Ch.166The Fate of America (3)

# The White House

General Douglas MacArthur, who had seized the White House, was closely monitoring the European situation.

Having established a military government, he desperately needed external support.

To implement reforms that would stabilize the Great Depression as quickly as possible, his military government needed to be recognized as legitimate.

“Russia and Japan, along with the small Balkan states, support us, while Britain and France recognize that fraud Huey Long’s honorary communist regime? Hah!”

MacArthur was outraged by Britain and France’s actions.

It was truly absurd.

Right now, that communist regime under Huey Long might unite with the KFC to turn America red, yet anti-communist nations were choosing Long? This was infuriating.

There was only one solution.

“We must immediately send troops to crush that southern Huey Long and his Dixie gang!”

MacArthur was shouting that they needed to strike the Southern United States immediately!

If they didn’t act now, those British bastards and frog-eaters might support the South in unpredictable ways.

The time to strike was now.

“Not yet. Not yet. If we act rashly, we’ll lose all legitimacy.”

Eisenhower, who had begun serving as MacArthur’s advisor in the military council, opposed the idea.

“So we just leave them be?”

“We don’t have enough strength to decisively defeat them right now. The KFC is also expanding its influence westward.”

Not just Eisenhower, but the entire military council established in the White House determined they lacked the strength to defeat both the South and the KFC.

After all, they had seized the White House through military force. Now was the time for stabilization.

Moreover, following the Great War and the end of Russia’s civil war, America had begun disarmament, meaning MacArthur’s regime hadn’t yet properly assembled its military forces.

It was still difficult to resolve the situation through force.

So now was the time to seek stability.

The same was true for Huey Long, who had established himself in Louisiana.

“We must drive out MacArthur and restore the glory of the United States of America!”

Huey Long, who had become president of the United States with the support of southern businessmen, needed to quickly drive out the military government in the North.

They couldn’t leave this national division unresolved for long, especially with the KFC in the picture.

At least the businessmen had promised to help if they were exempted from wealth redistribution, so they needed to defeat the military government as soon as possible.

“All we have are militias. And the KFC’s movements have been suspicious lately. We need to build our strength here for a few years.”

The southern businessmen forming the United States government also judged that they lacked the strength to completely subdue the North.

If they rashly started a civil war now, more people would defect to the KFC.

The one fortunate thing was that Britain and France, their allies from the Great War, supported the Southern United States.

Ironically, the division that began because of the KFC continued in a state of tension without escalating to civil war, also because of the KFC.

Meanwhile, Russia seized this opportunity to sell many weapons to the North, and Russian influence in America grew as Prince Yusupov and businessmen expanded into both northern and southern America.

# # #

Today’s Duma was in an uproar over international rather than domestic issues.

Why? Because Britain and France were supporting the United States.

Britain and France were supporting the Southern United States.

This was somewhat unexpected.

While they had anticipated Britain’s antagonism, they hadn’t expected France to side with Britain.

Honestly, if France alone hadn’t sided with Britain, Britain wouldn’t have supported Huey Long so strongly.

“Why is France siding with the South?”

“It seems there’s significant political turmoil within France. If they were to recognize a military regime in this situation, wouldn’t that be dangerous internally?”

Yes, that makes sense.

For France to support a military regime now would certainly impact French politics.

“Please keep monitoring France. They’re unstable too. So when might the civil war begin in earnest?”

“America has reduced its military through disarmament. According to Okhrana’s assessment on the ground, both North and South will need 2-3 years to rebuild their military strength.”

So that means 1935 or 1936.

This is troublesome. If France is also in such an unstable state, it might be better if things erupted quickly.

Hmm. Things never go according to plan, do they?

I didn’t even anticipate America falling into such disarray.

Fortunately, I never specifically prophesied that civil war wouldn’t break out in America.

There would be no talk of the Tsar’s prophecies being wrong, but still.

In this situation, the key question is who will strike first.

“After that, it’s a matter of who strikes first. So how is the West doing now?”

“The American West is either expanding under KFC influence or remaining neutral.”

The country has clearly split north and south, but if the KFC expands westward from Kentucky…

Kentucky could become a force to be reckoned with.

“Hmm.”

Given the situation, we need to grab America by the collar and help it.

To be honest, if America completely collapses, things will become troublesome.

While we might be able to handle Japan along with Britain, in the future, Russia as a hegemonic power might threaten neighboring countries or be ostracized because of its dominant position.

In other words, we need to keep competitors around.

Honestly, I could just do whatever and say “I don’t care!” but that doesn’t seem right.

In that sense, America needs to survive.

Keeping America alive serves as a safety mechanism for Russia.

We need to keep monitoring the American situation. Even if MacArthur or Huey Long refuse help, we should intervene anyway.

“Your Majesty, what if they refuse our support?”

“Then we’ll reveal to the world that Leon is Trotsky.”

“And then intervene under the pretext of eliminating communists, I see.”

“Yes. At that point, America won’t be able to refuse.”

Then we’ll intervene in America and take Alaska.

Perhaps America, hardened by civil war, would be quite formidable against Japan?

I’m not sure how incompetent Japan will be compared to original history, but still.

“Then the military will always be prepared to intervene.”

“Ah, I have another question. Minister of Internal Affairs.”

“Please ask, Your Majesty.”

“How are the communist countries reacting to this?”

We should check the communist reaction at least once.

We need to clearly hear which side they support.

If they support the KFC, they’ll try to provide assistance somehow.

America becoming communist?

Unless Karl Liebknecht is a fool, he must understand America’s potential.

Didn’t America prove it by supporting the Great War and the Russian Civil War?

And since the KFC leader is known as Leon, Karl Liebknecht would want to provide support through some channel, even if not with troops.

Whether they can cross the Atlantic is another question.

But for now, there’s much to be cautious about.

“The communist bloc is using this as propaganda, claiming it shows capitalism inevitably giving way to communism.”

As expected, they’re quite excited.

Of course, they want to criticize America and spread communism.

If the North had been taken by Trotsky instead of MacArthur, that would certainly have happened.

“Are they supporting the KFC?”

“Yes. They seem to be supporting the KFC and even considering providing assistance.”

“They’ve got their spirits up.”

They don’t seem to realize we’ve set the stage.

“Are you worried about their support, Your Majesty?”

“Of course.”

“But they won’t be able to cross the Atlantic, will they?”

True, they won’t cross the Atlantic.

But what about the Pacific instead?

Even without the Pacific, we should factor in the communists’ tenacious cockroach-like persistence in providing support.

“I heard the American West is neutral. This means they could claim neutrality toward either side.”

This neutrality is a curious thing.

If they claim neutrality toward either side, they could also sell weapons to the KFC for money.

Moreover, now is the Great Depression.

Given that the KFC has shown how it deals with the Great Depression, more developments are inevitable.

“This means they could receive weapons through the Pacific.”

“But would they choose such a long shipping route?”

“We’re dealing with communists. Who knows what tricks they might pull.”

They’re the kind who try to turn everyone else into cockroaches too.

We’ll be at a disadvantage if we’re not careful.

If we underestimate them and weapons flow freely to the KFC through the West?

If German communists enter the West and help the KFC spread communism?

That would be troublesome.

“We shouldn’t underestimate the communists’ capabilities. Moreover, claiming neutrality means following the prevailing trend. The KFC was the first to offer solutions to America’s Great Depression, and if their power grows through a civil war, the West might fall to them.”

If the West falls, things become complicated.

“This means they could provide military support before that happens.”

“Exactly.”

Why is neutrality neutral? Because it can swing to either side at any time.

Nothing is as annoying as neutrality.

While Switzerland can be neutral due to its precise location, neutrality in a civil war means potentially switching sides at any time.

I doubt the West would declare independence separately.

“What if we take over the West ourselves?”

Ungern from the Roman National Party is saying strange things again.

“The West?”

Certainly, if civil war breaks out, we could temporarily expand into America.

We’d enter the West from the Pacific side.

We wouldn’t even need to declare war since the government has split due to civil war, and we don’t know which is the legitimate one.

We could ignore MacArthur, push straight into the West, take it over, and then capture the KFC too.

“Russia once had territory in America. If we target the civil war, couldn’t we advance as far as California, which we once ruled?”

Hmm, hmm.

Honestly, conquering America is very tempting. Even conquering just part of America would be tremendous.

In original history, Russia’s problem was its leaders, not its potential. And if we add American territory to that…

But even if we eat up California and establish puppet states in the rest of the occupied territories, what would other countries say?

If I were to rule Russia for my entire life, maybe. But now is not the stage to do this.

The conquest of North America, which would have America as the world’s police, is honestly quite tempting.

“What are you hesitating for? Imagine it! Cossack cavalry galloping across that vast North American continent! Our armored divisions defeating the Yankees!”

“No. We cannot repay America’s Lend-Lease with enmity. Many nations would point fingers at us.”

“Not finger-pointing—trust Your Majesty’s instincts! Great Russia! Ask the blood that flows in Your Majesty, heir to the great empire that once occupied from Alaska to California!”

Suddenly, whatever had been boiling up inside me cooled down.

The blood of the great empire.

Well, but I’m originally a K-transmigrator.

Even if my body has Romanov imperial blood, my mind is from the land of kimchi.

Thinking about that, my head becomes rational and cool.

Ungern’s words have merit, but he’s looking too much at the present reality.

“Even so, that’s going too far.”

“Hmm, it’s a good opportunity.”

Ungern makes an abandoned puppy face that doesn’t match his appearance, looking disappointed.

But really, no matter how I think about it, that’s not right.

“Occupying the West. This isn’t certain, and think about the future. Let’s say we’re lucky enough to occupy California. Then what? We’d have to suppress the resistance, right? Moscow is too far from the American continent. Even if we calculate from the Far East, it would take too long to maintain occupation forces that can handle North American resistance and provide supplies.”

That seems about right.

First, we’d need to make the Pacific a Russian sea for smooth supply lines.

It would be difficult to produce locally.

From the Far East to Alaska, that ice chunk, and then extending supply lines southward would be insane.

Even though Russia has built up its industrial power, that’s too much.

And what would countries like Britain say?

The Japanese might support us in exchange for southern islands like the Philippines.

But that’s that, and this is this.

“Wouldn’t that much be possible?”

“Unfortunately, we must remember that we have communist Germany to deal with.”

If there were no communist Germany, I might have considered it a little.

We could even propose dividing up America with Britain during its civil war.

Britain would reclaim its former American colonies, and we would reclaim the West.

Then, we’d be crazy with national pride, but still, this isn’t right.

Let’s look at reality. Reality.

“Even though it’s a good opportunity, America’s existence is necessary for our future.”

“That’s right. It’s more beneficial to help them through this situation and extract concessions. Occupation might bring momentary joy, but it would drain our treasury.”

Mikhail Drozdovsky also agreed with me.

And if we handle this well, it could be an enormous opportunity for us.

I twirled a pen with my fingers, envisioning a blueprint.

Britain and France. The victors of the Great War. The world’s first and second largest colonial empires.

Of course, they’re all big eggs now, but considering their experience, their international standing is still impressive.

Setting aside communist Germany as part of the communist bloc.

Now, those two countries are supporting Huey Long’s government, so MacArthur must be desperate.

We’ve expressed support, but realistically, it’s unclear how much help that will be.

But what if we make MacArthur the winner in this crisis?

Wouldn’t he side with us in the next war, at the very least?