I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 105



Only Krnovel

EP.105 Casablanca Conference (1)

By October 1943, the Soviet advance had come to a halt.

This was not because German resistance was strong, but because the Soviets had reached the end of their offensive.

Nevertheless, Germany had to lose all territories east of the Dnieper River.

In the process, the unfortunate event of the German 17th Army being trapped in the Crimea due to failure to withdraw in time occurred.

Anyway, as the Germans were pushed back from Russian territory, the countries that had been riding on the Axis coin also began to slowly turn their calculators.

To anyone who looked at it, the Axis powers were a sinking ship, and the Allied victory seemed certain.

Right away, we also had the Axis allies interfering with us.

“Greece?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I would like to inquire whether the Korean military can be deployed to Greece in the event of an emergency.”

It’s a betrayal angle.

“What is the British opinion?”

“I need to hear more about the story to know for sure, but it seems like they are considering it positively.”

“Okay, I understand.”

I sent the watch away and fell into thought.

Greece.

How should I treat these guys?

The issue of France’s status was too much of a problem to accept a simple defection to the Allies.

Then, the French will also try to raise their voices using Greece as an excuse.

So, it just won’t do.

‘I think it would be better to handle it as a side job.’

Considering that Greece had been selling minerals to Germany and acting as an intermediary for trade, the label of a vassal state was not excessive.

At that level, even France would have difficulty raising its voice.

First, let’s assume that Greece’s status is that of a vassal state, considering its ‘conversion’.

The problem came next.

Could you send military forces to protect Greece from the Axis forces that might attack it?

‘We can’t afford that.’

Even if we had them, it would be a waste to deploy our troops in a provincial war in the mountainous Balkan Peninsula.

It was in Korea’s national interest to save troops and use them in the decisive campaign in Western Europe.

Well, let’s leave this to the British who are interested in the Mediterranean.

After solving the problems up to this point, there was one last remaining challenge.

Wouldn’t Greece’s betrayal(?) trigger the collapse of the Axis powers?

The rapid collapse of the Axis powers was a disaster for the three Anglo-American powers.

Unless we were going to gift Central Europe to the Soviet Union as a whole, moderation was essential.

After fiddling with the calculator for a while, I gathered my thoughts.

“An early surrender by Greece is not in the interests of Britain, South Korea, or the United States. We must drag out negotiations with the Greek government as long as possible.”

I sent this telegram to the British Prime Minister’s Office and received a reply shortly thereafter.

“Mr. Prime Minister, I completely agree with your opinion. We will try to delay negotiations with the Axis powers that have contacted us as much as possible.”

Britain, too, has had the experience of ruling the world, so it has not made the mistake of eating undercooked food too quickly.

Even the veteran politician Roosevelt agreed with our views.

“I agree with your opinion, Your Majesty. Then, when would be a good time to convert Greece?”

It is time to turn Greece around.

I thought about it a bit too.

How to get our benefit while putting less impact on the front lines.

My calculations were as follows:

“How about around October 1944?”

It was similar to the time of the liberation of Greece from the original territory.

The timing was chosen deliberately to coincide with the time when the Eastern Balkans would be swept by the Soviet Union.

“Isn’t it too late?”

Of course, I admit it seems a little late.

But, if you want to maximize your gains while maintaining a balance between the Reds and the Nazis, this is the right thing to do.

After exchanging opinions for a long time, we reached a final agreement.

“Let’s accept it as an Allied Power in August 1944.”

Hmm. Okay.

Speaking of Greece’s conversion, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to have Turkey join the war at that time.

“Should we bring Turkey into the war?”

Turkey officially regarded only Italy as its enemy and maintained neutral relations with the other Axis powers.

This was due to the strange structure created by the coincidence of interests between Türkiye and Germany.

Turkey was reluctant to engage Germany during the war, and Germany feared that the Soviets would use Turkey to invade the Balkans.

The two sides agreed on this point and did not declare war on each other.

But when the picture changes, the thoughts also change.

With Germany weakened, there was little reason for Turkey to maintain neutrality vis-à-vis Germany.

“If we mobilize those guys, won’t the number of troops entering the Mediterranean be reduced?”

I thought that by bringing Turkey into the war, it would lessen the burden on the Allied forces that would have to enter Greece.

Of course, Türkiye will also get compensation for it.

Roosevelt and Eden also agreed.

“Okay, that looks much better.”

We decided the fate of Greece in a few chapters.

Even if Athens were to make a decision, their position would not change until the time we decided.

Even if the position changes, the title that will be pursued will be that of a supporting country.

It’s pitiful, but what can you do?

It’s wrong to be born next door to a gangster like Germany.

In any case, the policy on responding to Greece was set through an agreement with the Allied Powers.

Now all that was left was to paint over the sketch.

I called the Foreign Office and gave them a series of instructions.

“From now on, please organize the information related to negotiations coming in through Switzerland and Sweden and upload it every four hours. Yes. Negotiations must be dragged out no matter what. Since the plan has already been made with the United States and the United Kingdom, you can understand it like that. Yes.”

Well, then I guess I’ll have to talk to Stalin too.

This guy, Steel Mustache, must be feeling bloated after winning big, but what if he changes his mind?

Even with those thoughts in mind, I decided to send the report anyway.

“Secretary General Stalin. I congratulate you and the Union on their victory, and I would like to discuss the alliance between the two countries, Korea and the Soviet Union, and the issue of sending troops. As this is a sensitive matter, I would like to ask for your prompt response.”

Although it was earlier than expected, we had to start preparing to send troops to Europe.

Since the dangerous situation had already passed, it didn’t seem like sending troops would make a big difference.

“Dear Prime Minister Lee Seong-jun, I am pleased to receive your proposal for an alliance, and I express my intention to accept the participation of your expeditionary force.”

Of course, Stalin was not the type to refuse to send troops.

The problem is the fight for shares.

I touched on the question of command slightly.

Stalin applied the brakes to the suggestion that he would like to exercise independent operational control if possible.

“If that happens, there will be problems with frontline coordination, and it will be difficult to respond to enemy counterattacks in a timely manner. The basic principle of war is to organize the ranks under a single commander. Just as a flock of sheep led by a lion is stronger than a group of lions led by sheep.”

Stalin made his opposition clear and decisive.

As expected, I came out strong because I wasn’t in a sorry situation like the British guys.

Well, there was no reason to risk sending 20 divisions of the Korean army and 500,000 soldiers while the 8 million strong army was pushing the front line.

After much haggling, I managed to get a few concessions.

1. The Korean army is organized into a separate front line army.

Instead, it follows the strategic directives of Stavka (the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army).

2. The areas occupied by the Korean army will be temporarily managed by the Korean army until the NKVD advances.

However, this provision only applies in the German region.

3. The Korean army was mobilized only along the axis advancing from the Baltic to East Prussia.

To be honest, there were many parts that were meaningless due to the clauses that were attached.

But I wondered where I could get even this level of concession.

“Your Excellency, I appreciate your concession, and I promise to send Korean troops before June 1944.”

“Prime Minister Lee Seong-jun. I trust your promise and look forward to your continued friendship in the future.”

At least the red leader turned out to be more polite than expected.

Is it because they still think it’s difficult to defeat the German Wehrmacht?

Maybe it could be something like that.

Isn’t that right?

“The commies are coming out softer than I thought. Why do you think that is?”

“Isn’t it because you think the burden of loss of life is great?”

“Loss of life. That’s not unreasonable.”

Although small compared to the original, the damage to the Soviet Union was enormous.

It is said that 10 million civilians and soldiers died, so it is possible that Stalin was friendly to the South Korean military, which reduced the loss of life.

But that may not be the only reason.

Because the Soviet Union ate everything it could, even at the risk of conflict with the West, in a far-off country where 29 million people died.

Moreover, the Soviet Union was now fully aware of how advantageous it was.

The Soviet Union, like us, must have felt the sting of the Axis allies.

In the process, he would have confirmed his position sufficiently by reporting and negotiating.

From that perspective, there was no reason for Stalin to act softly.

No way. Is this a prelude to the Casablanca conference?

Come to think of it, that might have been the reason.

With Roosevelt entering the war on the Allied side, we decided to meet in Casablanca soon.

In the gathering of the four leaders of the Allied Powers, the Soviet Union was the only Red.

Unfortunately for Stalin, Korea, Britain, and the United States were all capitalist countries.

If the Soviet Union was being friendly to me because they thought I was being bullied, then it wouldn’t be hard to understand.

Isn’t that what they’re saying, let’s get the military dictatorship and the communist dictatorship to join forces to fight against the United States?

If Stalin was being generous in that sense, I also intended to do well.

What happened to the shit we threw at the Soviet Union before?

That’s that and this is this.

How can the affairs of the world be as clear as the two sides of a coin?

I instructed Jeong Gil-i to prepare for the Casablanca conference.