Ch.302Africa’s Cannibals

* * *

I’m feeling quite good right now, though it’s a bit awkward to say.

Right? Anyone who doesn’t like hearing that China is screwed must be at least ethnically Korean-Chinese, no?

Of course, future Communist China and current China are different. But in this world, both Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling have been quietly trying to compete with the Rome Treaty and America.

A small bird shouldn’t try to follow a heron—its legs will split.

Or perhaps they’ve already split, and they’ve ruined themselves trying to recover?

“Chen Xueshen and all his subordinate scientists have been eliminated. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty headquarters established in Chongqing will directly monitor China’s nuclear development.”

“Should have done this from the beginning, tsk tsk.”

I smiled contentedly at Lavrentiy Beria’s report in the State Duma.

And with civil war breaking out on top of this. Isn’t it just perfect?

This is exactly the picture I wanted.

This way, we can sell plenty of weapons, and Balhae will enjoy tremendous war profits, just like Japan did in the original history.

Looking through Korean history, the Korean Empire did make some war profits during the Boxer Rebellion, but the money earned wasn’t properly utilized.

Well, Balhae will certainly profit greatly this time too.

It’s not like we’re openly helping them directly, but this is enough plausible support for Balhae, isn’t it?

Ah, this isn’t the time for that. I should at least pretend to be sad.

I deliberately put on a sorrowful expression.

“The Tsar seems sad for some reason.”

Alisa Rosenbaum, now proudly attending the Duma, noticed during the meeting and focused her attention on me.

“Indeed. Only innocent Chinese people have died. It’s like conducting nuclear tests in a populated city and having an entire city disappear.”

Isn’t it truly heartbreaking? That’s what I’m saying.

After all, how pitiful that the Chinese became subjects of nuclear testing and died.

Of course, I ordered it, but that’s all.

Anyway, unless I personally admit it, both domestically and internationally, China did what China did. That’s how it will be treated.

“It’s truly a sad affair.”

Indeed, it was a very unfortunate and sad incident.

Weren’t they trying to conduct nuclear research while deceiving the eyes of the great powers, only to end up like this?

I maintained a gloomy expression while deeply mourning the dead Chinese.

“This is why people need good leaders.”

Khrushchev clicked his tongue sympathetically.

Of course. Like me. Someone who doesn’t act recklessly, does just enough, and remains symbolic.

And the State Duma and Prime Minister, supported by the people.

Isn’t this the ideal model of leadership? The incompetent Soong Mei-ling has been acting president for too long.

Of course, whether a leader becomes merely symbolic depends on who the leader is.

“China has been freed from the oppression of colonial empires, yet still suffers under incompetent leadership.”

The Duma members followed my lead, expressing regret that it was truly unfortunate.

We’re signaling that we have absolutely nothing to do with this. Now, let’s set the stage.

If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to shift blame completely.

Soong Mei-ling, that stupid and ignorant woman, conducted nuclear tests on her own land, targeting her own citizens.

How wonderful is that? With one hand wiping away tears, I opened my mouth bitterly.

“It’s a tragic affair. How could Soong Mei-ling conduct nuclear tests on a city where her own citizens live?”

Isn’t it a truly horrific thing?

How could anyone conduct nuclear tests on their own citizens?

Making a fuss and acting as if it’s truly unfortunate, I even shed tears.

Feeling sorry for the Chinese who became subjects of nuclear testing without even knowing they would die.

“So that’s how it happened.”

Now, what should we do next?

If you ask, the answer is very simple.

Thanks to the Okhrana’s Southern China branch doing a good job of stirring things up, we can move on a larger scale.

Wasn’t there an incident with a plutonium mass being experimented on at Wang Jingwei’s nuclear research institute under the National Government?

“Let’s officially condemn Soong Mei-ling. Call her a villain who ruins humanity’s peace by conducting nuclear tests on her own citizens.”

Soong Mei-ling is a crazy woman who conducted nuclear tests on her own citizens!

That’s what we’ll spread everywhere.

Of course, the National Government will feel wronged, and the local situation will be different, but external perspectives will change.

Above all, isn’t this a good opportunity for the warlords to punish the National Government?

They’ll want to teach Soong Mei-ling a lesson—she’s been acting out, relying solely on Chiang Kai-shek’s influence.

“Yes, understood.”

“When will they ever prepare for peace? Isn’t it pitiful? Tsk tsk.”

How long will they keep causing accidents? We’ve made the National Government look like an unmanageable troublemaker to the world.

That Qing Dynasty, you know. Wang Jingwei has grabbed it by the collar and carried it to become stronger than the previous Qing Dynasty, even as just part of Northern China.

Well, it’s also because the great powers resolved the bond issues from the (former) Qing Dynasty era.

At a glance, the National Government would only feel wronged.

They seriously tried to develop nuclear weapons to at least escape from among the great powers, but the countries that only brought pain to Chinese citizens since the past remain intact as powerful nations, while the National Government remains too weak.

“Indeed. It seems civilization is still too distant for the Chinese.”

The Duma members sneered at the Chinese.

It’s all just a setup, but to them, the Chinese appear as weaklings who can only submit to such slander.

Honestly, I see them that way too.

From the beginning, the National Government people are in a position where they can’t know what we’re plotting.

“Still, they’re better than the African blacks. I suppose that counts as doing well.”

‘Better than African blacks.’

That’s how the National Government is being treated now.

It’s pitiful, but what can we do? They must accept the punishment for causing a nuclear test.

We’ll ensure they never unite, even in the future.

This civil war will weaken the National Government that was doing well in Southern China.

That way, no force capable of leading unification will emerge.

“If we had included Southern China in the Co-Prosperity Sphere, they would have certainly spent our money like water. It’s best to leave them as they are.”

We can’t spend money on Southern China like that, of course.

Our Rome Treaty will absolutely not spend money for Southern China!

The Northern Chinese states won’t necessarily jump into a unification war with Southern China.

Not only that, they’ll pride themselves on being qualitatively different from Southern China.

“The Chinese warlords have formed a coalition army.”

So they’re immediately forming a coalition. But the National Government won’t be easily pushed back.

The National Government’s Chinese citizens might be somewhat shaken by the nuclear test conducted within their country, but they won’t easily lean toward the reckless warlords.

“What about Mao Zedong and Wang Jingwei?”

“There’s no particular reaction from them yet.”

They’d better stay quiet and mind their own business.

Yes. If they stay quiet, we can sell weapons to both the warlords and the National Government.

In this world, instead of a Middle East war, there will be a Central Plains war.

Looking at the current situation in India, it seems like something big will happen within the Bharat Republic too. It’s quite pitiful.

While the colonial empires are firmly bound by the Rome Treaty and have been busy whitewashing their past, China (which has been exploited by the great powers since the Qing Dynasty), India (which was ruled by the Allied Powers), and the African colonies of the colonial empires have become more miserable even after independence.

Vietnam and Indonesia may look fine on the surface, but who knows what’s inside.

“Then, it would be good to encourage them to fight each other. Let’s sell weapons to various parts of China through Balhae.”

Perhaps something will happen within the National Government too. Maybe Soong Mei-ling’s regime will be overthrown and someone else will take power.

The warlords will probably be determined to capture Soong Mei-ling this time.

Soong Mei-ling has already attempted to create nuclear weapons.

What this means is that even if she doesn’t confront America and the Rome Treaty, she can exert the power of those nuclear weapons within China.

Naturally, they can’t leave Soong Mei-ling alone.

Internally, they can’t tolerate a crazy ruler who conducted nuclear tests on her own citizens.

After the recent incident, humanitarian aid coming from the Rome Treaty and America has also been reduced.

The only reason some remains is that the citizens of the National Government are innocent.

We decided to provide just enough to prevent Soong Mei-ling from thinking of anything else.

“If it looks like Soong Mei-ling might be completely pushed back, let’s mediate in the middle.”

“You’re not going to eliminate Soong Mei-ling this time?”

“There’s no reason for us to remove Soong Mei-ling. This time, they’ve surely realized their position.”

That their National Government must bow its head to the world.

Even if we compare national power, the current Qing Dynasty is not to be underestimated.

Even the Qing Dynasty bows its head and listens to us, so what can they do?

“They’ve certainly been frightened once, so they won’t dare say anything.”

“It might be more troublesome to form a new government.”

“Besides, we can’t interfere in their internal affairs.”

That’s right. We cannot intervene in the National Government.

After causing a nuclear accident, it would be inappropriate to directly use force against Soong Mei-ling.

It’s not about sympathy, but if we overthrow the regime at this time, we would be suspected.

And our main policy isn’t about China anyway.

We’ve given Soong Mei-ling a slap because of the nuclear development aggro, but our priority is Africa.

There’s still the massacre issue from before.

“What happened in Africa after the massacre? With the China issue being sensitive, we should quickly deal with the decolonization issue given the atmosphere.”

Many Chinese died in the nuclear test.

Thanks to that, the massacre in Africa didn’t become a global issue, and we need to quickly resolve the decolonization issue in this gap.

“They’ve already died to the extent that they can’t form a national system. And other black nations that achieved decolonization didn’t dare defy us and safely took over the administrative system.”

So the loss of the free zone actually felt threatening to other black people.

If they’ve cowered on their own because of that, it’s not bad.

“That’s how it should be. How nice would it be if things went smoothly.”

“However, there are some issues in the Congo area.”

In Congo? Wasn’t Belgium the owner of Congo? What have they done?

I yawned widely, as if annoyed.

“Belgium isn’t holding onto it again, is it?”

They’re not collecting wrists again, are they?

Or is Belgium doing something with that insane, barbaric method?

Belgium itself couldn’t dare oppose the Rome Treaty organization.

“No, the government handover itself isn’t difficult. However.”

“However?”

“The blacks who collaborated with Belgium were essentially employed by white officers during the colonial period and were allowed to beat down rebellious Congolese and practice cannibalism. As pro-Belgium forces, they would become the ruling class of the new Congo state, and this would maintain the cannibalistic customs.”

Ah, I see. Even with decolonization, we formed governments with collaborators friendly to us for safe decolonization. If Congo does the same, cannibals would form the government?

“So what?”

“Your Majesty directly declared decolonization, and there’s much debate about whether it’s appropriate to hand over the government to such cannibals.”

Right, that absolutely cannot happen.

How can a government established by cannibals be legitimate?

Of course, Congo exists in the original history too, so if you ask whether we should care, the answer is no, but still.

“Why did cannibalism exist in the first place?”

“Historically, Congo wasn’t a very habitable region. It lacked crops to increase population and had poor carrying capacity. So they attacked other tribes to find people for cannibalism, or kept slaves specifically for cannibalism and ate them.”

In short, they ate humans because they had nothing else to eat.

Mexico at least had the excuse of making sacrifices to gods. Congo really has no excuse.

And Belgium, which ruled Congo, is just as bad.

“It’s truly pitiful. Humans eating humans. Originally, human history is a history of migration. Ancient humans moved to survive. If food was scarce, they should have moved to another place. Tsk. And Belgium, while claiming to civilize them, enjoyed cannibalism together.”

“Yes.”

These Belgians are always a problem.

We at least try to renovate the places we colonially rule for the sake of appearances. But Belgium is just stupid.

Even small-caliber guys are the most precious. They should have at least raised decent people as collaborators. Why did they make cannibals their collaborators?

“During the Great War and World War II, perhaps Belgium’s beatings were its karma.”

Although they’re in the Rome Treaty, I don’t like this.

Can Congo’s cannibalistic culture really be eradicated? Although customs can be respected, cannibalism is different.

In this era, that’s a bit…

“Let’s either relocate the Congolese or seriously civilize them. Including those who collaborated with Belgium.”

I’d like to deal with Belgium too, but they’re a member of the Rome Treaty.

Plus, they’re subject to decolonization. Africa isn’t just Belgium but also countries like Britain and France, so they can’t be free.

“There’s no choice. Then, let’s encourage the Congolese to relocate and have Belgium take the lead in resolving the cannibalistic culture.”

There’s no other way.

“If we leave it to Belgium, won’t they all die?”

“Let’s have the Rome Treaty directly handle the relocation.”

The Rome Treaty will have to directly resolve this.

“Not Belgium itself?”

“First, those cannibals who collaborated with Belgium are judged incapable of maintaining a government, so dispose of them appropriately.”

What era is this to have cannibalism?

Even if they are African blacks, if Belgium could exploit them, it means their cannibalistic culture is significant.

I can’t bear to see such a country exist in my lifetime.

It would be like saying the Saint approved a cannibalistic country.

Later, my anti-fans or the American side competing with the Rome Treaty might say, “The Saint who condoned cannibalism also tore and ate the flesh and bones of the Bolsheviks.” That could happen.

That’s definitely not right.