Ch. 36: Behind Closed Doors
4:47 PM, October 19th, 1919, Bogdat, Transbaikal Region, Siberia
The small Russian village of Bogdat was located in an empty clearing surrounded by hills and boreal forests. Due to the subarctic terrain, the ground was mostly covered with grass, moss, and lichens. Small amounts of frost could be seen forming on the ground due to the cold weather.
In the village, several men wearing ushankas, boots, and buttoned military shirt-tunics ranging from green to tan were hiding behind barricades or in shallow trenches surrounding the village. Many of the soldiers had a red star poorly stitched onto their breast pocket.
"DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH!" rattled a machine gun positioned at one of the barricades. Several soldiers running through the forest in the distance were instantly mowed down.
"Don't these bastards ever stop coming?!" yelled the soldier manning the machine gun. Suddenly several loud artillery shots could be heard in the distance. Smoke from damaged buildings could also be seen rising above the village behind the barricade.
"Semyonov and his White Army has been pushing us for back weeks. We must win here if we want break the encirclement!" yelled a nearby soldier who quickly aimed his rifle forward and shot into the forest.
"I heard the nearby village of Homyaki was also nothing faring any better than us." said a third soldier shooting with his rifle. "In the end, it doesn't matter whether or not we stop them advancing. As long as they maintain their encirclement, the blockade will do the killing for them and..."
"BANG!" echoed through the air as a bullet flew right into the soldier's forehead. His forehead instantly started dripping blood as he silently fell down into the ground.
"DAMN IT! THEY GOT DMITRI!" yelled the second soldier. The soldier manning the machine gun pulled the trigger and sprayed bullets all over. The White Army hiding at the forest edge instantly took cover. Several unlucky soldiers instantly fell dead as the machine gun kept spraying bullets.
Suddenly the soldiers manning the barricade looked up when a ear-piercing noise could be heard above. Without any moment to comprehend what was about to happen, an artillery shell exploded and blasted the barricade, along with the soldiers, apart. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was a crater and some debris.
Nearby, several trenches and barricades were set up to oversee the main road leading into the village. As the soldiers continued firing back at the enemy with machine guns, pistols, and rifles, a mustached man in uniform walked over.
"Comrades!" yelled the man.
"Commander Saitov!" saluted the soldiers.
"What's the status?!" asked Saitov.
"Commander, currently the enemy is slowly advancing towards us. We can halt them now, but we will run out of steam very soon." answered one of the soldiers.
"About how long do you think we can hold them off?" asked Saitov.
"Due to our machine guns blocking the main access points to the village along with the semi-stable lines of combat, I would say approximately two hours at max." replied the soldier.
"I see. Continue defending this road at all costs! I'm alerting central command about this immediately!" Saitov replied. The soldier and Saitov then saluted to one another before resuming with their normal duties.
"SIR! YOU BETTER HAVE A LOOK AT THIS!" yelled one of the soldiers looking into the distance. The soldier who had just spoken to Saitov took out his binoculars and looked down the long road.
In the distance, two Medium Mark A Whippet tanks could be seen slowly driving down the road towards the village.
"What the hell is that?" asked one nearby soldier.
"It looks like a metal shoe with caterpillar-tracks on its sides." said another nearby soldier.
"WHO CARES WHAT IT IS, LETS JUST SHOOT AT IT!" yelled the soldier manning one of the machine guns. All the soldiers immediately aimed at the two tanks and fired at it with a barrage of bullets.
"DINK! DANK! DONK! DINK!" echoed as the bullets simply ricocheted off the metal tanks that continued their slow advance.
The soldiers in the trenches and behind the barricades continued their barrage at the tanks hoping they could stop them. However, the metal structure of the tanks was too strong for the bullets to penetrate. Once the two tanks were were three quarters down the road before reaching the first line of defenses, a machine gun sticking out of each tank pointed forward and shot anything it saw.
"BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!" was the only thing one could hear as the machine guns shot back. Since the tanks' machine guns were located behind a metal covering, the defending soldiers were unable to shoot the gunners. As the shooting continued on and lined the ground with corpses, the tanks continued their slow advancement and eventually overran the first lines of defense.
"RETREAT! RETREAT! I REPEAT RE..." yelled a soldier before he was gunned down by the two tanks. The tanks continued their ruthless barrage and managed to overran all the defenses near the main road. With the main road open, a large wave of Cossacks and Japanese Cavalrymen charged down the road and into the streets of the village.
The Cossacks and the Japanese cavalrymen rushed through every street within the city, trying to find any retreating soldiers. A group of soldiers were running away from a group of saber-wielding cossacks. One of the fleeing soldiers however tripped and immediately tried to stand back up. However, as he was standing, one of the Cossacks chasing him swung his saber at the soldier's neck as he charged right past him.
With the main defenses overran and broken, all the defending soldiers were scattered and uncoordinated. This made it easier for the White Army to slay them. Japanese soldiers barged down the doors of every building in the village and ransacked them in hope of finding any leftover enemy combatants.
At the center of the village was the village's local administration building, which was currently being used as a command center. Surrounding the building was a ring of heavily fortified barricades and machine guns. All soldiers that managed to retreat from the edge of the village were positioned and prepared to shoot with their rifles.
"Commander Saitov, just received word that secondary and tertiary defenses have been overran." said a soldier.
"What about the retreat? What's the status?" asked Saitov.
"The retreat is going well so far. Central Command along with some divisions have escaped via gaps in the enemy's encirclement." answered the soldier.
"SIR! ONE OF THOSE ARMORED VEHICLES IS DEAD AHEAD!" yelled a soldier aiming his rifle over the barricade. Saitov immediately ran to the barricade to get a good look. Up ahead, Saitov could see a metal machine puffing out clouds of exhaust.
"So these are the behemoths that ate through our defenses." Saitov said to himself. "PREPARE ARMS! SHOOT THAT THING WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE!"
Immediately all the soldiers behind the barricade repeatedly shot at the advancing tank. Like before, the bullets barely made a mark on the tank's metal armor. In response to the attack, the tank's machine gun immediately opened fire. As the machine gun swerved slowly from left to right, soldiers attempting to stop the tank were being killed one by one.
Once about two-thirds of the soldiers defending the barricade were dead or wounded, the machine gun stopped shooting. Once that happened, two dozen Japanese cavalrymen and Cossacks led by Marshall Tōdō charged towards the barricade. Due to the soldier's suffering massive casualties due to the machine gun, they couldn't organize themselves and fire back. Tōdō and his horsemen charged towards the barricade and leapt over it.
While the others were slaying the disorganized soldiers from atop their horses, Tōdō jumped off his horse and landed on a soldier. He immediately impaled him with his steel katana upon landing on him. After pulling the bloody blade out of the soldier's chest, Tōdō quickly ran past rows of enemy soldiers and swept his katana at each of them, leaving behind corpses soaked in pools of blood.
Meanwhile, White Russian and Japanese soldiers were charging in waves at the barricades and proceeded to bayonet or shoot anything in their way. Eventually the soldiers defending the barricades instantly retreated and tried to run away with their lives.
Tōdō, wanting to make an impression on the enemy, ordered the Japanese cavalrymen to pursue the retreating officers and slay them without any hesitation. The cavalrymen didn't question their orders and ran after the fleeing soldiers. The streets suddenly became drenched in more blood as the cavalrymen metal sabers swept through human flesh.
With the barricades completely overrun and his frontline preserved, Tōdō stared at the enemy's former makeshift headquarters.
"Marshal, I would like to report my platoon has successfully secured the enemy's former headquarters." said a Japanese colonel.
"Thank you colonel." said Tōdō as he and the colonel saluted one another. Tōdō then stood on top of the bloodied barricade and faced his troops as he raised his katana high in the air. "ANOTHER GLORIOUS VICTORY IN THE NAME OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY AND THE GREATER JAPANESE EMPIRE!"
"NIPPON BANZAI! NIPPON BANZAI!" repeatedly chanted all the Japanese soldiers listening to Tōdō.
3:00 PM, October 21st, 1919, The Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office HQ, Tokyo, Japan
The elderly Chief of the Army General Staff Uehara Yūsaku paced back and forth in his office as he waited for his visitor. His many medals, bright sash, and bald head reflected the light coming through the ornate window.
"KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!" could be heard at the door.
"ENTER!" yelled Uehara. The door opened and Prince and now Field Marshal Kotohito, wearing his usual ornate military uniform, walked in.
"Your Highness..." said Uehara as he bowed before Kotohito. "Want did you want to talk about?"
"Just received word from Tōdō that the Soviet partisan organization, the Eastern Transbaikal Front, headquarter's is currently under joint White Russian/Japanese occupation. Losses on our side were minimal. However, we managed to kill, wound, or capture a quarter of their forces. The rest of them, including their commander Pavel Zhuravlev, managed to flee and bypass the encirclement." reported Kotohito.
"That's good news." replied Uehara as he walked over to a large map of Russia and some of Asia unfolded over a large table. A giant "blob" labelled "Kolchak's All-Russian Government" was drawn on Eastern Siberia while a smaller "blob" labelled "Semyonov's Faction" was drawn within the larger one East of Lake Baikal. Small figurines representing Japanese, White Russian, or Bolshevik forces were placed and positioned in their respective spots. "Those Bolshevik troublemakers were making the region harder to control. Now that they are gone, the resources can now be accessed by our industries."
Uehara then knocked over the red figurines placed next to the town of Bogdat. He then placed miniature figurines of factories in the same spot the red figurines stood at.
"Speaking of industries, the trials for the tanks that my associates recently bought went quite well. As a result of this recent victory, the owners of Wada Timber Company and the Kojima Group have all agreed to give you whatever support you need." replied Kotohito.
"So my guess is that you want something back for helping me gain the support of some zaibatsu?" said Uehara.
"All I would like in return is for you to promise to help me and my associates in the near future." answered Kotohito.
"And how exactly can I help you?" asked Uehara.
"You're aware of what happens when a Prime Minister is unable to fill in all ministry posts?" asked Kotohito.
"Of course! The Meiji Constitution states that if the Prime Minister cannot fill all posts, then the Prime Minister and his current ministry must resign." answered Uehara.
"Also, as Chief of the General Staff, you can recall the War Minister and refuse to nominate a new one, meaning you could theoretically threaten to destroy the current government if it doesn't suit your interests." said Kotohito.
"However, such a decision would have grave political consequences." added Uehara. "If you remember during the Political Crisis of 1912, when I resigned from the cabinet, the government was in pieces and riots broke out all over. If you're suggesting that I recall the War Minister and allow chaos to spill..."
"Me and my associates are aware of the consequences, which is why we have opposed such a scenario." interrupted Kotohito. "What we want you to do is to threaten Prime Minister Hara with such a scenario if he doesn't comply with us."
"Hmmm. What you say is interesting, but before I can commit to something, I must know what you and your associates are planning to do." replied Uehara.
"That answer will come in the near future." said Kotohito. "But for now, all you need to know is my associates will keep providing the military with new weaponry."
"Very well sir. I'll think it through." said Uehara before he bowed his head. Kotohito then walked out of the office while Uehara sat down at his desk and clenched his temples with his hand.
Kotohito walked down a few long hallways and passed several high ranking officers who bowed to him quickly before resuming with what they were doing before. He then walked up a flight of stairs and continued down another long hallway. He eventually reached his office and proceeded to enter. The office had expensive curtains lining the windows, large bookcases full of books on warfare and history, a gilded clock ticking away on the wall, and several ornate lamps.
Once inside, he closed the door behind him and sat at his expensive, carefully-carved, wooden desk. He grabbed the phone sitting on his desk and prepared to charge it via a crank dynamo. Kotohito then picked up the phone piece.
"Connect me to Field Marshal Prince Yamagata Aritomo's office please." said Kotohito. A few seconds went by before the a sound could be heard on the other end.
"Hello?" said Prince Aritomo on the other end.
"It's me Kotohito."
"Your Highness, anything important?" asked Aritomo.
"Just spoke with Uehara. I think we have his support." said Kotohito.
"Good. With him on our side, that peasant Hara calling himself Prime Minister will be in the palm of our hands." replied Aritomo. "However, the scenario of him rejecting our threat still concerns me."
"Don't worry. Even though Hara may be a mediocre Prime Minister, he's not stupid enough to let his administration be blamed with political instability." said Kotohito.
"How about the Imperial Diet? Have you approached them yet?" asked Aritomo.
"Getting under their skin will take more time. However, the same zaibatsu that are helping us gain Uehara and the military's support are also influencing politicians to support us." explained Kotohito.
"That's the zaibatsu for you. They are capitalists eager to make money through any means possible. With the military continuing it's expansive behavior, it's no wonder the zaibatsu are exploiting this to expand their markets and sell war materials." said Aritomo.
"Anyway, it won't be a matter of time before the political playing field will be set up for the next phase of the plan." said Kotohito.
8:09 PM, November 2nd, 1919, War Room, Black Army HQ, Shanghai
Chief of Staff Jo and Minister of Defense Gang were both updating Zero on the status of the Red Army in Russia. The three of them were sitting at the giant meeting table, which looked empty since only three people were sitting at it. Zero was sitting in his usual spot at the end of the table while Jo and Gang sat on the sides opposite of one another. Each one had a pile of papers sitting at their side.
"We've received some communication from a secondary source that the Red Army is making some progress now." said Gang.
"Thanks to anarchists, who coincidentally have called themselves "The Black Army", disrupting supply lines in the Ukraine, General Denikin's southern advancement has been stopped at the city of Orel." said Jo. "Kolchak's forces in the East have been broken after loosing a battle in Tobolsk while General Yudenich's forces in the North have been repelled from Petrograd."
"In other words, the White Army's encirclement on Moscow has been loosened considerably." added Gang.
"Dietrich has also alerted me that there is word that the Allied Forces are thinking of withdrawing their forces from Russia." added Zero. "This could potentially lead to restoring full communications with Moscow and the rest of the Red Army."
"Doesn't surprise me. The Allied Forces only aided the White Russians because they wanted to keep Russia in the war against Germany. However, with the war now over, the Allied Forces have no real motive to spend more resources for people in a foreign country instead of their own, suffering citizens." said Jo.
Suddenly the door to the War Room flung open as Dietrich, who was holding a folder of papers under his arm, entered the room.
"Sorry to interrupt your meeting Zero, but I have recently received and analyzed some information which you may find very interesting." whispered Dietrich.
"Excuse me. But something has come up and I request we continue this discussion in the near future." said Zero.
Both Gang and Jo nodded at Zero before gathering their papers and exiting the room. Once they were gone, Dietrich closed the door shut behind him and handed Zero the folder of papers he was holding. The folder was labelled in red ink "CLASS A CONFIDENTIAL".
Zero opened the folder and started to skim through its contents. The folder was filled with various papers and documents relating to international bank transactions, shipping, and personal profiles.
"Seems like numerous corporations and investors have been making huge loans and investing them in Eastern Siberia." said Zero as he looked at one of the papers.
"That's not all Zero." added Dietrich. "I figured that such a trend had to mean something, which is why I investigated the issue even further."
"I can see that." Zero replied. "The one thing mentioned in this paper that catches my attention is that three quarters of these investors took loans from a bank ran by a zaibatsu called the Kojima Group."
"The Kojima Group. One of the most influential conglomerates in Japan. They own various banks, steel mills, chemical plants, and railroads." explained Dietrich. "The current head of the family, Ichiro Kojima, has been suspected of making many behind the scenes moves among Japanese nobles and politicians."
"And you think this conglomerate is connected with the people who provided the airplanes to the Japanese colonial forces?" asked Zero.
"Yes. According to a telegram we managed to intercept, the Japanese military currently bought two tanks from the British and had them secretly shipped to Siberia. The fact that the Kojima Group is giving out loans to people investing in the same region seems a little too coincidental." said Dietrich. "However, you can see there is not enough information to make a full, detailed analysis. But the Kojima Group is a good starting point for finding the people pulling the strings behind the curtain."
"I certainly agree. Continue surveillance on the Kojima Group and try to find out who else they are affiliated with." ordered Zero.
"As you wish sir." replied Dietrich before he left the room.
Now alone in the room, Zero kept flipping through the various reports in the folder.
"Twenty five million yen loans and investments in timber, railroad, and mining industries. A shipment of more than 8,000 liters of petroleum to Kojima Chemical Incorporated. Increasing demand for manganese and iron at Kojima Steelworks. Whoever this behind the scenes person is, he is obviously positioning his pieces in order to make a huge move. But what exactly is his next move? What is the connection between the Japanese, Black Army, Siberia, and now the Kojima Group? I must make a move quick before time runs out." thought Zero as he continued reading the reports.
Author's Note: Been preoccupied with other things lately, which is why this chapter's posting was delayed. Anyway, Japan and its Cossack allies achieve another victory against the Russians. Though the Bolsheviks are breaking through White Russian lines, Japan is still determined to pursue its imperialistic interests in Siberia. We also find out the politically influential Chief of the Army General Staff has decided to cooperate with Prince Kotohito. Zero on the other hand finds out about the Kojima Group and its connections with the war with Russia, where, like in Korea, is utilizing state of the art technology.
How will Zero respond? Well, the first thing he has to do is form a defined relationship with the Provisional Government, which can provide Zero with enough manpower and resources to have a fighting chance against the Japanese (the Black Army, despite some recovery, is still weakened from the retreat from Korea). But what will the Provisional Government, which is still trying to balance itself on two feet, think about Zero's plan? Any predictions or guesses about what will happen next?