I Became the Last Princess of the Brown Bear Kingdom

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Pyotr Wrangel.

A man who led the White Army in the original history, fighting countless battles against the Red Army in Southern Russia. It’s no wonder that the Bolsheviks didn’t include “the Red Army is the strongest” in their military song.

Surely, the White Army and the Black Baron (Pyotr Wrangel) aimed to prepare the Tsar’s throne once again.

Just from this lyric alone, it’s clear that Pyotr Wrangel is a figure wishing for a return to the old era.

It implies that he was a significant threat to the Bolsheviks.

He got the nickname Black Baron because he often wore the traditional garment called chohar of the ethnic groups in the Caucasus region.

It is said he grew fond of it while commanding the Cossacks, and it became the symbol of the Black Baron.

What a nostalgic feeling.

This man was the last hope of the White Army, so I sincerely hope he can survive this lifetime.

“What is the intention of Major General Anton Denikin? Independent action? Or joining Yekaterinburg?”

“The General wishes to join.”

“I see.”

The problem at this time is that the Ukrainian anarchists or the Reds would start to run wild.

Isn’t the Crimea based on the Ukrainian side?

“What about the Ukraine side?”

“The British Army has begun to move in.”

“Britain?”

I see. They’ve handed over Germany’s interests to Britain.

Even though that wasn’t the plan, it would be difficult for Russia to reclaim this land after the civil war.

The produce from Ukraine’s fertile land is noteworthy.

It seems we’ll need to cultivate in other regions for a while.

Ukraine might get complicated and bizarre due to the invasions of the great powers.

“Princess, wouldn’t it be wise to march immediately towards Moscow while we have this momentum?”

March to Moscow.

To be honest, now is the time, as the opportunity lies in the moments before Trotsky’s Red Army reforms kick in.

However, rushing it wouldn’t yield good outcomes.

Trotsky will be reconstructing the army, but it won’t be easy.

There’s a presence of the nation after all.

We will advance but integrating the White Army must come first.

“We are just starting to slowly build our strength. Even if there are tanks sent by the British and French, if they gather their numbers and come at us, we’ll have no way to defend ourselves. Either way, it will take a little time to prepare. Let’s march as soon as the White Army is united with the support of the great powers.”

In the actual Russian Civil War, the Red Army mobilized 5 million.

Only numbers. It was all about pushing forward just by trusting the numbers.

On the other hand, the White Army could only mobilize one-fifth of that. Considering they aren’t even unified yet, their power is pretty weak, and the warlords would eliminate each other in their struggles.

Of course, that’s why it would be better to suppress the civil war more quickly. However, in this history, it might not be so easy.

“Still, just letting that Stalin guy go… wouldn’t it backfire instead?”

“On the contrary, with him returning to Moscow, it will hinder the army’s reconstruction.”

Stalin, defeated in the battle of Tsaritsyn, will try to shift the blame onto Trotsky, and Trotsky’s army reforms, already doubted, will be delayed.

Before we invade, Stalin will likely seize the opportunity and put pressure on Trotsky.

At least, unlike the original history, there will be some breathing room.

We have secured Southern Russia. We are no longer just simple Siberian Whites.

Moreover, the Soviets continue their resistance in Finland and the Baltics.

No matter how much they try to incite us as reactionaries, the Russians who have experienced Nicholas II won’t be fools.

There’s bound to be a dissatisfaction.

“We seek to maintain the status quo, but they will likely continue with the civil war.”

“Yes. That’s precisely it. The Bolsheviks will never last long.”

It doesn’t help to just kill and move hastily.

As I always say, we must show that communism has utterly failed.

Implementing reforms much more advanced than Stolypin’s. It needs to be made known to every communist in the world.

What you believe is a delusion.

Around this time, the Soviets would be shouting about treaty violations and coveting Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania. This is what they call a Western offensive.

No, it’s not that. With the British army moving in and me being more active than I thought, the Western offensive might not go as planned.

It would be great if the Polish-Soviet war erupted too.

* * *

Soviet Moscow

Moscow of the Soviet Union was thrown into chaos for a while.

Stalin’s retreat.

This meant that Southern Russia had fallen into the hands of the Princess.

Recently, even the Bolsheviks in the Far East were being oppressed by Kolchak’s army and couldn’t even do their usual propaganda.

Amid this, Stalin returned with an utterly shameless look on his face.

Naturally, Trotsky, who was responsible for the Soviet army, glared at Stalin with bloodshot eyes.

“To lose Tsaritsyn! Koba, what were you thinking? You should have held your ground even if it meant biting your tongue!”

The assault on Yekaterinburg had failed.

Initially, with an army that had just been reconstructed, victory was uncertain. But letting the reactionaries grow strong and gather was inevitable, so they had to make a reckless gamble.

Yeah. That failure was unavoidable.

Trotsky doesn’t regret his choice.

If the reactionaries were in a similar position, they would surely have attacked Yekaterinburg too.

However, it indicates that there weren’t enough options because the Soviets were gathering.

Tsaritsyn had to be defended.

“Someone let the Princess gather a large army, and before we knew it, the reactionaries were rolling out tanks. Do you think we can stop them?”

“You should have urged the people! The workers of the revolution are shedding blood and tears to hold the line, so do you think a Princess can withstand them?”

Cut it out.

Stalin didn’t hide his scoff.

This was primarily Trotsky’s fault for failing to prevent the alliance of the Princess and the reactionaries.

He must make an opportunity to oust Trotsky.

“Make sense. Why are you telling me to clean up the mess you made?”

“What?”

“I’m saying the truth. Trotsky. Because you couldn’t subdue Yekaterinburg, Kolchak and his reactionary army went and joined the Princess, didn’t they?”

“What do you mean?”

“Thanks to that, the reactionary troops are coming up to Tsaritsyn. How can we fight from an isolated position? If you had continued to fight there, the public sentiment would have turned against them.”

To somehow set up Trotsky, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Only when it has become a fight could they get desperate enough to hold the line even with sacrifices.

What was there to do in an utterly un-fightable situation?

Although they failed, just trying to assassinate the Princess with a few Bolsheviks was already doing enough.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

Just as Trotsky was about to refute Stalin, who was pressing him with anger, Lenin stepped in.

“Enough of that. Are we really going to fight among ourselves now? Right now, we’re losing Southern Russia, and the British army is moving into Ukraine.”

The Soviet Union was facing the worst situation.

The Great War had ended, and the great powers were starting to pay attention to the Soviet Union, with massive amounts of military supplies being sent to the White Army through the Black Sea and the Far East.

The execution incidents had already made headlines in America, and in the West, the Soviets were considered an untrustworthy group.

Additionally, with the joining of Kolchak’s forces, the Southern Russia had fallen into the hands of the Princess.

At this time, still having not suppressed the reactionaries in the Baltics, the people were once again groaning from the war.

At this rate, the meaning of the revolution would disappear.

Even now, the Princess had launched various reforms and disclosed future plans to the people, which resembled the very reforms the Soviets had intended to pursue.

Reforms that taste slightly of socialism.

If the Soviet reforms continue like this, they will be tagged with the label of following the Princess.

In other words, the significance of the Soviet’s existence would vanish.

If only they had killed Princess Anastasia, they could easily grasp the warlord coalition, but that failed.

In multiple senses, the Soviet Union was not in a good position.

“Comrade Trotsky, what’s become of the officers from the tsarist era?”

“They are unwilling to cooperate at all. The few who have their families taken hostage have joined the Red Army, but—”

Under Lenin’s bitter gaze, Trotsky couldn’t lift his head.

The army was entirely under Trotsky’s responsibility.

After all, he was the Soviet Union’s Defense Minister.

“Even that isn’t cooperative, is it?”

“Some generals have run off with their families.”

Running off with families.

It’s pretty obvious where they would go.

Some would be seeking asylum in other great powers, but likely most would switch to the White Army, thinking the Bolsheviks had erred.

“It seems we’ve inadvertently spared the reactionaries.”

Beside him, Stalin was busy mocking Trotsky.

As Trotsky continued to smear himself, Stalin could move forward.

Although the Princess was threatening, Stalin concluded that this civil war would become a long-lasting conflict.

As long as he could defeat the Princess with the army that Trotsky had created through much effort and follow in Lenin’s footsteps.

It was a perfect plan.

Oblivious to Stalin’s true intentions, Trotsky earnestly defended himself.

“But comrade, if we didn’t do this, the commanders leading the Red Army would be utterly lacking.”

In the altered history where Anastasia survives, it became difficult for the Soviets to integrate the tsarist era generals into the Red Army.

Additionally, with Anastasia rejecting the foreign military support except for military supplies during the civil war, there was no longer any way to portray the Bolsheviks as the protectors of Russia against traitors.

“Could we perhaps persuade General Brusilov?”

“With families held hostage, wouldn’t he soon switch over? It’s fortunate that the Princess isn’t immediately marching her army towards Moscow.”

General Alexei Brusilov, a renowned strategist from the tsarist era.

As the commander of the 8th Army, he had defeated the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Galician front during World War I and advanced up to the Kartapian Mountains, becoming the protagonist of the famous Brusilov Offensive.

If only the Princess wouldn’t attack just yet, and he could lead the Red Army, it would result in meaningful achievements along this stalemated front.

“Why is it? Why do I have the upper hand?”

“No matter how good the army is, after experiencing the overwhelming numbers of the Red Army, the Princess can’t easily attack.”

After all, they were once subjects of the Russian Empire.

To capture those who wish to restore the monarchy under Princess Anastasia would be tantamount to capturing her subjects.

If she aimed to kill them all, the Princess would suffer significant political damage and bloodshed.

Of course, if the Princess hears this while integrating the White Army, she would have every reason to scoff at this nonsense. However, Lenin and the Bolsheviks indeed judged it this way.

Although they may be inferior, the reason Princess Anastasia does not advance is due to the numbers of the Red Army.

Most importantly, Trotsky, having hurriedly assembled the Red Army forces, failed the assault on Yekaterinburg, crowed that the reason the Princess dare not attack is because of the sheer numbers of the Red Army he had nurtured.

If the Princess was aiming for Moscow, surely she would be taking a one-way ticket to the Jordan River, Trotsky boasted.

No, he had to believe so.

During this time, the officers from the tsarist era were being coerced by Trotsky to join the Red Army.

“No matter how you look at it, you don’t have more legitimacy than the Princess.”

“Are you threatening us when we are already suffering?”

“I’m going to the White Army, thank you.”

In actual history, they tried to win over the officers from the tsarist era to rebuild the army, and if that didn’t work, they took their families hostage to integrate them into the Red Army.

However, at that time, many opportunists realized the Soviets were gaining dominance, which made it possible, but in this history, as the White Army gathered around the Princess and continued to victory, these eyes naturally turned to the White Army.

Amid all this, these Bolsheviks were threatening away without understanding their position, leading to a choice instead to go with the White Army.

Meanwhile, Alexei Brusilov, who the Bolsheviks longed for, was troubled by his son in the Red Army.

“Father, the Red Army needs you now.”

“Sigh.”

“Right now, the Soviet Union is facing an existential crisis. You must help us.”

Brusilov frowned at his son’s desperate plea, indicating his disapproval.

He had no intention of joining the Red Army.

He had no interest in either side at the moment.

An existential crisis right at its birth. If the Bolsheviks were a proper force, would they have even faced such a crisis?

“I haven’t decided yet.”

He wanted to maintain neutrality for now.

“Father, are you perhaps swayed by the Princess?”

“Swayed by the Princess.”

That phrase is just like reading the wind to a cow.

Brusilov didn’t want to associate with either side.

The Soviets had promised no more wars and a future for workers while conscripting youths to gather an army to kill a single Princess in Yekaterinburg.

Even without any substantial reforms, the Princess had already begun implementing reforms herself.

There was no more hope for the tsardom. He realized this, but the same could not be said for the Soviets either.

Despite his son’s persuasion, Brusilov ultimately refused to participate in the Red Army.

Trotsky also feared the objections from the other officers and could not threaten Brusilov.

This too can only be attributed to the butterfly effect brought about by Anastasia’s survival.