The Bulldog and the Princess (2)
Had Britain truly been this generous with Russia? Or perhaps communists had already taken root within. It made sense. Every nation had its share of reds. To root them out, their leader—the Soviet Union—had to fall. This had become a tangled web that ensnared the great powers both great and small. The story of the imperial family’s slaughter was like sweet rain after a long drought for the communists; it planted the ambition that they, too, could pull it off.
Yeah. Well. Recovering the territories lost in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk only to be bled by nationalist guerrillas would have been worse than extracting value through trade. If we wanted the Baltics or Ukraine later, opportunities might still arise. Having Britain formally recognize North Manchuria and Mongolia was not a bad outcome at all. In the end, this was a win-win.
So it would be best to keep this as a secret accord. There was nothing to gain by revealing it to the public.
“Today’s discussion must remain a secret agreement. Do you understand? The reds alone have already drawn considerable resentment over the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
With that, Manchuria and Mongolia were secured. The United States and France had acknowledged it as well. It was almost comical how the nations farthest from the region were the ones deciding whether to permit it. But what could be done? The international order ran on power. When the British Empire, which straddled the five oceans, gave its blessing, there was no room for argument.
The remaining problem was Japan, which lay close to Manchuria.
“North Manchuria may irritate Japan. What do you think will happen?”
“Japan has already pocketed generous reparations. What can they possibly do? Even if they withhold official recognition, they will acquiesce in silence.”
After all, the years I had lived in Korea far outnumbered those spent in this rootless princess’s body. If roots were lacking, then so be it; I would simply develop the Russian heartland itself. Britain, on the other hand, would find Ukraine quite troublesome. Russia was not the only place where ideological conflict flourished in the absence of foundation. Ukraine had its anarchists and reds as well. The British army would likely struggle more than it expected.
Still. This man irritated me. After making such a spectacular mess of Gallipoli, what did he have to feel so superior about?
Fine. Then at least I would tease him.
“I understand, Mr. Gallipoli.”
“Pardon?”
“The British and French volunteers training our tank units call you Mr. Gallipoli, so I assumed it was an official title. Did you not achieve a great victory at Gallipoli?”
I tilted my head with an innocent, unknowing expression.
“T-that is not the case. I cannot elaborate, but it is most certainly not.”
This bald bastard. He dared not speak rudely to a princess, yet his face flushed crimson. He was furious, yet frustrated that the princess appeared to know nothing. At moments like this, the best weapon was to keep pretending ignorance and praise him.
You are the hero who crushed the Ottoman Turks at Gallipoli!
These small pleasures had to be granted.
“Do not be shy. Unlike me, who is barely holding on, you annihilated the Ottoman forces at Gallipoli and earned such a title. I truly envy you, sir.”
“Ahem. Then I shall take my leave for now.”
Thus Mr. Gallipoli retreated.
And then—
“The Black Baron appears rather displeased.”
Pyotr Wrangel, the Black Baron, wore a distinctly dissatisfied expression. But what could be done? This was the age of those who held power.
“I am merely lamenting the reality that forces us to swallow this humiliation.”
“It cannot be helped. To crush the Bolsheviks immediately, the support of the great powers is indispensable.”
If we refused, they might cut off aid, and Britain could turn Poland and Germany into a breakwater against the red plague. Since we were the ones in need, there was no choice. Of course Britain would suffer its own share of headaches.
“Even so, to surrender so much Russian soil…”
Russian soil or not, even without Britain the current Russia would struggle to suppress all the independence movements. Those groups were determined to break away.
“In exchange we have gained Mongolia and North Manchuria.”
“Are those two not worthless compared to what we lost?”
They were, in a sense. Though both held resources, when weighed against the territories the Soviets had surrendered to Germany by treaty—
“Britain will not last long either.”
“What do you mean, Your Highness?”
“They need not provide us military support. There are countless pretexts available to devour the Soviets, yet they refrain. Why?”
“Everyone is exhausted, I suppose.”
“Yes. And those red bastards will never miss such an opening. If the world already brands them as Satan, they will turn their gaze outward to enforce internal discipline.”
The Soviet Union was currently on the defensive, isolated by every nation. Internally it existed in a state of “what used to be the Soviet Union,” and even Lenin likely had no clear plan. If they remained passive the people might come for Lenin’s head, so they would imitate me. With Germany having withdrawn, they would demand the nullification of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and attempt to reclaim Ukraine. Internal discontent had to be redirected outward. Judging that Britain could not intervene militarily, they would try to swallow Ukraine—just as North Korea picked fights to maintain control, or the Chinese Communists threatened Taiwan.
Lenin was in a do-or-die position. In this version of the Great War, the British Empire and America had merely shown leniency toward Germany and the Central Powers once socialist agitation spread, hoping to contain communism. Germany’s defeat remained an indisputable fact. In the original history the Soviets had nullified the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. Nothing suggested the outcome would differ now. Moreover, the Soviet Union was cornered far more extremely than in the history I remembered. Britain, beyond sending volunteers, was ensuring Germany funneled weapons to us so it could not fight. Would the Soviets not entertain wild ideas? That the imperialists lacked the capacity to support their own forces? Then perhaps they would attempt to recover at least some lost territory—Ukraine, the Baltic states, Finland. Trotsky’s rebuilt army already numbered five million. Of course it was an army in name only, a mass of bodies. In this world, the Soviet military would be even more pitiful than in the original timeline. Even so, that sheer quantity might suffice to harass the British forces in Ukraine. “We defeated the British army—the victors of the Great War—in Ukraine!” The propaganda value would be enormous. It would be satisfying if they were routed by Poland as in the original history. But before that, we had work to do.
“Then this is not good news for us.”
“Regrettably, the Soviets will suffer greatly as well. You, Black Baron, who were in South Russia, know better than most how many nationalists fill Ukraine.”
How long would it take the Soviets to uproot them all? A regime that copied me instead of enacting real reform, that merely waged war and ground its own people down—how long could it endure? Even if Lenin was the idol of the revolution, might the people not soon arrive with a guillotine? Of course it remained in the realm of possibility. Yet this was a nation that had already collapsed once through revolution. There was no guarantee Lenin would not share the Romanovs’ fate.
“Now, let us demonstrate that propaganda is not their exclusive domain. The Soviets played the traitor by ceding all that land to Germany in the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, yet we have obtained formal recognition of North Manchuria and Mongolia from the British Empire.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
This rumor had to spread before the rampaging Bolsheviks could mobilize the Red Army. North Manchuria carried special weight. Russia’s influence there had been sharply reduced after the Russo-Japanese War. Being thrashed by a barbaric island nation in the Far East had been a profound shock. We had not won recognition through another war with Japan, but the simple fact of diplomatic acknowledgment would gladden Russians even inside the Soviet Union. Unless they were empty-headed, they would prefer recognition gained through diplomacy over sacrificing conscripted troops to reclaim land sold away by treaty. The current Soviet might have no choice but to fight, yet obtaining it purely through diplomacy carried an entirely different meaning.
Of course the warlords in Manchuria would have to be expelled, but that task could be left to Semyonov and Ungern, who would serve as vice-kings of Mongolia. Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Xueliang would undoubtedly try to retake North Manchuria. Well, they could handle their own affairs. The British Empire’s recognition of North Manchuria as Russian territory essentially told the Chinese warlords that touching it would make them enemies of the powers. The warlords could not afford to offend the great nations that had acknowledged the region as Russian. A fractured China ruled by competing cliques was unlikely to spare much attention for Manchuria, so the task should not prove difficult.
Time to unleash the Ohrana and begin the propaganda.
The people’s reaction was explosive. The rumor that Mongolia had surrendered the title of Great Khan to me had spread at some unknown point, yet it was clearly raising my standing. The fact that I governed from Yekaterinburg led them to proclaim I would follow in the footsteps of Catherine the Second, Empress of all Russia. Given that the city itself had been named after Catherine the First, the irony was delicious. I had no intention of correcting them. Accepting the comparison would only torment Lenin further.
By now Lenin must be tempted to bite his own tongue and end it all.
The White Army had gained some breathing room. Lately resistance movements had been rising in Bolshevik-held territories, voluntarily delivering towns and cities to our side. The accusation that the Soviets were traitors appeared to have struck a serious blow.
Yes. Lenin’s options were dwindling. He could either collapse slowly or risk everything in a decisive battle to seize Russia. Even if the latter occurred, at this rate the Soviet Union would simply become a larger, clumsier North Korea.
“Black Baron.”
I summoned Pyotr Wrangel. It was time to begin the slow westward advance.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Take command of the South Russian White forces that joined us at Yekaterinburg, the Siberian Whites, and the Cossack hosts. Advance gradually toward Moscow.”
“Has the hour finally arrived?”
I shook my head. We would simply march in Moscow’s direction. Any full-scale assault on the city could wait until we observed how badly the Soviets were shaking. If they began conscripting to raise the five-million-man army from the original timeline, the sandcastle called Soviet power would collapse under its own weight.
“We will not attack Moscow immediately. Let us shake them a little longer.”
“Understood.”
Even so, it meant committing troops. The time had come for us to seize the initiative.
Time is on our side now.
Trampling the worker’s sickle and hammer that had severed the double-headed eagle. The double-headed eagle would rise and fly once more.