I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 23



Only Noblemtl

EP.23 The Morning of Revolution(?) (1)

The whole situation is over.

The 3rd Army Commander, Kang Ki-jeong, attempted a final decisive move by leading the 12th and 33rd Infantry Divisions, but the attempt ended in vain.

“It is the will of the cabinet. Stop the clashes between our armies.”

With just one order from Prime Minister No Jae-woo, Kang Ki-jeong lost his justification for advancing on Pyongyang.

To disobey orders and advance is treason.

Kang Ki-jung was not a man strong enough to suppress the coup d’état by disobeying the cabinet’s orders.

“Return to your original position.”

With Kang Ki-jeong’s withdrawal order, the threat from the coup forces was completely eliminated.

All that remained was to take steps to convince the people of the legitimacy of the coup.

7 am.

As the capital city of Pyongyang began to stretch after a hectic night, there was a radio broadcast from the coup forces.

“Good morning, respected citizens. I apologize for causing you anxiety by making a big fuss late at night. The disturbance last night was an unavoidable incident that occurred during the course of our National Salvation Military Committee’s stern actions to punish the Empire’s ‘rebels.’”

People were paying close attention to the special broadcast because they were interested in the commotion last night, and were taken aback when they heard the story about the suppression of the traitors.

Some citizens had seen the scene firsthand and had a rough idea of ​​what was happening, but for most it was the first time they had heard of it.

People outside Pyongyang were left without a doubt.

In particular, the voice heard on the radio belonged to someone I had never heard before.

Of course, anyone interested in politics has heard the name Lee Seong-jun at least once.

Is this stranger the one who staged the coup?

Pyongyang citizens began to listen more attentively to the voice of the new ruler who had come to rule over them.

The man named ‘Lee Seong-jun’ greeted the public in a surprisingly friendly tone.

“Then, there must be some of you who are wondering this. What on earth is the National Salvation Military Committee that punished the traitors? Our National Salvation Military Committee is a gathering of young officers who are trying to rectify the laws of Korea that the traitors have disrupted, sweep away the evil customs that are eating away at the country, and renew the empire.”

The National Salvation Military Committee is young, new, and will renew the nation.

These were intuitive and easy to understand words.

However, that does not mean that the National Salvation Military Committee that Lee Seong-jun spoke of was felt lightly.

Instead, I felt heavy.

They say they’re setting the law straight.

It is said that the country’s bad customs will be wiped out.

What does that mean?

It’s a purge.

Gulp.

People swallowed their saliva.

Although the tone may be friendly and gentle, the content is brutal.

“From now on, our ‘National Salvation Military Committee’ will gradually clean up the corruption of the empire, or rather, the actions of the traitors, and normalize the country. We will establish order.”

The story that followed was not much different from what those who stage a coup usually say.

This is something that Park Han-jin also said.

However, if there is a difference between them,

“And so I will make this country run. I will make it stand shoulder to shoulder with the Western powers. Trust me. Watch me. The National Salvation Military Committee will not disappoint you.”

Lee Seong-jun made a ‘promise’.

Many military men and politicians have taken power, but in the history of this country, no one has ever made an act of promising anything to the people.

This is Lee Seong-jun’s first time, and I didn’t know there would be another one in the future.

People took notice of that fact.

Lee Seong-jun seems like a fearsome person with power, but he’s different from his predecessor.

Still, they seem to be pretending to be mindful of the public opinion.

People thought so.

After Sung-Jun finished his speech, the announcers preached the legitimacy of the coup forces.

It was just a repetition of what Sungjun had said, but it was not meaningless.

People like familiarity.

Even when saying the same thing, a familiar voice feels more persuasive.

“Hello. This is Baek Seong-won. Listeners, you may not know, but you have no idea how rotten and immoral the Park Han-jin regime is. According to the information sent here by the National Salvation Military Committee, the assets under Park Han-jin and his family’s names amount to 50,000 won (equivalent to 500 billion won).”

“Oh my, those thieves.”

As was the case with the Korean coup, those who took power brandished their swords at those in power and accused them of all sorts of dirty crimes.

Because that would justify swinging the sword.

Even Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan used the pretext of punishing those who had amassed wealth illegally to put a noose around the neck of those with vested interests, thereby extracting money and gaining legitimacy for their regime.

It was a simple but effective method.

Every time the details of the illicit wealthy people and their assets were revealed, the people would tremble with anger.

Life is so hard, and yet you live in luxury, making so much money that you rival the rich?

I absolutely cannot forgive him.

That anger turned into anticipation for the new regime.

“뭘 하든, 저 개새끼들만 처벌해준다면, 혁명인지 뭔지 믿어 보련다.”

The radio broadcast prepared by the coup forces was successful.

After the broadcast, people took to the streets, but there was little sign of antipathy toward the coup.

There were no rallies, no protests.

Lee Seong-jun’s coup succeeded in gaining the tacit consent of the people.

However, there was still work left to be done.

It was a purge of the military.

*

“Your Excellency the Prime Minister. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Since things have come to this, let’s do it that way.”

No Jae-woo cooperated with the coup forces in a more forward-looking manner than expected.

It appears that guaranteeing the position of Prime Minister was a great help in expressing Noh Jae-woo’s position.

After all, it is the highest position in the civil service hierarchy in this country.

In the Joseon Dynasty, the Prime Minister would not have wanted to just give up his position.

Or maybe Park Han-jin didn’t want to follow.

Either way, Noh Jae-woo’s desire chose to kneel before us.

Thanks to this, I was able to deal comfortably with the emperor in the future.

Even though it was nominally for the purpose of suppressing the traitors, shouldn’t there be some plausible reason for starting a rebellion?

The support shown by the Prime Minister at that time was of great help.

When the Emperor went to the extreme of picking up the phone and asking for the Prime Minister’s opinion, citing an urgent matter, No Jae-woo said this.

“Your Majesty, the matter is already over. Cooperating with General Lee Seong-jun is the only way to end the situation amicably.”

The Emperor had no choice but to endorse the ‘revolution’ as even the Prime Minister took my side.

Now the morning of the (military) revolution has dawned.

The world is at my feet, it’s time to start rooting out the threats.

I didn’t sit around and enjoy the victory like Chun Doo-hwan did.

It was time to start the purge, quickly and swiftly.

“Colonel Kim Seong-ju.”

“Yes, General.”

“I’ll give you a battalion of military police, so go to the Security Command. Go and subdue the Security Command. Put in positions the guys who have expressed their willingness to cooperate, and put all the guys who don’t in the interrogation room.”

“I will accept it.”

The Security Command’s handling of the case was entrusted to Colonel Kim Seong-ju, the personnel chief of the correctional unit.

“Colonel Gil Tae-hwan.”

“Yes, General.”

“I am in charge of the Capital Defense Command. I will give preferential treatment to the collaborators and assign them positions, and take the rest of them off their clothes.”

“I will accept it.”

The 16th Reserve Division Chief of Staff was given the Capital Defense Command, which is the core of the capital defense.

“Colonel Lee Jeong-yoon.”

“Yes, General.”

“You take charge of the Army. The generals have been captured, but the working-level officials are still being held there. You just have to pick out the useful ones.”

“I will accept it.”

The Ministry of the Army was entrusted to Colonel Lee Jeong-yoon, the 17th Reserve Division Operations Staff Officer.

And the most important task was entrusted to Colonel Baek Dong-seok, the chief of staff of the Kyo-do Unit and the number one contributor to the uprising.

“owner.”

“Yes, General.”

“It’s your job to investigate the generals. Make every single one of them a dirty bastard and strip them of their clothes. Don’t leave a single one of them to rebel against us.”

“Of course.”

In addition to the high-ranking generals who have fallen into our hands, we must also return the generals who are on the front lines one by one and behead them.

Even if they dare to think of rebellion, they will be trampled so thoroughly that there will be no one to fight back.

At the very least, I need to step on the military enough so that no one comes running at me with their head up.

Of course, that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Realistically, if you cut all those guys out, there will be too many empty general positions.

The same goes for the positions of commissioned officers.

To avoid a resembling Stalin’s ‘Great Purge’, the number of people stripped had to be limited.

‘Those kinds of people should be sent to low-ranking positions or the front lines.’

All you have to do is secure a firm hold on the metropolitan area and build a fortress.

Park Han-jin also started out that way.

I decided to do one more thing while I was at it.

I also decided to give a mission to Major Park Sang-gun of the Military Police.

“owner.”

“Yes, General.”

“Go to the 3rd Army Headquarters right now and arrest Kang Ki-jung. Does it make sense to entrust the position of commander of the largest field army in the capital to a military man who is so hostile to us?”

“I will accept it.”

He sent his officers out on missions and sat down in the War Office’s place, turning his chair around.

The feeling of sitting at the desk of the giant Park Han-jin was so complex and subtle that it was hard to describe.

Victory was victory, but it came with a heavy sense of responsibility.

There will be a lot of work to do in the future.

It will also be my responsibility to avoid being swept away by the waves of world war.

I squeezed his hand lightly.

The power was now in my hands.