

Prime Minister Ilyinuy might feel unexpectedly slighted by that.

Why? If we know, then Prime Minister Ilyinuy must have also heard the news about the Turkish military turning into bloody pulp under the machine guns in the mountains.

“That’s right. In that case, it’d be a good idea to take Prime Minister Ilyinuy aside for a moment.”

The interesting ideas don’t stop there.

What I’m about to say is the kernel of the matter.

“There’s more. How about discussing the re-establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire while we’re at it?”

“Wouldn’t Britain and France just stand idly by?”

They absolutely wouldn’t.

Britain and France would complain about violating treaties, but this world differs from the original history.

Wouldn’t Britain and France prefer to have a big scapegoat to sacrifice instead of their own nationals?

“Of course, conditions will have to be attached, but with Germany, Italy, and the Communists involved, and Britain struggling to properly establish a blockade right now, if Yugoslavia gets tinted red as well, wouldn’t they just clutch their necks? If I support the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy, wouldn’t it have a shot?”

“Don’t you also need to consider internal issues in Hungary?”

That’s not my concern.

Mustachioed fellows will handle that themselves.

With his speaking capabilities, how wouldn’t he figure it out?

He will have to make some concessions to the Hungarian nobility, but as I said, that’s outside my jurisdiction.

What if we elevate Hungary’s status to that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire era, while marrying it with the current dual monarchy formation?

That’s up to Mustachio, I can’t spoon-feed him everything.

“We’ll just need to draw out external support. The rest can be resolved internally.”

We can’t go to war right away.

Although the Habsburgs were prevented from ascending the Hungarian throne due to threats of war from neighboring countries, what if Russia boldly supports Austria?

Communist Germany has issues with the Ruhr and internal problems to manage.

Then, they’ll need to figure it all out internally.

Now, let’s take a look at the leaders of the great war generation that shook the world.

 

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