Chapter 768: Life and Death Must Be Confirmed

After the declaration of war, I began to reorganize the board.

My target wasn’t the entire Chinese leadership, but only the Shanghai faction. Even if I couldn’t eradicate their power, I would at least diminish it.

I decided to put the things I’d prepared into motion one by one.

The first to move was Jang Seong-taek. Using China’s repeated delays in providing economic support as an excuse, he halted the Sinuiju development project.

The Chinese government immediately protested but Jang Seong-taek didn’t stop.

He sent all the Chinese people who had entered Sinuiju back and blocked all routes from China to Sinuiju.

Although he didn’t completely seal the border with China, the act itself greatly shocked the Chinese government.

[North Korea-China relations heading towards collapse day by day]

Like Korea and the U.S., North Korea and China are inseparable.

The Korean War in Korea was not only a war between the North and South but also a proxy war between the U.S. and China which lasted for three years.

The U.S. supported Korea while China supported North Korea, ultimately ending in an armistice rather than a victory for either side.

For decades after that, a Cold War continued, with an ideological battle.

The Korean Peninsula was at the heart of it. Korea grew with the support of the U.S. and the Western world, while North Korea grew with the support of China and the Soviet Union.

(Omitted)

Due to this incident, the international situation has become as unpredictable as a dense fog.

I put down the newspaper with the headline article from Goryeo Daily.

Jang Seong-taek followed my request to the letter. It was something he did because he thought it would benefit him as well, but still it was a great help.

If the Chinese influence in North Korea were to shrink due to this conflict initiated by Jiang Zemin, then Jiang Zemin would inevitably suffer internal damage.

While I was checking other newspapers, Manager Ma came into the study.

“Boss. They succeeded.”

I nodded, a satisfied smile on my face at his report.

“Is he dead?”

“They were unable to confirm.”

“Well, even if he isn’t dead, it’ll be a warning at least. Tell them to watch and decide what to do later.”

This was a sufficient gift for the Chinese Ambassador who had insulted me.

“What about Hu Jintao?”

“Hao Xun has informed me that Chairman Hu Jintao will be making a state visit to Moscow next year.”

“Then we can meet Hu Jintao then.”

As Manager Ma continued to report on the progress, my phone rang.

Manager Ma, who had taken his phone out of his pocket, looked at me.

“Answer it.”

With my permission, Manager Ma answered the phone. But his expression changed drastically as he listened without saying a word.

‘What is it? What could have made Manager Ma look so serious?’

A moment later, Manager Ma, having finished the call, reported with a dark expression.

“Boss, I’ve just been informed that Chairman Hu Jintao was attacked.”

“What did you say?”

At the shocking words, I unconsciously jumped up from my seat.

Of course Chairman Hu Jintao was exposed to assassination threats several times.

But that was something that was supposed to happen in the distant future.

“Is Chairman Hu Jintao safe?”

“They are unable to confirm that.”

“Explain properly what happened.”

I managed to calm myself down and sat back down.

As soon as I sat down, Manager Ma began to speak.

“After taking over the position of Chairman of the Central Military Commission from Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao was inspecting units all over the country to smoothly seize military power.”

That was already something I had been informed about.

Like Mao Zedong said, all power comes from the barrel of a gun, and in China the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the commander of the military, is considered the highest.

The reason why Deng Xiaoping put everything down but held onto the position of Military Commission Chairman till the end, and the reason why Jiang Zemin handed over the Party General Secretary and State President positions to Hu Jintao but held onto the Military Commission Chairman position was all for that.

In the end, Hu Jintao did take over the position of Chairman of the Central Military Commission, but Jiang Zemin’s faction still held all the key positions in the Military Commission.

It wouldn’t be until next year that Hu Jintao could fill those positions with his own people.

So before that, Hu Jintao was making his rounds to show that he had become the commander-in-chief of the military.

“That’s already information I’ve been given. Are you saying a coup has happened?”

“No. While visiting the North Sea Fleet, and inspecting a state-of-the-art missile destroyer, two warships that were waiting nearby suddenly opened fire with their cannons at the destroyer that Hu Jintao was on.”

“Crazy….”

My head throbbed.

I already knew about this event. Because it was something that was going to happen later.

That event had occurred two years earlier.

In my previous life, Hu Jintao was safe, but I didn’t know if that would be the case in this life.

“Did the destroyer that Hu Jintao was on sink? Did he… die?”

“The destroyer quickly turned its stern and left the training area. Since then, nothing is known about Hu Jintao’s whereabouts. Whether Hu Jintao is dead or alive. Currently, Beijing is controlling all information and it has been reported as an emergency. I have told the informants to lie low for the time being.”

That’s a wise decision.

Moving rashly could cause the HUMINT network that had already been shaken to collapse again.

But now was the time for bold decisions.

“Even if it means the newly established information line collapses, you absolutely must confirm Hu Jintao’s life or death. Absolutely.”

“I will pass it on, Boss.”

To think someone would attack the destroyer that the military commander was on.

Even in China where the Party controls the military, this was an unprecedented situation.

“Who gave the order to attack the destroyer?”

“It’s not yet known.”

This incident, known as the ‘Hu Jintao Yellow Sea Assassination Attempt,’ was originally an event orchestrated by Jiang Zemin, and carried out by Jang Dingpa, the commander of the North Sea Fleet.

I thought that they would’ve moved in the same way this time as well.

“Contact Hao Xun. By any means necessary.”

Wouldn’t Hao Xun know if Hu Jintao was alive or dead?

Just as Manager Ma was about to leave with his phone, my phone rang.

I gestured quickly to Manager Ma to contact Hao Xun and pressed the call button.

“This is Kim Mu-hyeok. Medvedev.”

― Kim Mu-hyeok, Boss. Military forces from the Northern Theater Command of China are moving towards the border with North Korea.

Medvedev immediately cut to the chase, showing just how urgent the matter was.

“What? You’re saying they sent troops to the border area?”

― Yes. That’s what I was told. By now, the U.S. and Korean governments have probably been informed as well.

Has Jiang Zemin really gone crazy? To take such drastic military action while Hu Jintao’s whereabouts are unknown.

“How many troops have moved?”

― The 39th Group Army has moved. I couldn’t completely confirm their numbers.

If the 39th Group Army, the closest one to Sinuiju, was moving, it wouldn’t take them half a day to reach the border.

“Will they cross the border?”

― Based on our analysis, it’s 50/50. I don’t know what Chairman Hu Jintao is thinking. At this rate, they’re just giving the U.S. an opportunity to intervene.

Russia didn’t know yet that Hu Jintao had been attacked.

“Medvedev. It’s not going to be Hu Jintao.”

I briefly explained to him that Hu Jintao was currently unavailable.

Medvedev was very surprised at the news that the destroyer Hu Jintao was on had been attacked.

― If it isn’t Hu Jintao, then Jiang Zemin must have used the Vice Chairman of the Military Commission to move them. This seems to be getting complicated.

“What has Russia decided to do?”

― We’ve decided to wait and see how the situation plays out. We’ve ordered all forces facing the Chinese border to stand by.

“We need to actively intervene.”

― But…

If Russia just stood by, there was no telling how things would play out.

I said it strongly once again.

“We absolutely must prevent them from crossing the border. At this rate our entire plan will fall apart.”

― Hmm. I will report that.

“I’m not telling you to start a military action, just pressure the Chinese government. Or talk to Jang Seong-taek and deploy troops to the Rajin zone which has been postponed.”

Medvedev sighed briefly at my suggestion.

― That’s an option but it will take a few days. If they cross the border before that, it will be useless.

“First, send a warning to the Chinese government not to cross the border. And… announce that the planned oil pipeline construction will be temporarily suspended.”

― Wasn’t that something we were going to do later?

Suspending the construction of the oil and gas pipelines between China and Russia was one of the cards I had prepared to pressure China.

“Things have suddenly turned out this way so, it can’t be helped. There’s no telling how far Jiang Zemin will go.”

― I understand. I will report that as well.

“Thank you. Please contact me again if anything new comes up.”

― I will. I’ll hang up now.

After ending the call with Medvedev, only silence filled the study.

I was alone in the quiet study, organizing what was happening.

‘The assassination attempt on Hu Jintao. At the same time, the movement of Chinese troops. What should I do next?’

Just the gesture of North Korea suddenly distancing itself from China is enough for them to react this much.

‘No. It’s better this way. The more things progress like this, the more damage Jiang Zemin will receive as a countermeasure if things go wrong.’

But I had a nagging feeling that I was missing something.

‘Could it be that they bet on a stock drop and did all this?’

I suddenly had a feeling that might be the case.

If China were to do something like this, fear that a war could break out across East Asia would spread, and the stock market would immediately react and drop, without a doubt.

But that wasn’t the important thing right now. I had to stop the war first.

I quickly called Myeong-su.

― Yeah. Mu-hyeok, I’m busy. Let’s talk later.

“Is it because of the Chinese troops moving?”

― How did you know that faster than me? How did you find out?

“I got a call from Medvedev. More importantly, I heard Hu Jintao was attacked as well. Keep that in mind and discuss what to do about it.”

― What? Is that true? Wait a second.

I could hear the sound of moving around, as if he was changing locations and then the sound of a door being locked.

― Yeah. Mu-hyeok, tell me more details.

It was then that I told him the story about Hu Jintao’s disappearance.

― …With Chairman Hu Jintao missing, who’s moving the military then? This is insane. What is happening all of a sudden. I heard that there was an urgent call from Pyongyang to the President through the emergency line as well. He’s on the phone.

“What about the U.S.? What did they say?”

― Not yet. They’ve only shared the news about the Chinese military movement, and since then, nothing has been shared.

Without the U.S.’s help, it would be impossible to quell this situation.

“Okay, I understand. Call me right away if there’s anything unusual.”

― Got it. Let’s talk later.

Just as I finished talking with Myeong-su, Manager Ma came in.

“What about Hao Xun?”

“I can’t reach him.”

“Could it be that something happened to Hao Xun as well?”

Could it be that Hao Xun was arrested?

“That’s unlikely. He would have been in hiding.”

“If that’s the case then, it’s a relief but…”

Hao Xun was a card that could cause great damage to Hu Jintao.

If the secret relationship between the Vice Chairman of the Black Dragon Society which boasts great power even within the Black Society, and their top leader was revealed, the impact would be unimaginable.

To utilize that information, you had to secure solid evidence and testimony, and the best way to do that would be to secure Hao Xun.

“I heard that the Chinese army is moving towards the border with North Korea. It seems like things are about to escalate.”

“Looking at the way they attacked Chairman Hu Jintao and moved the army accordingly, it seems like everything is part of a well-coordinated plan.”

Just as Manager Ma said, it was as if they were fitting puzzle pieces together, one by one.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how long they had been preparing for it.

“Boss, have you tried contacting Wen Jiabao? He might know something.”

I shook my head. If I were Jiang Zemin, I would definitely be watching Wen Jiabao.

“Prime Minister Wen Jiabao won’t be able to move. Even if Hu Jintao is alive. The moment he moves, he will be exposed to an even greater risk of assassination.”

What was it about power that made people create such a mess?

“If Hu Jintao dies, then everything will come to nothing. Because there won’t be any power to check Jiang Zemin.”

If it wasn’t for Hu Jintao, there wasn’t anyone currently that could check Jiang Zemin.

Wen Jiabao lacked the support of the Communist Youth League, and the Princelings lacked the power to check the Shanghai faction.

If Hu Jintao were to die, I had to consider the possibility of the Shanghai faction completely taking over China.

“He has to live no matter what. Hu Jintao can’t die, absolutely not.”

I earnestly hoped that Hu Jintao was alive.

My head was a mess, but I couldn’t just stand around and wait.

I had to do what I could do.

Fortunately, the Chinese army didn’t cross the border.

They spouted some nonsense about it being a scheduled military exercise, but no one believed it.

As I expected, I was informed by Han Gyeong-yeong that some forces on Wall Street had made a large-scale short bet a few days ago.

“Those crazy bastards.”

It was circumstantial, but Jiang Zemin must have leaked information beforehand.

It seemed that Jiang Zemin had completely decided to join hands with Valtiche.

Dream High must have suffered huge losses because of this situation.