I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 58



Only Krnovel

EP.58 Chinese Intervention (1)

The exhibition leader has a lot to do.

That’s a lot too.

“Your Majesty, it is time for you to attend the cabinet meeting.”

“Is it that time already?”

“Your Majesty, it is time to visit the Pyongyang Leather Factory.”

“I see.”

I held cabinet meetings in the morning, and visited industrial sites in the afternoon to inspect the situation.

The work continued into the night.

After putting off meeting foreign diplomats and processing approval documents for a long time, I was finally able to catch my breath when dawn came.

‘This is not a place for people to live.’

They say leaders originally have a lot of work to do, but now even two bodies are not enough.

How did people like Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill endure such things?

It’s not like I was on drugs like Hitler.

The more I thought about it, the more amazed I became by their abilities.

Stalin was said to have been doing this and even had parties until dawn.

‘They are not the Goats of the political world.’

While I was thinking about something else, the payment documents piled up again.

I sighed and started shuffling through the newly piled up papers.

‘There is a possibility that China will join the Axis powers.’

It was a report on Chiang Kai-shek’s movements from the central headquarters.

I was reading the report without thinking much when an idea suddenly occurred to me.

‘No, is Chiang Kai-shek, this balding old man, crazy? He wants to join the Axis alliance now? He wants to fight us, what is he talking about?’

I quickly flipped through the report.

Attached to the back of the report was a thick envelope containing the SP version.

“Master. Bring me the gramophone.”

I read and reread the report until Jeong-gil brought the gramophone.

I was just wondering if I might have misinterpreted something.

Soon, Jeong Gil brought a gramophone and played the SP record.

Chijik.

A few seconds after the SP board started playing, a conversation between Chiang Kai-shek and what appeared to be one of his confidants began to flow out from the gramophone.

Jeong Gil, who can speak Chinese, served as interpreter.

“Chairman, don’t you think this alliance push will overly provoke Korea?”

“We have to accept that. If Germany wins anyway, the Koreans won’t even think about going against the Axis. Why can’t we think about that?”

Chiang Kai-shek argued for a long time how joining the Axis powers would be beneficial to China’s security.

I was listening to that story and then I pulled out the SP board.

“owner.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

“How do you think China joining the Axis would look?”

“What would I think?”

“Oh my.”

“If I may say so, I believe this is a case that is advantageous to Korea.”

“Is it advantageous?”

“Yes. If China joins Germany, she will be completely isolated from the great powers. If we then wage a preventive war, who will put the brakes on our military’s advance into China?”

Is that what it means to be advantageous?

I quietly turned the calculator around.

As Jeong Gil-i said, China joining the Axis was a blessing for us.

No matter how much the great powers wanted to side with China, it was only a matter of time before they would give up once they had joined their enemy, Germany.

‘It’s war.’

I never once thought about something like a second Sino-Korean war.

Doing that will only draw aggro from the great powers and will not help the national interest at all.

There is no need to follow the path of destruction shown by the Japanese Empire.

But as things turned out this way, I thought it might be necessary to make a war plan.

‘I don’t know how the world will turn out, but it wouldn’t hurt to make a plan.’

I picked up the phone right away.

“Army Ministry. Change to the Army. Sir, it’s me. There’s urgent business that needs to be done by the Army. Okay. Make a plan for a preventive war against China. September would be a good time to prepare. Okay. Do your best.”

Kim Seong-ju accepted my instructions very happily.

From the tremor over the phone, one could tell how eagerly this militarist was receiving the order to begin planning an invasion of China.

That’s enough for the Army, I guess I should tell the Navy too.

Anyway, the Navy is also one of the two major axes of the military.

“Navy Ministry. Please change to Navy. Senior, this is Lee Seong-jun. There is something I need to do at the Navy Ministry. The Army is preparing a plan to invade China, and I would like the Navy to participate. Yes. Of course, I need to hear the Navy’s opinion. Then, I will understand that you will do so.”

After ordering the war plan to be drawn up while sitting down, my throat was parched.

I took a sip of the fresh cola from the fridge, and only then did my thirst feel a little better.

‘But I don’t feel like preparing in a very hard-line manner.’

I started preparing the club to strike Chiang Kai-shek, but I still thought that dialogue was necessary.

We need to think about resolving this through dialogue like civilized people. Can we just use a club?

Yeah, we shouldn’t do it in a too Korean Empire style.

Let’s compromise a bit and go to the level of the city mayor’s ‘People’s Republic of China’.

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ah, this is Lee Seong-jun. I have a favor to ask of you. Yes. Please summon the Chinese ambassador immediately. The content would be a warning against joining the Axis powers. Yes. You can give a very strong warning.”

In fact, it was entirely possible for China, as a sovereign state, to join the Axis powers.

That was an internal matter for China, a sovereign state.

But that is only theoretical logic.

We could say this to China according to the logic of realpolitik.

Can a ‘small country’ stand up to a great country?

These are the words of our dear Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, who has caused pain to Korea.

So, who is the greatest power in Asia today?

The world’s fifth largest power, the Korean Empire.

According to Vice Minister Tian Hai’s logic, the Republic of China, ranked 10th in national power, is a small country that cannot stand up to Korea.

How could a small country like China join the Axis to oppose a major power like Korea?

“hmm.”

As I poured out strong measures on Nanjing based on information I had spied on in China, I felt like I was Chairman Shi of the Chinese Emperor.

‘So this is why China used wolf diplomacy.’

In the 21st century, I could now understand the mind of the city mayor, which was completely incomprehensible.

Anyway, I warned them strongly, so I’m sure the Chinese will listen.

I thought about it like that and organized my work.

“dismissal.”

At dawn, while I was deep in sleep, the secretary on duty at the embassy woke me up.

“Uhm, what’s going on?”

“An emergency telegram has arrived from Berlin.”

“Give it to me.”

I quickly scanned the telegram sent by the Korean Embassy in Germany.

“The Chinese government joined the anti-communist pact?”

This was essentially a preliminary step toward joining the Axis.

Hey, are you guys crossing the line?

Are these guys hoping to commit suicide right now?

I picked up the phone immediately.

“Hold the car on standby. And the Foreign Ministry. The Deputy Foreign Minister? Tell His Excellency the Foreign Minister to come to the Foreign Ministry right now. Okay.”

I put on some clothes and went to the car waiting in front of the official residence.

I saw military policemen preparing to escort me with sullen faces.

I’m a little sorry about this, but I couldn’t help it because it was official business.

“Depart for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The time of arrival at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was 3:30 in the morning.

Coming to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the wee hours of the morning, with no sleep, I was so annoyed.

Soon, the Foreign Minister’s official car arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I was staring at a world map in the Foreign Minister’s office, making a clicking sound with my shoes.

Five minutes for that.

There was a sound of urgent footsteps, and the foreign minister came in and bowed.

“Your Majesty, I am a little late.”

“Please sit down.”

I did not address the substitute in the usual polite tone.

The new Foreign Minister, Joo Si-gyeong, who came from the Daejeonghoe, treated me with great caution.

I showed the telegram I received from the embassy to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“This, this is.”

“Didn’t Your Excellency summon the Chinese ambassador today and convey our government’s warning?”

“No. I warned you strongly several times. I directly told you that if you join the Axis, you will experience Pyongyang’s wrath.”

If we use the language of diplomacy to express our anger, it means that we have expressed our will to the fullest.

Well, we didn’t make any mistakes in communication.

The bottom line is that China was wrong.

Only then did my frozen expression soften a little.

“Your Excellency, regarding this matter, I will summon the Chinese Ambassador again. Shall I contact him now?”

I waved my hand.

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“yes?”

“If the Chinese refuse to follow the civilized way, we have no choice but to go hard. Please summon the British and American ambassadors this morning and ask for their understanding of military action against China.”

“Yes? Are you thinking of war?”

It’s not at that stage yet.

However, they plan to temporarily blockade China’s aorta, the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, by floating a fleet on the international river, the Yangtze River.

To this extent, it would be a reasonable ‘appropriate level of warning’ rather than war.

“I need to make a phone call.”

I picked up the phone.

“Navy Department. Oh, sir. I apologize for calling you at dawn. The reason is that China has caused an accident, and I don’t think these guys will listen to me, so I need some batons. Yes. The combined fleet won’t be coming, so I need some Yangtze River fleet. Yes. Once the order is given, please start taking action. Please.”

The Foreign Minister was looking at me as if to ask, “What kind of diplomacy is this?”

What, with this much?

It’s better than fighting a war.

I ordered the resumption of military action in China three years after the end of the Sino-Korean War.