Visit the First. 1st August, Year 1914, Baranovichi, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire.
Baranovichi was a typical provincial town within the Pale of Settlement; slightly extraordinary because of its status as a main railway junction (in fact, it was because of the railroad that the village turned into a town), and because of its proximity to the eastern border of the Kingdom of Poland (a composite part of the Russian Empire), but otherwise of no great importance; apart from its inhabitants and the inhabitants of the nearby regions, the only ones to whom it could possibly have been of interest were the various railway bureaucrats from the Ministry of the Interior. But 1914 was a year of change; and as peace changed to war, so did Baranovichi change from a provincial town to the headquarters of the newly-assembled Shtab verkhovnogo komandovaniya - the STAVKA, as it was immediately abbreviated. The Emperor himself came to the town on many occassions; and though earlier he was the hated usurper of Poland, the imposer of the Pale of Settlement, now Jews and Poles alike in the town turned into loyal subjects, because that way the visits looked better in the stories they would later tell to their envious neighbours. When indeed the war begun, the Emperor was in St. Petersburg; and alas, he had allowed the Velikiy Knyaz, Nikolai Nikolaevich - "Nicholas the Taller" - to take command of the Stavka. Still, it was better than nothing, and as the Baranovichi transformed into the head of a huge and growing army, it ofcourse now commanded greater attention and interest. Officers and bureaucrats arrived in large amounts as the STAVKA assembled to make plans; and inevitably, foreign and domestic businessmen and military attaches of Russia's allies also arrived to talk business, or war - but then, these were now more the same than ever before.
Train after train entered the Baranovichi, entered - and after stopping, went on, to the front, where troops were needed as operations were about to commence. There were many troops, yes, but they needed to be deployed, and then they needed to be supplied - and that was the purpose of those military railways. However, not only soldiers and supplies travelled on those trains; also the aforementioned staff officers, businessmen and attaches arrived, and in their midst, a mostly non-descript man that nevertheless belonged to neither of the aforementioned groups - although he, too, came here because of the STAVKA.
Although dressed in civilian clothes, it was all too easy to recognize in him a seasoned officer; probably, Nikolai Nikolaevich assumed, an intelligence agent. The Velikiy Knyaz sighed and sipped some more tea. He was in a particularily melancholic mood, worn out by his efforts to stop the panic and restore some order; by now he had lost hope in Sukhomlinov's oh-so-optimistic assesment of complete battle readiness. No, the Russian army wasn't ready at all. Sadly, cousin the Emperor would ofcourse not listen; and even if he did listen, that minx of a German wife of his would tell him that these are lies; damn it, if Nikolai Nikolaevich didn't know she was too stupid, he would have suspected that she was a German spy...
And then, if somehow the Emperor were to grow a backbone, or if Alice were to agree with his assesment (which of these two events, Nikolai Nikolaevich pondered bitterly, was the most likely? Probably the third option - the one with the flying pigs, and lobsters whistling on mountain peaks)... there remained Rasputin. Now, this one was almost definitely a German spy; all his actions indicated it. Nikolai Nikolaevich forgot that he was not along and muttered: "Canaille! Why, I should hang him if he were to come anywhere near the frontline..."
"Indeed; a shame that he is too cautious." - agreed the officer.
"Hmm?" - Nikolai Nikolaevich asked, startled - "Ah! Pardon, I was just... thoughtful."
"As you should be - after all, the fate of the world depends on your thoughts now."
"No, not really. Alas, I am but a mortal as we all." - said Nikolai Nikolaevich, somewhat irritated - "Now, please - I have little time, so tell me what is the purpose of your visit."
"It is precisely the matter of the canaille Rasputin, and others with undue influence over your cousin. Alas, as you no doubt know, His Imperial Majesty is all too easy to influence, and influence in ways detrimental for him, and thus, for the Empire and its numerous peoples. You also no doubt know the terrible state our army trully is at the moment." - the stranger suddenly switched his drift altogether, yet for some reason this switch seemed smooth, and the influence of Rasputin united with the troubles of the Russian army, so the Velikiy Knyaz remained silent; and indeed, the stranger went on to explain - "The army is in terrible state because of Sukhomlinov, who, as all too many other ministers, rose to his position not as much through his own merit, as through his connections. His German connections, who, through certain friends of theirs, have influence on the Empress - alas - and again, you are fully aware of this - another one of the people with undue influence on the His Imperial Majesty. It is because of them that the army is in such a bad state - and because of them that you have been given such a bad situation to work with. There is no unified strategic plan; there is simple panic and chaos in the Stavka; there are some vague directives that are simply... unworkable!"
"I do agree that there are many, many problems. But what do you propose?" - Nikolai Nikolaevich was again irritated; and he was simply outraged when the stranger replied...
"This." - he said and produced a very fat folder - "This is the plan for a complete reorganization of the Russian army and the Stavka, appointment of new commanders and the plans for every contingency, prepared by your humble servant. If you follow this plan, Rasputin's own plans will be thwarted; he shall be prevented from taking complete power, and with luck you shall have the authority you would require to overthrow him and his lackeys as well."
Nikolai Nikolaevich was normally a very, very calm man, phlegmatic, at times - as today, in fact - almost melancholic. Yet as already said... he was outraged. And shocked. He was speechless; he started coughing and gazed wildly at the unperturbed officer... at the agent provacateur... The audacity! The Velikiy Knyaz stood up, and, regaining self-control, said calmly and coldly: "Go to Sukhomlinov; he is the Minister of War."
"You know why I would not. You are the Headcommander of the Imperial Russian Army; this reorganization is your task."
"It is not a task, young man - it is simply one of those many quixotic projects that we keep receiving here." - the Velikiy Knyaz retorted.
"You are too hasty in making such an assesment; please do, at least, read the crucial parts of the project plan, they are bookmarked. I assure you that this is very, very important."
"Hmph. Very well, I shall read it when I have more time... come back tommorow. Until we meet again... Um... Pardon, I forgot your name..."
"Dmitry Aleksandrovich Shtern."
"Until we meet agian, Dmitry Aleksandrovich."
To be continued.
