I Will Stage A Coup D’état

All of Germany was drunk on triumph.

The fact that they had defeated Poland, a powerful military power, in just over 4 weeks fueled their sense of invincibility.

"Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!" ¹

Now, they would reclaim everything they had lost in the Treaty of Versailles without fail and avenge past humiliations.

The Germans expected the Führer to bring them victory and lead them to glory.

But some did not think so and harbored grave doubts.

"The Führer will lead this country to ruin with his megalomania. He has chosen an all-out war against the Allies. It means a repeat of the Great World War where millions died in the trenches for nothing."

"We must stop it before that happens and Germany is destroyed again. Director Canaris², how are the negotiations with Britain going?"

Beneath the surface, the anti-Hitler conspiracy began to raise its head again like a hydra.

They sought to contact the Allies and seek cooperation on the anti-Hitler coup and the issue of ending the war before it escalated further.

Sadly, the British government reacted cynically to the contact by the anti-Hitler forces not taking them seriously.

《If the conspirators have a chance of seizing power in Germany, that's one thing, but why should we negotiate with those who have no authority and no way to deliver on their promises?》

Aside from the conspiracies and collusions taking place under the surface cloak-and-dagger style, the war entered a lull akin to a deceptive calm before the storm.

"Come on, come on attack already you bastards."

The Allied forces waited behind the Maginot Line³ for the German army to charge in and break their teeth on the fortifications.

"There's no point in charging head-on over there."

However, the Führer had no intention of doing so either being smarter than that.

As a result, the situation continued where the two armies only confronted each other in a staring contest.

Apart from the battles taking place at sea and in the air, it was so quiet that one might wonder if this was a war or just a farce.

It was the time of the so-called "Phoney War".⁴

Both camps devoted their efforts to strengthening their forces in anticipation of the decisive battle.

While the Western world was catching its breath before the life-or-death match, the Soviet Union moved to obtain the territory promised in the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact as spoils.

"We will punish the illegal provocations of the Finns and their lackeys!"

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet army invaded Finland with a massive force of 540,000 troops from 25 divisions, an avalanche of men and steel.⁵

Stalin explained that he had no choice but to take military action to protect the safety of Leningrad⁶ from Finnish militarists and their dastardly schemes.

To explain Stalin's true intentions and cut through the propaganda,

"Finland was a land ruled by the old Tsarist Russia⁷ in the good old days. So I want to swallow Finnish territory back into the fold. It was originally mine anyway by right of conquest."

Stalin wanted to use the chaos of the Second World War to regain the territory of the former Tsarist Empire and resurrect it under the Soviet banner.

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Of course, he did not ask the opinion of the local residents who had no say in the matter.

After all, isn’t the people who count the votes that matter, and not the people who vote, in Soviet democracy?

"Finish off little Finland in a week and grind them to dust. Be careful not to accidentally cross the Swedish border and bring them in against us."

"Don't worry, Comrade General Secretary leave it to me. We'll be careful not to make mistakes and keep it localized."

When the Soviet Union started a second war on false pretenses and blatant lies, the militarists of the Korean Empire were also stimulated and filled with dangerous ideas.

"Look at the current situation unfolding before us. If you have power, you can expand your territory as much as you want! Our Korean Empire can do it too and seize our place in the sun. It's time to take up the burden of the Yellow Race and unite them under our benevolent rule!"

Of course, the voices of the militarists did not go beyond the ears of Lee Sung Joon who ignored their ravings.

Ignoring such nonsense and warmongering, Lee Sung Joon focused on the Finnish War as a case study.

*

"This war will be an overwhelming victory for the Soviet Union."

"Do you have a reason for being so confident or is it just bluster?"

"Isn't the difference in weight class overwhelming like an elephant versus an ant?"

Indeed, the difference in weight class between the Soviet Union and Finland was so overwhelming that it could not be expressed even with the word "enormous" or any superlative.

While the Soviet population was 170 million, Finland's was not even 3.7 million.

The ratio of tanks was 2,400 to 9 an absurd mismatch, and there was a gap of 3,880 to 114 aircraft.

Under these conditions, the possibility of Finland winning was virtually non-existent.

"We'll have to wait and see about that and not count our chickens before they hatch."

I was wary of the generals' prejudgments and overconfidence.

At first, it seemed that the Soviet army was pushing the Finnish army hard steamrolling them, as the generals had predicted with their armchair expertise.

In the face of the vast amount of heavy equipment and overwhelming troops possessed by the Soviet army, the Finnish army retreated repeatedly trading space for time.

However, as the harsh cold set in and Winter entered the fray, the story began to change little by little and the tables turned.

In the Battle of Suomussalmi⁸, which began on December 9, 1939, the Finnish army even achieved the great feat of annihilating two Soviet divisions against all odds and expectations.

It was like David knocking down Goliath with a well-placed stone, regardless of weight class or perceived strength.

The generals were bewildered by this situation caught flat-footed.

"Did Your Excellency anticipate this situation or was it just a lucky guess?"

Of course, I already expected this, don’t you know this magnificent Lee Sung Joon came from the future? Heh, bow towards my wisdom!

"Of course. Didn't the Soviet army purge most of its capable generals with its own hands not long ago?"

This gross oversimplification served my purposes for now.

Of course, this story greatly simplified the Great Purge⁹ and its nuances.

There was also a view that the Great Purge within the military was a desperate measure to sweep away the warlord forces that exercised political power based on ethnicity and origin and threatened the regime.

The generals admired my insight and foresight while expressing cynicism at the Soviet army's pathetic state and pitiful performance.

Is there any reason to overestimate the Ivans and give them faces, when they are struggling even with that level of troop disparity and every advantage?

Such a look of disdain and derision was reflected in the generals' eyes and body language.

If you underestimate the Reds like that you fools, you'll end up with a bloody nose and broken teeth like the German army will in due time.

"Your Excellency."

"Speak, my friend."

"If the Red Army is in such a state of disarray, is there any need to consider them as allies or take them seriously?"

Well, if one looked solely at the disgrace on display and this embarrassing performance, he would be right in such reasoning.

However, the greatest strength of the Soviet army lay in its capacity for 'self-innovation' and learning from mistakes.

The Reds had the attitude of thoroughly analyzing the lessons learned from a failure with brutal honesty, so as not to repeat it the next time and improve their fighting prowess.

That was the fundamental difference between the Red Army and the Imperial Russian Army, which simply had a large quantity without quality.

That's why Germany lost in the end, underestimating their foe.

"Of course, you're absolutely right. Our army also showed such a disgrace at first and had to learn the hard way, didn't it?"

The generals did not deny my words and nodded in agreement.

When we first intervened in the Spanish Civil War to support the Nationalists, how incompetent was the Imperial Army and how much face did we lose?

Even with the elite forces that were carefully selected and trained, they did not show any outstanding performance and were found wanting.

We wouldn't have come this far if we hadn't consumed blood, sweat, and treasure money in that crucible of fire.

The Chinese-Korean War accounted for 80% of what made the current Imperial Army the formidable force it is today.

"The Reds are no different in that regard. Those guys have also experienced a proper war and tasted bitter defeat, so they will improve next time without a doubt."

I highly valued the potential capabilities of the Reds despite their present shortcomings.

The current Reds were clearly an army to be despised and derided, but in two years, they would develop the ability to withstand a blow even when fighting against the German Wehrmacht, which had raised its skills to the highest level of perfection.

Regardless, we all agreed that the Reds would win in the end, despite the steep price such a win demanded.

In fact, that's exactly what happened as I predicted.

The Reds replaced Voroshilov¹⁰ - who had failed in the invasion operation and been found wanting - with Timoshenko¹¹ as the new commander, reinforced their troops with fresh divisions, and shoved an army of 900,000 men into Finland like a battering ram.

As the harsh winter came to an end and the ice melted, Finland could no longer hold out and had no choice but to raise both hands in surrender.

“May this hand that was forced to sign such a treaty of capitulation wither away and rot.”

The President of Finland lamented this sad fate as he signed the peace treaty that ended his nation's valiant struggle.

Of course, the Soviet victory came at the cost of enormous casualties and rivers of blood.

There were only two lessons to be learned from that war and they were age-old truths.

First - Quantity has a quality all its own and eventually wins through sheer attrition.

Second - Artillery is the god of war that decides the outcome of battles.

And the one with the most quantity around us was, of course, the Reds who could draw upon a vast manpower pool.

In that respect and knowing their true nature, we needed to be careful in dealing with the Reds lest we get burned by the flames we fanned.

On March 13, 1940, the day the Soviet Union won a pyrrhic victory, I sent a short congratulatory letter to Moscow in the name of Prime Minister Roh Jae-Woo to extend an olive branch.

Stalin, who tried to swallow Finland whole but only managed to eat 11% and choked on that morsel, would be pretty pissed off and seething with impotent rage, but he wouldn't curse at us for greeting him with a smiling face and pretending nothing was amiss.

[Dear Secretary Stalin. Congratulations on the victory of the Union over the plucky Finns.]

Stalin sent back a very brief reply dripping with sarcasm.

[Dear Prime Minister Roh Jae-Woo. Thank you for Korea's congratulatory telegram and kind words.]

It was definitely felt that the Red boss was in a bad mood and not to be trifled with.

However, now was the perfect time to see what was going on with the Reds beneath the surface.

For the first time, I sent a letter in my own name to test the waters.

[Dear Secretary Stalin. If the Union agrees and is amenable, I would like to visit Moscow on April 1st in my capacity as the Army Chief of Staff to have a constructive dialogue with your country and explore areas of mutual interest. Please respond promptly at your earliest convenience.]

[Dear Chief of Staff Lee Sung Joon. I am informing you that I agree to your request to visit on April 1st and look forward to productive discussions.]

The time to meet the Red boss face-to-face was approaching and the game was afoot.

I informed the generals of this momentous fact that would shape our nation's destiny.

"Is there any need for Your Excellency to visit Moscow and subject yourself to their tender mercies?"

There is every reason to do so.

It was necessary to observe the current power dynamics of the Reds up close and examine their thoughts and attitudes from the perspective of the current era with my own eyes.

Only then could we prepare the basis for judging whether to form an alliance with them or keep our distance.

"I have to go and see for myself. It's a matter that I must examine with my own eyes and keen mind."

"Then, Your Excellency please allow me to serve you. I would like to have the honor of accompanying you on this crucial mission."

"I will also accompany Your Excellency and watch your back."

The generals were competing with each other to go and bask in my reflected glory, so I picked only a few of the most capable and loyal.

These generals may seem stupid at times, but this was behavior close to the essence of power and how the game is played.

Because the person who keeps close to the person in power enjoys that very power as a close aide and gatekeeper.

The detailed schedule coordination was left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to handle.

While my exciting tour through the Vodka drinker’s Capital was approaching, Europe was still quiet, like the calm before the storm.

Germany had not yet taken any major action.

Seeing that nothing had changed even though the variable called the Korean Empire had supplied ammunition and thrown a wrench in the works, it seemed that they still had a lot to think about and contingencies to plan for.

Even so, the "6 weeks" would happen as sure as the sun rises in the east.

It would be troublesome if Germany collapsed before the 6 weeks even began and ruined my carefully laid plans.

If possible, I wanted them to collapse after Korea had built a reliable alliance and gained enough weight to stand on its own two feet.

One might ask - Is it okay for Germany to attack the Soviets and halve the Red’s power?

And the answer to that question would be…

That it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Even if we form an alliance, if the Soviet Union was too strong, we would be dragged along as a junior partner, so there was a need for a proper balance to be adjusted and equilibrium maintained.

So, there was no problem at all with the Nazis and the Soviets fighting and bleeding each other out.

The only thing that bothers me is the United States, that sleeping giant across the Pacific.

Unless we do a "Pearl Harbor" instead of Japan and eliminate their fleet, the sleeping giant will be late to rise and enter the fray.

What if Germany unexpectedly does well under these conditions and conquers Europe?

Wouldn't the situation become a bit shitty for us in the Far East?

That was the only thing that bothered me and kept me up at night.

1.  Nazi chants like "Heil Hitler!" and "Sieg Heil!" were prevalent across Nazi Germany, sprouting in mass rallies and even regular greetings alike.

In Nazi Germany, the Nazi chants "Heil Hitler!" and "Sieg Heil!" were the formulas used by the regime: when meeting someone it was customary to greet with the words "Heil Hitler!", while "Sieg Heil!" was a verbal salute used at mass rallies. Specifically to the cry of an officer of the word Sieg ('victory'), the crowd responded with Heil ('hail').2. head of German military intelligence3. Ouvrage Schoenenbourg is a Maginot Line fortification. It is located on the territory of the communes of Hunspach, Schœnenbourg and Ingolsheim, in the French département of Bas-Rhin, forming part of the Fortified Sector of Haguenau, facing Germany.4. The Phoney War was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front. WWII began on 1 September 1939 with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland.5. The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940.6. St. Petersburg is a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. It was the imperial capital for 2 centuries, having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, subject of the city's iconic “Bronze Horseman” statue. It remains Russia's cultural center, with venues such as the Mariinsky Theatre hosting opera and ballet, and the State Russian Museum showcasing Russian art, from Orthodox icon paintings to Kandinsky works.7. The Russian Empire, also known as Imperial Russia or simply Russia, was a vast realm that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its proclamation in November 1721 until its dissolution in March 1917.8. The Battle of Suomussalmi was fought between Finnish and Soviet forces in the Winter War. The action took place from 30 November 1939 to 8 January 1940. The outcome was a Finnish victory against superior forces.9. The Great Purge, or the Great Terror, also known as the Year of '37 and the Yezhovshchina, was Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin's campaign to consolidate power over the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Soviet state. The purges also sought to remove the remaining influence of Leon Trotsky.10. Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov, popularly known as Klim Voroshilov, was a prominent Soviet military officer and politician during the Stalin-era.11. Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and one of the most prominent Red Army commanders during the Second World War.