Ch.270Western Japan and the Korean Peninsula

* * *

“You can discuss that part at your leisure.”

So he’s just throwing it out there first, huh?

It would be nice to have Greenland, but this means he’s not going to push too hard on it, right?

Besides, trying to grab Greenland now that I’ve already shown my hand wouldn’t accomplish much.

He clearly took a shot because I mentioned liking money. He’s probably already got the answer he wanted, so he won’t press further.

I should at least say something before moving on.

“Yes. Let’s think about that. I’m sure the General just brought it up since we were meeting anyway. Now, let’s wrap up the Japan situation.”

“Would it be acceptable for us to handle the war crimes trials?”

“That would be fine. We didn’t suffer many casualties since we attacked Japan from behind, both in naval battles and on land. This was already agreed upon in our prior discussions anyway.”

From a Korean perspective, I’d like to see the trials, but this can’t be helped. I’ll have to be satisfied with handing it over to the Americans.

“Post-war East Japan will be completely different from when the Emperor was worshipped, with American troops stationed there.”

“What do you plan to do with the Emperor?”

I suspect they’ll make an example of Yasuhito and the imperial family. That should be quite interesting to watch.

“I understand that the Japanese Empire degraded the Korean Imperial family to Balhae people—that is, Koreans—causing them to lose popular support. First, we’ll demote the imperial family, and Yasuhito and the Japanese imperial household will be brought to trial for war crimes.”

He’s not messing around. MacArthur has really decided to go after them.

To uproot something that has been established for thousands of years…

Well, everything has been completely destroyed now, so it doesn’t seem entirely impossible.

“We need to completely overhaul their aristocratic system and all their institutions. After all, the Japanese imperial family is the fundamental cause of the war.”

So they’re planning to completely dismantle the imperial system of the Japanese Empire.

What will be left of East Japan after this?

I imagine all the companies that collaborated with the war effort will also be eliminated.

Since the imperial faction’s legitimacy comes from the Emperor, I wonder how much will be swept away.

“Then, General, I assume you’d want any imperial family members who might be in West Japan to be handed over?”

“Well, we can’t exactly hunt down and kill those who are distantly related to the imperial line. However, I would prefer that post-war West Japan not be a constitutional monarchy with the current imperial family. That’s our condition for recognizing West Japan.”

“The current imperial family?”

Does that mean a different monarchy would be acceptable?

“Yes. Since Your Majesty is the monarch of Russia, we won’t deny monarchical states. However, once we’ve deposed the imperial family, West Japan, which will share a border with East Japan, cannot have the same imperial family.”

“I understand. I’ll try to persuade Renya Mutaguchi of the West Japan Provisional Government on this matter.”

Renya Mutaguchi will likely be cooperative anyway.

“You’ll need to keep Renya Mutaguchi in check. If he attempts to recapture East Japan with his abilities, we would have to get involved in another war.”

That makes sense. Even though Mutaguchi has essentially rebelled against the Japanese Empire, many in East Japan would likely support him if he were to raise an army.

That would be troublesome for the Americans.

“I understand.”

The only problem is that Renya Mutaguchi isn’t really a great general.

Well, in this world he is considered one, but his success was more luck than skill. His control of West Japan was made easier because he was recognized as Japan’s last conscience and great general, rather than facing the insane Imperial Headquarters.

I suppose my high regard for Mutaguchi is one reason why America sees him as a great general. I doubt Mutaguchi would want a Korean War-style conflict to break out in Japan.

I’m barely managing to hold back laughter.

Perhaps installing a puppet from a disconnected branch of the imperial family with a Mutaguchi shogunate in West Japan would work well.

“Hmm, the situation in Argentina has been concerning lately. If South America tries to establish friendly relations with the Rome Treaty, how would the Rome Treaty respond?”

MacArthur seemed to want a definitive answer.

Argentina. Who’s in power there now? Juan Perón? He should still be vice president at this point.

Whatever the case, we have no intention of fighting the United States over Argentina.

But we should still try to secure some national interests.

Prime Minister Lvov must be working on economic cooperation and collecting payments from Huey Long, so we should hold firm on territorial and sphere of influence issues.

“If they want, we could provide some weapons and military advisors. We’ll give them enough strength to cause trouble in South America.”

“I think that’s a distortion of our earlier conversation.”

MacArthur responded with a displeased expression, so I waved my hand.

“That’s why we need more. We make money, which is good for us. And doesn’t this give the United States legitimate grounds to deal with South America? Since America stands for democracy, you need perfect justification to intervene, don’t you?”

Isn’t this beneficial for both of us?

Somehow MacArthur is staring at me as if I’m something inhuman.

What’s with that disrespectful look?

“Is this ‘Saint’ perhaps the Saint of Death?”

Come now. That’s too much. Do I really appear that evil?

“I hear that quite often. Well, since we all need to participate in peace on the surface, how about creating a United Nations? Let’s include even neutral countries. An expanded version succeeding the League of Nations.”

Yes, I’m talking about the UN.

Just like in the original history, the UN would be an organization ostensibly dreaming of peace. We establish it, and behind the scenes, the Rome Treaty and the United States can collaborate to run the world.

“That doesn’t sound bad. It would be good to bring things to a conclusion. I’ll relay this to our President.”

“Excellent.”

The United Nations needs to be established anyway, if only to show efforts toward world peace after resolving colonial and Indian issues.

Thanks to things going well between us, MacArthur and I were able to end our conversation with smiles.

“Hahaha! Today, let’s toast to a new future for the Rome Treaty and the United States. To the future of our nations!”

As I clinked glasses with MacArthur, I envisioned a world maintained by the dual system of the Rome Treaty and the United States.

* * *

West Japan Provisional Government

After the meeting between Anastasia and MacArthur, the results were conveyed to West Japan.

West Japan had been recognized as a nation by the United States, with the Rome Treaty even guaranteeing its independence.

“The Russian Tsar has secured recognition of the West Japan government from the United States, preventing American advancement into West Japan.”

“As expected of Japan’s Saint!”

“Long live Anastasia-ism!”

“It’s unfortunate we can’t reclaim East Japan, but it can’t be helped.”

However, the recognition as a nation was just the beginning. There was one problem.

The absence of an Emperor.

Although public support for Renya Mutaguchi was overwhelming in West Japan, it was difficult to simply dismiss the imperial family that had been established for thousands of years.

Renya and his staff believed that since East Japan had disposed of the Emperor, they should establish a proper royal family here.

“But what meaning would there be if we don’t support His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Then, shall we establish the Mutaguchi Shogunate with our Governor-General as Shogun—”

“Even during the Shogunate era, His Majesty the Emperor was present.”

“We need to establish a new royal family.”

Some suggested making Renya the Emperor, but becoming Emperor meant retreating to the background and becoming merely a symbol, which the military following Renya did not welcome.

In the end, there was no choice but to establish a new royal family.

Renya Mutaguchi instructed the provisional government, composed of pro-Russian intellectuals who had returned from Russia and Anastasia-ists within Japan, to discuss the new imperial family.

Shortly after, Renya received a report from Tsujii Masanobu.

“Hmm, what is the provisional government’s opinion?”

“Since it’s difficult to support a direct descendant of His Majesty the Emperor now, we’ve come up with several options.”

In truth, these options were quite far-fetched.

However, with no collateral imperial family members remaining in West Japan due to American devastation, and no way to bring anyone from East Japan, these were the only options available.

“Tell me.”

“For us Japanese, the existence of His Majesty the Emperor is absolutely necessary. Especially in times of chaos like now, we need a spiritual pillar. Just like the Russian Tsar’s existence for the White Army during the Russian Civil War.”

In difficult times, there’s no better rallying point than a monarch.

Korea already had a republican government being formed as a provisional government, and within Korea, the imperial family had lost support after being degraded as a family of traitors. But in West Japan, there were still people who desired the imperial family while hating America for dropping a nuclear bomb (actually Russian-made) on Kyoto.

“That makes sense. But isn’t it difficult? We would have to wage war against the American forces, and the Rome Treaty won’t intervene in another war.”

The Rome Treaty won’t jump into another war.

Even now, with all the issues surrounding colonial independence, would they go to war with America?

“The current Tsar obtained the imperial title of the ancient European empire, the Roman Empire, by claiming Russia as Rome’s successor. Following this method, we could establish a family with ties to His Majesty the Emperor as the imperial family.”

“Is there such a family with connections?”

“There’s the Toyota family. They claim to be descendants of Buyeo Baekje from the southern part of the Korean peninsula. During the daimyo era, they were known as the Ouchi family, claiming descent from the Buyeo clan of Baekje. Though they were destroyed during the time of the 31st head, Ouchi Yoshitaka, a collateral branch survived by changing their name to Toyota. The Toyota family genealogy also indicates their Buyeo clan lineage from Baekje. Since the imperial family has mixed blood with the Baekje royal family, we could establish the Toyota family, descendants of the Baekje royal family, as the new imperial family.”

That’s not bad, but isn’t it going too far back in history?

That seems like something to consider.

“What’s the other option?”

“The second method is to establish a collateral Japanese imperial family member, Queen Masako, who is the 18th generation descendant of Emperor Suko, and her husband, Korea’s Prince Uichin—the current Yi Wang—as joint Emperors. However, this method requires support from Yi Wang and the Jeonju Yi clan. In reality, both Yi Wang himself and Queen Masako view this negatively.”

Prince Uichin Yi Eun was the commander of the 1st Air Force responsible for homeland defense during the late Japanese imperial period.

In this world, he was also a commander who surrendered to Renya Mutaguchi upon hearing of his advance, and remained in West Japan with his wife, Yi Bangja (Queen Masako).

This option is closer and not bad, but the problem is that the person himself currently views it negatively.

After pondering this issue for a while, Renya and the provisional government came to one conclusion.

“What about consulting with the Russian Tsar about this matter?”

Russia is the spiritual successor to Eastern Rome, and the Russian Tsar also carries the meaning of Caesar. Empress Anastasia was also formally crowned as the Byzantine Emperor after Constantinople.

Perhaps she could provide some answers to these questions.

* * *

Korean Peninsula National Reconstruction Supreme Council

They had seized all property from the Japanese, and using this as an example, established a Special Committee for Investigation of Anti-National Activities to absorb all property of pro-Japanese traitors classified as national betrayers, and executed all those who committed anti-national acts.

Among them, the Korean royal and noble families who had collaborated with the Japanese—that is, the former Korean imperial household members—were all executed with Yi U’s tacit approval, and pro-Japanese officials were all punished.

Key figures from the Balhae Provisional Government all participated in the Korean Peninsula Provisional Government, and now it was time to determine the national name and emerge in the international community as a sovereign state.

“How about Goryeo as the national name?”

“Joseon, which was used for 500 years, wouldn’t be bad either.”

“Joseon was tainted when the Japanese Empire degraded the Korean Empire to Joseon. That won’t do.”

“We fell as Daehan, so we should rise as Daehan—”

Eventually, even the national name from the original history was proposed, but there were problems with that too.

“The meaning of Daehan is that three Hans became one and grew larger, but now we have Manchurians, Russians who settled to escape the Russian Civil War, and Jews in Southern Manchuria. The name Daehan excludes them, so it won’t work.”

Of course, with the title of thirty million homogeneous people, Daehan would be fine, but considering the sacrifices of other ethnicities during the independence war, they couldn’t be ignored.

At this point, another national name resurfaced.

“Then, how about using the provisional government’s name as the official national name? Balhae existed in the past, and even the current Danube Federation, formerly Austria-Hungary, chose its name to mean ‘the country of the Danube River peoples.’ We formed our provisional government under the regional name of Balhae to accommodate multiple ethnicities, so there is legitimacy.”

Moreover, Balhae was recognized internationally during the declaration of war against Japan, and Balhae also existed in Korean history, so it’s not without historical legitimacy.

“Our people on the peninsula suffered greatly during the recent Korean Peninsula operation due to the uprising. We need to absorb other ethnicities like Manchurians and Jews for the integration of Southern Manchuria. There’s also continuous legitimacy connecting the ancient Goguryeo and Balhae.”

“The Balhae people. That doesn’t sound bad.”

“With diverse ethnicities, a simple ‘republic’ as a national name wouldn’t be appropriate. Let’s make it a federation—the Balhae Federation.”

Thus, with overwhelming support, neither the Republic of Korea nor the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from the original history, but the Balhae Federation was born.

The national flag had a white background similar to Finland’s blue cross flag, but with a slightly lighter color and a taeguk symbol with a white band in the center of the cross. The upper right quadrant of the cross was colored blue, representing Southern Manchuria.

Without a pole, the exact name was the Taeguk Cross Flag, and it was officially established as the national flag of the Balhae Federation.

This marked the launch of the Balhae Federation, which controlled not just the southern Korean Peninsula like the Republic of Korea in the original history, but from the Korean Peninsula to Southern Manchuria.