Ch.259The Falling Sun (4)

# Chiang Kai-shek’s Assassination and the Division of the Nationalist Government

The news of Chiang Kai-shek’s assassination was widely reported and spread like wildfire.

As I personally mourned Chiang Kai-shek’s death, the news spread even faster. Naturally, it also reached the Japanese forces on the Chinese front.

The Japanese army launched a counterattack against China to finish the Chinese front, causing the Nationalist government to collapse more easily. Despite Dai Li’s attempts to salvage the situation, even he failed.

Soong Mei-ling, Chiang Kai-shek’s wife who had been representing her husband and unifying the Nationalist military factions, became the acting president. But it was merely a formality. The Nationalist Party without Chiang Kai-shek was in shambles.

The Japanese forces, who had been merely defending their positions under orders similar to Hitler’s “hold your ground” command in Nazi Germany, were now fighting the Chinese army with limited supplies.

“Hmph. Is this really what happens when Chiang Kai-shek is gone?”

My original plan was this:

If the Imperial General Headquarters was still in China, I would drop a nuclear bomb to eliminate them completely.

But the situation changed when the Imperial General Headquarters shifted to homeland defense.

The Imperial General Headquarters had returned to Japan, except for the China Expeditionary Army, intending to hold out as they did in the original history.

Essentially, the China Expeditionary Army was abandoned, with those who didn’t surrender to us fighting to the death.

Then I came up with an interesting idea.

The so-called “Monkey Supply Operation.”

To support Mao Zedong’s Federalism Movement, the Nationalist government needed to be weakened to the point where it could barely maintain itself as a coalition of warlords.

To achieve this, we:

“Oh no, we’ve lost our supplies. What should we do?”

We passed weapons through various channels to the remaining China Expeditionary Army so they could attack the Chinese forces.

The China Expeditionary Army naturally chose to fight the inferior Chinese forces rather than the treaty forces that their own country had surrendered to. As expected, the Nationalist government retreated further under the Japanese army’s new counterattack.

Additionally, as Japan’s crimes deepened, Renya Mutaguchi’s righteous army gained more legitimacy, and he successfully landed in Nagasaki with the help of the treaty fleet that controlled the sea.

“If Renya Mutaguchi has landed, hmm. We should also begin the work of turning Western Japan into a new Japan.”

There are quite a few Japanese Anastasia supporters we’ve nurtured in Russia.

Some had returned to Japan and then came back. They must want to somehow protect their rampaging homeland, their homeland that’s clearly heading toward defeat.

Japanese Anastasia Republic. That doesn’t sound bad.

Or perhaps a Japanese Modified Capitalism Republic wouldn’t be bad either.

But Japanese people will need a living god no matter what, so I wonder how that will work out.

From the looks of it, the Americans might even execute the Emperor.

So I’m really curious about how Western Japan will turn out.

Just then, new information arrived from America.

“Your Majesty, there’s a request from the United States to purchase our new weapon.”

The fact that Litvinov came all the way to my palace in Manchuria instead of resolving this in the Duma suggests it’s an urgent matter.

“New weapon?”

What new weapon?

“They want to buy the weapon that erased Paris.”

The weapon that erased Paris. They want nuclear weapons.

After everything, they now want to buy nuclear bombs.

That’s strange. I already transferred nuclear technology to America.

I told them to develop it quickly to counter Russia. Why would they want to acquire nuclear weapons separately?

Do they want to finish the war quickly now that it’s in its final stages?

“Didn’t we provide technical support?”

Is it because of the cost of manufacturing?

Or is it a matter of timing?

“But don’t you think they want to punish Japan more before that?”

MacArthur must be quite angry. Or else…

Perhaps they’ve developed a taste for spending money.

They’ve already received the technology transfer, so they’ve developed a taste for spending money.

Maybe they think: “Why bother making it when we can solve it with money?” Or something like that.

Or perhaps they’ve realized I’m a materialist who loves money and think they can solve everything with money.

Like “Put money in the Tsarina’s mouth and you’ll get new weapons.” Something like that.

“Where do they plan to drop it? If they want to purchase our new weapon, they must have mentioned something.”

It might not be Nagasaki and Hiroshima anymore. Let’s consider the possibilities.

Could they possibly drop it on Kyoto?

Looking at what MacArthur is doing, it seems likely.

“Kyoto and Kokura City, Your Majesty.”

Wasn’t Kokura City originally the third target for the atomic bomb?

It has the largest army aircraft and aviation weapons production factory in Western Japan, and there was also a chemical weapons manufacturing facility.

They’re determined to destroy it.

So instead of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, it will be Kyoto and Kokura City in the future.

I’d like to try dropping one from our side as well.

“They’re starting strong.”

“Nagasaki was originally planned, but it seems the plan changed when Renya Mutaguchi’s army landed in Nagasaki.”

Renya Mutaguchi’s landing.

So the Americans know about this and have changed their plans.

It would be quite a sight if they hit Kyoto.

Even though Tokyo is the capital, Kyoto is the spiritual capital.

Hitting it would be quite a shock to Japan.

“Was there any backlash from the United States regarding Renya Mutaguchi’s landing?”

Although we’re using Renya Mutaguchi to occupy Japan, unless the Americans are fools, they must know that I’m behind Mutaguchi since Russia is helping with the landing.

“Yes. Given that colonial issues are involved, the United States hasn’t even requested limited intervention from us, so they may feel uncomfortable, but what can they do? However…”

“However?”

Could there be something else?

“Unlike us, the American forces seem to be launching fiercer attacks. They’re reportedly turning every city into ashes.”

My goodness. The revenge of the heavenly dynasty seems quite intense.

Well, they’ve been annoyed by the persistent Japanese resistance in the Pacific.

The Americans are probably more furious than in the original history.

Are they planning a complete annihilation operation?

Now that Renya Mutaguchi has landed in Japan, they want to destroy Japan as much as possible before its surrender becomes more imminent.

And although we’ve proposed surrender to the Japanese side, they say they won’t submit to traitors.

Are they idiots? What betrayal? As they say, perpetrators tend to forget. They seem to have forgotten the Russo-Japanese War.

This gives us ample justification for a nuclear strike.

“Since the Imperial General Headquarters didn’t accept our surrender… Hmm. They need two?”

“Yes.”

What will happen now? Do they plan to finish this with nuclear weapons?

From the current situation, they seem to be attacking almost to the point of ethnic cleansing. But we can’t let America have its way completely.

How many nuclear bombs do we have left?

As far as I know, we have about 2-3 left? The third bomb is Grozny, and the rest don’t have specific names yet.

I turned to the White Army generals.

“We should drop one too, right? To crush the Japanese resistance, we need to show that not only America but also Russia can deploy nuclear weapons.”

“Where are you thinking of targeting?”

Since nuclear bomb development is quite expensive, it would be good to drop it somewhere meaningful.

We need to show the Japanese that they have no hope.

This time, we need to let them know that even Russia, whom they trusted so much, has dropped a nuclear bomb, making Japan completely the enemy of the world.

We just need to show our resolve.

America can play the villain by dropping nuclear bombs on cities that still have value.

“We need to show that we can drop a nuclear bomb anytime. Hmm. Let America play the villain as much as possible, and we’ll drop ours on Sendai.”

Sendai has already been heavily bombed, so many civilians have likely evacuated.

It’s perfect for demonstrating our willingness to use nuclear weapons.

“And the payment from the sale to America should be added separately to the ‘massive support.’ Let them know not to think they can offset it.”

Kokura will become Renya Mutaguchi’s Japanese territory.

At the very least, Eastern Japan is enough to be destroyed.

One might ask if we shouldn’t leave more to exploit, but we need to make Renya Mutaguchi’s Japan devastated enough that it has to rely on us.

From Japan’s perspective, the damage so far is probably on par with China’s in the original history, if not worse.

With some exaggeration, they say the skies over all of Japan are filled with American planes.

Most Japanese fighter planes have been eliminated by treaty forces in the Pacific and Chinese fronts.

That’s to be expected. No matter how good their aircraft performance is, it can’t match ours.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

There was one more piece of good news.

The Balhae Army finally recaptured Seoul.

The independence of my original homeland.

Korea, the country of my heart where I am the Tsar of Russia in the current world. Although the national name might be fixed as Balhae due to the Balhae Provisional Government, it’s a fact that Koreans have reclaimed their country and restored sovereignty.

Since the Governor-General of Korea has surrendered, it shouldn’t be difficult for the Balhae Army to control the entire Korean Peninsula.

What’s next?

First, there’s no reason to keep traitors alive.

In the original history, intellectuals who collaborated with Japan were kept alive because the country needed to function, but in this world, a proper government has already been established in Harbin with Russian support, and talents have been nurtured. All that’s needed is to transplant the government to the Korean Peninsula.

So there’s no reason to keep traitors alive.

But Japanese people who want to remain in Korea are a bit of a problem.

“Hmm. Maybe it’s best to leave them be.”

In the original history, by the time of Japan’s defeat, Japanese people had put down roots in the Korean Peninsula, and their second generation, though Japanese, essentially considered the Korean Peninsula their homeland.

So after the defeat, they learned Korean at the YMCA and worked hard, saying they would stay in Korea and dedicate themselves to the new Korea, but they were all sent back to Japan by the American military.

But here, leaving them might not be a bad idea.

Aside from the Governor-General, looking at the situation on the Korean Peninsula, perhaps due to the Imperial faction’s policy of “Japan and Korea as one body,” the proportion of Japanese women married to Korean men is quite significant. There are also marriages between Japanese men and Korean women.

Rather than leaving them in Japan, which is about to be defeated, why not keep them in Korea, prevent them from engaging in politics, and use their wealth and technology for Korea’s benefit?

A reverse version of forced name changes might not be bad.

Then, what will happen to Syngman Rhee? Will he remain in America?

That man shouldn’t come. Korea needs to establish a pro-Russian government.

If Syngman Rhee comes and starts making noise, America will try to establish a pro-American government on the Korean Peninsula.

If Syngman Rhee tries to come to Korea, he should be detained.

“Your Majesty, what about the Nationalist government’s request for support?”

“We will help, but this shouldn’t be framed as support for the Nationalist government. We’re responding to the request of Mao Zedong’s federal government.”

We need to strengthen Mao Zedong, who advocates for federalism.

If we do this, the warlords will check each other while focusing on protecting their own territories.

“So you’re planning to elevate Mao Zedong’s position.”

“Yes. Well, if he’s our dog, we should make good use of him.”

Considering that Mao Zedong prevented unification in the original history, he’s a bastard, but here he’s our bastard.

Since Korea won’t be divided, we should use Mao Zedong as long as he’s useful.

“Then, should I start moving too?”

I should probably start moving now. At least I can go to Southern Manchuria.

I’m also curious about how Korea has changed during this time.

At the very least, I want to see the purge of pro-Japanese collaborators in person. If I want to go and see it directly after the war, it would be better to be nearby.

Yes, that was my thought, but…

On my way to Southern Manchuria, I couldn’t help but blush.

“What is this?”

“Well, it’s a cavalry escorting the Ataman of the Cossacks and the Great Khan of Mongolia and Manchuria, isn’t it?”

Somehow, Cossack cavalry, Mongolian, and Manchurian Eight Banner cavalry are escorting me.

Of course, it’s not just cavalry, but they say it’s prepared as a symbol of the traditional cavalry for the Ataman and Great Khan.

Among them, the Eight Banners are operated in a new way, literally as a formal Eight Banner army different from the original Qing Eight Banners.

Originally, as Russian armored units were established, most Cossack armies shifted to armor, and Manchus were assigned to Far Eastern armored units, so I’m surprised they prepared something like this.

It’s not just surprising; it’s novel.

“Quite surprising.”

“General Grigory Semyonov prepared it.”

“Yes, I thought so.”

I can just feel it. That man with his strange imperial fantasies.

Well, Russia is now an empire spanning East and West and the leading country of the Rome Treaty Organization, so it’s a country worthy of imperial fantasies.

Still, this is quite embarrassing.

Cossack cavalry and modernized Eight Banner army. And the Empress between them. It’s too embarrassing.

Someone might think I prepared this. That’s why I feel uncomfortable.