I Will Stage A Coup D’état

On the night of December 7th, I departed for the safe house prepared by Chairman Cho Tae-soo, riding in Captain Kim Jong-Gil's car.

The Defense Security Command continued to tail us, but we managed to shake them off midway by switching cars with Charmain Cho's subordinates.

At the safe house, I greeted the core members of Ilwonhwa who had also evaded the DSC.

The lineup was as follows,

Colonel Baek Dong-seok, Operations Staff of the Training Division.

Colonel Gil Tae-hwan, Chief of Staff of the 16th Reserve Division.

Colonel Lee Jeong-yun, Operations Staff of the 17th Reserve Division.

These were essentially the top commanders of the main combat units to be mobilized for this operation.

Those gathered here could mobilize the Traning Division, the 16th, and 17th reserve divisions with a single order.

The officers nodded as I spoke about striking the enemy command with military police and then simultaneously initiating the operation.

They also offered their opinions on how to improve the plan.

"Your Excellency, the forces allocated for the arrest OP seem rather insufficient. I suggest we dispatch some plain clothes teams from our Traning Division."

"Plainclothes teams?"

"Yes, we can claim that our Training Division has received riot control training orders. That way we can move our men under the pretext of operating plainclothes arrest teams, providing plausible deniability for our officers, while having them on standby, and then have them move with the MP."

"That...Is a good idea."

I even thought the military police allocated to the arrest teams were too few.

"Don't worry about the unit commander. He's away for a promotion review, and the chief of staff has a schedule at the Army Ministry."

Based on Colonel Baek Dong-seok's advice, I decided to modify part of the plan.

"Right, please prepare some plainclothes teams by 1900 and have them on standby in front of the residences of Park Han-jin, the Army Chief of Staff, the Defense Security Commander, and the Capital Defense Security Commander. Should any of them have our oak leaf emblem, the Military Police will cooperate with them."

"Yes, sir."

Colonel Gil Tae-hwan also offered his advice.

"General, regarding the Guards Division issue I found out that an officer you had a connection with in Spain has recently been appointed as a regimental commander in the Guards Division."

"Ah, you mean Colonel Park Joon? I remember him. Why would you bring his name?"

"When we start moving the troops, the nearby Guards Division will react first, and Colonel Park Joon will be the commander of the first combat unit to be mobilized."

"Hmm."

"You could try to personally negotiate or persuade him, sir. That would be the best outcome."

"Persuading Park Joon......"

According to the original plan, I would have done that.

However, as we moved up the schedule, the recruitment efforts for the Guards Division became quite complicated.

"General, I know this carries its own risks, but if we want to neutralize the Guards Division within our timeframe, we must at least make Park Joon a bystander."

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"I understand...We'll do as you say."

I've roamed the frontlines under hails of bullets just to gain popularity.

Surely I could manage to stand before an old subordinate.

Then it was Colonel Lee Jeong-yun's time to add his two cents.

"Sir. The manifesto, crucial for our cause, seems lacking. The part explaining to the people why we've risen up and what vision we're acting on doesn't seem persuasive enough."

"Hm, I've written the justification part myself, but do you think there is still room for improvement?"

"If we can't elevate ourselves, why not drag the enemy down to the depths? We should even fabricate things if necessary. If Park Han-jin doesn't have a chance to refute, that will become the truth the people believe."

He was right.

The truth was always relative.

Even if it's not possible to strengthen our cause, undermining the opponent's would work just as well.

If we drag Park Han-jin's regime through the gutter, our coup gains that much more legitimacy.

Whether it's lies or not, if it could solidify our power base, it would be worth doing.

History was written by the victors after all.

It seems I'm still a bit naive.

To think I tried to compete with just the facts.

"You're right."

The officers discussed the operation until early dawn before returning to their units.

And the new morning of December 8th dawned.

Is this what they call the morning of revolution?

I went to work at the Army Ministry with a calm face.

In the morning, I did my usual work and then called the commander of the 1st Guards Division.

Since most generals know each other, field unit commanders often address each other informally.

Of course, being royalty, I couldn't do that easily, I had to maintain the 'Royal Prestige' after all.

"General Oh? This is Lee Sung Joon speaking. I heard talks of your promotion in passing, so I thought I'd give you a call. Yes. Ahahaha. You'll treat me? No, no. I should be the one treating you. Yes. Let's meet at the 'Tsukihime'¹ club in Daebang-dong ² at 7 PM tonight. Oh no, not at all. Yes. Then, I'll see you this evening."

The general promotion review was still pending, but everyone roughly knew who would be promoted.

Major General Oh Gwang-se, commander of the 1st Guards Division, was already confirmed for promotion to full general.

After setting up the dinner appointment with Oh Gwang-se, I told Jong-Gil,

"You'll need to visit Tsukihime at lunchtime. Make a reservation and check the room."

I didn't even consider the possibility of it being fully booked.

Even if there were no seats, the Madam would surely vacate a room for us.

Such was the power of a General in the Korean Empire.

With Oh Gwang-se kept away from the scene...The next ones who need to be dealt with are...

The generals who'll be sitting in the Army Ministry tonight.

"General Ha? This is Lee Sung Joon speaking. The reason I'm calling is that General Oh Gwang-se is getting promoted, so we're arranging a congratulatory gathering. If you're not too busy, I'd like you to come to 'Tsukihime' at 7 PM. Ah, yes. I'll have one of my staff send you directions."

I invited all the generals who could hinder the operation to Tsukihime, including the Army Operations Chief and the Provost Marshal.

This was inspired by Chun Doo-hwan's birthday party³

Surprisingly, time flew by.

Perhaps it was the tension before the momentous event of a coup.

At 5 PM, generals at the Army Ministry began leaving one by one.

Usually, the Army Ministry started work at 8 AM, so this was about the time generals would finish their duties.

Packing my bag, I stood up from my chair and instructed Jong-Gil to track the current locations of key generals from my office and report to my residence in 30 minutes.

I also ordered the rest of the research office officers, including Major Lee Han Yong, to come to my residence in 30 minutes.

Of course, I had no intention of using my residence as the command post.

The residence was just a temporary space until the command post was set up.

At 5:30 PM.

Jong-Gil called my residence.

"The big duck is in the pond. The mallard is walking by the pond, and the grebe is in the forest."

Jong-Gil's code was conveyed as I understood the meaning of his words.

The 'Big Duck', Park Han-Jin was in his official residence.

While the 'Mallard', The Army Chief of Staff is on his way home to his residence.

And the 'Grebe' the Vice Chief of Staff is at the Army Ministry.

Given the lack of information about other generals, it seemed Jong-Gil couldn't track their status.

"Good work. Return to the residence."

"Copy that, sir."

It was a bit concerning that the targets weren't in their expected positions, but there was still time left.

Ring ring.

"This is Lee Sung Joon, from the Army Policy Research Office."

"Ah, General Lee. This is the Provost Marshal. An unexpected task came up, so I have to cancel our appointment. I'm sorry."

"Not at all, General. These things happen."

I frowned as soon as I hung up the phone.

Provost Marshal Oh Jung-gu.

The most threatening opponent among Park Han-jin's subordinates.

What kind of position is the Provost Marshal?

He's the head of the Military Police branch.

He could mobilize the MPs from the Provost Marshal's office and arrest me within 10 minutes.

That's not all.

With MP units in each division, the Provost Marshal, along with the Defense Security Command, could act as the eyes and ears of the Army.

Such an important figure staying at his post was clearly not a good sign.

At 6 P.M, Major Lee Han Yong's group and Jong-Gil arrived at the residence.

Firstly, I gave Han Yong's group a task.

"Come to think of it, you seem to resemble me quite a bit. With a mustache, people would be hard-pressed to differentiate us."

"R-really, sir?"

"Indeed. That's why I'm saying this, I want you to act as my double."

I handed Lee Han Yong my ceremonial uniform.

From a distance, he was the spitting image of 'General Lee Sung Joon'.

Of course, I had him pull his cap down low to make it difficult to see his face clearly.

"Aide."

"Yes, General."

"You'll 'escort' Major Lee around the city. Circle around until 7:30 PM, then enter the Training Division headquarters that will become our CP."

"Yes, General."

I planned to deceive the Defense Security Command with this ruse for a while.

While I had one of Han Yong's subordinates, Captain Mo accompany me.

"We'll be going to the Taechang Stadium in 10 minutes, so get ready."

"Yes, General."

The MP units were scheduled to gather at Taechang Stadium for this operation.

I planned to give them specific instructions again there, then go to the Training Division’s Command headquarters to lead the coup.

"Then, I'll see you at the Training Division’s Command. Long Live the Empire."

"Long Live The Empire."

Instead of saluting, the members held up oak leaves.

From this moment on, we were no longer part of the Korean Empire Army.

We were 'rebels'.