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Haile Selassie’s efforts were adequately rewarded at the onset of the war.

The Italian Red Army, having launched a full-scale invasion into Ethiopia, was brimming with confidence, and Rodolfo Graziani’s forces stationed in Somalia swiftly captured northern Ethiopia.

“Let’s drive out those Italian invaders!”

“Let’s recreate the Battle of Adwa from 40 years ago for them!”

It wasn’t long before they engaged in battle with the Ethiopian army in the highlands, suffering losses against the Ethiopian mountain divisions and retreating.

Mussolini’s advance was halted by the Ethiopian mountain divisions.

But it wasn’t just the mountain divisions causing problems.

The Italian forces had to endure attacks from guerrillas of the Ethiopian royalist tribes, and whenever they managed to push through, they encountered a large army armed with Russian weapons stationed in Ethiopia, making it risky to launch an assault.

“Damn it! How can those guys stand against us?”

“I hear the Emperor is personally encouraging the soldiers. They’re even not falling short on weapons.”

Unlike the face of the Ethiopian invasion, Commander Emilio De Bono, who was essentially a figurehead, the de facto commander, Pietro Badoglio, was attacking the Ethiopian forces while thoroughly analyzing them.

“Is that really important right now? Those African savages dare to resist our Red Roman army!”

In the original history, Rodolfo Graziani had charged forward against the Ethiopian army with an elite force and maneuverability, but he found himself facing unexpected and powerful resistance from the Ethiopians.

This was a challenge that dared to confront the Italian forces.

How could they confidently report a victory to the Secretary-General under these circumstances?

“Those guys have the numbers; how about we use poison gas?”

“Poison gas? Sounds good.”

In the end, after using poison gas and launching bombing raids, they aimed to annihilate the Ethiopian army, but…

While the bombers were achieving some degree of success, the use of poison gas against the Ethiopian army proved ineffective.

After all, the Ethiopian forces seemed well-prepared, wearing the latest Russian-made gas masks.

The Italian infantry, attempting to subdue the Ethiopian army with poison gas and aerial support, ended up as fodder for the Ethiopian PM M1910 machine guns and the improved DS-39 machine guns from their weapons development project.

“Ugh! Then let’s deploy the tanks!”

Desperately trying to mobilize the armored divisions, they quickly found that Ethiopia wasn’t just defending.

Emperor Haile Selassie himself initiated a forward offensive operation called “Lion,” with the Ethiopian forces leading the charge with T-34 units, launching simultaneous counterattacks from the north and south and reclaiming some territory.

However, despite Ethiopia’s rapid army modernization, they lacked adequate supply capabilities within their own country and couldn’t completely drive out the Italian forces, and the Italian army, which had been caught off guard by Ethiopia’s offensive, managed to regroup and fend off the Ethiopian troops.

Unlike the initial plan that they would easily suppress the campaign, a protracted conflict was now inevitable, and this news reached Mussolini in Rome.

“Comrade Secretary! The Ethiopians have set up defensive lines to block our army both north and south.”

“What?! Are you saying they were preparing in advance?”

“Not only that, but the Ethiopian Emperor is personally leading the troops and repelling our Red Army!”

*Bang!*

Benito Mussolini slammed his fist on the desk in despair over the situation and had veins popping in his eyes.

While the Italian troops hadn’t been completely expelled, there was no greater humiliation against an African army.

Wasn’t this a far greater embarrassment than 40 years ago?

“What? How can we be humiliated by those African savages? You useless fools!”

“It seems the Russians are providing support.”

It felt suspicious again, and yet, it was Russia once more.

Benito Mussolini gnashed his lower lip in anger.

“Again, it’s Russia! That damned witch! I’ll make that woman surrender to me in Moscow one day!”

“Comrade, what shall we do about the invasion of Ethiopia? Or rather, liberation?”

There was no turning back now.

And it was a matter concerning an African nation.

Even if Russia is helping, there must be a limit.

“After all, they are just African savages! We must dethrone the ancient emperor and liberate them as a socialist state under my leadership! Since the navy is blockaded, Russia won’t engage in war unless they wish to fight!”

No matter how much Russia is involved, they wouldn’t send troops for Ethiopia.

That cunning vixen in Russia noticed that Italy was going to invade Ethiopia but was probably just waiting to pounce. They wouldn’t dispatch an army for the sake of an African nation.

In early 1936, a year later than in the original timeline, the Second Italo-Ethiopian War descended into a protracted conflict.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, Germany, there was a festive atmosphere due to the Communist Revolution in Denmark.

Actually, there was nothing significant about the communist revolution.

Denmark had a fairly strong monarchy, and it was insufficient to cultivate communism in Denmark over time.

Instead, the state had dispatched German People’s Army troops secretly during the night, quickly seizing Denmark, allowing a few communist leaders to establish a communist state.

It was suspicious that King Christian had seemingly anticipated this and set up an exile government in the German Empire, but at least this was a victory for the communist bloc.

Thus, Karl Liebknecht gathered the party members to hold a party.

Yeah, this was good up to this point.

“The Secretary has been expelled!”

“Betrayers!”

At the hands of Goebbels, who had support from the former Junker officers of the People’s Army, Karl Liebknecht was ousted from the party, and Joseph Goebbels ascended to the position of the new Secretary.

“Your Majesty! We have finally handed all the power over to you! Please guide this empire along the right path!”

“I will never forget your loyalty.”

Unlike actual history, Hirohito sided with the Imperial Way Faction, leading to the Control Faction being overrun and completely marginalized, ultimately completing the Emperor-centered regime.

They fast-tracked the National Unity and pushed forth a marriage policy between Koreans and Japanese to incorporate Koreans as subjects of the Emperor before officially advancing into China.

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The communization of Denmark was a shock for us in Russia.

Honestly, we didn’t have much interest in it.

Of course, I thought I should at least keep an eye on Denmark, but I didn’t expect it to escalate this far.

Even during World War II, they easily surrendered, but I thought they would resist a bit more against the communists.

But that wasn’t the only issue.

With the communist revolution in Denmark and Goebbels’ coup ousting Karl Liebknecht, things were getting chaotic.

Then, they even included original Junker members as soldiers, so aside from a few who fled to Austria or the German Empire, it might be akin to a lineup similar to Nazi Germany.

With this, I felt it might be time to get a bit tense.

Austria and Nazi Germany had fewer allies, but the UK and France were busy planting red seeds in their colonies. Unlike Nazi Germany, this posed a different type of danger.

Yeah. If I had to put it this way, maybe a slightly weaker Nazi Germany with hypnotic brainwashing powers. Wouldn’t that be the case?

The battle between Hitler of the Austrian Empire and Goebbels of Communist Germany.

I could feel my heart racing. Both of them are quite articulate in their speech. What would happen then?

I want to hear the mobilization speeches of the total mobilization orders from Communist Germany and the Austrian Empire.

Eh, that’s not necessary. My personal greed says otherwise.

“What happened to the King of Denmark?”

I asked the Prime Minister while browsing through dense documents regarding Denmark and Germany.

“He has fled to the German Empire.”

“Wow, he ran away pretty quickly.”

“Christian seemed initially negative towards our proposal, but he seems to be someone who knows he can’t withstand the Danish army.”

That gentleman had tried to maintain at least a minimal face while under the Danish protectorate when Denmark was occupied by Germany in actual history.

Since he was suddenly invaded by communist scoundrels, it seemed only natural for him to seek exile.

“Of course. East Prussia isn’t too far from Denmark, so he can establish an exile government and form an army with those fleeing Denmark.”

It’s hard to predict how many were able to create an exile government from a Danish state, but judging by the situation, Denmark didn’t have that much strength to begin with against communism.

In other words, there were plenty of individuals with strong anti-communism sentiments, and it was a foregone conclusion that they would collaborate with any exile government.

With Goebbels ascending as the new Secretary, there would be chaos among the communists in Denmark, so their situation wouldn’t turn out great either.

“Amidst this, the English, sensing a crisis, have supported Iceland’s independence.”

Those treacherous bastards. They are doing everything but starting a war.

Aren’t these kinds of events happening during World War II?

Actually, the word ‘support’ is practically akin to the British taking control.

They probably want to keep an eye on the communist German navy from leaving for the sea.

In that case, we must also do what we need to do.

“What about the proposals sent to Sweden and Norway?”

“Both Sweden and Norway have approved military passage and the construction of airstrips.”

“Not bad.”

At the point Denmark was occupied, Sweden and Norway approved the passage of Russian troops and the construction of airstrips.

They must have been pretty scared on that side.

Knowing that the UK had previously supported Germany, the Nordic nations would likely trust Russia instead.

It would be nice if the army came over to defend them, and even if the British navy was at a disadvantage, they could at least defend Northern Europe from the Red Fleet of Germany.

Yeah. That should suffice.

With Denmark lost, what else could they do?

Wasn’t Sweden and Norway also monarchies? They must be careful of the threat of communism.

For now, we need to protect the remaining Northern Europe diligently, right?

Moreover, by building an airstrip in Sweden, we could later bomb Communist Germany from Northern Europe, right?

Wouldn’t that be perfect?

With Denmark given away, we could exert influence over the Nordic nations.

The British probably wouldn’t be too pleased about that, but what can be done.

“They wouldn’t want to be attacked either.”

Especially in the case of Sweden, they should put in some extra effort.

They are directly adjacent to Communist Germany, right? They should do their utmost to build up their defenses.

How Communist Germany proceeds in the future will also be important.

Having eaten off Denmark’s revolution, they would likely become restless.

If they became restless, we ought to prod their itch a bit. When would the war actually commence?

What if I sparked a war right now?

At the current strength of Russia, we could contend with Communist Germany.

It would be better to let the British dig their own graves while they are busying themselves.

We have been building our national power over a long time and have grown our military.

If we were to pound Communist Germany, which dared to challenge us with this military? It would be good just to attack and smash them right now.

“Your Majesty. The feared event has become reality. It seems oil is flowing into the Communist Germany side.”

Finally, so they’re getting oil from that side.

This could mean Communist Germany might try to take us on, thinking the British have their back.

With their greatest vulnerability, the oil problem being resolved.

In the worst-case scenario, if Germany isn’t only hunting lowlands, they might stick to neutrality, claiming they wouldn’t oppose us!

It’s common knowledge that the air defense agreement is just mere words.

“The oil issue for Communist Germany is being resolved.”

Even the British wouldn’t support without thought. Considering they are a colonial empire, there is no way they could co-exist with Communist Germany.

They probably hope the two sides fight each other to the death.

Staying on the sidelines for as long as possible until the damages accumulate will be their strategy.

“What if we protested to the British this time?”

“They won’t care about us. That would be the end of it.”

No matter what reason might be offered, they will just brush us off as irrelevant.

Meanwhile, Germany will likely consider what to do with oil development now that they’ve received British support.

Like developing oil fields in Libya.

Hmm, we ought to wrap this up before Germany builds its strength.

“I want to quickly crush Communist Germany.”

I clenched my fists, making cracking sounds.

Ah, I really want to smack Communist Germany. Honestly, even if a nuclear bomb emerges, I’d prefer to smack them before that happens.

Didn’t I just flare up with anger?

If Communist Germany goes insane and strikes us, the British wouldn’t have a word to say.

“Your Majesty. There is one issue.”

“What is it?”

Is there an issue beyond Germany’s oil being resolved?

I currently believe we need to capture Germany as soon as possible.

“Simply put, thinking about the American Civil War, Communist Germany should ideally delay the start of the war as long as possible.”

Ah, right. There was the American Civil War.

Once America is ready, they’ll go straight into a civil war. Hmmm, did we fortify for no reason?

It would be great to either let the American Civil War conclude first or hope for Germany to take action faster before the Americans do.

Either way, the American civil war will become a hindrance.

“Oh, indeed.”

As I answered, I let out a deep sigh.

To handle the American civil war, the European front would ultimately have to be neglected.

Can Poland or Austria withstand until the American civil war ends?

 

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