Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 99 >

The door opened.

I went into the living room.

The lights went out and only the taillights quietly lit up St. Petersburg at night.

“I’m here?”

Tatiana greeted me with her back to her back and a shadow over her face.

Tatiana, who sat down here, openly pretended to be the hostess of the mansion. Should I say thanks? Even the mansion smelled similar to living people.

It was her job to decorate the mansion like a mansion, such as hiring and managing servants and maids.

“……I will compete tomorrow.”

“I must have been away from work to say that in a long time, I thought you forgot me because you were playing with my sisters and brothers.”

“……Tatiana Nikolaevna…”

“Kim.”

cut off the horse

“why? It’s just writing a few months earlier.”

“I can’t take you this time.”

“……”

Tatiana took a sip of tea.

“I thought it would. The others probably won’t take anyone, right? Because you are not a racist.”

“okay.”

I perceive this war as an early Chechen revolt.

During the Second Chechen War, an army general was killed by Chechen rebels during a melee.

There is no guarantee that something similar will not happen.

“I can’t guarantee anyone’s safety.”

“You must have said that already, and the sisters I know would have said something like this? Maria would have hesitated and said something like, ‘If it’s so dangerous, you don’t go…’, and Anastasia would have used a bunch of nonsense words, right?”

“……After all, sisters are sisters.”

“Because the four of us know what each other will think and under what circumstances we will act.”

“I can’t make any promises other than promises to come back. A promise that I will always keep, or any other kind of promise. This battle is going to be a tougher one than the last one.”

“Yes, intuition of the battlefield where a sea of blood will occur is not good for prenatal education, right?”

For a moment, I was so startled that I almost lost strength in my legs.

“What… what?”

“It’s a joke.”

Tatiana grinned and smiled.

‘Joke… right?’

When I look at the pupils, I can understand it to some extent, but when I smile like that, I cannot see the pupils at all, so I am not sure.

In addition, it is difficult to read the expression because he has his back against the light.

‘No, it can’t be… isn’t it? What’s the date?’

Tatiana spoke while I moaned in confusion.

“So, you mean you can’t take me with you?”

It is natural.

“Tatiana. Well, it was decided a bit abruptly, but you and I are engaged. No man takes his fiancée to the battlefield, and no woman follows his fiancée to the battlefield. What am I fighting for? Why do all the warriors, including me, fight, why do you think everyone who breathes the air of the battlefield is willing to run to the hellish fronts?”

“that……”

“Well, before the great war, there must have been some idiots who considered war as a coming-of-age ceremony or adventure. It’s simple, to protect someone.”

I took one step closer.

“The reason why me and my men fought in the desert, in the fields, and everywhere else, and the reason we go out to fight again with our weapons, is all one. To protect what is important to them, whether they are lovers, parents, children, friends or wives, wherever they live, but what if they go to war? Will we be able to fight with peace of mind?”

“…….ha.”

“I said it to Maria, but I’m going to try it too, can you trust me as much as I believe in you, or even half of that?”

“haha……”

Upon hearing this, Tatiana smiled a little in vain.

“I always felt it, but I just put a little honey on my mouth. you. Did you say the same to my sisters and brothers?”

“Roughly?”

“It’s a little sad.”

“Sorry.”

“I don’t think it’s for nothing that you and your relationship with women are like that, because your looks are also good looks, but I don’t think there are a lot of parts that come out of your tongue.”

“Ummm…”

“It doesn’t matter how many times I make you feel sorry, just… just come back. So that you can engrave my smile on your eyes.”

Tatiana asked the question again, adding something she wasn’t sure if it was a joke or serious about what she would do after receiving an apology, even though she was going to get sick of it anyway.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I must push, fight whatever awaits beyond the thick fog of battle, push and push until the wall is finally broken, until the moment my outstretched fingertips reach the post-war world that will finally shine beyond. ”

Face to face with death in the center of the battlefield, and fighting. will overcome

Tatiana read my resolution and stood up.

“Sir Marshal. I won’t see you for a while, but how about making some memories tonight? So that I don’t miss you too much. By the time you improve, I will be ready to stand before the priest in the bridal robe, so that I can smile and be happy in the near future.”

“Ummm…”

“Why, is there a problem?”

***

Suez Canal, Egypt, British military garrison.

“This is crazy.”

“Major Lawrence, it’s Westminster’s decision. Just three days ago, a Bedouin raided a construction site, killing about 10 people and wounding dozens! Of course, most of the casualties are locals employed as laborers, but their hostilities are becoming more and more blatant.”

“Damn it, neither Westminster nor the Department of the Army are even trying to understand the peculiarities of this area! I’m not saying no to retaliation! It’s just that we don’t want to increase the number of enemies unnecessarily!”

Besides, wasn’t it themselves who broke the promise in the first place? What was the cause of the rebellion in the first place? Perhaps it was because the British government unilaterally ignored the promise of a unified Arab state, the McMahon Declaration, because the Arabs had nothing to contribute to the victory.

Had they not made their promise of Arab independence in the first place, the emirates would not have had an uprising, nullifying the promise on the pretext that the war was over before the uprising began.

If he had already done it, he should have kept his promise in some way. Give autonomy, promise gradual independence, whatever you do.

It was the politicians in London who ignored all of that as an excuse to block Russia.

“Sir, I am not looking at it that way. In any case, our goal is to ensure the safety of the Suez Canal, and for that we need to ‘stabilize’ its inhabitants.”

“Is that poison gas and concentration camps? Do you really think so? Bernard? All Arabs will stand up and point their guns at us! Some tribes are now hostile to Russia’s instigation, but now…”

“You don’t have to worry about that at all. If we get rid of the Arabs, that’s a problem, isn’t it?”

“who are you?”

“The introduction is late. This is David Ben-Gurion, commander of the Jewish Legion.”

“Jewish corps? Jews?”

“Yes that’s right.”

“Now, are you going to fight the Jews with the Arabs?”

Obviously there are Jews. Even after the great diaspora, Jews still live in Palestine. Many people live in other areas as well. These can be local helpers.

“They are ready to do anything to get Jerusalem back.”

Zionist,

those who are so called.

Originally, Ben-Gurion led the Jewish corps in World War I to serve in the British Army, but the opportunity was lost when the war ended early.

However, after much effort, it was accepted that the Jews would join the British army, claiming that they would be the spear points to pierce the Arabs who had colluded with Russia. This was also attributable to the difficulty of recruiting large-scale troops to suppress the rebellion in a situation where the British themselves had an increased financial burden.

British Army Major General Thomas Edward Lawrence seriously suspected that this Ben-Gurion had estranged itself between the British government and the Arabs in order to achieve the illusion of Israeli independence.

But he was not the chief commander, nor was he in a position to change the course that had come from London.

“Colonel Eden will be the liaison officer with the Jewish corps and will be in charge of operational coordination between the British and Jewish corps.”

The purpose of forming the current command in London is understandable.

First of all, I heard that Bernard Law Montgomery is a very promising talent, showing an excellent understanding of new weapons and armored equipment that originated in Russia, and at the same time writing about infantry tactics and causing repercussions in the British Army.

If he had a high understanding of both infantry and armored tactics, he would definitely be a good man, but because of his personality, he had so many enemies, and eventually put all the other staff in the water as water-soaked figures, making Montgomery practically represent the staff. had to make

At first, London tried to send the author as a commander at all, but I heard that he had to be sent to the Chief of Staff because his rank or seniority was too low to do so. Even that was an unprecedentedly high-speed promotion.

The fact that he had to be promoted to that level was also a request for him to understand the Arabs well and how Montgomery could work together to solve this situation.

and Jews.

Lawrence could not comprehend London’s decision to bring in the Jews. Jews are a handful compared to Arabs. I’m going to arm the Jews, but there’s no way the Arabs don’t have guns.

Does that handful of Jews control the entire Arabs receiving Russian aid? Moreover, the ability of the Jewish corps brought by that author, Ben-Gurion, is also unknown. Still, it’s obvious that it’s at the militia level, isn’t it?

‘No, maybe…’

I also wondered if the Russian side wanted this. If Russian spies infiltrated the intelligence service, systematically leaked false information and disrupted the intelligence service…

‘No, that’s an overstatement.’

Besides, even if he raised suspicions or thought about it now, there was nothing he could do about it.