Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 329



Only Krnovel

#329. To eliminate anxiety, you have to be as prepared as possible.

February 2, 1966.

Nikita Khrushchev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, visited Korea without any publicity.

“Welcome, Secretary.”

“Haha! Long time no see, Mr. President.”

Lee Kang-cheol and Khrushchev shook hands happily.

“I need to say hello properly… … .”

“Whoa, whoa! Should I call the security?”

“Poohaha!”

“ha ha ha!”

Lee Kang-cheol hurriedly fell away when Khrushchev stuck his mouth out and made a gesture to kiss him.

This damn greeting where men kiss each other on the lips is originally one of the traditional greetings of the Slavic people, and from the late 19th century until the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was commonly seen as a sign of strong camaraderie between socialist brothers.

Of course, it was a joke that Khrushchev said knowing full well that Lee Kang-cheol hated it.

“You’ve come a long way, so I’m sorry there’s no welcoming ceremony.”

“Haha! It was all agreed upon in advance, wasn’t it? And I also wanted to avoid unnecessary formalities. As I get older, I increasingly dislike things that are cumbersome.”

“Me too. Now, black tea?”

“Okay.”

So we sat down at the table facing each other with the tea in front of us.

“It seems like South Korea becomes new every time I come here.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, honestly, it’s unbelievable. What it takes our country or other countries 10 years to change, we can see in South Korea in just one year.”

“Hahaha! That’s because Korean people have a bit of a hasty personality.”

“I know that ‘Ppalli Ppalli’ too. It’s a popular expression in the eastern part of our country.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes, I think the people in the eastern part of the country and those close to the border are greatly influenced by your country. They say that our TV shows are boring and that they only watch your country’s broadcasts. I’ll just leave these guys alone!”

“Are you going to arrest me?”

“No, that would be difficult. I also don’t watch our show because it’s boring, but I watch the show back home.”

“ha ha ha!”

“ha ha ha!”

This is why Lee Kang-cheol enjoyed meeting Khrushchev.

Because he was such a cheerful person.

Also, we saw each other quite often, so we were quite close.

As if they had forgotten that there was ever a war between the two countries.

“But are you sure that’s okay?”

“What is it?”

“The Chinese Communist Party. This time, it seems like they will definitely do something by joining hands with the Republic of China.”

“Hahaha! You know a lot.”

“Well, just because the landmass has gotten smaller doesn’t mean our children’s skills will rust.”

Certainly, Soviet spies were still active.

Of course, in South Korea, they couldn’t dare to do anything rash, but in the case of the Chinese Communist Party, they were looking deep into it.

“It’s okay. Our Ministry of National Defense is handling the situation well.”

“I know to some extent the true power of the Republic of Korea, but you still need to be careful. We have trained over 10 million troops.”

“It’s 11.5 million to be exact. It’ll be 12 million in a few months.”

“Wow! That endless population is truly enormous. 12 million? No, if you combine it with the Republic of China, it’s almost 15 million?”

“Haha! There are quite a lot, aren’t there?”

“It’s not that much. 15 million is more than the population of most countries.”

“That’s okay. There’s a way to deal with everything.”

“They are well-armed with weapons we sold or weapons made with our technology. Is that okay?”

“Didn’t you ask for our understanding in advance? It’s okay.”

That’s right.

All weapons and weapons technology sold by the Soviet Union to the Chinese Communist Party were done with the approval of South Korea.

In the first place, the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China do not share a border, unlike in their original history, so arms exports are impossible without South Korea’s tacit approval.

I don’t know about weapons technology, though.

But South Korea approved all of them.

“ha ha ha!”

“haha!”

“This time, I really plan on getting it right.”

“It was something that had to happen at some point. It’s something that our people and the Han Chinese have been intertwined with for thousands of years. It’s something that started long before communism or democracy.”

“Honestly, I think Liu Shaoqi was a bit lacking. He didn’t even know this and worked hard to gather such a large army. But that guy, he was much more communicative than Mao Zedong before.”

“Weren’t you and Mao Zedong practically enemies?”

“Hahaha! He was a truly horrible person.”

Khrushchev and Mao Zedong were enemies back then and even now.

Mao Zedong harshly criticized Khrushchev, who degraded Stalin and pursued reformist policies, calling him a revisionist, while Khrushchev viewed Mao Zedong as a madman who would only kill his own people.

“It’s true that Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping are not bad people. But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“That’s true. Tsk, so that’s why you need to know your place… … .”

“I guess even fairly wise people can’t help it when their nation gets involved.”

“So, what can I do for you?”

“Just do what you’ve been doing. Keep selling weapons of reasonable quality. It’ll make you money, right?”

“Haha! It was pretty good.”

“Yes, you can do that. However, there will certainly be concerns raised by the international community about the post-processing. You can support us then.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

“Then, will the Soviet Union and the Republic of Korea officially become allies after the war?”

“Haha! That’s what will happen when the war ends.”

“ha ha ha!”

“ha ha ha!”

The international community was truly one without permanent enemies or allies.

* * *

February 25, 1966.

A mansion in Nanjing.

“Brother Deng!”

“Jingguo!”

“Hahaha! Long time no see.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too.”

The two did not see each other often even after the third joint operation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, as they were avoiding South Korea’s eyes.

“How are the preparations going?”

“We have exceeded the number of troops we prepared. We are now at nearly 12 million.”

“Wow! I’m really jealous. It was incredibly hard for us to even hit 2.5 million.”

“Aren’t you guys a lot smaller than us? That’s a lot of people.”

“Anyway, that’s great. But was it really necessary to train so many troops? Even if you only have 10 million, if you combine them with us, it’s almost 13 million.”

13 million troops.

By simple calculation, it is a huge force that can create 1,300 divisions of 10,000 men each.

It is said that the Soviet Union mobilized more than 30 million people during World War II, but that was only the total number of troops mobilized for a long-term war, while the troops mobilized by North and South Korea and China this time are the troops that will be deployed at once.

But then another 2 million were added, bringing the force to nearly 15 million.

This is truly the largest mobilization of troops in human history.

“It’s a bit too much for us, but Comrade Peng Dehuai strongly insisted on making it.”

“is it so?”

“Yes, he said that it was a decisive battle that would determine the fate of our Chinese people, and that no amount of excess was enough, so he collected them tenaciously. Of course, Chairman Nana Liu also agreed with that.”

“Why?”

“South Korean people are really not ordinary people. No matter how much I think about it, there are many things that are questionable.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, we use Soviet weapons, whether we copy them or buy them.”

“Yes.”

“But while we were receiving such support from the Soviet Union, we were never hindered. If it were South Korea’s capabilities, we could have easily obstructed it.”

This was something that Deng Xiaoping continued to feel uneasy about.

“Well? Didn’t they secretly provide weapons to the Communist Party in the first place? Wasn’t it perhaps an attempt to balance out our technological superiority? I can say it now, but when Chairman Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, no matter what anyone says, we had the upper hand.”

“That’s right. But things have been different since we took power.”

“But it hasn’t even been that many years, has it?”

“Whew! Anyway, that’s right. I’m still suspicious of them. It’s been the same for the past few years. You and I have been preparing for war like crazy, but do you think the South Koreans don’t know about it?”

“You will know now that something is not right.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Honestly, I also had this thought.”

“What do you think?”

“Could it be that the South Korean guys were waiting for us to grow up and come at us properly?”

“yes?”

“You know what? They are very wary of our China being unified.”

“So, even though you hate the Communist Party so much, you supported your brother’s Communist Party?”

“But you know, neither you nor we have ever fought a war with the Republic of Korea. Right?”

“… … .”

“If that’s the case, isn’t it that they want to go to war with us in order to completely crush the spirit of our Chinese people? But since they have no justification, isn’t it that they want us to grow and gain confidence before they attack?”

“… … .”

Chiang Ching-kuo was unable to answer.

Because if they think that way, they will become too miserable.

But he couldn’t completely shake off those thoughts.

“It could be a coincidence, or it could be an exaggeration. But I can’t get that thought out of my head.”

“You are thinking too much.”

“I recently went to see Comrade Zhou, who was in hiding.”

“Are you talking about Mr. Zhou?”

“Yes, there is no one who knows the Republic of Korea better than Comrade Zhou. That’s why I asked him. I was explaining a little bit about the war we were planning this time. But Zhou was really upset. He asked if I was planning to destroy the Chinese people.”

“Why do you think so?”

“They just say out loud that they don’t know the Republic of Korea. That shows how scary those guys are.”

“… … .”

“Anyway, that’s why. In order to get rid of that anxiety, you have no choice but to prepare as much as possible.”

As Deng Xiaoping explained, he felt that he still had not escaped his sense of unease.

But the die has already been cast.

Whether it’s a road or a bridge, I’m going unconditionally.

I had no choice but to try as best as I could.

“That’s what it was anyway. Don’t take it too seriously.”

“Yes, brother.”

“By the way, many of us were of the opinion that we should start the war around the end of June and start provoking them little by little. What do you think?”

“That’s okay for us too.”

“Okay. Then I will report it to my superiors.”

“Yes, brother.”

“Jingguo, there are only a few months left, but prepare as best you can. Isn’t it said that the outcome of a war is determined during the preparation process?”

“Yes, brother. I will really give it my all.”

“Okay, let’s really work hard.”

“All right.”

The dark clouds of war began to gather over Northeast Asia.