Nanyang Storm 1864

The imperial military and political leaders adopted a detached attitude towards Piłsudski's eager military actions as the leader of the Polish Reconstruction Movement, letting him stir up trouble as he pleased.

When the entire nation is caught up in a frenzy, no amount of persuasion will help.

This is like a dog eating feces; if you really drive it away, the dog will think that someone is going to steal its feces and will bare its fangs.

"And the British? They don't even think to offer any advice." Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee leisurely lit a cigar, comfortably sat back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and savored it as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, Prince Chu-Zheng Hui shook his head and replied, "The British have tried to persuade him, and the French have also tried, but Piłsudski, seeing an opportunity, is unwilling to give it up. He believes that Russia is currently at its weakest point, and all it takes is to deliver a fatal blow to seize vast tracts of fertile land. This temptation has already driven the Polish people into a frenzy, and they are full of complaints about the intervention of Britain and France."

"Hehehe... This is really interesting. It's a duel between a dwarf and a giant. Although the giant is unsteady on his feet, a powerful punch from him is something a dwarf can't withstand." Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee couldn't help but laugh.

Despite the brutal experience of World War I, Tsarist Russia still has a population of 1.48 million, a dramatic decrease of over 27 million compared to pre-war levels, which Poland cannot challenge.

At present, although there is a lot of publicity about the return of Polish exiles, the proposed Polish state-building area has a total population of only over 1730 million, which is only one-ninth of the population of Tsarist Russia.

The current situation of the Polish people clearly cannot support their lofty ambitions.

The two discussed the current situation in Eastern Europe, taking into account that the Imperial Expeditionary Force was drastically reducing its manpower, with more than 160 million troops having been discharged throughout 1918.

At the beginning of the new year 1919

According to the established retirement plan, of the existing 79.62 troops, more than 33.27 will be retired by the end of the year, further reducing the total troop strength to more than 46.

The main group retiring will consist of veterans who have reached or are about to reach the end of their service term, and the plan is to resettle them in Europe.

Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee took a puff of his cigar, exhaled slowly with a contented expression, and said with concern;
"With the imminent outbreak of the Soviet-Polish War, the situation in Eastern Europe and the Arkansas will become increasingly complex, and the possibility of a large-scale migration and spillover of refugees due to the war cannot be ruled out. This poses a severe challenge to the Imperial Expeditionary Force. Should the original retirement plan be postponed?"

“Zhongxian, thank you for your concern. But that’s not necessary. Our current troop strength is sufficient to handle the garrisons of the defeated nations and to carry out the defense of key locations. Neither Poland nor Tsarist Russia dares to easily offend the expeditionary force; they are forces they cannot afford to provoke.”

"It seems the commander-in-chief is very confident."

"Hehe... The retired soldiers have basically taken their weapons home. If needed, I can mobilize a million troops in just three days with a single order. The empire's decades-long reserve mobilization system for rural soldiers is not just for show."

"If that's the case, then that's for the best. Maintaining a large army is indeed a difficult task, and the empire's finances are under great pressure!"

"Serving the country is the duty of the imperial army, and the expeditionary force will not shirk its responsibility."

"I am truly gratified by the General's understanding. Considering the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference, which requires the backing of the Expeditionary Force's strength, I hope that the disarmament can be postponed during the conference and left for the second half of the year."

"Hmm, that's fine. Zhongxian, were there significant difficulties in protecting the interests of the Empire at the Paris Peace Conference?"

"The struggle for interests has always been like this. Every piece must be fought for. The cake is only so big. If you take a bigger bite, someone else will have one less. There's no such thing as something being handed over for free."

"I see. If there are any difficulties with the meeting, just send a telegram from Zhongxian, and the expeditionary force will appropriately demonstrate its strength to lend you a helping hand."

"Oh...tell me about it." Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee put down his cigar and looked over with great interest.

Prince Chu-Zheng Hui smiled casually, seemingly unintentionally picking up an Easter egg from the table and playing with it, speaking lightly.

"Whether in the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Ottoman Empire, the expeditionary force was the main force of the local garrison, and formed a relatively close relationship with the original noble class in order to maintain local security."

We are, after all, guests, and it is not appropriate for us to make a big fuss.

However, this is merely our magnanimity; turning a blind eye to stubborn forces in some areas does not mean we lack decisive measures.

If necessary, swift and decisive military action could be taken against parts of the French-speaking and English-speaking regions, which would likely cause considerable pain to both Britain and France.

Sometimes, making a small movement is the only way to make others notice your presence.

“Excellent! This is the best news I’ve heard today. I’m truly looking forward to this trip to the Paris Peace Conference! Hahahaha…”

Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee burst into laughter as he spoke, his words filled with delight.

The Paris Peace Conference he faced was not simple; it was filled with all sorts of deceit and overt and covert struggles. It can be said to be a collection of the contradictions and problems of the world today, and it is no easy task to sort out the details.
The current consensus is to completely dismantle the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Bulgaria.

The latter, in particular, was precisely the core demand of the Great Chu Empire, requiring a resolution unanimously passed at the Paris Peace Conference to legally divide the coastal areas of the seven eastern provinces of Bulgaria and incorporate them into the Greater Thrace region.

In other words, the European territory of the Great Chu Empire was incorporated into it.

Although these allied members have reached a consensus, there is great controversy over how to dismantle the entity, who will lead the effort, and whether it should be separated into a small European country or merged into Thrace.

Although Britain and France had previously reached an understanding, that was, after all, the most difficult period of the war.

Today, amidst the uproar in Europe, including France, positions have become more nuanced, which was to be expected.

In Europe, anything involving territory and sovereignty is always fraught with controversy and setbacks; there's never a smooth ride.

After the war was won, a bunch of people jumped out.

Greece has a claim to the western Thrace region in the north, Bulgaria has a claim to the northern Thrace region, and Serbia has a claim to the Macedonian-Thrace region. Each country is eyeing the territory closely, using historical and cultural connections to support its claims.

No one talks about the tacit understanding during the difficult times of the war, and there is great criticism of the empire's forced occupation of seven coastal provinces in eastern Bulgaria, with all sorts of opinions being expressed.

Many former European nobles even stepped forward and publicly declared their right to inherit this fiefdom.

They produced some old, outdated enfeoffment certificates, some even dating back five or six hundred years, and made a big fuss about them in Parisian high society, trying to gain sympathy and support everywhere.

With so many people talking, things become difficult to get done – that's the current situation.

The ambiguous attitude of Britain and France was also evident here. On the issue of the multinational intervention in Tsarist Russia, on the post-war handling of Germany, and on other issues large and small, the Great Chu Empire was full of perfunctory and indifferent behavior, which displeased Britain and France.

Consequently, the distribution of post-war profits was not so straightforward. From another perspective...

European societies, led by Britain and France, were never willing to allow the Chu state to infiltrate. They had no choice during the unprecedentedly brutal period of the European war, but now they have finally caught their breath.
Look at how Britain, France, and other countries, in order to prevent Tsarist Russia from breaking out of the Black Sea, did not hesitate to form an Anglo-French alliance to launch the Crimean War, joining forces with the Ottoman Empire to block Tsarist Russia back.

I knew that the full-scale landing of the Great Chu Empire in Europe would not be smooth sailing.

The meaning behind Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee's words is very clear.

Don't rush into disarmament; let's secure all the benefits the empire needs at the Paris Peace Conference first.

The two sides in the secret meeting reached an agreement to link Paris and Yalta through confidential telegrams, ensuring that the interests of the empire were realized.

Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee also made his point clear.

If the Empire fails to obtain the promised benefits, it will turn to supporting France's plan to dismember and severely suppress Germany, thus setting the stage for the next European war.

At worst, they could simply part ways with the British. The State of Chu could also align itself with France's post-war interests and try to win over the Italians to cause trouble; these were all options.

It was clear that Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee was very dissatisfied with the British’s ambiguous attitude and agreed that the expeditionary force should give them a warning and demonstrate its strength at an appropriate time.

The Anglo-French forces landed in Murmansk in northern Russia, but the Chu army stationed in Lithuania was responsible for their logistical support. If the Chu army cut off their supplies, they would be in serious trouble.

The expeditionary force had many cards to play, and after the two discussed things in private for a while, Prime Minister Li Jingyi left satisfied, feeling more confident.

During his subsequent trip, Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hee visited the Republic of Odessa, Romania, and Bulgaria, and spent seven days inspecting the Greater Thrace region, where he was quite satisfied with the local post-war recovery and reconstruction efforts.

On January 21, 1919, Li Jingxi, the Prime Minister of the Great Chu Empire, and his entourage arrived in Paris by train via Milan, Italy, and began frequent consultations with the leaders of Britain, France, the United States, Italy and other countries, officially commencing the postwar agenda.

Just two weeks later, the Polish-Soviet War officially broke out.

Poland launched a full-scale offensive against Belarus and the Baltic states. The new Tsarist government in the region had only a few scattered armed forces, which were quickly defeated.

At the Paris Peace Conference
British Prime Minister Lloyd George's behavior was a stark contrast to his previous ambiguous stance. In a private meeting, he not only reaffirmed the tacit understanding on the division of interests but also pledged to actively lobby the Allied powers to support the Greater Thrace plan.

One has to admire the British political acumen; they sensed an unusual crisis from the Yalta Conference.

They didn't give the State of Chu a chance to lash out at all, and readily acknowledged the current state of power division in Europe, especially the Greater Thrace plan.

Among the earliest outcomes of the Paris Peace Conference were the Greater Thrace Plan, the plan to dismember the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its postwar arrangements.

After the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up into Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, and Slovenia, essentially dismembering this great Central European power.

Bulgaria was divided into Bulgaria and Greater Thrace (note: the eastern part), the latter belonging to the territory of the Great Chu Empire.

The division between the Ottoman Empire and postwar Germany remains in a long-term stalemate due to sharp contradictions and deadlock among the parties.

Having achieved all his objectives, Chu Prime Minister Li Jingxi left his foreign minister and entourage to continue attending the Paris Peace Conference, while he himself returned to the empire by ship at the end of March.

With the 53rd anniversary of the founding of the nation and the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor just around the corner, as the Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, I naturally have to hurry back to take charge of the government's overall work.

Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle the wrangling in Paris.

March, 1919

The main Polish forces captured Minsk, the capital of Belarus, while another force reached Lithuania and Latvia, and successfully occupied the three Baltic states.

On April 2, the Polish army launched an attack on Kyiv.

There were already large numbers of Polish armed groups fighting against the new Tsarist government in Belarus and Ukraine, creating a chaotic situation.

在1919年2月初，波兰陆军总共有11万人，到了4月便扩充至17万人，其中8万人是战斗部队。

A large portion of these were local Polish armed groups that were incorporated into the regular army; basically, wherever the Polish army fought, they were incorporated into the regular army.

By September 1919, the Polish army had rapidly expanded to over 540,000 men, with 230,000 of them on the Soviet front, frantically expanding their territory in all directions.

The Great Chu Empire drastically reduced its military presence abroad, leaving ample territory and space for them to fight, completely ignoring their concerns.

After the plan to partition the Austro-Hungarian Empire was put forward, the expeditionary force gradually withdrew, returning to Odessa with a large number of looted souvenirs and local women, where they rested and then redeployed.

The so-called redeployment is actually the resettlement phase, in which farmland and town houses are granted to these troops and soldiers as rewards: one regiment to one city, one company to one town, and one platoon to one village.

The only difference is that they haven't taken off their military uniforms yet.

The redeployed troops have entered a long-term leave period.

They changed out of their military uniforms and, with their hired laborers, began working in the fields, cultivating the land they had been granted to ensure a bountiful harvest in the coming months.

As the war reignited in Ukraine, a large number of Ukrainian refugees entered the Republic of Odessa and were then systematically distributed to towns and villages, where they began a peaceful and tranquil agricultural life.

While war raged across Eastern Europe, the Republic of Odessa stood out as a haven of tranquility amidst the chaos of conflict.

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

Neither the Polish army, the Tsarist Russian army, nor the White Army dared to set foot in the region.

The formidable reputation of the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force was unparalleled in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, a testament to the victories in war after war, a feat worthy of awe and reverence.

The stark contrast between the war-torn region and this peaceful area has attracted a growing number of refugees seeking a tranquil haven. (End of Chapter)