“Yes, Your Majesty, thank you for receiving my call, I’m honored,” Mikhail said reverently after hearing the familiar voice at the end of the line.

“Tell me what’s going on there, Mikhail. You said that this is an emergency so spill it out and I’ll see what I can do,” Alexander said with an assuring voice.

“Very well, Your Majesty. So I just met the informant we had been in contact with in the Kuomintang. He warned us that there will be an attack at the International Legation Quarter at approximately four hours’ time in Han. We lack the vehicles to get us out of here and basically every legation is on their own, not minding helping each other.”

“Four hours? That’s quite convenient intel,” Alexander huffed.

“I basically said the same thing, Your Majesty. It was too late for him to inform us about the attack. While I was waiting for you to receive my call, I have already ordered my staffers here to find out about everything in Beijing and what I found is something not pleasant. The government of the Han Dynasty is busy quelling down a rebellion at all fronts, they can’t provide us security so we are on our own for our defense. The roads are also being blocked by the Boxers’ sympathizers, phone lines from other legations are being cut and they can’t contact their government for support. They are lining up outside just to make a call to Your Majesty, and I fear that at any moment, our phone lines will be cut off.”

When Mikhail ended the brief summary of their situation at the International Legation Quarter, Alexander’s sigh reached his ears.

“Okay, I understand the situation. Ruthenian comes first. I’ll convene an emergency meeting with the Joint Chief of Staff as soon as possible and look for options. Currently, the Han Dynasty is in a state of civil war, threatening your safety, which makes the protocol strike back. I’ll do everything in my power to get you out of there safely.”

“Thank you for such compassionate words, Your Majesty. It is truly reassuring. We’ll see what we can do to hold down the fort while we wait for your help. I will end the call now.”

Alexander gave him a prompting huff, permitting him to return the telephone back to its cradle.

He rubbed the bridges of his nose before putting his glasses on and calling out a name.

“Denise!”

“What is it, Your Excellency,” Denise, the personal assistant of Mikhail, entered his office upon hearing her name.

“Tell those staffers out there from different legations that I’m finished using the phone. They can now call their government. And continue burning down any sensitive documents related to the Hanese Government. We can’t afford to let them see it.”

“As you wish, Your Excellency.”

***

Back at the capital city of the Ruthenian Empire, St. Petersburg. In the General Staff Building, Alexander, along with his security details marched down the hallway with celerity to get as quickly as possible into the Command Ops.

Three minutes later, Alexander arrived at the Command Ops. Civilians and military personnel inside the Command Ops stopped what they are doing to give a salute to the arriving Command in Chief.

“I see that everyone is present,” Alexander commented, glancing at each person one by one as he continued walking.

Instead of sitting in his respective chair, Alexander walked all the way in front of the large LCD screen mounted on the wall that shows a detailed map of Beijing.

“I can assume that you know about the situation we are dealing with here, am I right?”

“Yes Your Majesty,” the Minister of Defense, Alexei Lavrov said. “We got here as soon as we received your call and we are now ready to take orders.”

“Good because my people there are stuck in the International Legation Quarter and are waiting to be rescued. Time is of the essence as there are only approximately three hours and twenty minutes before the Boxers arrive and kill everyone inside. So I’m open to all military options you are going to propose.”

“Your Majesty, that time frame given to us is not even accurate,” Alexei began. “Please take a look at this photo.”

The image shown on the LCD changed into an aerial photo taken by surveillance aircraft of the Imperial Ruthenian Air Force.

“We have been watching the situation ever since the crisis erupted in Han, Your Majesty, as we deemed it as a threat to national security to the Ruthenian Empire. Now, what you are seeing there is a battalion-sized Boxers militia equipped with heavy machine guns, technicals, and armored vehicles stolen from the military of the Hanese government marching towards the International Quarter Legation. To get back to the point, those photos are three hours old and we calculated their estimated time of arrival based on the distance traveled using this photo as a point of reference. They don’t have three hours and twenty minutes, Your Majesty, they only have one hour and fifteen minutes.”

“If I may add Your Majesty, there’s also a suspicious movement inside the political ring of the Hanese government. Possible involvement of the government itself to drive out the foreigners. So we can’t assume that all their weapons are stolen as it can be a gift to them,” The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei, added.

Alexander ran a hand across his face as he studied what they just said to him as well as the image before him. He was not a history geek back in his original world but he is familiar with the rebellion that occurred in China in the early 1900s. The only difference here is that it took twenty more years later and they are armed and better equipped. The timeline of this world is kind of funny to him as not everything goes exactly as the one his world had.

Well, no matter the case, as the Emperor and Command and Chief, he has to act swiftly to save his people in the International Legation Quarter.

“So, how do we extract them out?”

“Since there is only one hour and fifteen minutes before the Boxers arrive at the International Legation Quarter, there are no feasible options we can take to get them out of there in time. What we can do is stall the movement of the Boxers by launching a missile at this bridge in the Jurna river.”

The LCD screen zoomed in to the bridge Alexei was referring to.

“Missile?”

“You have been briefed about the Prompt Global Strike right Your Majesty?” Alexei asked.

“Yes,” Alexander confirmed. “It’s a military operation where we used Super Heavy Bomber Aletina to bomb a strategic location. Last used in the Rutho-Yamato war in Busan. Why?”

“Because there was an addition to the military operation, Your Majesty. The rocket you call the Minuteman missile was just recently commissioned to execute one of the Imperial Ruthenian Air Force core missions, Global Strike. Instead of a nuclear warhead, we use a conventional one. It is faster than the bomber to the point those primitive Boxers won’t have time to react.”

“All that to blow a single bridge?” Alexander inquired as he had not seen it as a cost-effective solution. The minuteman missile is an expensive rocket for the purpose of delivering nuclear warheads to certain targets. His generals and military staff knew that so why are they suggesting that?

“This is to boost the morale of our troops, officers, and generals, as well as a show of force to the rest of the world, sending a clear message that we can reach them no matter the distance,” Alexei said.

“Well, if what you said is true then let’s go for that,” Alexander agreed, and immediately after, two men in suits brought a briefcase to the table.

They opened it and beckoned Alexander to come forward.

“Your Majesty, this one is called the Black Box. It contains the launch codes, verification codes, as well as the listing of every classified location capable of launching nuclear weapons.”

Alexander looked at it closely. There are only five silos across the Ruthenia Empire, the rest are still under construction.

“Your Majesty, should we proceed?”

“All this talking, do we have a plan to safely extract our people out before I give out an order?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, we can send a helicopter to their location but the streets are narrow for them to land so we’ll have to lift them up one by one. We will also send a team of special forces to help the friendly militias inside the International Legation Quarter as well as to cover the extraction process.”

“Good, that’s all I want to hear, now how do I authorize the use of the rocket?”

“You can give your command by using this phone of this Black Box, Your Majesty, are you considering it?”

“Yes,” Alexander nodded his head and grabbed the phone off his hand.