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* * *

If this is the case, it’s best to slowly take a look at each part and go for some adjustments.

“Well, who would have thought it would come to this? Ideally, merging them would be the right choice.”

Mosley, representing the Commonwealth, seems eager to merge, but that’s not the case.

After all, who could have anticipated it would turn into a lawless zone just because he stepped back a bit?

Still, merging feels problematic too. This will definitely pose issues later on.

“The real problem is whether the Republic of South Africa will take control again afterward. To be honest, the moment we release them, they’ll become like this. Eventually, the Black people, who will outnumber the whites, might commit some crimes against the whites. Racial conflict will weaken the security of South Africa. If the whites were significantly more numerous, they might just endure racial discrimination, but under these conditions, it’s better to keep a distance from each other.”

To be precise, the current situation in South Africa is quite dire.

That’s because allowing Black people to gain independence has drastically decreased their numbers.

Well, it seems they are receiving quite a few immigrants from various places. Yellow people have been coming in to live, but even if they grind their teeth while committing racial discrimination, it might be better than dealing with Black people.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“If we don’t embrace them, the Republic of South Africa will face even bigger problems in the future. From my perspective as Tsar, sending the Treaty Army to maintain order while allowing a free zone could be a way forward.”

Maintaining the free zone.

I would sufficiently recognize the independence of the Black people who betrayed South Africa.

That much is warranted, I suppose.

Let’s slowly set the stage and guide the former colonial empires to play the victim card.

“Maintaining a free zone, huh?”

“At the very least, we have to show willingness to make an effort, right? ‘At the very least,’ that is. I think we should give the impression that the Rome Treaty Organization has done its utmost to maintain the free zone and consider the Black people. This way, later on, we can have a solid justification. Just hang in there until then.”

“Oh, I see.”

Realizing what it meant, Mosley clapped his hands.

“Then please handle that part as you see fit.”

I hope I don’t have to go myself anymore. If I could just drop the human tactical nuclear Trotsky somewhere, I could take a break.

I vaguely recalled Maria hesitating on the train back to Moscow.

“That really unfortunate remark…”

What the heck, what’s up with that?

If there’s news of something exploding again, I’d be truly disappointed.

Yeah, how could it be just external affairs?

There are pressing domestic issues too, like hydrogen bomb development or Vladimir.

“What’s going on? Maria, did the hydrogen bomb development fail? Or did Vladimir get blown up unexpectedly? They’re newlyweds, after all.”

“Well, that’s not it, but…”

Then, what is it?

If Maria, who wields invisible power acting as my spokesperson in the Kremlin, is reacting this way, then something must be up.

I urged her to speak quickly with a hint to just spill it.

“South Africa’s racial discrimination policy, the free zone for Black people, the lawless zone. Surely something bizarre hasn’t happened again? Just tell me.”

I would listen to whatever she had to say with humility.

“General Lee Beom-seok of the Asian Allied Forces launched an offensive in South Vietnam.”

An offensive in South Vietnam?

So, you mean Lee Beom-seok, the supreme commander of the Balhae Army aiding Ho Chi Minh, is heading down to mess up South Vietnam?

I specifically told them to only hold a defense. No, they just escaped the colonies.

There’s no way they’d push too hard. Every single soldier is precious, right?

If it were me, I would be pulling back to tighten up the defense line right now.

“Hah! It hasn’t been long since gaining independence from the colonies, so surely they wouldn’t do that? Not when every soldier matters.”

“…….”

Why is no one saying anything!

I’m scared! Maria, say something!

If this continues, we’ll be left with no choice but to support the Asian Allied Forces further. We’re in a precarious situation.

“Are you serious?”

“Regardless of having been a colony, they still have an army. Plus, I believe General Lee Beom-seok led the armored division of the Balhae Army during the independence war and quickly recaptured Busan. I think it may be worth trusting him.”

He quickly recaptured Busan? Just hearing that sounds impressive.

At least it means he’s stronger than the original historical Lee Beom-seok I know.

However, if that’s really advantageous for us now, I have my doubts.

If we analyze this closely, ignoring the Rome Treaty will probably lead to direct intervention from the United States.

Already at the moment we chose Ngô Đình Diệm.

Of course, it would be unknown if we withdrew now.

“Um, uh.”

Um. What should I even say?

If the US sends troops, don’t we end up getting crushed then?

I still believe the US lacks its territory. They’ll likely struggle mightily to get Vietnam at least.

Of course, they probably won’t push hard now since the US-Japan War has ended.

However, we should prepare for this in advance. We must be ready for the worst-case scenario.

If somehow, Lee Beom-seok’s forces are wiped out in Vietnam? If the Israeli and United Japanese States troops also die?

Should we intervene directly and mediate, but if it’s too difficult, just give up?

Honestly, the best-case scenario would be to divide the land, and the alternative plan would be to assist sincerely then retreat if things don’t go well, so I suppose that’s all we have to worry about.

But why do I feel like I need to talk to Douglas MacArthur again soon?

Even if Ho Chi Minh wins in the Vietnam Civil War, let’s be clear that we have no intention of expanding our influence in Vietnam.

After that, the US can handle it as they please.

It may be a bit infuriating, but what can we do? In the end, the US will likely view Ho Chi Minh as the legitimate government. Besides, we’re busy with post-colonization ourselves, and we can’t fight the US military over Vietnam.

“For now, I do have some good news.”

“What is it?”

“The Il-1000 is complete.”

The Il-1000. It could be called a stingray bomber. Yup, it’s that type of aircraft.

Even though compared to the B-2, it’s just a child’s toy, development had already begun during World War II, so now it should probably be capable of flying with a pilot.

How about we send this over the skies of Vietnam?

At the very least, it should suffice to tease the US in South Vietnam a bit.

* * *

Rome Treaty Organization

Meanwhile, the situation in the Black People’s free zone in South Africa was worsening day by day.

Having withdrawn considerably from colonization in Africa, we’d helped set up infrastructure for them to become self-sufficient, but the independent Black people struggled to adjust to that life, leading many to move to the free zone known as the paradise for Black people.

Under those conditions, there was no way the free zone could function properly.

“This is troublesome. The free zone is in a bad state. Perhaps it would have been better to just leave the infrastructure alone.”

“That isn’t that easy. If we had done that, they would have demanded everything back. If they were unhappy, they could have just moved to another area, right?”

That statement was accurate.

The free zone was originally part of South Africa, and only its infrastructure was taken from that region.

However, the other independent African countries weren’t exactly stripped of their resources. Instead, we supported them in forming their government.

By not doing so and merely creating chaos within the free zone,

“The Tsar suggests we maintain order, but leaving it be is becoming increasingly challenging.”

To be precise, the Rome Treaty Organization has been maintaining order, but they haven’t completely suppressed the Black people in the free zone out of respect.

As it stands, they’ve only dealt with the thieves stealing.

However, at this point, there’s a question that arises.

“Can we truly consider the Black people of South Africa civilized like ourselves?”

“So, are we to send peacekeeping forces again?”

By doing so, we must send peacekeeping forces again.

Such discussions were happening within the Treaty Organization, but.

No matter what, in a situation where we must demilitarize after dealing with Indonesia, it felt rather excessive to take this step now.

“We can’t stay in the free zone forever.”

“The Tsar has also been taciturn regarding the matter of capturing thieves.”

The tacit acceptance of dealing with thieves.

The leaders of the Rome Treaty Organization, still from an imperialistic generation, interpreted this remark differently.

“Label them as thieves and eliminate all the Black people in the free zone.”

Of course, they’re not going to actually wipe out everyone.

They merely intend to show enough force to ensure the original culprits from the free zone, the Black people, won’t dare cause trouble again.

In truth, if they were to dispatch treaty forces like this, those fools would likely surrender while yelling, “Come here!”

In the end, it would be up to the treaty forces to establish order within the divided lawless zone.

If we show leniency here, even more Black people would flow into the free zone seeking a lawless lifestyle. After establishing a solid example, the plan would be to assure them they can live in these newly independent countries.

However, in any case, there would be bloodshed among the Black people in Africa.

This means someone must take responsibility.

“The Tsar is already a symbolic figure in Europe now. It’s not good for such a person to be responsible for killing people. He’s carrying too much. Let’s make this incident look as though the Tsar wasn’t involved.”

Upon Hitler’s words, the representatives of the Treaty Organization nodded.

After suppressing Indonesia, the Tsar’s presence in the Rome Treaty Organization must not disappear.

“So, what do you want to say, Chancellor Adolf?”

“I’ll take the reins.”

Adolf Hitler. He stood up from his seat.

“What do you mean by that?”

“The Tsar is the one guiding me on the direction I should take. I can’t leave everything to him. Therefore, I will label them as Reds.”

Though it’s something he technically doesn’t even need to step in on.

Hitler thinks the presence of the Tsar is crucial for this Rome Treaty to operate stably, and someone must take responsibility for this incident.

After that, the Tsar can embrace Africa as needed.

At the very least, if he steps in, he might get some blame, but it wouldn’t be as severe, right?

“Could it be?”

“The free zone is perfectly suited to being labeled as Reds, isn’t it?”

Wasn’t it just like Makhno’s free territory? A red anarchist zone or whatever.

Anarchism is also red.

At least Hitler defined it that way, and now the Black people had established such a free zone.

He nailed down the absurdity in a pun-like manner.

“The historians of future generations may very well label Adolf Hitler as a Black exterminator. Are you prepared for that?”

“That’ll be after I’m dead. Just a little blemish. But the Tsar is different, right? I assume he’ll live for a long time to come. Being called a killer of the newly free Black people in Africa while already nicknamed the Saint of Death would not bode well. I will personally go to the free zone.”

He was already preparing to hand over the chancellor position to Göring.

If he was going to go anyway, wouldn’t it be good to carry the burden of imperialism to some extent?

“Chancellor, what are you thinking?”

Göring couldn’t grasp Hitler’s thoughts and couldn’t suppress his frustration, but Hitler simply kept his gaze fixed on Göring for a moment before finally speaking.

“I’ve always been curious about what it feels like to be the Tsar who has assassination attempts against him. That much should get them labeled as Reds.”

It shouldn’t be too hard to orchestrate an assassination attempt by infiltrating a hungry, starving Black person or two.

Adolf Hitler set off for South Africa himself, motivated by the perfect justification.

* * *

Vietnam Front

On the Vietnam front, the Balhae Army’s unexpected actions were pulling the Japanese Army into chaos.

Not the crazed Imperial Way faction, but Mutaguchi Renya’s army.

Having been called the strongest elite army in Japan, the Southern Manchurian army was filled with pride and had been basking in the thought that they only needed to defend. Yet,

“Hey, you guys! Why are you so slow? Are you really that elite army that annihilated the Chinese from Central China?”

“Uwaaa! Korean bastards, you madmen! Take it easy!”

“What the hell were you thinking with this crazy charge!”

Forced to join in on the Balhae Army’s charge, the Japanese Army had no choice but to jump in, thinking, “Whatever, it will work out somehow.”

But on the other hand, the sensation of the finest general, Mutaguchi Renya (at least from Japan’s perspective), who had fought alongside in China, started to resurge.

“Ahh, this chilling and heavy feeling! The sensation of annihilating the barbarians with Chancellor while in Central China is coming back!”

“Whatever! Long Live His Imperial Majesty! Long Live the United Japanese States! Charge!”

“Chancellor must want us to liberate South Vietnam from these mad tyrants!”

The red-striped flags, bearing Balhae’s Taegeukgi and the United Japanese States’ plum blossom (the symbol of the Korean Empire) and chrysanthemum (the symbol of the Japanese Imperial family), waved on the battlefield.

The advancement of the Balhae Army and the Japanese Army was joined by the Israeli Army and North Vietnamese forces.

The jungle combat was primarily handled by the Vietnamese and Japanese forces, but the Balhae Army, which had become an elite army by annihilating the Imperial Way faction in the Korean Peninsula, easily pushed back the South Vietnamese troops.

“Please! We need support from the US military!”

“…….”

Ngô Đình Diệm cried out for help to the Americans.

Naturally, MacArthur’s response was quite lacking. Hadn’t he assured that everything would end well?

He had provided all sorts of weapons and support, only for a civil war to break out, and though he thought they’d likely hold an advantage in it, they were being overwhelmed by the Asian Allied Forces aiding North Vietnam.

MacArthur was barely keeping himself from directly crossing over to South Vietnam just to sock Ngô Đình Diệm in the face.

 

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