I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 255

< Propaganda >

Having gloriously concluded the Asian front and returned, news of my exploits had already spread far and wide across Europe.

Admiral Parker, who had seized control of both the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, greeted my contributions with a beaming smile.

“Hahaha! You are truly remarkable, Your Highness!”

“The remarkable ones are our naval officers and men. Without the overwhelming naval power backing us, we couldn’t have so easily neutralized Vladivostok.”

“But it was entirely Your Highness’s skill that brought together the three nations of Northeast Asia to strike Russia. I am truly impressed.”

The exaggeration that I had manipulated the nations of Europe and Asia according to my will seemed to have really taken hold.

I wondered why it was working, but since the results were as they were, the gazes upon me, already bordering on reverence, now resembled those of religious devotees worshiping a god of diplomacy.

The initial attempts to use me merely as a morale booster for our forces had vanished, replaced by an eagerness to keep me tethered to the naval headquarters 24/7.

There were reasons for this, of course.

Since the start of this war, the Royal Navy of the Great British Empire, unlike the army, had not suffered a single setback, unilaterally beating down the enemy.

However, with the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov already locked down, and the Baltic Sea facing relentless Russian defenses, they were apparently worried about not achieving any more noticeable victories.

In the midst of this, I had not only won in Asia but completely occupied Vladivostok and planted the flags of the Great British Empire all over Russian territories in Asia, which naturally made their mouths gape open.

Admiral Parker, adding the remark, ‘Isn’t this the power of the Royal Navy, fundamentally different from the army?’ laughed heartily.

Yes, the Royal Navy of the Great British Empire is the best. Truly, truly different from the incompetent army.

Moving on, Marshal Fitzroy, who had been successfully besieging Sevastopol despite being constantly criticized by the navy, also gladly welcomed my return.

“With the great victory in Asia, the morale of the Russian forces on the European front will surely decline. Once we capture this fortress, Crimea will be ours, and they will find it even harder to hold out. Your Highness’s contribution is immense.”

“It’s all thanks to you all who are working so hard here, shedding blood and sweat. I have only played a supporting role.”

“Your Highness is truly a man of character. Admiral Parker boasts so much every time we meet, saying that the army’s hard-fought battles are all thanks to the navy’s support, that I’m about to get calluses on my ears. He’ll probably come again to say that the glorious Royal Navy swept away the Russian forces in Asia, making things easier for us.”

Good grief, they badmouth the other side when I go there, and badmouth this side when I come here. Just trying to keep up with both sides is exhausting.

Listening to the marshal’s complaints about how the navy sees the army as a pushover, I could understand the army’s frustration.

The Great British Empire’s army, engaged in fierce battles in Crimea, was achieving results on a different level compared to its allies, France and the Ottoman Empire.

Yet, the navy boasted daily that their achievements were greater, which naturally made their blood boil.

In fact, strictly speaking, the significant reduction in the army’s casualties was also thanks to the remarkable efforts of John Snow [a pioneer in epidemiology] and Nightingale [Florence Nightingale, a founder of modern nursing], whom I had brought, which greatly reduced the mortality rate of the wounded.

This not only allowed the wounded to return to the front lines more easily but also had a tremendous impact on the morale of the entire army.

In particular, the perception that ‘only our Great British Empire is like this,’ worked surprisingly well.

“Before Your Highness left, you told us to actively promote this information to boost the soldiers’ morale, and it worked incredibly well.”

“Of course it would. Everything is relative, after all.”

-The army next to us loses 40% of its soldiers when they are wounded, but our army loses only about 2%. This is the difference between the superior Great British army and the pathetic Russian army!

How could morale not rise when such words spread far and wide?

What soldiers value most is ultimately victory in war and their own survival.

If they constantly feel that the Great British Empire is far more powerful than Russia, and even the mortality rate is so different, they can be confident that their lives are safe.

“Marshal, in the current situation, if Sevastopol falls, will Russia have the strength to continue the war?”

“If we capture Sevastopol and completely take control of Crimea, the Ukrainian region will be wide open. Right now, we are only preventing food from that plain from reaching Russia, but afterwards, we can take over that land entirely. Then, no matter how much Russia struggles, they cannot win. So, no matter how hard they try to hold out, they will eventually surrender. Moreover, I’ve heard that Emperor Nicholas’s condition is not very good. This may also have some impact.”

“The Emperor’s health is poor? Is he perhaps in critical condition or something?”

Originally, he was supposed to die during the Crimean War, so it wouldn’t be strange if he died prematurely due to stress from the increasingly unfavorable war situation.

However, Marshal Fitzroy shook his head with a strange expression and scratched his head.

“Not that… there are rumors that he has alopecia areata [an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss], leaving a huge hole in the center of his head.”

“Ah…”

Oh dear. His mental state must be critical, not his physical one.

As a momentary silence filled the room, Marshal Fitzroy desperately tried to suppress his laughter and struggled to speak.

“Originally, his forehead was already receding, but now his crown has joined in… *pfft!*”

“*Pfft!* Ahem, ahem, let’s not laugh too much, Marshal. So, is Emperor Nicholas now a bald man with a receding hairline? Just because Russia’s national emblem is a double-headed eagle and he has no hair, it doesn’t mean we should mock the Emperor as a bald eagle.”

“No, when did I ever do that? Isn’t that just what Your Highness wants to call him?”

What nonsense. I only reflexively chuckled because Fitzroy described it too vividly.

Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, but hearing that his forehead has receded and his crown is also empty, it’s too easy to imagine.

“Ahem! Anyway, the key is to take that fortress and have the Union Jack [the flag of the United Kingdom] flying over Crimea.”

“That’s right. But you keep asking about it in detail, so do you perhaps have some kind of secret plan?”

Perhaps because he has seen it several times during the war, this man has not only a sense of humor but also a good sense of awareness. How did he know?

“First, we need to know how much supplies and resources the Russian army is pouring into defending Sevastopol. They must be reducing support now that they are preoccupied with defending the capital, right?”

“Yes. So, I thought that if we continue to besiege them and let them wither for about a year, we should be able to occupy it without much difficulty.”

“From the perspective of reducing our own casualties, that’s the safest way, but isn’t a year too long? It costs money to besiege them here for that long.”

War is like a large-scale civil engineering project, where every day that passes directly translates into losses.

To let the enemy wither, we must be prepared to wither along with them, even if only a little.

So, if we can take Crimea even a day faster, it’s always better to just go for it.

Especially since this matter, if used well, could affect not only Crimea but also the entire Russian army and allied forces, so we needed to make the situation as grand as possible.

If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s talking. No one can follow me.

This isn’t boasting; it’s the truth.

“So, Marshal, would you mind listening to my plan?”

Honestly, if stress is causing his hair to fall out, wouldn’t it be better to just shave it all off? For Emperor Nicholas to suffer no more.

I should turn him into a complete bald eagle.

* * *

Having received Marshal Fitzroy’s consent, I immediately began preparing for the propaganda operation.

It’s a given that in the 1850s, the Geneva Convention [an international treaty establishing standards of international law for humanitarian concerns] had not yet been established, so there was no international prisoner exchange procedure.

Of course, there was an unspoken rule that prisoners of officer rank or higher should be treated with the utmost respect, and high-ranking officials should be treated like guests rather than prisoners.

Repatriation usually took place after the war ended, but in some cases, it occurred even when the conflict had not yet ended.

This was considered a kind of gesture of reconciliation, and the country that had such a high-ranking official captured as a prisoner usually wanted to get them back as quickly as possible, as it was a national disgrace.

Gennady was not much different.

Although the front was only about a tenth the size of the European front, he was still the commander in charge of a region.

For such a person to be captured as a prisoner in an enemy country was an unbearable humiliation for the Russian army.

Especially if left alone, how much would Britain exaggerate and promote this achievement?

In this situation, as soon as I said I would repatriate Gennady, Russia unhesitatingly sent back a reply saying they would gratefully take him.

In other words, the day of the operation was finally set.

“Commander, how have you been? You look radiant.”

“…How could I be?”

“Still, you look much better than when I first saw you.”

“I had injured my back so badly that I couldn’t even get up back then, so of course I should look better than that. Besides, even though I’m fully recovered now, I’m dying of frustration because I can’t get up from here.”

Commander Gennady Nevelskoy answered my questions meticulously, though he seemed uncomfortable.

He had been thoroughly restricted from outside contact while coming here from Asia, so he seemed starved for conversation with others.

Originally, this could have been a problem as prisoner abuse, but on the surface, Gennady was a person in critical condition, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Please bear with it a little longer. It could be troublesome if someone who is supposed to be in such poor condition that they need to be repatriated is caught frolicking around the base.”

“…I understand. It can’t be helped. But hasn’t the Russian army been suspicious?”

“Saying that he fell off his horse and is in critical condition was effective. If the commander were to die here, the prestige of the Great British Empire would be tarnished. Since we didn’t want that to happen, we asked them to just take him away, and they immediately agreed.”

“Indeed. If someone like me, not just a regular officer, dies while being held as a prisoner, there would be a lot of backlash.”

That’s right. If a commander-level officer, not a lower-ranking officer, dies while being held as a prisoner and being repatriated to Europe?

Perhaps there would even be accusations that we were torturing him to extract information and trying to cover it up.

So, our logic that they should take the prisoner away before something goes wrong was not strange at all, and that’s why the Russian side accepted it without much suspicion.

“And to prove that we have absolutely not engaged in any abuse or torture, they said they would bring several officers, including medical officers, and deploy journalists from both countries to verify this.”

“…The stage is perfectly set, isn’t it?”

“Yes. So, the better the performance the commander gives, the better the treatment afterwards will be.”

He has been practicing acting while hardly meeting anyone other than me while coming here from Asia, so I don’t have to worry.

Indeed, Gennady nodded his head with a confident smile.

“No problem. More importantly, Your Highness must keep your promise?”

“Don’t worry. I thoroughly keep my word to those who have made deals with me. Just remember that the better you do, the more money you will receive in Canada. There is already enough money prepared that you won’t be able to spend it all in your lifetime.”

“Hoo… I understand. After all, even if this war drags on, only our poor compatriots will die more, right? So, this is not a betrayal of the country but a noble revelation to save as many people as possible, isn’t it? Your Highness also thinks so, right?”

“Of course. If the war ends quickly thanks to the commander’s revelations, countless people will save their lives and return to their families for that shortened period, won’t they? Commander Gennady, you will become a hero!”

If he’s entering the stage of rationalization to ease his conscience, I’ll gladly agree with him.

This kind of mindless empathy is one of the things I do best.

“Why wouldn’t I want to continue serving His Majesty? But in the first place, the forces at my disposal were not capable of defense.”

“Of course, of course.”

He gathered a brigade from Siberia, even pulling out their souls, and had them thoroughly defeated by a second-rate empire like the Qing Dynasty, but let’s just say that it was because they were caught off guard by a cowardly trick, so it couldn’t be helped.

“If you think about it, the reason I ended up like this is because the home country started a war that didn’t make sense. If my sacrifice can open the eyes of the people in the home country, I will gladly walk the thorny path.”

“If there were many patriots like Commander Gennady, the winner of this war might have been Russia instead of our Great British Empire, but I think it’s fortunate for me.”

I don’t know what kind of sacrifice a man who showed the worst disgrace of being captured by the Joseon army and will live a life of luxury with beautiful women in Canada is talking about, but anyway, since he says so, I should nod my head.

“Your Highness. I am now fully prepared.”

“Then, let’s do one last rehearsal? Let’s do it as if it’s the real thing now.”

“…I understand.”

As soon as Gennady finished speaking, he shed tears with a solemn expression that would make anyone mistake him for Jesus carrying the cross to Golgotha [the site of Jesus’ crucifixion].

“Everyone! There is something I must say in this place today!”

Wow, look at those tears flowing so naturally.

If he starts a new life in Canada, he could become a great actor even if he becomes a stage actor.

The state of the leading actor is perfect, and the stage is all set, so now all that’s left is to invite more audiences.

Operation Superconducting Propaganda.

Now begins.