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1917-August-28
We had been occupied in Ruthenia for quite some time, since with the harvest and the need to tear apart the Ruthenian nobles who wanted to keep ruling, while trying to sabotage every policy the politicians made, there had never been any compromise or anything of the sort. Both sides wanted to impose the ideas of their own faction, and now both sides had lost.
I had left everything on a silver platter for the next governor of Ruthenia, hoping he would arrive soon, since at least that had greatly accelerated the negotiations and the Hohenzollern had already been confirmed as king of Ruthenia. He was traveling there with troops to take control and begin turning Ruthenia into a support rather than a drain of soldiers and resources, which was what it had been. A quick review of its agricultural production indicated that the new farming techniques had been completely resisted by the nobles, to the point that they only used traditional methods.
So the harvest was not abundant. It was only enough to sustain the local population and produce a little food that was sent to Germany.
In comparison, Ukraine managed to fulfill its food goals with plenty to spare. Now that the agricultural mechanization of Ukraine was reaching high percentages, it was quite easy for a fraction of the workers to produce far more food, especially when the fields were well fertilized and perfectly cared for and inspected with some regularity.
So Ukraine was finally leaving food rationing completely behind and had enough to export, since I learned from Hans, who controlled almost all exports from the port of Odessa, that food was being sold to the Ottoman Empire, as well as to the Bulgarians, who now no longer had a food crisis.
Meanwhile, Germany and Austria-Hungary were receiving all the food they had requested, so Germany should be ready for this winter, once again avoiding a turnip winter.
I did not know whether Poland had achieved anything worthy of mention, considering that much of its population was mobilized for the war, either as soldiery or in the factories. I did not even know if they would have a food surplus.
Where I did manage every last figure with great precision was in the Baltic Duchy, since at first the noble plot of refusing to deliver information to make the work of my tax collectors more difficult ,It was a failure, since they themselves had given in.
Until it seemed they had learned what had happened in Ruthenia. From one moment to the next, all the nobles who had flatly refused to even collaborate began to be more servile than ever, handing over the information and facilitating the grain and flax so they could be counted, along with the heads of cattle. Germany was fully informed of what had been harvested.
There was a great difference between the areas where mechanized agriculture had been used and those worked traditionally with plow and horse, in addition to, of course, the use of natural fertilizers, since for the moment industrial chemical fertilizer was scarce, if not nonexistent. It was still used only among some groups of large estates that could afford to order it from the chemical companies of the industrial centers.
Although it seemed I had lost my chance to leave the German-Baltic nobles on the street, that was not exactly the case. They had collaborated for a simple reason: they were planning something, or that was what the members of Abteilung IIIb informed me through their information networks. So we let that something prepare itself to act, since I needed the justification.
''Are you sure today is the day they decided they had to remove me from power?'' I said, looking through the window, leaning out only a little while observing the government palace of Riga.
''Everything points to today. The nobles met in their council and reached the agreement that they would gather a force from among their guards, who would attack at night to take you prisoner. They would do everything possible to make you accept an agreement that greatly benefits them and, at the same time, they would try to keep this information from reaching Germany, keeping you prisoner for who knows how long. Since it is either that or slowly losing their privileges, as they have been until now'' said the officer of Abteilung IIIb.
''They are very desperate, from what I see, to make some plan of this kind… How long have they been preparing it? I mean, gathering men, preparing equipment'' I asked, looking at my men who were at other windows, watching with rifles in hand.
''Something like that since you dissolved the parliament of Ruthenia. From then on, the nobles began preparing this strategy, so it is to be expected, since they noticed what would happen if they followed the same course of action as the Ruthenian nobles. But here they are trying to win by force, capturing the Herzog and then trying to calm Germany afterward, since that is their only hope'' added the intelligence officer.
''It seems too risky to me for them to have debated it for days'' I said, crossing my arms while continuing to watch.
''It was that or watch their power slowly diminish, and they would probably have no way to get you off their backs, because you are clearly someone who is here to stay and it will not take you long to take measures so they slowly lose their control and power, considering they already believe you are doing it with the expropriations you carried out on the lands around the Daugava River'' said the intelligence officer.
''They had to be done. Or do these men think I am going to let the largest investment in the duchy have them as the greatest beneficiaries without putting a single coin into that construction? Literally millions and millions of marks are being invested in electrical infrastructure, and the nobles wanted to keep all the benefits of the water reserves. The only thing missing was for them to ask me for the income from the electricity as well'' I said while beginning to walk around the room.
''The Russian nobility has always been different. Fewer liberal movements to reduce their power and more autonomy far from the Tsar's centers of power, so maybe they simply think it is normal, but… it seems they are already moving'' the intelligence officer said, pointing with his finger toward one of the corners.
Looking sideways toward the area where we were watching the streets, I noticed a group of men moving, clearly armed. They carried many pistols and revolvers, and the occasional rifle, while moving through the streets trying to go unnoticed and making as little noise as possible.
At the same time, another group entered from the other side of the street, moving in the same direction, also armed with many pistols and revolvers they must have hidden before we confiscated the weapons that could be found in plain sight.
''They are not as heavily armed as I would expect, which indicates that our weapons confiscation was effective, considering that I only observed five rifles that are probably Russian'' I said, moving away from the window while my men prepared their weapons to attack.
''Do we attack or wait?'' I said while watching from another window how the hundreds of men who had come were moving.
''It depends. We have to capture many alive to use their testimonies and be able to arrest them with certainty, since even with our evidence some could escape punishment. The evidence does not stain everyone, only the most important members of the group. It all depends on what you prefer. If we trap them inside the palace, there will be a greater chance that the guards surrender and, with that, we can make them point the finger at all the nobles and begin fully requisitioning their lands and cutting back their rights'' the intelligence agent said.
''Then let us wait for them to enter. We will besiege my own palace, a small price I suppose we will have to pay to make sure everything goes according to plan and to gain total control of the duchy, put it to work for the State and support the war effort'' I said while watching the movements of the guards, noticing the clear lack of coordination and how they completely ignored the windows of the buildings around them, focusing only on the building where I was supposedly working.
Finally, while we waited for the noble guards to position themselves, they kicked the doors in and began entering the governor's palace of Riga in large numbers.
''How long do you think it will take them to realize there is nobody in that building, only lights left on?'' I asked the intelligence officer, who was carefully observing the nobles' actions.
''A couple of minutes. There are many rooms where you could hide, but I think the lack of workers should raise some alarms for them. Even so, because of the hour, they may think it is normal, so they should take a little while, but not much. That is when we attack, trying to take them by surprise'' the intelligence officer said, beginning to smile.
Without saying more, we let the men enter and listened as things broke inside. Beyond that, the silence in the night of the city was clear, broken only by the sounds coming from inside the palace.
Several minutes passed with nothing happening, other than watching shadows moving through the windows of the government palace, until soon men began coming out of the palace. Then the order was given to fire.
Immediately, the crack of one of our rifles was heard and the abdomen of one of the guards was pierced, sending blood spreading everywhere while he howled in pain.
More shots were soon heard, extinguishing the lives of dozens of guards who were coming out or whose silhouettes could be seen through the windows.
The firefight was completely one-sided, taking into account the surprise of the trap and the fact that we had shooters on all sides of the building, in addition to the obvious difference in weaponry. While they mostly used pistols, our forces had several machine-gun nests, submachine guns and rifles everywhere.
''Fuck, it is going to be expensive to fill all those holes'' I said, watching how the building I used to govern began filling with bullet holes and blood, while the screams of desperation occasionally rose above the sound of weapons unloading their ammunition.
The firefight continued until there was nobody left visible outside the building, but we knew there were still people inside, since hundreds had entered and, with luck, we had killed a few dozen.
So it did not take long before I saw regular troops of the duchy begin the siege of my own palace, with orders to transmit by megaphone that they should surrender to keep their lives.
''By order of the Herzog, those who come out with their hands raised will not be shot. Surrender and you will live. Resist and we will have no hesitation in killing each and every one of you'' said one of my men, who had the megaphone, while the troops prepared to enter.
As more movement from my men became visible under the gas lighting, the first guards soon began coming out of the palace with their hands raised, while others came out through the windows, throwing their revolvers out before climbing out.
Some came out wounded, with bleeding limbs. I gave them a few more minutes of grace and, when I saw that nobody else was coming out, I gave the order to enter and clear the palace, where explosions soon began to be heard inside, an unmistakable sign that they were using grenades to clear the rooms.
''Well… it seems I will have to remodel it completely… it is not as though I liked the palace anyway'' I said, watching as the windows and wooden frames were torn apart while my men finished their work.
''Well, you can always remodel it. Now that you have an enormous group of men dedicated to construction, you could expand it to adjust it for the workers. I think I heard you complain that it was somewhat cramped with all the workers, did I not?'' said the officer of Abteilung IIIb.
''Obviously. The place was designed to govern Riga and its surroundings. Imagine having to use the same space to govern three times as much territory. Clearly the place was completely cramped, so I suppose we will demolish it and see what comes out of it… Make sure the prisoners confess'' I said, observing that the fighting already seemed to have ended.
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