Chapter 270

< World War II - The Road to China >

September 14, 1942

Capital of Vietnam, Hanoi - Occupied territory of the Empire of Japan

Rumble-

The sound of tank and armored vehicle tracks scraping against the ground was now like a symbol of death and defeat for the Imperial Japanese Army.

Through the collusion between corrupt warlords and the traitorous Wang Jingwei Regime that clung to Japan, the incredibly lucky purchase of Panzerfausts was nothing more than an exception.

In the face of the Allied Forces' overwhelming armored waves, there were few countermeasures the Empire of Japan's army could take.

"It's the Anti-tank Bayonet Technique, got it?!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

They somehow managed to answer the officer's shouting, but the eyes of the Japanese soldiers were trembling like aspen leaves from anxiety.

"If you die a heroic death here for The Empire, your families will be congratulated by mourners as the parents of the most honorable sons. Do not bring shame to your families! Long live the Emperor!"

"Long live the Emperor!"

At the officer's shout as he drew his sword, the Japanese soldiers charged out with their bayonets as if leaving it all to fate, but their end was obvious.

A volley of gunfire rang out.

The unfortunate soldier, whose last words became 'Long live the Emperor,' collapsed without even letting out a groan.

"Yaaaargh! Ugh!"

The fate of the officer, who ran with his sword drawn towards a Panther that was absurdly massive for a human to face, also ended with his entire body pierced by a hail of bullets.

"G-Gasp!"

The soldiers who belatedly tried to turn their backs were also shot and fell in vain.

The Allied Forces, who had been relaxed from crushing the Japanese army so easily, had undergone hellish scoldings and inspections from Commander-in-Chief Walter Model following the loss of a Panther to a Panzerfaust, and were now in a state of combined arms readiness as thorough as during the war with the Soviet Union.

From the start, this was not a military that the Japanese army, lacking any weapons to counter tanks and calling haphazard methods of desperate struggle a doctrine, could face.

Although they abandoned Saigon and retreated, the time bought by the Southern Expeditionary Army Group headquarters and Kimura Heitaro was not even a month at most.

"Damn it, damn it! How are we supposed to stop those monsters?!"

And all Kimura Heitaro did during that time after fleeing to Hanoi was despair and hurl insults at his incompetent subordinates and the overwhelmingly strong Allied Forces.

"Just what on earth have you been doing all this time?"

Unable to watch any longer, Tsuji Masanobu, an officer sent from the Imperial General Headquarters known as the 'God of Operations,' asked with a dumbfounded face, prompting Kimura, who was tearing at his hair, to slump down before him, shedding tears and grabbing his pant legs.

"Tsuji! Tsuji, aren't you the God of Operations?! Give me a countermeasure, a countermeasure! At this rate, I might be ordered to commit seppuku!"

"What other way is there but to hold out with grit?! We can win if we have the great spirit of The Empire, so what kind of disgraceful conduct are you showing right now, senior?!"

At the hopeless answer from a man holding a title like the 'God of Operations,' Kimura poured out tears.

While the two were doing so, a subordinate brought a telegram.

"Long live the Emperor! Lieutenant General Shigesaburo's unit has been pushed back by the German Army and is isolated in Dien Bien Phu! They are fighting a delaying action and asking for help for now, but what should we…"

"Tell them to hold out without fearing death, with the spirit of the Empire's subjects!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Tsuji, who had unconsciously snapped and shouted, let out a deep sigh at the sight of Kimura—who was strictly his superior and the person in charge on site—shedding tears endlessly instead of taking issue with his outburst.

The Imperial Japanese Army in Vietnam had completely collapsed.

He had no choice but to return to the Imperial General Headquarters and shift this responsibility onto Kimura.

"I must return!"

"T-Tsuji! Hey, where are you going?! Do not abandon me!"

"Ugh…"

When Tsuji was unable to shake off the clinging Kimura, sudden news arrived.

"Urgent news! The Allied Forces have reached Hanoi!"

"W-What?! There should have been units in between!"

"It seems they bypassed them!"

"This is insane!"

Pandemonium instantly engulfed the command.

"How the hell do those damn Allied Forces bastards know the geography of Vietnam so well?!"

The Allied Forces were surely here for the first time, yet they were utterly crushing the Japanese army as if they knew the geography inside out.

While the headquarters became a pandemonium preparing for withdrawal, Tsuji Masanobu simply tried to slip away.

"Hey Tsuji, let's go together!"

Inwardly finding the frantically following Kimura pathetic, Tsuji was about to kick open the door of the headquarters when the sound of a glass window shattering—Crash!—was heard from behind.

"What the-?"

"Gasp, a-a grena-!"

The word 'nade' never followed.

The explosion instantly annihilated the command room, and Tsuji Masanobu and Kimura Heitaro, who barely saved their lives by being further away near the exit, were swept up in the shockwave, slammed hard against the wall, and collapsed.

"Heh-, cough, cough…"

"Ugh…"

And before they could even gather their senses, the door flew open with a Bang!, and Viet Cong fighters poured in.

"Gasp…!"

"D-Don't shoot! I surrender, I surrender!"

The man who led them in glanced at Tsuji and Kimura, who were trembling in pain but raising both hands to live, and then turned his gaze toward the sound of artillery and gunfire echoing from the other side of the urban area.

The man with a stylish beard, Ho Chi Minh, stroked his beard with his hand and spoke quietly.

"Now, then. Will they be liberators, or just another group of imperialists…"

-

The residents of Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, watched the Allied Forces' imposing military force entering the urban area with anxious eyes.

The hopes of the Vietnamese people, who had fervently welcomed the Imperial Japanese Army as liberators who would free them from French oppression, had already cooled down coldly amidst Japan's oppression, which was even worse than France's.

Even at a glance, the Allied Forces' mechanized units, which were on a different level from the French garrison in the Indochina Peninsula or the Empire of Japan's army, worried the Vietnamese.

However, even in the eyes of the Vietnamese who had become so cynical, the diverse army of the Allied Forces looked unique.

They were using almost similar equipment, but behind the leading flag of Germany fluttered the flags of Poland, Ukraine, and Finland.

Moreover, seeing black people—whom the Vietnamese rarely ever saw—driving tanks with the flag of Ethiopia hung up was incredibly unfamiliar.

Lastly, the Korea Liberation Army, which had barely managed to form a regiment-sized military force after absorbing Joseon Army prisoners of war from the Japanese Empire, also followed while flying the Taegeukgi.

Commander-in-Chief of the Korea Liberation Army Ji Cheong-cheon, riding in a Hanomag armored vehicle, looked at the Korea Liberation Army marching behind the Allied Forces and muttered quietly with a face full of deep emotion.

"…We have finally come this far."

After the Allied Forces' procession entered Hanoi.

A meeting between the Allied Forces' high command and the Provisional Government of Vietnam was held at the former French Governor-General's Office building.

"The Provisional Government of Vietnam welcomes the Allied Forces as 'comrades' who stood against the Empire of Japan."

Chairman of the Provisional Government of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh bowed his head slightly and spoke in fairly fluent German, and Walter Model also replied with a light nod.

"As the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Vietnam area, I express my gratitude for the Provisional Government of Vietnam's cooperation."

Capturing Vietnam at a speed the Empire of Japan dared not even imagine was due to the capabilities of Walter Model and the Allied Forces, but it was also possible because of the cooperation of the Viet Cong under the Provisional Government of Vietnam.

However, that did not mean Ho Chi Minh and the Provisional Government of Vietnam were purely friendly toward the Allied Forces.

For starters, they had to drive out the Empire of Japan, which enforced even worse oppression than France, but right now, Britain and the Netherlands—members of the Allied Powers—were imperialist nations, and Germany was also once an imperialist nation.

When everyone in Vietnam had cheered and welcomed the Empire of Japan as liberators, Ho Chi Minh, who immediately prepared a liberation movement after leaving the remark, 'Do the Joseon people under Japanese rule look happy?', was also looking at the Allied Forces with eyes of suspicion.

After taking some time to briefly introduce each other, Ho Chi Minh straightforwardly brought up the main subject.

"Do the Allied Forces intend to recognize the Provisional Government of Vietnam as an official member?"

Dietrich Schacht, as if he had predicted this situation would happen, had provided various pieces of intel and made requests to Model before his departure.

'How on earth did he know about an independence activist down here in Southeast Asia?'

Model harbored such doubt, but assuming the Abwehr must have investigated it, he opened his mouth.

"According to the Treaty of Amsterdam, the fate of the French Indochina Peninsula, namely Vietnam, was decided to be discussed separately after being retaken from the Empire of Japan."

The faces of Ho Chi Minh and the personnel of the Provisional Government of Vietnam stiffened, but they did not immediately storm out of the conference room.

A powerless nation does not even have the right to decide its own fate. That is international politics.

"So what will you do with us? Make us a new colony?"

However, that did not mean the Vietnamese had any intention of meekly accepting such a fate.

Ho Chi Minh's voice was calm, but his fighting spirit to resist even the Allied Powers if necessary could be seen.

But Walter Model, receiving that intense gaze, smiled leisurely.

Vietnam's fate was the most important thing to them, but in truth, it was not a matter Walter Model had an interest in.

However, the politician who was once his subordinate believed he had the capability to handle such matters, gave him the maximum amount of information and guidelines, and entrusted him with full authority.

Then this was a matter that Walter Model had to handle.

Walter Model briefly glanced at Seyoum Mengesha of the Ethiopian Army and Ji Cheong-cheon of the Korea Liberation Army, who were present, and then spoke.

"It's not that there are no nations within the Allied Powers that want to claim Vietnam, but we believe that a nation that has contributed to the Allied Forces and proven its worth deserves to enjoy freedom."

Was this why Schacht gave his tacit approval even when Britain and the Netherlands blatantly prioritized retaking Singapore and the East Indies?

If the British Army and the Dutch Army had advanced together, the story might have flowed differently.

The other nations present here either had no interest in colonies and lacked the capability to maintain them, or were friendly toward colonized people in situations similar to their own.

"We must move busily for China and other Japanese fronts. However, there are still many remnant units of the Japanese army within the Indochina Peninsula."

In particular, Miyazaki Shigesaburo—who had regrouped his subordinate units in Imphal and retreated, fighting a delaying action all the way from Cambodia—was so persistent that even Walter Model inwardly clicked his tongue.

They had cornered them into the highlands of Dien Bien Phu, but the Allied Forces could not afford the manpower or time to leisurely capture such a rugged area.

Just from Model saying that much, Ho Chi Minh nodded as if he understood.

"If so, we Vietnamese will crush the invaders left on Vietnam's land with our own hands. …But."

Ho Chi Minh paused for a moment before speaking.

"If we accomplish that, will the Allied Forces approve our independence and entry into the Allied Powers? We have already dealt with many who broke their promises by making excuses that the field commander's opinion differs from the home country's."

Mutaguchi Renya, who had made a bloodless entry while reassuring them that there would be no exploitation, left for Burma, and the newly appointed Kimura Heitaro ruthlessly exploited Vietnam, claiming it was the will of The Empire.

"I do not know how much authority you have, sir, but we cannot trust anything other than an official treaty. …Even though you people frequently flip even those official treaties like the palm of a hand."

Still, he had effectively said to the faces of high-ranking Allied commanders that he couldn't fully trust them, so Ho Chi Minh worried that the white people would be displeased, even if it was a necessary remark.

However, Walter Model's reaction was different from his expectation.

"That is a valid point."

As Walter Model spoke so concisely and gestured behind him, Chief of Staff Hans Krebs took out the prepared paper and unfolded it.

Ho Chi Minh squinted at the paper, then widened his eyes when he saw that only a title and a signature were written at the bottom of the completely blank paper.

German Minister of Defense and Supreme Advisor of the Allied Forces, Dietrich Schacht.

By now, among those involved in this war, there was no one who did not know the name Dietrich Schacht and the weight of his signature.

And handing over a blank agreement document signed by someone of that caliber directly represented the authority of the German general in front of him.

Ho Chi Minh immediately corrected his previously guarded attitude, and Walter Model smiled as he spoke.

"We have done enough probing, so let us begin our discussion in earnest now."

Inwardly feeling a pleasant mood, thinking that having a good former subordinate made his life easier.

-

September 18, 1942

Western Republic of China, Sichuan Province, Chongqing - Nationalist Government Headquarters

The news of the fall of Hanoi also reached the Republic of China.

Effectively, the Indochina Peninsula, including Vietnam, had fallen into the hands of the Allied Forces.

It should be good news for the Republic of China since the Allied Powers had approached so closely, yet its leader, Jiang Jieshi, let out a deep sigh.

The news that German-made anti-tank equipment had fallen into the hands of the Japanese army of all things, and was used to destroy German tanks, sent chills down the spine of even Jiang Jieshi, who was now accustomed to most tragic news.

Enraged, Germany completely cut off their weapons support to the Republic of China, and Jiang Jieshi could not even put up a proper protest about it.

It was Germany who took the side of the Republic of China instead of the United States, which had offered to mediate peace negotiations by simply handing over Manchuria or North China.

Jiang Jieshi had nothing to say, even if he had ten mouths.

Thus, even after looking at the report he just received from Dai Li, he simply let out heavy sighs with his glabella furrowed before facing Falkenhausen.

Alexander von Falkenhausen.

A man who had built a deep acquaintance with Jiang Jieshi as a part of Germany's Military Advisory Group, providing much help to the Republic of China, and had briefly been forced to leave China due to Hitler's threats before soon returning.

Jiang Jieshi harbored deep gratitude towards him, which made the current situation extremely regrettable.

"General. I heard the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea met with Yan Xishan, and now they are even exchanging telegrams with the German home country."

That snake-like man of the Guangxi Clique, Li Zongren, was demanding Jiang Jieshi urge the Allied Forces to retake his territory, Guangxi in southern China, as quickly as possible.

Under such circumstances, Germany, which had advanced all the way to Vietnam right next to Guangxi, cut off its support for the Republic of China and individually contacted a warlord who was nominally under the Republic of China but still retained some of his own forces.

Jiang Jieshi was not so incompetent as to not know what that meant.

"Is this Germany's decision?"

"…Brother Jiang. I did my best."

"…I see."

Jiang Jieshi, who had led the Republic of China with an indomitable spirit despite those countless adversities, let out a heavy sigh.

Falkenhausen's answer turned his doubt into certainty.

"Still, the home country has permitted me to continue operating as an advisory group for the Republic of China."

At Falkenhausen's following words, Jiang Jieshi gave a bitter smile.

He couldn't bring himself to say he was thankful for even that.

The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which Jiang Jieshi had cherished in his own way, becoming Germany's loyal dog was also something that warranted quite a bit of anger from him, but he suppressed it.

They must have known too that looking after them didn't stem purely from goodwill.

If he got angry over every little thing like that, he would have died of a fit of anger long ago.

Jiang Jieshi spoke, looking half-despondent.

"Then I must also relay this to Germany. I was told America is sending us an advisory group as well. I trust you will not take issue with this now."

Since it had come to this, grabbing onto even America was the only path for the Republic of China, and Falkenhausen did not protest as he had already heard about it from Dietrich Schacht.

"Who did they say is coming?"

At Falkenhausen's question, Jiang Jieshi looked down at the telegram on his desk and answered.

"It is a general named Joseph Stilwell.