ch21

From the northwest, the Imperial cavalry surged in, literally like a dam bursting.

No matter how much the Tsardom of Rus’ boasted the world’s largest army, it was impossible to respond in perfect unison to cavalry digging into their rear.

“Charge! Charge!”

In the end, the Tsardom of Rus’ army’s battle line crumbled with a rustle. It collapsed with absurd ease.

“Damn it… Form ranks! Running away will only get you killed by those Imperial bastards!”

And yet, surprisingly. Truly surprisingly. The 1st Army fought reasonably well against the Imperial forces.

It was thanks to the miracle mass-slaughter weapon created by mankind. The machine gun.

“Fire!”

Tudududududu-!

Although the 1st Army of the Tsardom of Rus’ possessed only about 20 machine guns, that was more than enough to turn the Imperial cavalry charging towards the infantry into minced meat.

In the end, unlike their initial rampage like wild colts, the Imperial cavalry was blocked by the calm response of the Tsardom of Rus’ army.

“Commander! The cavalry is blocked!”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Falkenhayn looked down at the battlefield through his binoculars and thought. Everything, without exception, was going according to plan.

“Do you know how primitive men hunted?”

“I don’t know well.”

Manstein answered immediately to Falkenhayn’s sudden question. He thought it would be more efficient to admit his ignorance and learn new knowledge than to stubbornly cling to what he didn’t know.

“With sharply honed spears, they drove their prey to the edge of a cliff. No matter how large and strong an animal is, it’s nearly impossible to resist dozens of spears aimed at it when cornered.”

And now, the 1st Army of the Tsardom of Rus’ was slowly being driven to the edge of a cliff.

A massive cliff called the Kingdom of Poland.

Due to the Kingdom of Poland’s declaration of neutrality, a large bulge formed in the southeast of East Prussia.

Rennenkampf noticed this fact belatedly, but by then it was already too late.

“Damn it…”

Bang! He slammed his desk. The officers in the same barracks flinched.

“We’re completely surrounded.”

The Imperial bastards were luring them in. Like fishermen herding fish with a net!

‘We’ve established a defensive line for now.’

A last stand, literally with nowhere left to retreat. If they were pushed back from here, the 1st Army would be annihilated. After that, the Imperial army would only face the ragtag 10th Army and the vast plains of the Tsardom, free of obstacles.

‘Machine guns are essential to repel the Imperial army’s attack. But… what about the supply of machine gun ammunition needed for that? The coolant? Before that, the rifle ammunition? Can we supply food?’

“Damn it…”

If only that damned Samsonov hadn’t recklessly moved his army and been annihilated… No. If only Stavka had allowed a retreat sooner…

“Hoo…”

Rennenkampf rubbed his face roughly and regained his composure. He didn’t have time to complain about the past. He needed to use all his mental energy to resolve this situation.

‘We have a total of two options left to us now.’

The first option is to attempt a breakthrough. Throw all available forces at the enemy lines and pray that a tiny hole is created.

The most important thing in this option is the soldiers’ morale, the mental fortitude to steadily advance without being consumed by fear even as their comrades die.

Of course, the morale of the Tsardom of Rus’ army is, to put it mildly, not good.

The second method is… to hold out until newly mobilized allied forces arrive to rescue them.

“Ha…”

Unrealistic. Even more so than the first method. There was no way the Tsardom of Rus’ army could break through that monstrous defensive line formed across the entire East Prussia.

No. Before that, they had to consider whether it was even possible to create a new army in time. Hadn’t they learned enough from the Russo-Japanese War that the Tsardom of Rus’ mobilization capabilities were truly abysmal?

“….”

Then. He suddenly remembered a story the young officers had been talking about.

‘If it weren’t for Poland, we could have pushed back the Imperial army.’

“That’s it. Poland…!”

I’ve been planning operations under the assumption that we can’t pass through there. But. If we can secure an escape route through Poland…

He immediately notified Stavka of his plan. Stavka was shocked by his plan, but the 1st Army had already been lifted heavily from its position.

Naturally, since the Tsardom of Rus’ transmitted the wireless message to Stavka in ‘plain text,’ the Kingdom of Poland was also aware of their movements.

The Kingdom of Poland hastily convened the Sejm (the noble assembly of the Kingdom of Poland) upon hearing this shocking news.

The agenda of the Sejm was simple. ‘How should we respond to the Tsardom of Rus’ army trying to pass through our territory?’ If they blocked their passage, it would no longer be possible to maintain neutrality. But if they allowed them to pass…

“Tsk…”

The brows of the Sejm members furrowed. That was because they were a generation that had experienced the Empire’s wars in the past.

They knew better than anyone how cruel the Empire could be. And they knew very well how the Empire would bring down the hammer on the heads of traitors.

“Wouldn’t it be better to declare war on the Holy Roman Empire at this opportunity and join the Allied Powers? If Poland’s ‘weight’ is added to the scales, we can surely defeat those Imperial bastards without difficulty.”

“Representative Sosnkowski! Are you crazy?!”

Bang! Sejm member Rokossowski kicked his seat and shouted.

“It’s the Tsardom of Rus’ that’s cornered now, not the Empire! And you want to join the Allied Powers in that situation?! Are you planning to throw away the kingdom’s youth for the sake of the Tsardom of Rus’?!”

“It’s only to recover our lost territories, including Poznan and Gdansk! How long are we going to leave Poznan, where our compatriots live, under the feet of those Germanic bastards?!”

The Speaker of the Sejm, Rydz-Śmigły, banged the wooden gavel on the table and shouted.

“Everyone, quiet down, quiet down! We don’t have time to fight among ourselves right now. Shouldn’t we resolve this situation as soon as possible instead?!”

“Kkeueung…”

The two members groaned and sat back in their seats at Rydz-Śmigły’s roar.

“…But whatever decision we make, we must not offend the Empire. We need to maintain neutrality, at least until the winner of this war is decided.”

Most of the members nodded in agreement with those words.

But in order not to offend the Empire, they had to antagonize the Tsardom of Rus’.

A choice between two options. That was the situation currently facing the Kingdom of Poland.

Kazimierz, a member of the Polish Sejm, thought. Was there no way to avoid clashing with the Tsardom of Rus’ without antagonizing the Empire?

“…Then. How about this? Make it look like the Tsardom of Rus’ is forcibly occupying our territory.”

Claim a series of coincidences. Coincidentally, soldiers of the Tsardom of Rus’ crossed the border in droves, and coincidentally, our border guards were ordered not to engage. An order not to engage, strictly to maintain neutrality.

In that way, the Tsardom of Rus’ army ignores our army, which has been rendered powerless by the order not to engage, and forcibly crosses the border. That’s the scenario.

A moment of silence. Soon, the Speaker opened his mouth.

“..It seems to be the best method among those that have been presented so far.”

A sense of relief spread among the members of the Sejm.

Unbeknownst to them, as they breathed a sigh of relief, there were secret state police among them.

“Oh my, the Polish parliament is having some cute thoughts.”

I read the report that came up through the secret state police and chuckled.

They confidently threw the cards they held. Not knowing that we had already peeked at the cards in their hands.

“How foolish…”

It was like looking at my biological father.

They were living in a dream, not reality. They were forgetting that international society was not returning to reason and dialogue, but to barbarism and violence.

To lead so many people, yet to view the world only through reason and logic.

“Pfft…”

I scoffed at them and called the Ministry of War.

“Prepare the ‘Restoration of Order Operation’ for the Kingdom of Poland.”

Restoration of Order Operation, but its contents were far from restoring order. How could sabotage using thousands of secret state police inside the Kingdom of Poland be called ‘Restoration of Order’?

But the Kingdom of Poland, despite being an ally in name only, was trying to open the way for the enemy instead of participating in the war, so it was a case of like father, like son. I thought.

“Consider it the price for daring to forget that you were able to maintain neutrality thanks to the Empire’s generosity, and for daring to rise up against the Empire, Polish people.”

Click.

On the map, the pink pawn representing Poland disappeared. And the black pawn representing the Empire filled the empty space.