I Became the Last Princess of the Brown Bear Kingdom

---

* * *

Constantinople is the worst as a capital city just based on location.

Right now, the Italian navy could bombard us if things go awry.

If there’s another clash with Britain, it would be the same.

The Ottomans are already aware that Constantinople was once exposed to the threat of German battleships.

With the Russian fleet not being rebuilt, even Italy would find it tough to contend.

“That’s a bit excessive. It won’t work unless we completely conquer Anatolia and Greece.”

Citing the reconstruction of Byzantium as justification for a campaign against Turkey and Greece is out of the question.

Even the Roman Nationalist Party coughed awkwardly, as if they realized that.

Once the excitement had settled, everyone began responding more realistically.

“Well, Moscow is the root of it all.”

“If the Tsarina has significance in Moscow, then so be it.”

There’s no need to put forth a third candidate if the Tsarina has her eyes on Moscow.

In fact, if the Tsarina expressed a desire to move to Constantinople, we might have had a serious discussion about it, but if she has a wish for Moscow, there’s no reason to go to Constantinople.

“Then let’s decide on Moscow.”

“It’s officially decided as Moscow then.”

“We have to move the remains of the late Tsar to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. We’ll need to contact the Orthodox Church as well.”

With the decision made for Moscow, one of the Roman Nationalist Party members was clearly dissatisfied with the situation.

Why is the all-powerful Tsarina Anastasia not showing up herself, while those progressive party buffoons bring up the capital and the remains?

Does it make sense to resolve matters regarding the corpse of someone who was once Tsar in the National Duma, even if the country is in ruins?

Of course, the conclusion is that the remains will be moved to Moscow’s Cathedral, but why is the Tsar not tackling this agenda directly?

Roman von Ungern-Sternberg.

Out in Asia, and effectively sitting here as the leader of the Roman Nationalist Party in place of Grigory Semenov, he found this absolutely unacceptable.

Therefore, he boldly stood up from his seat.

“By the way.”

“General Ungern, what do you wish to say?”

“Why does His Majesty need to involve the leader of the Progressive Party?”

“Um.”

Georgy Lvov paused for a moment.

After all, it truly was a chance that the Tsarina had given them to do things properly in the Duma.

Even though the power had been transferred to the National Duma, the Tsar’s authority still loomed large.

Naturally, as a Tsar who has directly faced bullets and shells on the battlefield, his authority was justified.

The Tsar wanted the matter to be resolved seriously in the Duma, and had given them homework to handle it properly.

However, that Ungern was a staunch monarchist.

No, he could be considered a loyal servant of the Romanov dynasty.

He probably thought something was happening.

“Is something amiss with His Majesty?”

Ah, look at that.

He’s already acting like this after not seeing him for just a day.

Georgy Lvov sighed deeply.

Even if the Tsar himself doesn’t want it, everyone is now relying on the Tsarina.

The signboard has changed, but the country is still as autocratic as ever.

Georgy Lvov has seen this, so yes, there’s not much to be done, but if this is how they’re acknowledging the Tsar’s authority in the Duma, it becomes problematic for Georgy himself since he might catch the ire of the Tsarina, Anastasia.

He had been scolded particularly hard when issues of marriage were brought up in the Duma.

“No, just respecting the Duma’s opinion and asking them to resolve it there, that’s what I heard.”

“Ah, right. It is indeed something to be resolved in the Duma. Ahem.”

“And it seems His Majesty wants to invest a bit in scholars.”

“That wouldn’t be bad. I hear that Dr. Einstein is quite a prominent figure.”

Support for scholars is also not a bad idea.

Anyway, the representatives present here are filled with the will to truly change Russia, unlike the Bolsheviks.

“Not just that scholar; it would be good to allocate some budget to the White Army as well.”

The generals of the White Army belonging to the Roman Nationalist Party were seizing the opportunity.

Right now, the White Army is composed of elites, but the quality of weapons is still lacking.

They are just now at the stage of using the PPD-40 submachine gun properly, and although it’s a great improvement considering it’s a rifle that was originally produced overseas during the old empire, there is still a huge deficiency in tanks and aircraft.

“Since His Majesty negotiated with the Kaiser of Germany to transfer technicians related to tanks and warships, let’s set the budget then.”

Although the talks between the Kaiser and Anastasia were only about technology cooperation for tanks and warships, the Foreign Ministry had also negotiated with the German Empire (East Prussia) for fighter aircraft technology cooperation.

Moreover, Sikorsky’s airbase is diligently working on strengthening air power, so the White Army is also looking forward to the future air force in Russia.

“Understood.”

“What’s the status of the Jewish issue?”

The Jewish issue was also brought up.

A considerable number of Jews crossing over from Poland, even though they are now displaying pro-Jewish policies with a change of language, have long been a headache for Russia, a formerly anti-Jewish state.

During the Civil War, at least they fought alongside us or helped with funds. They weren’t those coming from Poland.

“At first, there was a bit of a stir, but since they’re saying they will support resettlement, most have decided to head to Northern Manchuria.”

“That’s a relief. Since Northern Manchuria still has Manchus and Han Chinese remaining, we need to send in Jews to mix the population.”

“Have you looked into the resettlement of Koreans?”

Koreans flowing into Northern Manchuria.

Recently, the Duma has also become aware of the incoming Koreans while keeping an eye on issues in the Far East.

Originally, it was to be a matter to report to the Tsar, but since it was thought this should be resolved in the Duma, the Duma itself researched it.

Especially since this matter is deeply related to the Asian Cavalry Division. They investigated it first.

“From what I found, it seems that Koreans who migrated from mainland Japan as part of the Manchurian Railway have moved to Northern Manchuria due to dissatisfaction with Japan. I assume the White Army has also looked into this through the Asian Cavalry Division?”

“Some have done so, and there are Koreans who are coming through Hong Beom-do, who commands our Asian Cavalry Division.”

“Hmm, that’s not bad.”

While the Beiyang government was encouraging many Manchus and Han Chinese in and around Manchuria to migrate to the North China area, there were still many who remained.

If Jews and Koreans also come in, well.

If, by chance, this abrupt migration could improve security in a situation where safety is precarious, it would also be beneficial for the expansion of the Asian Cavalry Division’s scale.

“How’s the Civil War between the Beiyang government and the Legalist Government going?”

“It seems they’re still in a mud-slinging match.”

“Still? Didn’t our military advisory team go to the Legalist side?”

Having military advisors on the Russian side and stalling like this, really?

Of course, it was expected to be slow, but the level of the White Army’s people who have even received military advisement from Russia leaves much to be desired.

“On the other hand, the Beiyang government is being supported by Japan.”

“The Tsarina has marked Chen Zhongming as the future leader of China. Is it really okay to leave things as they are?”

The Tsarina directly supporting Chen Zhongming is essentially equivalent to supporting the next leader of China.

But is it wise to drag this out?

“The warlords have not unified, and the Legalist side has the upper hand, so the Beiyang government is bound to retreat.”

“That’s a relief.”

That is a relief, but other problems also exist.

If we barely achieve victory this way, can Chen Zhongming, whom the Tsarina is pushing, actually become a proper leader of China?

“Still, if we keep this up, it will be hard for Chen Zhongming to become an actual leader of China. Even though we have direct ties, the number of warlords is just too many.”

While the Beiyang government has rebel warlords pushing back and losing ground to the Legalist side.

On the flip side, the Legalist side is still only loosely held together under the name of Sun Yat-sen. Once the Beiyang government is pushed back, internal divisions may arise.

“Is it a problem that there are many warlords?”

“The existence of many warlords means that when Chen Zhongming eventually becomes the leader of China, there will be more people comparing him and doubting him with military force.”

In a situation like China, even the Legalist government now is practically a conglomerate of warlords.

In such a situation, if the Legalist government wins over the Beiyang government and Chen Zhongming ousts Sun Yat-sen, can he even become a proper leader?

“Then even if Chen Zhongming lucks out and becomes the leader, he’ll quickly get pulled back into civil war.”

“Regardless, others will be severely impacted by the war, won’t they?”

“Unless he just completely surpasses them and wins, but if the civil war drags on this way, competitors who will seek his position will emerge.”

No matter how much Chen Zhongming tries to get ahead, it could actually become a problem for him.

The longer the war drags on, the more chances someone could achieve similar accomplishments as Chen Zhongming, or someone could gain strength in the background.

If that happens, it will be tough for Chen Zhongming to fully control the political situation.

“Does that mean we should intervene?”

“What does the Foreign Ministry view on that?”

If we were to intervene here, it was clear we would have conflicts with Japan.

“Further intervention seems difficult. We have no reason to weaken our relationship with Japan currently.”

While Russia has developed quite a bit, it is still not the time to cause conflict with Japan in the Far East.

If we intervene too much now, Britain or France might also accuse Russia of overstepping its bounds.

We can only hope that the Legalist side wins at least at the current level, and that Chen Zhongming succeeds.

“Honestly, it feels like we have no choice but to wait and see.”

The Soft Autonomy Movement. Chen Zhongming.

It turns out that China’s movement towards soft autonomy is merely the step before adopting the United States type system seen in Russia.

Unlike Russia, which flipped overnight, China has too many people and warlords, so they can’t jump directly to a United States style system.

When I think about it, perhaps having a monarchy is better.

At least over here, the White Army could gather around the Romanovs as the central figure.

But the Tsarina has chosen this underwhelming Chen Zhongming as the future leader of China.

She surely would know better having had a direct talk with Chen Zhongming.

“Hmm. Shouldn’t I relay this to His Majesty?”

In the end, contrary to Anastasia’s intentions.

New concerns are piling up.

* * *

It appears that I’m not meant to have fun after all.

While playing around with Belka, Prime Minister Krivoshein came to visit.

“From China?”

“Yes. It’s a complete quagmire.”

The war between the Legalist Government and the Beiyang government is dragging on.

“If they reduce their numbers, that would be good for us, wouldn’t it?”

True. If the Legalist government ends up in a complete stalemate, it might be a problem, but our image wouldn’t fare well if we helped and they still couldn’t win, right?

“Still, we’re military advisors sent directly from the White Army. Hmm, it won’t reflect well if the civil war gets too stagnant, right?”

Hmm. Well, that’s something to consider.

There’s no need to hold up such an image in the first place.

It looks like the Legalist Government started in an even more abysmal state than in actual history.

Facilitating military power’s improvement can also be considered an achievement.

“It’s fine. We roughly pulled them up from the brink of defeat, right? Moreover, if their strength diminishes, they won’t dare to say anything to us in Northern Manchuria.”

“That’s true, but…”

What is he trying to say?

“But?”

“If the civil war continues to stagnate, wouldn’t that make Chen Zhongming’s position precarious?”

Chen Zhongming?

Ah, I see. The longer the civil war lasts, the more warlords could emerge to rival Chen Zhongming.

“Hmm. That makes sense. Even if the Legalist government wins, there will still be other warlords growing in strength during the process.”

“Yes. That’s why I came to seek your counsel, Your Majesty.”

Came to seek my advice?

Hmm, let’s see. Can I actually contribute anything?

I’m hoping for the status quo from the start.

I want China to bleed as little as possible before achieving soft autonomy.