Ch.256The Falling Sun

“Finally, it has begun.”

The Korean Independence War in Balhae and the Qing Dynasty’s independence war had broken out.

Pitifully, Japan was unable to properly respond to this.

The regular Balhae forces, along with the Treaty forces, had moved south into Southern Manchuria. The Southern Manchurian Army, which had been stripped of weapons by the China Expeditionary Force while serving as a rear supply base, couldn’t hold out and was completely captured along with Renya Mutaguchi.

After seizing Southern Manchuria, the Treaty forces moved westward to join the White Army advancing from Mongolia, while the Balhae forces crossed the Yalu River to reclaim their homeland.

On the Korean Peninsula, there were too few police and military police as even the Korea Garrison Army had been diverted to the China Expeditionary Force, and Koreans were being conscripted. With such limited forces, they couldn’t properly block the southward advance of the 80,000-strong Balhae Army, which was already engaged in suppressing uprisings within the peninsula.

My homeland is being liberated.

In my original history, I lived in modern Korea, and even just learning about our independence process in history class was too tragic.

But here, it’s different.

It wasn’t that pitiful history where people dreamed of reclaiming the homeland through an operation with just hundreds of people infiltrating Seoul, only to be liberated thanks to America.

Under Russian support, they had properly built up their forces – the Balhae Army, including Jews and Manchus in Balhae. They gathered their souls and crossed the Yalu River to directly reclaim their homeland.

In the distant future, in this world’s timeline, Korea will be recorded as having regained its country through its own strength, and that’s how it will be taught in history classes.

And by some coincidence, Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie also became a partner nation of the Rome Treaty Organization specifically for the war against Japan and offered support.

He even gave a speech I’d heard before to his troops heading to the Far East:

“Go! Don’t think about returning alive. Go there, fight fiercely, and die in battle! If you return with your limbs intact, I swear on my name I will never forgive you! In exchange for your deaths, make sure you deliver freedom into their hands! I don’t need to tell you what our people have suffered at the hands of the Italians in the past – you know that pain to your bones. Yes! Both I and all of you know it well. If we pretend not to know while knowing, we are nothing but filthy hypocrites worse than the invaders!”

Of course, in this history, Haile Selassie didn’t speak solely for Korea.

He rose up for the Chinese suffering under Japanese rule and for colonized people who needed independence but were under Japanese oppression.

The unusual case was Turkey.

Though they were coming as part of the Treaty forces, Turkey had suffered losses in the war (defending the Sudetenland, the Greek defense, North African battles) and had to consider their own national circumstances before the Treaty forces.

So they used the historical relationship between the Göktürks and Goguryeo as justification, just like in the original history.

“In the past, our Turkey and Korea, as the Göktürks and Goguryeo, formed an alliance and stood together as brothers against China. Although that relationship was buried for a long time after we settled in this land, we cannot, as brothers, turn a blind eye to Korea’s situation as a Japanese colony. We will dispatch troops as part of the Treaty forces to help Korea’s independence!”

Just as they mentioned the relationship between the Göktürks and Goguryeo to participate in the Korean War in 1950, they proceeded similarly in this history.

From the beginning, the Treaty forces’ goal wasn’t just to punish barbaric Japan.

“Let’s capture Japan, which attacked the colonies we need to liberate!” naturally led to “Let’s fight for decolonization!” and liberating colonial Korea became one of those goals.

It truly makes my heart swell with pride.

Meanwhile, as I mentioned, Puyi’s Qing Dynasty also started an independence war to connect with us.

In a corner of the Forbidden City, he killed an administrator with his cane, claiming he could no longer tolerate Japanese disrespect, and began a rebellion against Japan by gathering royalist soldiers.

Because of this, Japanese forces in China were busy fighting the Qing army and couldn’t properly help the China Expeditionary Force.

Of course, the Japanese headquarters in the Forbidden City had to flee south due to the sudden events, and the headquarters was moved to Nanjing.

And at sea, the Japanese Combined Fleet, which had to divide its forces due to the appearance of the Treaty fleet, was completely destroyed by the American and Treaty fleets.

Our White Army entered China during this time, conducting operations with the Qing army to eliminate Japanese forces in China, and began moving south in earnest.

Additionally, Mao Zedong established a Chinese Federal Government in Yan’an, Shaanxi Province.

I heard that although Japanese forces had occupied the area, troops from the Federal Government of the warlord coalition, which had been defeated by Renya Mutaguchi as the Japanese moved south, had hidden in Shaanxi.

I’m not sure how it’s similar to the Communist Party, but that’s how it turned out.

The Japanese army was caught between Chiang Kai-shek’s forces in the south and the advancing Russian army from the north – they must be in a desperate situation.

“It feels so liberating.”

I smirked as I looked at the report with my legs up on the desk.

You know what really feels liberating?

That’s not all. Mass extermination camps were discovered in China.

According to the Japanese who “purified” Chinese people in these camps, the massacres in China so far amount to tens of millions of deaths.

In the original history, tens of millions died in the Second Sino-Japanese War too, but here they tried to exterminate entire ethnicities, so maybe two or three times more died.

“It’s like blowing your nose without using your hands.”

I’m using Japan to avoid criticism while maintaining my position as a saint who is actually helping, and China suffers even greater damage than in the original history.

This is a perfect scenario.

If it leads to federalism again afterward, that would be amusing too.

“Your Majesty, shall we just keep Renya Mutaguchi and the Southern Manchurian Army captive?”

“As I’ve said before, after this war, America will want governance rights over Japan. For us, besides the Korean Peninsula, it would be problematic if all of Japan went to America.”

But we can’t not hand it over to America either. America gave us Alaska, and MacArthur, who was furious after the Pearl Harbor attack, wants to beat Japan with a sincere punch.

Of course, I’m thinking of having America as a major competitor in the future, but having already received money, it’s unreasonable for us to take all of Japan.

However, if we hand over all of Japan, it will inevitably become troublesome even with Korea.

“That’s right. If Japan becomes America’s giant aircraft carrier, it will be troublesome.”

Yes. That’s when we need a pro-Russian regime led by Renya Mutaguchi.

Rather than us directly intervening, what would happen if Renya Mutaguchi, who rose up to overthrow a corrupt regime, tried to land in Japan?

We wouldn’t need to directly advance into Japan ourselves.

And Renya Mutaguchi considers himself righteous and elite, making him easy to handle.

“So we need to take at least half to counter pro-American Japan on land. For that, Renya Mutaguchi is necessary. He thinks of himself as great, and when he loses in battle, he blames his incompetent subordinates. He’s the type to shift responsibility to his subordinates. So if we flatter him appropriately, he’ll work as our puppet.”

“He must be loyal to Japan. I’m not sure if it’s possible.”

Drozdovsky seems quite worried.

Yes, he has unnecessarily high loyalty.

But if we use that loyalty, he will join our side.

“With the right justification, he will cooperate with us. ‘The greatest general of the Empire, Renya Mutaguchi, has risen to overthrow a regime that has gone berserk and is only waging wars of aggression.’ With this kind of narrative, wouldn’t Mutaguchi help us to become a hero of troubled times? ‘Restoring the corrupted Yamato spirit.’ We just need to add all sorts of flowery phrases.”

“I see.”

Even the trolling act of losing Southern Manchuria instantly could be excused as a mistake if the reason was to overthrow a rampaging military regime.

“Beria.”

Since there weren’t any major battles in Southern Manchuria, the Manchurian army remains largely intact.

About 200,000 men should be enough for Renya Mutaguchi to establish himself in Japan.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“By now, you know what I mean without me having to spell it out, right?”

In other words, persuade Renya Mutaguchi on your own.

“Yes! I will persuade Renya Mutaguchi and make him Your Majesty’s slave!”

No, that’s a bit too dirty, even for me.

Why would I want a bald man as my slave?

Of course, the light from his shiny head is like a ray of light through the dark clouds of Japanese colonization for Korea.

But I don’t even want that. I just want him to achieve the goal properly.

“No, that’s too dirty. Anyway, once this war is over, you’ll be living comfortably as the director of the Okhrana. I hope you do a good job.”

“Yes! I will keep it in mind, and keep it in mind again! I’ve already found one reason why Renya Mutaguchi will ‘inevitably’ have to join us.”

“Unit 731?”

“You know well, indeed. That’s right, Your Majesty. After interrogating the Japanese soldiers there, they said the Governor-General of Southern Manchuria was just playing around, so they could deceive his eyes and conduct human experiments. The test subjects were called ‘logs’ and all kinds of experiments were performed.”

Yes, as expected of Shirō Ishii. It seems he did a proper job.

What’s a bit concerning is that in the original history, Soviet citizens were also among the test subjects.

I wonder if Russians were also used as test subjects here?

“Surely there weren’t any Russians among them?”

“No, there weren’t. Those bastards seem to have some sense and experimented on prisoners captured from mainland China. I couldn’t bring myself to photograph the corpses, but looking at the experiment contents, it was horrifying.”

I see. Just like in the original history, it maintained its infamous reputation.

All kinds of experiments that are difficult to even mention were conducted.

It’s pitiful, but well, we didn’t particularly have any obligation to save them.

To be honest, it was the Emperor becoming a piece of meat that snowballed into this situation. It’s not really my fault.

“But it seems China’s damage is uncontrollable. They were essentially grinding down their population to fight the Japanese army.”

I’m sure. Seeing that Japan created extermination camps and used biochemical weapons in every battle, an enormous number of people must have died.

After the war, the Central Plains might be lined with skeletons on the streets.

But is that our concern?

Well, they did more than what we hoped for, but if you think about it, wasn’t it because the Emperor was killed that Japan’s berserk button was pressed?

“As long as there are no Russians, it doesn’t matter. Isn’t it partly China’s fault that Japan went berserk by killing the Emperor?”

Of course, Japan should be captured. But separately, isn’t Japan’s rabid behavior entirely due to the Emperor’s death?

So no matter how many Chinese die, it has nothing to do with us.

“Then, after the war, will we divide China as planned? That would be interesting.”

Grigory Semyonov, who had been eyeing the position of the Chinese Emperor from the beginning, rubbed his hands together and smiled sinisterly.

“Divide? Our friend Mao Zedong wants federalism, so we’re just giving him that gift. Why would we divide China?”

Someone might think I’m trying to check China and deliberately tear it apart.

As a saint, how could I divide and tear apart a neighboring country? Especially one that’s also a victorious nation.

We will simply help Mao Zedong’s desire for “federalism” as he requested our support.

After the war, China won’t have the capacity to unify anyway.

“Then, this Chiang Kai-shek seems dangerous. As long as he exists, it will be difficult to achieve proper federalism.”

Yes, that guy is dangerous.

Now that we’ve joined the war, the Japanese army will be defeated by the Treaty forces, and there’s no reason to keep Chiang Kai-shek alive after the war.

“He’s already received loyalty oaths from the warlords, so that’s true.”

They say they’re grinding down their population, but anyway, Chiang Kai-shek is currently the only Chinese leader who can stand against Japan.

But he can only be an obstacle to us.

If numerous warlords pledge loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek after the war, China might again face a situation similar to the Chinese Civil War between the federal government we support and others.

Then, we need to eliminate the central figure, Chiang Kai-shek.

“China has been going well according to our wishes so far. Chiang Kai-shek’s usefulness is over. Ah, Beria, before persuading Renya Mutaguchi, I’d like to send a cup of tea as a gift to Chiang Kai-shek.”

“Yes! I’ll include it when the Treaty forces provide supplies to Chiang Kai-shek!”

Good, good. You do your job well.

Your face might look like a sex offender, but compared to the original history, you’re such a different Beria that you’re even an engineer who developed jet engines.

“There shouldn’t be any evidence, but we still need to avoid suspicion.”

No matter how careful we are, if the tea is identified as Russian, it will raise suspicion.

Then we need to hide it appropriately.

“We have Japan, our enemy, don’t we? We’ll propagate that Japan assassinated him.”

Yes. Beria will handle it well. It shouldn’t be difficult during wartime.

After all, it’s Chiang Kai-shek who’s currently holding Japan back.

Since Chiang Kai-shek is hindering Japan until the end, from Japan’s perspective, there’s a need to eliminate him.

It’s not entirely implausible.

‘Japan assassinated Chiang Kai-shek to end the war quickly.’

This should be sufficient. Of course, even if Chiang Kai-shek dies now and the Chinese army fragments again, it won’t be a problem because we’ll capture Japan.

Rather, they need to collapse so that we can capture Japan and establish puppets to achieve federalism.

I decided to give orders to the generals at headquarters.

“Generals, listen. The Japanese are stubborn, so if they’re pushed back to their homeland, they’ll fight until the last person dies. Of course, not all Japanese are like that, and the higher-ups are forcing them, but they might still fight for their country, so we need to prevent that. At the very least, if we can’t prevent it, it would be good to lower their morale.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

This Japan is very different from the original history.

They’re equally berserk, but they’ve sent almost all their troops to the continent with the aspiration of exterminating all Chinese, leaving almost no troops on the home islands.

But seeing how they were willing to fight with bamboo spears during the final stand, they still have that spirit. As a saint, I should maintain my image even in Japan.

“The Japanese on the home islands probably don’t know what’s happening in China and will just see us as evil. We have pro-Russian Japanese pilots in our air force, don’t we? Use them to take photos of what’s happening all over China and drop leaflets over the Japanese islands so the Japanese people can see the reality. And Grigory Semyonov, Commander of the Far Eastern Expeditionary Force, try to persuade the Japanese forces fighting us in China to surrender.”

“I will do so.”

Well, all preparations are done. Are our supplies adequate?

“Do we have sufficient supplies?”

“Yes, there’s no shortage. As Your Majesty instructed, we’re providing maximum convenience to the soldiers.”

I’ve taken measures to supply the White Army with what they need.

It’s partly for the soldiers’ morale, but I also want to show Russia’s overwhelming power to the Japanese forces, who are in a dire situation with insufficient supply capabilities, to lower their morale.

And it’s good to accept surrenders that way.

“Thinking about the Japanese soldiers who deserted and crossed into Manchuria, there must be those who are disillusioned with this war and want to quit. Offer them supplies and treat them as prisoners of war to sway their hearts.”

“I will do so, Your Majesty.”

Strictly speaking, this war was one that Europe didn’t necessarily need to get involved in.

But it was too much money to refuse.

Since we’re doing it, we should definitely capture Japan and increase our influence over it.

* * *

With the participation of the Rome Treaty Organization, the stagnant war situation was completely reversed.

“Welcome, customer.”

“I’d like to pay for the package that includes declaring war on Japan, technology transfer, and military support.”

“Payment processed.”

With America’s ultimate ability – its immense financial power – the Rome Treaty Organization provided partial transfer of Russian weapon technology and massive troop support. The Japanese fleet, which had been rampaging in the Pacific, was pounded from all directions and relocated to the underwater palace.

In many ways, Japan was being defeated by American money.

China wasn’t in a much better situation either.

The supply capacity in Southern Manchuria had already declined due to the prolonged war, and with large-scale riots on the Korean Peninsula, the loss of Southern Manchuria, and the Qing rebellion, supply capabilities had essentially collapsed. On top of this, European forces were advancing en masse, pressuring the Japanese army.

“I’ve been waiting for this day to stab you in the back!”

“H-how could you betray me?”

The Japanese headquarters trembled at Russia’s betrayal, condemning Russia as a traitor, saying they were just Westerners like the British and French. Regardless, with the war becoming urgent, the headquarters had to divide its forces to block the Treaty forces and the Qing army.

Meanwhile, in the Southern Manchuria Governor-General’s office, Beria and the effectively detained Renya Mutaguchi were having a private conversation.

“The Tsar had no choice but to attack Japan, but this is the self-inflicted consequence of the Japanese government waging a war of racial extermination. Look at this. Is this something humans should do?”

Beria showed photos of the mass killings on the continent and the experiments of Unit 731, which had been conducted by deceiving Renya’s eyes, to persuade him.

“Ahem! How could this happen! But as a man of Great Japan, how can I betray my country?”

“Listen, Governor-General of Southern Manchuria. The entire Japanese archipelago is burning under the U.S. Air Force. After the war, America won’t leave Japan alone. This is a decision to save the country.”

“A decision to save the country?”

At the mention of “a decision to save the country,” Renya Mutaguchi’s eyes trembled.

Beria, seeing those dull eyes trembling, felt that persuasion was not far off.

Beria grabbed both of Mutaguchi’s shoulders and lifted him up.

“The entire country will burn. This was originally a U.S.-Japan war, and we only intervened, so the disposition of Japan will be taken by America. To have even a small voice, the greatest general of Japan, the Governor-General, must rise up. Don’t think of it as selling out the country. It’s a righteous uprising to remove the rotten roots and establish a new Japan because of the incompetent headquarters.”

“The incompetence is the headquarters’ fault!”

Finally, the statement that all of this is the fault of the incompetent war criminal headquarters drove a stake into Renya Mutaguchi’s heart.

“That’s right. Why do you think we didn’t kill the Southern Manchurian Army and treated them respectfully as prisoners? It’s because they are the Governor-General’s army. Our Emperor will provide the power. We will rearm you and help you land. Please save your country.”

Beria wielded his devilish tongue to the fullest to persuade Renya Mutaguchi, and thus persuaded, Mutaguchi finally made his decision to save the country.

“I, Renya Mutaguchi, will rise to save the Empire! Southern Manchurian Army, follow me! The enemy is in Tokyo!”

Renya Mutaguchi, with Russian support, finally rose up in Southern Manchuria to overthrow the corrupt Japan.