I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 671 God’s Judgment

Among those captured in Tula was a member of the Provisional Executive Committee. According to this member, Nicholas and his family were imprisoned somewhere in Siberia, and only Bronstein himself knew the specific location.

Bronstein is serving as Minister of War of the Second Provisional Government and is currently in Moscow.

After retaking Tula, Vasily concentrated 50 troops to surround Moscow. The Second Provisional Government was at its end.

George's attention was not on Moscow but on the influenza outbreak this spring.

The first case was discovered in a military camp in Kansas, USA on March 3 this year. At that time, the patient's symptoms included headache, high fever, muscle aches and loss of appetite.

As large numbers of U.S. troops arrived in Europe, influenza began to spread across the continent without attracting much attention.

This is because after the outbreak of World War II, all major belligerent countries implemented strict news censorship, and all news that was unfavorable to the war was not allowed to be reported. Only the media in the neutral country of Spain had nothing to do and reported on the situation in Spain every day. As a result, media from various countries followed up and reprinted the reports of the Spanish media, and also gave this cold a name: Spanish flu.

The Spanish never expected that this negligence would cause Spain to leave its name in the world war in such a shameful way.

In mid-May, the first case of the disease was discovered in Constantinople, infecting a dock worker, which did not attract the attention of Constantinople officials at the time.

By the end of June, more than 6 people had gone to hospitals for treatment, which shows how aggressive the virus is.

The Constantinople Arsenal was the worst affected, as a large number of workers fell ill, affecting the production of military products.

Hospital work has also been affected. At the largest Catherine Hospital in Constantinople, more than a third of doctors have been infected.

George could only be thankful that the army had not yet been affected.

This is thanks to the fact that American soldiers did not set foot in Russia, otherwise Russia would have fallen like Britain, France and Germany.

Throughout June, 6 people in France caught the cold, more than 80 million in Britain, and the German army, which was the worst affected, had an average of 100 people falling ill in each division.

Ludendorff never expected that his carefully planned offensive would be seriously hindered by a minor cold.

George sensitively noticed that in these two months, the number of deaths from colds in Britain, France and Germany had exceeded that from the war.

In the past two months, the German army has launched offensives at Chemin-de-Dames, the Aisne River, the Metz River, the Marne River, and Champagne.

The German army was extremely well prepared. In late June, the German troops on the Marne River were only 6 kilometers away from Paris.

The last time German troops arrived here was in 1914.

The fierce German offensive forced the French to launch a plan to move the capital. If the German offensive could not be contained, France would move the capital from Paris to Bordeaux.

Haig took out his long-forgotten retreat plan. If Paris fell, the British army would withdraw from France and defend the English Channel.

At the critical moment, Pershing sent out four super-large infantry divisions, totaling 10 people, to withstand the German attack.

In just two months, more than 40 Allied troops were killed on the Western Front.

About 45 people died from the flu.

It is hard to imagine that an influenza epidemic could have such serious consequences.

Constantinople Health Minister Kotsov believes that now is not the most dangerous moment and the impact of the cold will be more serious this fall.

After all, autumn is the peak season for influenza.

"We have been observing 5 patients since May and found that even if they recover, their physical fitness will decline significantly. The danger of this disease may be more serious than any of us imagined."

Kotesov demanded that Constantinople immediately declare a state of emergency to restrict people's access to public places. If the situation deteriorates further, consider closing public facilities such as theaters, libraries, and shopping malls.

"That's impossible. It's just a cold. There's no need to make a fuss. Scientific research shows that colds are good for improving the body's immunity."

Finance Minister Ignatiev believes that Kotesov is going too far and that the disease has a lot to do with people's physical fitness.

Germany was the worst affected because the Germans had been living with malnutrition for a long time, which magnified the impact of colds.

Ignatiev also believes that the media reports on colds in various countries are somewhat exaggerated in order to attract people's attention.

"The common cold does not kill people. We must be vigilant, especially in densely populated areas such as schools, hospitals, factories and military camps, where stricter hygiene measures must be implemented."

Kotesov argued that he hoped that this incident would increase everyone's attention to hygiene.

With the improvement of medical standards, people have gradually realized that many diseases are closely related to bad living habits.

For example, smoking.

Another example is drinking.

George also felt it was difficult.

Tobacco and alcohol are the most important sources of fiscal revenue for the Constantinople government. They cannot be banned at the official level, but at most they are not encouraged.

Constantinople could not ban tobacco and alcohol.

However, it is still possible to raise people's attention to hygiene.

Kotesov was right. After July, more and more people went to the hospital for treatment of colds, and the number of deaths increased from a dozen cases per day in June to nearly 6 cases per day in July.

This is just Constantinople.

In addition to Constantinople, the Kingdom of Romania, Greece and the Kingdom of Bulgaria also frequently sent out emergencies and requested medical support from Constantinople.

George couldn't take care of his allies at the moment. There were also patients in many places in Amur, and Vladivostok had entered a state of emergency. Amur was George's base camp, and the reason why the Balkan Corps was so comfortable was because of Amur's industrial capacity.

George is not worried whether Constantinople is in chaos or not. As long as he has Amur's industrial capacity, George is confident that he can push it back even if Constantinople falls.

If Amur fell into chaos, Constantinople would not be any better.

On July 7, Constantinople officially entered a state of emergency, and people had to wear masks whenever they entered public places.

"I heard that this is a plague created by the Spanish—"

Anne no longer sees outsiders and only gets information about the outside world through newspapers and the radio.

"The Spanish don't have this ability, this is something the Americans brought."

George, tracing back to the origin, when American soldiers first landed in Europe, they brought such a big gift to Europe. Europeans should thank the Americans' ancestors for eight generations.

“Are Americans’ technological capabilities so advanced?”

Anne was surprised that the United States today is not a beacon of civilization in the minds of most Europeans, but a moral lowland and a "nouveau riche" in the eyes of the Europeans.

"Who knows-"

George couldn't say anything without evidence.

Anne sent a telegram to Boris, reminding him to strengthen precautions.

George and Anne were in their prime, so it wasn't a big problem.

The people in Adrianople, young and old, are really worrying.

Boris told Anne that for the safety of her great-grandson, Catherine bought a mountain directly near Adrianople, became self-sufficient, and had no contact with outsiders.

Alexander telegraphed George, and the disease inevitably spread to the St. Petersburg prison. Many prisoners died in prison before they could be tried, and they died room by room.

The busiest place in the Peter and Paul Fortress now is the boiler room, where hundreds of bodies have to be burned every day.

Constantinople had a population of 30, but only about a hundred people died every day.

The Peter and Paul Fortress held less than 10,000 prisoners.

Nicholas the Younger called the prisoners' death "God's judgment."

George did not believe in God, so he took this opportunity to mobilize the people of Constantinople to thoroughly clean the entire city, leaving no sanitary blind spots untouched.

Christie is personally responsible for the hygiene of George's office, which is disinfected once in the morning and once in the evening every day.

Witt next door was even worse, he wanted to soak himself in disinfectant.

At least there was disinfectant available in Constantinople, but on the rainy Western Front, the armies of both sides were fighting in trenches where sewage was up to their knees, and were about to shed their last drop of blood.

News came from the Anatolian Peninsula that veteran General Yangkov caught a cold while inspecting the front line and fell ill unexpectedly. Currently, the work of the 14th Army is under the charge of Chief of Staff Antonio.

George sent telegrams to the commanders of each corps, reminding them to pay attention to personal protection.

British Prime Minister Lloyd George made trouble again and invited heads of state to London for a meeting to discuss how to end the war as soon as possible.

George sent a telegram to little Nicholas, asking him to go to London.

Little Nicholas gladly accepted the invitation and traveled to London on a cruiser of the Baltic Fleet.

The dual effects of war and the epidemic have cast two shadows on London, the glamorous world financial center.

The ragged homeless people on the streets formed a sharp contrast with the clinking of glasses at the reception banquet.

Little Nicholas couldn't help but sigh that the British were really tolerant and had absolutely no spirit of resistance.

Churchill, who returned to the cabinet and was appointed Minister of Munitions by Lloyd George, disagreed.

There are just as many walks in the UK as in Russia. In April this year, 4 people took to the streets in London. In order to disperse the crowd, the authorities used cavalry and armored vehicles.

When St. Petersburg police beat thieves in the street, the British media would report it wildly and become ironclad evidence of Tsarist Russia's feudal autocracy.

British authorities used cavalry and armored vehicles to suppress the march, but there were no reports in St. Petersburg.

Journalists in St. Petersburg should reflect.

"What are you going to do next? Will George ascend the throne? Or will you elect a new Tsar?"

Churchill was concerned about what Russia would do next.

"If George does not ascend the throne, there will be no more tsars. Russia will soon become a democratic country where everyone is equal, and every Russian can live the happy life they want."

Little Nicholas boasted.

Churchill couldn't hide his smile. Is everyone equal in a democratic country?

What a big joke.

(End of this chapter)