Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 334
Only Noblemtl
#334. To end it all (2)
Ito appeared to be keeping his composure, but he was not.
He too was confused by his feelings of helplessness, his anger at not being able to do anything because of it, and his denial of the reality of his defeat by Russia and Joseon, but he managed to grab hold of a shred of reason and turned to the royal meeting.
“Now all that remains is to find a way to end the war in our favor. Our fleet is still intact, and Lushun and parts of Joseon are under our army. Before we lose these, we must come to the table.”
He said with trembling hands. Japan has already reached its limit.
It was thought that 600 to 800 million yen, which was about 3 to 4 times the 200 million yen that was spent on the war between Japan and the Sino-Japanese War, would be enough to subdue Roske and Joseon, but it had already exceeded 2 billion yen.
Even at this moment, the cost of war was still rising, and a fearful warning that if it was not completed by 1904… it could exceed 2.5 billion yen shook Japan’s business and political circles.
Even though half of the war expenses were already covered by foreign loans, and even then, they were waging war while squeezing the civilian population by imposing all kinds of taxes.
“Instead of Gomura in Portsmouth, I will go to the negotiations. Gomura… will have a hard time overcoming this difficulty alone. Now is the time to release our power, which has been depleted, through diplomacy.”
“······.”
Everyone in the room fell silent.
All of the items regarding the reinforcement conditions that Gomura posted in early July of this year have become scraps of paper.
Even Prime Minister Katsura knew all too well that it wouldn’t work.
Although the American president, who was friendly to them, was offering mediation proposals to Russia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, even that gradually became insufficient.
Thanks to the successive victories, the image of the belligerent Russian Empire was such that both France and Germany flatly rejected the American proposals.
Of course, the military continued to insist on war as an exception, but they no longer had the capacity.
Both Britain, the owner of the water, and the United States, which had been helping them, had been pressuring them to quickly end the war since the moment the Baltic Fleet entered Vladivostok alive and after the crushing defeat in Korea and Manchuria.
“···I accept your offer.”
The Emperor, who had been nothing more than a puppet until then, the Supreme Being who was to reign over the Empire of Japan for eternity, has finally spoken after a long time.
Amidst the howling military personnel and sighing cabinet officials, Ito began to assemble a delegation, carrying out the Emperor’s orders.
If there is a day when the sun sets, there will also be a day when it rises again, so we had to somehow find a way to survive in negotiations for that day.
So Ito, determined to take all the blame on himself, set out to pave the way for the Japanese Empire from which there may be no return.
***
“Your Majesty, the Second Pacific Fleet has entered Vladivostok!”
“in the end!”
“We won! We trampled those Japonsky monkeys!”
In the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, cheers erupted as ministers and Russian military generals raised their arms in a show of disrespect and chanted “Long Live the Tsar.”
The Tsar was the undisputed victor of the war.
Compared to the Boer War, which the British fought for over two years and shed blood, the Russian Empire achieved a decisive victory in a war that lasted only 11 months.
The Korean Empire, which had been prepared by the Tsar’s foresight and was the fence in the Far East, brought unexpected news of victory and defeated the Japanese army. Once again, the Gripenberg and Rozhdestvensk, aka the Tsar’s hammers, which had been dispatched by his decision, silently performed their roles, achieving victory on both land and sea.
As Nicholas became a proud victorious monarch, congratulatory telegrams began to arrive from all over Europe.
The Tsar, whose shoulders seemed to rise to the sky, opened his mouth to discuss future events.
“Can’t we finish off the Japonskis now? With our fleet and ground forces….”
“I, that is… Your Majesty, it is impossible to deploy troops any longer.”
The military officers, including the Minister of the Navy, shrugged their shoulders as if it were impossible.
“Why?”
“We have already expended too much war money. Even the French Republic is saying that it is difficult to provide any more war funds. And also···”
“furthermore?”
“Britain is reconciling with France over the German problem, and wants to connect with us. Rather than worrying about the Far East, it seems that we should solve the real problem, the German problem in Europe.”
In simple terms, it could be said that France’s demand was that, now that the small war in the Far East was over, it be time to prepare to confront the German Empire, which was emerging as a real threat.
The very nature of the Russo-French alliance, and the fact that they now posed a great danger not only to the French Republic, which had been their mortal enemy, but also to the British Empire, were regular topics of discussion in the Foreign Office in St. Petersburg.
“I could have completely destroyed the Japonskis this time…”
“England will not remain idle. The British Foreign Secretary Lansdowne and the French Foreign Minister Delcassé have already reached an agreement. In return for recognizing the supremacy of our Russian Empire in the Far East, England demands that the war against Japan be ended.”
“···I guess they will protect those who will act as their military police in the East.”
The Tsar frowned.
The British have always been saying that the bear of the East should be locked up in a cage, and for centuries they have been showing off their skills as if they were putting a rotten egg in a well-boiled borscht.
“In addition, there are also suspicious movements observed in each Governor-General’s Office. If we continue the war any further, we will have to fight against internal enemies in addition to external enemies. It would be best to stop here and enter into peace negotiations on favorable terms.”
“I agree with Lord Vite. If we drag this war on any longer, it will become a protracted war, and with no landing capability on the Japanese mainland, it will continue to be a protracted war of attrition. As long as the Combined Fleet is alive, we have no way to attack the Japanese archipelago.”
The Tsar did some calculations after hearing the words of Witte and the other ministers.
Although he would have liked to have ordered Kuropatkin and Rozhdestvensky to annihilate the remaining Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea and invade the archipelago, he was also well aware of the condition of his own navy.
It was a miracle in itself that they sailed to Vladivostok for half a year without losing a single ship.
In such a situation, further military operations were virtually impossible, and even in Vladivostok, it was said that the 2nd Pacific Fleet would not be able to engage in battle until three months after its maintenance was almost complete, that is, in January 1905.
“Besides, the Korean government has also become so devastated that it can no longer continue the war. The Korean Empire must recover so that our Russian Empire can manage its Far Eastern territories.”
“The economy of the Priamur region is already shaken. If we continue the war, even if we win a decisive victory, the entire Far Eastern economy, including the Siberian region, will collapse. It may take 10 years, or even longer, just to rebuild.”
The Treasury and Foreign Ministries maintained their position of stopping further escalation.
Of course, Count Bezobrazzoff, who could be called the representative of the new line, raised his voice saying that this time the momentum of the Japanese Empire had to be broken, but the Tsar’s mind had already been made up.
If it had been as usual, I would have sided with Bezobrazzoff, but the Tsar had an inkling of it.
The atmosphere at home and abroad is turning strange.
I could tell just that one thing.
Now he realizes why his generals and admirals had asked him to be sent to the front lines quickly.
Their calculation was that ending the war as quickly as possible would quell domestic unrest.
“Very well. I will give you full authority, so discuss the terms of peace with the Empire of Japan at an appropriate time.”
“Understood, Your Majesty. The United States has already presented us with mediation proposals, so we will prepare accordingly.”
“But there is a condition.”
The Tsar spoke with unprecedented firmness.
And the conditions he laid down for his cabinet members were twofold.
“Remember that no matter what happens, you must not give them a single ruble or an inch of land. If they try to take money and territory from our Russian Empire on unreasonable terms, you must resolutely refuse them.”
“Okay. Then, what should the Korean Empire do?”
“···They are brave men who defeated the invaders on their own, so we should treat them accordingly. Send a plenipotentiary envoy to the Korean Empire to attend the peace negotiations.”
They had been largely responsible for the victory in the war, and the Tsar intended to reward them for their service as the bulwark of the empire.
And the reward would be something similar to what the Russian Empire had done in the Balkans.
Thus the Korean Empire would survive and remain a sort of satellite state representing their interests in the Far East for a long time to come.
If the British Empire used Japan as its military police in the Far East, the Russian Empire intended to use the Korean Empire as the police of Manchuria.
In the Tsar’s management of the Far East, the Korean Empire was not a fence, but a partner in managing Manchuria together and an ally against the conspiracies of Japan and Britain that were trying to block their southward expansion.
He believed that his choice would be right this time as well, so he handed over the authority of the minister to Witte and instructed him to engage in active peace negotiations.
Finally, the Tsar secretly rejoiced that the Far Eastern rulership his ancestors had dreamed of would be realized right around the time he ascended the throne.
He would probably become the most famous ruler of the Romanov dynasty, and would go down in history as the protector and father of the Balkans and the Far East.
As the thought crossed his mind, he smiled gently and stood up from his seat.
Today was a day when I missed my youngest son, who was barely two months old, even more than usual.
***
“Arrangements for the end of the war with Japan?”
“Have you heard the news about him, Commissioner?”
Seoul was slowly but surely returning to its vibrant pre-war state.
They were making every effort to repair what the Japanese had destroyed, erase the traces of traitors, and restore the city to its former function as the capital of the Korean Empire.
Of course, psychologically and from a domestic and international perspective, we have now crossed a river from which there is absolutely no return.
Currently, all of the war cabinet, military leaders including the Marshal’s Office, and others, excluding the imperial family, have returned to Hanseongbu.