Ch.325For the Restoration of Hellenism (2)

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“Well, if the White Army Command insists against it, I suppose I have no choice.

If I weren’t the Tsar, I could have really given it a try. How unfortunate that I was born as the Tsar with so many restrictions.”

“Your Majesty is not alone.”

“I’m not pregnant.”

Anyone listening would think I was pregnant.

Of course, considering the nationwide Anastasia fan club, I’m not exactly alone, but still. What good would it do for me to step in personally?

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Maria shakes her head in denial.

“I know. But it’s a bit disappointing, isn’t it?”

I mean, I’m practically invincible, so not getting to ride a tank feels wrong somehow.

“You could do it like in World War II.”

World War II? Does she mean I should just follow along in a military vehicle from behind?

Just trailing along from behind feels a bit underwhelming. Of course, not all the generals who played major roles in the Great War were running around on the front lines.

“Then I should at least ride on top of an armored vehicle this time. Watching from a distance should be fine.”

Inserting myself like this shouldn’t be too bad.

The Arabs’ technological capabilities are predictably limited, and we’ve barely shared any technology with them.

They might already be receiving some from America, but that’s about it.

American weapons are far behind ours.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring this up in the Duma first.

With that in mind, I summoned the Duma.

“This time, I will go personally.”

“By personally, you mean…”

“Yes, I will personally lead the campaign in Iraq and Iran.”

Even the Duma probably won’t be able to stop this.

After all, this isn’t just about Hellenism—a Roman Emperor advancing into Arabia has a whole new significance.

Leaving it entirely to the military lacks a certain flair.

“Your Majesty personally?”

“If you do this, you’ll be the first to personally lead a campaign since Alexander III.”

As expected, everyone is making a fuss about my declaration.

That’s exactly why it’s so thrilling. We’ll push straight from Arabia through Iraq and into Iran.

There’s no need to touch places like Kuwait at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula; we just need to push into Iraq and Iran. It should be easy.

They’re just mediocre countries anyway.

We could probably crush them with infantry alone, without even deploying armored units.

As I’m smirking at this thought…

“Your Majesty. If we’re going to sweep through, we should advance all the way to Afghanistan.”

Finally, the topic of Afghanistan has come up.

It’s a region I both want to touch and don’t want to touch.

I’ve contemplated this area before.

I’d like to challenge it once, but do we really need to push in there?

Since it came up in the Duma, I can’t just ignore it, so what should I do?

Perhaps I should at least pretend to consider it.

“Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Hmm.”

I folded my arms and pondered quietly.

Could the Constantinople Treaty Organization defeat Afghanistan now?

I don’t think the Constantinople Treaty would lose, but rather than being overconfident, it’s better to run through simulations in my head multiple times.

This is definitely something that needs to be certain.

Especially since in the original history, they were called the graveyard of empires—it feels wrong to just attack them casually.

“Afghanistan has been experiencing financial difficulties since the British withdrawal. Depending on our determination, we could certainly target it.”

Afghanistan. The graveyard of empires. I knew this would come up, but hearing it makes me a bit nervous.

I think the current Constantinople Treaty Organization could defeat Afghanistan if we really threw a punch, but if anti-war sentiment emerges, we might end up withdrawing without proper occupation and just face criticism.

No, is it still worth trying?

If we’re being precise, the Soviet-Afghan War involved Western intervention. But here, how many countries would be able to support them?

America is currently treating East Japan like a mortal enemy, so they won’t be able to export weapons, and there’s no export route to begin with.

The Indian states aren’t even worth mentioning. There’s practically nothing like the weapons that supported the Afghan Mujahideen in the original history.

“Why do you hesitate, Your Majesty?”

Everyone seems busy watching my reactions since I appear lukewarm about the idea.

Well, if they’re asking why, it’s only natural to answer.

I pulled out a book.

It’s an extra volume of my World Strategy series, the Arab-Middle East edition, which I wrote recently.

With nothing else to do, I can write quite quickly when I focus.

“As for Afghanistan, if you look at my World Strategy Arab-Middle East edition, you’ll see it’s tricky to occupy. Take a look at the contents of this book. It’s based on investigations conducted by the ‘Okhrana’ directly in Afghanistan.”

I took out the World Strategy Afghanistan edition and had the members pass it around.

It’s based on investigations by the Okhrana. Do I really need to emphasize that?

We can shape the world as we please anyway, so what does it matter?

I had the members review it through Beria.

“Could this possibly be actual history?”

“It’s just a future I’ve sketched based on investigations through the Okhrana. It absolutely cannot be considered actual history.”

I strongly denied it with a wave of my hand, and the members seemed to accept that, though they wore rather disrespectful expressions as they eagerly read the book.

At first, I just described what kind of people the Afghans were, but as soon as I showed them the book, everyone started discussing how to crush them.

“High and rugged mountainous terrain, solid ground. An environment where aircraft are difficult to use. It says we must fight with infantry.”

“It’s not entirely impossible.”

“The problem is that they don’t even have a proper central government. They’re all military groups.”

Yes, exactly. That’s the problem.

Of course, the Soviet Union failed, but if they had persisted to the end, they might have won.

After the Soviet-Afghan War, Afghanistan’s population reportedly decreased by one-third. They could have succeeded if they had been prepared for ethnic extinction.

“If there’s no proper central government, couldn’t we establish one for them?”

“It’s already a monarchy. We can’t say there’s absolutely no central government.”

Watching everyone debate back and forth is quite uncomfortable.

They seem determined to crush Afghanistan somehow. I wonder if I’ll be labeled a warmonger because of this?

“Anastasia’s hidden side is actually a warmonger!” That would make me quite upset.

“Your Majesty, there are a few points we should clarify.”

“Go ahead.”

Yes, perhaps there’s a proper justification for attacking Afghanistan. Is that what they want to say?

Unlike me, the Duma seems eager to beat Afghanistan.

“The current situation in Afghanistan is quite different from your World Strategy.”

“What do you mean?”

Of course it would be different, but how exactly?

Especially the White Army faction seems to have a lot to say about my comments.

The Middle Eastern advance has been discussed for a long time, so from the White Army’s perspective, they’d rather strike all the way to Afghanistan than ambiguously stop at Iran.

Afghanistan is just the right target to hit.

“First, if it’s about the terrain, we might have to accept significant casualties. But the kind of extremists you mentioned in your book don’t exist currently.”

Yes, that’s right. At least the kind of people I know about probably don’t exist yet.

But that alone doesn’t mean the enemies aren’t stubborn.

To be honest, I lack knowledge about Islamic people.

Is Afghanistan of this era truly easy to defeat? Even Britain attacked them but eventually withdrew.

Considering the post-WWI shortage of population and weapons, still…

“And?”

“First of all, there are no countries that would provide them with weapons.”

I already know that, so let’s move on.

Our weapons are certainly overwhelming, but am I overthinking this?

“Also, most of the infantry in the Constantinople Treaty are already experienced elites. We might suffer some casualties, but we won’t lose the war.”

Yes, the current war generation consists of elites. Perhaps if not now, we might never know when we could take Afghanistan.

“Even so, justification is important.”

Assuming we ally all the way to Afghanistan, the question is whether we need to attack now.

Everyone seems quite enthusiastic, probably feeling competitive because both the Soviet Union and America failed in this war according to my World Strategy.

Do we really need this war? After all, the Arab region is important.

“Also, Afghanistan is currently a monarchy. Even if there are many military groups, the situation is different as long as there’s a king.”

“Moreover, the Soviet Union in this World Strategy didn’t give their all from the beginning. Eventually, the West intervened. Considering the damage Afghanistan suffered afterward, we could push through from the start and finish it.”

Push through from the start and finish it.

That sounds possible when put that way, but this is ultimately results-based thinking and not a simple prediction.

Afghanistan is a country that has repelled invasions from many empires. Mongolia, Britain, and in another world, the Soviet Union and America—many great powers have been repelled.

We might end up taking the Soviet Union’s place.

It would be quite something if the United States of Greater Russia, which has won every battle so far, were to lose to Afghanistan after bringing all of Rome’s power to bear.

Even if we win, if the casualties are enormous… that would be problematic.

It could be called “Anastasia’s Great Failure.”

“Above all, Afghanistan is also part of the Hellenistic Empire’s territory.”

Oh, that’s right.

Hellenism does extend all the way to Afghanistan.

“Oh, you’re right.”

If that’s the case, perhaps entering is unavoidable.

The Hellenistic Empire justification only applies to the territory itself. If we’re being precise, it was a region of Greek polytheism.

Now there are many Islamic people there.

Although I said we’d incorporate it into the Hellenistic region, this area should be designated as a pro-Roman state due to religious issues.

“Let’s push to Iran first.”

“Then, what about Afghanistan?”

Ah, that Afghanistan again. There’s a reason I’m hesitant. I want to minimize casualties if possible.

It would be great if we could somehow take Afghanistan without touching it, through all kinds of diplomatic maneuvers.

“I’ve been thinking of one approach.”

“What might that be?”

“It’s about dividing the various national regions into a grand framework, as Roman provinces.”

I pulled out a map of Europe, specifically one divided by Roman provinces.

“Eastern Rome, Northern Rome, Western Rome, Central Rome, Southern Rome, Hellenistic Province. Hmm.”

“Since they’ve accepted the formation of the Constantinople Treaty Organization, they’ll probably accept this much.”

Since they’ve already accepted the Constantinople Treaty, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

“First, let’s push to Iran and if Afghanistan accepts incorporation into the Hellenistic Province of the Constantinople Treaty, we’ll leave them be.”

“If they’re divided into military groups, it will be difficult even if the king accepts.”

“Then we’ll have to use force to uproot the regions outside the king’s domain.”

“But as Your Majesty said, wouldn’t it be better to remove Islam from the Arab region?”

“Couldn’t we leave that to Turkey?”

If we leave it to Turkey, they’ll handle it. Or would they become too powerful?

Turkey would make the Middle East their domain, following Saudi Arabia.

Since it’s the Constantinople Treaty, it shouldn’t matter.

“Then Turkey’s power would become too great. And it’s questionable whether Turkey has the capacity for that right now. Although it’s the Constantinople Treaty, it must be maintained under our order. Handing over the entire Middle East would upset the balance of power within the Constantinople Treaty.”

That makes sense.

If we’re dividing by province, Turkey, which was part of the Eastern Roman region in the Hellenistic Empire’s territory, should be included, but we’ve only divided the Arab region as Hellenistic. So what are they suggesting?

Do they want to place it under Russia?

“If we really shed blood, it would be good to remove Islam and place them under Russian religion.”

“Let’s target Iraq and Iran with conversion as a condition.”

That sounds like it would really cause a bloodbath.

It’s better to keep them under our sphere of influence and slowly assimilate them.

We should tell Turkey to only take up to Saudi Arabia. That should work.

“That seems like it would lead to bloodshed.”

“Then, will you allow Islam?”

Islam should be allowed. Suppressing Islam too aggressively would make things difficult.

That’s when true extremists would emerge.

Although it would eventually be possible to completely subjugate them with the Constantinople Treaty’s powerful force, that would make me a true saint of death.

Yes, too much conquest is not good.

If we try to crush Islam, it’s clear that things will be difficult for decades to come.

“Hmm, let’s organize this side as a new force as well.”

A force whose minds we’ve eaten—that doesn’t sound bad.

Considering the Arab oil region, a Middle Eastern Islamic peace zone solely for Europe.

Make Turkey the leading Islamic power and gradually infiltrate the Russian Orthodox Church.

Infiltrating through religion rather than force. Not bad.

Yes, a new force that takes maximum care of the Arabs.

“How about an Islamic-Hellenistic Federation?”

A Roman regional sub-organization: the Islamic-Hellenistic Federation.

We can make it essentially a puppet of the Constantinople Treaty Organization.