“Now let’s move on to our territories in the Far East,” Alexander said, shifting the subject of focus.

Sergei’s eyes followed Alexander’s finger trailing across the map.

“Sergei, since you’re the one who signed the treaty with the Yamato Empire, what was the major agreement we made with them?” Alexander asked.

Sergei cleared his throat and leaned forward slightly. “We recognized their interest in the Kingdom of Choson and our troops must leave immediately from all Choson’s territories as soon as the treaty is signed.”

Alexander smiled upon hearing that. Although they must’ve lost the war and were humiliated by that fact, the Ruthenia Empire didn’t suffer a catastrophic loss other than losing their strategic location in Choson.

And the reason why the treaty is different from his world is that he recalled the Baltic Fleet. His father was a madman, completely humiliated by the loss of the Pacific Fleet, which enraged him and forced the Generals and Ministers to send the Baltic Fleet to sail around the world to get revenge from the country they considered inferior.

During the fleet’s voyage, a stupid accident occurred in the Dogger Bank, where the ships open fire on trawler vessels of the Britannia Empire…who they thought…get these… torpedo boat from the Yamato Empire.

And to add salt to the wounds, there was even a report where he read that the Baltic Fleet fired 500 shots without scoring a hit.

That event became known as the Dogger Bank Incident which took the lives of two Britannian fishermen and Ruthenian sailors. Alexander…or Thomas…doesn’t know if the event happened in his world. As a result, the relationship between the Britannia Empire and the Ruthenian Empire soured. However, instead of igniting a war, the Britannia Empire decided to revoke its access to the Suez Canal, forcing the Ruthenian’ Baltic Fleet to change its course.

He only learned of the incident when the Baltic Fleet returned to their port.-.

Alexander was an avid sailor, he liked ships because, in his world, he has a shipbuilding company. He has a lot of plans for the navy. If he will modernize his navy, he must first reform the system in the military to avoid this tragic incident.

Alexander fired the Admiral who led the fleet due to incompetence. There was just no excuse for his actions and decisions, especially when he misidentified the trawler fleet in the North Sea as Yamato’s torpedo boat. That’s just stupid, even he was infuriated when he read the report.

This just shows how inexperienced and backward the Ruthenian Navy is.

Still, the Ruthenia Empire has a saving grace, her massive army.“Did the treaty mention anything about Manchuria?”

“Not that I am aware of, Your Majesty,” Sergei answered.

“Good,” Alexander smiled. “We can still expand our sphere of influence in the Far East by occupying Manchuria.”

He paused briefly. “But Your Majesty, if we were to do that, we would receive international backslash…”

“That’s where you came in…Sergei,” Alexander interrupted.

“Sir?”

“Pardon my poor choice of words. By occupying Manchuria, I meant buying it from them.”

“Buying it from them?!” Sergei exclaimed incredulously.

“Yes,” Alexander confirmed. “From there, I want you to do your magic by acquiring the land for a small price. We get Manchuria, we will obtain this warm-water port we’ve long sought for.”

Alexander pressed his finger on the map. Beneath his finger was the location of Port Arthur.

It seemed as though this is one of the many divergences he encountered so far in this world.

“It’ll be a long diplomatic maneuver…” Sergei muttered to himself, but the tone was clear enough for Alexander to hear.

“If you wish to claim the lands of Manchuria, Your Majesty. I will be honored to do so for you,” Sergei said confidently.

Alexander smiled widely, feeling satisfied with the answer, and nodded.

“However sir…this wish of yours might incite a new conflict with the Yamato Empire, do you still wish to proceed?

Alexander pondered for a moment. The Yamato Empire might indeed get upset from this but it was never stated in the treaty that they’ll recognize their supremacy over the region. To save face, he planned to take Manchuria, which has access to warm-water ports. If the Yamato Empire wants to challenge their supremacy in the region, he’ll gladly accept it.

After all, this will be different from the first. His army will be equipped with more effective arsenals that would shock them to the core. To solidify his position in the Far East, he’ll send his most elite division to the region to deter the Yamato Empire.

Well, there’s another way to solve this issue.“Tell the Yamato Empire that we will respect the treaty and let them have their way in the Kingdom of Choson only if they let us have our way in Manchuria,” Alexander said.

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

“Excellent! Now moving on to the last part….the Black Sea,” Alexander’s eyes flickered to the other side of the map.

The Ruthenian Empire’s major goal is to obtain a warm-water port and open access to the ocean for trading and commerce. Considering the current state of the Empire’s geography, they are basically landlocked.

No access to warm-water ports and no access to the seas as the straits that lead to them are controlled by a country unfriendly to the Ruthenia Empire.

To get out of this deadlock, the Ruthenia Empire has long warred with its rival in the south, the Angorian Empire.

They controlled the Bosphorus Strait, a strait connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It’s an important strategic point that the Ruthenia Empire has long sought.

While reading the history of the Ruthenia Empire during his free time, Alexander found out about his Empire’s involvement in the Balkan War, where the Balkan States of the Angorian Empire held for a long time vied for independence. The Angorian Empire loses the war, giving birth to new states in the Balkans. One of them is Bulgaria, a newly independent country that gave the Ruthenian Empire access to the Aegean Sea.

It would’ve been better to remain that way for the Ruthenia Empire if only the Deutschland Empire didn’t interfere.

After winning a decisive war against the Angorian Empire, the Ruthenia Empire holds supremacy over the region, a result that freaked those in the region. As such, the Deutschland Empire mediated and settled on a new border, a result that upset the Ruthenian and was considered a betrayal.

At that time, the Ruthenia Empire was part of the League of the Three Emperors. The countries that are in the league are the Deutschland Empire, the Austrean Empire, and the Ruthenia Empire. The goal was to maintain the balance of power in Europa. However, it was just a disguise to isolate the Francois Republic diplomatically after the events of the Franco-Prussian war, where the Francois lost and is eager to get revenge on the Deutschland Empire in the future after annexing Alsace-Lorraine.

So the Ruthenia Empire seceded from the alliance, which felt bitter from the intervention. Now the Ruthenia Empire has to start again somewhere to gain access to the Mediterranean Sea.

Though the Ruthenia Empire sought to control the region, they couldn’t just do so, largely because the Balkan region is in turmoil, in conflict with one another, a powder keg that will soon blow.

Alexander knew that he had to carefully plan his approach to the region while steering his Empire away from the volatile situation. The Ruthenia Empire may have the largest army in the world but it was ill-equipped, poorly trained, and composed of illiterate conscripts.

It’ll take a year or two or even five before the Ruthenia Empire is ready to take on major powers by itself.

“For now, we observe the situation over the Balkan State. We can’t get ourselves caught in their affairs. Once we find an opening, we’ll take it. Compared to the Far East, we can get what we want in the region through diplomacy,” Alexander said firmly.

“You already have a plan for that, Your Majesty?”

“I’m still working on it,” Alexander said with a grin. “Right now we should focus on our internal affairs. This discussion of ours is just to know our position in the Europan affairs. We keep it that way until our Empire is modernized. Once we do, we’ll take them by surprise,”

…

Later in the evening, before the clock hits 12 am, Alexander made a speech to the citizens of the Ruthenia Empire.’

[People of the Ruthenia Empire. As you already know, I was under attack by the notorious underground syndicate known as the Black Hand. Threatening our way of life and hindering our progress toward a better quality of life. This deplorable act was meant to cripple our nation. But as before, I will show to you my people that I will not bow down in fear, that I will fight back, and will persevere. That whatever comes to me, I’ll face it with courage. With a strong resolve, I will continue to improve our circumstances and protect this nation. God rules through me, and God told me that I shall not die until I finish off the cause of our troubles. And now that I’ve begun my mission and I’m confident that I’ll finish it successfully, please help me carry out God’s will, by expelling cancer from our society.

In two hours, a new year will dawn on us. Consider it as the mark of our rebirth, so that we may rise from our ashes to rebuild what our forefathers failed to build. Happy New Year everyone and may God always be with you!]