Ch.268How to Easily Devour the World Like a Cake

* * *

“I heard that Chengde is the largest city in Rehe Province. Though it may not be my place to suggest, what about making this city the capital, a new Jerusalem? Many intellectuals here, including Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion, are set to join the new Eastern Israel government. This is my compensation according to my promise to you Jewish people. Just as you helped pioneer Northern Manchuria, we will actively cooperate with the new Eastern Israel and assist with urban planning.”

Of course, this benefits Russia greatly too. By placing Israel here in northern China, we’re reducing China’s influence to south of the Great Wall.

The Jews can develop cities in their own way and be born as a true Eastern Israel. Isn’t that perfect?

I should hear the Jews’ reaction first.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Chaim Weizmann bowed his head.

Perhaps Chaim Weizmann might become president again, but well, that’s out of my hands now.

At least Israel will be with us this way, so they won’t be acting alone in Asia.

“I apologize about the Palestine migration. It became Turkish territory, and if we had made that the new Israel, conflicts would have continued. Nevertheless, we will establish an economic organization in Asia different from the Roman Treaty. If you join it, the new Israel will quickly build up its national power.”

“Even this much is something to be grateful for.”

Yes. Be grateful to me, and that’s enough.

So, with this, our multi in China will consist of Mao Zedong’s Federalism, Puyi’s Qing, and Eastern Israel.

Xinjiang remains too, but I’m thinking of handing it over to the Uyghurs.

There’s no reason to include ethnic minorities in the Chinese federalism. So after establishing Israel like this, we’ll make Uyghur independent, Tibet independent as well.

This should be quite interesting.

Yes. Speaking of which, let’s give Xinjiang to the Uyghurs.

Excited, I made a declaration at the Far Eastern Treaty Dispatch Army Headquarters in the Forbidden City, hoping that intellectuals like Einstein, who had gone to form the Israeli government, would do well.

“I will give Xinjiang to the Uyghurs.”

“Xinjiang is Chinese territory, is that acceptable?”

Wasn’t it the Qing Dynasty that created Xinjiang’s current territory? Then, since the Qing state is still alive and well, isn’t it enough to get permission from Puyi?

“To be precise, Xinjiang was the territory of the Qing that created its current form. If the king of Qing, Puyi, says he’s giving Xinjiang to the Uyghurs, who would dare object? Originally, weren’t Uyghurs the majority among the warlords there? When looking at the warlords, the Uyghur warlords may be no different from auxiliaries to the Han warlords, but Xinjiang itself is dominated by Uyghur forces. What’s the current situation in Xinjiang?”

I should consider immediately handing it all over to the Uyghurs depending on the current situation. Or maybe establish military rule and then transfer it to the Uyghurs.

“Sheng Shicai of the Xinjiang warlord faction and Elihan Tore of East Turkestan are in conflict.”

“East Turkestan?”

“It’s a force that rose up for the independence of the Uyghur people. Our State Duma is helping East Turkestan to extend influence over China. But the State Duma isn’t very active in this area as it’s focused on European reconstruction.”

East Turkestan, hmm. If I remember correctly, though I don’t know the details, didn’t they fight against the Nationalist army with Soviet support?

So our Duma is helping them.

Whether it’s the Soviet Union or the United States of Russia helping, it’s essentially the same thing.

“It seems Sheng Shicai of the Xinjiang warlord faction is fighting with support from the Nationalist government, but he hasn’t been able to gain the upper hand because he’s been carrying out oppressive policies in Xinjiang.”

I heard that man also conducted purges.

Well, in this case, the answer is to expel Sheng Shicai.

Although the Nationalist government supported him, where did those support supplies come from? In the end, they all came from our resources.

“Send in treaty forces with the reason that fighting in Uyghur land recognized by Puyi of Qing cannot be tolerated. Tell East Turkestan that we’ll help them become independent with all of Xinjiang. Tell Sheng Shicai we’ll let him go if he quietly goes into exile.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

This should be enough for the Uyghur issue.

If the Uyghurs become independent, what can the current Nationalist government do?

Mao Zedong, who originally should have annexed Xinjiang, is now just the chairman of China’s federal government.

The Nationalist government can’t do anything because of us, even if they want to.

It’s a bit subtle considering that Sheng Shicai originally received Soviet support, but since the Uyghurs rose up, it seems he sided with the Nationalist government.

Well, that’s not my concern.

I drew lines with a pen on the map of China on the table.

Separating Manchuria, separating Mongolia and Rehe Province, separating Qing and the Northwest warlords, separating the Xinjiang warlord and Uyghur independence.

“Tell Ma Bufang, who joined the Nationalist government, that we’ll maintain his position as the Northwest warlord if he returns. Let’s put northern China under our sphere of influence this way.”

Below that, the Nationalist government and warlords are divided.

On the surface, it looks like federalism, but northern China will all be under our influence. After all, we can do whatever we want because treaty forces are already there.

It will be federalism in name only.

“Then, the Nationalist government and southern Chinese warlords under federalism will fight each other.”

“That’s right. Federalism isn’t led by anyone. It’s just equal states existing together, and the northern Chinese warlords among them are simply friendly with us. As for southern China, they’ll fight each other bloodily.”

They’ll fight while eating away at each other. That’s the future I’m hoping for.

For decades, they’ll fight and devour each other, trying to unify southern China through civil war, but failing each time due to external intervention.

And in that civil war, our Korea will reap the benefits of war profiteering. It must be seen as a perfect picture.

Indeed, China should fight like that. Don’t you agree?

* * *

Xinjiang

Sheng Shicai, who had been fighting against the Uyghur army of East Turkestan, nearly fainted at the news of treaty forces entering.

“Why are treaty forces targeting Xinjiang?”

“The Roman Treaty Organization doesn’t exist simply for war with Japan. It’s to maintain peace in China.”

“Then you should deal with those East Turkestan rebels. Why are you confronting us here?”

“Since the King of Qing has delegated governing authority to the Uyghurs of Xinjiang, Xinjiang is rightfully Uyghur territory. To be frank, the Xinjiang warlord doesn’t have legitimacy either, does he?”

“Ugh.”

He needed to refute but couldn’t find the words.

In reality, Sheng Shicai had occupied Xinjiang by force and oppressed the Uyghurs.

“Of course, we understand the situation of the Xinjiang warlord government chairman who received support from the Nationalist government, but haven’t you been oppressing the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and creating animosity for a long time? Well, even so, the Roman Treaty Organization recognizes your history of governance, so if the Xinjiang chairman just exiles himself to Russia, we’ll ensure you live in wealth and glory.”

Exile to Russia.

Sheng Shicai had developed and worked hard to advance Xinjiang. Of course, all of it was possible under Russian support, but anyway, Sheng Shicai had created his own kingdom.

But in the end, policy failures led to rebellion, and the Roman Treaty, with Russia at its core, switched to supporting the rebels.

Rather than resisting and dying just to play king in an underdeveloped region, wouldn’t it be better to live comfortably in the superpower Russia?

“Is that true?”

“Why would we lie to the chairman? We want to end this peacefully. It would be better than playing king in a place like this.”

“I accept.”

The Nationalist government had originally tried to support the Xinjiang warlord behind the scenes to defeat East Turkestan and extend influence to Xinjiang, but this too failed due to treaty force intervention.

“The unification of China is now completely over.”

The opportunity would never come again.

Soong Mei-ling could only lament.

Northern China had effectively fallen into the hands of the treaty.

Moreover, with the Roman Treaty Organization guaranteeing independence for Tibet, no warlord in southern China dared to do anything to Tibet.

Meanwhile, the Far Eastern International Military Tribunal was established in Tokyo.

The trial was held in the second-floor auditorium of one of the few surviving buildings in Tokyo, the former Japanese Army Academy.

The Americans had originally wanted to bring Renya Mutaguchi to trial as a war criminal, but his actions were too difficult to classify as war crimes. Combined with his early joining of treaty forces and the Chinese side backing down under treaty force pressure after their main forces were defeated, Renya Mutaguchi attended as a witness rather than a war criminal.

“While I have always been proud of the Empire and myself as a subject and soldier of the Empire, I knew nothing about how the war was progressing because the Imperial Headquarters kept me in check, with Southern Manchuria serving only as a supply base. No matter how high my achievements were, did they expect me to close my ears and cover my eyes? When I belatedly accepted the surrender of the China Expeditionary Army, I saw numerous extermination facilities and dead Chinese in China. Although I captured 2 million Chinese troops, I perceived this battle merely as an honorable fight. I couldn’t help but shed tears when I heard that the Imperial Headquarters had become so corrupt and that the Emperor had given permission. It’s not something humans should do. Even now, bodies of Chinese who died in various ways are being discovered in Unit 731 laboratories set up without my knowledge, which is truly horrific.”

Unlike the war criminals who had become emaciated from not eating properly, Renya Mutaguchi, who had recently gained weight thanks to the treaty forces, spoke as a witness, unable to hide his disappointment with the Imperial Headquarters and the Emperor, listing the numerous atrocities he had seen.

Naturally, the Imperial Headquarters side, especially Hideki Tojo’s faction, was in an uproar.

“Traitor to the Empire!” “How dare a traitor speak!” “Commit seppuku!”

“You should be the ones committing seppuku! Since when has the Empire been so barbaric! You used the Emperor to check me, killed countless Chinese, and out of fear for your own necks, refused to surrender when you could have, causing the deaths of many imperial subjects in the homeland! You say such things even after seeing all this? It’s truly lamentable!”

Accused of being a traitor, Renya raised his voice even more and became angry, intimidating the war criminals from the Imperial Headquarters who were consumed by evil.

When Hideki Tojo tried to refute, American military police silenced the war criminals.

“Then, was the witness opposed to the war?”

The American chief judge, with a deeply furrowed face, asked Renya a pointless question in this seemingly staged trial.

“Yes. I was opposed to even the start of the Sino-Japanese War. But they insisted on ordering me to annihilate the Chinese army with my forces, which were just a handful compared to China’s, and I had no choice but to follow. Until then, I didn’t know that all this was the will of the Imperial Headquarters and the Emperor who enjoyed killing people. If I were a barbarian like them, would so many imperial subjects and soldiers from western Japan have followed me, a mere governor-general of South Manchuria?”

The trial proceeded smoothly according to Renya Mutaguchi’s testimony.

Needless to say, Emperor Yoshihito was sentenced to death by hanging, and the surviving imperial family members were relegated to lifelong imprisonment in the soon-to-be-independent Ezo Republic.

Among the Imperial Headquarters personnel, including Hideki Tojo, Isoroku Yamamoto, who had planned the Pearl Harbor attack but later advocated for US-Japan peace, retired, and actively participated in the trial, was sentenced to 25 years. Except for a few, including Shigenori Togo, all were sentenced to death by hanging.

In the original history, Nazi Germany existed, and the United States was lenient toward Japan to counter communism, but here there was no reason for that, so they captured everyone.

In eastern Japan, a new government was formed with some pro-American factions who advocated for peace with the US military and Japanese Americans from the United States. Kijuro Shidehara was made cabinet president, and MacArthur from Washington served as the supreme commander, establishing the Kanto Republic.

During this process, a small number of Japanese protested, asking for leniency for the Emperor, but the US military suppressed them by force. Most Japanese had long turned their backs on the hellish scenes in China, so there was no significant resistance.

* * *

Washington D.C., United States of America

I entered the capital of the United States with the Russian delegation.

As soon as we arrived, the Russian delegation and I were amazed.

Numerous American flags and Roman Treaty laurel wreath flags were flying on streetlights and buildings. Many Americans were waving American flags, Russian flags, and laurel wreath flags.

“Welcome, Emperor of Byzantium!”

“You’re so young, just as rumored! A true saint!”

“Your Majesty, please wave to us just once!”

My popularity was undiminished in America too. This popularity, really.

When I smiled and waved my hand to those asking me to wave, they cheered as if they’d gone crazy.

Then I inadvertently took in the city of Washington with my eyes.

A perfect capital that wouldn’t be considered a country that had been at war until just before the US-Japan War.

Come to think of it, Washington had no effects of war, and my war was really no different from children’s sword fights.

So this is America.

In my original world, I lived an ordinary life and hadn’t even visited Japan a few times, let alone America.

But here, MacArthur himself invited me.

Is MacArthur just anyone?

In Korea, he was the one who enabled the counterattack of the ROK Army and UN forces through the Incheon Landing Operation.

To think I’d get to see such a figure in person.

I’m not the only one who came here. For example, the Prime Minister also came to Washington for talks with Huey Long.

“It’s an honor to meet the Emperor of Byzantium I’ve only heard about. I am Douglas MacArthur, Chief of Staff of the United States Defense Force.”

Douglas MacArthur welcomed me warmly, contrary to expectations.

Chief of Staff of the United States Defense Force.

Is he responsible for all army, navy, and air force?

It’s called the United States with a presidential system, but isn’t it actually an American-style shogunate?

I thought he would be quite wary and more solemn, questioning if I was really the Eastern Roman Emperor, but that wasn’t the case.

Anyway, I should greet him.

“Ah, I’m honored to meet America’s hero as well.”

“But I didn’t expect you to be so young.”

As expected, even MacArthur is surprised by my youthful appearance. Well, of course. This body still looks like it’s in its early twenties.

“Are you surprised?”

“I can’t help but be. You must be over forty by now.”

Age forty. Forty. MacArthur’s words hit me painfully.

Suddenly, I’m annoyed.