Is This the Eastern Front?

Is this the Eastern Front? Our Revolutionary Guard was utterly defeated without even getting to fight a proper battle. A battlefield where hundreds of thousands of troops roamed across dozens of kilometers. Even trenches were useless here. They could simply be bypassed.

No, to be honest, we almost suffered a far more catastrophic defeat. The moment Yudenich realized we were rushing over and abandoning our tractors, he redirected his forces toward the tractor units left in the rear. If Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin hadn't run like madmen to defend them, the entire tractor fleet would have been wiped out.

"...A complete circus of an army," Trotsky sneered, true to his sharp-tongued nature. The atmosphere in the briefing room was already tense due to the defeat, but honestly, there was nothing to say in defense. Still, in this battle, Trotsky had done his part by leading a ragtag resistance. We simply lacked the capacity to move such a massive army organically. However...

"We might be a mess, but... the Russian Black Army doesn't seem to be in sync either. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠We aren't the only ones in a hurry."

Thanks to the wild cards of Britain and France, the current war was completely shrouded in fog, on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. Word arrived that France had completely surrounded Frankfurt, and Erich Ludendorff had hastily mobilized from Berlin. Meanwhile, what about Britain?

The British are the problem... What on earth are those bastards doing?

Rumor had it that the British army had somehow captured Tallinn and was now threatening St. Petersburg. Of course, their navy had completely withdrawn from the Baltic Sea, meaning the British troops were likely fighting on empty stomachs. In other words:

"The moment France takes Frankfurt, we are finished. Conversely, the moment Britain takes St. Petersburg, they are finished."

"...I have no idea what on earth is happening in Europe anymore," Mackensen muttered in disbelief. I agreed. This war was entirely filled with variables. We had to exploit every single one we could get our hands on.

In any case, let's map out the major players in this war: Britain and France; Germany and the Russian Black Army; Austria-Hungary and Italy. If we had to add more, there was the United States, happily selling weapons to Britain and France, and Japan, eagerly eyeing Far East Siberia regardless of whether the Whites or Blacks won. The Ottoman Empire, Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania weren't even worth listing.

But there was one player we always overlooked. Despite being the very catalyst of this war, they had been pushed back early on by the Black Army, their influence virtually erased. Yet, their potential was vast enough to completely upend the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chessboard.

"Don't we have the Russian White Army? Let's use them."

Mackensen tilted his head. "Isn't the Russian White Army barely holding on under the command of that brilliant general, Brusilov, and British support?"

"Who's to say the White Army isn't marching toward an undefended St. Petersburg right now?"

"No, that... is realistically impossible."

Mackensen was right. The White Army was a true circus, incomparable even to us. Liberals, Republicans, royalists, aristocrats, and even Marxists and Stahlists—anyone who opposed the Black Army had gathered under their banner. Even though they held Ukraine tightly and controlled the vital transport hub of Moscow, their inherent nature kept them paralyzed. Wasn't that why generals like Yudenich were defecting to the Black Army one by one?

"You're right. At best, the Russian White Army is a British puppet."

"Hmm... And?"

"But they have 'potential,' don't they? If the White Army actually mobilized its full strength, a rabble like the Black Army would have been swept away long ago."

"So, how do you propose we use this White Army?"

Indeed. The White Army was a clear and present threat to the Black Army.

"Let's trick them into believing the White Army has begun to move."

As expected, underhanded schemes like this suited me far better than actually fighting on the front lines.

"Will they fall for it?"

"People are surprisingly easy to deceive, whether they're smart or foolish. And the more desperate the situation, the easier they are to trick."

"...Spoken like a true career politician. Or should I say, the genius swindler of Austria?"

In any case, while we were discussing how to deceive Yudenich, Trotsky offered another insight.

"It's not a certainty, but no matter how I look at it, the Black Army's leadership seems to be out of sync."

Stalin nodded, agreeing with Trotsky's assessment.

"During my partisan days in Siberia, I crossed paths with Yudenich a few times. Wasn't he originally stationed in the Far East?"

"And?"

"Yudenich is cautious, but he is neither incompetent nor indecisive. If he had truly set his mind to it, wiping out our hard-trained Hungarian tractor corps wouldn't have been impossible."

That was true. We had almost lost the tractor units left behind in our rush to join the battlefield, but at some point, the Black Army's movements had become strangely hesitant.

Stalin continued his explanation.

"Vice Chairman, I suspect... there is internal conflict."

"Internal conflict?"

"Yudenich was famous for being an apolitical officer. They call it neutrality, but in truth, it means he could align with anyone."

"Hmm..."

"It's only been about a month since Yudenich joined the Black Army. And the political officer attached to him, Shkuro, is... an utterly incompetent and narrow-minded fool."

Trotsky, who had also heard of Shkuro's notorious reputation as a fellow Russian, chuckled and chimed in.

"He's probably throwing a fit, demanding to know why they aren't setting up defenses at the river."

"He's likely terrified that Yudenich will pretend to fight only to hand over his entire army to us."

Hmm... That certainly made sense. Many aristocratic officers were joining the Russian White Army. Naturally, they wouldn't get along with the vulgar brutes of the Black Army, whose only talent lay in decapitation contests.

Stalin added further detail.

"The National Revolutionary Party is always paranoid that officers like Yudenich will run off with the army. Unless it's a cunning snake like Kornilov..."

That was why the Russian National Revolutionary Party chose to embed political officers everywhere. Most of these political officers were military men who had been thoroughly brainwashed by national-revolutionary ideology. The system was designed so that in an emergency, the political officer could seize command.

Hmm... If Shkuro took over the fighting instead of Yudenich, it would be absolutely perfect for us.

The White Army and Yudenich's betrayal... If I played my cards right, I could reel in a massive catch.

The Allied forces' movements were strange. Although their first encounter had begun with a Black Army offensive and an Allied defense, the Allies were supposed to be the ones attacking, while the Black Army defended.

Accordingly, Yudenich had already drawn up his next few plans. This time, he had actually intended to establish a defensive line at the river, just as Shkuro wanted. However...

"Why aren't they moving?"

Instead, the Allies showed signs of trying to fortify their positions, as if attempting to freeze the front line right here. They even launched a few minor probes, almost as if begging Yudenich to strike first.

The British army's situation was worse than expected. Having ultimately lost control of the Baltic Sea, they were barely managing to supply their troops. Meanwhile, Roman von Ungern-Sternberg was using the swift mobility of his Cossack cavalry to relentlessly delay the British advance. There was no telling when their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠landing operation might end in total failure.

"Then... logically, they should be pushing toward Belarus at all costs, even if it means taking heavy casualties."

After agonizing over the matter, Yudenich decided to simply let sleeping dogs lie. Given the nature of the Eastern Front, communications were constantly severed, and it was common for orders from headquarters to never arrive.

I haven't heard a single word about what France did to Germany anyway. They probably haven't heard about Britain's fate either.

If so, there were several possibilities. Perhaps something had gone wrong on the Western Front, and they were hastily preparing to withdraw. Or maybe the defeat had fractured the Allied coalition. Perhaps trouble in Italy had cut off their supplies from Austria. It was even possible, though unlikely, that a political crisis had erupted in Austria-Hungary. For all he knew, the aging Kaiser might have passed away.

Let's not overthink it. It's a question with no answer anyway.

Their commander-in-chief, Shtal, was a truly wicked man, just as he had proven in Alsace-Lorraine. He was practically Europe's greatest swindler. The mere fact that he had concocted a bizarre concept called Stahlism to deceive the political world proved his genius for fraud. Even France's Auguste Dubail had been thoroughly hoodwinked by him.

There was only one way to deal with such a con man: no matter what schemes he cooked up, one had to simply carry out their duties diligently and silently. And Yudenich was exceptionally good at that.

Yes. Let's just enjoy the Allied defensive posture for as long as we can. They're the ones losing out, not me.

But the political officer, Shkuro, was not a man of such patience.

"General Yudenich! Are you blind to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the bizarre movements of the Allied forces?"

"I see them."

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it?!"

"We don't know what has happened, do we? Let's just focus on what is right in front of us, General Shkuro. The Allies have halted their advance, and our job is simply to block them. Nothing more."

"Ha! If you don't know what happened, you should find out and act! What if a disaster has struck their homelands? If we don't attack now, we will regret it bitterly!"

Yudenich couldn't help but chuckle at Shkuro's absurd assumption. How could anyone be so dogmatic without a shred of information? Seeing Yudenich's mockery, Shkuro threw a furious tantrum, swearing vengeance before storming off. To Yudenich, it was nothing more than a barking dog. After all, what could Shkuro even do when he knew just as little?

The situation changed when they successfully intercepted a radio transmission from the Allied forces.

Naturally, it was an encrypted message whose full meaning was impossible to decipher. However, the Russian Black Army was familiar with a few cipher codes used by the German military, and they managed to decode a handful of words. '992' meant Russia. '431-117' meant White Army. '411' meant coordination. Of course, such crude translation revealed nothing. How could they know if the Russian White Army was launching an attack, had been destroyed, or had betrayed them? Yudenich easily dismissed the message. But...

Wait... If that bastard Shkuro hears about this, it's going to be a headache.

Consequently, Yudenich destroyed the decrypted log and ordered his men to keep their mouths shut. However, as more encrypted messages hinting at the Russian White Army continued to leak, it became impossible to cover up.

"General Yudenich, you are utterly incompetent! Why on earth are you ignoring such vital intelligence?!"

Yudenich was starting to regret defecting to the Black Army. Exhausted, he couldn't even be bothered to argue back anymore.

"...I was incompetent. My apologies."

"Ha! Unbelievable."

"Then perhaps you can enlighten me, General Shkuro. What exactly does this message mean?"

"......Isn't that your job, General Yudenich?"

"Indeed it is. My apologies."

Having brushed off General Shkuro, Yudenich watched another day or two pass before realizing in an instant that this was Stahl's trap. When Yudenich refused to bite, the messages began hinting at things in plain text.

Honestly, he even doubted if those numbers were real codes. Weren't they just sending highly provocative messages specifically designed to pique curiosity?

"They say Stahl is the greatest swindler on the continent, but who would fall for such an absurd scheme... Oh."

Ah, there was indeed one idiot who would.

Yudenich began destroying every single incoming intercept. He even ordered his operators to merely 'pretend' to monitor the German radio frequencies.

But Stahl's trickery didn't stop there. It was as if he was saying, 'Oh? Still not biting?' He went so far as to 'accidentally' abandon an entire carriage carrying operational orders right in their path.

"Um, General Yudenich... the contents of this document are highly alarming."

"Most of it is lies anyway!"

"Yes, sir."

"Wait... burn all of this garbage immediately."

"Pardon?! What if this is actually real..."

"Even if it is real, there is nothing we can do! Burn it!"

But just as Yudenich was about to set fire to the pile of official documents, including the operational orders, Shkuro caught him red-handed.

Well. He was screwed.

For the genius swindler of Austria, war was simply too easy.