Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Korean-Chinese War (2)
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On July 15, 1941, war broke out in the Far East, but the world paid remarkably little attention.
“Ah, I gotta watch the commie hordes versus the Nazi European United States title match!”
With a hellish war of annihilation raging in the heart of Europe, producing tens of thousands of casualties every day, who cared if a few yellow monkeys got killed?
Public opinion around the world showed a shockingly indifferent response.
I had anticipated that international sentiment would play out this way.
‘How many people did the original Japanese Empire kill in the Sino-Japanese War?’
Nearly twenty million had died from the war or starvation.
Some scholars even claimed up to fifty million.
And yet, the world had remained indifferent to China’s tragedy.
This time was no different.
Daehan shifted into total war mode.
We had already entered partial mobilization back in June while preparing for full-scale support, but this was a different story from a full wartime situation.
Factories that had been producing civilian consumer goods were successively converted into munitions industries churning out military supplies.
Leather factories began making uniforms and boots, tractor plants switched to tanks, and pipe factories started stamping out rifles.
The transition to a full war economy happened at an astonishing speed.
“Alright, say cheese.”
I struck a pose holding a submachine gun fresh off the assembly line.
“Your Excellency. How much longer do I have to wait for this?”
“Just a bit longer, sir.”
Coming from the 21st century where cameras clicked instantly, waiting for this thing to move after a long delay felt downright uncomfortable.
I just couldn’t get used to it.
“Your Excellency. Here’s the latest war report. Shanghai has fallen.”
“Hmm. Shanghai down in just three days. They’re pushing harder than expected.”
Chiang Kai-shek must have remembered the lessons from the last war, because he didn’t repeat the mistake of cramming dozens of divisions into a narrow area.
But that level of improvement wasn’t enough to stand against our formidable Korean army.
Unlucky for the Chinese, we were stronger now than we had been during the First Korean-Chinese War.
Meanwhile, China was going into this fight without fully recovering from the damage of that previous conflict.
The growing gap between us made their early defeats an entirely predictable outcome.
‘Since we’ve already drawn the sword, this time we’ll push until China is completely subjugated.’
Having already aroused Western suspicions, we might as well incorporate China into our sphere of influence.
Hey, we had to recoup our losses, right?
It was a mindset similar to imperialist Japan’s, but there was a difference.
At least I was aware of what I stood to lose in this gamble.
“Your Excellency. The Security Commander requests an audience.”
“Lee Jung-yoon? Send him in.”
I straightened my clothes, then took up a position by the window, gazing out as if deep in thought.
A leader had a duty to fulfill the fantasies of his subordinates, no matter the time or place.
In my case, I bore the responsibility of embodying the image of His Excellency Lee Seong-jun, tirelessly agonizing day and night for the sake of the fatherland and the people.
“Your Excellency. Security Commander Lee Jung-yoon reporting.”
“Yes, what is it?”
I turned slowly toward the desk, as if just snapping out of my reverie.
That ought to look convincing enough.
“There’s someone from China who wants to make contact with Your Excellency through back channels.”
“They reached out to Security Command instead of Central Intelligence? Where from?”
They must have figured our military regime made the intelligence services feel more reliable.
Not a wrong judgment, really.
“Hong Kong.”
I let Lee Jung-yoon continue his explanation.
“The one who approached us is Wang Jingwei, a big shot in the Nationalist Party who handled the last negotiations.”
That guy again.
Well, among the Peace Faction, he was the only one with the guts—or whatever you’d call it—to openly cozy up to Korea.
“Looks like Wang Jingwei’s brought some good news?”
“Yes. His proposal is that if we help oust Chiang Kai-shek and back him instead, he’ll actively pursue a Sino-Korean alliance.”
What an entertaining fellow.
Alliance, my foot—it was basically him begging to crawl under our sphere of influence. And we’re supposed to go for that?
Still, if he could sell out his country and become head of state, it’d be a profitable deal for him.
Our own Lee Wan-yong sold out the country and only got a countship for his troubles.
It was the kind of shrewd judgment you’d expect from the guy who sold out the Republic of China to the Japanese and became head of the Nanjing puppet regime.
Treason’s a talent, too.
The thought crossed my mind.
In any case, there was no need to flatly reject Wang Jingwei’s proposal.
“You there.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“Tell Wang Jingwei this: If he wants a Sino-Korean alliance, he should come to our occupied territories and set up a ‘New Republic of China Government.’”
I had to account for the possibility that Wang Jingwei might grow a spine and defy us.
So, I was proposing he burn all his bridges behind him before crossing over.
Once he did something as blatantly treasonous as that, he’d have no choice but our puppet regime.
That’s exactly what happened to the original Wang Jingwei.
“He won’t accept that easily.”
Of course he wouldn’t. No one wants a collar around their neck.
I wouldn’t either.
“If he refuses, tell him we’ll wait until he changes his mind.”
Even without Wang Jingwei, we had plenty of other options.
The next day, Central Intelligence brought me our new collaborator.
A handsome man in a people’s outfit, with a warm impression and appealing features, bowed to me at a perfect ninety degrees.
“I am Zhou Enlai, plenipotentiary envoy of the People’s Republic of China. It is an honor to meet Your Excellency the Prime Minister.”
Zhou Enlai?
The future number two of China stood before me.
He was undoubtedly one of the most rational and reasonable figures in the Chinese Communist Party.
Of course, that didn’t change the fact that he was still a commie.
Ah, what kind of human watches people die during the Great Leap Forward and doesn’t even try to stop it, just prepares for the cleanup?
Still, I couldn’t show that I disliked the commie they’d sent.
In a position where we needed to latch onto the commie boss, I couldn’t go acting like some anti-communist cheerleader.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Prime Minister of the Empire of Korea, Lee Seong-jun.”
I greeted Zhou Enlai with a smiling face.
I even served him tea I’d brewed myself.
Pleased with my hospitality, Zhou Enlai repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
After some casual small talk, we got down to business.
“Our Chinese Communist Party is fully committed to cooperating with Korea to expand our liberated areas into the Yangtze River basin. However, to do that, we’ll need support from the Korean military.”
“Tell me what you need. How much help will it take?”
I never expected Mao Zedong to help us in our war out of the goodness of his heart.
Commies who wanted to share everyone else’s property weren’t about to hand over their own willingly.
“We need one million rifles, seven hundred thousand uniforms, and about three hundred million rounds of ammunition. We’d be grateful for that much support.”
These guys had some appetite.
From what I knew, the commies numbered around just a hundred thousand.
But judging by what they were asking for, they wanted to build up to a million-strong army.
With our influence and tacit backing added in, they could become a force rivaling the Nationalists.
Maybe even more than that.
“That’s a bit much.”
I shot down Zhou Enlai’s demands cold.
The commies’ greed was their problem.
Why should we indulge it?
I wasn’t a commie myself.
“Then how much can we expect?”
So they hadn’t planned on getting everything from the start.
I’d figured as much.
“Two hundred thousand rifles, one hundred fifty thousand uniforms, fifty million rounds. That’s the most we can provide.”
Of course, this was all “old” Japanese army stockpiles gathering dust in our warehouses.
The condition wasn’t great, but it wasn’t like we were going to use it ourselves, so who cared?
“With that much, it’ll be hard to aggressively expand the liberated areas as proposed by Korea.”
Yeah, I bet.
But why would I trust you lot enough to build you up that much?
One wrong move, and we’d end up with a commie regime even more belligerent than the Nationalists right next door.
“Your Excellency. If you could grant us just a little more generosity, we will surely live up to Korea’s expectations. Please show mercy.”
They’d live up to Mao Zedong’s expectations, not mine.
“Ahem, Comrade Zhou Enlai, was it?”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“Let me say one thing. I wouldn’t mind if Chiang Kai-shek keeps ruling the mainland.”
“Yes?”
Surprised?
It was the honest truth, though.
“As long as the Republic of China submits to us and forms a Sino-Korean alliance, I don’t care who’s in charge. It doesn’t have to be Chairman Mao as our partner.”
“...”
“So think it over carefully. Whether you’ll take what we offer and get moving, or refuse and keep playing around in the boonies.”
I made it crystal clear that I had no intention of dumping massive supplies on the Chinese Communists.
Zhou Enlai swallowed hard, stared at me for a moment, and finally spoke.
“We will follow Your Excellency’s words.”
That’s the beauty of a debtor-creditor relationship.
The Chinese Communists never really had a choice.
And with that, the subcontract was sealed at a bargain price.