Civil War Erupts

Petersburg, the Winter Palace.

"Good God! Grand Duke Mikhail really has resorted to force. Gentlemen, the worst we feared has come to pass. A civil war will break out in the empire. It will be a crushing blow to the entire empire.

"What should we do now?"

Konstantin Pobedonostsev, director of the Orthodox Affairs Administration, exclaimed.

The other senior officials of the empire all looked grim as well.

Everyone knew full well how devastating a civil war at this time would be for the Tsarist Russian Empire. It would inevitably plunge the entire empire into a grave crisis.

"Mikhail clearly planned this long ago. His troops had already made their preparations. That was how he could deploy them so quickly.

"This also shows that His Majesty the tsar's death was definitely connected to Mikhail!

"Otherwise, how could he possibly have prepared in advance?"

Grand Duke Nicholas still made sure to further substantiate the charges against Grand Duke Mikhail.

"There's no use saying any of this now. Grand Duke Mikhail has already deployed his troops. If we want to stop him from taking the throne, we must defeat him!"

said Finance Minister Sergei Witte.

The assembled senior officials of the Tsarist Russian Empire all nodded repeatedly.

Once a dispute came down to force, right and wrong no longer meant anything.

The only thing that could decide the outcome was victory or defeat on the battlefield.

"Even if Grand Duke Mikhail has been plotting this for a long time, he cannot possibly win. The imperial army is also ready for battle!" Acting Minister of War Lieutenant General Kuropatkin sounded confident.

"Gentlemen, since war is already unavoidable, I hope it can be brought to an end as quickly as possible.

"The longer it drags on, the greater the damage to the empire.

"At the same time, more unforeseen complications could arise.

"Don't forget, the empire's many enemies are still eyeing it like tigers watching their prey.

"If those enemies intervene in the empire's civil war and turn it into a protracted conflict, the consequences will be very serious. The entire empire could collapse!"

Foreign Minister Lobanov-Rostovsky warned.

The assembled senior officials of the Tsarist Russian Empire could not help growing serious. They understood that as well.

"I'll end the war as quickly as possible!" Grand Duke Nicholas said through gritted teeth.

In his view, Grand Duke Mikhail's decision to reclaim the throne by force was utterly foolish.

If Grand Duke Mikhail had continued to insist on the Law of Succession to the Throne, then even if they put Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna on the throne, their position would ultimately have no legal footing.

But now that everything had come down to force, it was much simpler.

As long as they crushed Grand Duke Mikhail's army in a single blow during the war, everything could be settled.

As for whether they could win the war, Grand Duke Nicholas was quite confident.

The troops of the Caucasus Military District amounted to only thirty percent of the Tsarist Russian Empire's total army strength.

On paper, they had an advantage of more than two to one.

Moreover, the most elite Guards Army was on their side.

Major General Alexei, commander of the Guards Army, was utterly loyal to Nicholas II.

The assassination of Nicholas II had left Major General Alexei heartbroken. At the same time, Major General Alexei also suspected that Grand Duke Mikhail's men had carried out the assassination.

Even though all the evidence pointed to the Bolshevik Party, how could the Bolshevik Party possibly have obtained so much explosive, given its capabilities? And how could it have known Nicholas II's route back to the city and made preparations in advance?

This also led Major General Alexei to swear vengeance for Nicholas II.

Grand Duke Nicholas and the other senior Russian military officers did not believe that Grand Duke Mikhail could have transformed the troops of the Caucasus Military District in just a few short years, making them capable of standing against the entire imperial army.

Even though a considerable portion of the imperial army was scattered across various regions, such as the Far East, Siberia, Central Asia, and the western and southwestern borders, they still had hundreds of thousands of troops at their disposal.

Afterward, Grand Duke Nicholas, Lieutenant General Kuropatkin, and Chief of the General Staff General Nikolai Obruchev formed the Headquarters for the Suppression of the Rebellion.

That was right. By this point, the senior officials of the Tsarist Russian Empire had already classified Grand Duke Mikhail's actions as a rebellion.

Grand Duke Mikhail's right of succession to the throne would soon be revoked as well.

Or rather, the moment Grand Duke Mikhail was defeated on the battlefield would be the moment his right of succession was revoked.

He might not even be able to keep his life.

Of course, all of this was Grand Duke Mikhail's own choice. He could blame no one else.

As an adult, Grand Duke Mikhail had to take responsibility for his own choices!

"Good God! I never thought what we feared most would come to pass after all."

Konstantin Pobedonostsev looked worried.

After the meeting, he could not help discussing the situation ahead with Vyacheslav Plehve and Lobanov-Rostovsky.

"By rights, if we can't prove that Grand Duke Mikhail planned the assassination of His Majesty the tsar, then under the Law of Succession to the Throne, Grand Duke Mikhail should inherit the throne!"

Vyacheslav Plehve said.

"Is there enough evidence to prove that Grand Duke Mikhail did it?" Lobanov-Rostovsky asked.

Vyacheslav Plehve shook his head.

"So far, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has no definite evidence. Either Grand Duke Mikhail had nothing to do with the assassination, and the Bolshevik Party really did it, or Grand Duke Mikhail really is too cunning and arranged all of this long ago." Vyacheslav Plehve found it a headache as well.

"All right, gentlemen, there's no need to dwell on that anymore.

"The civil war has broken out, and everything has already slipped beyond our control.

"Those damned fellows wanted to stop Grand Duke Mikhail from inheriting the throne, even at the cost of war.

"We were powerless to stop the war from breaking out.

"The only thing we can do is pray to God. Pray that this war ends quickly, and that it does as little harm to the empire as possible!"

Konstantin Pobedonostsev felt quite helpless.

"God bless the empire!"

Vyacheslav Plehve and Lobanov-Rostovsky both began to pray as well.

Although they were all senior officials of the empire, with the tsar killed by a bomb and the new sovereign not yet on the throne, they had very little power.

All power lay in the hands of the army.

In their hearts, they hoped Grand Duke Mikhail would win.

Compared with the ambitious Grand Duke Nicholas and the greedy Sergei Witte, Grand Duke Mikhail becoming the new tsar would undoubtedly be better for the Tsarist Russian Empire.

Perhaps all they could do was hope for a miracle.