I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 135



Only Noblemtl

EP.135 Disarmament (1)

“Everyone, stand up!”

The generals, led by the ministers of the army and navy, stood up in unison to greet me.

Knowing what they were going to discuss today, the generals’ expressions were dark.

It was like watching cattle being led to the slaughterhouse.

“seating!”

As I sat down, the generals also sat down.

The agenda for this meeting was disarmament.

I had Kim Jong-gil prepare the budget and distribute it to the generals.

The military generals looked horrified at the budget proposal I presented, which was beyond their imagination.

“Your Excellency, I am concerned that this disarmament is being carried out too excessively. In order to protect Korea’s security, it is necessary to maintain a minimum level of military spending. Your Excellency, I request that you reconsider.”

Frankly, it was no wonder that the generals were foaming at the mouth at the thought of disarmament again right after reducing the number of troops in the war.

However, the current imperial army had an excessive size that did not match the empire’s economic power.

There was a need to gradually shed the unnecessary fat.

Especially battleships that are outdated.

How long are we going to have to sit around and waste taxpayers’ money on such outdated power?

There are already many places where money needs to be spent.

“That’s right. In the current situation where tensions are rising in Europe, it makes no sense to reduce military spending like this, let alone increase it. If we have to reduce our military spending to this extent, wouldn’t it be better to wait a little longer before making a decision?”

These guys are talking nonsense.

The Soviet Union is not going to invade the Far East any time soon, so why should we be holding onto unnecessary weight?

We are allies with the Soviet Union.

Even if the alliance was broken, the disarmament force would be enough to stab the Soviet Far Eastern Army with a bamboo spear.

Unless Stalin suddenly becomes dementia-prone, there’s no reason for him to attack us, and if that happens, the US will come to our aid.

When the puzzle pieces fit together so perfectly, why do we spend so much on defense?

Even after the world war was over, it was absurd to maintain such a large army and navy.

The reason the military has been kept relatively large up until now is because of concerns about the shock that a sudden change would bring to the military.

If you’ve been that considerate, you should know how grateful I am.

There was nothing we could do about the military’s lack of conscience.

“Director Kim. Organize that and hand it out.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I additionally distributed the prepared materials to the generals.

The generals read the rationale for disarmament and the economic benefits it would bring.

This is data compiled by canned food from smart economists, so how can it be refuted?

“Ahem.”

Of course, no one readily agreed with what the economics doctors said.

Who would agree to reducing their own rice bowl?

So I also offered carrots.

“As the military is shrinking, we have also prepared compensation for the officers who will suffer. The generals who will be discharged will become advisors to large corporations, government officials, or presidents of public enterprises.”

Since there were also military seniors present, I used formal speech.

The social status compensation is like this.

“I promise to pay you five years’ worth of salary at once as a separate special consolation money.”

Financially, he decided to give a generous gift of money.

I told you I’d take care of the food.

“Your Majesty, we are not opposing this because we are desperate for food.”

Well, I guess so.

The National Salvation Military Committee was made up of people with similar beliefs as the Imperialist faction, and the rest were self-proclaimed patriots who had affection for militaristic Korea.

If we were simply worried about our livelihoods, everyone would have kept quiet the moment I promised compensation.

“I understand your feelings, my lords. However, if the Empire is to prepare for the situation in Europe, shouldn’t we secure some leeway in advance? I don’t feel comfortable reducing the military.”

Of course, it’s comfortable.

Because I’m a politician, not a soldier.

What this Lee Seong-jun represents is not the military, but Korea.

The generals let out a heavy sigh.

Kim Seong-ju spoke on behalf of the Army.

“Your Majesty, our army will agree to disarmament.”

The army generals nodded.

“I will follow Your Majesty’s will.”

From the beginning, it was hard to imagine that the army made up of my followers would rebel until the end.

What about the Navy?

“Your Majesty, the Navy would also like to follow your wishes. However, we hope that you will reflect our opinions and make compromises during the disarmament process.”

Compromise?

What compromise?

“We agree to reduce the battleship force, but we want to continue operating the new battleships.”

The naval admirals expressed their approval.

battleship.

That battleship.

What’s the point of a giant target that can be destroyed by just attaching a bomb to it?

Technology has advanced to the point where a single aircraft carrier can outmaneuver several battleships.

They say missiles and nuclear weapons will come out soon?

Have you ever imagined a time when fleets of ships could fly by pressing a button?

At that point, only the aircraft carrier task force will be valuable?

I could not understand the Navy’s battleship advocates who could not read the flow of the times.

Why don’t we just throw away those useless big guns and move on to a refreshing aviation-oriented theory?

That’s good for the empire, and it’s good for your jobs.

“If we maintain battleships that require a lot of maintenance costs, it will be difficult to maintain a mobile force centered on aircraft carriers, which are a new type of power. I’m sure you know the value of aircraft carriers, senior.”

It’s not that the Navy didn’t recognize the value of aircraft carriers.

Under my direction, we even conducted war games to prove the effectiveness of the aircraft carrier.

However, the deep-rooted pro-battleship thinking seemed to still be the same.

Is it because there aren’t many scenes in real combat where an aircraft carrier breaks the head of a battleship?

The absence of the Pacific War was not a good thing in this regard.

Oh, of course, if that really happened, a nuke would have been dropped on Pyongyang.

“Your Majesty, even if the value of battleships has fallen relatively, there is no other means of projecting firepower as cheaply as battleships.”

I know that too.

But that’s only when calculating the main gun price.

Considering the overall operating cost of the battleship, the shells weren’t that cheap.

“Senior, then let’s do it like this.”

I was able to keep only four of my naval battleships.

These were also new ships built during World War II.

I would like to scrap this as well, but I am concerned about the Navy’s opposition, so I have proposed a compromise at this level.

“Absolutely not. The Navy must have at least eight battleships.”

No, these guys?

Do you dare add conditions to the compromise I proposed?

Now that I think about it, the Navy was a bunch of guys I hadn’t really cracked open.

“What if I can’t listen?”

The expressions on the admirals’ faces changed slightly as I growled openly.

The admirals’ mutiny and Nabal, try it.

Take off all your clothes.

Anyway, it would be good to get rid of the outdated battleship advocates.

Hang in there till the end.

As if they had noticed my thoughts, the Navy weakly agreed.

“I will follow your Majesty’s will.”

The Air Force didn’t even object.

First of all, the only military branch whose military spending increased in this disarmament was the Air Force.

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s consideration. I will continue to do my best to protect the Empire’s airspace.”

The new Air Force Chief of Staff bowed several times to express his gratitude.

From now on, it is the era of the Air Force, so of course we have to support the Air Force.

When reforming the military in the near future, the idea was to place the Army and Navy under the Department of Defense and raise the Air Force to an equal status.

The story of disarmament ended so well.

I asked the Security Command to find out what effect this disarmament would have on public opinion.

The response was mostly positive.

“At the time, Park Han-jin only knew the military, but His Majesty is different.”

“If we do some disarmament, taxes might go down a bit.”

“If Your Majesty did it, it must be the right thing to do.”

There were some negative reactions, too.

“With the communists running wild on the continent, is it reasonable to reduce the military?”

That part was certainly cause for complaint.

I think the Chinese communists are too dangerous to be left alone.

It seemed that if we could come up with some countermeasures against the communists, we could at least somewhat alleviate the negative public opinion about disarmament.

While I was thinking about it, I called in Army Minister Kim Seong-ju.

“There is something I need you to do.”

“Yes. Please give your order.”

“While we are disarmament this time, how about sending some military advisors to China?”

“If it’s a military advisory group, how big do you think it would be?”

In the mid-1950s, the United States sent a military advisory group of about 2,800 people to Korea.

The United States succeeded in transforming the South Korean military, which was at the level of a quasi-military force, into a proper military force by sending an advisory group like that.

We needed to do the same thing.

Considering that the ROK Army at the time had 600,000 men and Li Zhongren’s ROC (Chongqing) Army had just over 3 million men, it seemed necessary to send at least as many advisors as the US Army.

‘It has to be to that extent for the Republic of China (Chongqing) bastards of Li Zhongren to fight properly against the Communist Party of China.’

“Shouldn’t we send at least 3,000 people?”

This was a win-win situation, as jobs were also created for officers and generals who would have to take off their uniforms without being able to do so.

“I think it’s too large a scale. If the military sends that many, it will be a significant burden on our side.”

“Really? Then what do you think is the appropriate amount?”

“I think 200 people should be enough.”

As expected, it seemed like they had made it too big considering the scale of the US military in the area.

“Then, the master should think of an appropriate scale, organize the personnel to be dispatched, and report back.”

“I will accept it.”

Of course, even if the formation was complete, the military advisory group could not be sent right away.

Li Zhongren had to consult with the Republic of China (Chongqing) side regarding the dispatch, and negotiate issues such as cost burden and treatment.

Still, the symbolism of sending a military advisory group could not be ignored.

China will probably react in some way when it hears this news.

‘It might have some effect in preventing the Chinese from acting rashly.’

I thought that it was a measure that could be presented to the public.

“Director Kim. Regarding the dispatch of this military advisory group, please post a story on Daehan News.”

“We will take action immediately.”

Okay then.

I thought I had done everything I could to address disarmament.