While the gold evacuation in Kazan continued, the Reds were left in a precarious position, they were spread out and surrounded. They had lost much of their hard currency and they needed to secure the peace between some of the schools. For other schools meanwhile, they were beginning to pick up on what was happening and they knew they needed to do something about it. Fumie was looking at one of the papers she had on her about the news that the capture of Kazan had on them. Then the phone began to ring. Fumie decided to pick up the phone and answer it.
"Hello?" Fumie asked to see who it was that was on the other side of the phone.
"It's Manami from Kuromorimine and we learned that Stars and Stripes Middle School is attempting to reopen the Eastern Front by supporting the whites in the civil war. We're starting to panic over this and we want to ask if we should ship you millions of Yen in financial support to help you out to prevent this from happening." Manami explained that they wanted to prevent another front from opening and they knew they needed to do something about this. "Also we should end all offensive operations against you."
"Great, this should free up some of our more competent and experienced troops to fight against Kolchak." Fumie told Manami that she liked where this was going and the fact that their army was being strengthened with competent soldiers to fight against the enemies of the white armies.
"Shipment of money will come tonight and we should try our best to finish off the allied powers in the west." Manami replied before she hung up. For Fumie, this was great news. Her most potent students, who had fought against Kuromorimine for some time in the form of skirmishes,were being freed up to be used against the whites. For Nelly, Lola and Megumi, this was very bad news. However, the worst was yet to come.
Nelly had decided to scout ahead in the darkness of night time as she heard someone attempting to start a conversation with. She spotted Sofiya and Nonna talking to each other as they had some interesting things to say.
"Well it turned out I have to ask myself, even though you helped train our students for when Katyusha had invited you over to do so but my question is for you Sofiya, if you trained us, why are you fighting us?" Nonna asked Sofiya if she had an exclamation to all of this. Sofiya began to think about it.
"We were invited not by our general but by Admiral Kolchak who sensed an opportunity to take over the school but I don't think he's here to save Saunders from Communism but to impose his own vision over it. He's no better than Kay." Sofiya explained to Nonna that the Russian Soldiers weren't here for much of a purpose but to rather subjugate the school itself. Nelly continued to listen. "I think I should tell the Russian Soldiers to stand down and not attack you as we shouldn't be here to fight you Nonna." Sofiya explained that they shouldn't be fighting each other. Nonna began to think about it but if the Russians wanted to stop fighting the Reds and instead be under the orders to not engage, Nonna was going to take her chances and have her not fight Pravda.
"Okay our deal is secure but get the troops out of the area and back over the Urals." Nonna laid out the conditions for the deal to be met if they were to have peace. Sofiya was more than eager to sign this deal.
"We will as we are planning to evacuate and withdraw by morning." Sofiya told Nonna while signing the deal. Nonna smiled before she saluted Sofiya and left. Nelly watched with horror, it was clear that they had lost an important ally when it came to guarding them and this meant that the Gregor Legion along with the rest of their allies would be garrisoning the entire Trans-Saunders railroad and holding their forward positions at Kazan. Nelly knew they were truly alone.
Nelly walked over as she was flagged down by Megumi who noticed Nelly was in a rather odd mood.
"What's wrong, is there something on your mind?" Megumi asked Nelly if she had anything wrong.
"Yes, the Russians and Pravda have decided to make peace and this leaves us all alone in guarding a large portion of the school. Although I am impressed with our progress, I have grown extremely bitter by the news. Schools and countries I believed to be our friends are only using us to further their objectives which they don't even care about pursuing themselves and with the allies only willing to provide a few thousand people to help us, It's clear we need more if we are to keep going but with how things are turning out, We're not going to hold Kazan for very long." Nelly explained, the gold reserves were nothing more than a trap to lure the enemy in and try their best to trap them. Megumi nodded and she began to think.
"We should try figuring out what to do next and we've just packed up all of the gold and we're beginning to move east with it. As for holding Kazan, that is entirely up to you as the gold according to the admiral is the one thing he wanted. I tried my best to talk him out but the admiral insists that the gold will be used as payment for him and his soldiers' services." Megumi explained as she was split on what she wanted to do it was either hold the front line or begin to retreat. Nelly knew this decision could mean life or death for their entire army.
Eventually later, the Reds began to counter attack the next morning, with the Russians withdrawing their forces away or what Sofiya had, they knew they needed to hold. Nelly and Megumi were firing away as they were swarmed from three angles. Nelly opened up the pouch but she saw no pellets left for her rifle. Megumi looked on as she too saw something they didn't want.
"We're out of ammunition and we're lacking rifles." Nelly told Megumi that they were running out of supplies and they needed to begin falling back.
"Everyone retreat! We need to get out of here. We can't keep up this fight." Megumi shouted. The students from the Gregor Legion began to retreat. The Reds began to follow closely behind as they saw their enemy scatter. Among them was Nonna who was commanding an armored train.
"Looks like we got our wish, the Gregor Legion is in full retreat." Nonna told the group that the Gregor legion had begun to retreat. Among them was Alexandra who was riding on her horse.
"That's it, drive the group away." Alexandra explained while the Cavalry was going to pursue the Gregor Legion and hunt them down. Alexandra dismounted to see how much gold they had left. "Bad news Nonna, they got away with all of the gold." Alexandra explained to Nonna that the enemy had gotten away with all of their goods.
"Well we need to pursue and get the gold reserves back." Nonna explained. They knew they needed to make it their mission to find the missing gold. Alexandra remounted her horse and nodded with a sigh.
"Very well then, I feel like we're trying to make cavalry groups but the students are rather split on it. They think horses are old fashioned as they prefer a much more industrial type of war but with the steppe, this is perfect for mounted troops. Plus with the small groups of experienced riders we have such as myself, you, Konstantina and Nadezhda, we don't have enough riders to try to face down whatever the whites have. We need to expand the cavalry." Alexandra told Nonna that they needed to get more horses if they were going to overwhelm the white army. For Nonna, she began to think about it, getting more horses was going to help them out but this was going to take a while and they could use all the help they needed.
"Well we need to do it. I might as well give the call for more horses." Nonna explained to Alexandra that more horses were going to help them out. For now they needed to pursue the Gregor Legion and hunt them down.
"Okay that will help, let's go get them!" Alexandra shouted as she threw the hitches and caused the horse to gallop off. Nonna followed shortly afterward as they were going to hunt down the Gregor Legion.
The Gregor Legion was able to regroup as Nelly and Megumi were trying to figure out what to do next. They were huddled around as they didn't know what was going to happen.
"Looks like the entire front has collapsed and we're unable to do anything about it. We can't keep holding the front line. Lola is now in retreat as she is being pursued by cavalry." Megumi began as the situation was slowly growing desperate and starting to turn against them. Nelly looked at Megumi as she too didn't know what was going on.
"We should keep retreating. Alice and Naomi said they'll keep the path for our retreat open but not for the army under that dreaded Russian Admiral. He said he was going to have his army hold his forward position but with how overextended we are, we're not really going to hold for very long. It's a good thing we got the gold out when we had the chance because we're really going to need it." Nelly explained that they should continue to retreat and let the Red Army give chase until they were able to find a place to dig in and hold for now. Lola then came onto the scene with her battered army as the troops continued their retreat.
"It's bad out there. The Saunders Red Divisions keep hitting us hard. We're falling apart and I lost half of my troops in the course of just a couple of days." Lola explained that the situation was falling apart. They might as well continue to withdraw if it means getting out of there alive.
"Continue retreating, we should try our best to make sure we're one step ahead of the enemy." Megumi instructed. Lola knew Megumi was right, if they kept falling back they were going to leave for more suitable ground.
"Yes Megumi." Lola sighed. She knew this wasn't going to end well. With the Gregor Legion unable to put up any more resistance, they continued to retreat deeper into the vast Saunders wilderness, with Nonna, Alexandra, Ekaterina, Konstantina and Nadezhda having gathered around and launched another attack. The Gregor Legion continued to retreat as Lola fired her rifles off more now. She was covering the retreat while Megumi, Nelly and the rest of the Legion fell back. Lola paused for a bit as she saw the Reds, Ekaterina with her forces and cavalry were leading the attack and she looked ahead and saw the Russian soldiers that Kolchak had under his control getting crushed by the Red Army. Lola stood up and retreated. There was no hope in keeping the Admiral's own army suppoted and fully stocked and armed.
As the day wore to a close, Kolchak was furious. Not only did they give up Kazan but they were leaving behind equipment that they weren't able to carry. Nelly, Megumi and Lola looked at this and they were getting worried.
"Так больше не может продолжаться! Кто бы ни руководил этим, я бы хотел поговорить с ним." Kolchak shouted.
"Легион Грегора не создал никакого руководства с тех пор, как началась эта гражданская война. Она не знает, как управлять администрацией, ведь Нелли всего лишь студентка." One of his soldiers told Kolchak.
"К черту этот пушистый шарик! Я чувствую, что мы должны захватить оставшиеся сибирские войска, чтобы спасти Саундерс от коммунизма." Kolchak suggested that they should make a last ditch attempt and stage a coup to try to save the school. For the remaining soldiers under his command they liked this and they stood up and walked off. Megumi, Lola and Nelly were growing worried. Kolchak was going to take over and they didn't know how well this was going to sit with anyone.
"Kolchak has gone mad, We need to try to stop him before he's able to deal more damage to all of us. We were doing so well a couple days ago and now the situation is starting to turn against us. I'm just hoping that Earl Gray and Azumi finish up their war with Kuromorimine as therefore they can send supplies and more volunteers to help us." Megumi began as she was worried. For the others, they weren't so sure.
"If we do get a message from Azumi, tell her to come and bring her students to help us." Nelly suggested. Megumi liked the idea and maybe seeking help wasn't going to be so bad after all but their biggest concern was still Kolchak.
In the chaos of the Gregor Legion, they hadn't had the time to set up an administration or a leader to help lead the school's Siberian White Army. The doors swung open as Kolchak and his men marched on in with sympathetic officers behind him.
"С дороги!" Kolchak shouted. He shoved one of the men aside as he made his way to the center stage. He then got on it and began to make an announcement. He wanted to see what he was going to say. "Говорит Колчак, и я объявляю, что теперь я - Верховный правитель Сандерса. Никто не будет симпатизировать социализму в любой форме. Любой, кто будет замечен в предоставлении этим предателям пищи и крова, будет приговорен к суровому наказанию. А теперь пойдемте сражаться с коммунистами!" Kolchak announced that he was now the Supreme Ruler of Saunders. The Russians loved this but with Nelly watching in the background with Lola and Megumi, She turned to them as she didn't like where this was going.
"I am so disgusted by this coup and the fact that this crazy admiral decided to declare himself a dictator. I don't want to be facing the Reds as I don't really see much of a purpose for me and the Legion to continue fighting in." Nelly announced that she had no longer a reason to fight for Saunders as there really wasn't much left with this man making more decisions by this. Kolchak heard this and walked over to the three of them and he was in no mood for them talking behind his back.
"Ладно, уходи. Посмотрим, буду ли я ухаживать!" Kolchak shouted that if the three of them didn't like the fact that he had just declared himself the Supreme Ruler, they might as well leave the front and guard the rear. He didn't need them any more and he was going to raise his own army.
"Fine!" Megumi shouted. Nelly, Lola and Megumi left. Kolchak was already trying to rebuild the army to prepare to hold. Trust for Kolchak had fallen apart and now the foreigners were heading out.
In fact, most of the Siberian White Army didn't like Kolchak's decision to become the Supreme Ruler and so they left the front. Alice, Alisa, Naomi and Tsutsuji were chatting as they made up the bulk of the rear. They spotted the three students approaching and they wanted to see what was going on.
"You have left the front too?" Baby Lee asked if this was true.
"Yep. We're livid with Kolchak's decision, he thinks he's going to be the one to save Saunders from Communism but all he's going to do is drag us down deeper into the war and we're going to lose more troops." Nelly grumbled as she hated what was going on.
"Yeah, what does this admiral think he's doing? He's going to get us all killed one day." Naomi explained that she wasn't a fan of what exactly was happening. Tsutsuji remembered something and she knew she needed to tell the rest of them this.
"Also Megumi, Chi-Ha-Tan Academy which is my school have an ulterior motive for being in this Civil War. We're not here to get Saunders back into the war nor to fight Communism." Tsutsuji began. Megumi was shocked. Chi-Ha-Tan Academy had provided the most amount of volunteers but they had done the least amount of fighting. Tsutsuji continued to speak. "We're only here to secure our own interests in the region. To that end we're arming and financing Kazaki warlords who we believe help us ravage the east and destroy all of Kolchak's supplies. And even though our schools are fully committed to supplying the Siberian White Army, we just hope that most of these supplies never reach Kolchak. Whatever supplies that the Kazaki's wouldn't destroy would quickly disappear into the pockets of the corrupt officials Kolchak has placed. These are problems Kolchak does not know how to solve." Megumi and the others were listening in on this and they were curious about what was going on.
"So you girls foresaw this coming?" Megumi asked Tsutsuji if she was able to predict all of this happening.
"Yep. We might as well try our best to fight Kolchak internally before he gains too much power. As it turns out Kolchak, the admiral does not know a single thing about armies, politics or responsibilities. Even though we can say he was the right man in terms of his spirit and I wouldn't doubt his commitment, he wasn't the right man for the job." Tsutsuji explained the fact that the Admiral had spirit; he didn't have the knowledge on how to be an effective leader.
"So we're guarding the rear with you then?" Megumi asked if this was going to be the case. Megumi looked around to try to find Nelly but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Yep and you're more than welcome to stay." Tsutsuji told Megumi that she could help with the rear but they were still looking around for Nelly. Suddenly Nelly came running back as she looked like she had seen something terrible.
"Guys!" Nelly shouted. Everyone turned their heads to see what Nelly had to say. "It turned out because of the coup, one of the officers of the Gregor Legion who had been with us since day one and had led the capture of Kazan, had just retired to the train and shot herself. I was too late to do anything about it." Nelly told the group that one of the students couldn't take it anymore and decided to not get slaughtered by either the Red Army or Kolchak.
"Oh boy the situation is going downhill and it would only be a matter of time before the Reds attack again." Megumi sighed. She didn't know how much longer she was going to take this.
The frontline would eventually stabilize at the towns of Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk. Kolchak and his army were retreating and the coup had left the Siberian White Army in a state upon which it could never recover from. The Red Army had just proven itself that they were far stronger than the Red Guard that came before it but Kolchak wasn't the biggest threat to Fumie and her Red Army.
Just as the Red Army was beginning to turn the tide against Kolchak, Denikin made his move.
[A/N]: Short chapter but it turns out that the tide is beginning to turn against Kolchak. However, the focus is now shifting from Kolchak to Denikin as he is preparing to make his move against the Red Army and now with what is going on. I would say that Denikin and Wrangel are in a position to begin launching their attacks. Next few chapters will be centered around Denikin as he begins his offensive to deliver the second blow against the Reds. Kolchak is down for now and let's see the front shift. 4.55k views is needed, let's do this! See you later.