Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Art of War (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1937 December.
The National Salvation Military Committee forcibly retired five generals from Park Han-jin's faction who had been dispatched to the Chinese front.
With the removal of these high-ranking officers who could have served as focal points, the remaining generals were too terrified to even breathe.
My faction had completely taken over the Security Command, and the eyes and ears of the security units within the troops were tightening their grip on them.
That didn't mean places without Security Command oversight were safe, either.
The National Salvation Military Committee actively recruited young officers with similar ideologies through radio broadcasts and newspapers.
The generals, gripped by fear at how swiftly the committee was consolidating power within the military, even cut back on their private gatherings.
Hold a grudge against me and stand up to me now?
If it had been right after I first seized power, maybe—but at this point, it was utterly impossible.
There was now only one thing in the military that I couldn't do.
Throw in the towel during a war.
Everything else was fair game.
Handing over a few arsenal factories to Jo Tae-su, chairman of Taejeong Industries—who had contributed to the coup—as a reward was nothing at all.
“Th-the Incheon and Busan arsenals to Taejeong? Sir, that... that risks undermining the military's supply capabilities and causing all sorts of operational disruptions.”
“Hey, hey. This is an order from 'His Excellency.' From the highest authority in the land, the Chief of Staff His Excellency.”
“Fr-from Chief of Staff His Excellency himself?”
“That's right. If you understand, handle it immediately.”
The generals, who had been patting their bulging bellies from the arsenal profits, tried to resist like they'd been struck by lightning in the dead of night—but one mention of 'Chief of Staff His Excellency' silenced them all.
Defy the order I had imposed? It wasn't just their money at stake; their lives were on the line.
Of course, outsiders didn't fully grasp my position yet.
It was only natural; figuring out how much control a coup leader who had been in power for less than a month really had was impossible.
Even the great powers were like that—what more need be said about China?
Chiang Kai-shek, hearing about our purges, issued orders to prepare an offensive for January.
The problem was the Chinese army's abysmal intelligence management.
We quickly detected signs of their large-scale offensive.
“Those cowards who got trounced in Shanghai and fled like rats dare to attack us without knowing their place?”
The generals were incredulous, but deep down, they welcomed the Chinese offensive.
My thinking was a bit different.
'Chiang Kai-shek launching an offensive here is proof he sees our regime as weak and easy.'
There was only one implication from that deduction.
As long as Chiang Kai-shek remained in power, the dream of the North China Railway Company would never come true.
Suddenly, the Japanese Empire's outrageous behavior in the original timeline started to make sense.
When negotiations broke down back then, Imperial Headquarters declared they wouldn't deal with 'the Chiang fellow,' set up a puppet government, and negotiated with its head, Wang Jingwei.
The lesson here was just how difficult it was to deal with Chiang Kai-shek—to the point they'd resort to something that idiotic.
I was starting to feel it myself.
Just a few months after wiping out 73 of their divisions, could I really reason with a guy planning to attack because our regime was in chaos?
'No chance.'
Plan A—diplomatic resolution to end the Sino-Korean War—seemed hopeless.
That didn't mean I was abandoning diplomacy entirely.
It just meant I was now motivated to flesh out Plan B: removing Baldy Chiang.
Come to think of it, assassinating a head of state and staging a coup had a lot in common.
Even Hitler faced 43 assassination attempts.
Some were directly tied to coup plots.
'It'd be a total shitshow if it got exposed.'
Honestly, it was the kind of scheme that would draw international condemnation.
But what could be done?
Dragging out the Sino-Korean War could bring ruin to Korea.
I wasn't some master conspirator, and it wasn't a problem I could solve agonizing over it alone.
In the original timeline, I was just an ordinary writer.
I summoned Security Commander Kim Seong-ju and casually brought up the plan to remove Chiang Kai-shek.
“Your Excellency, if this ever leaks, it won't just damage the Republic of Korea's prestige—it'll tarnish your own reputation as well.”
Yeah, it probably would.
Even the communists wouldn't stoop that low... wait, no, they would.
Stalin sent assassins after Tito, the Yugoslav dictator.
“Hmm.”
“We should keep that option as a last resort.”
Yeah, that made sense.
Negotiating with Chiang was still the best path.
Ignoring a subordinate's advice wasn't the way to hold onto power long-term.
I decided to heed Kim Seong-ju's counsel.
“But with negotiations, even if we beat Chiang in battle after he launches his offensive, will he just hand over North China without a fight?”
“That would be difficult. So, seizing Nanjing and delivering the decisive blow is the way.”
Ah, this guy's done for too.
This is why militaristic Korea is hopeless.
Only Lee Seong-jun, the 'normal guy' from a world outside webtoons, could judge the situation with clear eyes.
After sending Kim Seong-ju away, I sank into deep thought.
Stick with the hopeless Plan A? Execute Plan B?
As these two ideas bounced endlessly in my mind, a bolt of inspiration struck.
“Have I been trapped in Imperial Korean thinking? Why was I only considering extremes?”
Kill them brutally. Force submission.
How barbaric.
On 21st-century Earth, they didn't fight like that.
They elegantly, stylishly crushed with economics.
And it could achieve effects similar to missiles or shells.
'I need to choke China's neck.'
I immediately ordered a car prepared.
*
Sir Robert Craigie, the British Ambassador to Korea, felt puzzled when the Korean Foreign Minister conveyed that he wished to discuss the China issue.
Right after the Lee Seong-jun regime took power, he had proposed mediation between Korea and China, only to be flatly rejected.
'The cabinet can't even discuss important matters without General Lee Seong-jun's approval—what could they possibly want to say?'
Still, the other man was a high-ranking official equivalent to a foreign minister.
The ambassador greeted him first.
The two exchanged the usual diplomatic pleasantries, subtly sizing each other up.
In the process, surprisingly, the Korean Foreign Minister brought up Europe out of the blue.
'Korea intends to stay neutral on the German issue? What does that mean?'
Under the previous Park Han-jin regime, Korea had signed an air defense pact with Germany, advancing to near-alliance status.
Diplomatically, Germany was the only great power backing Pyongyang.
Help this friend and then sit idly by on European affairs?
Craigie quickly grasped the Koreans' intent.
'Stay neutral in Europe, and in return, support us on China—that's it.'
But Korea had already irritated Britain.
They turned Shanghai—a hub of international capital—into a battlefield and threw the Yangtze region, rife with British interests, into chaos.
Britain maintaining neutrality in this wasn't out of fondness for Korea; they were too busy watching Hitler and Stalin.
'That's probably why the Korean minister is beating around the bush.'
Having read the man's hand, Craigie felt much more at ease.
'One question lingers, though. Has Korea ever fought a war while scrambling for international support like this?'
No, they hadn't.
The Park Han-jin regime had ignored the great powers' concerns and warnings and smashed Shanghai outright.
So, this wasn't the military showing flexibility—it was the new power player, Lee Seong-jun, introducing change.
After a long, circuitous conversation laced with rhetoric, Craigie gained conviction.
“I'll await instructions from London first.”
“Thank you.”
Craigie left the Korean Foreign Minister some room.
The next day, instructions arrived from London regarding his report.
“In this time of acute crisis in Europe, minimize friction with the Korean government as much as possible. No need to fully accommodate their demands, but no point selling arms and irritating Pyongyang either. Convey that we will maintain strict wartime neutrality.”
Then as now, the British focus was on Europe.
With Hitler pressuring Austria's Schuschnigg and escalating war tensions, the China issue inevitably took a back seat.
Better to grant Korea a favor, pulling this potential German ally toward neutrality—it served the British Empire's interests.
“In the end, that bastard Hitler saved Korea.”
Craigie visited the Korean Foreign Minister and promised Britain would maintain wartime neutrality in the Sino-Korean War.
In exchange, he urged strict neutrality on European issues.
“No need to worry.”
In fact, the Korean Foreign Ministry had issued similar blank checks to France.
“Ah, aren't you more worried about Hitler?”
Then, turning around, they told Berlin:
“We thought Pyongyang and Berlin were friends, but the Führer is supplying arms to our enemy China and even sending military advisors. So, whose friend is Berlin? Korea's or China's?”
It was a truly awkward question for Germany.
The German government agonized over it before taking it to Hitler.
He gave a crystal-clear answer.
“Aren't the Koreans far stronger and more capable than the Chinese? What we need is a friend who can check the Anglo-Americans in the Pacific.”
With that from the Führer, Germany cut ties with China.
Withdrawal orders went out to the military advisory group in China.
Advisory Group Chief Alexander von Falkenhausen encouraged Chiang Kai-shek as he left, saying the '400 million Chinese people' would surely triumph.
But he was wrong.
Lee Seong-jun's wars weren't the crude kind Prussians knew.
A silent noose descended on China, tightening around its throat.