Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Poland Crisis (2)
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The grand strategy of British Prime Minister Chamberlain during the interwar period ended in complete failure.
From the start, the plan itself was contradictory: "Use Germany to check the Soviets. Meanwhile, I, the British Empire, suck the honey and solidify our position as the hegemonic power."
Instead of containing communism, Germany was unleashing its violence freely against the surrounding democratic nations.
It was like raising a hunting dog to catch red wolves, only for it to ravage the pastures.
"That's why your diplomatic strategy failed—with thoughts like that!"
Britain reflected too late.
Though late, they sent a reply to the Soviets as well.
Six weeks later, the letter from Britain arrived.
Stalin thought it was ridiculous as he received it.
"Six weeks? That's enough time to ruin a country!"
The content was mediocre at best.
It wasn't even a formal proposal for an alliance, just suggesting preliminary talks as a prior step.
"Is war really right around the corner? Why are those bastards so laid-back? No, they're the ones who guaranteed Poland's independence."
On July 17, the Soviets issued another statement demanding a military agreement.
But.
"Even discussing cooperation with the reds hurts our pride—do we really need to rush a visit?"
"Indeed. Treating those pseudo-states like equals is laughable enough."
It took Britain and France nearly a month to send their delegations.
Even then, they didn't arrive on time or rush into negotiations.
"Hey, let's take a cruise on the way there. It's not every day we visit red territory—gotta sightsee St. Petersburg."
The British and French delegations took a passenger ship, entered St. Petersburg on August 10 for a day of tourism, and only showed up in Moscow on the 12th.
"Are those imperialist pigs deliberately screwing with me?"
Stalin couldn't help but feel displeased as the situation dragged on.
The Soviets appointed Marshal Voroshilov—Stalin's close aide and the top figure in the military—as the delegation's lead.
"I am authorized by the General Secretary with full powers to sign on all matters."
This was the utmost sincerity the Soviets could show.
In response, Britain and France sent:
Joseph Doumenc, Army General. 40th in the French military hierarchy. Has negotiation authority.
Reginald Drax, Rear Admiral. No negotiation authority.
Such figures as delegation leaders.
The Soviets had no choice but to doubt the West's sincerity.
Stalin was flustered but ordered negotiations to proceed.
However,
"Our Soviet Union can commit 120 divisions and 9,000 tanks. How many can Britain and France deploy to the anti-German front?"
"France can mobilize 110 divisions and 4,000 tanks."
France's troop mobilization numbers made sense.
But the next part was the problem.
"The British Empire can mobilize 16 divisions."
Pardon?
The mighty British Empire with 16 divisions? Was this the same empire that mobilized millions in World War I?
When Voroshilov double-checked if the translation was wrong, the British clarified that they could actually mobilize only 4 divisions, with just 2 deployable immediately.
Even France, with its larger forces, had no intention of sending troops beyond the Maginot Line.
"These guys have zero intention of fighting a war? What kind of people are they?"
If war broke out in Poland, they'd just send condolences.
This would leave the Soviets holding the bag alone.
They might consider it for territorial defense if Poland allowed Soviet troops to fight there—but even that was off the table.
Stalin reached the limit of his patience.
At that moment, a letter arrived from the mustache in the west.
"How about splitting spheres of influence from the Baltic to the Black Sea and getting along nicely? You got along fine with that anti-communist Yi Seong-jun anyway. Think it over."
It was a plausible pitch.
The Soviet Union had no reason whatsoever to shed blood against Germany on behalf of the West.
If anything, it should be the opposite.
'If we sign a non-aggression pact with Germany, Hitler will target the West. Once the imperialists exhaust each other, won't it create a favorable environment for the Union?'
With such calculations in mind, Stalin accepted Hitler's proposal.
With the two dictators' interests aligned, negotiations proceeded smoothly.
On August 20, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow, and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact was signed in just one day.
Ribbentrop, playing along with the mood, cracked a joke.
"Why not have the General Secretary join the Anti-Comintern Pact while we're at it?"
Stalin, pleased with the swift deal, replied in jest.
"From today, I am an anti-communist."
The world wasn't all that surprised.
"The reds talk about overthrowing imperialism but shook hands with Yi Seong-jun. What's so shocking about shaking with the Nazis?"
But Poland's government, the party directly involved, was in a panic.
"Didn't Chief of Staff Yi Seong-jun's advice prove right? I warned you we needed to allow Soviet military passage, but no one listened. What do we do now?"
Poland's de facto powerholder, Edward Rydz-Śmigły, faced harsh reprimands from the prime minister.
"How was I supposed to know?"
Even if the Soviets didn't openly attack Poland, just supplying Germany would put Warsaw in jeopardy.
Germany already held the geopolitical advantage, able to attack Poland from three directions: Slovakia, East Prussia, and the German mainland.
"If you didn't know, that's no excuse. General Rydz-Śmigły must take responsibility and resign."
Prime Minister Walery Sławek's faction, who had been waiting for a chance to break the alliance between Rydz-Śmigły and President Mościcki, pounced.
"Resign? What happens to Poland if I step down now?"
"That's not for the general to worry about."
With war looming, Poland erupted into unexpected infighting.
Rydz-Śmigły and the president's faction clashed fiercely with the prime minister's faction over responsibility for the diplomatic failure.
They got so heated that even Germany caught wind of it.
"Why are those Polish bastards causing such a fuss?"
"It's over responsibility for the non-aggression pact we signed."
"If they're fighting like that, it'll make a perfect pretext for war."
Germany had been pondering how to fabricate a casus belli anyway.
Poland's infighting fell right into their lap.
They could spin it nicely.
"What if the politically cornered Polish military provokes a war crisis to overcome their political woes?"
"That sounds plausible."
Germany seized the opportunity.
"Prepare Operation Canned Goods."
Germany began preparing a false-flag operation claiming they had been preemptively attacked.
The countdown to World War II had begun.
*
With war imminent, I was busy moving too.
My main goal was "stockpiling."
"Just wait till war breaks out. Tungsten prices will be whatever you call them. Fill the warehouses to bursting."
I issued a temporary export ban on tungsten, the main ingredient in shells.
The empire's stockpiles filled up with tungsten that couldn't be exported.
"You know, we should expand the oil reserves too. We need to hold out for two years without imports."
We were already buying massive amounts of oil from America and Britain.
In other words, we were diplomatically leashed to them.
To counter that, we needed to boost oil reserves and accelerate development of massive domestic fields like the Daqing oilfield.
I inspected the empire's overall wartime readiness and issued directives where needed.
"There's nothing we can do about steel. The Yodong and northern Korean Peninsula iron mines are already squeezed to their production limits."
"Can't be helped. Open a line to the Soviet Union too."
Most of Korea's scrap metal came from America, but relying on one country for critical national resources was too risky.
Our dear neighbor, Chairman Xi, had reminded us of that with his body time and again.
"Yes. And, sir."
"Speak, my friend."
Kim Seong-ju said cautiously.
"With war on the horizon, shouldn't we prepare for national mobilization?"
"Indeed."
Whether we wanted to or not, mobilizing a large standing army required checking the mass mobilization system.
"If we mobilize students and young people en masse, there could be backlash against the mobilization order."
Fair enough—Korea had just issued one and fought a war not long ago.
No wonder if the public got annoyed at another one.
"Tell me your thoughts. What do you suggest?"
"To reduce public resistance, I propose adding 'military training' to school curricula."
Military training?
It sounded like something from the drab military regime days of the 1980s.
Come to think of it, I was running a military regime too.
Ahem.
"So, give the students some military drills."
"Yes."
"Do it."
There might be some side effects, but Korea's survival came first, right?
If it raised our chances of surviving the coming world war, I'd have the elderly holding rifles too.
Sure, better than a four-way bad end.
On the way back to Pyongyang after inspecting the Wonsan arms factory with Kim Seong-ju, the radio crackled.
"Secure comms. Chief of Staff, sir. It's the War Ministry."
I took the radio.
"Yi Seong-jun here. What? War's broken out? Understood."
I wasn't all that surprised.
I'd anticipated World War II sooner than anyone.
"Grandma's passed away."
Poland, a solid mid-tier nation, had four weeks left before vanishing from the map.
With war having broken out, it was time for me to move in earnest.
"Foreign Ministry line. Yes, Yi Seong-jun here. Issue a statement condemning Germany's invasion of Poland."
With the war, I cut ties with Hitler.
Riding the crashing Hitler coin was for fools.
That's what I thought, for sure.