After the abolition of serfdom in Tsarist Russia, a lot of manpower and capital were freed up, and they were invested in the economic market of Moscow, and the heavy industry that focused on development was expanded to the scale of enterprises, which also made the economy stronger.

So there is even more heavy industry in Moscow than in St. Petersburg.

However, compared to the poor canyon-like construction of Britannia's royal capital, the streets here are relatively empty, and there are no chimneys as high.

So there's not that much fog here, and the air is relatively okay.

Of course, this is relative, and the air here is still not good.

Char is glad that some of the historic buildings have been preserved here.

Because in another world, the city has suffered a devastating blow.

In 1812, exactly 100 years after the relocation of the capital, Napoleon of France started a war against Russia and occupied Moscow.

However, the destruction of the city was not caused by France, but by their own family.

Because Tsarist Russia decided to adopt a scorched earth policy, so that after France entered Moscow, it saw a useless empty city. Winter was approaching, and the empty city could not supply the French army, so Napoleon quickly decided to retreat.

However, Napoleon apparently did not come out because of the presence of Britannia, and the flapping wings of Arthur's butterfly also affected this side.

“Россия！ Россия！ ”

At the front of the street, a crowd of people approached them, dressed in a variety of ways, some in cargo pants, with soot on their faces and hammers in their hands.

Others dressed like peasants, with scythes and pitchforks in their hands, are waving their fists into the air and shouting the name of the country.

As they pass by, they bypass pedestrians and some of the rest, making it look like a stream of water flowing through a cobblestone river beach.

Some even handed some newspapers to Char and Alicia.

The newspaper is certainly not the official newspaper of the country, because the headline on it is very eye-catching.

[An Unjust War]

Then here are a few smaller and more striking questions.

"Nicholas II, why do you want to help the enemy to attack our compatriots!?"

The content is roughly about the atrocities of the Tsar, and his perverse behavior at home, as well as the non-controversial nature of the war, and the first page is some anti-war propaganda.

And on the back is some propaganda promoting the Mercerism.

Soon, both Char and Alicia heard the sound of some neat steel-soled leather boots stepping on the ground.

At the other end of the street, a group of heavily armed gendarmes trotted over.

"Okay, okay, all spread out, spread out!"

The captain of the gendarmerie at the head shouted impatiently at the marching crowd.

Then he looked at the people with newspapers around him and said angrily.

"Throw all these newspapers away!"

His face was vicious, especially when shouting. Everyone threw the newspaper on the ground.

"From now on, all those who read this newspaper, or who collect it, will be arrested for treason!

These are despicable means used by foreign spies to divide the empire! ”

He shouted loudly at the people in the street, and then he looked at the crowd that was still gathering.

"What are you still doing here, I'll let you disperse!"

As he spoke, he directly raised the firearm in his hand and fired a few shots into the sky.

Several mechs also walked over, and the exhaust pipes behind them billowed with smoke, aiming the shells on their backs at the crowd.

The eyes of the crowd were full of resentment, but apparently due to the guns and mechs in the hands of the gendarmes, they did not attack.

The workers did not speak, but continued to disperse silently.

"Starting today, a curfew will be imposed in Moscow, banning all unapplied marches!"

The gendarmes announced loudly.

Alicia whispered.

"Is it because of the war?"

"It's not an easy thing to fight Beichen." Char said.

"It is a big cut from the current Tsarist Russia in terms of population and economy, not to mention that their resource advantage is not much higher than that of Beichen. The only advantage is that it is more difficult for Beichen to transport resources than them.

Military needs consume a lot of resources, but peasants and workers are forced into the battlefield, who will produce? As a result, factories were closed, unemployment soared, and civilian resources were scarce.

As Moscow is an industrial city, the number of strikers will naturally increase.

When the war continues to a certain extent, this situation will become more and more serious.

The wars of this era are different from those of other eras......"

"Boom !!"

At this moment, a loud bang suddenly came from the side of the street, somewhat like a gunshot.

The gendarmes' faces suddenly became vigilant, and then a group of people ran straight towards the place where the shots were fired.

Char also pulled Alicia and walked over.

In the middle of this street, there is a narrow laneway between the two houses. The alley doesn't get sunlight all year round, but it seems that the surrounding businesses will discharge some water here, so it is very dark and damp, and some rats can even be seen running in the shadows.

At the end of the alley, a dirty woman was sitting on a pile of garbage, with a pistol hanging limply on one side of her palm and fingers, and it seemed that it was still smoking, as if it had just been fired.

Blood mixed with brains slowly trickled down the back of her head, and the corners of her mouth were overflowing with blood, but there were still some traces of gunsmoke.

Apparently, the woman had just committed suicide by swallowing a gun.

Soon there were people all around, and there was a lot of talk and ears.

The gendarme at the head reacted and shouted to the people around him.

"Do any of you know her?"

At this moment, a woman in the crowd spoke.

"I know, her name is Natasha, and she lives next door."

At this time, another person spoke, "Her husband was conscripted to the front not long ago, and it seems that someone sent her a death notice a day ago. ”

"She used to work in a textile factory, but when the factory closed down, she lost her job and her rent was due, and she was evicted by her landlord."

There are people who live here all around, so it's clear about this woman's experience.

As they bothered to make up for the short but tragic life of the woman who committed suicide, the crowd fell into a brief silence.

They all grieve for the poor woman, and deep down, for some reason, there is a little fear for no apparent reason.

Tsarist Russia had a population of only about 170 million, but they conscripted millions of soldiers.

Many of the onlookers had relatives and friends in the army.

Some may still be training in the rear, while others may soon be on the battlefield.

This woman is the epitome of this war.

As the intensity of the war gradually increases, this microcosm will spread to many people......

Soon, a gendarme ran from the corner of the street, still holding a large body bag.

They went into the alley, packed the woman's body in a body bag and brought it out.

The woman has no relatives anymore, so she will be sent to a public incinerator to be burned to ashes, but the final result is unknown.

It may be scattered in an unknown corner, or it may be put away in an urn by a well-wisher.

This is what happened to the little people in this war.

"What do you see? Spread them all out for me! ”

Under the reprimand of the gendarmerie captain, the crowd gathered here also dispersed in all directions.

The gendarmes also left with the body.

The narrow alleyway fell silent, and if it weren't for the blood that was still there, you might not have noticed that someone had committed suicide here.

No one cared about the woman's death except her relatives, because she was just a small person, and nothing would change in the world without her, or even if she had one more.

Char dragged Alicia into the alley, and they crossed the garbage heap where the woman had committed suicide and walked around the corner of the alleyway.

The eaves of the houses sheltered from the wind and snow, but some of the melted snow still dripped down the cracks in the houses.

So it's so damp and uncomfortable, and there's even an indescribable stench.

A lot of human waste can be seen here, and some wanderers are supposed to gather or spend the night here.

Soon, however, Char and Alicia met a young man lying at the end of the street.

To be precise, it should be a girl, who looks about seven or eight years old, her hair is shaved to inches, and her face is covered with soot, I don't know if it was painted on purpose.

Her clothes also looked like they had been picked up in the garbage dump, tattered, dirty, and without shoes.

Alicia quickly stepped forward and half-crouched on the ground, not caring about the filth on her body, but examining it carefully, and then looking up at Char.

"It's poisoning, but it's still gas."

As she spoke, she raised her hand directly, and the Ougan text instantly appeared in the air.

A powerful vitality was injected into the girl's body, and her pale complexion gradually recovered.

Seeing her gradually recovering, Alicia also slowly raised her head to look at Char.

"Does this girl have anything to do with the woman who just died?"

"It should be her daughter." Char said, "The group just said that she also has a daughter, but the group of gendarmes doesn't care. ”

Alicia seemed to think of something, and whispered, "Then the poison on her body should be her mother's." ”

Char had no words.

Alicia was also silent, if it was eighty or ninety years ago, she would still have some questions, saying how could there be a mother in this world who wants to harm her daughter.

But now she is more than a hundred years old, and she is not as innocent as she used to be.

She has seen too much human suffering, and when there was a famine in some third world countries, she even saw the matter of changing children and eating.

As a mother, Alicia asked herself if she would never be able to do such a thing.

But she can also understand the mother.

In this world, poison is sometimes the antidote......

Soon, the girl slowly opened her eyes and looked at the person beside her in confusion.

Her gaze crossed over to Alicia and looked at Char behind her, meeting his eyes.

Her eyes are beautiful, blue as the shores of Lake Baikal, like two sapphires.

Char stared at those eyes silently, her gaze flickering, but she didn't say anything.

These eyes are very similar to some of his old friends in the past......

(End of chapter)