The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1030 - 775: Choose One of the Two Bottles of Poison

March 3, 1931, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire.

The renowned Tsar Nicholas II was now at the ripe old age of 63; his political career, like his age, had entered the twilight years.

There is no need to speak further of the war that was already on the brink of failure. For Nicholas II, the most fatal issue was that from this moment on, the imperial succession had been cut off.

As March arrived, Crown Prince Aleksei announced his critical illness. After enduring a long battle, the crown prince, who suffered from hemophilia, finally succumbed in his struggle against the disease.

For Nicholas II, this was the cruelest blow. Even if he could win the war, his throne had already lost its line of succession.

Because Nicholas II's brother had married an indiscreet widow, the Tsar's position could only be passed down to Aleksei.

But after Aleksei's critical illness, the only remaining hopeful heir was his sole daughter, Princess Svyana.

If it were peacetime, the Russian Empire having an empress was not really a big deal. Wasn't the renowned Catherine the Great also a woman of great prominence?

However, the current situation in the Russian Empire was far from peaceful. Moreover, Princess Svyana was only two years old; allowing a two-year-old girl to inherit the throne of the Russian Empire was tantamount to pushing the imperial succession towards extinction.

Although Princess Svyana did not inherit the hemophilia from Crown Prince Alexei, she was completely healthy.

But a princess held no advantage for the succession to the throne, indicating that the current Russian Empire was mired in an unprecedented crisis both internally and externally.

With this in mind, Nicholas II couldn't help but feel envious of Arthur. Although Arthur didn't have many descendants, his three sons and one daughter could be considered as having spread their branches widely.

Furthermore, all members of the Australasian Royal Family were healthy, without a trace of Queen Victoria's hemophilia gene.

In contrast, the Romanov Family was rather sparse at this point. By the time of Nicholas II, the direct line of the Royal Family was narrowed down to Nicholas himself and his brother.

As previously mentioned, the only real successors to the throne and continuation of the line were Crown Prince Aleksei and his daughter, Princess Svyana.

Especially after the crown prince became critically ill, the Romanov Family was facing the prospect of extinction.

Nicholas II did not believe that Princess Svyana could smoothly succeed to the throne and carry on the family lineage.

According to the doctrines of bloodline that European nobility adhered to, even if Princess Svyana successfully bore offspring, her descendants would no longer be members of the Romanov Dynasty.

"Alas, how is the war at the front going?" Nicholas II looked unwell, exhausted as if he were a septuagenarian, and he inquired with a furrowed brow.

"The First and Third Army Groups have fallen, our frontline has retreated by 40 kilometers," announced the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian army, Nicholas II's absolute confidant.

After the failure of World War I, Nicholas II resolved not to be involved in military affairs, but to entrust the military to his most trusted confidant.

However, looking at the results thus far, the failure of the Russian army was not merely due to the incompetence of the commanders but also due to the internal decay of the Empire.

Even though both the previous capitalist government and the present Nicholas II carried out reforms in the military, the combat power displayed by the Imperial Army was still far behind that of the enemy.

The enemy's reckless and fear-inducing attitude—a conviction to sacrifice everything for their country—is something that Tsarist Russia at present cannot possess.

"Damn it! Are they all incompetents at the frontline?" Hearing the frontline battle report from the Chief of General Staff, Nicholas II grew angry and criticized fervently.

"Your Majesty! We are currently at a disadvantage in terms of equipment and numbers; we are clearly unable to withstand the attack of the enemy together with Poland," the General Staff hurriedly explained: "Our supplies at the frontline are running low, we can't even sufficiently supply our soldiers with weaponry ammunition; we are at a disadvantage in this war."

Ultimately, Russia's industry and economy were still too weak. After the consumption of World War I and the civil war, Russia was no longer the once-powerful 'European Bulldozer.'

The current level of Tsarist Russian industry was only about a quarter of what it was before World War I, and the economic level was even just half what it had been.

It should be noted that nearly 20 years have passed since the outbreak of World War I. In these 20 years, Russia's industry and economy had not grown at all but regressed significantly, which is enough to prove how severe the damage was during these two wars.

If you combined all the territories that had been split from complete Russia, their economy and industry would only be about 60% of what it was before World War I.

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If it weren't for the fact that other countries were also recovering from their own wounds due to various reasons, Russia might have been carved up by other nations in the prior conflicts.

The words of the Chief of Staff made Nicholas II's face stiffen. These words were not wrong. Apart from the soldiers' longing for battle and the recognition of their country, Tsarist Russia had also fallen behind in terms of weaponry ammunition and logistics support.

Since last year, Nicholas II had been unable to get support from Europe. One reason was that the rise of new powers in Italy and Germany had made the European situation even more chaotic, causing European nations to focus more on their military strength.