Ch.287South African Lawless Zone (2)

* * *

This seems like the right approach – to observe the situation carefully before taking action.

“Hmm, to think it would come to this. Ideally, we should annex it, but…”

Mosley, representing the Commonwealth, seems to want annexation, but that’s not the right move.

Indeed, who would have thought it would become such a lawless zone just because we stepped back a bit?

But annexation doesn’t feel right either. That would cause problems later on.

“The question is whether South Africa will govern that area again afterward. Honestly, as soon as we let it go, it turned into this mess. Eventually, the Black majority might commit crimes against the White population. Racial tensions will weaken South Africa’s security. If Whites were overwhelmingly dominant, making racial discrimination unavoidable, that would be one thing, but as things stand, separation seems appropriate.”

Strictly speaking, South Africa’s current situation is quite dire.

Of course, the Black population has decreased significantly since they were given separate independence.

Well, they seem to be accepting quite a few immigrants from various places. Quite a few Asians have moved in to live there. Even if they grind their teeth while committing racial discrimination, it’s still better than dealing with the Black population.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“If we embrace them, South Africa’s problems will only grow larger in the future. As Tsar, I believe sending treaty forces to maintain order while preserving the free zone could be a viable option.”

Maintaining a free zone.

Fully recognizing the independence of the Black people who betrayed South Africa.

That much should be done.

This way, I’m slowly setting the stage and guiding former colonial powers to play the victim.

“Maintaining the free zone, you say?”

“Shouldn’t we at least show that we’re making an effort? ‘At least’ is the key word here. I believe the Constantinople Treaty Organization should give the impression that we tried our best to maintain the free zone and accommodate the Black population. That way, we can firmly establish our justification later. Please be patient until then.”

“Ah, I see.”

Mosley clapped his hands as he caught my meaning.

“Well then. Please handle that as you see fit.”

I hope I don’t have to go there personally anymore. It’s about time to deploy the human tactical nuclear weapon Trotsky somewhere, and then I should be able to get some rest.

As I was returning to Moscow by train, I noticed Maria hesitating, which caught my attention.

“It’s truly unfortunate, but…”

What is it? What’s going on?

If it’s news about something else breaking out somewhere, I’ll be quite disappointed.

Right. It can’t always be external issues.

There are urgent domestic matters too, like hydrogen bomb development or Vladimir.

“What is it, Maria? Did the hydrogen bomb development fail? Or did Vladimir run off? That can’t be it, they’re still newlyweds.”

“Well, no. It’s not that.”

Then what is it?

If Maria, who acts as my spokesperson in the Kremlin Palace and wields invisible power, is reacting like this, there must be something significant.

I gestured for her to hurry up and tell me, as the suspense was killing me.

“The racial discrimination policy in South Africa, the Black free zone, the lawless area. Surely nothing as bizarre as that could happen again? Tell me.”

I will humbly listen to whatever she has to say.

“General Lee Beom-seok of the Asian Allied Forces has launched an offensive against South Vietnam.”

An offensive against South Vietnam?

So General Lee Beom-seok, the Balhae military commander of the Asian Allied Forces supporting Ho Chi Minh, is heading south to attack South Vietnam?

I clearly told them to only defend. No, wait. They just escaped from being a colony.

They wouldn’t try anything reckless. Every soldier is precious to an army like that.

If it were me, I’d pull back a bit and just strengthen the defensive line.

“Ha. How long has it been since they gained independence from colonial rule? Surely they wouldn’t do that? Every soldier would be valuable to them.”

“……”

Why aren’t you saying anything?

I’m scared! Maria, say something!

If this is true, we’ll have to provide more support to the Asian Allied Forces, which is troublesome for us.

“Is it true?”

“Regardless of their colonial past, they do have an army. Besides, General Lee Beom-seok commanded Balhae’s armored units during the independence war and recaptured Busan in no time. It might be worth trusting him.”

Recaptured Busan in no time. Just hearing that makes him sound quite impressive.

At least more impressive than the Lee Beom-seok I knew from the original history.

But is that really advantageous for us right now? That’s questionable.

If we really want to press the issue, even if the Constantinople Treaty Organization looks the other way, this could lead to direct American intervention.

They’ve already chosen Ngo Dinh Diem.

Of course, we could still pull out if we wanted to.

“Um, well.”

Um, well. How should I put this?

If the US sends troops, won’t we be in trouble then?

As far as I know, the US doesn’t have its own zone yet. They’ll probably try hard to claim Vietnam.

Of course, now that the US-Japan War is over, they probably won’t push too hard.

I need to prepare for this in advance. I have to consider the worst-case scenario.

What if Lee Beom-seok’s army is completely wiped out in Vietnam? What if Israeli and Japanese Commonwealth forces are killed too?

Should I intervene directly to mediate, and if that’s difficult, should we give up?

Actually, the best option is to split it in half, and the second-best is to help sincerely but retreat if it doesn’t work out, so I should just focus on that.

Why do I feel like I need to have another meeting with MacArthur soon?

Let’s make it clear that even if Ho Chi Minh wins the Vietnam civil war, we have no intention of expanding our influence in Vietnam.

After that, the US can handle it as they see fit.

They might be a bit upset, but what can we do? After all, the US also knows that Ho Chi Minh is the legitimate government. And we’re busy with decolonization, so we can’t fight the US military over Vietnam.

“There is some good news, though.”

“What is it?”

“The Il-1000 has been completed.”

The Il-1000. You could call it the Stingray bomber. Right, that flying wing aircraft.

It’s probably just a child’s toy compared to the B-2, but since it was already showing signs of completion during World War II, it’s probably at a level where it can be piloted now.

Should we fly it over Vietnam?

It should be enough to tease the Americans a bit in South Vietnam.

* * *

Constantinople Treaty Organization

Meanwhile, the situation in the Black free zone in South Africa was getting worse by the day.

Despite withdrawing from Africa as part of decolonization and providing additional infrastructure to help them become self-sufficient, the newly independent Black population struggled to adapt to their new life, and many headed to the free zone, which was called the Black paradise.

Under these circumstances, the free zone couldn’t possibly function properly.

“This is troublesome. The free zone is in poor condition. Perhaps it would have been better to just leave the infrastructure as it was.”

“That wouldn’t have been easy. They probably would have demanded everything. If they were dissatisfied, they could have gone to other regions. Isn’t that simple?”

That was true.

The free zone was originally South African territory, and only the infrastructure in that region was removed.

However, nothing was taken from other independent African countries; rather, they were supported to form governments.

Instead of doing that, they were just causing disturbances within the free zone.

“The Tsar said to just maintain order, but this is… As days go by, it’s becoming harder to maintain order.”

To be precise, the Constantinople Treaty Organization maintained order but didn’t completely suppress the Black population in the free zone out of respect for them.

They only caught and dealt with those who were stealing.

But at this point, a certain sentiment was emerging.

“Can we really say that the Black people of South Africa are civilized like us?”

“Then, should we dispatch peacekeeping forces again?”

This would mean sending peacekeeping forces again.

Such discussions were taking place in the treaty organization’s meeting hall.

But even so, from the perspective of needing to reduce military forces, having just dealt with Indonesia, it seemed somewhat excessive.

“We cannot stay in the free zone for too long.”

“The Tsar has tacitly approved ‘catching thieves’.”

Tacit approval for catching thieves.

The leaders of the Constantinople Treaty Organization, being of the imperialist generation, interpreted this statement differently.

‘Label them all as thieves and eliminate all the Black people in the free zone.’

Of course, they wouldn’t actually eliminate everyone.

They would just use enough force to make an example of the Black people at the center of this issue, to prevent them from causing trouble again.

In reality, if treaty forces were dispatched now, these people probably wouldn’t surrender easily.

In the end, it would be the treaty forces that would establish order in the divided lawless zone.

If they were lenient now, more Black people would flow into the free zone to enjoy the lawlessness. They intended to make a clear example and then firmly tell them to live in the countries that had already gained independence.

But in any case, Black blood would be shed in Africa.

Someone would have to take responsibility for this.

“The Tsar is already a symbolic figure in Europe. It wouldn’t be good for such a figure to be responsible for people’s deaths. He carries too much already. Let’s make it appear as if the Tsar was not involved in this matter.”

The treaty organization representatives nodded at Hitler’s words.

After the suppression of Indonesia, the Tsar had become an indispensable figure in the Constantinople Treaty Organization.

“So what are you trying to say, Chancellor Adolf?”

“I’ll take the blame.”

Adolf Hitler stood up from his seat.

“What do you mean?”

“The Tsar is the one who showed me the direction I should go. I can’t leave everything to him. So I’ll label them as Reds.”

It was something he didn’t necessarily have to do himself.

But Hitler believed that the Tsar’s presence was necessary for the stable operation of the Constantinople Treaty, and someone had to take responsibility for this matter.

And afterward, the Tsar could embrace Africa.

If he, as someone from the same war generation, stepped forward, wouldn’t the stigma be somewhat less?

“Surely not.”

“Doesn’t the free zone fit perfectly with the Reds?”

Wasn’t Makhno’s free zone or area or whatever an anarchist region similar to the Reds?

Anarchism is also Red.

At least Hitler defined it that way, and now the Black people had created such a free zone.

He nailed it down in a play on words.

“Future historians might attach the stigma of ‘Black massacrer’ to the name Adolf Hitler. Are you prepared for that?”

“That’s after I’m dead. It’s just one more blemish. But the Tsar is different, isn’t he? He will probably live for a long time to come. He’s already known as the Saint of Death, so we can’t let him bear the stigma of massacring the Black people of Africa whom we’ve just decolonized. I’ll go to the free zone myself.”

He had already made preparations to hand over the chancellor position to Göring.

If he was going to go anyway, wouldn’t it be better to bear some of the burden of imperialism?

“Chancellor, what are you thinking?”

Göring, unable to understand Hitler’s thoughts, expressed his frustration, but Hitler just looked at him silently before finally speaking.

“I’ve always been curious about how the Tsar feels when assassination attempts are made on him. That should be enough to label them as Reds.”

It wouldn’t be difficult to fabricate an assassination attempt by recruiting one or two hungry and starving Black individuals.

Adolf Hitler went directly to South Africa to create sufficient justification.

* * *

Vietnam Front

On the Vietnam front, the Japanese forces were being dragged along by the Balhae army’s impulsive actions.

These weren’t the crazed Japanese Imperial Army of the Imperial faction, but Mutaguchi Renya’s forces. As the South Manchurian Army, considered Japan’s strongest elite force, they had their pride, and with instructions to just defend, they were somewhat relaxed.

“You Japanese bastards! Why are you so sluggish? Are you really the elite force that annihilated the Chinese in the Central Plains?”

“Aaaaargh! You crazy Koreans! Take it easy!”

“What kind of crazy charge is this?!”

The Japanese forces had no choice but to follow and join the Balhae army’s charge. In the end, they went along with it, thinking, “Whatever, it’ll work out somehow.”

But on the other hand, the sensation of fighting alongside Mutaguchi Renya (at least from the Japanese perspective), Japan’s greatest general who would never return to Japan, in China was revived.

“Ah, this cool and heavy sensation! It reminds me of when we annihilated the Chinese forces in the Central Plains with the Prime Minister!”

“Whatever! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Japanese Commonwealth! Charge!”

“The Prime Minister would want us to liberate South Vietnam from these crazy rulers!”

The Taegeuk Cross flag of Balhae and the red-striped flag of the Japanese Commonwealth, emblazoned with both the plum blossom (emblem of the Korean Imperial Family) and chrysanthemum (emblem of the Japanese Imperial Family), fluttered on the battlefield.

Israeli forces and North Vietnamese forces joined the advancing Balhae and Japanese armies.

Jungle combat was mainly handled by Vietnamese and Japanese forces, but the Balhae army, which had become an elite force by annihilating the Imperial faction Japanese forces in the Korean Peninsula, easily fought and pushed back the South Vietnamese forces.

“Please. Send US military support!”

“……”

Ngo Dinh Diem immediately called for help from the United States.

MacArthur’s reaction was understandably lukewarm. Didn’t Diem say he could handle it well?

So he provided weapons and everything, and then a civil war broke out, and even though he thought Diem could gain the upper hand in the civil war, he was being pushed back by the Asian Allied Forces supporting North Vietnam.

MacArthur had to restrain himself from going to South Vietnam personally to beat up Ngo Dinh Diem.