Ch.185Yugoslavia’s Choice

# Yugoslavia, Belgrade

The ultimatum sent by Hitler arrived in Belgrade shortly after.

“Your Majesty. The Austrian Empire has requested the return of Croatia with an ultimatum of war if not accepted.”

“Hmm.”

Alexander I of Yugoslavia had originally supported Yugoslav national integration using Tito when history changed.

However, Tito had become stuck in an awkward position due to Russian pressure and allegations of collusion with Italian communists. This led to increased discrimination against Croatians by Serbians and worsening ethnic conflicts, pushing the situation toward Croatian independence.

“We must never surrender it!”

“Independence is one thing, but reintegration with Austria is absolutely unacceptable!”

“Hitler is an ambitious man. He will surely seek revenge for the Great War in the future!”

Creating a buffer zone through independence might be acceptable.

But returning Croatia to Austria and sharing a border could lead to Hitler invading in the future.

Yet what could they do about it?

Alexander didn’t want to give it up this way either, but he had to be realistic about the current situation.

“Do we have a choice? To receive help from the communist bloc, we would need to establish a communist regime, which is difficult. The Russian Empress also sides with Austria. Unlike during the Great War, Russia will fight on Austria’s side, and Croatian separatist movements are actively resisting us.”

Hitler of Austria had already nullified various treaties with Britain and France, using Britain’s effective elimination of communist Germany’s Versailles Treaty as justification.

In this situation, expecting support if war broke out would be unreasonable.

It was the truth. Serbia had lit the fuse of the Great War, and then formed Yugoslavia by incorporating Bosnia and Croatia despite being outmatched.

And now that was causing problems and creating discontent.

Well, if they couldn’t keep it, perhaps it was better to let it go.

Looking at Austria’s current situation, they were essentially surrounded by communists.

War would break out eventually, and while Russia might endure, Austria would clearly collapse under the red tide.

In other words, even if war broke out, Austria would be too busy to touch Yugoslavia.

“Then let’s just let it go.”

“Your Majesty?”

Yugoslavia was isolated anyway.

At the very least, they should maintain peace.

If they gave up territory to pursue peace now, Austria would later be drawn into war and wouldn’t be able to covet Serbia.

“Think about it. Even if we give Croatia to Austria, they won’t be able to attack us. Italy and Germany wouldn’t allow it. They’ll surely crush Austria before it grows too large.”

Since that was the inevitable outcome, there was no need to provoke conflict first.

“I suppose that’s true.”

Anger management issues tend to be corrected when faced with greater power.

During World War I, Serbia had committed the madness of Sarajevo, but now there was no one anywhere who would become Serbia’s ally.

Therefore, they couldn’t even consider war as an option.

In the end, Croatia was “returned” to Austria in the form of “independence.”

# * * *

The front page of the newspaper featured Austria’s ultimatum: “Croatia or War.”

I couldn’t help but spray my British tea when I saw this article.

“How is this possible?”

This wasn’t even “Danzig or War.” Hitler, regardless of which Hitler he was, ultimately had expansionist desires. Moreover, Croatia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so it made some sense.

Looking at the recent situation in Yugoslavia, Croatia was even conducting independence movements, claiming life was better under Austria than Yugoslavia.

If they now recover Bosnia and Tyrol, which Italy took, they’ll have restored the Austro-Hungarian territory.

I still can’t believe this Hitler.

The German nationalist fool who was obsessed with Aryanism and only thought about Germany has switched his preference to multi-ethnicity.

Perhaps I should send a thank-you letter to Karl Liebknecht for this.

Anyway, Hitler’s change stemmed from his belief that Germany was finished after the communist revolution there.

But will Hitler be satisfied with just that?

The Hitler I knew wasn’t the type to be satisfied with so little.

I suspect he might also be eyeing Bosnia.

If he consumes Bosnia and takes land from Italy, he’ll have almost restored everything, won’t he?

“When will he take Bosnia?” I asked, looking at Ungern who had brought the newspaper to the Kremlin Palace with an excited face.

“Wouldn’t Bosnia be next? That region’s cohesion has also weakened with Croatia’s incorporation into Austria.”

Croatia and Bosnia.

Originally, they had almost achieved proper integration through a young man named Tito who tried to use communism for unification, but due to domestic opposition and Russian pressure, it became neither here nor there, causing ethnic conflicts with Serbians as a reaction.

Naturally, people everywhere were saying life was better during the Austrian era.

Of course, this might partly be due to Hitler’s propaganda campaign, but Yugoslavia’s blunders must have had a significant impact.

If that was the case, why did they take that land from Austria-Hungary in the first place?

Why did they assassinate the Archduke?

If we really examine it, wasn’t the assassination of the Archduke by Serbian Black Hand nationalists or whatever they were called motivated by a desire to consume Slavic territories?

To them, the Austrian Archduke was someone who divided the Slavs. So they took the land but couldn’t integrate it.

“Hmm. This Hitler is quite remarkable. There was a reason Your Majesty supported him.”

“If the revolution hadn’t occurred in Germany, Hitler might have become Germany’s Führer and fought against us with the power of a unified Germany.”

That would have been truly terrible.

Since that future doesn’t exist in this world, there’s no need to mention it, but I still warned about being cautious of Hitler.

“Surely he wouldn’t be such a person?”

“That’s why I said ‘might.’ I mean he’s that caliber of person. Of course, now that he’s the Chancellor of Austria, Hitler will exhaust his strength fighting communist Germany and communist Italy. He’ll also need to focus on post-war integration.”

Communist Germany and communist Italy have chosen more expansionist paths than expected.

We don’t know if Italy will use all its strength to crush Ethiopia. What’s certain is that building Austria to a size capable of attacking Russia within Hitler’s lifetime is hard mode—he’d need post-war reconstruction too.

“Then could we divide communist Germany with the German Empire?”

I wonder about that too. It seems difficult. Perhaps sharing the divided Serbia is the best we can do?

Above all, consuming southern Germany seems likely to cause pancreatic cancer.

Of course, if Hitler insists on taking southern Germany, I won’t stop him.

But I can’t let him consume all of Germany.

Isn’t that more territory than the Holy Roman Empire? If so, Germany could easily integrate as they’re all Germanic and might build enough power to challenge Russia.

Russia only needs America as a competitor.

Hitler surely wasn’t just targeting Croatia. He probably wanted Bosnia too—the former Austro-Hungarian constituents of Croatia-Slavonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

But Yugoslavia just gave it away.

In this situation, he’ll likely target Bosnia-Herzegovina again in the future, but now the international community will be watching.

Hitler has drawn significant attention, so how will communist Germany and communist Italy respond?

“We need our share, so we’ll have to see after the war. America is still an issue.”

The US military government will want to stockpile as many weapons as possible.

I’ve been thinking about this.

How to minimize damage in America in preparation for a possible war with Germany.

If civil war breaks out, we won’t intervene immediately.

Since the United States has also taken its share, we’ll let them fight each other for a while and then intervene later as support and to eliminate the KFC, right?

This way, we can help MacArthur with a legitimate goal.

Our mindset is that we’re only going after the KFC.

If civil war happens, it’s best to receive payment in gold.

Should we sell more to the United States? I think we could secretly sell some older models.

I said we’d intervene with a million-strong army in the civil war, but I don’t actually plan to commit that many.

“Your Majesty, do you plan to send troops immediately when the civil war breaks out?”

No, I don’t want to increase casualties unnecessarily.

“Of course not. Well, I’ll leave that to the military’s judgment. For now, we need to sell weapons too. Let’s extract as much gold as possible first, then send a large army later.”

Extract as much gold as possible.

Really, until someone asks when we’re actually going to send troops.

Since deploying a large army takes time anyway.

“I’m eager to go and fight.”

Ungern clenched his fist and gave a sinister smile.

He seems quite keen to roam the American continent.

“The American civil war probably won’t last very long.”

If we just capture the KFC, which started the incident, neither MacArthur nor Huey Long would have a reason to fight, right?

Of course, local conflicts might still occur.

After selling as many weapons as possible, we’ll go in saying “We’ll catch the KFC!” and then either kill or capture the wild Trotsky with the Okhrana to bring down the KFC.

Perfect, isn’t it?

Then we can either support one side with some troops or mediate between the confused MacArthur and Huey Long.

Honestly, in an already divided situation, I don’t think Huey Long will push too hard either.

“Are communist Germany and communist Italy showing any movements?”

I’m specifically asking Ungern about military movements.

This is important now.

The Spanish Civil War and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War are still ongoing.

The board is gradually being set up.

Goebbels will also want to consider war before Russia grows larger.

“After Goebbels became General Secretary, communist Germany increased troops in the border area with Poland. Italy also seems to be increasing forces at the Austrian border.”

Seeing their confidence, they must have something planned for France too.

Now, I need to focus on this.

Let’s say we resolve the American situation; there’s one more country that concerns me.

While Russia is tied up in Europe and America, there’s Japan.

Depending on the movements of those Japanese, Russia—or more precisely, the strategy I’m devising—might need to be modified.

“What about Japan?”

Japan won’t sit still.

Basically, they must be itching to act.

The Imperial Way Faction that has taken control is crazier than expected in many ways.

The Control Faction went berserk and tried to resolve issues by expanding the front further.

But the Imperial Way Faction doesn’t even realize they’re going berserk—they’re just full of ideals.

They’re frightening in a different way.

How they’ll move is the key.

It would be good if they attack America and prevent the US from interfering by targeting Alaska, but conversely, this means they’re unpredictable.

Who knows? They might target China but suddenly attack Russia instead.

“Japan is openly targeting China.”

“Hmmmm.”

So Renya Mutaguchi has become an important card.

Southern Manchuria is a bridgehead for advancing into China.

Will Mutaguchi Renya soon advance into China? This is the real gamble.

For Mutaguchi Renya to just stay hidden in the back as I expect… he can’t help but obey the Emperor’s orders if they come.

This is why the Imperial Way Faction is so troublesome.

They need to establish a constitutional monarchy like us.

Now it depends on whether Japan pours cold water on this stage I’ve prepared or not.

# * * *

Empire of Japan

The Imperial Way Faction that had taken control of Japan had also absorbed the Control Faction’s power from the original history.

From the beginning, without any coup, the Imperial Way Faction had increased its influence and taken control of Japan, so this was the natural progression.

Ishiwara Kanji, now a Lieutenant General, was meeting with the Emperor today as usual, giving a speech about how the Emperor should become a living god.

“In Europe, Germany and Italy are leading communist revolutions, and Austria has begun to restore its past glory, so war clouds are gathering in earnest. Your Majesty, when war breaks out in Europe, the colonial empires will have no choice but to turn their eyes away from Asia.”

Take advantage of their distraction from Asia to advance into China.

That was Ishiwara Kanji’s thinking.

“Then what should we do now?”

Emperor Hirohito had gained power, but he didn’t actually do much directly.

He merely reflected his opinions on Prime Minister Kita Ikki’s policies. So he was playing along with Ishiwara Kanji like this.

“With Prime Minister Kita Ikki’s reforms, we’re already recovering from the Great Depression. Now is the perfect opportunity to advance into China.”

Finally, the perfect opportunity to advance into China has arrived.

Ishiwara Kanji couldn’t help but express the ambition boiling in his chest with a confident face.

“China. China.”

Hirohito wondered.

Is advancing into China really the right move?

“The Governor-General of South Manchuria has been preparing to advance into China for some time. Soon, Your Majesty will personally go to China and receive the abdication of the young Qing Emperor, making Your Majesty not only the Emperor of Korea but also the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom. Who in Asia could enjoy such glory?”

Hirohito momentarily thought of someone in Moscow, but then shook his head.

“Hmm. Still, isn’t it dangerous for a monarch to go directly?”

In truth, while Hirohito was tempted by Ishiwara Kanji’s plan, he couldn’t immediately agree.

Hirohito had developed a keen sense of intuition from observing the Imperial General Headquarters for a long time.

And with that max-level intuition skill he had cultivated, he analyzed Ishiwara Kanji and felt something deeply.

‘This guy is insane.’

Honestly, if one didn’t think Ishiwara Kanji was insane, they should abdicate the throne—that’s how crazy this Kanji fellow was.