Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 137



Only Krnovel

#137 Why are you turning left?

After Stalin’s fall, there were not many terms for territorial cession that Molotov negotiated with Politburo members who made up the collective leadership system, such as Malenkov, Bereya, and Khrushchev.

The first plan is to do our best to use the Lena River as a border, and the second plan is to use the Yenisei River as a border.

Novosibirsk could be saved if the Yenisei River was used as a border.

“Okay. “As Minister Kim said, we lost this war, so we will yield.”

“To what extent?”

“I will give up even the Yenisei River. So, just defeat the troops.”

The Yenisei River is the river that Germany and Japan decided to use as a border once they conquered Europe and Asia, respectively, during World War II.

Compared to the Lena River at the 70 degree east longitude line, it yields approximately 1,700 km more to the west.

I thought that from the Soviet perspective, they really gave as much as they could give.

But to Kim Gyu-sik, this is an unthinkable statement.

“Look, Minister Molotov.”

“ah! really! Please don’t call me that. “That’s enough, right?”

“Let’s change our situations. If it were your country, would you win the war and retreat all the way back there? Even if you roughly calculate it, you’re moving back 3,000km from Moscow, right?”

“No, what kind of nonsense… … .”

“What is so absurd? The war you invaded. “If we had lost, you would have done more, not less, right?”

“… … .”

Molotov had to keep his mouth shut to Kim Gyu-sik’s words.

The reason the Soviet Union invaded Korea was because they did not like that America’s top ally was occupying Manchuria, they found Korea to be the reason they were expelled from the Allied Powers in World War II, and they were displeased with Korea’s unwillingness to back down in every conflict thereafter. There were many reasons.

However, the most important reason was securing a properly floating port.

So, if the Republic of Korea had been defeated, Manchuria would have been taken for granted, and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula might have had to be surrendered as well.

Since it is an ally of the United States, it would have been difficult to completely swallow it up.

Molotov, who was silent for a while because he was at a loss for an answer, sighed.

What I regret is myself.

We must somehow stop the advance of the South Korean military.

“Whoa! Then, Minister Kim, please speak first. “How far do you want?”

“Volga River.”

“What, what? Volga River? Are there all these people who are like day robbers? “The Volga River!”

“Day robbery? Be careful what you say! “Who invaded? They were robbers!”

“You have to say something that makes sense! “The Volga River!”

It was not impossible to understand why Molotov was running wild like that.

The Volga River?

The Volga River is like the home of the hearts of Russians.

It passes through key cities such as Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, and Volgograd, and even Moscow is located on the coast of the Moskva River, a tributary of the Volga River.

But let’s set the border as the Volga River?

“Please sit down, Minister Molotov.”

“The Volga River! “You don’t know what the Volga River means to us Russians!”

“Should I know that?”

“Well, what! what are you saying… … .”

“Why should I know the home of the invading army’s heart?”

“… … .”

“Anyway, our government has decided to incorporate the Volga River into our territory.”

“You say that’s nonsense!”

“Then, either say it or not.”

“what?”

“If negotiation doesn’t work, we have no choice but to take it by force.”

“You would do such a reckless thing!”

“I understand that you were good at doing that reckless thing?”

“… … .”

“Anyway, you can’t do it if you don’t want to, right? I have nothing more to say so I will get up. “I will stay here for a few more days, so please consult with your government and contact me if you change your mind.”

“What if I go on like this!”

Kim Gyu-sik ignored Molotov’s earnest cry and left the place.

And, I reported it to Lee Kang-cheol right away.

– The Volga River? What is the Volga River all of a sudden?

This is the first time that a river railway has been built on the Volga River.

“Hehehe! “Did I really want to use the Volga River as our border?”

– yes? ah! I guess you called me a little forcefully to give the negotiation an advantage?

“ha ha ha! you’re right. If they had wanted to use the Ural Mountains as a border from the beginning, they would have insisted that it be at the level of Omsk even if they gave up the Yenisei River as they are now saying. The same goes for other conditions. So I decided to do it for now. “Isn’t this the basics of business?”

– … … .

“Anyway, we need to put more pressure on them. “Where are our armed forces now?”

– The siege on the outskirts of Moscow will be completed by today. Currently, considering that negotiations are in progress, we are passively carrying out airstrikes and artillery strikes.

“Then a little harder! Please ask me to press a little harder. But don’t kill too many people. “This is a war that has been won, so there is no need for unnecessary killing of people.”

– I know what you mean.

That night, there was a night air raid by the South Korean Air Force on Moscow.

Military targets and several symbolic buildings were thoroughly bombed, with one 500-pound KGGB guided bomb hitting the Kremlin Palace in particular.

And the bombardment continued.

Two days later, May 9th, 15:00.

Due to the consideration of the Republic of Korea, the meeting was held again at the request of Molotov, who had specially traveled to Moscow on a liaison plane.

“… … .”

Molotov looked much older in the past two nights.

“Minister Molotov, have you changed your mind?”

“The Volga River is really impossible.”

“Uh-huh! Are these people really kidding? Do I seem like such an idle person?”

“Please listen to me until the end. Ural instead! Let’s set our border as the Ural Mountains. That’s okay, right? yes?”

“You mean the Volga River?”

“ah! Why are you really doing this? The Urals! Ural! That means giving up most of our Soviet territory! “I don’t know why you insist on the Volga River so much, but if you use the Volga River as a border, what on earth will happen to so many of our people?”

“What should I do? Can’t we just pull it out in the middle of the night, put it on a freight train, and send it across the Volga River?”

“… … .”

“You can do it and we can’t? “At least your people only need to cross the Volga River, but our people who lived in the Maritime Province were taken all the way to Central Asia?”

“Minister Kim! Please let’s not do this! We will admit and apologize for all the wrongs we did to your people during the Stalin era. So please, let’s end it all the way to the Ural Mountains.”

“Whew! “This is it.”

“Please, really. Let’s stop. “If you wish, I will also give you Stalin, the main culprit.”

“What do you want me to do with a butcher like that? “There is no need.”

“… … .”

“Anyway, this is not a matter for me to decide on my own. “I will provide you with accommodations, so please stay here until we hear back from our government.”

“Thank you. “Then please at least stop the air raids and artillery fire.”

“It’s a military matter, so I can’t guarantee it. Well, I’ll try to speak up first.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Do you by any chance need vodka?”

“many! a lot!”

“… … .”

The next day, May 10th, at 11 o’clock.

“We received a reply from our government.”

“Uh, how did it go?”

Molotov asked, the smell of vodka wafting from his mouth.

It looks like you’ve been sleeping quite a bit all night.

“We decided to give this up. “There may be a few more minor conditions attached later.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much! Hehehe!”

“You should really be grateful. There was a lot of opposition even within our government. “Why should we give in when we can swallow it all up?”

“Thank you!”

“Then let’s look at the map.”

A large map was spread out on the table.

“Let’s decide the details later at a working meeting, and only decide on the main points here.”

“Let’s do that.”

“Let’s go up from the south first. Starting here at the northern border of Aktobe in the Kazakh Republic. “Do you have any objections?”

“No.”

“Then, the Ural Mountains are right there, so let’s climb up them. ah! I’m telling you in advance that the Ural Mountains themselves will be our territory. “Do you admit it?”

“No, where is that… … .”

“If you don’t like it, do you hit it?”

“Ha, I understand. “I will admit it.”

The Ural Mountains are not high for a mountain range and are wide from east to west.

Therefore, the side that occupies the Ural Mountains will have a tremendous strategic and tactical advantage.

If this continues, it will be very difficult for the Soviet Union to cross the east again, so Molotov sighed.

“Then let us continue. “It goes up, up and down!”

“… … .”

“Jjuuuk! “Jjuuuk!”

“Oh, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you turning left when you’re going straight up? “The Ural Mountains turn right?”

The Ural Mountains rise straight north and curve to the right around 64 degrees north latitude.

However, Kim Gyu-sik was climbing well, but instead of going to the right, he took an odd left turn.

It was also bent almost at a right angle.

“ah! “You mean this?”

“Oh, this! “Isn’t that what you’re saying?”

“You said it before? “Instead of setting the border as the Ural Mountains, there are a few minor conditions?”

“yes?”

“It bends to the right here and we will take the Nenets.”

“This is so unreasonable… … .”

“Or back to the Volga River?”

“… … .”

This wasn’t a matter of choice.

The Nenets are a region bordering the Arctic Barents Sea and are a frozen tundra region.

I don’t know why Korea is asking for such a piece of land, but it is incomparable to the area east of the Volga River.

The area is small, at 170,000㎢, and the population is only a small number of the Nenets, a Samoyed tribe.

However, there is a problem that the area that the Soviet Union touches the Barents Sea is drastically reduced, but this is not important at the moment.

Because it’s frozen anyway.

“Take it! Take it!”

“Okay. So let’s bend it like this and keep the Nenets. Of course, the Novaya Zemlya Islands are also ours.”

“Sure. Is it done now?”

“That’s enough for now.”

“Then let me ask you something too. “What will you do with our people living in the area that will become your territory?”

Molotov asked, secretly expecting Korea to deport them to their own region.

The Soviet Union was now underpopulated.

This is because too many people died in successive wars.

Russians were especially lacking.

The Russian population of the Soviet Union peaked at 110 million in 1940, but is now only 100 million due to the war.

However, millions of people died in this war, so the number is less than 100 million.

Even if the territory was taken away, people had to be relocated somehow.

But this is also true in Korea.

An area estimated to be well over 10 million square kilometers has been acquired, but the population is extremely sparse.

Even so, it was reduced by this war.

However, this does not mean that there are currently no people left in Korea.

The Manchuria region is also in chaos because there are no people, and there is no room to move people to the Maritime Province or even to Western Siberia.

In short, the problem was completely different from the Manchurian region, which was troubled by the Han Chinese.

This is a situation where we should be attracted rather than expelled.

“How do I do something? “We become citizens of the Republic of Korea, right?”

“Isn’t it enough to take territory, take people as well? “There is no such law!”

“What do you mean by taking away? “Of course the people who originally lived there should live, right?”

“You can’t do that!”

“What is there to not have? “Anyway, we cannot give in to people, so you know that.”

“Holy shit!”

“However, we will only ban movement for one year, and after one year, those who want to return to Russia will be asked to confirm their wishes, so that is what I understand.”

“ha… … .”

They said they would ask the doctor not immediately, but after a year.

So which one should you choose?

Korea is still a global economic powerhouse.

And since it is prospering day by day, it will have developed further in a year.

On the other hand, the Soviet Union was devastated by the war and frequently arrested people and sent them to concentration camps or killed them.

Of course, there will be some improvement now that Stalin has fallen, but it is certain that we will have to go through harsh times at least for the time being.

Given this comparison, which one should you choose?

To be honest, Molotov seemed like he would have chosen Korea.

It seemed like people would have to give up too.

Because Korea is the one holding the sword.

“And the question of the Soviet Union.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Disband the Union.”

“Isn’t this going too far?”

“Which nation or country in the world would want to be forcibly bound into one country like this? “Dismantle it unconditionally.”

“every?”

“Everyone. “Not only Kazakhs and Uzbeks in Central Asia, but also Georgia, Ukraine, and Belarus.”

“Now, wait! Why are Ukraine and Belarus included there?”

“Why are you going in? “Of course we have to be independent, right?”

“What does this mean? I don’t know about other countries, but Ukraine and Belarus are part of Russia and the Korean people! “That’s not even worth dying for!”

It was expected and prepared to some extent that Korea would demand the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

But Ukraine and Belarus?

Molotov thought that this was a problem that could not be accepted even if he died.