In Saint Petersburg, upon receiving the news that Ambasador White had been murdered in London, Alexander III was absolutely furious. If not for the last bit of reason holding him back, keeping him from retaliating by killing the British ambassador, the greatest political scandal of the century would have erupted. “This is the British explanation? They’re clearly taking us for fools!” After saying this, Alexander III tore up the official documents on the spot, demonstrating with his actions just how angry he really was. It was impossible not to be angry. According to the British, the main blame lay with Ambassador White’s loose tongue, which had supposedly enraged the British public and led to the “accident.” The dead cannot speak, and all the people involved were under British control, making it impossible to determine the truth. Regardless of whether others believed it, Alexander III certainly did not. Ambassador White had been personally appointed by him. Though the man had many flaws, he was by no means an idiot. If he had been sent to some minor country, perhaps he might have acted arrogantly. But he was appointed ambassador to Britain. Where would he get the confidence to behave arrogantly there? Especially ridiculous was the claim that he admitted to Russian troops launching a sneak attack on British forces stationed in Afghanistan. Not only was the incident completely fabricated, even if it had been true, under the firm denial of the Russian government, no envoy would have ever admitted to it. Marshal Ivanov, Minister of War, stepped in to advise, “Your Majesty, please calm down. It’s not worth harming your health over damned British tricks. Once the Central Asian war is over, we can settle accounts with them properly.” Now the leader of the pro-war faction, Marshal Ivanov still retained his usual prudent demeanor. Retaliation against the British was inevitable, but it had to come after victory had been secured. Turning against Britain prematurely would do nothing more than raise voices in protest and might even make the war more difficult. The political systems of Russia and Britain were different. The Russian government controlled all state power and could declare national mobilization at any time. The British government, however, was restricted by Parliament. Before war officially broke out, the government could not bypass Parliament to order full mobilization. Even preparation for war had to be limited in scale. To not exploit this advantage would be foolish. After a brief pause, Alexander III nodded. “If the British want war, then let us grant them their wish. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must secure cooperation from the French and Austrians, and the Ministry of Finance should raise as much funding as possible. This war will not be over quickly.” Though he had made his decision, Alexander III still felt uneasy. With the lesson of the Russo-Prussian War in mind, he was unwilling to go to war with any major power. But circumstances were beyond any individual’s control. The repeated British provocations had crossed the Russian Empire’s bottom line. … On the Afghan front, news of the political chaos had yet to reach them. Lieutenant General Patrick had no idea that his buck-passing telegram would become another turning point in Anglo-Russian relations. At the moment, Patrick was still distressed by the rising number of casualties. Especially troubling was an incident two nights earlier when the headquarters of the 7th Indian Colonial Division was attacked by guerrillas, leading to a mutiny within the camp. “Where is that fool Hurst? Why isn’t he here for the meeting?” This meeting was supposed to hold people accountable, and yet the man at the center of it was absent. Patrick’s outburst was understandable. A young officer stepped forward and replied, “Sir, Major General Hurst was attacked with explosives on the way to headquarters. He is currently undergoing emergency surgery.” The answer sent a chill down Patrick’s spine. During the mutiny two days ago, several senior officers of the 7th Colonial Division had already met their end. If Major General Hurst also died, things would be disastrous. Generally speaking, the dead do not bear responsibility. If he died en route to the meeting, it would be considered dying in the line of duty. With the top officers dead and junior officers lacking the authority to take responsibility, the burden would fall squarely on Patrick, the overall commander. Britain had not lost a general officer in foreign wars for many years. Even though colonial division officers ranked below regular army officers, a major general was still a major general. With the man’s condition unknown, Patrick no longer felt like assigning blame. “I see. Read out the 7th Division’s casualty report.” The young officer holding the documents immediately responded. “Yes, sir!” “After the mutiny, the 7th Division recorded 786 dead, 565 wounded, and 1,218 missing. Among them were 76 officers killed and 94 wounded. In addition, seven supply depots were burned down, and one ammunition depot exploded…” Listening to the report, Patrick felt like his heart was bleeding. They hadn’t even seen the enemy and already lost the equivalent of a regiment. Losing men was bad enough, but since these were colonial troops, they could be replaced. After all, India had no shortage of manpower. But losing officers was another matter. Nearly the entire leadership of the 7th Colonial Division had been wiped out. These mid and high-level officers were British, and once lost, they could not be easily replaced. Once this was reported back to Britain, it would be a serious black mark on Patrick’s military career. As for the missing soldiers, since they were Indian colonial troops, and considered expendable, Patrick simply ignored them. “You all heard that. What happened to the 7th Division is a wake-up call for all of us. You know better than anyone what kind of troops you are leading. Keep them in line. I do not want to see another incident like this. Now that the 7th Division has suffered heavy losses, it must be withdrawn for it to recover. To continue the encirclement operation, you will each have to dispatch troops to fill the gap.” Upon hearing that they would be losing troops, the expressions of the officers immediately turned tense. Afghanistan is a large region. In the encirclement plan, each unit was already assigned a vast area, and troop numbers were barely sufficient. Losing more would only increase the pressure. An older officer spoke up, “Sir, our 11th Division is responsible for a zone larger than a hundred Londons. If we split our forces any further, it will be difficult to contain the guerrillas. From what I know, all units are in similar situations. Since the war began, we haven’t had a proper rest. Morale and fighting spirit are at their lowest point since the start of the campaign. Now is not the time to keep pushing the offensive. We should withdraw and rest, then resume operations when reinforcements arrive.” It was true. From the beginning of the war, the troops had not been properly rested. The mutiny within the 7th Division was not only due to ongoing combat, but also to the prolonged psychological stress and low morale. “Sir, Major General Winston is right. The troops really do need rest. If we keep pushing them like this, another mutiny is bound to happen.” “Sir, the troops really do need rest…” … Just as Patrick had said earlier, no one knows better than a commander what kind of soldiers he leads. And it was exactly because they knew that they lacked the confidence to divide their forces. As murmurs of agreement rose, Patrick sobered up. The troops were indeed exhausted. These were not elite units. The fact that they had managed to operate continuously for months was already beyond expectations. Well, perhaps “continuous operations” was a bit of an exaggeration. But on average, they had missions every ten days or two weeks, mostly focused on anti-guerrilla sweeps. For elite units, this might feel like a walk in the park. But for the Indian Colonial Divisions, it was already pushing their limits. Still, Lieutenant General Patrick was unwilling to give up. They had finally cornered the guerrilla forces. If they pulled back now, all their previous efforts would be wasted. There might not be another opportunity. The British government was already highly dissatisfied with the army’s poor performance. If he failed to deliver results again, it would only be a matter of time before he was replaced. Lieutenant General Patrick did not want to return to Britain in disgrace. He had to produce a satisfactory report to prove his competence. “Reinforcements will arrive next week. You’ve all worked so hard up to now. I’m sure none of you want to return empty-handed. Hold on for one more week, and someone else will take your place. Do your best. I believe you can overcome this…” With the good news of incoming reinforcements, the others reluctantly accepted the decision. After all, they had no real power to disobey. On the battlefield, insubordination was not an option.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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