Ruthenia Empire, St. Petersburg, 17 October 1927, 4:50 p.m. General Staff Building Command Ops.

“Yes, thank you, Prime Minister Arthur… I appreciate your help greatly. Please send Her Royal Highness Diana my regards,” Alexander smiled before hanging up the phone.

He looked around his generals and ministers who were anticipating news that would determine whether the operation Damsel would be adjusted or not.

By the sounds of his tone and his choice of words alone, they could tell that Alexander is going to bring good news.

“Ladies and gentlemen. I just received word from the Prime Minister of the Britannia Empire. I’m pleased to tell you all that they are lending vehicles for the transport of the embassy staff and my sisters, as well as providing a means of communication to the Yamato Empire, where they persuaded the government to extend the deadline for another hour. It looks like we are not changing anything to the plans and we will proceed as planned.”

Upon finishing his words, cheers erupted in the hall, some clapped while others simply celebrated with a smile on their faces.

However, their celebration was short-lived as the seriousness of the situation in the Yamato Empire struck them all once again. So they sat back down and returned to their work.

“So, how are things playing out, Minister Alexei?” Alexander began.

“The aircraft carrier Petropavlovsk just launched their squadron and is heading towards Tokyo as we speak. It goes the same for the Bogatyr Cargo Aircraft which is now less than an hour away from the capital. It’s a waiting game Your Majesty, we just have to observe the movement of their military. Speaking of which, they made some movements.”“What do you mean?” Alexander asked with concern in his voice.

“Apparently, they deployed the first fleet from the Yellow Sea, and the 6th and 8th army of the Yamato Empire garrisoned in Hanseong and in Pyongyang are marching down north, towards Sinuiju. These are the images we got from our Babai spy planes patrolling in the Choson Peninsula.”

The Babai spy plane is a copy of the Lockheed U-2 with some vast improvements by using digital computing and better cameras.

The planes are cruising at around 80,000 feet or 24,000 meters in the stratosphere around the world taking pictures at night.

Friend or foe, Alexander will want to have information of everything the spy planes can see.

So far, the spy planes have yet to be spotted due to other countries lack of patrol planes that can fly that high and lack of more powerful radars.

Alexander looked up to the screen where it shows black and white footage of troops and tanks marching in columns.

“It seems to me like they are preparing for war,” Alexander commented. “I knew there’s something fishy within the Yamato Empire.”

“I concur Your Majesty,” Sevastian spoke. “They have been hiding the fact that they are preparing for war from us so far. They knew the attack was going to happen to our Grand Duchesses and the consequences of it. If I were to make a guess, I’d say that the military of the Yamato Empire is on board with the plan of provoking us into a war by ambushing the Grand Duchesses .”

“Son of a bitch,” Alexander cursed under his breath while massaging his temples. “Using my sisters as a means of starting a war? Fucking barbarians. Well, they asked for it so let’s give them hell. Mister Alexei, what are our retaliatory options against the Yamato Empire? I’m sure I’ve asked you about this recently.”

“We already planned one, Your Majesty,” Alexei said proudly.“Then share it with the rest of us,” Alexander commanded.

“We’ll start in the city of Sinŭiju, which is located near our border. We have a reason to believe the Yamato are after that city as it is the only region in the Choson Peninsula that Ruthenia Empire has direct access to,” Alexei paused as he beckoned the operator to zoom the screen in, providing the rest of the people inside the command ops a closer.

“As we all know, the border between the Manchuria and Choson Peninsula is this long lake called the Yalu River. The only thing that connects our lands is this bridge that we constructed alongside the Yamato three years ago. It was just completed one month ago. Now, that bridge serves strategic importance for our military. It’s the only way we can get infantry tank divisions inside Choson. The Yamato military high command knew this so they are racing to get there and possibly destroy the bridge.” Alexei explained.

Alexander’s brows narrowed as he understood what Alexei was implying.

“So, are you saying that we should take control of the city first before the Yamato get their hands on it?” Alexander questioned.

Alexei nodded confidently, followed by the other generals, and urged him. “We have to be quick, your Majesty, the army of the Yamato Empire stationed in Pyongyang is just two hours away from reaching the city.”

“Do we have any units in the area?” Alexander asked as he scanned the map once more.

Alexei immediately replied. “There are, Your Majesty. the 15th Infantry Division and the 36th Armored Division stationed in Dandong. They are the only forces in the area that can go to the Sinuiju in time and set up a defensive perimeter. Meanwhile, The 5th Army garrisoned in Shenyang will follow but they are two hours, maybe three because mobilizing large troops takes time. Now, we can halt the Yamato advances by commencing bombing runs on their positions but there is one problem.”

pᴀɴ-ᴅᴀ-. Alexei cleared his throat before speaking again. “We are not at war with the Yamato Empire and bombing before a state of war exists between us, that would be the violation of the Geneva Convention and we could possibly face an international backslash from our allies and neighbors.”

“Alexei is right, Your Majesty,” Sergei finally spoke up. “There are protocols here to consider. One of which is informing our allies, the Kingdom of Norway and the Francois Republic. Then we speak to the Britannia Empire and the Deutschland Empire who have a good relationship with the Yamato Empire to avoid verbal condemnation. If we do that, we can isolate the Yamato Empire. So if you want to bomb their positions, you must declare war on them first. We can already justify it, an attack on the Grand Duchesses of Ruthenian Empire is a provocation of war.”

Alexander sighed after hearing that there were really a lot of them. “I understand, I will contact each of their governments one by one and make it clear to them that Ruthenia has decided to go to war with the Yamato Empire. So, Alexei, you may now scramble your bombers and transmit my orders to Eastern Military Command that we are on a war footing.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

“Is there something I’m missing?” Alexander inquired.

Sevastian walked forward and added. “Yes, you do, Your Majesty. Since you’re considering war and the theater will be in the Far East, you should place the district under martial law.”

“You’re right. Start working on the draft, I’ll get back to it later,” Alexander ordered and continued. “Also, set up a call with the Chairman of the Imperial Council. Tell him that I’m declaring war with the Yamato Empire now. He will notify the rest.”

“Consider it done, Your Majesty,” Sevastian bowed and retreated back to his seat.

Alexander grabbed the telephone and hailed the operator. “Connect me to the President of the Francois Republic.”