Chapter 269: Alcoholism, Corruption, and Incompetency
In this life, Bruno had saved the Tsar and his family from certain death. In his past life, they were canonized as saints by the Orthodox Church following their tragic murder by the Red Army. But in this life, Nicholas II, his wife, and children were still very much alive and healthy.
Among them, of course, was the Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaievna Romanov, who was one of several monarchs’ daughters who in their formative years developed romantic inclinations towards Bruno.
She herself remained unmarried as she entered adulthood, and though she from time to time would read about Bruno’s exploits in the Balkans and find herself smiling, she had long since gotten over her misplaced feelings.
Even so, it had been years since Bruno visited Russia. He had a rather prominent estate within the boundaries of Saint Petersburg, where he was heralded by the population as its savior. And this villa was fully staffed at all times, staff of which were paid exceptionally well.
Yet, despite this, it had indeed been years since Bruno and his family visited the lands of the Tsar. Why was this the case? Well, frankly speaking, Bruno was the kind of man who liked to stay in his home, even when he had an opportunity to do the very opposite of that.
Today, however, Olga had heard from her friend in the Archduchy of Austria, the young Archduchess Hedwig von Habsburg, that the girl was going to visit Bruno’s wife, Heidi von Zehntner in Berlin. She was desperately awaiting the telegram from the girl so that she could find out exactly what they were discussing, and all the juicy details revolving around their private discussion.
That is until she heard a loud noise come from across the hall. Instantly rushing out of her bedroom, the Grand Duchess chased the sound to find her father in a rather irritable state as he argued with his Admirals about their, shall we say, poorly thought through plan of action.
"It is foolish! Hastily attacking the Bosphorus straight with the Black Sea Fleet! We have yet to hear from our Army in the Balkans as well as our allies in the region as to whether or not they intend to march through Bulgaria, or transport their forces to Odessa!
We should wait until Prince Zehntner confirms the plan to attack Constantinople and liberate the city from the Ottomans! Sending the Fleet in now would invite disaster! You damned fools!"
If Tsar Nicholas II was the voice of reason in a discussion regarding military or political affairs, then you would be wise to reflect on yourself. Unfortunately, Russia was a nation that had never really been able to get its shit together collectively.
Whether it was the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union or the Russian Federation, every single unified Russian state that had ever existed had been plagued by the same three problems.