"You will pay the price!" the Russian ambassador snorted coldly at Karl Renner, then slamd the door and left the presidential palace.
Just like Alfred Maximilian Gruenther, the commander of the U.S. forces in Europe, the Russian ambassador also bombarded Karl Renner with sharp questions the mont they t.
However, unlike the Aricans who chose a more cautious approach, the Russians were far more aggressive, making direct military threats right away.
Karl Renner stuck to his usual diplomatic phrases, but his stance remained firm. Naturally, the eting ended in hostility.
As the Russian ambassador departed, Renner's face turned grim.
Although a full-scale war was unlikely, there was no doubt that, given the Russians' current attitude, a local conflict was almost certain.
Renner's guess proved correct. Not long after the ambassador left, Russian troops that had been preparing to deploy to Czechoslovakia and Hungary suddenly sped up their movents.
In addition to the original suppression forces advancing from Ukraine, the Russians also sent two more units, one from Poland and the other from Romania.
Poland, which had been gradually moving away from Russian influence, imdiately lodged a protest.
But Russia, already on edge, completely ignored it.
In fact, since Poland had played a key role in igniting the rebellion, the Russians now hated them even more.
Instead of rely passing through, the Russian army forcefully suppressed Poland on the spot, taking back full control.
The newly restructured Polish governnt was disbanded and replaced again by Russian-backed officials, solidifying Poland's role as Moscow's stepping stone in Europe.
However, just as Russia finished crushing Poland, its two suppression units entering Czechoslovakia and Hungary were severely attacked.
Surprisingly, it wasn't the Austrian forces that struck first, but the national armies of Hungary and Czechoslovakia themselves.
Although the fighting had just begun, Austria had been planning this for months.
They had already sent many officers, transported large quantities of weapons, and bribed local officials to start training anti-Russian factions in both countries.
Czechoslovakia and Hungary were never truly poor nations.
Though they suffered major setbacks during World War I with the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they had already recovered economically before World War II.
In fact, by European standards—especially in Central and Eastern Europe—these countries were relatively wealthy.
Czechoslovakia, for example, had only 120,000 square kiloters of land but was the world's seventh largest industrial power, with an economy even stronger than Italy's.
People there were used to good lives.
But after coming under Russian control, things deteriorated due to Stalin's policies. After a brief post-war recovery, economic conditions worsened year by year.
On top of that, the countries had already suffered harsh punishnt from Russia for siding with Germany in World War II, deepening resentnt.
That's why they beca the first to try and break free from Russia's grip.
With Austrian help, many young n were organized into resistance forces, including a large number of World War II veterans—after all, only ten years had passed since the war ended.
These n quickly ford effective fighting forces.
Austria also supplied them with advanced weapons, including many future guerrilla warfare classics.
Among them were the RPG-7, which Russia itself was still developing, but Austria had already mass-produced and upgraded, and the famous "Red Eye" man-portable anti-aircraft missile. (TL/N: The Redeye is designed to be shoulder-fired by a single operator and uses infrared homing to track and intercept enemy aircraft, particularly at low altitudes.)
So, in a carefully planned ambush at the border, the Russian vanguard troops were heavily hit, losing over a thousand soldiers.
While Russian forces were being delayed by the local armies of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, Austria's chanized forces took the opportunity to take full control of both countries.
By the ti the Russian military regrouped and prepared to counterattack, they were facing Austrian troops directly.
The original guerrilla forces had already withdrawn to the rear to reorganize and rearm.
Facing the Austrians, the Russian front-line officers acted cautiously and hesitated to advance further.
At the sa ti, Russian leadership in the rear was also uncertain—fighting Austria was a much bigger deal than suppressing Hungary or Czechoslovakia.
So while they kept protesting Austria's actions to the U.S. and Western countries, they were also holding ergency internal etings.
The U.S., U.K., and France couldn't make up their minds either.
They sent diplomatic notes to both sides, calling for restraint, which led to a strange and tense standoff on the front lines.
Then Austria made its next move.
They officially announced to the world that, after ergency internal referendums, Austria, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary had all agreed—by 99%, 90%, 80%, and 70% approval rates respectively—to form a new country: the United Kingdom of Austria.
They also declared the formation of a joint cabinet and parliant made up of elected representatives from the four nations.
The symbolic head of state would be a 12-year-old girl, Carol Kahn, a "shared honorary citizen" of all four nations, who would serve as Queen.
The announcent sent shockwaves across the globe.
Josh's ho phone started ringing off the hook—well, not really, since she had already had the phone line disconnected.
In any case, Ouroboros didn't rely on such outdated tech, so none of the important work was delayed.
But the major powers—Russia, the U.S., the U.K., and France—were instantly shaken.
The U.K. and France, who had hesitated over whether to support Austria, were the first to jump out and strongly denounce the new United Kingdom of Austria.
They even labeled Austria the "New Axis" and urged the U.S. and Russia to form a joint military coalition to intervene if Austria refused to dissolve the so-called union.
They were truly afraid.
After paying a terrible price in two world wars to destroy the root of evil—Prussia—they now saw Austria trying to rebuild sothing very similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (TL/N: Prussia was a historical region and kingdom in Central and Eastern Europe, initially centered on the area of the forr State of the Teutonic Order. It rose to prominence through the expansion of the Hohenzollern dynasty, playing a key role in the unification of Germany in the 19th century and becoming the dominant German state)
Even though the new na was different, anyone with eyes could see what this "united kingdom" really was.
And when Winston Churchill—over 80 and recently retired again—returned to the streets to deliver anti-Austria speeches, the global backlash reached a fever pitch.
Protests erupted in many countries, with angry citizens storming factories, smashing AI robots, and burning Austrian-made products.
These waves of international outrage began shaking the confidence of citizens within the newly united Austrian bloc.
At the sa ti, the previously hesitant Russian military gathered ten divisions on the border.
Then, without warning, they opened fire on Austria's defensive lines.
The skies above the border were soon filled with MiG-21 fighters.
Fine. Since you're the one who fired first—Austria, which had been fully prepared for this mont, no longer held back.
Due to the intense arms race in recent years between Russia and the United States, and influenced by Austria's innovations in armored warfare during the Yugoslav conflict, Russia had also completed a major modernization of its armored forces.
The outdated IS-3 heavy tanks and T-34 dium tanks had been phased out, relegated to local militias and satellite states.
Russia's new main force had fully upgraded to the T-50 and T-55 tanks.
In Josh's original tiline, there was no T-50 tank. The so-called T-50 here was essentially the original tiline's T-55, while today's T-55 was actually an early debut of what was supposed to be the T-62.
Due to the butterfly effect, both these main battle tanks were significantly stronger than their historical counterparts.
Additionally, the Mil Mi-24 Hind, a versatile attack helicopter that originally appeared in the 1960s, had now also entered Russia's arsenal years ahead of schedule.
Under normal conditions, these tanks and helicopters were more than capable of countering Western gear like the AMX-30 main battle tank and the Eurocopter "Puma" or "Jaguar" equivalents, which had perford outstandingly in Yugoslavia.
But unfortunately for Russia, just like in the air, Austria's army was once again "cheating."
As Russia's armored divisions advanced swiftly, a new kind of tank suddenly appeared across the Austrian front—A tank with a highly futuristic design and two long "tails":
The MBT-X8 "Guardian" tank.
Straight out of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, this was the most powerful Allied main battle tank, with British-sourced technology.
Its combined capabilities in armor, firepower, and target acquisition far outclassed almost all Russian ground units—except, perhaps, the fearso Apocalypse Tank.
In fact, this tank's specs would be considered practical even in a space-age setting, let alone a terrestrial battlefield.
It had one major weakness, though—very limited anti-air capabilities.
But with Austria's current air force, primarily equipped with F-4X fighters, would Russia even have the chance to gain air superiority?
If Austria were using regular F-4 Phantoms, Russia's MiG-21 would have the upper hand.
The Phantom, after all, was a multi-role heavy fighter, while the MiG-21 was a sleek, nimble air superiority aircraft.
That's also why, in the original tiline, the MiG-21 had a surprisingly favorable kill ratio against the F-4 in many engagents.
But the current F-4X in Austrian service had been massively upgraded—It could now match the F-15 in performance.
And even though the MiG-21 once managed to damage an F-15 in a one-on-one dogfight in the original tiline, this was the exception, not the rule.
In large-scale battles, the generational gap between these aircraft beca painfully obvious.
The result? A crushing defeat for Russia's forces.
But Austria didn't overextend.
After destroying the Russian invasion force, it did not launch an offensive into Russian territory.
This was a key difference from the likes of Nazi Germany, Hydra, or the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The newly ford United Kingdom of Austria had no major ambitions for expansion.
Of course, for a country with a military strength numbering in the millions, losing ten divisions was hardly catastrophic for Russia.
After its initial defeat, the Russian leadership quickly voted to continue the war.
Khrushchev, whose hold on power was still fragile, would not allow such a humiliating loss under his watch.
He was even starting to consider using nuclear deterrence.
anwhile, seeing Russia's setback, Britain and France began to take action.
They started deploying troops to West Germany.
Although the Arican, British, and French zones had already been rged during the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), British forces had never fully withdrawn.
They still had nurous military bases and nearly 100,000 troops stationed on German soil.
The mission of these troops had shifted—from occupying Germany to countering Russian aggression.
In Josh's original tiline, it wasn't until the U.K. officially left the European Union in 2020 that it returned its last military base in Germany.
But now, in this alternate reality, the British troops still stationed in Germany—alongside freshly deployed French forces—had suddenly found themselves acting as the vanguard against Austria.
It was at this mont that the newly crowned 12-year-old Queen Carol Kahn, encouraged by her father Josh Kahn, stepped onto the world stage for the first ti, delivering a powerful global address.
She began by expressing the shared desire of the four Austrian nations for unity and peace, passionately praising the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence promoted by Eastern powers. (TL/N: The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, initially promoted by India and China, are: mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. These principles were formally articulated in a 1954 agreent between India and China concerning trade and intercourse between Tibet and India)
Then she declared that while the newborn United Kingdom of Austria did not seek war, it would not fear war either.
Even in the face of nuclear threats from global powers, there would be no compromise.
She then made two major announcents:
The official founding of the United Kingdom of Austria on February 1, 1957, marked by a grand military parade in Vienna, inviting all nations to attend. This symbolic date echoed the original formation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in February 1867.
The launch of a long-range strategic nuclear weapons program called Project Farstar, with a first nuclear test scheduled for January 31, 1957.
At first, the global community didn't react strongly to the early parts of her speech.
But once Project Farstar was ntioned, panic set in.
Austria had nuclear weapons? Since when?!
The British and French, who had been loudly threatening Austria just days earlier, suddenly panicked.
France hadn't yet built its first nuke at this point.
Britain, anwhile, had developed nuclear weapons by 1953—but only had a few test warheads, with limited delivery options (primarily aircraft).
As for Russia, it imdiately halted all military operations.
Khrushchev, the current Soviet leader, suddenly rembered that back in the day, Austria had assisted in Soviet nuclear developnt.
However, that had been under Stalin, and while Khrushchev had been close to the dictator, he hadn't been privy to all the classified programs.
Worse, so of the intelligence agencies that knew more had been disbanded under his leadership.
Now uncertain about Austria's actual nuclear strike capability, he was forced to consider the devastating risks of a nuclear war.
Of course, Khrushchev wasn't too worried about the vast core of his own territory—after all, Austria's nukes likely couldn't reach that far.
But when it ca to his satellite states, he couldn't care less if one or two were wiped off the map.
And during all this chaos, the one country that should have been the most vocal—the United States—remained strangely silent.
There was a good reason for that: HYDRA had made its move.
Thanks to Josh's support, HYDRA had rapidly expanded its influence in the U.S. over the past few years, and now practically controlled the legislative branch.
And HYDRA's High Council knew very well—Josh himself had once handed over nuclear research data.
Now that Josh's daughter was Queen of the United Kingdom of Austria, and with Austria's robust European industrial base (largely Josh-built),
no one on the HYDRA Council believed Austria didn't have nukes.
Given this, they unanimously pushed for the U.S. to stay out of it.
There was nothing to gain from direct confrontation—and far too much to lose.
Amid this bizarre and tense global atmosphere, January 31 finally arrived.
Under the watchful eyes of global radar systems, a missile launched from deep within the Alps.
It soared through the skies over Germany, Denmark, and Norway, streaking toward the North Pole.
The mont it left German airspace, every monitoring nation's observers went pale.
That range…Was insane.
--
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