Rasputin of the East

25

Various murals are painted in the Kremlin.

I walked while looking at the long history of the Kremlin.

Like Cassandra, who prophesies that the end of the Russian Empire is near, she moves forward and forward through faded murals.

Once I made up my mind, I promised once, so I just do it.

Looking back on my past life, it is a paradoxical story for me to have a meeting in the Kremlin, and, in the 21st century, the Kremlin Senate, where the Office of the President of Russia is located, and to walk alone in the middle of the Great Kremlin Palace, the residence of the Russian President and the reception room of distinguished guests.

I made a decision.

‘We can’t go together.’

A bitter laugh flowed out.

When I think about it, it seems that in this lifetime, I was truly a heavenly doctor.

“The Count.”

A voice grabbed my ankle.

“Did you have a good conversation?”

Olga asked with a slightly worried expression.

“He asked me for advice and help.”

“What is it?”

“It has to do with the Princess.”

“Are you saying you want to marry me?”

“It’s not… it’s a story that is a little difficult if you have ears to hear it.”

“Then let’s go to my room.”

“An outsider man enters a woman’s room recklessly…”

“Last time, he even went to sleep in Tatynia’s room.”

“Whoever hears it will be misunderstood.”

“Don’t worry, there will be no strange misunderstandings, because this is the room our siblings use to drink tea.”

***

“Now, tell me.”

“The Tsar said he wanted to change the method of succession.”

“Inheritance?”

“The princess has no right of succession. For now. And it’s embarrassing to say as a doctor, but the Crown Prince is sickly. His Majesty the Emperor is seriously concerned about whether the Crown Prince will be able to leave a descendant.”

“If it had anything to do with me…”

“Yes, His Majesty the Emperor wants to hand over the throne to the Princess.”

Considering the current situation, the succession method is not a problem and it is unlikely that it will be possible.

“is that so………”

“And he wants my help there. His Majesty the Emperor is convinced that my position will be greatly expanded after the war. It seems that he wants me to arouse public opinion from the aristocrats.”

It was a word that made me laugh out loud. I? To arouse public opinion among the aristocrats?

The aristocratic powers were mere lumps of cancer to be extracted.

However, it seemed that Olga was taken quite seriously.

I was the first to open my mouth to Olga, who looked at the teacup without drinking tea for a while.

“This time, there is something I want to ask. Princess Mama.”

“Please speak.”

“What kind of person do you think I am?”

In an instant, her hand stopped.

“……”

She said softly, half covering her face with a teacup and flowing bangs.

“I think he is a trustworthy person who can share even the worries that lie deep in my heart.”

“Can I take that as a sign that you trust me?”

“Yes, I trust you.”

“….. Then, I would dare to ask for a favor from the Princess. I don’t know when, but the time will come when the Princess… will make some important decisions.”

“……”

“When you make that decision, trust me. I swear it will never harm the princess, her family, or the Romanov dynasty.”

“You don’t have to swear. Because I believe.”

Olga lowered her head and said, hiding her expression.

“I believe that the Count will not harm me or my family, and even though it is difficult to know what the Count is thinking, I believe it will work for us in the end. So… that’s nothing to call a favor. Even if you hadn’t asked me to, and whatever I heard about you, I’d always, in the end, only trusted you.”

At Olga’s words, I smiled.

“Is that so.”

I smiled and took a sip of tea with strawberry jam – Olga liked to put strawberry jam in Russian tea.

“Then I will not betray your faith either.”

Betraying someone’s beliefs has done a lot of damning things in my past life.

And that is why, among those who truly knew me, there were few who truly believed in me.

Even though I knew it was necessary, I thought it was unavoidable for them to dislike me. I thought it was also the fate of those who chose this path.

Still, I did not want to betray the expectations of those who truly believed in me.

It was only sincere.

‘In order not to get caught up in the turbulence of history and face such an end.’

i will stop Do your best.

‘Tsar, if what you really want is the continuation of the Romanov dynasty, I hope you understand that this is the only way.’

So that this era is recorded in the records of the Russian Empire, and that the story can continue without end.

And if he wants to end his life happily for himself and his family.

I was sure this would be the best.

***

Lubakka, the Highest Command of the Interior Forces.

“After all, it’s you again after turning around.”

“Didn’t you reject all the people who were selected as lieutenants?”

“It’s because we have gathered only the people who need to be assigned field commanders or staff, not lieutenants.”

“Do you know how much I practice shooting these days because of you?”

“What are you writing? If it’s a submachine gun, it’s just for scraping at close range, so there’s no need to practice that hard.”

“Pistols and machine guns.”

“Why a machine gun, even if it’s a pistol?”

“For some reason, I thought that if I followed the director, there would be something to write about.”

Do you know me as a troublemaker?

I wanted to say something like that, but I just decided to keep my mouth shut. Because I had a feeling that I would be very tired after rebutting for nothing.

“The engine of the tank is still in trouble. It breaks down easily if you drive a little on rough terrain, so you need more reliable equipment.”

“I heard that the British are so good at making suspensions, so check it out.”

Of course, the Mk. Although the reliability of the series tanks is the same, it is true that the reliability of the suspension system is so excellent that it is counted among the best in the world in this era.

If Britain does not, we should consider seeking cooperation from France, and our tank was almost identical to the Renault FT-17 in catalog specifications at least.

Equipped with a 37mm main gun, the number of machine guns is two to three more than the FT-17, which is equipped with only one stapler machine gun, but it is not a decisive difference. Equipped with one 360-degree rotating turret, most armaments are concentrated in the turret, and the main gun is limited to one. It was equipped with mechanical components of Renault FT-17, such as engine rear mounting and cupola mounting, and furthermore, modern tanks.

Of course I’m faster in time. We were designing tanks before World War I, when they didn’t even think of the concept of tanks.

It’s the world’s first for anyone to see. If they hadn’t stopped, the Battle of Tannenberg would have been the tank’s first combat engagement.

At least as long as I’m there, I won’t even get permission to develop any stupid thing that’s a tsar tank or something.

“The development of the submachine gun was made by Mr. Tokarev, and what did he say he is making now?”

“The development of light machine guns. They say they want to make an air-cooled machine gun rather than a water-cooled machine gun, which is simplified to a level that infantrymen can carry, but I don’t know if they’ll be deployed on time.”

“But what is this plan?”

“Ah, this… There is an engineer named Kurtsevsky who joined this time, and he is twenty-four this year. They came with all the strange proposals and I rejected almost all of them. I will clean it now.”

“What are you guys doing?”

“I was responsible for designing and mounting the 37mm gun and designing the turret. But you keep saying strange things about being able to develop a gun without recoil… Honestly, does that make sense? If it hadn’t been for that ability, I would have let him out sooner.”

“Recoilless?”

I tilted my head. Did recoilless guns exist in this era?

Well, once you make it, it’s a very specific weapon system. A recoilless gun is essentially a solid piece of metal if only the closure and sight are separated in the first place.

It is not that recoilless guns, which the US has not managed and planted as decorative items for nothing, are used to subdue enemy bases in Afghanistan and Iraq because of their cost-effectiveness.

I’ll just have to see if this guy has the concept of a recoilless gun and has the ability to actually make it, since it’s not impossible to make it technically.

“I’ll see you once, make an appointment.”

“…I think it’s a waste of time…but if you really want to, I’ll adjust the schedule.”

“Yeah, give me some trouble.”

Since there are no offensive plans for the time being anyway, we can pay more attention to the reorganization of the internal affairs force.

“Leonid Vasilyevich Kurtsevsky…”

I kept the name in a corner of my head and looked for the next document.

When I realized how much technology had developed between World War I and World War II, and between World War II and modern times, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if we brought only the Type 97 tank, which is ridiculed by all the ridicule now, we could end World War I with our overwhelming victory.

‘The Japanese army during World War II was a great force by the standards of World War I, but in World War II, what to do if it was a strong force during World War I was a fundamental problem.’

“It’s a pity that there are no decent anti-aircraft guns or aircraft.”

“Anti-aircraft artillery? Are you talking about the artillery that shoots into the sky? Do you even need something like that? Machine guns are overflowing with reconnaissance planes and tools.”

“… haven’t you heard of strategic bombing?”

Irina tilted her head. Well, in this day and age, that’s probably the right response.

Less than 10 years have passed since the Wright brothers flew their first powered airplane. The era of biplane rather than monoplane. The concept of anti-aircraft guns must have been just unfamiliar.

No, in the first place, there must be something in the sky to counter the need for the development of anti-aircraft guns. Of course, there is something in the sky of this age.

It’s not an airship yet, it’s a hot air balloon.

For several decades, hot air balloons have been used for reconnaissance and artillery fire targets, and in fact, a significant number of machine guns and rifles have been used to shoot down hot air balloons. Perhaps they could be said to be the origins of anti-aircraft guns.

“Once the tank starts, the reliability of the engine deteriorates…. It has no choice but to repeat the improvement, so whether you learn engine technology or hire a technician, the budget will be charged as much as you need and will ride it. And because of the lack of cruising range…”

Because this is Russia, I think it sounds like that.

“Let’s just agree to put this on a train and move it. If you drive blindly for long distances, of course you run out of fuel and your engine swells. You have to put it on a train to get to the battlefield, and no matter how short of tracks, you can’t cross Siberia on your own.”

“All right. But in the long run, this is definitely an area that needs improvement.”

“Do it yourself. There’s nothing wrong with having a longer cruising range. Keeping in mind that we are not preparing for war, we are finding a way to win a war that has already occurred. It crosses the barbed wire very well, that’s a good thing.”

“The trenches were just broken through with a decent amount of digging, although some vehicles were rendered immobile, and the German machine guns could not penetrate the armor. There is a high probability that it will be destroyed if it is hit directly by artillery fire, but this is unavoidable.”

“That’s the inevitable part, because we’re not making invincible weapons, we’re making productive weapons to win the war.”

Today’s meeting seemed to be quite long.

“Irina.”

“Yes?”

“I have something to talk about for a while, so please stay.”

“All right.”