Reincarnated as Nikolai II

Brusilov didn't think someone who had risen to Imperial Field Marshal would make such an emotional choice.

"Perhaps, perhaps. My enemy, Field Marshal Hötzendorf seems to know in his heart too."

"Know what?"

"What else, defeat."

No matter how much good news comes from the west, it sounds too distant, like someone else's story here in the south.

Just as the law is far but fists are close, wouldn't Hötzendorf also see Germany's victory as far and Austria-Hungary's defeat as close?

"But isn't Germany winning on the Western Front? Even if the Austrian Empire gives up everything and just endures, couldn't they negotiate-"

"Lieutenant General Mannerheim."

"Yes, General."

Putting his hand on Mannerheim's shoulder as he poured out consecutive questions, Brusilov spoke of what he considered obvious reality.

"Even if Paris falls, the German Empire's collapse remains unchanged."

"...Is that so."

"Though I shouldn't say this as an ally, I rather hope Paris falls."

"Why... do you hope for such a thing?"

"Because then I can head for Berlin."

What the Tsar had repeatedly emphasized since the beginning of the war.

Occupying Berlin is impossible.

Brusilov had no intention of breaking the iron rule set by the Tsar, but inwardly, he couldn't completely agree with his assertion.

Occupying Berlin might be possible if just one condition is met.

"General, surely you didn't have such thoughts even during the occupation of Poland three years ago-"

"That's why I want to see Ludendorff tear those Allied forces to pieces soon."

That is the fall of Paris.

Already, Hötzendorf's last struggle wasn't even in Brusilov's consideration.

==

The Emperor's Falcon (Falken des Kaisers), Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf.

The conqueror of Poland and Constantinople, the Empire's executioner, Aleksei Brusilov.

The two commanders' tendencies had many similarities yet differences.

First, for similarities, it was their assertions about offense and defense that they had maintained since before the Great War.

"Endless struggle for survival is the highest will. And this will comes from the crisis of death."

"Isn't attack the best defense?"

Though slightly social Darwinistic, both generals, while acknowledging the disadvantages of offense, ultimately viewed even that difficult process as a condition for victory and believed blindly in so-called 'activism'.

Age difference of just one year. Different countries but similar levels of built careers and even similar tendencies in the field.

"If my army lost because they're naked and starving? It's an immediate duel with Chief of Staff Kuropatkin!"

"What reason do I, an Imperial Field Marshal, have to share my grand strategy with you?"

They were highly dogmatic enough to ignore surrounding officer corps and superiors, had acquired their own doctrines close to beliefs, and ridiculously, such tendencies made them very capable.

When such two people faced each other on the battlefield.

"...Brusilov."

"Well, let's have a match with Budapest at stake."

As much as they had strong self-love, they acknowledged yet simultaneously despised their counterparts of different nationalities.

"Mannerheim, deploy the shock troops."

Like the Marne before Paris.

The two generals who met at Szolnok before Budapest had no way of avoiding each other.

To them, obstacles weren't something to overcome but to smash through, and traps weren't something to avoid but to destroy.

The strategy Brusilov pulled out was the shock troops-strike force strategy.

If forces concentrate or gather in one place, it only increases the enemy's firepower efficiency.

Conversely, if forces spread too thin, they can't break through the enemy.

That's why since 1914, Brusilov had been developing two types of elite units in the army he led.

First, shock troops. Like Germany's Stormtroopers, these are forces meant to split the enemy front line they face.

And when these shock troops finish their role, strike forces supported by precise artillery fire immediately rush in.

The role of these strike forces is to go beyond the confrontation line toward the enemy rear, causing disconnection between front and rear, making the enemy front become isolated and extinct.

It boasted boldness that seemed possible only for a person like Aleksei Brusilov in this era.

To this, Hötzendorf responded as if his army were inanimate objects without any sense.

"I learned something fighting Putnik with Belgrade at stake in Serbia."

Serbia, who like the Kingdom of Hungary now, faced defeat.

They were in a situation where everyone from the king on the throne to street beggars had to flee when their capital was taken.

The method Serbia's Field Marshal Putnik used to torment Hötzendorf then.

"That is, if defeat is certain, a commander must sell his soldiers' lives to the enemy as expensively as possible."

Despite not being a strong army.

Despite being inferior in everything.

That's how Putnik had blocked Hötzendorf.

In a way that might not stop the Dual Monarchy's kicks but would cut off their toes.

By not overcoming the military difference with great powers but always achieving above a certain exchange ratio.

Thus Putnik ultimately contributed greatly to the Dual Monarchy's defeat.

That was their way of defeating and surviving against great powers.

Hötzendorf had to acknowledge at this moment.

Before Russia, the leader of the Slavs, they too were now in the position of a small country.

"Brusilov, I cannot defeat you."

It means this Austria-Hungary Empire had become like Serbia in the Balkans.

So Hötzendorf decided to give up on winning now.

Instead.

"But I won't retreat either."

No retreat.

Though inferior qualitatively and quantitatively in troops, with low morale and even marked differences in commander levels.

"We will not budge with our capital at our backs. Let's see how far you can break through."

Hötzendorf willingly sought to create many bloodstains even in a losing battle.

That was the best he could do.

And watching this enemy's behavior, Brusilov.

"Stop sequential offensives and move to simultaneous offensives. Prepare all shock troops and strike forces!"

The breakthrough at four different points shown at Lutsk in original history.

He prepared for simultaneous offensive that could uniquely rival the highest level tactics of the far future, the 4-drone build.

"Rather than losing fingers to your teeth, I'll cut them off with my own hands."

When it came to not fearing death, Brusilov was no pushover either.