I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 26



Only Noblemtl

EP.26 The Art of War (2)

December 1937.

The National Salvation Military Committee retired five generals from the Park Han-jin faction who had been dispatched to the Chinese front.

With the senior generals who could have been the focal point removed, the generals were left breathless.

As my faction took complete control of the Security Command, the eyes and ears of the security forces within the unit were tightening their grip on them.

However, that does not mean that places without the eyes of the security service are safe.

The National Salvation Military Committee actively recruited young officers with similar ideological leanings through radio broadcasts and newspapers.

The generals were so frightened by the rapid pace at which the National Salvation Military Committee was increasing its control over the military that they even reduced the number of their private meetings.

Are you dissatisfied with this and confront me?

It might have been possible when I first took office, but now it’s not even worth a penny.

Now there was only one thing I could not do in the military.

Throwing in the towel on war.

I could do anything except that.

It was nothing more than selling a few arsenals to Tae-Su Cho, the chairman of Taejeong, as a reward for his contribution to the coup.

“Tae, are you telling me to sell the Incheon and Busan armories to Taejeong? That would be dangerous in terms of maintaining the military’s supply capabilities and other tasks.”

“Hey, hey. This is an order from His Majesty. It’s a special order from the most senior officer in this country, His Majesty the Chief of Staff.”

“Was that an order from His Excellency the President?”

“Okay. If you understand, then deal with it right away.”

The generals who had been patting their bulging bellies in the arsenal tried to somehow resist the bolt from the blue in the middle of the night, but they all fell silent at the single word, “Your Excellency the General.”

The order I led, if you went against it, it wasn’t money but life that was at risk.

Of course, my position was not clearly understood abroad.

To begin with, it was absurd to try to assess the state affairs of a coup leader who had not even been in office for a month.

If even the great powers were like this, China was out of the question.

When Chiang Kai-shek heard of our purge, he gave orders to prepare for an offensive in January.

The problem was the Chinese military’s poor intelligence management capabilities.

We quickly recognized signs of a major Chinese offensive.

“Those guys who were trampled and ran away in Shanghai dare to attack without even knowing the situation.”

The generals were dumbfounded, but secretly welcomed the Chinese offensive.

But my thoughts were a little different.

‘The fact that Chiang Kai-shek is launching an offensive here is proof that he is taking our regime lightly.’

This conjecture suggested only one thing.

The fact is that as long as Chiang Kai-shek exists, the dream of the North China Railway Company cannot be realized.

Suddenly, I began to understand the evil deeds of the original ‘Japanese Empire’.

At that time, when negotiations broke down, the General Headquarters decided not to negotiate with Mr. Jang, and instead established a puppet government and negotiated with its leader, Wang Jingwei.

The lesson to be learned here is that dealing with Chiang Kai-shek was difficult enough that he would do such a foolish thing.

I, too, felt those signs.

It hasn’t even been a few months since we blew up 73 divisions, so how can we possibly talk to someone who says he’s going to launch an offensive because the enemy’s politics are in disarray?

‘No way.’

As expected, the prospect of ending the Sino-Korean war through Plan A, a diplomatic solution, seemed slim.

Well, that doesn’t mean we’re going to throw diplomatic negotiations away altogether.

All I can say is that I feel like I have a plan B in mind to get rid of Mr. Bald Jang.

If you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between a plan to assassinate a head of state and a coup d’état.

In the first place, Hitler himself was subject to 43 assassination attempts.

Some of them were directly linked to the coup plot.

‘If we get caught, it’ll be a total mess.’

To be honest, it is a conspiracy that will be criticized nationally.

But what can we do?

If the Sino-Korean war continues to drag on, Korea may go bankrupt.

Well, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, and it didn’t seem like a problem I could solve by thinking about it alone.

In the first world, I was just an ordinary writer.

I called in the security commander, Kim Seong-ju, and had a brief discussion about the plan to eliminate Chiang Kai-shek.

“Your Majesty. If by any chance this matter is discovered, not only will the prestige of the Republic of Korea be damaged, but your Majesty’s status as well.”

Yeah, I guess so.

It’s not like even communists wouldn’t do something like that.

Because Stalin sent assassins to Yugoslav dictator Tito.

“Hmm.”

“I would recommend leaving that option as a last resort.”

I see.

Is negotiating with Mr. Jang the best option?

Well, not ignoring the advice of your subordinates is the way to enjoy power for a long time.

I decided to take Kim Seong-ju’s advice.

“Then, if it’s a negotiation, will Chiang Kai-shek, who plans to go on the offensive, simply hand over North China to us if he loses the battle?”

“It will be difficult. So, you should take control of Nanjing and strike a decisive blow.”

Ah. This guy is also a writer.

That is why there is no answer for militaristic Korea.

Only Lee Seong-jun, a ‘normal person’ from the world outside of the webtoon, could judge the situation with the right perspective.

After sending Kim Seong-ju back, I was lost in thought.

Stick to plan A, even if it’s hopeless. Implement plan B.

As I was going back and forth between the two thoughts, a lightning-like idea crossed my mind.

“Am I stuck in the mindset of the Korean Empire? Why did I think so extreme?”

Kill ignorantly. Force to submission.

How barbaric is this?

In the 21st century, people don’t fight in such an ignorant way.

It is economically feasible and elegant.

Even doing so could have a similar effect to using missiles or shells.

‘We’ll have to strangle China.’

I had the car prepared immediately.

*

British Ambassador to South Korea Sir Robert Craig was puzzled when the South Korean Foreign Minister told him he wanted to talk to him about the China issue.

Immediately after the Lee Seong-jun administration came to power, it made a proposal to mediate between South Korea and China, but the proposal was simply rejected.

‘Anyway, this is an important cabinet matter that cannot be discussed without General Lee Seong-jun’s permission. What are you trying to say?’

In any case, the opponent is a high-ranking official at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The ambassador first greeted the minister.

The two men exchanged polite words as diplomats and took a quick look around.

During this process, the Korean Foreign Minister unexpectedly brought up the topic of Europe.

‘Korea intends to remain neutral on the German issue? What does that mean?’

Under the previous Park Han-jin administration, South Korea advanced to a quasi-alliance relationship with Germany, even signing an anti-communist pact.

Diplomatically, Germany was the only power to support Pyongyang.

Are you going to stand by and watch over European affairs without helping these friends?

Crazy soon figured out what the Koreans were thinking.

‘We will remain neutral in Europe, so raise your hand on the China issue, that’s it.’

However, Korea has already irritated Britain.

It turned Shanghai, where international capital had been invested, into a battlefield and threw the Yangtze River region, where British interests were concentrated, into chaos.

Despite this situation, the reason Britain maintained neutrality was not because it liked Korea, but because it was too busy worrying about Hitler and Stalin.

‘I guess this is why the Korean ambassador keeps going around and around.’

Crazy Sir felt much more at ease as he read his opponent’s cards.

‘But I have a question. Is this the style of Korea going to war while seeking support from the international community?’

That wasn’t it.

Even the Park Han-jin regime ignored the concerns and dissuasion of the great powers and destroyed Shanghai.

In that case, it would be more correct to interpret this as a change brought about by the new power player, Lee Seong-jun, rather than the Korean military demonstrating flexibility.

After a lengthy, roundabout conversation with the Foreign Secretary, Crazy Sir gained some confidence.

“First, I will receive instructions from the home country.”

“thank you.”

Crazy left room for the South Korean foreign minister.

A day later, instructions arrived from London regarding Crazy’s report.

“Given the urgency of the situation in Europe, we have come to the conclusion that it is best to reduce friction with the South Korean government as much as possible. We do not need to meet all of South Korea’s demands, but we do not need to sell weapons to irritate Pyongyang. We will convey our intention to maintain strict wartime neutrality.”

The British people’s interest, then and now, has been Europe.

With Hitler pressuring Schuschnigg of Austria and escalating the war crisis, the China issue inevitably had to be relegated to a lower priority.

In this case, it was in the British Empire’s national interest to show favor to Korea and bring Germany’s potential ally to a neutral position.

“In the end, it was Hitler who saved Korea.”

Crazy went to the Korean Foreign Minister and promised that Britain would maintain neutrality during the Sino-Korean war.

Instead, he urged strict neutrality on European issues.

“Don’t worry.”

In fact, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the same empty promise to France.

“Oh, you guys, aren’t you in a hurry for Hitler?”

And then he turned around and said to Berlin:

“I thought Pyongyang and Berlin were friends, but the Führer is giving weapons and military advisers to our enemy, China. Who is Berlin’s friend? Korea or China?”

It was a truly embarrassing question for Germany.

The German government was struggling with this issue and took it to Hitler.

Then Hitler gave a very clear answer.

“Aren’t Koreans a much stronger and more powerful people than the Chinese? What we need is a friend who can check Britain and America in the Pacific.”

With one word from the Führer, relations between Germany and China were severed.

The military advisory group stationed in China was also ordered to withdraw.

As he left China, Military Advisor Falkenhausen encouraged Chiang Kai-shek by telling him that the “400 million Chinese people” would surely win.

However, his prediction was wrong.

The war that Lee Seong-jun fought was different from the ignorant war that the Prussians knew.

A silent noose has fallen upon China.