Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 338



Only Noblemtl

#338. Portsmouth and the End of the War (2)

“You want me to return the occupied areas? The return of Busan, Jinhae, Gunsan, and Jemulpo is set at 1.5 billion yen. That’s ridiculous.”

“Huh, Lushun and Sakhalin are worth 2 billion yen. You must be doing a lot of business with land, delegates. This is a place for peace negotiations, not for land business.”

“And they say they will maintain the occupied territories until the refund is paid… What on earth are you thinking when you come up with such a negotiation proposal?”

What first aroused the envoys’ anger was the first item Japan demanded regarding the occupied territories.

Even if they unconditionally withdrew, it would not be enough, and although it is unknown what kind of courage they had to do so, Minister of Justice Jeong Sa-myeong felt that they were being chased by something.

I was thinking that perhaps they were trying too hard to show externally that they had not surrendered, and to show internally a performance close to victory.

Of course, I had no intention of fully accepting this.

This is what the winner should demand, and it is definitely not the negotiation proposal that Japan, which is closer to being the loser, should put forward.

Of course, it was so oppressive that it was strange that not only the Russian side, but also the Korean Empire did not immediately object.

“We cannot accept such demands. We have no choice but to continue the war.”

Instead of Chief of Staff Lee Beom-jin, Deputy Chief of Staff Army Min Yeong-hwan threw the paper they had handed him onto the table and spoke.

“We have all already suffered great losses in this war. However, do not forget that our situation is slightly better than that of your country, where 600,000 casualties were incurred.”

Min Yeong-hwan glared at Ito coldly.

Japanese casualties reached a maximum of 600,000. This was 30 times higher than the 20,000 casualties that the Japanese had estimated at the beginning of the war.

This wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply by numbers.

It also meant that 15% of Japan’s entire youth population was wiped out at once.

Of course, the number of casualties included not only the dead but also the wounded and prisoners who could recover, but Ito felt a chill down his spine as he remembered something he had once heard.

His words in 1901, when he had been defeated by his own army in Joseon one after another and was now the Napoleon of the East and the God of Thunder, went beyond being feared by the Imperial General Headquarters and became an object of worship, turned out to be true.

Although he once made a bitter joke with a wide smile, saying that if Korea and Japan went to war, Korea would be devastated, but in return, Japan would lose a third of its young population.

And Ito could feel a cold sweat running down his spine at the thought that it was exactly right.

That wasn’t just a joke, it was something he could really do.

Still, he couldn’t back down from here.

If we just backed down here, the meaning of sacrificing 600,000 people would disappear.

He came to his senses and opened his mouth.

“Our Japanese Empire still controls Port Arthur, the Sakhalin Islands, and the southern port areas of the ‘Korean Peninsula.’”

“···So?”

Russian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Witte laughed in vain at Ito’s words and read the Japanese demands once more to make sure his eyes were not deceived.

Even when I looked at it again, there were things I could never accept.

“If we remember that the Russian Empire and the Korean Empire failed to occupy the territory of our Japanese Empire, aren’t these conditions not bad negotiation conditions?”

“Oh, really? Then let’s dispatch the fleet in Vladivostok right away. Let’s see if we can hear this sound even if the sea off Tokyo is bombed.”

Vite taunted them by twisting two fingers of his right hand, then threatened to mobilize the fleet in Vladivostok.

Last time, I didn’t have much time, so I only stopped by the Tsugaru Strait for a moment, but that alone sent tremors through the entire Japanese archipelago.

In that situation, if the Second Pacific Fleet had even made a gesture of heading towards the Tokyo Bay area… it was clear that the Japanese Empire would have quite a headache.

And that was not all. The sword of war was not only in Russia’s hands.

“Count Ito, you seem to have little understanding of the situation. It’s not that our Korean Empire’s army and navy failed to reclaim the southern port areas. They simply did not do so.”

Min Yeong-hwan continued speaking, deliberately emphasizing the difference between ‘not’ and ‘not’, then raised his voice and banged his fist on the table.

widely!

“You were the one who requested a temporary ceasefire for the sake of negotiations. But if you insist on that now, we will have no choice but to resume the recovery operation throughout the entire peninsula. I will immediately contact the chief of police and the chief of police and order a ‘special military operation’ to drive in 300,000 troops and recapture the unrecovered areas.”

“······.”

“I, the atmosphere is overheated, so I need to regain my senses and compare the conditions one by one···.”

“Reason? Did the vice-minister just mention reason?”

Gomura Jutaro tried to calm things down for a moment while watching the heated atmosphere between the two sides, but soon Lee Sang-seol, who was sitting at the bottom of the delegation, raised his voice and started swearing.

“You started this war first, and your decisions were completely without any reason! And now you ask us to come to our senses?”

“councilor.”

“You have lost the war! How dare you say such things in front of our dead people, in front of children who have lost their parents!”

“Sir, stop it.”

Although Lee Beom-jin was the one who calmed the idealism, he said everything he wanted to say.

However, in diplomacy, courtesy is also a part of strategy, so he looked at Ito, coughed in vain, and continued speaking.

“···We apologize for our slip of the tongue. However, we cannot accept your negotiation conditions at all. These are the conditions of the winner, not the negotiations that continue on an ‘equal’ footing.”

“but···.”

“We cannot negotiate without your revised terms. This has already been agreed upon with the Russian delegation.”

I thought that they had already set it up. Ito tried to keep his composure, but he could not deny that it was humiliating.

Those guard dogs that were attached to Roske are barking loudly because they think they’ve just won.

When President Roosevelt, through the Russian Minister to the United States, Cassini, proposed a mediation proposal for peace negotiations, saying that all three countries needed to be prepared to cede territory or pay a small amount of compensation, this was the immediate response.

-I can’t give you even a single penny in compensation, not even an inch of land.

In the end, they were not going to accept the 10 reinforcement conditions they had brought.

That’s why Ito came to this position.

The negotiation plan prepared by Gomura was not suitable for the time or the current situation.

In the end, Ito, as the plenipotentiary, had to use the discretionary power given to him to somehow continue this unfavorable meeting.

He continued speaking, smiling broadly at the agitated Russian and Korean delegations.

“Let’s take a short break. Let’s cool our heads.”

Ito knew full well that the problem would not be solved at all in this state.

So he decided to do what he did best: defeat the leftist faction one by one, just like he had done when he overthrew the shogunate.

“The vice minister will meet separately with the Korean Empire and find out their true intentions.”

“What about the Roske?”

“I’ll deal with them. I need to know their intentions to be able to guess their fate.”

However, if they tried to persuade Russia, their superior and master, instead of the Joseon bastards who were burning with hatred, they might be able to come up with some kind of compromise.

After the adjournment was declared and the delegation was leaving, Ito requested a secret meeting with Witte, the Russian plenipotentiary.

He nodded, looking dubious, and entered another room in the building.

***

“No, that can’t be.”

Vite waved his hand and clearly rejected Ito’s offer.

Even at this moment, I suggested that we divide Joseon along the 38th parallel, or even centered on the occupied territories, and rule them as such, but he responded with a firm tone.

“Where did that calculation come from, Count, that we should divide Korea instead of paying compensation? Even though we still use the arsenal instead of the metric system, we don’t do calculations that way.”

“After all, the war was caused by Korea and Manchuria, Your Excellency. That is why we, Japan, are willing to make concessions. If you guarantee our position in southern Korea in exchange for the withdrawal of our troops from Lushun, Manchuria, we will also tolerate your rule of Manchuria.”

Ito said, swallowing hard.

The idea was to somehow hold on to southern Joseon under the pretext of abolishing the indemnity and returning Lushun.

This was because, prior to the conference, Japanese Minister to the United States Kaneko had warned U.S. President Roosevelt during a meeting that the Russian Empire would not be able to wage a long war, and that even if it temporarily maintained its sphere of influence in the Far East, it would eventually reach its limits for expansion and collapse within a dozen years.

The British Embassy in Sunday said the same thing.

They will not acknowledge Japan’s defeat and will continue to maintain the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

Japan had already greatly exhausted Russia’s power, and by that alone had destroyed their ability to advance into Manchuria.

Based on that belief, Ito was giving Russia a rather tasty piece of fruit that they would have to harvest someday. However, Vite was more resolute than expected.

“We did not make any territorial issues or any question of compensation a condition of negotiation.”

“But isn’t the Korean Empire two countries that can be divided and ruled?”

“Divide? Rule? These are words that don’t suit them at all.”

Vite looked straight at Ito with a smirk.

His blue eyes seemed to pierce his heart with a coldness even colder than a Siberian winter.

It was as if he was mocking her by saying, “Haven’t you come to your senses after being treated like that by those Joseon guys?”

“Our Tsar has ordered that the Korean Empire be guaranteed absolute security no matter what happens. As the plenipotentiary, I cannot disobey that order.”

“It’s just a small kingdom in the Far East. Even if the two countries divide it and rule it, there will be problems…”

“Very much, Count. Very much.”

Interrupting Ito’s words, Vite waved his hand as if it was not worth a thing.

“The principle of the sacred value of a nation’s independence cannot be violated. The era of expanding colonies is already over, Count.”

‘···Since when did the Russian Empire start talking about the principle that independence is sacred?’

Ito was full of the urge to sneer, but he had to hold back.

In any case, it seemed that the Russian delegation had already decided the direction of the negotiations.

The point was that neither money nor territory could be given, and no attempt to divide the Korean Empire would be accepted.

“···I am well aware that your country’s internal situation is in turmoil. If the war continues any longer, it will be difficult for you to return home, right?”

“No matter how chaotic our empire is internally, the Far East’s forces alone can handle the small army and fleet that are not enough to protect the entire archipelago after the destruction of the field army. So please wait for the next meeting to bring us a new proposal, Count.”

When persuasion became more difficult than expected, he pulled out his last remaining card and tried to pressure Vite.

But he just smiled and stood up.

‘No matter what happens, they need to keep the Korean Peninsula, especially part of the Samnam region, under their sphere of influence so that they can secure a foothold later.’

Ito’s head became so complicated.

If they had not accepted the money, the cession of territory, or the discussion of dividing and ruling Joseon, then all that was left was to fight as the Navy wished.

The army guys… on the surface, they joined forces in arrogantly demanding that the Roske’s continue the war even if it meant enduring a war of attrition, but right before the delegation departed, Yamamoto, who could be called the leader of the Japanese army, met separately with Ito and fully expressed his opinions.

And he said this.

‘Please resolve the issue of the damaged army’s power as much as possible through diplomacy.’

Ito could immediately tell what this meant.

Even they couldn’t turn the current situation around, so it was more like they were telling them to somehow reinforce the navy no matter what they said.

“This is the beginning of a war without gunfire.”

Perhaps Ito could not help but feel anxious that this time, the situation might be even worse than that of the Treaty of Korea in 1901.

Still, he had to make a way for ‘something’.

It was impossible to know what kind of future that path would hold for the Japanese Empire, but it was necessary to have faith that it would be at least much better than the dead end it was now.

No, it had to be that way.