The elevator doors slid to either side as they opened. Alexander, along with high-ranking officials, walked down the hallway and made their way to the brain of the operation, the Command Ops.

The staffers present in the Command Ops were surprised and stopped what they were doing momentarily. Ever since the Command Ops convened an emergency meeting to deal with the threat of the Britannia Empire and the rest of Europa, it was the Queen who took the helm.

Now, it was Alexander. The feeling of reassurance washed over them, sighing, at last, their emperor returned and will take command of the country at war.

"Your Majesty," the military staffers performed a salute while the civilian staffers bowed their heads.

"As you were," Alexander waved his hand down, beckoning them to sit. "What's the situation?

"Every one of our bases is on alert, the Air Force will be flying in five minutes, and if the moment calls, we can mobilize our entire western military districts to counter an invasion from the Deutschland Empire and the Austrean Empire," Alexei reported as he pointed at the LCD screen showing an animation of the mobilization of the Ruthenian Imperial Army and Air Force.

"Good, tell me about the movement of the Deutschland Empire and the Austrean Empire," Alexander took his seat, propping his chin up with his hands.

The image shown on the LCD screen changed, it was aerial footage captured by their reconnaissance aircraft. "As you can see here, Your Majesty, the Deutschland Empire, and the Austrean Empire are mobilizing their armored, mechanized, and infantry forces around Warsaw. It seemed they set their eyes on that city. And with no way of defending it, the city will fall within hours."

"What do you mean you can't defend Warsaw?" Alexander locked his gaze with Alexei.

"Your Majesty, our closest military force is 200 kilometers away. They'll capture the city before our forces even arrive," Alexei explained."So are you suggesting that we are going to ignore them? Accept them as a loss? The people living there have no idea that they are at war with their neighbors because we kept the information out of the public. It's going to blow in my face, do all means necessary to protect Warsaw."

"We can dispatch the Fifth Air Force," Alexei suggested. The Fifth Air Force is a numbered Air Force of the Ruthenia Empire headquartered in Kyiv consisting of 800 aircraft consisting of fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, aerial refueling aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, military transport aircraft, sophisticated radar systems, and many more. Their main responsibility is to protect the western front of the Ruthenia Empire.

"Send them," Alexander ordered and Alexei nodded dutifully.

Alexander's gaze flickered to the LCD screen displaying an image of Deutschland soldiers, tanks, and vehicles. It displayed the image for about two minutes before turning in a new image showing the map of Europa. The Ruthenia Empire is marked red while the coalition forces are marked blue.

Honestly speaking, the Ruthenia Empire is at disadvantage. Even if they have modern military equipment on their side, their quantity is low. The reason is some military equipment is not yet mass-produced. The Imperial Dynamic Systems, the main supplier of weapons to the Ruthenia Empire, his company, was in the process of constructing new plants to accommodate the huge demands.

What's more, most of the materials used to build the military equipment came from abroad, specifically in South America, South East Asia, and Africa. All of them are out of reach of the Ruthenian Navy, so they'll be easily barred by the navy's coalition forces as they'll have to enter the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Ocean.

Without foreign bases to protect the shipping route of the valuable materials is one of the major flaws of the Ruthenia Empire's national defense. When the war ends, he'll focus his foreign policy on acquiring territories outside Europa and Asia.

Back in Europa, aside from the number disadvantage, the great Europan plains posed a major threat to the Ruthenia Empire. The flat lands of Eastern Europa served no geological protection and hence, it can be easily invaded.

"Your Majesty, I have contacted the Fifth Air Force and they are now mobilizing as we speak," Alexei informed, causing Alexander to snap out of his train of thought.

"How will we protect ourselves from invasion?" Alexander asked. "Eastern Europa is made of plains, the enemy will steamroll us."

"Your Majesty, we have also made plans about it just in case. We'll simply put an iron curtain consisting of tanks, artillery, and fortifications. Not a single enemy tank and troops are going to get in," Alexei said.

"Very well, now that we have every means to protect our western theater, let's look outside. What about the Yamato Empire or the Anatolia Empire? Did they declare war on us as well?"

"Not yet, Your Majesty but we can expect them to side with the coalition soon," Sergei answered Alexander's question and continued. "The Deutschland Empire and the Anatolia Empire had a secret alliance. We knew because we have been monitoring them. The Deutschland Empire will invest to improve the infrastructure and military of Anatolia and in exchange, they'll come to their aid. The Yamato Empire is still recovering from the Second Rutho-Yamato war but the Britannia Empire might be able to get them to join in the war," Sergei said,

"What do you mean?" Alexander leaned forward, interested in the reason.

"Despite the two countries having a bittersweet relationship after the Britannia Empire not supporting them in the Second Rutho-Yamato Empire, the fact that every great power in Europa teamed up to beat Ruthenia Empire could be a convincing factor for the Britannia Empire to use, telling them that they can get exact revenge on us and take back their lands," Sergei explained.

"Are they going to be a threat should they join their side?" Alexander asked.

"No, Your Majesty, we have the Eastern Military District, the Pacific Fleet, and the Choson Empire blocking the Yamato Empire. Should they decide to join, our combined forces in the Far East will descend upon them. However, we still have to look out for them and hope that they won't join because our supplies will be divided. Fighting two theaters will be a logistical challenge for our military."

"Let the Choson Empire handle them," Alexander suggested. "I'm sure with our military support and aid, the Choson Empire can fare well against the Yamato Empire. I'm sure the Black Sea Fleet is alerted for the possible attack of the Anatolian Empire, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. As Alexei said, earlier, all our military bases are on high alert," Sergei said, reassuring Alexander.

"Still, why the heck is the Francois Republic turned its back on us?"action

"The reason doesn't matter, Your Majesty," Sevastian chimed in. "They betrayed us and they are now enemies. It's a fact that we have to accept."

"Enemies...huh?" Alexander mumbled before returning to his normal voice. "Now that you mention that, our enemies are not the countries and its citizens, but the Black Hand!" Alexander announced.

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"It's the Black Hand that is manipulating everything behind the scenes. It may not be confirmed but it's what my guts are telling me. The Britannia Empire's new Queen, Anne Edinburgh has been suspicious from the start."

"What makes you say that, Your Majesty," Sergei asked.

"As I said, it's what my guts are telling me. Well, we can just ask the person herself, am I right?" Alexander smiled and continued. "Anyways, let's tell the people that we are at war, shall we?"