I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 212

“Welcome! Hahaha!”

Jang Gaeseok was in a good mood for the first time in a long time. 

He threw away his dignity and face in front of others, and hugged his old ‘friend’ whom he had not seen for a long time.

“Thank you for your hospitality…”

“No, what are you talking about! Come on in. You must have had a hard time. Your face is so pale…”

Alexander von Falkenhausen, the former head of the German military advisory group in China, shook Jang Gaeseok’s hand with a haggard face.

Tears flowed from his wrinkled eyes.

How long had it been since he returned to China! In 1938, after Germany’s ‘Trautmann Plan’ to reconcile China and Japan failed, the Führer finally chose Japan as his ally.

The German military advisory group that had been sent to support the Nationalist Government of China had to withdraw eventually. 

Falkenhausen loved China, and Jang Gaeseok did not want to let him go, but the Führer threatened to harm his family, so he had to leave.

Falkenhausen returned to the German army and served again after the Second World War started, but he was accused of being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the Führer and was sent to a concentration camp.

He was tortured there for years until Germany collapsed. The Soviet Union took a considerable number of prisoners from the camp and dragged them to Siberia or Central Asia, where Falkenhausen served for a few months before bribing a guard and escaping.

“There was hardly any place to escape in Europe, which was occupied by the Soviet Union… I thank you for your infinite kindness, Mr. President.”

“What are you talking about, General? You are a friend of China. And if these people who escaped with you are your friends, they are no different from my friends. Especially at this point, I’m very glad to see you.”

A middle-aged colonel who was supporting the weakened Falkenhausen and nine others were able to escape together. 

They fled from a camp in Kazakhstan and crossed Xinjiang and Tibet to enter the territory of the Nationalist Government.

“Thank you again. I heard the rumors…”

“That’s right. Most of the elite troops that the military advisory group trained, including you, General, were lost in the war over the past seven years. But now that you are back, we will surely win! Hahaha!”

Jang Gaeseok laughed heartily with a confident face. Falkenhausen also smiled faintly and nodded.

The Nationalist Government was negotiating with the Communists while preparing to drive them out. The National Revolutionary Army was reassembled and trained fiercely, and the Communist bandits also intensified their assassination and guerrilla tactics.

But now that Falkenhausen had arrived, the victory of the National Revolutionary Army was as good as predetermined.

“And… may I ask you one favor?”

“What is it? I can grant you not just one, but ten favors. Just tell me.”

“Thank you… It’s just that, I wonder if you could help our officers who fled to seek asylum in China.”

At that, Jang Gaeseok and the other Chinese were surprised.

A considerable number of Germans had fled from the Soviet Union. Many of them ran away to Spain or southern Italy in Europe. And many others escaped to South America, where white people lived.

Falkenhausen sympathized with his old colleagues who had to hide their identities and live there for the rest of their lives.

And Jang Gaeseok needed them.

“Good! Very good!”

Under the training of the German military advisory group, the National Revolutionary Army was reborn as an elite. In the fifth anti-communist campaign, which almost wiped out the Communists, the German-style tactic of crushing the Tachanka was effective in suppressing the Communists’ forte of guerrilla warfare.

Also, in the war with Japan, the troops trained in the German way made a significant contribution to overcoming Japan’s offensive. 

The one who ruined that was that fucking Yankee, Stilwell.

“Both the American and the Soviet advisory groups have withdrawn, so there is nothing more helpful than the Germans helping us again!”

Jang Gaeseok’s heart began to swell with a wild dream.

Although Germany lost to the Soviet Union, it inflicted massive damage on the Soviet Union with only a third of its population. But what if China, which had twice the population of the Soviet Union, was trained in the German way?

He felt his chest pounding as he recalled the power of the elite divisions that the hundred or so German military advisers had trained.

Falkenhausen, who seemed to know his mind, bowed his head in gratitude and introduced the officers who had escaped with him.

“This guy is probably the talent that you, Mr. President, wanted. His name is…”

“Johann von Killmansegg! It’s an honor to meet you!”

Luckily, the Soviet army had moved the prisoners from the camp that the German army had occupied to Siberia or Central Asia as they were.

The young and capable officers who were known to have participated in the plot to assassinate Hitler were able to escape with Falkenhausen.

Falkenhausen looked at Killmansegg, who was shaking hands with Jang Gaeseok, with a pleased eye.

“His rank is colonel, but he is actually a talent who would not be enough even as a general, if it weren’t for the unfortunate accusation. He crushed the only counterattack of the French army during the invasion of France…”

“Oh, really?”

Killmansegg scratched the back of his head as if he was embarrassed. The other officers were also mostly the best elites of the German army who had graduated from the war college.

Jang Gaeseok’s mouth curled up as if it would reach the sky. 

The previous military advisory group officers were not very elite, except for Hans von Seeckt, who was invited. But look at these guys!

They were all people who should have been generals of Germany. And according to their words, there seemed to be hundreds of officers who had escaped to South America or Spain.

“Good! Good! I will provide you with everything you need!”

Now Mao Zedong, that fucking red b*****d, would be crushed and d*e.

Jang Gaeseok lifted his glass vigorously.

“Come on! Let’s toast for our friendship. Cheers!!!”

***

“Did they arrive safely in China?”

“Yes, they did. Comrade Secretary.”

“Hmm… These guys are too pitiful… But we have to send away those who can’t cooperate with us because of their beliefs.”

Kruglov bowed deeply and walked out of the office. He stretched out and the documents on the desk shook.

“Even if they are stupid, would they take this…?”

According to the spies I planted on both sides, the local wars in China were getting more intense by the day. How could I not call it a war, when there were clashes of battalion-level or higher several times?

In real history, the Communists defeated the Nationalists and drove the Nationalist Government to the island of Taiwan. But in this twisted history, China instead turned against the Soviet Union and joined hands with the United States, giving the Soviet Union a hard time with ‘détente’.

Unified China was too big of a country, and even though I had forcibly torn away Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet, I still had to split the mainland into several pieces.

So I decided to give Jang Gaeseok a little ‘help’.

First, I took away the Northeast Three Provinces, Manchuria, and Inner Mongolia, which would be Mao Zedong’s base, so that neither side could use them. I only provided the Chinese Communists with third-rate equipment that I had captured from the Japanese, not the first-class equipment that the Soviet army used, and I reduced the military aid as much as possible.

“Hmm… Who should I send next…”

And I sent Jang Gaeseok some German officers.

They probably thought they had ‘bribed’ their way out, or that they were lucky to escape. A considerable number of German officers had been brought in for my scientific training group to use as opponents, or for military research.

I planned to pick out the suitable ones among them and send them to China.

Jang Gaeseok’s military ability was honestly abysmal. 

He could win when he faced the warlords, who were equally abysmal at strategy, or when he had overwhelming resources to crush a handful of guerrillas, but he lost to equal opponents.

For example, China was much wider than European Russia in the toxic war. Yet, the Nationalist China had to struggle to resist the Japanese ‘army’.

But what if the German officers trained the National Revolutionary Army as an elite force? Even Mao Zedong, the unrivaled guerrilla leader, would have a hard time.

“I… Comrade Secretary, I understand that you appreciate Mao Zedong, but what if something goes wrong and Jang Gaeseok wins…”

“Molotov, don’t worry too much. China is vast, and it will take Jang Gaeseok a long time to push up. When I think the main force has been exhausted enough, I’ll tell the Americans! Hahaha!”

What if it goes wrong?

The Soviet army’s intervention was a last resort. It was not good to confront hundreds of millions of Chinese on that huge land of China. It was also a stupid move to attract global attention.

The Soviet army’s direct military action was enough to intervene at the ‘request’ of France.

“What do you think the Americans would say if they found out that the Nazi remnants and the Nationalist China were cooperating? Oh, well done, they would be happy?”

“…They would be very upset.”

“That’s right, that’s it!”

The underdog Communists would probably hold on. Land redistribution was an irresistible temptation for hundreds of millions of peasants.

And when I think the Nationalist China has won enough, I’ll expose to the international community that they are hiding and using the Nazi remnants. Maybe even Eastern Europe, France, and Britain would join the game.

“We’re using them too… but it doesn’t matter if we don’t get caught.”

The German officers who were dragged to the Siberian plain were literally being squeezed out. Their military knowledge would soon become obsolete due to the amazing development of rockets and air force technology, but they were still useful.

The elite Soviet officers who were recognized as competent and allowed to stay in the army had to lead their units and fight mock battles that were like real ones in the Siberian training group.

Field battles, tank battles, artillery battles, air battles, trench battles and mountain battles, and even landing battles! 

They would be trained by fighting the German elites in the mock battlefields that were adjusted in various ways.

And they would now be sent to the Third World as a means of ‘advanced military technology’ and revolution export.

“Oh, right. How did the Middle Eastern countries respond to the proposal to send military advisers?”

“Yes! First, Egypt requested the dispatch of about 40 military advisers. Jordan and Iraq are still undecided… Turkey requested a scale of about 100.”

“Turkey? That’s good. And also review the dispatch of Spetsnaz advisers.”

“Yes, Comrade Secretary!”

Of course, I couldn’t send the Soviet army directly. That would only result in the same fate as the Afghan war in real history.

I intended to exert military power in the local area through the sale of military supplies and the training of competent officers. 

It was a last resort to recklessly send an army that was not familiar with the local area. Guerrillas who were familiar with the battlefield could easily defeat an army that was trained in field battles.

“Who’s the fool who’s still sending troops these days! Hahaha!”

There seemed to be a fool across the English Channel who was doing that.