Ch.164The Fate of America

* * *

Around this time, the KFC, which had emerged as a new force of communism, was up to new tricks.

For now, KFC wasn’t in a position to rise up, so they didn’t engage in armed struggle as they lacked the capability.

So they acted in the typical communist fashion.

In this situation, there was only one way to stir up trouble.

“For now, let’s support the White House.”

“If these reforms succeed, those Yankees might hunt us down.”

“Wait and see. American society is in extreme chaos right now. There will be groups opposing Huey Long. Don’t you comrades know that KFC’s main racial demographic is Black?”

KFC issued a statement in Kentucky supporting the White House.

This was, of course, due to Trotsky’s calculation that anti-Huey Long groups would call for his overthrow after he joined hands with communism.

And then.

There was someone who disliked Huey Long’s reforms.

Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur.

When he saw the newspaper headline about Huey Long joining hands with KFC, which appeared to be a communist force, his hands trembled and his head felt dizzy.

“Hmph, so it’s collusion with communists after all? That damned KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken or whatever. We should catch those guys first! They’re just Reds with a meaningless KFC sign! Even the Russian Empress pushed through reforms while killing all the Reds!”

MacArthur had long suspected, based on the Russian Empress’s radio broadcasts, that KFC might be behind the Great Depression, and when the White House joined hands with KFC, he became convinced of this theory.

Moreover, Huey Long was pushing policies dictatorially.

Isn’t he just like that Secretary in communist Germany?

If this isn’t an honorary Red, what is?

Then suddenly something flashed through MacArthur’s mind.

“That’s it. I’m sure. Those KFC bastards are trying to take over the White House. Then I must make the first move.”

Before the White House could push through Huey Long’s version of the New Deal policies, MacArthur mobilized the military.

“Your Excellency! The Chief of Staff has mobilized the army!”

“Why on earth!”

Huey Long had to flee south to escape the unexpected coup.

Thus, MacArthur’s US Military Government was established in the north, while the United States of America was established in the south, supported by southern businessmen backing Huey Long.

* * *

At last, all hell broke loose in America.

Douglas MacArthur drove Huey Long from the White House, accusing him of joining hands with KFC and attempting radical reforms.

And immediately established a military government.

The assassination of Roosevelt before this was shocking enough, but now major events were happening one after another.

Does this make any sense? Is this the right level of plausibility for an Earth Writer?

“Douglas MacArthur established a US Military Government? How on earth?”

Wait, wasn’t there the Bonus Army?

No, wait. Did KFC perhaps absorb the Bonus Army? If so, things are taking a strange turn.

“Do you know anything about the Bonus Army?” I casually asked Boris Savinkov, who had submitted the Okhrana’s American branch report.

“Yes. Isn’t it an organization of impoverished American veterans? I understand they stopped protesting due to KFC’s intervention.”

I see. So they even managed to draw in the veterans.

The report says KFC supported Huey Long’s White House. Trotsky wouldn’t have sincerely supported it, but must have deliberately planned this.

That’s Trotsky for you. He anticipated that communists and anti-Huey Long factions would rise up.

If America becomes divided this way, it would be easier for KFC to rise up.

With national opinion split by the antagonism between Huey Long and MacArthur, people would die, and more would join KFC.

“Huey Long has moved south and established the United States of America government.”

He apparently set up a government to confront MacArthur with southern support. Thus was born the United States of America.

Honestly, I expected it wouldn’t be as severe as the Civil War, just Trotsky causing some trouble for America.

But it exploded bigger than I thought.

So does this mean KFC & US Military Government & United States of America will fight each other?

“Hmm. This is a disaster.”

This makes it a three-way battle including KFC.

Wow, things are taking a stranger turn than expected.

So MacArthur established a military government. Hmm. What’s his support base like?

Huey Long’s side accepted KFC’s proposal as a measure against the Great Depression.

“But MacArthur’s military government still has a weak support base. Since he advocates anti-communism, he won’t join hands with KFC.”

“Then, he’ll need to solve the Great Depression somehow. Otherwise, MacArthur’s military government will easily collapse.”

According to the report, Huey Long’s measures seem to be enthusiastically supported by everyone except the privileged class of Americans.

The problem is that MacArthur, the opposition, rose up in this situation.

This will thwart KFC. So what will be the countermeasure for the Great Depression?

“MacArthur’s government isn’t without ideas. MacArthur gave a speech saying he would move toward modified capitalism, referencing our United States of Russia.”

Oh. So he’s using us as justification, saying he’ll follow our example.

I see. If he says he’s following us, his countermeasure for the Great Depression is certain.

He can deal with the Great Depression without joining hands with KFC or listening to communists.

MacArthur would rather join hands with us than with KFC.

Above all, in today’s world where communists follow Russia’s example, this image isn’t bad for MacArthur.

“Hmm. I see.”

“Additionally, MacArthur’s government has passed various laws using the military. Like abolishing the gold standard and passing securities laws.”

Yes. The report is full of details, so I think I understand.

Huey Long is probably similar.

The only two differences are joining hands with KFC and controlling the military.

Moreover, Huey Long was driven out before he could do anything.

I don’t understand how things turned out this way.

Well, I’d need to go there myself or learn more about their situation to understand.

Huey Long himself was radical enough to be cut off by Roosevelt. That’s why he compromised with KFC and worked quickly to escape the Great Depression.

The previous president, Herbert Hoover, also devised measures to deal with the Great Depression. In the original history, Roosevelt inherited and transformed these into the New Deal.

Huey Long pushed too hard and brought MacArthur’s dissatisfaction.

“I think we should support one side.”

“Didn’t Huey Long try to join hands with KFC?”

“Yes.”

“Then we should support MacArthur’s military government.”

I’m not sure how MacArthur’s military government will turn out, but one thing is certain: given how things have developed, civil war seems unavoidable.

Hmm, this situation is beyond what I wanted.

What I wanted was to throw a small stone into a lake to create ripples, but the stone turned out to be unexpectedly large and is making a mess of the lake.

To be precise, it’s a situation where they can’t cope with the Great Depression.

“What about the matter I asked you to look into?”

“The Tuskegee syphilis experiment actually exists.”

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment. I didn’t expect it to exist here too.

Yes. KFC just existed, but this KFC probably didn’t influence the syphilis experiment.

The syphilis experiment probably happened the same way.

“Then, let’s spread it at an appropriate time.”

“By appropriate time, you mean?”

“Right now, is Huey Long’s United States of America claiming to be the legitimate government of the United States?”

“Yes.”

Then why call it the United States of America? It reminds me of the American Civil War. Did southerners create it that way?

And Trotsky is added to the mix.

“Let’s expose this at an appropriate time to further aggravate the civil war.”

If this breaks out, Trotsky will use it to rise up.

Effectively, it would hasten the civil war.

“By appropriate time, when would be best to expose it?”

I tap my finger on the desk, thinking.

This is quite a variable.

Even this Trotsky affair has grown much larger than I expected.

If civil war breaks out right now, it’s not ideal for us either.

From the looks of it, civil war seems likely to break out even without exposing Tuskegee. It would be better after we’re more prepared. What’s the best approach?

I should discuss this with the State Duma first.

* * *

“Roosevelt, who was to be inaugurated as president in America, has been assassinated.”

The Duma became noisy at my words.

Of course they would—the American president had been assassinated.

What kind of country is America? It’s the richest country in the world and one that changed the tide of the Great War.

Additionally, it helped defeat the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War with overwhelming supplies.

Given such a country, it was natural for the Duma to be in an uproar.

“Hmph. American society will fall into chaos.”

The president was assassinated during the Great Depression.

This was something that didn’t even exist originally. There were assassination attempts, but Roosevelt never died.

As far as I know, it was Huey Long who was assassinated, but now Huey Long, who was originally a governor, has risen to become president.

“Newly inaugurated Huey Long tried to join hands with KFC to deal with the Great Depression but was driven south by a coup from Douglas MacArthur, the anti-communist Army Chief of Staff. MacArthur established a US Military Government, and Huey Long formed the United States of America government centered around southern figures.”

Boris Savinkov explained directly to the Duma members.

US Military Government, United States of America, KFC. It doesn’t seem like there will be more, but this must have been unexpected for the Duma too.

No matter how uninformed about intelligence, both White Army generals and the South Russian government that conducted diplomacy with America know America’s capabilities well.

“This makes it a three-way battle.”

“Your Majesty sent Trotsky to America after seeing this far.”

Why is there sudden praise here?

This is unfair to me. I didn’t send him to America expecting this.

I really didn’t expect things to explode like this.

“That wasn’t exactly my intention, but it could turn out that way.”

“We should prepare to intervene in the civil war at any time.”

Right. We should now prepare to intervene in America at any time.

“Yes. If only Trotsky’s KFC were the enemy, it would be one thing. But now KFC, the US Military Government, and the United States of America all exist simultaneously.”

Frankly, if KFC had risen up alone, America could have handled it.

But that America is now divided in two.

In this situation, Trotsky’s KFC can grow stronger.

“I ask the military: can you prepare to intervene if civil war breaks out in America?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. If we specifically want to make a military intervention, it’s certainly possible.”

That’s fortunate.

If I make an appropriate speech in the middle, saying we’re helping America, Russian troops could intervene for America’s sake.

More precisely, for the US Military Government’s sake.

Russian citizens would also want to help MacArthur, who follows Anastasia’s modified capitalism.

“I see. With America divided like this, more people will join KFC. It will end up being a three-way battle.”

“Then isn’t it better for the civil war to break out a bit earlier? If more time passes, Germany might offer to help KFC.”

Can Germany really cross the Atlantic? If you ask that, the answer is no.

“Germany would have to cross the Atlantic first. Even if America is in three pieces, the navy is still in the hands of either the US Military Government or the United States of America, so they can prevent Germany from crossing.”

“However, we don’t know if Americans will support MacArthur.”

“He promised the people that after dealing with KFC and the United States of America that’s tied to KFC, and resolving the Great Depression, he would elect a president through elections again.”

This way, people supporting MacArthur will increase, at least for now if not in the future.

Additionally, adopting our method shows his determination to solve the Great Depression.

MacArthur’s support base will likely grow.

“It’s quite admirable that Douglas MacArthur mentioned Your Majesty and said he would adopt modified capitalism. Isn’t modified capitalism Your Majesty’s unique ideology?”

What Ungern is referring to is Anastasiaism.

Russia’s modified capitalism is globally known as Anastasiaism.

From the Roman National Party’s perspective, it would seem Douglas MacArthur was inspired by me to adopt modified capitalism.

This way, Russians who would die shouting “Anastasia” would also have a favorable impression of Douglas MacArthur.

In other words, helping with intervention in the civil war wouldn’t be too difficult.

“But we shouldn’t reach out first. Let’s just say we support the US Military Government and watch the American situation, then casually drop a word.”

“Understood.”

That should be enough.

If Douglas MacArthur comes on too strong with “Oh, how nice to meet you” and tries to work on various things, we might dislike it.

In these matters, push and pull is important.

“You’re still monitoring Trotsky, right?”

“Yes. We’ve infiltrated Okhrana into KFC to be ready to assassinate Trotsky at any time.”

We’ve inserted Okhrana into KFC.

So we can deal with Trotsky whenever needed.

We could kill him right now, but since we’ve come this far, I’d like to see the civil war.