ch27

The Tsardom of Rus’ was enraged by the results of the Warsaw Conference, or rather, by the very act of holding the Warsaw Conference itself.

What country in the world would happily watch its own land being divided up like a cake? The other Allied nations were also quite shocked. The malice of the Empire, as revealed by the Warsaw Conference, was tantamount to a declaration that it would literally vaporize its opponents.

This meant that the era of ‘gentlemanly warfare’ in Europe was coming to an end.

However, the anger felt by the Tsardom of Rus’, the shock felt by the great powers of Western Europe, could not compare to the pain suffered by Poland.

Immediately, Poland was ‘bisected’ into the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria in the south and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in the north, under the pretext of restoring order.

That was not all. Countless nobles who had led the Sejm until now suddenly ‘disappeared’ somewhere, and cultural heritages, which were symbols of the capital Warsaw, turned to dust in an instant.

Even a significant portion of the national treasury was plundered under the guise of economic support for rural areas. The Poles had tasted the worst humiliation since they offered their crown to the Holy Roman Empire.

But even in despair, hope sprouts.

“Hey, did you hear about that?”

“About what…?”

“Well, they say our king, he refused to sign such a thing and stormed out of the conference hall.”

“Is that true?”

The story of Karl Albrecht von Habsburg, who became the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, or rather, of Poland, spread throughout Poland.

“They say he didn’t flee and stayed there until the end, fighting alongside the commander!”

“They say he shed tears and raged when he saw the content that the Kingdom of Poland would be divided!”

He instantly became a symbol of Polish resistance and a spiritual pillar for the Polish people. Of course, the reason he took these actions was something that even Yulia, who had been reincarnated from modern times, could not have predicted.

‘A king must be mindful of the citizens…’

He was one of the few nobles who had witnessed and experienced the age of revolution with his own eyes. And he naturally came to know what the end of a king who did not receive the support of the citizens would look like.

And this tendency of his intensified as he became the king of the Kingdom of Poland, where royal authority was relatively weak.

How could he sign such a thing? It sounded like he was tying himself to the guillotine.

But the result was…

“Look at Karol Albrecht I! How hard he fights for us Poles!”

…It was enough to see the resistance fighters who had fled to the Tsardom of Rus’ hanging his portrait on the wall.

Of course, the Empire did not only repeat such successes.

In fact, it had suffered defeats in some local battles, and although the Battle of Rome had succeeded in extracting the Pope, Rome itself had been taken by the Kingdom of Italy.

But these were all tactical failures. The Imperial Army had been defeated in tactics, but it could be said that it had never tasted defeat in ‘strategic’ terms.

But now we were tasting a strategic defeat.

Since the start of the war, the worst news had arrived before my eyes.

The declaration of war from the Empire of Japan.

“…”

I crumpled up the declaration of war from the Empire of Japan.

“The justification?”

“They say it is to punish the pirates who disturb the sea lanes in the Pacific and to restore a peaceful and safe Pacific.”

Bullshit. Since when have those bastards, whose brains have been eaten away by the ideology of militarism, pursued peace and safety?

“Punishing pirates and peace, my foot. They just saw the Empire as an easy pig to eat.”

Apparently, we had been seen as a pretty easy and delicious pig to them.

But we wouldn’t just stand by and be eaten.

“Summon the Director of the Eastern Intelligence Agency.”

“Yes.”

The butler bowed deeply to me, then opened the door and left the room.

How much time had passed? The Director of the Eastern Intelligence Agency, Max von Oppenheim, arrived.

“Your Majesty. I have heard the news.”

“Yes. It seems we have been seen as quite easy by the monkeys of the East.”

One might ask why I was reacting so sensitively only to Japan’s participation, unlike the Polish issue. But this was a problem that was too big to even compare to the Polish participation.

If things went wrong, the colonial fleets of Great Britain, which had been tied down by the commerce raiding operations of light cruisers, would be unleashed. The failure of Operation Rosencrantz would be a given, and in the worst case, our homeland could be threatened.

‘In order to prevent the unleashed fleet of the British Empire, it is necessary to ensure the success of Operation Rosencrantz.’

But in order to make it a success, it was necessary for the colonial defense forces to hold the Empire of Japan back for as long as possible. And to give those monkeys a taste of their own medicine.

“Promise independence to the Indonesian Independence Committee.”

“Yes?! But Indonesia is a major colony in the East…”

As expected of an imperialist. He was horrified and expressed his opposition to my words.

“Hmph. Of course, I have no intention of giving up Indonesia at all.”

I only promised independence, but I didn’t say anything about returning the oil mining rights and land use rights.

“Even after the war, they will still be our economic colony.”

But the things we could get in return right now were truly sweet.

“If we allow nominal independence, we can gain the fighting spirit of the Indonesian people.”

A new ruler with only a changed flag coming, or starting independence steadily under the existing ruler. Which is the more attractive option… you can tell without me having to say it.

“Ah. And one more thing. Create a Korean Independence Committee centered on the Korean students in our Empire.”

“Does Your Majesty intend to support the independence of Korea?”

“Yes. That is correct.”

Of course, I wasn’t doing this because of the admirable thought of ‘Ah, I hope my suffering old homeland will be liberated.’

After all, the past me was the past me. The current me was the current me. This was just purely revenge against the Empire of Japan.

“They ate Korea and got a stomachache, but they weren’t satisfied with that and tried to eat our Eastern colonies. They have to pay the price.”

They would have to spit out all the territories they had forcibly eaten when the war was over. In some form or another.

The Holy Roman Empire was a country that was confident of being the strongest in Europe. Of course, there had been several crises since the German lords united under the banner of the double-headed eagle, but the Holy Roman Empire had overcome those crises well and firmly maintained its position.

Naturally, the Empire, which had made remarkable progress, became the center of numerous reforms and innovations, including Gutenberg’s printing technology, and led European culture.

And Vienna, which eventually became the capital of the Empire, was a crossroads where the Islamic culture of the Ottoman Empire, the Renaissance culture of Italy, and the traditional Catholic culture of Germany met.

A new Constantinople connecting Asia and Rome. In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that it had become the Third Rome.

And many Asian students went to study there.

This was not a strange thing. The purpose of studying abroad was to learn new knowledge that could not be obtained in one’s home country. The quality of education that could be learned in Vienna, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, was comparable to that of London, which boasted the world’s top level of education.

And a young Korean man, Kim Sang-ok, was walking through the streets of Vienna.

“Haa…”

His homeland had been taken away, and a war had broken out among the great powers of Europe, so he couldn’t even return to his stolen homeland. He sighed deeply, feeling sorry for himself.

One might ask if it was possible to return via a neutral country. To put it bluntly, it was impossible right now. The cheapest means of transportation available in this era was none other than the train. But currently, most of the trains were being used to transport troops and supplies.

The railway company had no room to carry an Asian youth.

It was possible to get a ticket, but… the problem was that the price of the ticket was beyond imagination.

And going out to sea by boat… you can guess without me having to say it.

“Damn Yugo bastards. Why did they assassinate the emperor who was just standing there?”

At that moment, he felt someone tapping him on the back. He tilted his head in question and turned around.

“Ah. Professor! Hello!”

He immediately bowed to the person who had tapped him on the back.

“Haha. Yes. Nice to see you, student.”

His name was Max von Oppenheim. He was a Doctor of Oriental Studies at the Imperial University of Vienna.

As he usually studied Oriental studies, he had almost no prejudice against Orientals. That was why he was respected by many Oriental students like himself.

“Student Sang-ok Kim. Can you spare a little time? I have something important to tell you.”

“Ah. Of course, Professor!”

To him, that is, to Sang-ok, he was one of the few ‘adults’ he had met at the Imperial University of Vienna. One of the few adults who distinguished people by their character, not by their race.

It was a request from such an adult, so he could spare some time, even if he couldn’t buy him a meal at any time.

“Well… if you don’t mind, can I talk a little about your homeland?”

“Ah. Yes. Of course, Professor.”

He felt uncomfortable when he thought of his homeland, which had been placed under the feet of the Japanese bastards, but it was a request from him. He could listen to it enough.

“Well… just five years ago. Your homeland, Joseon, became a colony of Japan. With just a few stamps.”

“Yes… that’s right.”

“This is definitely abnormal. How can a country’s sovereignty disappear so easily? This is not right. At least, that’s what I think.”

Of course, it was a hundred times right. But… most of the imperialist powers turned away from that wrong.

“Apparently, His Majesty also thinks so.”

“Yes?”

His Majesty? So, the Imperatrix of Rome? Really?

“Haha. Why are you reacting like that again? Here. This is the Korean Independence Committee, which was established this time under the command of His Majesty. Come if you are interested.”

He patted Sang-ok on the shoulder and got up from his seat.

“….”

…It felt like a fire had been rekindled in the slowly fading embers.