Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Gentleman of the Kremlin (1)
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All of Germany was ecstatic over the victory.
The fact that they had crushed the mighty Polish army in just over four short weeks exhilarated them to no end.
“Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!”
Now, they would reclaim everything lost under the Treaty of Versailles without exception.
The Germans expected their Führer to bring them victory.
But some did not share that view.
“The Führer will lead this country to ruin. He’s chosen all-out war with Britain and France. It’s setting the stage for a repeat of the Great War, where millions died in the trenches.”
“We have to stop it before it comes to that. Director Canaris, how are the negotiations with Britain progressing?”
Beneath the surface, the anti-Hitler conspiracy was rearing its head once more.
They sought to contact the Allies for cooperation on an anti-Hitler coup and peace negotiations.
The British government responded with cynicism to the overtures from the anti-Hitler faction.
“What’s the point of negotiating with people who don’t even hold any real power? Unless these plotters actually have a shot at seizing control of Germany.”
Setting aside the underground scheming and machinations, the war had settled into a lull.
“Come on in, come on in.”
The Allies waited behind the Maginot Line for the Germans to charge,
“There’s no way through if we just smash straight ahead.”
but the Führer had no intention of doing so.
As a result, the two sides simply stared each other down, a stalemate dragging on.
If you ignored the battles at sea and in the skies, it was so quiet you had to wonder if this was even war.
It was the time of the so-called “Phony War.”
Both sides poured their efforts into building up their strength in preparation for the decisive showdown ahead.
While the Western world caught its breath ahead of a fight to the death, the Soviet Union moved to claim the territories promised under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
“We will punish the illegal provocations of the Finns!”
On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Army launched an invasion of Finland with 25 divisions—some 540,000 troops.
Stalin explained that he had no choice but to take military action to protect Leningrad from Finnish militarists.
To put it bluntly, Stalin’s real thinking was this:
“Finland was land ruled by the old Tsarist Russia. So I want to swallow it up again. It was mine to begin with.”
Stalin aimed to exploit the chaos of the world war to reclaim the expanse of the former Tsarist Empire.
The will of the local inhabitants, of course, was not a factor.
It’s not the voters who matter, but the one who counts the votes.
“Wrap up a puny little country like Finland in a week. And make sure you don’t accidentally cross the Swedish border.”
“No need to worry, Comrade General Secretary. We’ll be careful not to make any mistakes.”
As the Soviets sparked a second war under a contrived pretext, the militarists of the Daehan Empire felt stirred as well.
“Look at the state of things today. If you have power, you can expand your territory as much as you want. There’s no reason Daehan can’t do the same. It’s time for us to shoulder the white man’s burden for Asia!”
Of course, such rhetoric from the militarists didn’t even reach Yi Seong-jun’s ears.
Yi Seong-jun and the Korean military had no time for such nonsense; their eyes were on the Winter War.
*
“This war will be an overwhelming Soviet victory.”
“Is there a particular reason you’re so confident?”
“The difference in weight class is just too vast.”
And indeed, the gap in might between the Soviets and Finland was so overwhelming that even “astronomical” didn’t do it justice.
The Soviet population stood at 170 million, while Finland’s was under 3.7 million.
Tanks numbered 2,400 to 9, aircraft 3,880 to 114.
Under such conditions, Finland had virtually no chance of victory.
“We’ll see about that.”
I was wary of the generals’ snap judgments.
The opening phase seemed to play out as the generals predicted, with the Soviets strongly pressing the Finns.
Faced with the Soviets’ vast array of heavy equipment and overwhelming manpower, the Finnish forces kept retreating.
But as the brutal cold set in, the story began to change bit by bit.
In the Battle of Suomussalmi starting December 9, 1939, the Finns even managed to annihilate two Soviet divisions—a tremendous feat.
It was David laying low Goliath, weight class be damned.
The generals were flustered by the situation.
“Did Your Excellency foresee this?”
Of course. His Excellency Yi Seong-jun, the visionary who had seen the future, knew it all.
“Naturally. Haven’t the Soviets purged most of their competent generals with their own hands?”
Of course, this oversimplified the Great Purge.
There was also the view that it had been a desperate measure to sweep away military cliques wielding influence based on ethnicity and origins.
The generals admired my foresight while sneering at the Soviets’ pathetic performance.
What reason was there to rate these Ivans highly when they were struggling despite such a massive troop disparity?
That was the glint in the generals’ eyes.
Underestimating the reds like that could lead to a rude awakening, just like the Germans.
“Chief of Staff.”
“Yes, speak.”
“If an army led by that gentleman in the Kremlin is this pathetic, do we really need to consider the reds as potential allies?”
Well, given the clown show they were putting on right now, it was hard to argue.
But the Soviets’ greatest strength lay in their “self-correction.”
Once the reds tasted failure, they thoroughly analyzed the lessons and made sure not to repeat them next time.
That was the fundamental difference from the old Tsarist Russian army, which relied purely on numbers.
And that was why Germany lost.
“Of course. Didn’t our own army put on a similar sorry display at first?”
The generals didn’t deny my words.
Back when they first intervened in the Spanish Civil War, how ragtag had the Imperial Army been?
Even their handpicked elites hadn’t shone particularly.
Without blood, sweat, and money, they wouldn’t have come this far.
The current Imperial Army had been forged eighty percent by the Han-Chinese War.
“The reds are no different. Once they’ve fought a real war, they’ll improve next time.”
I held the reds’ potential in high regard.
The reds right now were certainly a laughable force, but in two years, they would hone their skills to the peak—enough to withstand a single blow even against the German Wehrmacht at its height.
In any case, we all agreed that the reds would win, no matter the process.
And that’s exactly what happened.
The reds replaced Voroshilov, who had botched the invasion, with Timoshenko as the new commander and reinforced their forces, shoving 900,000 troops into Finland.
With the harsh winter finally waning, Finland could hold out no longer and had to raise its hands.
“May the hand that forced us to sign this treaty wither and die.”
The Finnish president let out that lament as he signed the peace treaty.
Of course, the Soviet victory came at the cost of enormous casualties.
The war offered just two lessons worth learning.
Quantity wins.
Artillery is the god of war.
And the force with the most quantity around us was, of course, the reds.
For that reason alone, we needed to treat the reds with caution.
On March 13, 1940—the day the Soviet Union claimed its Pyrrhic victory—I sent a brief congratulatory note to Moscow in Prime Minister No Jae-woo’s name.
Stalin, who had failed to swallow Finland whole and gotten just 11 percent, was probably fuming, but he wouldn’t spit in the face of a smiling greeting.
“To General Secretary Stalin: Congratulations on the Federation’s victory.”
Stalin sent back a very curt reply.
“To Prime Minister No Jae-woo: Thank you for Korea’s congratulations.”
You could definitely feel the red boss’s sour mood.
Even so, now was the perfect time to test the waters with the reds.
For the first time, I sent a letter in my own name.
“To General Secretary Stalin: If the Federation agrees, I would like to visit Moscow on April 1 in my capacity as Army Chief of Staff to engage in constructive dialogue with your country. I await your prompt response.”
“To Chief of Staff Yi Seong-jun: We agree to your request to visit on April 1.”
The time for a face-to-face with the red boss was approaching.
I informed the generals of this.
“Is there really any need for Your Excellency to visit Moscow in person?”
There was.
I needed to observe the current power dynamics among the reds firsthand and gauge their mindset and attitudes from a modern perspective.
Only then could I gather the data to decide whether to ally with them.
“I have to go myself. This is something that requires my own eyes.”
“In that case, Your Excellency, I would be honored to accompany you.”
“I as well, Your Excellency.”
The generals clamored to join, so I selected just a few.
The generals might look foolish, but this was behavior close to the essence of power.
Those who stayed physically close to the power holder enjoyed influence as his inner circle.
I left the detailed scheduling to the Foreign Ministry.
As my heart raced at the prospect of touring the red capital, Europe remained quiet for now.
Germany still hadn’t made any bold moves.
Even with Daehan Empire supplying them ammo as a wildcard, nothing had changed—they were clearly still mulling things over.
Even so, they’d probably hold out for “six weeks.”
If Germany collapsed before those six weeks, that would be a problem in its own way.
Ideally, Daehan would build reliable alliances and bulk up its weight class before that happened.
Oh, what about Germany attacking the Soviets?
No issue there.
Even if we allied, if the Soviets were too strong, we’d just be dragged along—so a proper balance needed to be struck.
Thus, the Nazis and Soviets scrapping it out was no problem at all.
The only real concern was America.
Unless we pulled a “Pearl Harbor” in Japan’s place, the sleeping giant’s awakening would inevitably be delayed.
If Germany actually did well under those conditions?
Wouldn’t the whole picture turn into a real mess?
That was the only thing nagging at me.