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It’s good to weaken China’s influence from now on, and it’s nice to see Japan and China fighting like crazy over cassava bread.

But at this rate, while it might be possible to stab Japan in the back later, we won’t have anything to say about it.

The future I saw suggests that the U.S. will eventually beat Japan and bring it back as an ally, like in the original history, to contain Russia. Therefore, while Japan is getting shaken down, I was thinking of dropping in on Kyushu to at least split Japan in half.

That way, we can also contain the U.S., and with a divided Japan, they will bolster their army instead of their navy, which means they won’t be able to do anything to Russia.

Does this mean we should be looking at Japan’s surrender?

Or should we focus more on an independent Korea?

Yeah. That’s not something to think about right now.

We need to observe the situation a bit more.

“Mutaguchi Renya has done something significant. So, what about China now?”

I asked Savinkov, who delivered the news that our China was in a terrible situation and that our teacher, Mozhenggu, had become a hero in Japan.

Even as I asked, I couldn’t believe it and rubbed my eyes, looking over the newspaper again.

No matter how I looked at it, this didn’t make sense.

After all, the one claiming to be 27 Chinas, Mao Zedong, didn’t plan to subtly increase communist forces amid the Sino-Japanese War but instead led an army directly and got wiped out.

I really wonder how much this one battle will shake China.

Will our Hirohito panic when he declares himself a king? Or will there still be enough strength left to fight?

“The Japanese Emperor Hirohito is said to have received the surrender of the Emperor of the Chinese Empire, Puyi. It seems he is compelling the various regions in China to surrender.”

Wow, that’s impressive.

In the history that I’ve altered, that guy is directly receiving Puyi’s surrender.

Is this the snowball of history that I’ve set in motion?

Well, he’ll be marked as a war criminal here, so it’s probably better for him to enjoy this while he can.

Now, what’s next? Just because Puyi surrendered doesn’t mean all of China will fall.

“It seems that one surrender of the emperor isn’t everything. China is vast, and its population is huge. Furthermore, the emperor is nothing but a puppet who has lost the support of the people, right?”

Puyi isn’t at fault, but the Qing dynasty’s Aisin Gioro has long lost the Mandate of Heaven.

The Empress Dowager died without cleaning up her mess, and there hasn’t been a sage ruler to bring stability; China has already been falling apart mercilessly.

“Yes. It seems that Chiang Kai-shek, who is in charge of supplies in Nanjing, has gathered the defeated soldiers to proclaim the Republic of China and is arranging a new defense line.”

I see. Establishing the Republic of China to claim that the surrender of the emperor doesn’t mean defeat.

In the original history, Japan had a reasonably long front against China. I understood they used Wang Jingwei to establish a puppet government and negotiated with that government.

In this history, it seems Puyi took on that role.

But then, wouldn’t Chiang Kai-shek regain control again?

Just like in the original history.

Wait, the newspaper has no information about Mao Zedong, only mentioning the surrender of the Qing emperor?

“What about Mao Zedong and the other warlords?”

“Some warlords have fled, and Mao Zedong’s whereabouts are unknown.”

I hope Mao Zedong is personally alive.

Before, I wished he would die. Now I wish he’d stay alive.

He’s the one claiming 27 Chinas, and it might be nice to have him around.

The map will get messy later, but at least tearing it apart means China won’t reach its full potential.

In modern Korea, there were so many who loved China.

The common mindset was to hope China would become numerous because they liked it so much.

Some online agitators would say the only good thing the Japanese Empire did was the Nanjing Massacre. I don’t know why they tried to hide that.

Well, eventually China and Russia started a nuclear war, so the Koreans’ aversion has been proven by the reasons.

It’s not that I hate China, but I can’t disregard its potential, so I can’t just leave it be.

If the Qing had modernized and easily repelled the incursions of the great powers, a terrible world would have dawned.

Just look at the future. Having gained some strength, they engaged in outdated imperialistic behaviors and ended up sparking a nuclear war.

“How long do you think China can hold out against Japan?”

They’ve already suffered terribly in the early stages. Mao Zedong’s massive army has gotten obliterated.

Losing such a large force in the first battle means there will inevitably be difficulties in future confrontations.

“Chiang Kai-shek had long distrusted Mao Zedong and was secretly preparing, so seeing him gather his faction’s soldiers indicates he will somehow hold out, right?”

“There is indeed a significant gap in military capabilities.”

There’s a long-standing experience to count on.

Unfortunately, China doesn’t have a chance to win in a frontal battle against Japan.

‘They hold out with their large population.’

That might happen in this history too.

“Yep. Your Majesty. In the last Chinese Civil War, the Bolsheviks imported the Russian’s overwhelming numbers and charged against the Chinese army. They will probably try to overwhelm the Japanese army with numbers in a similar manner.”

Chiang Kai-shek is a seasoned character. Just by not collaborating with Mao Zedong, doesn’t that seem suspicious?

Chiang will probably try to hold out somehow here.

With an overflowing population, from the fields not yielding to the Soviets.

He’ll likely try to endure just like in the original history.

No, he must endure. He must prevent the entire region of China from falling into Japan.

Let’s support them with weapons through Xinjiang.

So, China should be alright for now.

“What about the American Civil War? I doubt MacArthur is the type to be easily pushed around.”

He should hold out until reinforcements arrive.

“Yes. General MacArthur has managed to counter the offensive from KFC. Thankfully, Huey Long did not join the attack.”

If Huey Long had attacked as well, it would have been quite tough for MacArthur. But it didn’t happen.

Huey Long would probably avoid that to not be labeled a Red too.

“That makes sense. If they teamed up against MacArthur, he’d truly be treated as a Red.”

But he wouldn’t target KFC.

Right now, Huey Long’s government is in the most precarious position.

Rather than attacking both sides, they’ll probably try to inflict harm on both.

If the Spanish Army flies to America to aid MacArthur and Patton’s armored division sweeps out KFC, the situation will reverse.

KFC doesn’t even have proper tanks yet. Even if they do, they won’t surpass the tanks we manufacture.

Just think about how much we’ve upgraded our tanks; America probably lacks that kind of capacity right now.

With the White Air Corps also sent out, they’ll be quite a help in the American Civil War.

Then I looked back at the newspaper and wrinkled my brow.

Even on second thought, Mutaguchi Renya is truly unexpected.

How could he think to sweep away so many troops? I should have been watching the variables more closely.

I need to shift my gaze outward more.

“From now on, we must turn our eyes outward. We need to be even more sensitive and thorough in monitoring the situation in the neighboring countries. As Japan just achieved a major victory over China, and the United States is in a Civil War right now.”

If Japan had flopped, I would have thought differently.

But Japan’s early victory wasn’t a mere victory; it left a significant impact that paralyzed China.

Then we also can’t let our guard down against the American Civil War and France.

While developing our weapons internally, we have to keep an eye on the American Civil War and France as well.

Who knows? Perhaps KFC might receive the blessing of Lenin and crazily beat down MacArthur and Huey Long, unifying North America.

If that happens, we’ll need to work our schemes in the western part of America.

Now that I face a future that I can’t predict, I need to regularly receive information using the Okhrana as if I’ve activated a map hack.

“Of course, I will do just that, Your Majesty.”

“Also, keep a close eye on France. If any signs of a communist movement appear, we must warn Britain.”

Especially France. It has been surprisingly quiet so far.

After the Ruhr occupation, they’ve faced one bad thing after another, so they’re likely preoccupied with internal concerns, only looking at how formidable Russian weaponry is!

Why is France being so quiet?

Churchill’s Britain will fight against Germany anyway. Just like always, they’ll likely come over to defend.

But what if France turns communist like our teacher Mozhenggu became a great leader?

Britain would be isolated and doomed to die.

One of the key surrounders to contain Communist Germany. If it collapses, we’ll be in trouble.

“Your Majesty. Regarding the status of the war in China, alongside the news that Ethiopia is also struggling now,”

“Well, so it seems things aren’t going well.”

This too could be considered bad news.

This means Italy can quickly enter the Austrian front.

But didn’t they hold on a bit better than the original history? They had that much support, right? No, in this version, Italy might have taken different measures.

“I believe just recently, the Ethiopian tribes that were fighting hard were persuaded under the condition of maintaining their privileges.”

Oh, then it can’t be helped.

Nothing is scarier than enemies within.

Even if our Russia helped, Italy would be closer.

There will be those willing to side with Italy as long as they can maintain those privileges.

Well, if we were there, that might be different. We tried to hold on as best as we could, but in the end, the genuine punch from Italy will not lose.

We’re already well past 1937 now. Although they seem to have resisted longer than in the original history.

Isn’t Goebbels’s Germany trying to maintain bourgeois privileges under the guise of communist liberation?

“Not to mention that, perhaps due to the easing of tensions, Benito Mussolini has demanded the submission of Albania.”

“Italy against Albania?”

It’s now 1937; isn’t that a bit early?

No, that’s not right. This must be something that happened along with the changes in history.

“Yes. Albania is also a monarchy, so generally, aiding them would be the right thing to do, but militarily supporting them is difficult for us.”

That would be the case. There’s the navy issue.

Unless we’re planning to mess with the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean, we’d have to help overland, but isn’t everyone currently in the mood to avoid war?

“Albania won’t win against Italy.”

My gaze suddenly fell on the large world map hanging on the wall.

Heading north from Ethiopia in Africa, one can see the Italian peninsula. And if I turn my eyes slightly, I can see Albania across the Adriatic Sea.

Albania has long been heavily influenced by Italy.

Right now, isn’t Mussolini just a visibly red Italy?

In the original history, Mussolini indeed issued an ultimatum to swallow Albania. King Zog I tried to resist, but even the army was influenced by Italy, making it hard.

Just like in history, Italy will consume Albania, and King Zog will be forced into exile.

If I knew this would happen, maybe I should have concerned myself with Albania better. After absorbing Albania, where else would Italy set its sights?

A fleeting thought crossed my mind, akin to getting unexpectedly backstabbed.

“Spazio Vitale.”

I inadvertently mumbled Mussolini’s dreams.

The rebuilding of Rome, Italy’s right to exist, irredentism.

His dream of returning to Rome was likely further fueled by my recovery of Constantinople, each of the Eastern Roman Emperor’s coronations, and the Russian Republic being referred to as Rome’s Third Empire.

It’s speculative, but maybe he thinks about consuming Albania because he wants to reconstruct Rome.

Spazio Vitale pertains to the recreation of Rome, but Turkey isn’t included.

However, Greece is included.

In actual history, he indeed launched an invasion of Greece and seized it with the help of Germany. The territory was divided among the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria, forming puppet states.

Wouldn’t it be any different here?

Could it be that this guy is inspired by my vision of Rome?

“Yes?”

“What Mussolini of Italy desires is the reconstruction of Rome. Having taken Albania now, what’s next?”

I pointed below Albania.

The generals of the military also gazed where I was looking on the map.

“That’s the Greek army from the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire.”

Drozdovsky murmured.

Greece had initially been set to be handed over to Turkey as a reward for their assistance in the air defense agreement.

This means that Turkey appears to be occupying the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire.

As for me, I’m thinking of establishing a new European Union, the Rome Treaty Organization, with the states set up in the Roman territories after the war. I’m fine with Turkey taking the Megali Idea.

After all, I’ve already consumed Constantinople and its vicinity.

If Turkey wants to take revenge on Greece, I wouldn’t mind accepting Greek refugees while handing them over.

“Hmm, would it have been better to align Greece as an ally rather than Turkey?”

No, that’s not it.

Greece was a territory established on the land of the Eastern Roman Empire that Russia intended to recognize as the true Rome, preventing Turkey from ever approaching Constantinople and Pontus.

Thus, Greece must be given away.

How could I, as a saint and the Emperor of the Eastern Rome, casually speak of such things?

Hmm. Still,

If Turkey were to rampage, who knows what could happen.

 

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