I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 176



Only Noblemtl

EP.176 Revenge (1)

“Lee Seong-jun doesn’t seem to have any health problems, is that right?”

“Just by the fact that she had a child at that age, it is clear that she took good care of her health.”

Soviet dictator Stalin’s expression became complicated when he heard that Lee Seong-jun was in good health.

There was still a belief that communism would triumph over time, but South Korea’s growth was too fast.

If things continued this way, the entire light industry market of the Federation could be devastated by an onslaught of Korean products.

‘If Lee Sung-jun really holds out for 10 more years, it’s going to be a headache.’

No, saying it was a headache was polite.

There was even a possibility that the Korean economy would overtake the Federation.

Before that, the Federation also needed to accelerate economic growth to compete with Korea.

To do that, we had to end the war that was costing us nothing.

The problem was that there was no visible exit strategy to end the Italian War.

The bureaucrats offered many opinions, but none of them pleased Stalin.

“Everyone, go out.”

Stalin dismissed his officials and sat down to think.

What can you expect from those idiots who just roll their eyes and look around?

The federal bureaucrats were a bunch of idiots who had nothing to rely on.

Thinking about it that way, the Federation’s future didn’t look so bright.

Stalin lit a cigarette to collect his thoughts.

Unlike Lee Seong-jun, who preferred foreign cigars, Stalin preferred cigarettes made in the Soviet Union.

While the secretary smoked his cigarette, a heated debate raged in his head.

‘Let’s make a big concession and end it.’

‘What are you talking about? Once you back down, the Western imperialists will demand more.’

Stalin was torn between his desire to back down and his paranoia that the West would bite him if he showed any weakness.

After much deliberation, the secretary made this decision.

“Do not back down on the territorial issue, and accept the Western demands in the prisoner negotiations.”

The West proposed that anti-communist prisoners of war be given the right to choose their country.

The communist regimes thought this was nonsense, but Stalin thought differently.

In any case, those guys were enemy elements who would be at risk of engaging in anti-communist activities even if they returned.

It was a pity that they could not set an example, but it was not a bad deal if they gave up the traitors and took advantage of the territorial negotiations.

The West took Stalin’s proposal seriously.

“It would be absurd to accept the Reds’ proposals as they are, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try to coordinate things.”

Negotiations between the West and the Soviet Union began to gain momentum.

As the will of both sides to negotiate grew stronger, it was Umberto II of Italy who became anxious.

‘If there is division here, what will happen to my reputation?’

For the king who had suffered humiliation several times in the early days of the war, the feat of ‘reunification’ was urgent.

If that didn’t work, an equivalent security achievement was needed.

Like joining NATO.

But Italy’s negotiating power was zero.

Even if I wanted to add something, I wasn’t even qualified to sit at the negotiating table.

After much thought, Umberto II came up with this idea.

“How about releasing anti-communist prisoners to make our presence known?”

If you ignore Italy, there will be no negotiations.

Umberto II wanted to instill this awareness in the West.

“I know it is what Your Majesty wants, but this is a bit much.”

The cabinet decided to reject the king’s idea.

It was obvious that releasing anti-communist prisoners would cause a revolt in the West.

So this incident was almost buried as a happening, but the West smelled it.

The Western Allies were furious when they learned of this.

“No, as a descendant of a war criminal, you should just keep your mouth shut and eat what you want instead of trying to negotiate?”

“Hey, let me take a look at that guy’s hand.”

The Allied High Command immediately put pressure on the Italian government.

“From now on, the King of Italy will be an ornament. He will not be able to express his opinions, nor will he be able to express his opinions in private. Do you understand?”

“Oh, I understand.”

With this obstacle to negotiations removed, talks between the two sides picked up pace again.

Of course, the war did not stop immediately just because negotiations were underway.

Rather, it became more intense.

“We must seize even just a little more land in preparation for tomorrow’s negotiations. That way, our descendants will be less threatened by communist reds.”

“We must reclaim even just 1 centimeter of the People’s Republic’s territory. Are we going to hand over our sacred territory to the conservative reactionaries?”

Both sides poured large quantities of chemical weapons into the opposing camp every day.

As a result, casualties on both sides reached a truly horrific level.

The combined military and civilian casualties on both sides approached 3 million.

Stalin’s eldest son, Yakov, survived two years in this hellish battlefield.

It was all because of my father’s reputation.

Still, it wasn’t without merit that I fought for my father like this.

Jacob earned the rank of colonel in the army at a young age.

Although it was harder than his younger brother Vasily, who was easily promoted by flirting with girls in the rear, he felt better about trying this way in order to gain his father’s approval.

‘I’m sure you’ll give me a few words of praise when I get back.’

Although he didn’t show it, Stalin secretly cared for Yakov.

This was because he was the eldest son and tried to live up to his father’s expectations.

As Jacob was scribbling a letter to his wife, an Italian People’s Army officer approached him.

“Comrade Jacob.”

“What’s going on?”

“This is an egg. I brought one for you to try.”

“Eggs?”

Jacob just happened to be craving eggs.

I had a dream where I thought, “What would it be like to crack an egg into a Korean lunch box and eat it?”

Jacob accepted the egg with joy.

Jacob put boiled water in the eighteen-degree lunch box and added an egg.

This was the smell.

However, dirt continued to fall from the ceiling, perhaps due to the intermittent artillery fire falling on the mountain.

Jacob thought it would be difficult to eat a lunch box at 18 degrees in a cave like this.

Even though I added eggs to the ramen, I didn’t want to eat the ramen because it tasted like dirt.

“Comrade Jacob, it is dangerous to go outside if possible.”

“I’ll just sit down for 3 minutes at the entrance and come back just to taste it.”

Jacob also knew how to calculate risks.

Enemy fire never hit the ridge, never the cave entrance.

Jacob sat down at the entrance to the cave and began to inhale his delicious 18-degree lunch box.

Just as he was about to swallow the last of the noodles, a bomb dropped from the sky by an airplane crashed down.

“uh?”

Jacob was crushed on the spot by the impact of the explosion.

This shocking news was immediately reported to Stalin.

“Comrade Secretary, you must not be shocked. Comrade Yakov was killed in the bombing.”

“What, what?”

Stalin was shocked by those words.

If he had been a son as outgoing as Vasily, Stalin would not have been so surprised.

But Jacob was different.

Jacob was a love-hate relationship that brought him both disappointment and joy.

Stalin recalled the moment when Yakov was first born.

‘This guy needs to grow up strong too.’

Then I remembered blowing cigarette smoke on my newborn son.

“Did I mishear that?”

“Comrade Secretary, please calm down.”

Stalin gritted his teeth and ordered the people to retreat.

Even when the Iron Man felt heartbreaking pain upon hearing of his child’s death, he controlled his emotions.

You must never show weakness to your subordinates.

That one proposition gave Stalin the face of a strong leader.

“Yakov. You idiot.”

Stalin only began to mournfully express his bitter feelings after the people had left.

“How did you end up dying like that?”

Even though the Steel Secretary didn’t think about hereditary succession, he still felt secure because he had Jacob.

The son I cherished so much died a miserable death.

Yet the secretary did not shed a single tear.

The Iron Man had been deprived of human emotions for so long that he could not even properly express his sorrow.

Stalin took out a photo of Yakov from his drawer and caressed it.

Jacob.

Stalin repeated his son’s name countless times.

The secretary stroked his son’s photo for a while and then put it in a drawer.

It was only after losing Jacob that the Iron Man learned the important truth.

Yakov was the last piece of Stalin’s human nature.

Stalin spent his days quietly sitting alone in his office.

Officials were worried that the secretary might end the negotiations over this incident.

But Stalin surprisingly showed a rational attitude.

“Continue negotiating.”

Jacob’s death had no effect on the negotiations.

However, Stalin remembered this incident deep in his heart.

Unfortunately for the West, Stalin was a man who had to exact revenge for even the smallest of offenses.

And Yakov’s death was such a big deal to Stalin that he had to pay for it.

Stalin vowed that if the opportunity arose, he would strike down Western imperialists.