NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 84: The Champion's Return (4)
The Secretary-General had been promised many things through prior negotiations with Lee Sung Joon, but that alone was not satisfactory.
Why are the Reds called Reds?
It’s because they can’t be satisfied with just their own and try to share what belongs to others.
“In this war, we are solely facing the main force of the German army, but it seems Korea and Britain are trying to take too much.”
Of course, he didn’t say that when they were talking.
Stalin had enough sense not to.
“Koba, you should know when to back down appropriately. Aren’t they supplying a significant amount of the military supplies we use?”
“I’m saying this much while considering that. Anyway, those friends should also perform in accordance with their share.”
Stalin intended to demand the opening of a Second Front in the West in the near future.
The current situation where the Soviet Union alone was bearing the brunt of the German army was unfair.Voroshilov gave a wry smile.
“Britain is already struggling to deal with the African and Middle Eastern fronts that have just opened. Korea, which is slightly better off, will also be in a hurry with the China war. It will take at least two years for them to open a front in the West.”
“That’s unfair. Is anyone else taking on the entire German army with less effort?”
“So, just talk about it. There’s no way they’ll agree to something that’s realistically impossible.”
Even Stalin couldn’t dismiss Voroshilov’s advice.
Molotov, who received Stalin’s orders, made their demands clear at the Tripartite Conference.
“We demand the opening of a Second Front in the West by 1943 to disperse the mighty German forces concentrated on the Eastern Front. For the fair burden of the Allies, it is difficult for the Soviet Union to confront Germany alone as it is now.”
Of course, Churchill didn’t even snort.
Ah, who threatened Stalin with a knife to move next to Hitler?
Wasn’t it the choice of the Soviet Reds to eliminate Poland and become neighbors?
They gave Hitler the opportunity to join hands and crush all the democratic countries in Europe, and now what are they saying?
Churchill thought the Reds had no conscience.
“Our primary target is Italy. We’ll bring down Rome and detach 2 million Italian troops from the front lines, so let’s stop talking about the Western Front.”
So he listened to the Reds’ words with one ear and let them out the other.
“Korea also lacks the capacity. Opening a Second Front by ‘43 is something we cannot do with our capabilities. Korea is investing most of its army forces in dealing with China.”
Joo Shi-kyung also voiced the same opinion as Britain.
Depending on the issue, if it was in their interest, Korea was always ready to side with Britain.
“What, so you’re saying we should continue to bear Germany alone?”
Molotov jumped up and down.
It wasn’t because of an unexpected situation, but an intentional gesture to show the Secretary-General that he was doing his best.
“Didn’t I tell you that instead, we will put a fleet in the Mediterranean and annihilate the Axis forces in Africa?”
“That’s just shedding a few drops of blood at best.”
The two sides were locked in a fierce standoff.
As neither side backed down an inch, it was like talking to a wall.
At that moment when the negotiations were facing difficulties, Lee Sung Joon stepped forward.
“Although it’s difficult to open a Second Front right away, it doesn’t necessarily have to be opened in the West, does it?”
Lee Sung Joon said there was also an option to open a Second Front in Italy or Greece.
Joo Shi-kyung conveyed Lee Sung Joon’s proposal to the participants of the Tripartite Conference.
“Open a Second Front on the coast of the Mediterranean?”
Britain, which wanted to carry out operations centered on the Mediterranean, was also tempted by this.
No, it was exactly to their taste.
“Then it’s worth considering.”
The British Empire’s interests lay more in the Mediterranean coast than in France.
When Britain and Korea said they were willing to open a Second Front in the Mediterranean in ‘43, Molotov thought he had at least saved face.
“Anyway, it’s a concession that Korea and Britain will make a move in ‘43, Comrade Secretary General.”
Upon Molotov’s report, Stalin also thought it couldn’t be helped.
The British, the main force of the Western Allies, currently lacked sufficient ground troops, and Korea lacked the capacity.
It was a great gesture for them to even offer to open a Second Front in the Mediterranean.
“I’m not sure if their Mediterranean strategy will have a big impact.”
The Secretary-General honestly thought that if it wasn’t France, it wouldn’t be of much help to the Soviet Union.
Even if Italy or Greece were detached from the front lines, how much of a minus would it be to Germany’s military power?
“But it’ll be better than doing nothing.”
“That’s true, I suppose.”
Anyway, if a front was opened, German forces would be diverted, so he decided to take comfort in that.
Once the biggest challenge of the Tripartite Conference was resolved, the remaining agreements were swiftly reached.
The three principles for responding to the Axis were also agreed upon without difficulty.
However, there were also issues that were not discussed here.
A typical example was the disposal of Eastern European countries such as Poland.
“Poland must return to its pre-war state.”
Although Lee Sung Joon implicitly took the stance that he didn’t care how the Soviet Union handled it, Britain’s position was different.
Britain expressed the view that as soon as the war ended, the governments-in-exile should return to their home countries and lead their nations.
Stalin had no intention of agreeing with Britain’s plan.
That can never happen. Poland must be secured as our satellite state. Poland is the spoils we will rightfully claim!
Stalin wanted to obtain a sufficient buffer zone in Eastern Europe so that the mainland would never be invaded again.
Just looking at the repeated history so far, Western invaders very easily crossed the Eastern European plains, which had no significant geographical barriers, and came all the way to Moscow, threatening the existence of the Russian state.
The lords of Poland and Sweden, the French emperors, the German kaisers and führers had repeatedly provided the same lesson.
Now it was time to end such nightmares.
To do that, Poland had to be made part of the Soviet Empire, and Germany had to be torn apart.
Czechoslovakia had to be swallowed.
Eastern Europe had to be turned into the Soviet Union’s backyard.
In fact, the obsession with buffer zones that Stalin harbored was something that the monarchs of the old Tsarist Empire had also possessed.
It wasn’t that Stalin was exceptionally greedy for land or anything like that.
This was a disease that anyone who sat in the position of Russia’s ruler was bound to suffer from.
Of course, one might wonder:
Isn’t it a bit problematic that Poland’s sovereignty and the will of its people are violated in the process of turning the Soviet Union’s desires into reality?
Stalin didn’t care at all.
If he had considered such things, he wouldn’t have exterminated Polish intellectuals in the Katyn Forest.
For the sake of Soviet interests, Stalin buried doctors, professors, officers, teachers—anyone who could lead the Polish nation—in the gloomy pits of the Katyn Forest.
That didn’t mean the Secretary-General was particularly ruthless.
Churchill and Roosevelt were also people who were ready to trample on the interests and sovereignty of small and weak nations as needed.
The only difference was that Stalin was a person who didn’t even pretend to be sorry while trampling on others.
“Comrade Beria.”
“Yes, Comrade Secretary General.”
“From now on, make sure to thoroughly manage our friends in the Polish Workers’ Party. If there are any friends with Polish nationalist tendencies or who make slightly twisted remarks, quietly get rid of them. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Yes. We will thoroughly check.”
The Secretary General’s instructions were clear.
It meant to eliminate in advance any obstacles that might cause noise in the process of establishing a Polish satellite regime.
Only by turning the Polish Workers’ Party into a thorough puppet could the first stage of satellitization be completed.
“If there are any friends in the Czechoslovak Communist Party who can be counted on, start preparing a list of them as well. Friends who will listen to us to a reasonable extent, that is.”
“Yes, Comrade Secretary General.”
Stalin intended to expand his power as much as possible in Central Europe after the war.
We will swallow everything, everything we can swallow.
The Secretary-General, like a conscienceless Bolshevik, planned to prepare from now on to take a larger share than what Britain and Korea had proposed.
Poland, Czechoslovakia, and half of Germany.
If the Soviet Union could obtain just that much, it would be able to dominate Europe as a superpower with no match.
The only thing that would get in the way was the check from the West.
If the Soviet Union became too huge, the West would not treat Moscow with a tolerant attitude as they do now.
The Union would become the new common enemy, just as Germany is now.
However, it would be foolish to give up the opportunity for growth out of fear of being checked.
Come to think of it, Korea is lucky.
At first, Germany became the enemy, preventing Korea’s expansion from being checked, and next, the Soviet Union was set to step up.
How many other countries get the chance to rise in the ranks of the great powers so smoothly?
Well, there is one.
America.
The world’s number one economic power, left alone on a continent without competitors, freely expanding its territory and increasing its national strength.
The father of liberal democracy, destined to become the Soviet Union’s greatest rival.
Considering that huge empire and the old lion Britain moving as one body, the Soviet Union also needed a friend to stand against them.
In terms of national power and the relationship with the Soviet Union, that partner could only be Korea.
It was just absurd that they had to trust each other despite having so many ideological differences.
Looking at it this way, I can ignore what the British say, but I have no choice but to listen to Lee Sung Joon’s opinion.
Considering the relationship with Korea, there was no other way.
Stalin decided to reconsider the plan presented by the Korean side.
Still, he intended to swallow Poland no matter what.
That was something even the Secretary-General could not concede.