Chapter 25
Chapter 25
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Art of War (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Overnight, the Korean Empire, ranked fifth among the world's great powers, had been turned upside down.
And an unheard-of figure named Yi Seong-jun had risen to become the de facto supreme leader.
The world was stunned by this astonishing news.
It was simply unbelievable that the strongest power in the East, a nation considered a great power, had undergone two coups in just a few years.
While everyone else was shocked by the December 8 Coup, the Chinese government saw this event as an opportunity.
“A coup has broken out among those Gao Li Bangzi. That's proof that contradictions and discontent within their society have exploded. In this situation, how can Pyongyang continue the war? Their fatigue has reached its peak—it's time to draft new negotiation terms, Foreign Minister!”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Inform Ambassador Trautmann that peace negotiations must proceed on terms more favorable to us than previously discussed.”
At Chiang Kai-shek's order, Foreign Minister Zhang Qun inwardly sighed.
What kind of people were the Koreans? Would they accept having a perfectly set table kicked over?
It was nonsense.
But the decision-maker was Chiang Kai-shek.
Zhang Qun had no choice but to meet with Oscar Trautmann, the German ambassador in China.
However, Trautmann seemed to have something to say to Zhang Qun as well.
“Ambassador, China wishes to negotiate on new terms that reflect our demands.”
Trautmann sighed at those words.
“Korea has already conveyed that they want to change the negotiation terms.”
Zhang Qun felt a flicker of hope at that.
Was Korea's new military regime composed of Asianists who advocated solidarity in Asia?
If so, it wouldn't be strange for them to adopt a conciliatory stance toward China.
“Let's hear it.”
But Trautmann's next words dashed his expectations.
“The Korean government wants full authority over the railways in North China in exchange for withdrawing their other conditions.”
“W-what?”
Zhang Qun was appalled.
Had the Koreans lost their minds?
Accepting that would turn North China into a Korean semi-colony.
Why else would great powers demand railway construction rights first when infiltrating another country?
The horrific days of the late Qing Dynasty replayed in his mind.
Naturally, Zhang Qun's face flushed bright red.
“Absolutely not—even if a knife is held to my throat, I cannot accept it!”
“Understood for now.”
In his conversation with Trautmann, Zhang Qun realized that the new military regime was even more ruthless than Park Han-jin.
In any case, this needed to be reported to Chiang Kai-shek.
“What? Hand over control of North China railways to Korea?”
“That was Ambassador Trautmann's message.”
Chiang Kai-shek flew into a extreme rage at Zhang Qun's report.
At this point, it seemed diplomatic solutions would be difficult for the time being, regardless of Korea's coup situation.
'No choice. I have to find a way to teach those greenhorns in Pyongyang a lesson about reality.'
Chiang Kai-shek invited General Alexander von Falkenhausen, the head of the German military advisory group in China, to dinner that evening.
“Thank you for the invitation, Chairman.”
“Sit comfortably, General.”
Over dinner, Chiang Kai-shek broached the idea of launching an offensive against the disorganized Korean forces in the wake of the recent coup.
Falkenhausen stopped cutting his meat the moment he heard it.
“Chairman, that's impossible.”
Anyone else might have received a scolding, but this was the military advisor he trusted most.
“What's the reason?”
“We lack the forces for an offensive. Wasn't most of Your Excellency's central direct army decimated in the Shanghai battle?”
Falkenhausen reminded Chiang Kai-shek of the harsh reality.
Since the outbreak of the Sino-Korean War on August 21, 1937, Chinese forces had been pushed back helplessly.
They were barely holding the North China front by relying on natural barriers like the Yellow River, but the eastern coast was different.
Shanghai, where Chiang Kai-shek had stubbornly attempted to hold, had been crushed by the Korean navy's overwhelming power, forcing most of the 73 divisions committed there to retreat after losing their heavy weapons.
The losses to the central direct army were severe: out of 30 divisions, 27 had melted away without a trace.
In the process, even the absolute defensive line 'Seeckt Line,' meticulously built by Seeckt and Falkenhausen, had collapsed, leaving Nanjing's defenses precarious.
An offensive against the Koreans in this situation?
Falkenhausen thought the chairman was too excited by the coup news.
Of course, Chiang Kai-shek's stubbornness wasn't easily broken.
“I'll concede you're right on strategy—you're the expert there, more than I am. But politics is different.”
Chiang Kai-shek stressed that they couldn't miss this golden opportunity when the Korean military was in disarray from the coup.
If they let it slip, the Koreans would regroup, and they'd have to fight under even worse conditions later—that was Chiang's argument.
“If we achieve even a tactical victory now, the coup regime will face immense political pressure. Then, we can end this war on more favorable terms.”
Chiang Kai-shek wasn't entirely talking nonsense.
There were plenty of cases where battlefield reality and war outcomes diverged.
Take the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War: the U.S. military achieved an overwhelming tactical victory against the infiltrating Viet Cong.
The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces suffered catastrophic losses, to the point where some called it a 'suicide' for the Vietnamese army.
But the political dynamics worked in reverse.
Americans fixated on the fact that even the U.S. embassy had been threatened by Viet Cong, convincing themselves they were losing the war.
This led to the irony in Washington of military victory but political defeat.
What Chiang wanted was theoretically similar to what the North Vietnamese had aimed for.
Falkenhausen didn't outright refute Chiang's logic but still expressed negativity toward the offensive.
How foolish was it to gamble their remaining stakes on the mere possibility of political victory?
Falkenhausen clicked his tongue, thinking Chiang had learned nothing from his Shanghai mistake.
“Chairman, if you insist on an offensive, I recommend postponing it to January.”
“Go on.”
“I hear the new regime's leader, Yi Seong-jun, isn't high in the military hierarchy. Someone like that at the top will surely make senior generals uncomfortable.”
Chiang Kai-shek agreed.
“With a man like that in power, purges within the military are inevitable. So you should wait until Yi Seong-jun moves against the frontline generals.”
“Wait.”
Chiang Kai-shek pondered those words.
Wait.
For the Chinese, 'waiting' was familiar.
The Middle Kingdom had always endured, waited, and persevered.
And in the end, they triumphed.
Chiang Kai-shek finally decided to bend his stubbornness a bit.
“Very well. I'll postpone the offensive as per your advice, General.”
For Chiang Kai-shek, who had endured for so long, one month was nothing.
'But can the Chinese army even execute a proper offensive?'
Falkenhausen had no confidence in that.
*
“Your Excellency, here is the summoning schedule for the field commanders.”
“All in December, I see.”
I read the report from Security Commander Kim Sung-ju and fell into thought.
Summoning frontline field army commanders during wartime was borderline reckless.
But certain dangerous elements absolutely had to go through the summoning process.
If I didn't call them to Pyongyang and strip them of command, they could use their wartime merits to bare their teeth at us later.
A challenge from a war hero opposed to us.
Just imagining it sent chills down my spine.
To prevent handing over the limited resource of military influence to such dangerous foes, I had no choice but to take some risks.
“Shall I adjust the schedule?”
“No.”
The Chinese might exploit the gaps as commanders were summoned one by one, but it was a risk I could afford.
At least, the Chinese army I knew from the 'webtoon' was a weak opponent we couldn't handle only if they managed division-level operations properly.
As long as we stayed on the defensive, there'd be no problem.
So, prune the ones who need pruning, reorganize the ranks, then plan the next move.
Securing control over the military took priority over China.
“I'll compile the list and submit it soon.”
“Thanks for your work, Sung-ju.”
Kim Sung-ju saluted and left the office.
Assuming we proceed with this final military purge, what about China?
I pondered it.
In truth, Park Han-jin had already cleared the toughest hurdles of the Sino-Korean War.
He'd crossed the Yellow River in some areas, taken Shanghai, and breached the impregnable Seeckt Line.
From that perspective, Park Han-jin wasn't incompetent at war.
His timing was as precise as Hitler's slap to Stalin's face.
So, what now?
Like Hitler, he'd started a war that would ruin the country.
Anyway, back to the point from the Park Han-jin tangent:
The remaining task for the Imperial Army was to capture the capital, Nanjing.
But as someone who knew both the original history and the webtoon, I absolutely could not touch Nanjing.
Occupying it would forever eliminate any chance of reconciliation with China.
Even if we took Nanjing, China wouldn't collapse.
China had endless space and cities to relocate its capital.
Even if we took Hanyang, Wuchang, and everywhere else they could move it, they could just shift to Chongqing in Sichuan Province, like Liu Bei's Shu Han.
China's land was that vast, and we lacked the capacity to conquer the entire continent.
In this situation, forcing a military surrender from China was impossible.
If you believed it was, you'd have to compare your brain to the original history's general staff.
So the best option was negotiation.
But the world doesn't always go as planned.
I had to consider scenarios where things didn't go my way.
What if the unwanted happened?
Negotiations fail.
Then I'd have to remove the obstacles blocking negotiations.
In the original Korean War (6.25), as soon as Stalin, who blocked the armistice, died, a truce agreement was ghosted into place.
Same with Sino-Korean negotiations.
Eliminate the hardline hawk Chiang Kai-shek at the core, and all problems solve themselves.
'In the original, German advisors tried to assassinate their own mustachioed Führer elected by vote, and Chinese warlords who started a war to kill Chiang wouldn't hesitate to off their own boss.'
Not that they explicitly agreed, but it looked that way.
As a contingency for failed negotiations, I decided to prepare for assassinating Chiang Kai-shek.
In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures are needed.
This was my Plan B for ending the war.