I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 510: Bridge

Peter is Nicholas' younger brother. If Peter is under Nicholas's command, Peter can do whatever he wants and George won't even have the guts to watch him.

In the Admiralty, and in such an important position, even if Peter did not intentionally cause trouble for George, it would make George very uncomfortable if he could not meet George's requirements.

George told little Nicholas very clearly that if he could do it, he should do it; if he couldn't, he should report and leave immediately, and not wait until the stick hit his butt to feel the pain.

George didn't know what little Nicholas was thinking.

However, the next day, Nicholas came to the Navy Ministry under the pretext of inspecting work.

The Admiralty is right next to the Winter Palace and across the river from the Peter and Paul Fortress. After being renovated by two Navy Ministers, Vladimir and Alexei, the Admiralty building is not as magnificent in appearance as the Winter Palace, but its interior decoration is even better than that of the Winter Palace, fully demonstrating the low-key and luxury of the Admiralty.

Nicholas was still wearing the same uniform of the Guards Hussars, while George was more casual, wearing breeches, a shirt and long boots. The north wind was howling outside the window, but the room was warm as if it was spring, just like the Russian Empire at that time.

George thought that Nicholas came to George to plead for mercy. After all, Peter's wife, Melissa, was a good friend of Queen Alex.

Nicholas went to find George because George's judgment of the situation was beyond Nicholas' understanding.

Everyone in St. Petersburg knew George's attitude towards Britain because of the Russo-Japanese War.

George's military reforms identified Germany as the most serious threat to the Russian Empire, which left Nicholas puzzled.

Has the empire's external environment deteriorated to this extent?
Even though Britain was the driving force behind the Russo-Japanese War, France was an ally of the Russian Empire.

In Nicholas' heart, compared with the French who were wavering, Nicholas trusted his uncle in London and his cousin in Berlin more.

As for the Russo-Japanese War and the Austro-German Alliance, they were nothing more than some minor conflicts and disputes among relatives. Even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected.

"Niki, after we defeat Britain and Germany, we will also give the princes in London and Berlin an annual salary of 60 rubles. Isn't that good?"

George was wrong. Starting this year, the salary of the Grand Duke of the Empire has increased to 80.

So the Grand Duke of the Russian Empire was really happy.

George's family of nine, including Anne, all enjoyed a Grand Duke-level salary, which alone amounted to 9 million rubles per year.

The empire has been passed down for 300 years. Not to mention the distant past, starting from Nicholas I, 8 of the 7 children have grown up.

Nicholas II and Maria had six sons and two daughters, of whom six sons and one daughter survived to adulthood.

He and Catherine have two sons and two daughters, all grown up.

Aleksandr had six children. Alexander died at the age of one. Georgy remained unmarried and had no children. Four of them grew up.

With so many grand dukes, the annual salary alone is enough to rebuild an imperial navy.

"The Empire can't afford—"

Nicholas was actually considering this possibility.

George really didn't understand the mentality of kings and emperors. In their view, war was just a little game between relatives. The deaths of hundreds of millions of people were just cold numbers in the war reports, without any warmth, just like what Nicholas wrote on the report on the collective walk of 10 people in Poland: What does this have to do with me?

George didn't know what was happening in Britain and Germany.

The Russian people's trust in the Tsar was gradually exhausted by Nicholas' indifference.

"If a war breaks out in Europe, its scale will be far greater than the war against Japan, and the consequences will be more serious than the war against Japan. Just wait and see, the existing order in Europe will be completely overturned in a war. What we can do now is how to survive after the war." George hopes that Nicholas can be vigilant. War is not a joke.

"George, you're too nervous. The situation is not anywhere near as serious as this."

Nicholas has a different perspective than George.

On the surface, the empire did not have many hidden dangers, and Nicholas was about to set off to visit Britain, Germany and France.

German Chief of the General Staff Helmut Moltke and Austro-Hungarian Chief of the General Staff Marshal Franz Hetzendorff will also visit St. Petersburg as a delegation.

On the first day of the new year, George and little Nicholas were officially awarded the rank of marshal.

"Niki, it is my responsibility to protect the safety of the empire."

George hopes Nicholas will not interfere with his work.

Nicholas could go hunting with William II or fishing with Edward VII, and that was fine.

George never forgets his responsibilities. Everyone can relax, but George must always be vigilant.

"I understand. I just hope that you won't show your hostility towards certain countries too obviously. The empire cannot afford a large-scale war right now."

Nicholas gave George a vaccination before leaving.

George is not stupid. Even if Nicholas didn't remind him, George would definitely not openly express his hostility towards Germany in front of the Germans.

After seeing Nikola off, George prepared to go off work. There were a total of seven armored vehicles in the convoy that looked exactly the same. Two of them were specially prepared for George, and it was up to George to decide which one to take on the spur of the moment.

Although the assassins in St. Petersburg suddenly disappeared without a trace after the mutual understanding with Britain, and the public security improved greatly overnight, George still attached great importance to his own safety and did not give the assassins any chance.

George's home was on the other side of the Neva River, and to get home from the Admiralty building one had to cross the Nikolayevsky Bridge.

The Nikolaevsky Bridge was originally called the Neva Bridge. It was the first centrally-opened bridge in St. Petersburg to facilitate the passage of ships on the Neva River.

When the Nikolayevsky Bridge was built, the passage of armored vehicles was not taken into consideration, so the carrying capacity of the Nikolayevsky Bridge is limited. The St. Petersburg Municipal Government is considering reinforcing and widening the Nikolayevsky Bridge.

When George's convoy arrived at the Nikolayevsky Bridge, they found that the Nikolayevsky Bridge was closed, so they continued to move forward and prepared to cross the river via the Winter Palace Bridge.

Due to the closure of the Nikolayevsky Bridge, the flow of people and vehicles on the Winter Palace Bridge increased suddenly. The convoy could not speed up and could only move forward slowly.

The Winter Palace Bridge is 260 meters long. The convoy walked on the bridge for almost 10 minutes before reaching the middle of the bridge.

"Why not reinforce the bridge for the winter? At least you can cross the river on sleds in winter."

Kolchak and Mannerheim were in the third armored car, and George in the fourth.

"The masters in the engineering department won't work in winter."

Mannerheim knew St. Petersburg better than Kolchak, who had previously served in the Pacific Fleet.

Before Kolchak could say anything, the bridge deck suddenly collapsed, and the two armored vehicles in the front broke through the ice and fell into the icy river.

(End of this chapter)