SWNOVELXO Chapter 398
* * *
“Then, what do you mean by saying you will help us?”
“Just hand over the territories. Unless we’re talking about something like war crimes, it’s hard for us to do anything.”
Of course, giving over the territories was a tough sell.
The invasion had utterly ruined the Guangxi warlords, to the point where their leader fled to the National Government.
“If we can just give over the Guangxi region, we can wrap this up fairly nicely.”
“Wrap this up fairly nicely, you say!”
“Otherwise, if we want to truly regain Nam Viet territory, we’ll have to push our way into Guangdong and Yunnan!”
When we talk about the actual territory of Nam Viet, it was Guangxi and Guangdong, but this time, Vietnam was dead set on dismantling Chinese power to avoid repeating the past’s unification efforts.
“Don’t be ridiculous! The progenitor of Nam Viet was a general from our China! Absolutely unacceptable!”
In the end, the National Government, representing the warlord alliance, left the negotiating table.
From the National Government’s perspective, getting rid of the Guangxi and Guangdong warlords would be ideal, but that would mean effectively ceding Chinese territory to Vietnam, which they simply could not accept.
This meant they had to connect with Qing, the Yunnan and Shanxi autonomous regions, and Zhang Xueliang’s autonomy, and the National Government did in fact request support from these three regions.
“Permission from Balhae is mandatory.”
Thanks to the immense support from the Rome Treaty, Balhae, sitting at the helm of public rights, declared non-intervention, and the governments of northern China, reliant on public rights, rejected the National Government’s proposal.
As a result, the warlord coalition formed a British-style alliance to counter Vietnam’s invasion.
“Oh? This might be an opportunity?”
Israel also began to move again, and the Third Southern War erupted.
* * *
Today commenced the National Duma.
Now, Vladimir, who was cautiously glancing at me, was taking notes vigorously.
“With Qing and Yunnan refusing support, the southern Chinese warlords have united.”
“Isn’t that basically unification of the south?”
This had been dragging on for a while, and even if they claimed to be unified, it wasn’t even half of a real unity.
China couldn’t even threaten neighboring countries due to long-standing civil wars.
In the midst of this half-hearted situation, even that half wasn’t a normal half, having been unified under the pretext of advancing Nam Viet.
But it would still be tough, right?
With the Rome Treaty and the United States ready to mediate peace at the request of the Yunnan autonomous government if the Chinese civil war tipped in one direction…
However, Vietnam, once a colony, was beefing up under the Rome Treaty’s policy aimed at normalizing former colonies, and the U.S. was intent on firmly establishing Vietnam as pro-American.
Plus, the argument to reclaim Nam Viet’s ethnic homeland was a solid morale booster. In an instant, Guangdong crumbled under the Nam Viet Army’s onslaught.
“If the Nam Viet Army aims beyond what’s necessary for returning Chinese territory, the U.S. and the Rome Treaty will allow intervention even up to half of Guangxi and Guangdong while mediating peace talks.”
Looking at the map, I’m not sure if they were in territory during Nam Viet’s time, but if they chew through this much, it would undoubtedly drain the strength of the united southern Chinese warlord coalition.
Then I’d have to allow the Nam Viet Army’s advance as much as possible.
“What’s the predicted endpoint of the Nam Viet Army’s offensive?”
“Considering their combat capabilities, supply capabilities, and the current situation of the warlord coalition, it seems feasible for the Nam Viet Army to recover their claimed territories.”
That makes sense. How much have these guys been eating off of?
This should probably be seen as the norm by now.
“Would the warlord coalition have a larger population?”
“Yes.”
The Nam Viet Army is aware of the existence of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Organization’s Asian branch sitting with the National Government, so they’ll likely keep their behavior in check.
They’re ones who understand the Rome Treaty and the U.S. better than anyone.
But the warlord coalition is still a problem.
These guys can’t use any trick to return to the once-great China.
They can’t even build a nuclear weapon, but still, I prefer to see China’s power dwindle.
If they have to form a southern amalgamation, they need to weaken their strength.
The Nam Viet Army must fully seize Guangxi and Guangdong.
“Isn’t it a concern that Vietnam could become too strong?”
“Hmmm.”
“That’s true. A pro-American Vietnam getting too strong would be problematic. Considering they’re locked within the U.S. sphere, we can’t do anything about it.”
The members of the assembly seem to be managing quite well without me now.
A powerful ally for the U.S. in Asia is forming.
That’s an important matter, but in my view, Vietnam seems to be only aiming for its own benefit in between the two powers.
Sort of like how Korea in original history reaped the benefits between the U.S. and China.
The difference now is that Balhae is completely pro-Rome Treaty, while Nam Viet is just trying to profit from both sides.
From the perspective of the Rome Treaty, they’d prefer to set them free, but then Nam Viet will invoke their history as a former colony to claim they need more support from the Rome Treaty.
“The issue is that these guys are trying to cozy up to us too.”
“Then, the most perfect scenario for us would be…”
A perfect story is quite simple.
“The Vietnamese army and the warlord coalition need to be entangled in battle.”
For us, that would be the best scenario.
Warriors consuming each other. Thus, the damage to Nam Viet would increase, and the South China region would become preoccupied with national restoration throughout history.
For a while, Nam Viet needs to be pulled down a peg.
In the meantime, Balhae, Western Japan, and Northern China will grow substantially. That would be better.
If the gap between Northern and Southern China widens, Northern China will cease its autonomy, having to feed the struggling Southern China, and they won’t want to do that.
It appears everything is developing just how we hoped.
How long has it been? Finally, the results from the meeting were drawn.
“Your Majesty, for the time being, we will maintain the principle of non-intervention in the Southern China war for the Rome Treaty, but if they exceed territorial claims, we will then intervene.”
Essentially, this represents Russia’s views; it reflects the Rome Treaty’s intentions.
Wow, the world is indeed interesting.
Who would have thought Vietnam would grow to the point of being discussed in the Rome Treaty?
Their justification for recovering territories is frankly just a pretense for expanding their land. Nam Viet merely wants to steadily increase their power. That’s all.
If Nam Viet only targets Southern China, then anything beyond that would be meaningless to discuss. It wouldn’t pose a threat to us, so that’s fine.
“Then do so.”
Is South America doing fine?
If South America is managing to keep the U.S. in check in Southern America, that could be exciting. Given its clear limitations, any efforts there should be focused on cultural or technological victories rather than strictly military ones.
Still, just existing has its high value.
It would also be interesting if Argentina started acting out and ended up getting smacked down by the U.S.
“I’ve submitted the documents related to Dr. Viktor Glushikov’s electronic government project.”
Glushikov.
He was the one who originally planned the OGAS project in history.
Here, he seems to have stepped into the Anastasia Project.
The content appears straightforward.
An automated information processing accounting network system—OGAS—Anastasia Project.
A network grounded in cybernetics.
“Electronic government, huh?”
This must have been decided after observing AI Anastasia.
The project’s name isn’t OGAS; it’s the Anastasia Project.
Project Anastasia. This in original history could be referred to as OGAS.
But the OGAS project was mentioned in 1962.
Ah, of course, this would be a more developed final product.
It’s different from something that emerged merely as a plan.
By now, shouldn’t ARPANET be around? If ARPANET exists, then what Glushikov mentions here? Huh?
This document states that the internet has been developed.
“Internet?”
What’s this? According to the content, it says the internet has been developed. No, no; at the very least, it wouldn’t be the internet we know.
Even if it were to emerge, it would be a very outdated version of such.
It wouldn’t be something that just came out and is capable of web surfing like it is now.
It likely means something along the lines of this.
“The plans were presented a few years ago. It seems that, since ARPANET has been developed in the U.S., it has become public now.”
ARPANET has indeed been developed in the U.S.
“Aha! I see.”
ARPANET is presumably considered a precursor to the internet.
If that’s the case, acknowledgment can be made. Still, considering this, it seems like things are being released swiftly.
It makes more sense to perfect things before releasing them than to throw something together and have it out early.
For now, the document also discusses what the future may hold.
Yet, OGAS’s failure was merely limited to expanding regional information management systems, which the U.S. and France reportedly failed to achieve when they rolled out results.
Thus, Project Anastasia would also need to organize its independent internet, with its very own Anastasia controlling this internet.
“Proceed just as you have been.”
The U.S. should harness the internet they’re developing as a global network, while the AI’s network system can become the electronic government constituting the Rome Treaty.
What if it fails?
Not my problem. Regardless, they’ll figure it out by then.
Attempting is what matters.
Making an effort to reach the destination somehow. Isn’t that the important thing?
The spirit of challenge is what drives the world forward.
“Yes.”
Besides, taking steps into space is moving way ahead compared to original history.
I’m now thoroughly satisfied.
For the time being, I’ll be fine just keeping an eye on Asia unless a war breaks out.
The National Duma seems to be operating just fine, almost as if they can see right through me.
Honestly, I don’t even want to think about this.
With Southern China on track for unification, shouldn’t plenty of food be prepared for the Nam Viet Army to consume as they tackle Guangxi and Guangdong?
This way, my pre-set goals can be achieved, and I’ll have a satisfactory outcome.
As the future progresses, I’m curious about how my position will change.
Every day, while I prove my immortality, my authority grows by leaps and bounds.
This only pushes the completion of the AI Anastasia further.
After all, in the future, it will be known that Anastasia was deified because of the AI, certainly not due to immortality.
Instead, it will be said she actively fought on the battlefield with a flesh-and-blood body, thus serving just fine for me.
That’s all I need.
“Your Majesty, there’s the issue of expanding the European integrated railway.”
“Railway?”
“The Hellenistic railway, leading to the Islamic-Hellenism Federation. It’s planned all the way to the Eurasian railway tied to public rights.”
The Hellenistic railway stretches from Europe to three countries in the Middle East.
From the outset, we were to develop resources in that region and consume them ourselves, so connecting the railways was absolutely essential.
Things had been hectic lately, balancing that and everything else.
“I see.”
“In addition, we are planning to install a gas pipeline within the sphere of public rights.”
The Eurasian railway. That was something that had originally been planned in history as well.
If that pipeline is installed too, then Balhae will have access to gas at a bargain price.
“We can also sell gas at low prices to Northern China.”
“To Qing and the autonomous states of Yunnan?”
That would be a way of boasting how all are under our influence. The U.S. would definitely not consider severing Asia after this.
“That would certainly solidify China’s division. Northern China isn’t going to support Southern China, right? If Northern China is solely connected to gas, then what happens to Southern China?”
“That makes sense.”
They would probably feel isolated while dying off, witnessing Northern China thrive. What unreasonable feelings that would stir within them!