14th of November, 2023

Luoyang, Chinese Federation

It was a cold morning of mid-November and the Roman Ambassador was returning from his visit to the Forbidden City to request the establishment of a Chinese garrison near the Legations Compound. He had to learn, for his disappointment, that the Chinese Imperial Army had no troops it could commit to that purpose. Now he and his escort of Russian infantry soldiers were returning to the Compound. The city was unusually quiet: the streets were almost empty and few people besides the police forces (both national and international) could be seen walking around.

Everything escalated very quickly: the convoy was stopped at a crossroads by two small trucks blocking the street. There, it was quickly surrounded by hundreds of Boxers, who started throwing molotovs and firing at the cars. The convoy tried to go forward, but the Boxers fired at the wheels of the cars and motorcycles, forcing them to stop. The security agents started fighting the mob, ending however overrun by them. Vain was also the intervention of other policemen and of the platoon of Lutzows Jaegers stationed in the Compound, as they found themselves surrounded by a growing mob. Finally, even Ambassador Falkenhausen himself, who came out from his Porsche hitting the enemies with his sword, was overrun and killed by those rebels.

All those men dressed with the red tunics of the Boxers were coming out of every house and even from the sewers. In less than 20 minutes the whole city was dominated by rebels, which coming out from their hiding holes started attacking security forces, houses of officials and even civilians considered pro-European and moved towards the Legations Compound. There the German policemen at the gates were quick in closing them, leaving outside, the few policemen of the International Police Force and thousands of Chinese citizens deemed as 'collaborationists', now left to their fate.

From the Western Gate of the Vermillion Forbidden City the Tianzi was looking with horror at what was happening outside the walls. The view from there consisted of houses burning everywhere, mobs slaughtering people (mainly Chinese nationals, but also those foreigners who had the bad luck of being left outside the Legations Compound) and horrible screams coming from those who were being submitted to the cruellest tortures.

'Now there is no coming back...' She thought. 'When the Romans and the Japanese will come here they will have no mercy.'

"General Xiquan!" She called. Yuan Xiquan appeared in front of her.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Order the troops to surround the city and begin the repression of this mob. This thing has gone way too far and now we need to show to the foreigners that we stand for law and justice."

"I would not advise doing so, Your Majesty."

"Xiquan! An Ambassador has just been killed by those rogues, we can't let it happen."

"Those rogues, Your Majesty, are doing it in your name."

"Then I will openly condemn them!"

"If you do. Then you will have to face a revolution. Not even the Army will stand on your side."

"So what is your suggestion?"

"I think the Europeans and the Japanese have now learned that they should not play with China. So instead of intervening, you should try to mediate. Just as we talk, more revolts are taking place in the Legation Cities, which means that soon the Europeans will lose any influence over China. Then you will have the conditions of make offers: the lives of their nationals for the independence of China."

"As if Giulio Galahad-Canossa would ever accept being blackmailed by me. But I assume I am left without options, so be it. Let the end of the House of Shikai begin."

As it became clear how the revolution was evolving, Zhou Xianglin left the Army Headquarters on a car without any escort and headed towards the Imperial Army Hospital, where Li Xingke was being treated. Zhou used to be Li Xingke's second in command and after the establishment of the UFN, she even became the Deputy Commander of the Black Knights. After the Weltkrieg, with the nationalisation of the Black Knights by Japan, she returned to serve the Imperial Chinese Army, where she had received the rank of Major General. She knew well that with the country in open revolt, Xingke was the only one that could stop that madness and avoid a war with the Rome and Japan.

She then rushed through the corridors of the hospital until Li's room. His disease was at a terminal stage and he was kept alive only thanks some advanced machinery. A gift sent by Giulio as a sign of respect towards the former Chinese General.

"Zhou... you came." Said he with a feeble voice. "Have you seen that? That Xiquan, he will... he wants to destroy everything."

"I need your help, General Xingke."

"My help? Am I still in the conditions of helping?"

"You are the Tianzi's guardian. You can always help."

Li Xingke gave a bitter laugh. Then tears fell from his eyes. His mind went back to when he was healty and fought against China's enemies.

"I am sick... Almost dead. There's nothing I can do."

"General Xingke... We need to save the Tianzi, or that madman will ruin her and the whole China."

Xingke pointed at the TV and shook his head.

"I failed my mission. I cannot even stand up... How could I drive a knightframe or lead an army?"

"Then tell me what I can do, please!" Exclaimed Zhou.

"You cannot stop a revolution, Zhou. Once it has started, it will go until it will restore a new order. All you can do is to wait. Wait for when the wave will lose its devastating strength, then lead the waters to a more harmonic course. That's all."

Zhou returned to sit. She took Li's hand and watched with him the images in the TV. After having taken control of the city, now the mob was striking at the Legations compound. Inside it, there were mainly civilians and only few hundreds of soldiers and policemen of the consular garrisons. They were Romans (mainly Russians, Prussians and Italians), Britannians (the Connaught Rangers and the Imperial Marines), Japanese (a small detachment of the 2nd Guards Brigades) and Brazilians (soldiers of the BOPE), other than few survivors of the International Police and a South African detachment of the Rhodesian Light Infantry. In total around 350 soldiers counting on around 30 knightmare frames, facing over a hundred thousand rebels trying to storm their fortress. Tough soldiers in a hopeless fight, she knew it and she preferred not to think of the horrible destiny that all those inside would have faced once the rebels would have entered the legation.

Major Roberto Nascimento was an experienced officer, commander of the small garrison of the BOPE stationed in Luoyang. The BOPE, Batalhao Operaçoes Especiais, was the special operations branch of the Imperial Military Police of Brazil. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento had all his training with the Britannian Colonial Police of Area 6, under which he kept serving for years. There he led the special forces through several operations against the organised crime in the Favelas, which made of him an expert in urban warfare. Having become one of the founding members of the BOPE, he was sent to China with his unit when the uprisings began. It was a coincidence that on the day of the uprising in Luoyang he was in the Legations Compound, that he would have left in the following days.

Now Major Nascimento was walking through the marble entrance of the Roman Embassy, to meet with his fellow commanders and discuss the defences of the Compound.

Entering, a secretary accompanied him until the boardroom where the other leaders were sitting. These were the Plenipotentiary Minister Mischchenko, chargé d'affaires for the Roman Empire, Schneizel el Britannia, Count Omura, Baron Pedro Henrique of Cotegipe, General Enkvist and the other garrison commanders: Major Gariboldi for the Romans, Major Tokisada for the Japanese and O'Leary, the Commander of the International Police.

"There we go, here's our man!" Exclaimed the Brazilian Ambassador with pride. "Now we can start."

"Major Roberto Nascimento at your service." Said the Brazilian officer saluting the presents.

"At ease, major." Replied the Ambassador.

"Apologies for the delay." Said then Nascimento. "I was holding the Northern Gate."

"Not a problem, Major." Replied Schneizel. "We need to decide a strategy to defend the Legations for as long as we can. Until the reinforcements will arrive."

"And we hope they will arrive soon, because we estimate that our supplies, in an optimistic scenario, should last for a maximum of 60 days." Added Omura.

"Very well." Replied Nascimento, taking a seat. "I have been through worse situations than this. Let's get to work."

Rome, Imperial Duchy of Latium, HRE

Giulio was waken up with the news of the uprising in China and of the foreigners slaughtered all over the country, other than the Legations Compound in Luoyang under siege. Informed of this, he immediately called his Chinese counterparts for clarifications...

"What do you mean 'your hands are tied?'" He yelled at the phone while heading to the hall where his mother and his sister were having breakfast.

"Are you kidding? Get them out of there now!" He shouted again, now appearing at the entrance of the hall.

"Negotiate? Lihua, what the fuck? The rebels are killing foreigners at random, there's nothing to negotiate!" He kept yelling at the phone.

His mother looked at him with annoyance. Lucrezia, his sister, instead took her cell phone and pretended nothing was happening.

"I don't give a fuck about your position! My citizens are being slaughtered in your country and you are there sitting as if nothing is happening."

"Withdraw the concessions? The Japs out of Manchuria? Lihua, I am not in the mood of any stupid joke."

"Not a joke? Not a joke? You will see what is not a joke. It won't be a joke when the armies of half of the world will invade your country and fuck it even more than when Gengis Khan burned it to the ground!" With these words, Giulio turned off the phone and threw it on the floor.

"Good morning, dear son. I hope you have slept well." Said Charlotte sarcastically.

"No, mom, I haven't slept well and this is not a fucking good morning! It's a terrible, terrible morning!" He replied sitting and serving himself with coffee and food.

"Don't eat too much, you will get fat." Replied his mother with indifference.

"Mom... what the Hell?"

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Haven't you seen the news? The Chinese revolting and the Tianzi, that stupid doll is just there drinking tea and pretending nothing is happening."

"Well, well, well, you should know what to do, by now."

"Lucrezia." Called Giulio. She raised her eyebrows and put her cellphone away.

"Yes, dear brother?"

"How can we take out the people from the Legations?"

"We can't." Replied her. "They are just too many to be taken out. We need the Army to step in."

"You can always negotiate." Said Charlotte opening a newspaper in front of her. "It's less expensive and the Chinese are willing to do it."

"And then I would humiliate the Roman Empire before the entire world." Said Giulio.

"Then you know it already: parcere subiectis et debellare superbos, isn't it?"

Giulio took a long breath.

"Yes mom, it's that way. I will liquidate them, for sure, I will send my best units to China and I swear, I will bring so much devastation that in comparison the Mongol invasions will look like a joke."

"Good. You said it." Said Charlotte with a smirk, behind the daily issue of Le Figaro.

"I've heard we are going to war." Said Anya entering the room. "When are we leaving?"

"There we go..." Said Lucrezia focusing on her slice of cake. "This is going to be fun."

Porto Alegre, Empire of Brazil

Carine ne Britannia was at the HQ of the Southern Military Command to follow the operation of occupation of Uruguay. More than a military invasion, the Operation Harpia was a formal handover of the International Territory of Uruguay by the Roman administration to the Brazilians. This was the reason for which on that day, in the Brazilian Army Headquarters, together with the Empress was also present Brigadier General Bartosz Odrowaz, Roman Military Attaché assigned to Brazil.

"It's 10 o'clock." Said the Roman General. "You should be able to begin the operation."

"We are just waiting for the permission of the High Commissioner in Montevideo. We intend to avoid any incident." Replied General Costa e Silva, commander of the Southern Military Command.

"Let's just hope they move quickly. I can't wait to march on Montevideo." Said Carine, who was wearing a ceremonial uniform and intended to make her triumphal entrance in the Uruguyan Capital.

Finally the authorisation from Montevideo arrived.

Immediately, Carine took the microphone and communicated to the troops.

"Brazilians,

"Here is your Empress talking. Today we are righting a wrong that was made to our nation by the Treaties of Rome of 2019. Operation Harpia to start now, repeat, Operation Harpia starting."

The operation took place without any incidents. The first units to reach the border were the 19th Infantry Regiment, the 18th and the 1st and 12th Cavalry Regiments. These were greeted at the border by the Polish soldiers of the 5th Infantry Division "Warsaw", who immediately opened the passages and saluted them. After them, the other troops of the 5th and the 7th Divisions of the Brazilian Army moved across the border, while the Bavarian troops guarding it, handed their position to the forces of the Imperial Military Police. Soon the troops were marching across Uruguay towards the Western border, where only the previous day the Roman troops had to repeal an Argentinian attempt of incursion.

"Gentlemen, you will excuse me but I have a plane to Montevideo." Said Carine leaving the room.

In the march through Uruguay, only the first troops to enter were on their frames, prepared to fight. All the others who entered lately were wearing their parade uniforms and were entering the International Territory with their bands playing military marches.

From the sea, it was a detachment of the Southern-Southeastern Naval Command who first reached Uruguay with the destroyers Guarani, Potiguara, Tiete, Sao Francisco and Parahyba, the frigates Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina and the missile cruiser Duque de Caxias. These were greeted by the ships of the South Atlantic Command at the Montevideo Naval Base, where the Roman Admiral Esteban de Munoz received the French-Brazilian Admiral Jean Debret for the ceremony of handing over of the base.

Finally, also the Imperial Brazilian Air Force moved into the Uruguayan airbases, where the Roman airplanes were only waiting for the authorisation to leave.

Carine ne Britannia made then her entrance in Montevideo at 14:00h local time. She was mounting on a white horse, leading two squadrons of Imperial Dragoons and other three of infantry from the North towards the city centre. The troops were on their parade uniforms and the band was triumphally playing marches and songs of the Brazilian Army. Thousands of Uruguayans were on the streets greeting the new occupiers, while the Roman police was keeping the streets opened to allow the passage of the troops. These kept marching until Plaza del Gobierno, where was located the Governor's Palace. There waiting for Empress Carine were the High Commissioner, Count Etienne de Gaulle, the Deputy High Commissioner, Count Herman von Hindenburg, and the Commander of the 5th Division "Warsaw", Count Pyotr Dunin-Borkowski together with two squadrons of Polish Hussars in parade uniform.

Carine dismounted and went to greet them, together with Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Bragança. After this, the High Commissioner gave a brief speech about his tenure as administrator of Uruguay and wishing all the best to the new Brazilian administration. His speech was then followed by Carine's thanks to the Romans for the good administration of the territory and for the cooperation. Finally, the brief ceremony was concluded with the lowering of the Roman flag, with the playing of the Inno a Roma and the raising of the Brazilian flag, playiing the Hino da Independencia. After this, the Roman authorities finally left the city with their troops, who marched with their flags raised and playing Polish military marches. Although the ITU was still formally in place, this ceremony marked the begin of the Brazilian domination of the territory, that would have soon been renamed as Cisplatinean Province.

Press Updates

From BBC News, 15th of November, 2024

Central Workers' Committee announces general strike planned for the 1st of December. Imperial Ressurgence Party promises that will act as mediator between the Court and the Workers.

From Frankfurter Allgemeine, 17th of November, 2024

Emperor Julius to meet on December 7th in Tokyo with leaders of countries parties to the International Mandate to China. "The International Communiti cannot tollerate the slaughter of thousands of civilians." Has declared to the press Admiral Prince Scipione Valerio Borghese, Chief of Staff.

Author's Note

Dear readers,

This is the chapter I have posted few days ago by mistake. Now it should be making much more sense and as you can guess, the handing of the ITU to Brazil will have some consequences. Also, this week I have been posting more chapters, as during the past weeks I was less active and probably from next week for a few days to follow I will be absent again. As always, feel free to send me comments, questions or anything else.