I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 57

“Of course, it’s the most fun to beat them up and not let them touch us!”

German spies in the Soviet Union were hard to exist in the first place. 

Most of the people who had connections with Germany in the Soviet army were either executed or sent to gulags during the Great Purge.

After the revolution, the intelligentsia and revolutionaries who had studied in Western Europe and belonged to the bourgeoisie class were pushed aside by Stalin as he seized power.

For example, Trotsky, Stalin’s greatest rival, was a German-Jewish farmer’s son who attended a German school. 

Kamenev and Zinoviev, the leaders of the old Bolsheviks, were also Jewish intellectuals. 

They were marginalized and purged for having ‘no homeland’.

Their place was taken by the ‘bidvizhentsy’ (the promoted ones). 

They were workers and peasants from Russia who had infinite loyalty to the regime that made them rise. 

There was very little room for spies to infiltrate among them.

In conclusion, if Germany and the Soviet Union waged a spy war? 

The Soviet Union had spies and sympathizers who voluntarily brought information for their ideological homeland, but Germany had to painstakingly insert one by one and they could also disappear due to internal purges.

And now, the Soviet Union had acquired another tremendous weapon.

“Look at this, everyone!”

“Oh…”

Borosilov laughed and proudly introduced his second plan. 

A joint plan with Beria.

‘Did they get along well? I thought they didn’t like each other.’

Or maybe Borosilov was scared and submissive. 

Anyway, Beria, who had the intelligence agency, and Borosilov, who had many special agents, produced a quite interesting collaboration.

Its name was… <Operation Wastage>.

In real history, Nazi Germany launched Operation Bernhard in 1940 to counterfeit British pound notes and disrupt the British economy.

Of course, it was not actually implemented and ended up wasting resources and manpower due to internal power struggles. 

It was a bit unfair to dismiss it as a pure power struggle, as Walter Funk, the president of the German central bank, pointed out that it was a ‘violation of international law’.

This operation, which could have ruined the British economy if it had been carried out, was now planned and executed by Borosilov and Beria.

Borosilov showed us the stacks of counterfeit German marks in the warehouse and proudly introduced his plan while letting us touch and look at them.

“Now we have a line that connects us to the mainland of Europe! From Romania through the Carpathian Mountains to Hungary, we can spread these counterfeit marks to Italy and Germany by connecting with the partisans in Yugoslavia.”

I didn’t know how similar they were to the real ones… but they looked amazingly similar to the real marks that he showed us as originals. 

At least in appearance and texture. 

Of course, I didn’t know exactly what anti-counterfeiting devices they had, so experts might be able to tell them apart, but I couldn’t tell at all as an ordinary person.

It was Beria’s turn next.

“First of all, Nazi Germany issues about 500 million marks of banknotes annually. The imperial mark of fascist Germany is linked to the currencies of the countries they occupied or allied with at a fixed exchange rate, so in fact, within their sphere of influence, the mark is no different from a common currency.”

Oh, I see… These piles of marks, 100-mark and 1,000-mark notes, if we spread them among our agents in Germany’s allied countries? 

It would be harder to catch than in Europe, and it would effectively support the activities of our agents and local resistance groups that provide us with information and help us.

“In addition, we can disrupt Germany’s economy through inflation. They adhere to the gold standard and maintain that 4.2 marks are equivalent to 1 US dollar. The plan is this: We launder counterfeit money through various countries that are occupied or allied by fascists and exchange it for gold or dollars. Then we smuggle it out to America through Portugal, which is still neutral.”

Of course, this operation cost money too, but for the Soviet Union, which had to pay something for America’s lend-lease program, getting gold and dollars was very valuable. 

Should I kiss Borosilov for this?

This operation was nothing less than killing three birds with one stone. 

It made money for us and disrupted their economy. 

It also supported the resistance groups and partisans of various countries financially and put the Soviet Union in a leading position!

“Not only in Europe but also… we can execute this operation through the Far East. Japan is still trading actively with Germany despite being far away. We can release counterfeit marks in Japan and gain an advantage in the ‘war of the Pacific’ that Comrade Serkin mentioned.”

I liked that too. Using counterfeit money in Germany or Europe was obviously risky. 

If they found out that this was counterfeit money, our spy network itself could be damaged.

So we wanted to cooperate with the local resistance groups…

On the other hand, the farther away they went and the harder it was to verify, the easier it was to use counterfeit money. 

Japan was ‘not yet’ at war with the United States, so they could exchange marks for yen and then dollars in Japan and pull dollars back…

“And if I have to add one more thing, it can also help the Koreans in the Far East that you wanted to support, Comrade Serkin.”

Yes. According to Beria, 5 marks were about 4 yen. 

These stacks of 1,000-mark notes were close to a year’s salary for a Korean wage worker.

It could be a breath of fresh air for the Korean independence activists who had to start businesses with the money they had saved up from their wages. 

Of course, they needed funds to gather troops and organize. 

The gold I gave them last time might not be enough.

“Ah, Borosilov. And the Korean corps that you were going to create…?”

“Yes? Oh, right now, the volunteers are gathering in the Far East. They said they are undergoing basic training for mechanization under the Far Eastern Military District.”

Kim Won-bong, whom I met, was nominally the captain of the Korean Volunteer Army, but in real history, most of his men were disappointed with the provisional government that just ran away following Zhang Xueliang and joined the Chinese Communist Party’s Eighth Route Army.

But since the Soviet Union promised full support and negotiated with the Chinese Communist Party, the Korean Volunteer Army and the veterans of the Eighth Route Army were gathering in Soviet territory through Mongolia from the liberated areas in Shanxi.

The Koreans in Manchuria and Liaodong also headed to the Soviet Far East to join the armed struggle for their country’s independence. 

We will provide you with the best weapons and instructors! I promised them that.

The Koreans who had been forcibly relocated by Stalin’s policy of forced migration also worked diligently in collective farms in Central Asia and fought in the Winter War.

“Koreans from Central Asia are also being sent to the Far East if they identify themselves as Koreans. They are excellent resources that can be used as regular soldiers in new units because they have basic combat experience. Especially their fighting spirit is very high…”

Yes. I will send you back to your parents’ and relatives’ homeland who had to leave forcibly. 

You can stay in the Soviet Union if you want or go if you want. We will fully support your choice either way.

It must have been awkward for the Soviet government, which had harshly suppressed any nationalist movements within, to change its attitude and say this, but let it be my apology.

“How do you… want to meet him?”

“Of course! Of course!”

I was lost in thought and my voice came out too loud. 

The people around me were startled but they seemed to think that it was better for Comrade Serkin to be stubborn about this issue. 

The Korean Peninsula was a land that Tsar wanted to get even before, and they seemed to think that it would be a satellite state of the Far East in the future.

The Comrade Serkin who used to treat nationalism as a reaction had changed somehow, but anyway they were grateful that he was polite on this issue.

There were much more important issues where he became more aggressive than before.

On the contrary, this work was very important from my perspective. 

For self-reliance and independence, it was important for the Korean independence movement to join the Allies and shed blood and establish a military merit. Because our nation had to accept division because we did not do that in real history.

I had to give them a shining military merit that would be enough for them to join Korea.

***

The mustache that he had grown nicely in a photo I once saw was now white with age. 

The old general looked weak and he stood up with his granddaughter’s help and saluted me when I entered.

I also saluted him with utmost respect. I felt like I could feel the weight of his hardships from his rough hands.

“General Hong, I’ve heard a lot about you. Please sit down.”

“Yes, Comrade Serkin.”

Where did he hear from? Well, I wasn’t even a general, but I couldn’t dare question Comrade Serkin’s words and he seemed to swallow his doubts.

Was she twenty years old now? 

His granddaughter also seemed puzzled by how polite Comrade Serkin was. 

If her grandfather was such a great person, why was he working as a guard at a theater in some rural town?

It was ‘my’ fault. I felt sorry and couldn’t look into her eyes.

“General Hong, we have decided to create a corps of Koreans to support Korea’s independence. About 8,000 Koreans have joined under the Far Eastern Military District from Vladivostok and Irkutsk and are training for forming an independent Korean mechanized corps in 1942.”

“Is… is that true?”

The light came back to his fading eyes. 

He seemed to be holding back tears. 

Independence, independence. 

Oh, the name I dreamed of even in my dreams! I promised. 

The first ones to step on the Korean land and liberate it from Japan would be Koreans.

“I will absolutely guarantee Korea’s independence! No one, not even our Soviet Union, will touch Korea’s independence and self-reliance. You can trust my words!”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Hot tears flowed and he began to sob. 

Long live the independence of Korea, long live the independence of Korea! 

Forever my homeland! 

I pretended not to understand his words in Korean. 

His granddaughter was surprised by his grandfather’s reaction and hugged him.

“But why did you… tell us this?”

“Come in!”

When his granddaughter asked me, I called someone outside. 

The bodyguard from the NKVD came in carefully and put a general’s suit on the table and left quickly. 

There were two stars on the collar and shoulder of the general’s uniform.

“I appoint General Hong as the honorary commander of the independent Korean mechanized corps. The rank is insufficient, but it is a colonel rank. We decided that it would be difficult for you to take actual command due to your old age, so we gave you an honorary rank… I hope you understand.”

There was no answer. 

He was sobbing with emotion. 

Who dared to make this strong old man cry?