Ch.194Age of Turbulence

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It would be good to weaken China’s power from now on, and it’s also nice to see Japan and China fighting each other vigorously like cats and dogs.

But at this rate, while we might be able to stab Japan in the back later, we’ll have no leverage to use.

In the future I saw, America would eventually beat Japan and make them an ally like in the original history to keep Russia in check. I had planned to use the easily controllable atomic bomb in advance, dropping it on Kyushu when Japan was being crushed, at minimum splitting Japan in two.

That way, we could keep America in check, and a divided Japan would focus on building its army rather than its navy, so it could never threaten Russia.

If that’s the case, should we be the ones to force Japan’s surrender?

Or should we invest more in an independent Korea?

Right. Now isn’t the time to think about this.

I need to observe the situation more carefully.

“This Renya Mutaguchi has accomplished something significant. So, what’s happening with China now?”

I asked Savinkov, who had just delivered the news that our China had been thoroughly defeated and General Mao had become a hero of Japan.

Even as I asked, I still couldn’t believe it, rubbing my eyes as I checked the newspaper again.

No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t make sense.

I mean, Mao Zedong, who claimed there should be 27 Chinas, didn’t gradually expand communist forces during the Sino-Japanese War like in the original history. Instead, he personally led an army forward only to be utterly defeated.

I wonder how much this single battle will shake China? That’s what I’m most curious about.

Will China cower if our Hirohito takes direct control soon? Or will they still have enough strength to fight?

“Emperor Hirohito of Japan has accepted the surrender of Emperor Puyi of the Chinese Empire. And it seems he’s demanding surrender across various regions of China.”

Wow, that’s quite impressive.

In this altered history, that guy directly accepting Puyi’s surrender.

Is this another snowball effect of the history I’ve changed?

Well, he’ll be branded a war criminal and die here eventually, so he might as well enjoy himself while he can.

Now, what’s next? I don’t think all of China will fall just because Puyi surrendered.

“I don’t think everything is settled just because the Emperor surrendered. China is vast with a huge population. Besides, isn’t the Emperor just a powerless figurehead who’s lost public support?”

It’s not Puyi’s fault, but the Aisin Gioro clan of the Qing Dynasty lost the Mandate of Heaven long ago.

Empress Dowager Cixi died without cleaning up the mess she made, no particularly good emperors emerged, and China was already collapsing mercilessly.

“Yes. A man named Chiang Kai-shek, who was in charge of supplies in Nanjing, has gathered the defeated troops, declared the Republic of China, and seems to be forming a new line of defense.”

I see. So he’s establishing the Republic of China to claim that they haven’t been defeated even if the Emperor surrendered.

In the original history, since the Chinese front lasted quite a while, Japan used Wang Jingwei to create a puppet government and negotiated with that government, as I recall.

In this history, will Puyi end up playing that role?

But doesn’t this mean Chiang Kai-shek will take the lead again?

Just like in the original history.

Wait, the newspaper only mentions the surrender of the Qing Emperor with no information about Mao Zedong?

“What about Mao Zedong and the other warlords?”

“Some warlords have fled, and Mao Zedong’s whereabouts are unknown.”

I hope Mao Zedong is personally still alive.

Previously, I would have preferred him dead, but now I’d rather he survived.

Since he’s the one who claimed there should be 27 Chinas, he might be useful.

The map might get messy later, but China can only exert power if it’s thoroughly torn apart.

In modern Korea, there were too many people who loved China.

They loved China so much they wished it would split into multiple countries. That was the common mindset.

Some internet trolls even said things like “The only good thing the Japanese Empire did was the Nanjing Massacre. I don’t understand why they try to hide it.”

Well, since China and Russia eventually started a nuclear war, I suppose Koreans’ hatred was proven justified.

It’s not that I dislike China, but I can’t just leave it alone because I can’t ignore its potential.

If the Qing had modernized and easily repelled the invasion of foreign powers, a terrible world would have arrived.

Just look at the future. Just because they gained some power, they engaged in outdated imperialism and eventually even started a nuclear war.

“How long can China hold out against Japan?”

They were pathetically defeated too early. Mao completely wasted the large army he had proudly assembled.

Losing such a large force in the first battle will inevitably affect future battles.

“Chiang Kai-shek has long distrusted Mao Zedong and seems to have been secretly preparing, gathering soldiers from his faction, so he’ll try to hold out somehow.”

“The military capabilities must be quite different.”

There’s such a thing as experience accumulated over time.

Unfortunately, China has no chance in a direct confrontation with Japan.

‘They’ll endure with their large population.’

That’s probably how it will play out in this history too.

“Yes, Your Majesty. They’ve transplanted the ‘Ura’ charge that the Bolsheviks used to overwhelm with sheer numbers during the Red-White Civil War directly into the Chinese army. They’ll likely try to push back the Japanese army with numerical superiority.”

Chiang Kai-shek is an experienced figure. Just look at how he doesn’t cooperate with Mao Zedong—isn’t that suspicious?

Chiang will probably try to hold out somehow here too.

With the overflowing population, with the population coming from fields no less productive than the Soviet Union’s.

He’ll try to endure, just like in the original history.

No, he needs to endure. We need to prevent all of China from falling to Japan due to some foolish move.

Let’s provide some weapons through Xinjiang.

Alright, that’s enough about China for now.

“What about the American Civil War? MacArthur doesn’t seem like someone who would be easily pushed back.”

Surely he’ll hold out until reinforcements arrive.

“Yes. General MacArthur has somehow stopped KFC’s offensive. Fortunately, Huey Long didn’t join the attack.”

If Huey Long had attacked too, it would have been quite difficult for MacArthur. But that didn’t happen.

Huey Long wouldn’t want to be labeled a communist.

“That’s right. If he attacked MacArthur together with them, he’d be branded a real communist.”

But that doesn’t mean he’ll target KFC either.

Huey Long’s government is currently the weakest.

Rather than attacking both sides, he’ll try to inflict damage on both.

If Spanish troops fly to America to help MacArthur and Patton’s Cross Armored Division sweeps through KFC, the situation will be reversed.

KFC probably doesn’t even have proper tanks yet. Even if they do, they won’t surpass the tanks we’re making.

We’ve upgraded our tanks so much, and America wouldn’t have had the capacity to do the same.

The White Air Corps has also gone, so they should be quite helpful in the American Civil War.

Looking at the newspaper again, I frowned.

Thinking about it again, Renya Mutaguchi is truly unexpected.

How did he come up with the idea to sweep away such a large army? This is why I should have considered more variables.

I need to look more outward.

“From now on, we need to turn our eyes outward. We must monitor the situation in neighboring countries more sensitively and thoroughly than ever before. Japan has achieved such a great victory against China, and a civil war has broken out in America.”

If Japan had messed up, I would have thought differently.

But Japan has left such a large footprint from the beginning, not just winning but paralyzing China momentarily.

Then we can’t be careless about the American Civil War and France.

Internally, we need to continue developing weapons while keeping an eye on the American Civil War and France.

Who knows? Maybe KFC will receive Lenin’s blessing and crazily beat MacArthur and Huey Long to unify North America.

Then we’d need to meddle appropriately in the western part of America.

Now that an unpredictable future has arrived, I need to use the Okhrana to receive regular information, as if I had map hacks.

“Of course, we will do so, Your Majesty.”

“Always keep a close eye on France too. If you see signs of communist influence, we must warn Britain.”

Especially France. France has been surprisingly quiet until now.

After the Ruhr occupation, various adversities have piled up, so they’re focusing internally. At most, they’ve just come over to say, “Russian weapons are really impressive!” Why is France so quiet?

Churchill’s Britain will fight Germany anyway. As always, they’ll try to defend by coming to France.

But what if France becomes communist more quickly, like how General Mao became a great commander?

Britain would be immediately isolated and doomed.

One of the pillars that should surround Communist Germany from all sides. It would be troublesome if it collapsed.

“Your Majesty, along with the Chinese war situation, we’ve received news about Ethiopia. Ethiopia is currently being pushed back.”

“Well, I guess what doesn’t work, doesn’t work.”

This can also be seen as a setback.

This means Italy can quickly enter the Austrian front.

But weren’t they holding out a bit longer than in the original history? After all that support? No, the Italy here might have used a different approach.

“Until recently, Ethiopia’s tribes were fighting to the death, but I understand they’ve been persuaded with the condition of maintaining their privileges.”

Ah, then it can’t be helped.

There’s nothing more frightening than an enemy from within.

Even though Russia helped, Italy is closer than Russia.

If they can maintain their privileges, some will side with Italy.

If we were right next to them, it might be different. They were holding out as much as possible. But in the end, they won’t be able to defeat Italy’s serious punch.

We’re well past 1937 now. They’re holding out longer than in the original history, but still.

Will Goebbels’ Germany tolerate this bald man who talks about communist liberation but tries to maintain bourgeois privileges?

“Not only that, but since the Ethiopian front has eased a bit, Benito Mussolini has demanded Albania’s submission.”

“Italy is targeting Albania?”

It’s 1937 now, isn’t that a bit early?

No, no. This must also be a result of the changed history.

“Yes. Since Albania is also a monarchy, it would be right to help them if possible, but it’s difficult for us to provide military assistance.”

That makes sense. There’s also the naval issue.

Unless we’re going to crush the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean, we’d have to help by land, but everyone seems reluctant to go to war right now.

“Albania can’t win against Italy.”

My eyes suddenly went to the large world map decorating the wall.

Ethiopia in Africa, and looking north, the Italian peninsula. And turning my eyes a bit, Albania across the Adriatic Sea.

Albania has long been under strong Italian influence.

Isn’t Mussolini just Italy with a red coat of paint?

In the original history, Mussolini also sent an ultimatum to annex Albania. King Zog tried to resist, but even the military was under Italian influence, making it difficult.

Just like in the original history, Italy will consume Albania, and King Zog will go into exile.

If I had known this would happen, I should have paid more attention to Albania. After consuming Albania, where will Italy set its sights next?

For a brief moment, something flashed through my mind like a backstab.

“Spazio vitale.”

I suddenly muttered Mussolini’s dream.

Roman reconstruction, Italy’s right to survival, irredentism.

His dream of returning to Rome must have been further stimulated by my restoration of Constantinople, my coronation as Eastern Roman Emperor, and the United States of Russia being called the Third Roman Empire.

It’s just my speculation, but his thoughts of consuming Albania might be because he wants to rebuild Rome.

Spazio vitale is about rebuilding Rome, but Turkey isn’t included.

But Greece is included.

In actual history, he also invaded Greece, and with Germany’s help, they consumed Greece. The territory was divided among the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria—and they established puppet states.

Would it be any different here?

Especially with him being stimulated by my Rome?

“Pardon?”

“What Mussolini of Italy wants is the reconstruction of Rome. And now he has taken Albania. Then next is…”

I pointed to the area below Albania.

As I stared at Greece on the map, the military generals also looked at the same place.

“Greece, which was part of the Eastern Roman Empire,” Drozdovsky murmured.

Greece was originally going to be handed over as a reward for Turkey’s efforts in the Anti-Comintern Pact.

This makes it look like Turkey will take over the Eastern Roman territories.

After the war, I plan to create a new European Union with countries established in Roman territories—the Constantinople Treaty Organization—so I can accept if Turkey achieves Megali Idea.

After all, I’ve already taken Constantinople and its surroundings.

If Turkey wants revenge on Greece, well, I’m willing to hand it over while accepting Greek refugees.

“Hmm, would it have been better to have Greece as an ally rather than Turkey?”

No, that’s not it.

Greece was originally meant to be a way for Russia to be recognized as the true Rome by Turkey, which was established on Eastern Roman land, and to keep Turkey away from Constantinople and Pontus.

So Greece had to be given up.

How could I, as a saint and as the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, carelessly break my word?

Well, still.

If Turkey goes out of control, that’s another story.