Who is Niki II?


    Is he a fortunate and capable ruler like Charles V, who at a young age became Emperor of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor, head of the Habsburg family, and ruler of Italy?


    Or is he a great monarch whose achievements cannot be exined by bloodline alone?


    Kitchener''s first memory of Niki II was from quite a while ago.


    Before the title "Bloody Tsar" emerged.


    Ascending to the throne at just twenty-five.


    Taking the throne and beginning heir education.


    At that time, everyone mocked the man before them as a colorless Tsar.


    An uneducated emperor.


    An ipetent emperor.


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    How ipetent must he have been to create the State Duma to shift responsibility?


    That was the situation in Russia that Kitchener had heard about at the time.


    The Tsar then could neither do anything nor was capable of doing anything.


    And four years passed.


    ''Those whoughed and joked are all dead now. Truly, a great purge that will go down in history began.''


    Only after blood was sprayed across the empire did people return color to the colorless Tsar.


    This was the beginning of the Bloody Tsar.


    There was only one thing that shocked Kitchener about Niki II.


    That the Tsar crushed so many people?


    No. Many died, but that was just anothermon execution in history.


    The real point to note is:


    For four whole years, immediately after taking the throne, the Tsar left everyone to mock him while he wrote his death list.


    At just twenty-five, he was an emperor who, while crouching down alone, distinguished between those who would live and die.


    Kitchener thought this might be the real reason why the reforms of sessive prime ministers had to seed.


    Such a man ruled the Russian Empire for more than 20 years.


    The Tsar remains young and capable, and his power grows more solid by the day.


    A prime minister who aims for development beyond survival in this massive war.


    Amander who can casually push millions of troops into no man''snd.


    A Tsar who receives infinite reverence and support from the public, political circles, bureaucrats, military officers, and even foreign countries.


    Even setting aside the special circumstances of wartime, this is an extreme concentration of power in one person.


    So.


    ''Just need to turn the Tsar''s heart. The Tsar''s will is Russia''s will.''


    The changed Petrograd?


    The Russian government andmand that can''t trust their allies?


    The poor rtions between Anglo-Saxons and vs due to longpetition?


    The public that has turned their eyes away from war?


    None of that matters.


    "Germany''s grip on the Baltic Sea will now disappear into history."


    "...Oh?"


    As long as the Tsar doesn''t turn his eyes away from the enemy, Russia''s war won''t end.


    ==


    "Even if one wants to have a naval battle, it''s not something that can be done at will."


    Kitchener certainly brought up an intriguing topic, showing he wasn''t just a background War Secretary.


    However, during the Great War, if we''re talking about naval battles between Britain and Germany, there''s only the Battle of Jund, and this battle would be difficult to ur without Germany''s cooperation.


    ''In the end, if the High Seas Fleet doesn''te out of port, that''s it.''


    There''s no reason for Germany to fight when they won''t be fighting for North Sea dominance anyway.


    "U-boats dive when they see smoke on the horizon."


    "Once they dive, they can easilyst a day or two underwater."


    "Their main target is Antic convoy fleets. That is, without a single outer port, they carry out missions far out to sea. They''re in a position where they must go out to the Antic and return to German ports."


    "You''ll catch those U-boats first?"


    If catching U-boats was that easy, would there be daily reports about U-boat attacks?


    Even with sonar equipment, U-boats can''t be caught.


    No matter how much surface ships use sonar, if U-boats hide in deep water and just reduce speed, they can''t be found.


    Now U-boats prefer to just attack Antic convoys rather than risk their lives attacking British surface ships.


    "With existing technology, we probably can''t meaningfully catch more U-boats. Instead, we can scatter ships across the North Sea to interfere with their missions. After all, that''s how U-boats work. They must surface eventually, and if they spend too much time underwater, long-distance missions be impossible."


    "You''ll block the U-boats to lure out the High Seas Fleet?"


    "They won''t be able to endure it."


    While Britain talks about naval blockade, the Royal Navy has never gone below the North Irnd Strait.@@novelbin@@


    Because of this, U-boats could smoothly escape through the English Channel and extend their range to the Mediterranean.


    But if Britain blocks the North Sea despite the damage?


    ''...Regardless of possibility, the German navy won''t be able to endure without moving.''


    Just opening up ess to the Mediterranean Sea wouldn''t be an unfavorable oue. It would give them crucial shippingnes and strategic flexibility they desperately need.


    In fact, this campaign of unlimited submarine warfare represents more of a diplomatic gamble than a purely military strategy. The Germans are essentially ying a dangerous game of brinksmanship with neutral nations.


    They''re sessfully sinking an impressive 300,000 tons of shipping every month through their U-boat campaign, and Germany''s highmand can only specte how long exporting countries, including an increasingly agitated America, will continue to tolerate their merchant vessels being sent to the bottom of the Antic. The diplomatic tensions grow with each ship lost.


    Germany''s strategy hinges on a desperate hope - that Britain, faced with mounting shipping losses and economic pressure, will capitte and withdraw from the war before additional powers are provoked into joining the Allied cause. It''s a precarious bnce between military effectiveness and diplomatic consequences.


    But if theye out more aggressively like this, it''s good for now.


    "I don''t know as much about the sea as the British Empire, so I''ll ept that for now. Then what about the Western Front?"


    "Before I came here, Haig''s offensive n was approved. There will be unlimited offensives until we capture the Beaumont-Hamel fortress, 13km from the current front line."


    "If it fails."


    "That won''t happen. Because this is an unlimited offensive."


    Kitchener speaks as if the sess of the Somme offensive is not excessive confidence but simply a matter of fact.