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“By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor of Japan hearby declares War on...”
- the starting words of the nationwide announcement
“Mobilise the troops”
- Roman Ungern von Sternburg. Khagan of Mongolia
“I weep for Mother Russia.”
- Grand Duke Dmitri Romanov
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One and indivisible
Helsinki. 27th February 1936
Vyshinsky and his aides were with the Finnish king, Fredrik Kaarle I; the prime minister and leader of the staunch anti-left Lapua Movement, Vihtori Kosola and the foreign minister, Hilja Riipinen. Litvinov sent him here and strictly said that this mission must be a success. This is going to be difficult.
The greetings went smooth. So far, the conversation was doing pretty well.
"I heard your people are having a bad time"
The Finns snubbed the diplomat's remark. Finland felt the full effect of the Black Monday a week ago as the economy went spiralling out of control.
Kosola then inquired “Why are you here?”
Now it's time to lay the cards.
“A deal between our two great nations.”
“A deal with you, Reds? Do you think we would make that happen?”
Vyshinsky then turned to the king “Looks like your prime minister does not understand why we are here. So we would ask you instead.”
“What is it?” replied the king
“Your neutrality in our war.”
“Why would we agree with that? In fact, we are already prepared to invade you!”
Vyshinsky knew that it was a half lie. It's true that they would join the war some time as they were constantly pressured by Moscow but they were unprepared and their economy is in turmoil.
“We would give you Karelia and Lapland.”
The Finns were a bit startled at his words. Karelia and Lapland. These lands were contested between them and Russia in 1921. Only to sign the unsatisfying Treaty of Tartu later that year. Now, these Reds were giving those lands to them for free. Wait... for free?
“In exchange for what, mister Vyshinsky?”
“Your neutrality.”
“Just our neutrality?”
He heard his demand for neutrality before but he wants to be careful with these Bolsheviks. Vyshinsky then replies, confirming what he just said. The king then asked the Soviet delegates to politely excuse him, the prime minister and the foreign minister for a moment and went into the next room, his office. Vyshinsky smiled, he finally cracked them.
The next day, Finnish soldiers poured through the Imperial borders without any declaration of war. The battles were few and the advance was swift due to the small number of troops available in there. It was a devastating strategic victory for the Soviets as Operation Poltava is halfway done with Murmansk under Finnish control and a two front war nightmare is no longer a possibility. Negative response to the aggression was nothing more than words of condemnation from Germany and Russia.
Map of Finland updated by Russian Cartographers later in the war.
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Moscow. 3rd of March 1936
The generals of the Imperial army are all on their seats with a huge table in the middle. The Czar is with them and Supreme Field Marshall Denikin. Everyone was worried on the progress on the war and the explosive event that took place in the opening of the month. After asking for their aid, Finland responded with an invasion against them. But that's not all.
The new Czar was fuming when he heard the news “Siberia? No! Ho.. how did- can someone enlighten us, please!”
One of the generals stood up and explained the situation. “Your Highness, it was one of our field marshall who was behind this. His name is Nikolai Avksentiev. He is the head of a conspiracy ring to establish a new state called Siberia. Many our armies in Siberia are now refusing to follow our orders and are now practically under his control.”
The conspirators' influence was widespread that many army groups became loyal to Siberia.
“How come no one saw this coming!?”
Everyone was quiet.
“YEZHOV!?”
The Okhrana chief was startled. “I- I don't know”
“You don't know!? This is YOUR job!” He then face towards the nervous general standing “What else about Siberia?”
“uuhh... yes. Sternberg mobilised his troops and invaded Siberia. Transamur also declared war on Siberia and Japan supported the puppet state by declaring war as well.”
“On other matters?”
“The Ukrainians laid a claim to the lands east of them up to the river Don. Fortunately, they haven't done any further aggression...”
“...Next. The cossacks. Unfortunately, they, like the Finns, have also crossed the border and invaded the lands until they reached Tsaritsyn and the other areas around it.”
“How did this happened?”
Georgij Brassov, the foreign minister finally spoken “I believe that the Finnish invasion started this chain reaction. Without the Finns attacking the Soviet rear, Avksentiev predicts that the Soviets could hold out so he took this chance. After the Siberian revolt, other nations just acting out of opportunity. So far, our diplomats have strike a deal with Alash Orda and Ruthenia to stay put. They also stopped the Ukrainians from taking their claims by force. On the other hand, our delegates on the cossacks have failed and the Finnish king declines audience with our ambassador.”
Wrangel then sighed. “Declare war against those Siberians and the Cossacks. Not to the Ukrainians since they haven't moved yet and they are under Mitteleuropa. Continue to convince the Finnish to our side.”
“But Your Highness!” Denikin finally spoken. “We will be fighting a three front war! The Bolsheviks on the west, Siberians at the east and the Cossacks at the south, we cannot fight like this! Nearly a third or a half of our armies are now Siberian and the remaining hasn't even been completely reinforced yet!”
“Silence, Denikin! We will crush these foolish Bolshevik weaklings just like last time! We shall flatten those traitors in Siberia and we will mow down those horse riders with our machine guns! Russia is one and indivisible!”
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Unknown location. Evening of the same day.
It has been hours since the meeting ended. He made sure that no one followed him as he orders soldiers loyal to him to patrols the streets. Denikin was the last who joined inside. He bow down to the Grand Duke Dmitri. Along with the Grand Duke were several high position officers in the Imperial army.
This is the first meeting that they had, no plans or schemes were formulated yet but they know the purpose of this meeting. To save Mother Russia from not just the Bolsheviks but also from Wrangel and his cronies. It lead to the creation of a secret band called “The army of Peter”. Named after the great Czar who once ruled this country. The secret meeting ended with Denikin and the officers swore allegiance to the Romanov.
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So much for being one and indivisible.