It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 150 | The Tsar's Concerns
"Commander, I'm sorry, but I have to tell you some bad news."

"Say it directly."

"Major General Barannikov was subjected to heavy artillery fire at the front...and was killed in action..."

Tukhachevsky learned of this devastating news in a church on the eastern outskirts of the city.

His hand holding the pencil froze, and he asked in a deep voice, "What's going on? Is it enemy artillery fire from Heroes' Square?"

The lieutenant colonel intelligence officer sighed and said sadly, "According to the survivors' recollections, the shelling was divided into two phases: first, a continuous barrage of mortar shells, and then a barrage of artillery fire."

The staff officer paused for a moment, then added, "In fact, Major General Barannikov was killed by a mortar shell from the very beginning."

Tukhachevsky subconsciously gritted his teeth, staring intently at the red circle on the map that was partially surrounded by his own superior forces.

From a tactical perspective, Heroes' Square should have been captured long ago.

According to wargaming simulations, the current battle situation is an absurd and abnormal one.

Our side deployed a total of nine infantry battalions and one tank battalion, and launched more than ten attacks with strong artillery support, but still failed to break the defenders.

Is this reasonable?

How many reserves of Huns did they have left?

Tukhachevsky was speechless. As the supreme commander of an army group, he had to worry about such local tactical issues?
However, if we want to make decisive progress, we must take Heroes' Square.

Once these major strongholds and transportation hubs are captured, the city's defense system will crumble and fall apart in no time.

Now, the 41st Infantry Corps is preparing to enter the city and engage in the battle, replacing the decimated 36th Infantry Corps.

Tukhachevsky wanted to resolve the issue decisively, rather than letting the newly arrived troops be dragged into the mire by the enemy once again.

After much hesitation, he sent a telegram to St. Peter'sburg.

That night.

St. Peter'sburg.

"Your Majesty, I understand your joy, but such excessive drinking is very bad for your health..."

Ulyana held a bottle of expensive Burgundy wine, and in front of her was a drunken Veronica.

The latter's face was flushed, and he stammered, "Do I need your reminder?! What right do you have to question me?!"

Veronica actually has a pretty good alcohol tolerance, but once she gets drunk, she becomes crazy and her drunken antics are quite frightening.

The situation on the main battlefield these past few days has been extremely worrying.

On the central and southern fronts, the resistance of the Varland army was unparalleled, and Ivanros's army, despite exchanging three to one, achieved very little.

Therefore, General Yudenich chose to launch a new offensive on the northern front.

In short, the 4th Brest Front in the central sector maintained a feint attack, but concentrated its main force in the northwest to coordinate with the 1st Minsk Front in the north to launch a strong attack on the relatively weaker Army Group B north of Polin.

This offensive—the Fourth Alexander (Alexandrovna) Offensive—almost mobilized three-quarters of its strategic reserves, technical equipment, personnel, and supplies.

Frontline artillery discovered that the dates and batches printed on the received ammunition boxes were from one or two weeks ago, meaning they were shipped over almost immediately after factory inspection; hundreds of pilots graduated from flight school half a month to a month early and were directly assigned to frontline combat units.

It can be said that this offensive staked the entire Ivanos Empire's resources.

The so-called strategic decisive battle is essentially a gamble on the fate of the nation and its military.

And there was no turning back once the arrow was released. Extreme anxiety caused Veronica to lose clumps of hair; a tuft would fall out with the slightest touch of a comb. As for sleeping, that was even more impossible.

Ulyana put down the bottle and left the room dejectedly.

The chief physician reassured her, "His Majesty will be able to fall asleep after getting drunk. The harm of alcohol is actually less than that of severe sleep deprivation."

Then, the doctor added, "However, you must be careful. Vomiting while drunk may block the airway. You must keep a close eye on His Majesty tonight to prevent him from choking."

“Okay, I’ll be careful.” Ulyana nodded gently.

After drinking heavily, Veronica quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Ulyana helped her lie down on the soft bed, gently removing her silk dresses one by one, then unfastening her bra to reveal a large expanse of fair skin.

Then, someone brought over a basin of warm water. Ulyana rolled up her sleeves and knelt on the carpet, first taking off Veronica's white cashmere stockings, and then soaking her feet...

That night, Veronica sometimes talked in her sleep and sometimes vomited on her side. Ulyana stayed up all night, patiently taking care of her by the chair next to the bed.

the next day.

Veronica didn't wake up until around noon.

The hangover was unpleasant; nausea and a headache made her furrow her brow, and she was also extremely thirsty.

Exhausted, Ulyana handed her a glass of lemonade, which she took and, without any restraint, gulped down half of it.

“You’ve worked hard, go and rest, Ulyana,” she said.

Veronica, dressed in pajamas, sat on the edge of the bed, the soft sunlight streaming through the window onto her.

St. Peter's Castle is located at a very high latitude, so the days are very short in winter, with the sun barely up.

After a while, a telegram from Hungary saying that 'the progress was not as expected' was delivered to her.

She gritted her teeth and frowned, saying, "What exactly is Tukhachevsky doing...?"

Veronica's views on the Battle of Budapest have changed. Initially, she thought it was just a matter of using the wrong methods, but now she is worried.

Is it really that difficult to capture a major city?

If that's the case, what if the Varlanders follow suit and defend Polin like the Hunries?
Therefore, after changing her clothes, the eager Veronica, without even having time to eat, immediately summoned her trusted Major General Kovalev.

"Siege warfare has always been difficult, but Your Majesty, Tukhachevsky has superior forces and his opponents are only the weak Huns. I think his performance is not normal."

Veronica neither confirmed nor denied the answer, and asked, "Would poison gas work?"

"It will be useful, but it will damage the reputation of the motherland," Kovalev said frankly.

"Oh, then let the Romanians use it."

What if they refuse?

"reject?"

Honestly, the word 'rejection' simply doesn't exist in Veronica's subconscious. Since Romania has chosen to submit to Ivanros, she has no choice but to obey.

Disobey? Then taste the big sister's iron fist.

She considered this a way to kill two birds with one stone—the motherland would still need Hurricane as a granary in the future, so it was best not to completely break off relations. Instead, she would let Romania play the villain, since Hurricane and Romania had been enemies for thousands of years.

(End of this chapter)