November 16, Ekaterinburg Fortress, Summer Palace.
At this moment, a strategic meeting was being held in the Summer Palace, with Grand Patriarch Belinsky and several important bishops in attendance.
Marshal Semyon, who had been sent to serve as a commander in the Western Front Army, had also rushed from the High Command to participate in the meeting.
However, since he was no longer in office at the High Command or the Ministry of Defense, his seat was closer to the edge of the room.
Marshal Boris was explaining the current situation, “The enemy has occupied most of Karanskaya, but the good news is, they have not yet cleared up the scattered Imperial Guard troops within the city. We surmise that the enemy is running out of steam.
“Between us and Karanskaya, there is still a ten-kilometer fortified zone, and a large number of Guardian Army and provisional troops.
“The good news is that the reorganization of the troops scattered in the previous enemy onslaught has been completed, and within the next week, we will have multiple fully equipped Army Groups joining the fight.
“The second piece of good news is that the first batch of wounded soldiers has been discharged from the hospital and is about to rejoin their units. The young men conscripted at the end of June and in early July have completed their entire military training and can now be supplemented into the troops.
“We expect that within the next month, we will have at least one million fresh troops. Additionally, millions more young people are undergoing military training.
“At the same time, we are also preparing to launch the second phase of the mobilization plan, mobilizing veterans over thirty years old. We have a population advantage over the Prussians, and the Prussians are currently engaged on multiple fronts. They have a large number of troops stationed on the western side of the country, on guard against naval attacks from the United Kingdom.”
Marshal Boris looked to Nikolai V, “Your Majesty, do you have any…”
“How much of this is true?” His Majesty the Tsar asked.
Olga: “Father! Trust the generals a bit more!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the sound of howling came from the sky.
All the generals in the room who had actual combat experience reacted, and General Tugenev even dived under the table.
The next moment, all the window glass shattered simultaneously, as if the sky outside had burst through the windows.
Olga’s mouth gaped open as she watched the window frame and glass flying toward her, about to be riddled like a hornet’s nest.
A huge figure stood directly in front of Olga; it was Marshal Semyon.
He braced his hands on the table, always maintaining a distance between his body and the princess.
His eyes fixed on the princess, tender as if looking at his own granddaughter.
The sound of explosions followed one after another, and dust from the ceiling fell on Olga’s head.
The chandelier suddenly fell off, crashing onto the conference table and shattering instantly.
Suddenly, a minor cut appeared on the edge of Olga’s cheek.
It was actually just a scratch from the chandelier’s broken glass, a minor injury that could be swiped with saliva and would heal in a week.
The bombardment stopped.
Outside the meeting room, the moans of injured soldiers could be heard.
Marshal Boris stood up, “They stopped the bombardment so quickly, that means the enemy has run out of shells.”
The others also got up from the ground, and Chief of Staff Tukhachev asked loudly, “Check on the wounded, it seems they didn’t target the meeting room specifically.”
At that moment, Marshal Semyon, who had protected Princess Olga, used his last strength to move away from the princess and fell backward.
Olga’s eyes widened as she looked at him.
Nikolai V suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, “Haha! It’s all over, everything is over! Your lies have collapsed! The war has already been lost! Hahaha! You deceive me here, perhaps you’ve already been negotiating peace with the Prussians behind my back!”
Belinsky raised his head to look at Bishop Ravkid.
Ravkid nodded silently and left the room.
Tugenev saw this scene of Ravkid departing and frowned deeply.
But Tukhachev had no spare energy to care about anything else; he tried to reassure His Majesty the Tsar, “Your Majesty! We have not been defeated! The enemy has stopped bombarding, and we are still alive, which means they are indeed running out of steam!”
“Running out of steam! Running out of steam!” Nikolai V banged on the table and shouted, “How long have you been saying this? How many times? I’ll have you all shot and then negotiate peace with the Prussians! Maybe I can still be a king! I’ll start with shooting that ‘impenetrable imperial iron wall’ that can’t block anything!
Bring me Rocossov, his defensive zone is only thirty kilometers from here, call him over!”
Although Olga was still shaken, she stepped forward, “Father!”
She tried to make her voice more neutral, like that of a young man.
Nikolai V stopped his hysteria and looked at Olga, “Ivan! You’re here. Wait, what happened to your face?”
Olga raised an eyebrow.
Nikolai V raised his hand, pointing at Olga’s cheek with trembling fingers.
Immediately, Olga brought a hand to her face, and with that touch, she smeared blood on her cheek where the small wound was.
Nikolai V recoiled in shock, stepping back, “No! My Ivan does not bleed! You are not Ivan, who are you? Who are you?”
Olga tried to salvage the situation, “Father, do you not recognize me anymore?”
“Pretending to be Ivan! Guards! Arrest him! He must be a damned Prussian spy! They’ve taken my Ivan away! I know it, Ivan has been captured, and they want to force me to surrender!
As soon as I surrender, Ivan will be back! Ahahaha!”
Olga stared dumbfounded at Nikolai V, who had completely lost his sanity.
Tugenev looked at Belinsky, then stood up and looked out the shattered window.
Nikolai V’s voice was loud, so loud that even the rescuers could hear it.
But Tugenev was obviously not looking at these stunned civilians.
He quickly saw what he was looking for.
Trucks carrying troops with blue hats entered the gates of the Summer Palace.
These were infantry divisions of the Judge, better equipped than regular infantry divisions.
Upon seeing the blue hats, Tugenev retracted his gaze and turned towards Grand Patriarch Belinsky.
Belinsky was also looking at him.
Tugenev sighed, picked up his briefcase of top-secret documents, and from it he took out a pistol holster.
A top-secret briefcase would naturally not be opened for inspection, who would have thought a gun holster would be hidden among the papers.
Tugenev equipped the holster on himself, adjusted the pistol’s position, then opened the holster and drew the gun to check if the safety was on and the bullet chambered.
At that moment, because Nikolai V was standing at the center of the stage, where all the spotlights converged, no one noticed Tugenev’s actions.
Except for the newly appointed Defense Minister, Marshal Boris.
Tugenev, having prepared his gun, looked towards Her Highness the princess.
At that time, Olga was shouting at Nikolai V, “Father! You are an emperor! Don’t be so hysterical! You are undermining the very foundation of our resistance! You are shaking the bedrock of our fighting spirit!”
Nikolai V, “Who are you? What gives you the right to lecture me! I just want to get back my son!”
Olga, “Brother is dead! He’s dead! And now he must be very disappointed in you! He must be!”
“No! My Ivan would never be disappointed in me!”
Outraged, Olga strode forward, intending to slap her disgraceful father.
Tugenev seized the moment and intercepted Olga, “Your Royal Highness, this is pointless. Your Highness, when Ivan did not die for his country, you were always whiling away the time in my office. Haven’t I taught you? Always see the situation clearly around you, take the most advantageous and decisive action with the least consequences.”
He guided Olga a step to the side, clearing anyone else from the line of fire of the gun.
Then he whispered, “Look outside the window.” Your journey continues at m v|l-e’m,p| y- r
Olga looked outside.
The blue-hatted Judges were dispersing the onlookers.
At this instant, Olga thought of someone.
Then she felt at her waist, only to find the stiff corset.
Ever since Rocossov shot and killed General Skorobo, with the exception of the palace guards, soldiers entering the Summer Palace were not allowed to carry guns.
Tugenev, “Observe your surroundings, Your Majesty.”
Only then did Olga realize Tugenev actually had a gun, and the holster was open.
Without asking any questions, she drew the gun.
In fact, Olga’s shooting experience wasn’t enough for her to tell by weight whether the gun was loaded. But she believed it definitely had bullets, and was even loaded.
She checked the safety and then, before anyone else could react, aimed at Tsar His Majesty, who was shouting, “I will surrender to get back my son.”
At the sight of the gun, Nikolai V seemed to suddenly recover.
He looked at the muzzle, then at Olga’s face and suddenly laughed, “It’s this room, where Rocossov killed Skorobo. You really are his—”
Olga fired.
But she missed, after all, she had only practiced with hunting rifles, and had never even used a pistol before.
Just then, Belinsky stepped forward, snatching the gun from Olga’s hand, “If you become a parricidal beast, we too will have a headache.”
At that moment, a large number of Judges burst into the room.
Some Judges even climbed in through the windows blown out by the artillery shelling.
Suddenly, the room was filled with blue hats everywhere.
Belinsky checked the condition of the pistol and then aimed, “Nikolai Alexandrovich Antonov, you are guilty of treason, sentenced to death.”
Then Belinsky coldly and briskly shot through the head of Nikolai V.
Belinsky picked up the Tsar’s Scepter that had been dropped on the floor during the shelling, turned, and placed it in Olga’s hands.
Olga took a deep breath, “My father committed treason and has been righteously punished. From now on, please call me Ekaterina III.”
Belinsky was the first to kneel and salute, “God bless you, my Emperor!”
Tukhachev glanced at Boris and Tugenev and then led with the highest form of one-knee salute, exclaiming, “Long live the Emperor!”
Everyone present joined in kneeling on one knee, shouting together, “Long live the Emperor!”
Only Nikolai V lay there, his eyes lifelessly staring at the ceiling.