＜ Episode 103 >
Baron Wrangel squeezed his temples.
“I want to help with the suppression of the rebels who forgot the tsar’s grace…”
As soon as the main force arrived, the nomadic aristocrats of Kazakhstan who came in one after another to apply for an interview groaned and made fun of their tongues.
Roughly speaking, it was the argument that the rebellion was caused by a cloth ignorant of the subject, and that the nobles were still loyal to the empire.
Wrangel, who for a while had to listen to the praises of the tsar and fervent eloquences about the atrocities committed by those ‘lowly things’, wanted to shout out that he had understood it all, and wanted to pass on some helpful information.
In the end, Wrangel, who had handed over these nobles to Kuropatkin and cleaned them up, received a report from the local Ohrana informant.
“The center of the rebellion is in the South. Turgay, Semirechiye in southern Kazakhstan. these two places. It is all true that the Kyrgyz Socialist Party, in liaison with Lenin, incited a rebellion, and the Chinese intervened deeply, sending troops, supplying weapons, and conducting military training.”
The informant was unexpectedly a beautiful young local woman with braided black hair.
To be precise, he was not a single informant, but a regional manager who managed the informants, but he was a person who entered the field agent axis anyway.
‘Nowadays, strangely, I see a lot of women when I say Ohra.’
Wrangel glanced at her light brown eyes and shook her head.
The lieutenant lady, and this woman now. It was unclear whether he preferred female agents within Ohrana or if he was the only one who had a strange connection.
Come to think of it, when I asked how many Ohrana people I had met, I was also at a loss for what to say.
Wrangel, who had been thinking about something else for a moment, was awakened by her voice.
“But the cause of this great increase in rebellion is, after all, a famine caused by drought. Kazakhs in particular are more active in rebellion. It is a relative concept compared to the Kyrgyz.”
“In the upper part, the land problem is the cause…”
“At the end of the day, it’s connected. The land was taken away and there was a famine, so I was hungry. In fact, it is basically nothing different from the serf revolts that were common a long time ago. Besides, the taxes are too heavy for them.”
The central government suffers from a lack of budget, and its subjects revolt against excessive taxation. What do you mean by inconsistency?
Subjects are struggling with heavy taxes, but the central government has no budget, so it means only one thing.
Either the tax is not being collected from the person who is supposed to collect it, or there are many things that are stolen in the middle.
‘Or, both.’
Wrangel sharpened his teeth inwardly.
“Code One judged that an illegal sea breeze blows from Central Asia to the Atlantic Ocean, and that part…”
“Where is the sea breeze? The mountain wind from the mountains to the south is also blowing strongly. And an untimely red wind is blowing.”
I had already heard the story from Kuropatkin and Ungern, who reached the front line, but my teeth were divided.
It meant that Britain, which the upper management was concerned about, and China, which had already been discovered, were also active in this area.
“Once the sea breeze thoroughly removes the salty smell, it will be difficult to arrest each individual. The mountain wind didn’t care about that, so the dung beetle was caught right away.”
This meant that Britain was ready to cut off its spies at any time, and that it was completely erasing its ties to Britain. Simply put, it meant that even if the spies were caught, the connection with Britain would hardly be anything more than a heart attack.
“But it’s all just an incidental factor. If they offered to lower taxes, half of the rebels would go home, and if they offered to send doctors and return the land, half of the rebels would go home. If you even provide food, you will hear voices praising the Tsar from all over.”
Even if you are a spy or a communist, the driving force behind the rebellion is a matter of making a living.
“I’ll report to the headquarters, but I wonder if someone who is crazy about suppressing Chechnya can get it right.”
“In any case, even if you ask for it directly to St. Petersburg, you have to get some food. Massive starvation is expected.”
Is that really the case?
It is not at the level of doubting the authenticity of the information. What he was concerned about was the question of whether there was any chance of getting something out of contact with St. Petersburg.
In order to expect any responsible action in St. Petersburg, you must make a claim through the duke, for whatever reason. There is no other reason. The Duke must use his own evil, so that they can pretend to be a little bit obnoxious.
No matter how you go this time, you can’t go on like this.
‘Something must be done.’
***
“Do you think disturbing movements are also detected in Armenia?”
Even Chechens alone gave me a headache, but the story of a rebellion about to spread throughout the Caucasus gave me a slight vertigo.
“It is said that in Armenia, a writer named Anastas Mikoyan is agitating people.”
“What about Georgia?”
“Yes?”
“What is missing in Georgia?”
“I haven’t seen anything in particular…”
If Mikoyan came out of Armenia, Stalin would come out of Georgia too… but wouldn’t it?
“Then you should make them realize what the price of rebellion is.”
“Mannerheim reports that several tanks were hit by Molotov cocktails and were completely lost. Infantrymen are suffering casualties from snipers, and when tanks enter the city, they rain Molotov cocktails from the roof, making it difficult to enter the city of Grozny.”
“Are you going to leave the leucite and cook the soup? Whether it’s Lewissite or VX, use it as much as you need.”
“All right.”
I don’t know if I’m going to criticize them from abroad… But if you’re going to criticize the British guys for spraying mustard gas by planes in the Middle East, criticize them first.
In fact, if there was such a thing as a thermobaric bomb, I would have cleaned the city center, but in this era, poison gas is the best.
By the way, it wasn’t Mannerheim’s skill to stop the enemy’s large army at the fortified point. Somehow, the attacking side and the defending side changed, but in the first place, the Interior Ministry is not like the Soviet Army during the Winter War.
“I’ll deliver bread baskets to them. then.”
“Yes?”
that’s a bomb.
***
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire.
The capital and the Imperial Palace were quite peaceful.
There were a few minor incidents, but in the end it was an incident. Although the rebellion had taken place on a rather large scale, it would not have lasted longer than a few months since the Interior Army had advanced.
Prime Minister Stolipin, as always, is tired of fighting everyone but himself to carry out his convictions of reform, and Minister of the Interior Alexander is still in a hurry to take care of Stolipin, who is still mindlessly rushing in and producing enemies that he shouldn’t have made. spilled
Archduke Cyril visited the shipyard every day and was immersed in happiness as he watched the warships that were improving day by day.
Hide and seek between Ohrana and the Communists continued as usual.
So, for a while.
“Cool!”
Coughing was heard in the conference hall.
“someone? Who is coughing now?”
At the tsar’s words, one of the ministers secretly raised his hand.
“sorry. your majesty. A bit of a cold…”
“Hey, be careful not to catch a cold. I think I see a lot of people with a cold these days. Anyway, how far have we been talking?”
“This is a report from the Ministry of Home Affairs.”
“Oh, yes, it was an analysis of the cause of the rebellion.”
“In a nutshell, it seems that in Central Asia, there was a famine caused by a massive drought, and in the meantime, local officials were doing some mischief. It is said that a huge number of people were at risk of starvation, which ignited into a riot.”
“Huh.”
“Therefore, it is said that the rebellion in Central Asia will be suppressed naturally if the special wartime tax, which is still being lifted, is abolished nationwide and only food, medicine and doctors are sent. However, it is the opinion of the Duke of Vostok that bloody suppression is inevitable in the Caucasus.”
“Hmm, do you have anything to say about this?”
Nicholas II personally wanted to go a little more conciliatory. It wasn’t a rebellion that was tainted with some strange idea, but it was caused by not seeing public officials who commit corruption and their children starving due to drought.
In the beginning, Nicholas II was, in many ways, a very devout believer. A certain percentage of his income must be donated to the poor.
Answering the starving with bullets was never justified in his worldview.
“Your Majesty, if the wartime special tax is withdrawn, where will the Empire’s finances come from?”
“Um… that…”
“Your Majesty, I once again request the withdrawal of the Prohibition Act. Didn’t you ask for the last duke? Even if the liquor tax is properly lifted, the special wartime tax will be withdrawn.”
“But isn’t it true that drunkenness and binge drinking are a problem?”
“your majesty.”
Wonderful ministers looked at the emperor.
“Prohibition has no effect. Those who have already drank will know how to drink it all. Samagon (moon wine) is being circulated in large quantities, and it takes a huge budget just to detect it. It’s much better to let them drink freely and walk, even if they are. At least it’s much better than continuing to walk through the wartime special tax.”
“Can the liquor tax fill the void in the wartime special tax?”
“Available.”
Considering the amount of vodka distributed in Russia, it was natural.
“If the wartime special tax is withdrawn while maintaining the prohibition law, the naval plan must be stopped immediately. At least the Sinov-class battleship plans must be abandoned.”
“That wouldn’t be the case. The US and the UK are also building 18-inch and 20-inch-class main battleships, but we are the only ones with 15-inch-class main battleships!”
Archduke Cyril, of course, jumped up against it.
“That means Prohibition should be repealed.”
“Um… Aside from the abolition of the Prohibition Act, do you have any surplus of medicines and food to distribute to the subjects of Central Asia?”
“Food can be obtained from places such as Ukraine. Even a slight reduction in exports to Germany can secure sufficient supply. Now, farmland in East Prussia will be back to normal, so the German Empire is not earning as much as usual….. Cool! Cool! sorry. In any case, the German Empire’s imports will also decrease, so the surplus can be used for relief in Central Asia. A decrease in the trade balance is something to be prepared for.”
“What about medicines and doctors?”
“Doctors can temporarily mobilize the military officers who are assigned to the internal affairs army, but this is a temporary measure. However….”
What is lacking throughout Russia is the professional manpower.
And that professional manpower includes doctors.
“There is a shortage of doctors.”