The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1350 - 974 The Plot Against Ukraine

Chapter 1350: Chapter 974: The Plot Against Ukraine

Chapter 1350 -974: The Plot Against Ukraine

The collapse of the Russian army took everyone by surprise.

After all, it seemed implausible that the entirety of the 1.5 million-strong Russian army, even though encircled by the German army, could possibly conclude the war in a mere two and a half weeks.

Even if it were 1.5 million cattle and sheep being slaughtered by the German army, it would surely take more time than that, wouldn’t it?

But one can hardly blame those Russian soldiers who seized grain from the Ukrainian people. Since they had not brought sufficient grain to begin with, they couldn’t just surrender and starve to death.

However, the Russian government clearly didn’t see it that way.

No matter the process, the current outcome was the near-annihilation of 1.5 million Russian troops, which equated to the Russian government handing nearly a million laborers to Germany for free.

The fate of these Russian soldiers was now quite obvious. To the increasingly deranged German government, they would certainly not pass up such freely-delivered labor.

For the Russian government, the priority was no longer about filling the gap left by the 1.5 million troops in the southern battlefront but rather about finding a scapegoat for the disaster there as quickly as possible.

This was not only critical for the morale of what remained of the southern front but also for the relationship between the Russian government and the Ukrainian region.

At present, the people around Kiev were already quite dissatisfied with the Russian government, some even forming parties in opposition to it.

This was a lethal threat to Russia. If Russia lost Ukraine, a crucial grain-producing area, they would need to divert even more manpower to food production.

But Russia had already lost too much of its manpower in the war, which meant that the post-war recovery phase would be even more protracted.

There was also the influence of the Ukrainian region on the Balkans. Without Ukraine, the entire Balkan Peninsula would have no ties to Russia at all.

Even if Russia could position itself as one of the world’s foremost powers, the Balkan Peninsula would definitely not incline towards Russia of its own accord, given Ukraine lay between them.

Given the grave consequences, the Russian government had to trot out a sufficiently culpable scapegoat to bear the blame for the war, thus satisfying both the Russian soldiers on the southern front and the Ukrainians in the Kiev region.

Otherwise, if the Ukrainian region were to secede with the support of other countries, it would be a severe blow to Russia.

What the Russian government did not expect was that instead of waiting for Russia’s move, the Kiev region received a joint declaration from the United Kingdom and Australasia.

After the deeds of the Germans, who forcefully conscripted grain from Russian soldiers, made the headlines and spread widely, the United Kingdom and Australasia realized that an opportunity had arisen.

What opportunity, you might ask? Of course, it was to deal a blow to Russia and carve out the highly significant Ukraine from Russia’s territorial range.

Firstly, during a routine public meeting of the Australasia Foreign Affairs Department, the media asked what Australasia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs thought about the conduct of Russian soldiers in the Kiev region.

If it were any regular diplomatic protocol, the Australasia Foreign Affairs Department would hardly answer the question to avoid diplomatic disputes.

But for Australasia at that moment, there was no way they would miss this excellent opportunity to deal a significant blow to the prestige of the Russian government.

Personnel from the Australasian Foreign Affairs Department publicly responded, “We understand the survival instincts of the Russian Soldiers when they are driven into a dead end, but such actions are still immoral, especially for two distinct peoples.”

“The actions of the Russian Soldiers are seen as aggression and plundering by the people of Kiev, and as a highly developed and civilized gentlemanly nation, we detest these actions and are willing to donate a portion of grain to the people of the Ukrainian region free of charge.”

In this statement, the differences between the Ukrainians and the Russians were emphasized, and the underlying message was already clear: support for the protests and more resistance actions by the people near Kiev.

Following this, the British Government also made a declaration.

One after another, pronouncements and condemnations from two Powers put the Russian Government and Russian Army squarely in the spotlight.

If it were merely ordinary plundering of grain, that might be forgivable, but the Russian Soldiers showed no courtesy to the Ukrainians near Kiev during the forced grain requisition.

All these incidents were turned into photos by the Germans and made the newspaper headlines, not only as proof of the Russian army’s crimes but also as a sharp blade to sever the close relations between Russia and the Ukrainian region.

The Russians had made trouble for themselves, and Arthur was not about to be polite about it.

The second day after issuing the statement, Australasia announced it would donate 150 tons of grain and 50 tons of meat to the people of the Ukrainian region free of charge and that it would be directly transported from the Australasia Army’s station area in the Balkan Region to Ukraine.

Escorting the food was a small military force, and as for whether they were just delivering food or doing something else, only the Australasia Army knew.

The Russian Government condemned this and stated that the Ukrainian region has been an inseparable part of Russia since ancient times, demanding that the Australasia Army not enter the Ukrainian region without permission.

Australasia’s reply was that the Ukrainian region indeed was once part of Tsarist Russia, but was certainly not a part of the current Russian Government’s territory.

Ukraine is only a member state of Russia at present and should possess its own sovereignty, and the Russian Government has no right to interfere with the donation of grain.

The military force transporting the grain was real, and the food they were carrying was real as well.

But among this force were many Australasian intelligence personnel, and their mission was to go to the Ukrainian region to find Ukrainians who were hostile to the Russian Government and to support them in forming political parties to gain control of the Ukrainian region.

No matter how the world situation develops, Arthur would not miss any opportunity to help Ukraine break away from Russia.

Without Ukraine, Russia might not be critically weakened, but the nation’s overall potential would certainly be significantly reduced.

More importantly, a sovereign Ukraine would be like a towering mountain range lying in the southwest of Russia.

If Russia wanted to expand outward, it would have to pass through Ukraine, and the Ukrainians were unlikely to give up the autonomy that they had obtained with difficulty.

Add to this Poland, which Arthur also plans to make independent, and these two countries would naturally block the advance of Russia for Australasia, keeping Russian influence confined to Eastern Europe.

Although neither Poland nor Ukraine on their own was a match for Russia, the union of both could prove to be a long-standing headache for the Russian Government.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

Furthermore, with the backing of either the United Kingdom or Australia, if Ukraine were to successfully become independent this time, it would be very difficult for Russia to grow into a top-tier Power.