＜ Episode 179 >
“The Greek government has announced its intention to surrender conditionally…”
“There is no need for conditions. Do you think conditional luxury will be granted to those who have fallen from Athens and strewn all the way to Tripolis?”
“Yes, I understand.”
At my resolute words, Wrangel over the phone line bowed his head.
“Soon the Greeks will have to flee to Crete. your majesty.”
“I guess so, and Turkey too.”
“Because that’s not my place…”
“That’s what I knew. When the Greek campaign is completed, all troops will be redeployed to the Turkish front. To cooperate with Rokosovsky as much as possible.”
“All right.”
The encounter between the Russian and Malinovsky forces, who had been isolated in Constantinople with the support of Rokosovsky’s all-out counterattack and Malinovsky’s, was just around the corner.
As much as possible, it was a move to completely organize the Balkans before the Germans and British took over.
“General Malinovsky captured Kayseri yesterday, and Rokosovsky captured Ankara three days ago, so there may be no room for you.”
After Anatolia, the next step is to organize the Arabian Peninsula. After the end of Anatolia and the Arabian Peninsula, the only remaining threats are Africa and Persia, which can clean up a large part of the chaotic front and save troops.
“I will do my best. Of course, I don’t know if this old man really needs to wear it.”
“Where did you pick up any rumors?”
Rumors that sooner or later Mannerheim will take up the post of a reserve marshal – in fact, retired – are not particularly secret within the Staff Department at this time. Due to the delayed schedule, the retirement ceremony was pushed back to early next year.
And now, that’s why the generals’ hearts are in a hurry. Once Mannerheim resigns from the key position of commander of the Czech Defense Forces, who will take the position next?
When the Balkan-Anatolia campaign is over, there is a dominant speculation that it will be given to one of the generals who have been active in that campaign. If this is the case, now is the time to want to establish a major that shines.
***
Constantinople, Russian Empire, Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Anatolia.
“Slow.”
General Rokosovsky looked at Jado.
“Why are you still in Denizli after leaving Canakkale?”
“Sir, that is…”
“Did you forget that British forces are in control of the Mediterranean Sea? If we don’t take over the South Coast as quickly as possible, the British will assemble a fleet and try to steal my troops! Antalya! Side, Alania, and even Mersin! I almost got them inside the siege, but will you let them all run away into the sea?”
“no!”
“So tell me, why didn’t the troops arrive in Antalya on time?”
“British bombers are launching air strikes in Cyprus, and the Turks are carrying out extensive sabotage on railways and roads along the march route. If the right to offer is not secured…”
“Shit.”
The public opinion is that Russian aircraft are generally one number lower than the main fighters of Britain or Germany. The only exception is the Do335, but since it is such a complicated and expensive aircraft, to be honest, it was just a rare species on the 3rd class front.
“If you can’t secure the right to air, release the military police! Catch those saboteurs and throw them away!”
“The locals are not cooperating at all. The anti-Russian sentiment is so strong…”
“Then let us cooperate. The British and German way you guys love it!”
“All right.”
“Restore the destroyed railway tracks and roads by mobilizing the locals. If you see any signs of sabotage, set an example.”
Currently, guerrillas in Turkey are primarily based in rural and local communities. Therefore, unified action is virtually impossible, and although it can be ordered by the Turkish government, that does not mean that unified operational action is possible.
Besides, why are they fighting? To protect his family and hometown.
If so, what if you could set an example? What if we send a message that the very families and homes you want to protect will be destroyed if you confront us?
Of course, Rokosovsky wasn’t in a rush to issue an order to slaughter civilians, but he had no hesitation in throwing all those involved in concentration camps, as he did in Poland in his original history.
“We will finish the Anatolian Front as soon as possible.”
Faster than Malinovsky intervening in earnest.
I didn’t bother to put that word.
‘Brangel is Notan, who is the second most retired soldier anyway, and the only person who can compete with me for the position of the next commander of the Czech Defense Forces is Malinovsky.’
The rest of the candidates are all in charge of one campaign, so it’s hard to get them out. The commander of the Far East Military District, Chuikov, didn’t just start the war right away. It wouldn’t be a surprise to hear the news of the outbreak of war an hour later, so it’s not an issue to change the commander at this point.
In the end, it is nothing more than a competition between himself and Malinovsky, who will soon finish the discharge he is in charge of.
And to do that, you had to show results. shining achievements.
In the first place, I was the commander of the Anatolia campaign, but I wonder if Malinovsky, the commander of the Persian Defense Forces, would leave Iraq and climb up from Syria to get his ball out.
Besides, there is a time limit. until when? by the end of this year at the latest.
It is certain that a personnel change will be announced at the beginning of next year, when the retirement ceremony will be held, but a nominee will be decided before that even for the takeover.
Then it’s really close to dragging until the end of the year.
Time was running out.
***
Republic of China.
It claims to be the only orthodox government in China, and once the official territory is all of the territory of the Qing Dynasty…
First of all, the central government is nothing more than a scarecrow, a kind of alliance of warlords, and no warlords have any intention of bowing down, so civil wars were inevitable.
In addition, foreign exchange does not fall out of domestic and foreign exchange.
No, it could be said that this foreign exchange is the biggest problem the Republic of China is facing.
First, with the outbreak of World War II, the warlords themselves had no choice but to take sides.
The Allied faction, centered on the pro-Russian faction, and the Axis faction, centered on the pro-Japanese and pro-German factions.
Of course, each warlord has slightly different inclinations, so it cannot be generalized.
The level of subordination was also different, so there were those who were practically foreign puppets, and there were those who moved autonomously and received support materials.
In any case, in a situation where internal unity could not even be dreamed of due to foreign exchange, there was a force that received unexpected support.
It was none other than the National Party.
Unexpectedly, even after the Beiyang government wanted Sun Yuan, and Sun Yuan’s men had an accident because they could not control themselves, the Russians plundered a huge territory and Tibet gained independence, the support for Sun Yuan increased significantly.
It was because of the Russian invasion.
Thousands of people who resisted the Russian invasion took Sun Yat-sen as their focal point, and the British, who expected Japan and China to unite and extend Russia in the Far East, supplied weapons and supplies.
So Sun Yuan, who was trying to gather troops and take control of the Gangnam area, died before the North Expedition could even begin.
Then, within the Kuomintang, Lao Zhongkai, Wang Jingwei, Chiang Kai-shek, and Hu Hanmin claimed themselves to be the rightful heirs of Sun Yat-sen, sparking infighting. As Lao Zhongkai was assassinated shortly after Sun Yuan’s death, and Hu Hanmin was dismissed as the mastermind behind Lao Zhongkai’s assassination, as a result, Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek were adopted.
And, agreeing that the split between the Kuomintang and the Kuomintang was not good for long, Chiang and Wang Jingwei agreed that Chiang would take over the military power, but Wang Jingwei would remain as Chiang’s superior and president.
However, an agreement was an agreement, war was war, and the Republic of China’s power was gathered by warlords, and the Kuomintang was only a warlord occupying only a part of Gangnam. Fortunately, those warlords were exhausted to face the ongoing invasion of Japan, and they sent their troops to subdue the KMT, which was blatantly hostile to them, but failed every time.
The Kuomintang’s North Expedition appeared to be a fact.
If it wasn’t for the sudden flood.
The drought in northern China and the flooding in southern China have caused great famine across the continent. When the Japanese saw this famine, they ran even more violently, and the warlords were too busy squeezing people to survive.
However, it was the Kuomintang that suffered the most decisive damage. The damage caused by the great flood, the public dissent in the process of settling down, food shortages, and even depletion of funds.
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Moreover, as the desperate warlords rushed in with the aid of Japan’s supplies, the Kuomintang was literally on the verge of annihilation.
Now they had only one option.
Abandoning all strongholds and joining the Salt Mountain.
No, it was a de facto defeat.
Support from Britain was cut off, Japan was also hostile, and there were many people who supported the Kuomintang, which defeated Russia, the head of the Allied Powers, in support of the communist revolution. A situation in which major arsenal facilities have been damaged to an irreparable level and are subject to maritime blockades.
Yanxi Warlord Yeom Shishan is one of the strongest warlords since the collapse of the Beiyang government. Although they had the power to call themselves an orthodox government, they were in a situation where they lacked legitimacy. He promised to protect Wang Jingwei.
In the end, the Kuomintang had to somehow reach Shaanxi on their own.
However, their escape was caught in an unexpected place.
***
“What does that mean now! French!”
“French aircraft for sure! French troops in Vietnam are advancing to Guizhou!”
When Chiang Kai-shek received a report that the leading unit had been attacked, he initially thought about the betrayal of his old friend He Ying-qin, the ruler of Guizhou, but was shocked by the unexpected French attack.
No, what is it that the colonial forces that have lost their homeland are attacking them?
‘Russian owner? More than 10 years have passed and Russia still has a grudge against us?’
Since the Governor-General of Indochina refused to accept British and German domination and declared war, Russia was the only opponent behind them. I wonder if the government in exile has been attacking me with any grudges.
But the truth was even simpler.
***
“They attacked the territory of the French Republic. No matter how much we surrendered, now even the savages of the East see us as complacent.”
He Ying-qin from Guizhou insisted that he never took part in the attack. He told the truth. It just opened the way.
Although he is close to the Nationalist faction at first, strictly speaking, he is a separate force. And, decisively, not having such a strong force, he could not even dare to fight against the solace of the Jikje Warlords who had been instigated by Japan, and the Honam warlord Zhang Jingyao, who was supported by them.
However, Charles de Gaulle, the head of the Free France, had no intention of listening to Huh Ying-chin’s comments. Was Switzerland classified as an Axis power for nothing, although, of course, it was forcibly absorbed by the German Empire due to Tosagupin.
Therefore, de Gaulle mobilized troops conscripted from Vietnam, colonial troops, and naval land squadrons to attack Guizhou.
And the Kuomintang had no luck. After all, the French arrived at Guizhou at the same time they invaded Guizhou.
The French military commander would not know, of course, unless you directly ask which warlord the front-line units belong to. In fact, it is difficult to trust even if you ask directly.
Whether or not he intended to ask in the first place was another matter.
And, as a matter of course, no matter how shattered and fled, the French army was far stronger than the warlords and the Kuomintang army.
It was the moment when the last flag of the Three Democrats was broken in a truly absurd way.