I Will Stage A Coup D’état

The Germans were defeated at Stalingrad, just as in the original history.

I pondered for a moment on how to utilize the German army’s defeat.

Come to think of it, most of the surrendered German soldiers will die from illness or starvation.

It seemed a waste to let them die like that.

We should bring them over and make good use of them as labor.

I immediately sent a telegram to Stalin.

“To Comrade Stalin. On behalf of the people of the Korean Empire, I send my praise for Your Excellency’s remarkable victory.”

While buttering up Stalin, I subtly suggested that he hand over the Axis prisoners of war to us in exchange for the cost of goods to be paid to us.

It felt a bit strange, as if we were buying and selling people like in the Atlantic slave trade era, but I was convinced that this would be better for the Germans being sold as well.

Stalin showed a very favorable response to my proposal.

“Let’s do that.”

Anyway, the Soviet Union can’t do anything with the Axis prisoners except starve them to death.

They have their own nose to grind, so what can they do?

I was able to receive the German prisoners that Stalin kindly loaded on trains like a parcel delivery.

Of course, all 150,000 prisoners did not come in at once.

The first to arrive were high-ranking German officers.

Normally, the Reds would have interrogated and made good use of such high-ranking officers, but when I mentioned that we wanted to prepare for when the Korean troops would participate in the war, they handed them over without a word.

Of course, there was no chance of getting Paulus or the high-ranking generals close to him.

I personally inspected the German officers who were transferred and interviewed them as well.

There was no problem with communication as a German Jew acted as an interpreter.

“You’ve all had a hard time, so let’s provide them with sufficient nutrition and then put them to work.”

“We will take those measures.”

Of course, I had no intention of putting the officers into simple labor.

I had a separate task for these guys.

“You there.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

“Squeeze the German officers and extract everything from German tactics to strategy.”

“I will do so.”

“The DSC will be in charge of information analysis. We need to have basic data when we invade Europe as well.”

“Yes. I will thoroughly prepare.”

I prepared to carefully classify and make use of the gift Stalin gave me.

Ah, I forgot about this.

“Also, pick out the ones among the German officers who have a strong resentment against Hitler. We’ll need to have them do some radio broadcasts.”

“I will obey.”

A few days later, we started a temporary radio broadcast.

If Japan used Japanese-American ‘Tokyo Rose’¹ to demoralize American troops through broadcasts, we did propaganda broadcasts using pure Germans.

In Berlin, they called the Germans who appeared on our broadcast ‘Pyongyang Hans’.

A total of 12 Pyongyang Hans did the radio broadcasts, and the content was similar.

Along with lively music broadcasts, they mocked Hitler’s testicles.

“Hitler only has one ball. Göring has both, but they’re very small.”

When we played the broadcast mocking Hitler with cheerful music, an immediate response came from Berlin.

“There are traitors attached to vile beasts in human form. They are no longer part of the great Germanic race! They are mongrels!”

Of course, Berlin’s rebuttal didn’t carry much weight.

The more they refuted, the more awkward Berlin’s position became.

That’s because the German government had made this kind of broadcast about the ‘siege’ of Stalingrad.

“Generals, officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers all fought together until they ran out of bullets. The sacrifice of the 6th Army was not in vain. Because they died, we can live today!” ŕАＮö฿Êș

The entire German army fought to the end and went down valiantly.

Stalingrad is Germany’s Thermopylae (note: where Sparta’s King Leonidas died fighting against Persia).

The German government had shouted that, so the mere fact that there were ‘traitors’ was like spitting on their own propaganda.

Wait a minute. This could be used as propaganda to provoke the German prisoners of war, right?

I had the German prisoners listen to the broadcasts from their homeland disparaging them.

Then, the warriors of reversal who survived hell exploded with rage.

“Those fucking bastards. How did we fight there!”

Some of the German soldiers shouted that if given a gun, they would go and shoot Hitler.

I liked this atmosphere.

I called for Lee Kyung-ho from the Central Intelligence Agency.

“You there.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

“Among the German prisoners, find out if those with particularly strong resentment against Hitler can be used as our agents. Of course, give them thorough ‘ideological education’.”

By ideological education, I meant the ‘Lee Sung Joon Series Education’.

Although the revolutionary camps were discontinued, their legacy still remained in Korea.

“I will obey.”

I decided to take my hands off the prisoner issue at this point.

But then an unexpected proposal arrived from the Soviet Union.

“About that prisoner issue, could Korea convert General Paulus?”

Huh? Convert Paulus?

The Soviet authorities must have been deeply impressed by the German prisoner conversion program(?) we showed, and wanted to entrust Paulus to us.

Well, there’s no reason to refuse.

Paulus is a big shot too.

Once an agreement was reached, Paulus was rocket-delivered to Korea.

Not the Soviet Union, but Sopang (note: Korean slang for Soviet Union).

I had a conversation with General Paulus, sent by the Sopang man.@@novelbin@@

While talking, I learned that contrary to preconceptions, Paulus was a man with a very strong loyalty to Germany.

“Although I surrendered, I have not forgotten the fact that Friedrich Paulus is a marshal of the German army. I hope Your Excellency understands that I cannot betray my subordinates and colleagues.”

So you’re saying he’s a patriot.

There was something I really wanted to say to such a patriot.

“Let’s put that story aside and talk about the war. Do you think Germany will win this war, Marshal?”

Paulus did not answer.

“I think the longer the war drags on, the more suffering will be inflicted on Germany. What was the price Germany paid for doing well in World War I? Didn’t astronomical reparations and territorial concessions follow the more damage they caused? The longer Germany holds out, the greater the burden the German people will have to bear.”

I repeatedly emphasized to him that the longer the war dragged on, the less benefit there would be for the German people.

Finally, Paulus, who had been keeping silent, opened his mouth.

“What do you want from me that you say such things, Your Excellency?”

“Defect. Cooperate with the Soviet Union.”

At those words, Paulus furrowed his brows.

“I said I wouldn’t betray my country.”

“Then, will you abandon your duty to protect the German people, Marshal? What is the most important mission of the German Wehrmacht? Isn’t it to protect the people?”

“I am a marshal of the German army.”

“That’s not important right now, Marshal. Look at your duty, not the rank insignia on your shoulders.”

Paulus was not easily persuaded.

If he were that kind of person, he would have succumbed to the threats of the Reds.

But it was clear he was starting to waver.

The keyword to persuade a patriot was always patriotism.

I gave Paulus time.

Two days later, Paulus requested a conversation with me.

Unlike the day before, Paulus was neatly shaved and dressed like a human being.

He looked like a real marshal, not a common defeated soldier.

“I’ve thought deeply about what Your Excellency said. The more I thought about it, the more I realized you were right. What I should protect was not my petty pride, but the future of my people.”

As expected.

In the original history, when Paulus heard the news that Operation Valkyrie had failed, he finally felt something and began cooperating with the Soviet Union.

I thought it was a sense of crisis.

A sense of crisis that no one could save the fatherland.

That must have been the force that moved Paulus.

I guessed that fact, so I poked at Paulus’ sense of duty.

“The German people of the future will highly appreciate the Marshal’s decision.”

“You flatter me. So what can this petty general do for the Allies?”

“Please take the lead of the German National Salvation Military Committee.”

“National Salvation Military Committee?”

The marshal tilted his head for a moment.

It was an intentional naming.

If he were Korean, he would have understood right away, which was a bit disappointing.

Only after the interpreter added a few words did Paulus understand what I meant.

“Am I worthy of such an important position?”

Paulus’ prestige within the German army was not great.

But prestige was something that could be made if given.

“The Marshal’s decision saved 150,000 Axis officers and men from starvation, disease, and Soviet bullets. Who in the world could save so many people?”

If packaged well, even junk coins could be turned into gold.

Moreover, Paulus was not some junk coin, but a proper commander.

Paulus hesitated for a long time, but accepted my suggestion.

I also conveyed this news to Stalin.

“National Salvation Military Committee. The name is a bit strange, but it doesn’t matter.”

Stalin thought the idea of the National Salvation Military Committee was good.

In the original history, he created something called the National Committee for a Free Germany and used Paulus as a figurehead, so he had no reason to oppose my idea either.

Stalin created the German National Salvation Military Committee and put Paulus as the chairman.

It was the frontal emergence of anti-Hitler forces, more than a year earlier than in history.

With this, the myth of the unified German ranks united around Hitler was completely shattered.

What replaced the shattered faith was only divergent views looking at defeat.

Footnotes

1. 1. Tokyo Rose was a name given to a group of American-speaking women who broadcast Japanese propaganda during World War II: Iva Toguri D'Aquino: The most well-known Tokyo Rose, Toguri was an American who was stranded in Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was forced to renounce her U.S. citizenship and work for Radio Tokyo as the host of the Zero Hour program. After the war, she was convicted of treason and served six years in prison. In 1977, President Gerald Ford pardoned her, restoring her American citizenship. She died in /genesisforsaken