I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 185

Roosevelt had his own calculations.

“I’d rather hand over the Japanese islands to the Soviets than make someone like MacArthur a general of the army. But what would be better is to just turn that place into a sea of fire, or a ruin, don’t you think?”

He also took the opportunity to test the specific power of the new weapon he received, and to deplete the stock that the Soviets had.

He didn’t know how many ‘nuclear bombs’ the Soviets had, but the United States only had three planned for the time being, until the technology transfer and development were completed. So it was a relief for the United States that the Soviets were burning Japan hard.

“And, the Soviets may need it, but do we need to tear away Japan’s industrial power? They were so poor at precision machining that they couldn’t even make proper parts… Why worry about a depression like the last war?”

The United States was just realizing its own power. 

There was no systematic statistics on total production yet, but it was confirmed that it had far more national power than Britain, the strongest country in the previous era, or the Soviet Union, a potential rival country.

Even Stalin, the secretary-general of the Soviet Union, was willing to bow to the United States, so now the world stage was for the United States to play with.

The important thing was who would sit in the seat of leading this United States.

“What did the party say? Did they whine about Vice President Wallace again?”

“Yes, unfortunately… The party elders opposed Vice President Wallace running as a running mate in the next election.”

“Those bastards. Didn’t they say they couldn’t find any evidence for what that guy McCarthy said? Didn’t Hoover say that?”

“Yes. But there must be a reason for this, they said image was important.”

Those worse than dogs. Roosevelt cursed lowly and coughed. He coughed up phlegm for a while and then muttered in a lower voice.

“They just want a puppet. Do they think I’m going to drop dead? I’m going to fill this term. I’ve done it four times, so it’s time to stop, but I need a new deal to manage the depression after the war, and I’m going to do it until I die.”

“Yes, no one objected to your leadership, sir.”

Marshall looked down at the president, who was in poor health.

Everyone in the high ranks of the government knew that Roosevelt’s health was not good. 

And so, even if Roosevelt broke the precedent once more and ran for a fourth term, there were few who thought he would fill his term.

Then, they had to put a ‘proper’ person in the vice presidency who would succeed the presidency in case of the president’s death.

Wallace, who stuck to his beliefs even though he was embroiled in a pro-Soviet controversy, was young and competent, and he was the worst vice presidential candidate for the party elders who wanted to make the president a puppet.

The conservative faction of the Democratic Party wanted to put someone who was obedient enough to be a puppet, but also ideologically similar, in the vice presidency.

“Truman, that damn fool, said he was in favor of the New Deal and the elders brought him to me and pushed him on me… No way! Damn it, do you know how nervous I was when I talked to Stalin because of him? Wallace, you’re going with me. You’re my best partner! Hahaha!”

“Thank you, sir.”

Roosevelt laughed heartily and then coughed for a long time. He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and looked at the clock.

“What time is it in D.C.?”

There was no subject, but everyone knew what he was talking about.

“It’s… about five minutes left.”

“I see. Ahem… I’m not feeling well today. Let’s end it here.”

“Yes! Sir!”

Roosevelt got up from the conference table with a shaky walk and headed for his wheelchair. The security guard who pushed his wheelchair grabbed his arm that was about to fall.

“Thank… cough! Cough!”

“Sir! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine now, and I’ll be fine in the future. Hahahaha!”

***

[Drop according to the captain’s judgment. I repeat, drop according to the captain’s judgment]

The escort squadron returned to base as there was no resistance in the Tokyo sky, following the commander’s orders. 

Most of the fighters were deployed to stop the U.S. forces from landing in the southern part of the Japanese islands, Kyushu.

Originally, there were not many aircraft that could reach this altitude due to the continuous bombing that destroyed Japan’s industrial and productive power. 

The Japanese fighters, which were said to be agile at 10,000 meters altitude, could not catch up with the heavy medium bombers due to their poor engine performance.

“Yes~ I got it!”

Vasily Osipov, the ace of the Soviet bombing squad, answered the radio with a cheerful voice.

Of course, he was nervous too.

The destruction caused by the huge bomb his plane was carrying was so obvious that he couldn’t ignore it. One mistake could ruin his career so far.

‘It’s not a matter of career, but of life or death.’

He felt a bit hurt in his pride. Why Marina Raskova? He was also one of the best Soviet bomber pilots who received the Hero of the Federation medal. No, honestly, he thought he was the best bomber pilot.

But the glorious mission of dropping the first nuclear bomb went to Raskova, and he became the second in history. 

The second that no one would remember.

What’s more, he wasn’t the only second. A total of 14 teams were assigned to bomb the entire Japanese islands on this mission. His squadron alone had three nuclear bombs.

Did it take three shots to blow up Tokyo?

Looking down, he saw the traces of the city that had been destroyed. Some crazy American had suggested that they pour napalm at low altitude to destroy Tokyo, and he succeeded in pushing it through.

‘Ugh, crazy bastards.’

He himself had delivered death to the enemy’s army and people hundreds of times, but he still shuddered at such ‘bureaucratic’ slaughter.

Even from the high altitude of nearly 10,000 meters, he couldn’t believe that the city below was the capital of a powerful empire. It was so badly destroyed.

And he was the one who would add another huge destruction on top of that.

“Captain…?”

“Ah, yes, bombardier, you take over.”

“Yes! I got it.”

Using the new American bombing sight, the bombardier took control of the plane during the drop. Osipov, who had been in sync with him for a long time, handed over the control with ease.

“Drop!”

The heavy bomb fell, and the plane felt lighter for a moment. He pulled the stick and turned the rudder to get out of the blast radius.

[No. 2, drop.]

[No. 3 also drops.]

The other planes also dropped nuclear bombs simultaneously and followed him. No one seemed to want to get caught in the heat storm.

“Let’s go! Home!”

“Yes!”

Soon after, three flashes exploded behind him. What did the famous ‘mushroom cloud’ look like? He was curious and looked back, and he exclaimed.

“Wow… wow…”

In the sky of the city that was once the capital of the empire, three huge mushroom-shaped clouds rose. They swept and passed each other, and the tangled mushroom clouds hung the branches of death on the ground.

The major cities of Japan would never forget this night.

How many people died? In a city with a population of six million, how many people would be able to see the next morning with their eyes? And how many people would be grateful for seeing the next morning with their eyes?

The flight squad that turned the rudder headed for Vladivostok. 

Leaving the destruction behind.

***

“Ah… ah…”

The Japanese screamed.

Nuclear bombs fell simultaneously on the major cities of Japan. Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka… All the major cities in Japan, ranked by population, were hit by nuclear bombings at once.

There were very few people who survived in the cities that were physically devastated. 

Of course, people who lived in areas far from the epicenter, where the destruction was relatively less sweeping, ran to witness the destruction.

“Gone… gone…”

“Is there anyone alive there? Is there no one?”

People went out to find the survivors in the rubble, as if dust had mixed with the dark rain. 

Thousands and tens of thousands of people who went out to find their families, friends, and relatives found the corpses that had been charred horribly in the pile of stones and wailed.

The black rain fell on their heads as they held the burnt corpses and cried, and in the end, they could not tell who was alive and who was slaughtered.

***

The pale death struck the doors of the poor and the palaces of the kings alike.

“Your Majesty!!!”

“Ah… ah… Amaterasu Omikami…”

The nuclear bombing that literally shredded Tokyo did not leave the imperial palace where the emperor of Japan lived alone.

No, the Soviet Union targeted the imperial palace from the beginning. 

Following the secretary-general’s order that it was okay to burn and kill ‘war criminal Hirohito’ if it was difficult to bring him to trial, a nuclear bomb exploded in the sky above the imperial palace. 

The building collapsed and sank with the ground.

The people who ran in horror after seeing Tokyo covered with mushroom clouds despaired and collapsed.

“The history of the empire… The god of the empire…”

“What are we going to do now…”

Should they surrender? 

It was no different from losing the last reason why Japan had been waging war until then.

Against the barbaric Americans and Soviets, countless sons of the empire showed their loyalty and sacrificed themselves to protect Japan’s national body.

But what could they do when the imperial palace, which had been connected to the imperial line, had evaporated?

And there was one more problem.

A telegram was coming to the Japanese Foreign Ministry building, which had become a pile of rubble.

[If you do not surrender immediately, additional nuclear bombings will be inflicted. The Japanese government must surrender unconditionally]

But there was no government to receive it physically.

Most of the people who worked there were killed or seriously injured by the bombing. 

The cabinet bureaucrats who had the decision-making power also had few survivors.

They had no way to receive the message that the Soviet Union wanted to deliver, and in fact, the Soviet Union did not really want them to surrender immediately.

“Has it been 12 hours? Bomb again.”

More nuclear bombs were poured over the ruins of the already destroyed city, or the city that had not been destroyed yet.

Japan was destroyed like that.