Ch.231Russia: Courted by Britain, Pursued by France

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Tsk, what a shame.

If that’s the case, I’ll have to get some from the Americans who are running their shipyards at full capacity to take down Japan.

Or else quickly secure air superiority, conquer the Japanese mainland, force their surrender, and take their fleet.

Hmm. Maybe I’ll just maintain the navy at a reasonable level.

A fleet is a money-eating hippo after all. Keeping it at a moderate size might be good.

Well, I shouldn’t pour cold water on this victory celebration.

“Now the Mediterranean has become our lake!”

“Hahaha! Something unimaginable during the Great War.”

“The Spanish Navy has also requested to dispatch their fleet to join us.”

“Hmm, Spain.”

The command staff is ecstatic.

Come to think of it, I was suspicious about Spain.

We helped them so much, but they didn’t voluntarily call for participation in the war.

We didn’t specifically request it, but Spain seems to have been busy using the money they received from American credit card payments for domestic reconstruction.

Well, since we helped them, if we tell them to join the war, they’ll have no choice but to comply. Anyway, Spain currently maintains a neutral position.

They’ve been quiet until now to avoid becoming France’s first sacrifice, but they probably want to join this war soon.

“If Spain attacks now, can the French Commune defend against them?”

The border between Spain and France is the Pyrenees Mountains.

If the French Commune is thinking ahead, they would have stationed troops at the Spanish border.

I’m not sure if the French Commune can defend the Pyrenees right now.

Well, we don’t necessarily need to attack from the French side.

Just eliminating Italy would definitely take care of the Red Front’s aggressor.

Later, when we capture France, we can deal with them from both sides.

“France’s main forces are here, so won’t they break through?”

“The Commune wouldn’t have moved without thinking.”

“Even if they don’t break through, if the Spanish army moves with more troops than expected, the Commune will have to disperse their forces. That would make things easier for us.”

That’s true. But the question is how much to give Spain after the war.

It feels a bit awkward to say, “We supported you during your civil war, so you should obviously do this much, right?”

Ultimately, if we unite Europe under one power, it doesn’t matter how we divide the land.

“Since we supported the Spanish Civil War, there’s no reason to give them any rewards, is there?”

“If we need to give them something for appearance’s sake, how about giving them Gibraltar?”

Gibraltar would be nice, but how can we give it to them?

It’s not our territory, nor is it French territory that has to follow our lead.

“Isn’t that under British control?”

“We negotiate with Britain to acquire it. Britain can’t even think about crawling out of their island anyway.”

Britain is being too disrespected right now, but their navy is still powerful.

Even an old lion is still a lion—you can’t underestimate them.

Don’t underestimate the legend of Mr. Dunkirk!

No, wait. What if we tell Britain to transfer Gibraltar to Spain as a mandate territory in exchange for raising their status as a victorious nation?

That doesn’t sound bad.

“Spain won’t have much to do anyway. They just need to make the Commune nervous about their rear.”

“Yes. Then I’ll contact Franco’s side.”

“What if our country also divides our army groups and joins with the Danubian Federation forces in the Sudetenland to push upward?”

The White Army has already earned enough credit in this war to arbitrarily divide territories.

We must have captured over a million troops from Communist Germany and the Commune by now.

Including prisoners, it’s truly an enormous number.

“And now that we have naval supremacy, let’s consider landing in Italy.”

“But we don’t have troops there. It’s possible if we redirect our army.”

Drozdovsky is being strange. Why would we use our army?

Are we the only ones with troops?

If we’ve secured naval supremacy, landing Ethiopian troops wouldn’t be a bad idea.

That was the original plan once we secured naval supremacy. Honestly, this part was premised on getting help from the British Mediterranean Fleet, but since things have turned out this way, let’s land the Ethiopians.

“We do have troops—the Ethiopian army.”

“Ah.”

“Ethiopia, which trembles at the mention of Italy, can do it.”

Wouldn’t that be interesting?

“Indeed. Then I’ll contact the Ethiopian side.”

It’s already been promised. Ethiopia will probably accept.

After all, they’d be the first African army to enter the capital of a major power. They’ll be thrilled.

Since we’re losing the opportunity to dismantle the navy, we might as well enjoy this.

“We should contact Emperor Haile Selassie. Considering how African nations have been treated, wouldn’t it be amusing to see an African army marching in Rome, Italy, which is considered a major power?”

This has been my vision all along.

Our Ethiopian army proudly marching in Rome.

Doesn’t that sound fun?

“Oh, that would be great.”

“There could be no greater humiliation.”

Now, what’s this?

The Chief of the General Staff is handing me a letter.

“Your Majesty, Turkey has sent a personal letter from Kemal congratulating our victory.”

Curious, I read it and found it interesting.

He says he wants to recapture as far as Suez and restore as much of the Ottoman Empire’s territory as possible.

In return, if they recapture Suez, they want to jointly manage it with Russia instead of Britain. I wonder if this has been discussed with Britain?

I suppose they’re thinking that since it would fall to the Reds anyway, they might as well reclaim it and share the spoils.

What would happen to Britain and Egypt in that case?

Honestly, I’ve been thinking of making Turkey the Middle East manager for the future of the region, but considering the revenue Egypt earns from Suez, it’s concerning.

Of course, if we share some of the profits with Egypt, that might work. Hmm.

I wonder how far Mr. Kemal wants to go.

Looking at the letter, it’s not like he’s saying “I want to devour Egypt, pant pant.” It seems he just wants to go as far as Suez.

“Your Majesty, the Free French government has also contacted us offering to help with their Algerian colonial troops—”

“They’ve managed to hold out until now, have they?”

“They must want to reclaim their homeland too.”

Look how quickly they jump out as soon as they hear we’ve secured naval supremacy.

I understand they’re a government in exile, but still, it feels a bit much.

“They haven’t even stabilized Algeria yet. Do they have the capacity to move?”

“We’ll need to assess that, but it seems they want to reclaim their homeland first.”

That makes sense, since the tide of war has completely turned.

Securing Mediterranean naval supremacy means we could potentially land on the mainland.

If the exiled government in Algeria has ears, they’ll know that Commune troops have rushed out to block Russia, and that Spain is about to move as well.

They’ll recognize this as the perfect time for reclamation.

“Who is the head of the Algerian government now?”

Whoever is leading the Algerian government must be quite capable, having pulled things together by the collar.

“Philippe Pétain.”

Ah, so Philippe Pétain has emerged like this.

It makes sense, given that Pétain was in the lineup when they fled to Algeria.

“Hmm. That’s unfortunate.”

Personally, I find Pétain quite pitiful.

He believed surrender was for the good of France and led Vichy France. Actually, many people continued to respect Pétain even after the war.

In this history, it seems he managed to flee to Algeria, but stabilizing that region must be difficult.

While I want to unite Europe, I feel France should be somewhat divided.

“We’ve also received a message from Britain.”

“What does it say?”

A message from Britain at this time would likely represent Churchill’s own opinion.

“They say they’ll mobilize the Commonwealth if necessary, just please let them tear France apart.”

Oh, Britain is willing to scrape together Commonwealth troops.

Have they already forgotten Dunkirk? If they exploit them again, the Commonwealth countries will really start ignoring Britain.

No matter how much Britain is their mother country, who would be happy about losing so many people?

Following Gallipoli, tens of thousands of Commonwealth troops have participated this time too.

But isn’t this good for us?

Britain and France are both courting us.

“It’s amusing to see Britain and France courting us.”

Wow, I never expected this to happen.

Is this really the same Russia that was such a loser in World War I? How majestic we’ve become.

Our entry into Communist Germany’s mainland and victory in the Aegean Sea battle have produced these results.

Both Britain and France have become desperate.

If it ends like this, everything will become Russia’s!

They’re thinking this and want to ask us for favors somehow.

“Britain seems particularly desperate. They’re begging to tear apart the French Commune somehow.”

I think I understand what that means.

Interpreting this is very simple.

‘If I don’t get anything to eat this time, I might die, so please help me.’

It’s Churchill’s SOS.

“If you think you’re going to die, please blink!” If we said that, Churchill would probably really blink.

If the war ends now, Britain has done nothing, so they’ll get nothing. Churchill would end with tens of thousands lost at Dunkirk.

“If that doesn’t happen, the British people will drag Churchill out of Downing Street.”

For Churchill, the French Commune must look like traitors. And they’re one of the main reasons he earned the title “Mr. Dunkirk.”

If France hadn’t flipped like that, this wouldn’t have happened.

Churchill is a person with a sense of reality.

Now, he needs to bring home some achievements, not just to maintain influence but to preserve the British mainland.

To do that, he has to bow his head and come to Russia, even if he doesn’t like us.

He must be drinking heavily, realizing that if he doesn’t get even a bite in this war, he’ll have nothing to show for it.

He probably understands this much and is trying to do something.

With his intelligence, he must know that mainland Germany is now beyond reach. So what’s left is tearing apart the traitorous France.

“But the French government in exile—Free France—won’t accept this.”

What fool would be happy about their country being torn to pieces?

But Free France doesn’t have that choice.

All Free France can do is watch the post-war decisions of the victorious nations.

They’ll have to desperately persuade each country just to claim “Please give us our homeland!”

“That’s right.”

“France will be torn apart anyway. Hmm. Let’s do this. We originally planned to tear apart the French Commune as traitors to Russia and the Allied forces, but for the sake of de Gaulle, Pétain’s subordinate, we’ll allow them to maintain a small portion of their homeland.”

Let’s be considerate of the original France and allow both sides to maintain something.

This level should be good enough.

“Do you know about de Gaulle?”

“He helped us as part of the French volunteer army during the Civil War.”

I remember his face from then. Like, “Ah, you and I have met before.”

Originally everything would be torn apart, but because of that connection, we’ll give them something.

Using this connection to give France a piece of land. This development should work.

“It means we wouldn’t normally give them anything, but we’ll do that much for them.”

“That’s right.”

Our Ungern has good instincts.

Ungern probably met de Gaulle too, since they were both on the South Russian front.

Looking at the aftermath, both the German Empire and the Danubian Federation, which reclaimed their homelands, suffered greatly.

Above all, Russia and the Danube, which directly faced the French Commune, have a special anger toward the French Commune.

Hitler will probably say, “I want to fragment France like Austria-Hungary!”

Then I’ll step in and say that since France supported us during the civil war, we can’t completely tear it apart, and negotiate at an appropriate level to give them a portion.

“France might be dissatisfied later.”

“Both the Danubian Federation and we have suffered a lot in this war because of the French Commune. Britain feels betrayed. If we don’t tear France apart, Britain and the Danubian Federation will be dissatisfied. Moreover, there will be complaints domestically that we’re being too merciful.”

Just the resentment of France alone.

They don’t even have the capacity to reclaim their homeland, and weighing their resentment about having some territory taken against the resentment of post-war victors like the Danubian Federation and Britain…

This is a bit much.

Britain, despite their current state, is still a pirate nation that can’t be ignored.

We should protect Churchill to that extent before he gets purged in a revolution.

“Your Majesty, Greece has requested our support.”

“Greece must finally be struggling with Mussolini’s army.”

No matter how much Italy is declining, they will desperately try to consume Greece.

And Greece won’t be able to stop that offensive.

“Manstein, who planned Operation Sickle, has been dispatched there.”

“Manstein, you say.”

Come to think of it, I heard that Operation Sickle was revealed to the Allied forces early on, but Churchill ignored it.

If he had accepted it, the situation might be very different now.

Wilhelm II would have to run to Churchill and beg, “Please spare at least our homeland.”

Although Operation Sickle was successful, I’m convinced that Manstein leaked information about it to the Allied forces.

Manstein doesn’t seem like someone who would work for the Communist Party. And besides him, there’s no one else who could have leaked that information.

Whether Goebbels sees this as part of the operation or is unaware, Manstein has become a hero of Red Germany against his wishes.

The fact that he’s brought troops to Greece shows that Goebbels values him quite a bit, but now he’s here to help attack Greece.

It might be good to reach out to him.