In Moscow, in a huge office within the red walls of the Kremlin, General Alekseev, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian army, stood alone with his face at the window, his hands behind his back tightly clutched two thin messages, one good news and one bad news. www.)

The good news came from Ukraine: following the defeat of the Romanian 1st and 2nd armies by the three armies on the left flank of the Southwestern Front at Bessarabia, according to the established operational guidelines, the commander of the Front, General Kornilov, with the weaker 9th Army, pinned down the Romanian army on the other side of the Prut River, so that the strengthened 7th and 11th armies turned to the north, stormed the right flank of the German-Austrian Army Group South, crushed the Austrian 1st Army in one fell swoop, and successfully pushed between the German-Austrian army and the Romanian army line, In turn, it threatened the rear of the entire enemy Army Group South.

The bad news came from Petrograd – although it didn't start so badly: a few days earlier, Tsar Nicholas II's special train was stopped by coup soldiers of the National Salvation Committee outside Petrograd, and finally signed the abdication edict on the train, while relinquishing the throne in place of the ailing Crown Prince Alexei, announcing that he would pass the throne to his younger brother, Grand Duke Mikhail, and at the same time delegate his concurrent post of commander-in-chief of the Russian army to his uncle, Grand Duke Nikolai, the former commander-in-chief of the Russian army and the current commander of the Caucasian Front.

On the other hand, the Petrograd Soviet, which was founded by the "social revolutionaries", took the opportunity to launch a large-scale strike march to demand the overthrow of "all the old exploitative systems" and the establishment of a "workers' own government", while the repressive troops sent by the National Salvation Committee refused to shoot at the unarmed workers, and some companies even joined the procession by turning their guns en masse......

At the same time, the State Duma, dominated by the Constitutional Democratic Party, passed a resolution calling for the formation of a provisional government that would absorb the strength of all factions as the governing organ for the transitional period, and that an All-Russian Constituent Assembly would be convened after the domestic and foreign situation had stabilized, and that the Constituent Assembly would formulate a new constitution to determine the state system.

Under the threat of civil war. The National Salvation Committee, headed by Major General Kremov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Petrograd Military District, had no choice but to convene representatives of all parties in the Duma for political consultations with the intention of forming a provisional government dominated by the main party of the Constitution and with the strength of other factions......

"Ridiculous, what the empire needs now is a strong military junta. It doesn't matter what the Duma, the Soviets, this party and that party, must all be dissolved, all party members arrested, and all leaders shot - only in this way can Russia be saved! ”

After a malicious roar at the onion-headed tower outside the window that had been damaged by Chinese planes half a year ago, Alekseev said with hatred in his heart: "Kremov, that idiot who didn't have a seed. He messed things up! Originally, I thought that after finding Grand Duke Mikhail, there would be nothing to worry about, so I ordered the Southwestern Front to launch an offensive according to the original plan, but now it is good that the soldiers in the front are fighting bloodily, and the people in the rear who do not believe in God are fighting for power and profit by unscrupulous means! It seems that I have to go out and wash Petrograd in blood......"

"But after I'm gone, what will happen to the base camp? Do you really want to invite Grand Duke Nicholas back to the base camp? But in this way, the army is his again......"

When hesitating. A staff officer pushed the door in: "Report, call from the headquarters of the Southwestern Front. ”

Alekseev took the telegram and hurriedly glanced at it, and his expression suddenly became nervous: it turned out. In the early hours of this morning, the Russian 5th Army, which was located on the front between the South Bug River and the Dniester River, was suddenly attacked by the German 10th Group in the north.

German tanks, under the cover of barrage fire mixed with poison gas shells, led the infantry to break through all two of the Russians' poorly constructed trench lines from two key offensive areas, and then swept through the gap unresisted in a rapid group of armoured, motorized infantry, and cavalry units along the east bank of the Dniester River.

By 5 p.m. that day, the German vanguard had advanced to the important town of Mogilev Podolsky on the east bank of the Dniester River, threatening the rear of the Russian 7th and 11th armies in the upper Transnistrian River, which had just defeated the Austrian 1st Army in the Battle of Chernivtsi and were pursuing towards Lviv.

"Bastard, when did those German nerds learn this trick? Did they pay the patent fees to the Chinese? Damn it. The two armies of Chernivtsi had to immediately retreat to Bessarabia, no, this was not enough, if the enemy took control of all the bridges and crossings on the Dniester, we would have to lose three armies at once! If that happens, the war will end here! ”

After a roar at the innocent staff officer. Alekseev ordered him to immediately draw up a telegram: the 7th and 11th armies immediately withdrew to Bessarabia, followed by alternate cover with the 9th Army to the east of Transnistria. In addition, two reserve armies on the Odessa side advanced northward to prevent the Germans from seizing bridges and crossings in the lower Transnistria. In addition, the 4th Army on the Kiev side reinforced two reserve armies to counterattack Vinnytsia, threatening the rear of the rapid cluster of German troops.

After the arrangement was completed, and the staff officer left, Alekseev felt an inexplicable powerlessness in his heart......

In Shenyang, a military hospital directly under the Northeast Military Region, in a separate courtyard in a secluded corner of the inpatient department, Pan Guochen called his fiancée Ye Jingying, who was a female official in the palace.

"The emperor hasn't woken up yet?"

"Yes."

"What did the doctor say?"

"I can't tell you."

Pan Guochen suddenly clenched the other party's seemingly delicate hand: "For what?" ”

"Because you're not qualified."

Pan Guochen was anxious, and subconsciously increased his strength: "I am not qualified enough, who is enough?" ”

"Military Attache Pan, please respect yourself."

There was no emotion in Ye Jingying's dark eyes: at the same time, Pan Guochen suddenly felt the hand holding her tingling, and involuntarily let go.

"What did you do to me?"

Pan Guochen was furious.

"It's nothing, as the closest female official under His Majesty, is it strange to learn a few tricks of self-defense?"

Ye Jingying was nothing.

"As the leader of His Majesty's private intelligence agency, the Eagle Wolves, I am not surprised that you will do anything, I am strange, why do you want to use this against me, your future husband?"

Pan Guochen's roar attracted the attention of the black-clothed guards around him, Ye Jingying signaled with her eyes that the guards did not need to be nervous, and at the same time dragged Pan Guochen's arm around the corner of the wall, and pushed him against the thick stone wall.

"What do you want to do? What time do you think it is? Can't you just keep watch outside? ”

Pan Guochen glanced at the snow-white skin and purple lace that loomed in the gap of his shirt: "No, because it is about the future of the empire, and it is more about our life and death." ”

"Forget about the future of the empire, what does it have to do with our life and death?"

Pan Guochen swallowed his saliva, his hands ready to move.

"It has a lot to do with it, since the August coup, we have long been a thorn in the side of some people, and for the sake of the overall situation, the emperor not only did not eliminate the evil, but was lenient and gentle, but did not arrange an emergency plan for us, and recently even let Liu Bailiang come back! If the emperor continues to be unconscious like this, and we sit here doing nothing, it is difficult to guarantee that those people will not take the opportunity to counterattack, and then not only will the August coup itself be liquidated, but the military and political policies since the coup d'état will be overthrown, and we, the emperor's henchmen, will not even be able to save our lives. ”

Just when Pan Guochen tried to take advantage of the other party's listening attention and perform the legendary trick of catching a certain dragon claw, someone in the courtyard hurriedly called: "Female Officer Ye, Female Officer Ye, where are you?" ”