World War I Won't Follow My Script

I'd long since abandoned any expectation that World War I would unfold exactly as I remembered it. My little Korea had grown far stronger than the thoughts I'd harbored that night when it was kidnapped into Joseon. Of course, I still planned to trigger the war itself no matter what. Hell, I could just station my own assassin as backup. From what I knew, that assassination had been a freak chain of coincidences anyway. So all I had to do was become one of those "coincidences" myself.

But as with any such plot, I always had to plan for failure. For instance, what if the Crown Prince got possessed by someone right before the hit and dodged the bullets with some insane drift move? Or how would I know if that suspiciously stylish mustachioed Kaiser threw his body into stopping the Schlieffen Plan and somehow held off a two-front war? The world was full of failures, and World War I could flop too. Sure, with the world so cramped, some other form of world war was inevitable. The real question was whether it'd truly favor Korea.

My answer to that was simple: Make Korea strong, and surround it with more allies than lackeys. Stick to those two principles, and we're golden. That's why I chose Britain, America, and the looooong Soviet Union as allies.

"How should we handle it, sir?"

"Leave it be."

I ordered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them to just forward the German Kaiser's secret letter—where he called himself Kaiser and justified his palace coup—to Gojong as is. See? The war had already started ages ago. I had zero intention of stopping him from teaming up with Gojong, or Gojong with him. It was the perfect combo of history's losers, after all.

"More importantly, tell them to map out Germany's terrain and train stations properly through Sweden. More precisely."

We could get Russian terrain maps sponsored by Russia itself, but not Germany. Reading that secret letter from Germany hardened my resolve. They clearly saw me as the Red side—no, Blue side. Definitely not their ally. I'd rebuffed their overtures pretty hard, after all. And with them already on hold by Britain, there was no room for argument in their thinking.

So it was time to stick a knife right in their ribs. I decided to sabotage the first country they'd try to woo.

'Ah, this is called the "tunnel" and "transversal railway." It crosses the entire Japanese archipelago.'

'Ooh, sugoi!'

'And this is the "hydropower generator" and "electric furnace." A steelmaking method specialized in turning scrap into steel.'

'Ooooh!'

'Korea has plenty of coal but high electricity demand, so it wouldn't pay off just to build them. But in rainy Japan, it definitely would.'

'Just our thanks.'

With those, Japan's coal-based steel industry wouldn't grow much anyway—and it wasn't meant to, ever. No big loss.

'Hyungnim, could this unworthy little brother ask a favor?'

'?'

'Please, just a bit of that awesome tractor tech for us?'

'Just buy it. It's already dirt cheap domestically—what more do you want?'

'Then how about cars, at least…'

'?!'

'Knew you had it…'

'We're developing some, but I plan to keep them from running anyway. Still want it?'

'?!!'

'I'll hook you up with Ford cars bought from America. If you wanna make your own, start with that—Nissan, I mean, Japanese cars.'

'Just our thanks! But, uh, mind if I ask why you're not using them?'

Because war's about to break out, duh? We're already feverish building rail lines everywhere for bikes, buses, trucks, tractors. Add car lines on top? No thanks. I had no plans to let passenger cars roam Korea's roads right now. Why bother? What's the difference from oversized rickshaws?

Cars were perfect accident machines at this stage. Trucks for officials or buses for soldiers were fine—limited numbers, vetted drivers on schedules. But cars? Civilians driving them willy-nilly. And "willy-nilly" scaled perfectly with accident rates. Expensive road-hogs without safety checks—ideal for bandits in the wilderness or gangster human traffickers. Traffic jams stretching commutes? Bonus.

Cars reduce commute times? Bullshit. They're the reason commutes exist. My Korea had neither cars nor commutes right now. Just buses and trains for that.

So yeah, tell 'em to shove it. No cars in my Korea yet. Armored cars, though? Cranking them out full steam.

'But cars are cool, right?'

'Cool as hell. Dangerously so. That's why we're developing them—for export.'

My brother, but sometimes he's a total pervert. Claims cars suck structurally so no domestic use, but exports them anyway. How does a brain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠work like that?

'Honestly, without using them ourselves, quality and improvements might lag. But we'll get Japan's cooperation on that. Cool?'

'Of course. Joint ventures welcome anytime. You're saying you'll help on pricing?'

'Spot on. If it's for cars for the next 30 years, we'll flood you with just transport fees.'

'Yoshi!'

I didn't know if Japan could make cars through the world wars and interwar period, but I promised 30 years anyway. Same as the 40-year beef contract with America—they had to ship beef to Korea wartime or not. That was the deal. The American "China" never dreamed they'd run short on beef. They figured they'd industrialize by selling grain, never imagining their own shortages. Japan wouldn't foresee rubber shortages either. Oil? They'd manage somehow.

So, Japan's sabotage was done for now. With faith in the future, they'd ignore far-off Germany's words and not screw with Korea. China? France and Britain would handle it. Qing? I'd smash them like rats anytime.

'Oh right, hyungnim.'

'?'

'You never mention oil.'

'You jumped on electricity supply first.'

'?'

'…'

Silence fell between Japan and Korea. Both imported oil in barrels from Britain, America, Netherlands. No real ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alternatives—that was common knowledge. But to Japan, Korea's carefree attitude toward this critical resource from that sly bastard nation was suspicious as hell. Did he secretly drill wells in Siberia like his stakes in Britain?

With pipelines from Siberia, Central Asia, Baku—all Korean-controlled oil—we had nothing to say. That oil was provisionally all ours. Given Korea's size, we sucked it dry like a straw; nothing left for Japan. More pipelines later might spare some, but not soon. Tankers scaling up would be faster.

So from Japan's view, no oil from our current pipelines for them. Korea knew it.

'Buy it. I buy it too.'

'Hmm.'

Japan looked deeply skeptical and replied.

'Oh right, about that British mercenary posting in Persia—mind if we station a unit there?'

'…?'

'Oil shortage.'

Stayed in Japan too long; body and mind out of sync. After WW1, find an excuse to spit them out? Wasteful. I wouldn't repeat Rome's mistake—expecting Britons to become Romans someday.

But right now, with Japan needing sabotage, that was another level. No room for pettiness. Korea thought it'd control its jewel Japan forever, never imagining Japan deciding whether to stay or bolt.

Seeing Korea's internal conflict silence, Japan upped the ante. From the handouts earlier, they figured they could squeeze Korea dry even if it meant some control. Strike while the iron's hot.

Rare boldness, backed by the late Ito's spirit from his geisha deathbed. Japan's elites mustered courage against their Chancellor-cum-PM.

'You can give us 10%, right?'

Whatever it was, Japan demanded 10% of Korea's oil. Korea wanted eternal sushi rolls from Japan; Japan thought that was too much. Their stare-down was inevitable.

10%? If exactly that, sure. Problem: I didn't own the oil; I owned the suppliers. Brokering deals meant Japan could buy more expensively—no complaints, since I'd connected them. Blocking midway? Suppliers wanting friendlier prices and Japan wanting oil would fight back, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turning me into Putin—or Tsar.

'You want oil independence that bad?'

'Yes!'

'Getting it from me counts as independence?'

'…'

Even if conquered, it's the same, they thought. Rebellion someday, but not while this Chancellor lived. Bide time—and that needed oil stakes.

'America, Britain, Netherlands won't share stakes?'

'They all say talk to Korea first.'

'…Your words have bite?'

Japan doubled down shamelessly.

'Anyway, gimme oil.'

'Stakes are tricky, but I'll earmark your barrels in Busan.'

A hole in Korea's stockpile for Japan to suck from.

'We want formal stakes. Or let us approach Britain, America, or Netherlands ourselves.'

As Japan's PM, permission requested. Obviously, I hated that—which is why I took the post. Japan knew. But they demanded now. Blackmail—against me.

Hah. Since when did I just hand carrots? I always aimed guns at heads while force-feeding healthy feed. I'd strayed uncharacteristically. The looming deaths of 100k, 1M, 10M must've blinded me.

"One million barrels."

Oh, a million! Not stakes, but workable. Key was volume, cycle, form to Japan.

"Stockpiled in Tokyo."

Ooh!

A million-barrel blank check! Beyond imagination. Japanese notables' noses twitched.

"Strategic reserve oil storage."

Chills down their spines.

"Korean forces stationed in Tokyo, joint Korea-Japan army formed, HQ in Kyoto."

No—unspeakable. Military government. Korean Shogunate.

They knew why the Chancellor avoided it in Japan: Abuse like that scars memory; Japan could never be Korea's jewel. He'd decided now.

Long-term: Bottle Japan and ship across Pacific.

He silently shed his hakama.

If you love oil so much, eat it through your nose.

Steadily drain Tokyo depots for export, granting Japan's "independence." Post-WW1: interwar, maybe WW2. Military rule till WW1 ends. Evict after—they could resent all they want. Convenient too: Gear Japan for total war faster.

Post-WW1, no need for Japan's top export: Japan Silver. With our navy, turn them into Haiti? Fine.

Heaven might call me petty like Ito's sigh, but decision made. Tried making them sushi rolls to WW2, but if rivals? Fine.

No regional hegemon tolerated local challengers. Now I got it.

'Ah, Britain?'

'What's up?'

'I'll take that deployment.'

'After refusing how many times?'

'I'll take it. Exclusively.'

'Great~ Ally perks: oil as payment?'

'Yes.'

I knew Britain baited Japan to move Korea. Almost ditched Japan, but Britain's angle made friendship best—some concessions fine.

But with military rule till WW1 decided, play Britain's game now. English meddling during occupation? Annoying.

'Gotta set Persia ablaze big-time.'

Or divert Britain's eyes.