Chapter 22: The War Launch Party

December, 1903.

The mood between Russia and Japan was racing toward its worst by the day.

Japan’s Foreign Minister had personally voiced his grievances against Russia, while Russia held firm to its position that Japan take its hands completely off the Korean Peninsula.

Japan was also trying to reduce Russia’s influence in Manchuria, but Russia dismissed Japan’s claims outright as sheer nonsense.

Manchuria lay within Great Russia’s sphere of influence and could not even be a subject for discussion.

That was Russia’s basic position, and since its stance was that it would graciously recognize Japan’s limited influence in Joseon, what discussion could there possibly be?

If Seong-jun’s memory was right, by now Japan would already have resolved on the opening of hostilities against Russia.

On top of that, the surrounding situation wasn’t smiling on Russia either.

Britain had already marked Japan as its partner for checking Russia’s push southward, and America, busy promoting its Open Door Policy to gain access to China, had no fondness for Russia.

Add to that the narrative of a small Asian nation standing up to a wicked autocracy, which fit American sentiment perfectly, so they were quietly inclined to back Japan.

Russia may have responded swiftly on the massacre of Jews, but shouldn’t we assume Britain and America were fundamentally on Japan’s side?

-That’s why the first battle matters. The whole reason Japan could pull off the Russo-Japanese War in the first place was that it hauled in a massive pile of money from America and Britain.

“That’s how it’ll go, right? There’s a limit to how much I can intervene anyway.”

This was a war that would break out more than 6,000 kilometers from Petersburg as the crow flies.

All that I, turning 9 next year, could do was arrange things so that Russia could meet the war under somewhat better conditions.

The reason I don’t say “the best conditions” is that applying the word “best” to this country is impossible to begin with.

We should be grateful just to get the lesser evil; “best,” my foot.

“Holy Lord, please grant that Her Majesty the Empress deliver a healthy Tsesarevich….”

For today, at least, I dutifully offered my dawn prayer.

With the servants’ whispering in the corridor at my back, Seong-jun’s briefing was already entering its final stage.

-The final personnel list is all set, right? Hand it to Niki in the bathroom today.

That was already the plan.

After breakfast I made my way, quite naturally, to the Tsar’s bathroom, where he sat soaking in the tub and waved at me with a benevolent smile.

“Misha! I hear you offered your dawn prayer again today?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m going to keep praying until the day Her Majesty the Empress has a safe delivery.”

“It must be over 40 days now… truly, thank you. Sunny’s expression softens so much these days whenever she speaks of you.”

The warm pleasantries done, the Tsar leaned back comfortably in the tub and announced the start of today’s strategy session.

“So, what did you want to talk about today?”

I drew a sheet of paper from inside my coat.

“Your Majesty, with His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke’s post now empty, I thought the Far East appointments needed sorting out. I went through the materials section chief Yakov brought over.”

“Oh, did you?”

“Yes. There were three criteria. Someone as far removed from the Grand Duke’s influence as possible, a solid record, and above all, deep loyalty to Your Majesty.”

When I said loyalty came first, the Tsar’s face relaxed into satisfaction.

Truly a man without a shred of pretense, in the good sense and the bad.

“First, the post of General Admiral. I think it would be best to leave this one vacant for the time being.”

That must have come as a surprise; the Tsar’s eyes widened slightly.

“Vacant? That seems a bit….”

“That post has always gone to members of the imperial family of His Imperial Highness’s rank, hasn’t it? But is there anyone suited to it right now?”

“Well….”

He knows perfectly well there isn’t.

If any other Grand Duke had known the first thing about the navy, Alexei Alexandrovich could never have monopolized the post for nearly 30 years in the first place.

Embezzlers on Grand Duke Alexandrovich’s scale may be rare, but Russia’s current Grand Dukes are, to a man, proud owners of spectacularly useless stats.

Only by keeping people like that out of the important posts can Russia, a terminal cancer patient, even dare to attempt some life-prolonging treatment.

“Section chief Yakov also said that if we rush just anyone into the seat, the same thing could happen all over again. Wouldn’t it be better to have the Minister of the Navy handle the practical work, with Your Majesty granting sanction directly? The center of Russia is Your Majesty anyway, isn’t it?”

“Yes… there is sense in that, too.”

“For the same reason, I think the Viceroy of the Far East is better left vacant for now.”

In truth, the real reason for leaving these two posts empty was something else entirely.

Seen from outside, these crucial seats sitting empty would read as the Okhrana faction and the other factions inside Russia locked in a standoff over them.

-Japan’s gonna eat that up, right?

“But the places where the war will actually be fought need proper people, so section chief Yakov and I went over it very carefully.”

In truth, I had simply pulled the names straight out of Seong-jun’s memory, but Yakov had signed off on them all the same, so it wasn’t a lie.

“For fortress commander at Port Arthur, Major General Kondratenko, commander of the 7th East Siberian Rifle Division, looked best.”

“Kondratenko? I’ve never heard the name.”

“He has no connection whatsoever to His Imperial Highness. He’s an engineer by background, so he’ll know his way around fortress defense works. And above all, his men speak very highly of him.”

“Hmmm….”

“Oh. And section chief Yakov checked his record personally, and there wasn’t a single case of corruption.”

At the words “no corruption,” the Tsar nodded slowly.

Fresh off the sting of a 30-million-ruble embezzlement, “clean” must have made a stronger recommendation than any other word of praise could.

“Next, for commander of the Pacific Fleet, the recommendation is Stepan Osipovich Makarov.”

“Makarov? I’ve heard that name before… isn’t he a scholar?”

“Yes. He wrote the naval tactics manual, and they say he’s the finest man in Russia at mine warfare and torpedo-boat operations.”

“Can a scholar command a fleet?”

“He’s a man who clashed with His Imperial Highness’s confidants. And wouldn’t someone who knows the theory actually solve problems in the field with a fresh perspective?”

Honestly, in a normally functioning state, an absurd recommendation like this would never fly.

But sadly, with my old man, it works.

“And his loyalty?”

“They say he was the man most loudly dissatisfied within the navy about the Grand Duke’s handling of the budget. Saying that ‘His Majesty’s Navy’ must not go on like this.”

His Majesty’s Navy.

At that decisive phrase, the corners of the Tsar’s mouth twitched.

“Good. I approve them both.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“After all, however those inferior Japanese thrash about, our Russian army cannot possibly lose, so weighing loyalty first is only right.”

See? This is exactly why absurd recommendations like this get through.

But if I left it at that, this attitude would trickle down to the field and the war preparations could turn into a shambles.

I had to plant at least a minimal sense of alarm so the generals on the ground could do their jobs in peace, right?

“Your Majesty, but there was a report from the Okhrana saying we should be a little on our guard.”

“Hm? Against what? On our guard?”

“War. They say it’s coming soon. Without fail, and sooner than anyone expects.”

The Tsar gave a snort of a laugh.

“If war comes, we simply stamp them out, do we not?”

“Of course.”

I hypnotized myself.

For this one moment, I am a racist.

A fucking racist who does not regard Asians as human beings.

“Of course. The yellow races of Asia are really no different from monkeys that happen to talk.”

-The hell, you little bastard?

Sorry, Seong-jun. But this is how we get Father to actually listen to us.

Sure enough, the corners of the Tsar’s mouth shot straight up.

“But Your Majesty, a monkey raised by a skilled animal handler is one to be wary of.”

“An animal handler… you mean Britain?”

“Yes. They say Britain is desperate to train those monkeys to sink their teeth into our Russia’s hand, even just once. It seems enormous support is already flowing in beneath the surface.”

This time, wariness crept into the eyes of even the greater racist, Nicholas II.

Japan was a lowly monkey and thus beneath his concern, but Britain was different.

The background of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and the technical support the British navy was pouring into Japan, were on a level that could never be ignored.

A monkey holding a sword is merely comical, but if the one who sharpened that sword was Britain, then not even Niki could laugh.

“…Hah. So the damned British are at it after all.”

“Yes. So it’s not that we mustn’t underestimate Japan, it’s that we mustn’t underestimate the Britain behind Japan.”

“There is sense in that.”

At last, the Tsar’s expression turned serious.

“Misha, then you believe I should tell the Far East commanders not to underestimate Japan, and to prepare for war with every possible care… is that it?”

“That’s what I think.”

Preparing for war was a given, but there was one thing that absolutely had to be done.

“We need to throw banquets and enjoy ourselves.”

“……?”

Hard to believe, but… that’s what they did in the original history.

A nation that carried on merrily with its banquets even when the other side proclaimed a break in relations.

My Russia had to look like exactly that kind of empire.

* * *

Tokyo, capital of the Empire of Japan, now preparing for the greatest war of its life against Russia.

The office of Foreign Minister Komura Jutaro was packed full of the intelligence that had come up from Russia over the past two months.

“Your Excellency. I have compiled the final report from the Petersburg legation.”

“Read it.”

“First, following the assassination of General Admiral Grand Duke Alexei, the navy’s top leadership has been devastated. With the 30-million-ruble embezzlement exposed, the Grand Duke’s confidants were ousted one after another.”

“Who succeeded him?”

“Both the General Admiral’s post and the Viceroy of the Far East remain undecided. Reports indicate the Okhrana faction and the old faction are deadlocked over the seats, delaying the appointments.”

The corner of Komura’s mouth rose slightly.

“Oho… they cannot even make the appointments?”

“Yes. However, the fortress commander at Port Arthur and the commander of the Pacific Fleet have been replaced.”

“Who? Those matter most to us….”

“The fortress commander is a Major General named Kondratenko. A former division commander with no particularly distinguished record. The fleet commander has been confirmed as Vice Admiral Makarov.”

“Makarov? Isn’t that man a scholar?”

A theorist famous for papers and manuals, and an unknown nobody never seen nor heard of, raised up as commanders?

“…It seems the Okhrana has swept out the Grand Duke’s people and filled the posts with men to its own taste.”

“Yes. I believe that is the correct reading.”

Komura set down the papers and rose from his seat.

He judged that with this much in hand, it was time for an audience with Prime Minister Katsura.

Standing before the Prime Minister, he handed over a summary of the key materials gathered so far, a triumphant smile playing on his lips.

“Your Excellency, can a nation whose General Admiral is assassinated, and which cannot even settle on a successor, sustain a war? The key posts of the Far East are filled with the Okhrana’s faction, and even the General Admiral’s and the Viceroy’s seats sit vacant from factional fighting. Now is our chance.”

Katsura nodded slowly, then made a face as though something had snagged.

“Foreign Minister, I share your view, but let me ask one thing. About the intelligence Lieutenant Colonel Akashi sent us.”

“Yes.”

“Wasn’t it all over the place? I recall an analysis came up suggesting the reports on Far East strength were so riddled with contradictions that this might be a sophisticated disinformation operation.”

As Katsura’s eyes glinted sharply, the Foreign Minister nodded at once.

The Prime Minister, as expected. He never misses the heart of the matter.

“To give you the conclusion first, it is highly unlikely to be disinformation.”

“Your grounds?”

“The intelligence was all over the place because Russia’s Far East branch was, in fact, embezzling on a furious scale. The reports the field sent up to the center were themselves at odds with the facts. It was a scheme to inflate their strength and squeeze out more budget.”

“…What?”

“The exposure of the 30-million-ruble embezzlement supports this. They were not spreading disinformation; they were devouring their own nation’s finances while filing false reports to their superiors.”

A dumbfounded laugh escaped Katsura’s lips.

“Well… I never.”

“The circumstances of Lieutenant Colonel Akashi’s exposure follow the same pattern. According to Secretary Honda’s final report, the Okhrana discovered the Lieutenant Colonel’s contact line incidentally while investigating the Grand Duke faction’s corruption; it was not the product of systematic counterintelligence.”

Since even Russia’s own center had a picture of the Far East at odds with the facts, it was no wonder the intelligence Akashi had extracted from various sources failed to match up.

Katsura leaned back in his chair and lightly closed his eyes.

“Indeed… if not now, there will be no chance.”

“That is so. Once time passes and the double-tracking of the Trans-Siberian Railway is complete, Russia will be able to project supplies and manpower into the Far East on a scale beyond all comparison. Now, while Russia is mired in internal chaos, is our one and only chance.”

If opinion was unified, what reason was there to hesitate?

A few days later.

An Imperial Conference was convened.

The General Staff delivered its strategic report, and the cabinet’s opinion converged into one.

Stake everything on a single decisive contest with Russia.

“We grant the opening of hostilities. Let all unite as one and make the majesty of the Imperial Nation resound throughout the world.”

“His Majesty the Emperor, banzai!”

Emperor Meiji’s final sanction had come down.

A recall order was transmitted to Kurino Shinichiro, the Japanese Minister to Russia, and Japan formally severed diplomatic relations with Russia.

Of course, since they had to strike by surprise before the enemy assumed a complete defensive posture, there was no declaration of war.

No thought of cowardice ever crossed their minds.

Winning came first, did it not?

As long as they won, whatever anyone said, the results would bury the process.

* * *

On the very day relations with Russia were severed, the Combined Fleet weighed anchor at the naval port of Sasebo.

Vice Admiral Togo Heihachiro’s flagship, the Mikasa, took the lead.

Their destination was Port Arthur.

The final intelligence from the spies planted on-site came up just as the fleet was passing through the Korea Strait.

“What is the mood at Port Arthur? Are they on alert?”

“That is….”

“Airtight, I take it. Tell me just how ironclad it is. We must drive into whatever weak point there is.”

“They have issued orders to enter a state of alert, but in reality, they are enjoying a banquet.”

They are enjoying a banquet… they are enjoying a banquet… they are enjoying a….

The spy’s words circled in Togo’s ears like an auditory hallucination.

“What sort of laughable nonsense… however much Russia looks down on us, two days have passed since we proclaimed the break in relations.”

Yet, astonishingly, all four spies planted around Port Arthur had filed the identical report.

Russia is at a banquet.

And having a grand old time of it, at that.

“…Fleet, advance. The objective is the sinking of the Russian Pacific Fleet anchored at Port Arthur.”

Before the sun rose tomorrow, he would turn every one of those arrogant bastards into fish food and secure command of the sea.

They would show these white men, blind to reality, the fury of the Imperial Nation.

The Japanese fleet pressed on toward the raving banquet hall.

At the very best speed they could make.

***

Author’s Note

-Many of you likely know this already, but yes, Japan’s Prime Minister Katsura is that Katsura, of the Katsura–Taft Agreement.

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