The battle of Moscow began on the 4th of March 1921 with a bombardment from the north by the Free Russian Empire the bombardment was aimed to fall around the edges of the city where the Imperial defenders were dug in against the Parliamentary forces. The initial assaults against the city proved unsuccessful with the First Royal Latvian division gutting themselves capturing the Chamber Theatre. But the assault pressed on coating the streets of Moscow in blood. As Michael II's forces pushed into the city the Trans-Siberian Railway was cut off by Parliamentarian's forces trapping the train containing the Imperial Regalia of the Russian State a capture that would prove most useful to the Parliamentary government.
The First Finnish division led the charge into the heart of Moscow with the Armoured Cars that had formed the core of their military tactics tearing through the defences raised by the Imperial forces as they drew near to the Kremlin. The Kremlin was the heart of the Imperial defences and the scattered remnants of the 2nd Guards Infantry Division were ordered to hold the ancient fortress. The attack began with the First Finnish Division battering down the gates and storming through into the square at the heart of the fortress. The aim was to capture the entire facility and they would pay a bloody price for it. Afterall Nicholas II had sowed the fields of Russia with rage and now Alexander IV would reap the bloodshed.
-Extract from Professor Harold Turtledove's book The Centre cannot hold: The Battle of Moscow
The battle of the Kremlin was incomprehensibly brutal to the people of the world at the time as the defenders knew that nothing they could do to hold off their inevitable defeat and knew that if they tried to surrender they would be executed by their commanding officer. The battle was ferocious with every room being a shoot out and doors transforming into death traps but slowly the Finnish forces advanced drawing closer to the heart of their offensive the Grand Kremlin Palace. The defenders prepared for their final stand doling out the last of the Vodka and distributing the last of the ammunition that the Imperial forces had in all of Moscow.
The assault on the Grand Kremlin Palace began with the last of the Armoured cars breaking through the gates and allowing the Finnish to establish a foothold in the building. As they moved in using the now ruined Armoured Car for cover, they began to find that some of their opponents ran out of ammunition within a few shots. Instead of retreating to cover those who had lost ammo fixed their bayonets and charged. As the Finnish pushed through the building their knifes and bayonets became stained with blood as the Russians reverted to melee combat as it was their only hope to hold out against the overwhelming Finnish forces.
But nothing lasts forever and after three days of fighting the last Imperial Soldier was killed attempting a breakout and the Grand Kremlin Palace fell silent as the city of Moscow fell to the Free Russian Empire. Nowhere was this seen more clearly then when the bloodstained banners of the Free Russian Empire and the United Kingdom of Finland and Estonia rose above Saint Basil's Cathedral in an iconic photo on the 20th June. Following the fall of Moscow the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Second Byzantine Empire, the Third French Republic, the United States of America, the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy all recognized the Russian Empire under Michael II as the legitimate government of Russia.
-Extract from Baldr's book An Asgard explains human History
As Moscow was evacuated led by Alexander IV and his government the western superpowers felt that it was best to deal with the potential disrupter to their newly favoured candidate and so the Royal Flying Corps were mobilized in secret. As the Imperial Train moved across the wastelands of Siberia a pair of Death Gliders streaked across the sky while this was not uncommon as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland used the Death Gliders to transport diplomats and one of the two Gliders contained a diplomat negotiating the extent of Japanese expansion into Russian Siberia. What that flight did is incredibly controversial to this day.
The Death Gliders were flying close to the ground over Siberia and the official reasoning is that a tree was to tall and the Death Glider needed to shoot it down. Why they did this instead of fling around or over the tree is unknown, yet it matters not. The tree was shot, and it collapsed onto the train line straight onto the carriage containing the Tsar of Russia. The tree tore through the roof of the train and tore through the floor lying across the train tracks. Several people had been killed by the tree a pair of servants, Roman von Ungern-Sternberg and most importantly Tsar Alexander IV had been speared through the chest by a branch and he bleed out in the wilds of Siberia. So died Alexander IV as some have called the last true Tsar.
-Extract from Edvard Radzinsky's book Alexander IV: The Teenage Tsar
When word came that Moscow had been secured alongside the Imperial Regalia Michael II ordered that preparations be made for his coronation as Tsar and the rebuilding of Moscow. When word reached Moscow of this decision the city was set ablaze with rebuilding and refurbishing as the city was transformed from a Battlefield into a site worthy of a coronation for an Emperor. The Cathedral of the Dormition had been captured early in the battle and so had little damage and it was ready for the coronation within a week of work. As the sun rose over Moscow on the 19th of July Michael II rode into the heart of Moscow flanked by the Head of the Duma and Mannerheim symbolising the beginning of change in the Russian Empire.
By the Grace of God, We, Michael Romanov, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod; Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Chersonese Taurian, Tsar of Georgia; Lord of Pskov and Grand Prince of Smolensk, , Volhynia, Podolia,; Prince of Semigalia, Samogitia, Belostok, Karelia, Tver, Yugorsky land, Perm, Vyatka, Bolgar and others; Lord and Grand Prince of Nizhny Novgorod, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersk, Udorsky land, Obdorsk, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and all of the northern countries Master; and Lord of Iberia, Kartli, and Kabardia lands and Armenian provinces; hereditary Sovereign and ruler of the Circassian and Mountainous Princes and of others; Lord of Turkestan; Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, and Oldenburg, and others, and others, and others.
-Extract from Tony Abbott's book God Save the King: A child's history of Coronation
The Russian Civil-War had broken out at a vital time for the Empire of Japan the Japanese military had been building up on the Chinese border with the plans uncovered by historians revealing that the aim was to conquer Manchuria and establish a puppet state much like the Empire of Korea. When the war broke out the Japanese military was divided with the Navy supporting moving north into the now open Russian Siberia while the Army advocated for an involvement in the Chinese Civil War to support the Qing dynasty. Then the civilian government found out about the militaries plans and they were livid.
The Emperor and the Prime Minister jointly ordered the resignation of every major military commander involved in the planning for the interventions and began to decrease funding from the military. As the military began to feel themselves being strangled by the lack of funding, they realised that they needed an excuse to stay at their current seize and so they began preparation for the Yalu incident.
The Yalu incident is often compared to the USS Maine incident that launched the Spanish-American War but that is an unfair comparison. The USS Maine is generally seen to have been destroyed by a technical problem and was overblown by the American population and government to cause a war. The Yalu incident was in no way an accident and many historians have earned their pay on debunking Japanese nationalists claims that their intervention into the Russian Civil War was provoked. However, that is not this book and instead I will give a general overview of the incident and then focus more on the intervention.
The Yalu Incident was dominated by the IJN Momi a Japanese destroyer that was patrolling the Russo-Korean border when a small boat containing 'Russian Nationals' started broadcasting for help. The Momi moved to aid the boat and had reached the location of the boat when it blew up tearing a hole in the side of the warship condemning it to the sea. As the ship sunk a patrol of Japanese and Korean infantrymen were shot at across the Russian border killing three of the men.
The Japanese public's reaction to the Yalu incident was a massive outpouring of support to the military enough that the civilian government allowed the military to launch a counter operation against 'Russian terrorists' the intervention would be known as Operation Momi in the western world. The intervention had three main strikes. One from the Koran border was aimed to capture Vladivostok and the remainder of the Russian pacific coast between Korea and Sakhalin. The second strike involved the Japanese securing the northern half of Sakhalin and then aid the first strike. The last strike involved the Japanese launching landings across the Kamchatka peninsula and moving north to secure the Russian side of the Bering's Strait.
-Extract from Billy Brag's book The Rising Sun in the east: Japan following the Stargate