Chapter 76:

January 15, 1940

Budapest, the capital of Hungary At Horthy's invitation, we sat down facing each other.

Miklós Horthy, born the son of a Hungarian politician during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, made a name for himself as a famed commander of the Imperial Navy during World War I.

However, with defeat in the last great war and the split from Austria, Hungary was reduced to a landlocked country, and a Communist Regime influenced by the Soviet Union came to power.

Horthy, a conservative anti-communist of noble birth, staged a coup d'état with the conservative royalist faction, driving out the communists with Romania's help and reviving the Kingdom of Hungary, seating himself as Regent.

Hilariously, when Charles I of Habsburg later returned and tried to be restored as the King of Hungary with the help of the royalist faction, Horthy blocked him with the military and exiled the King.

Officially, the reason was that a militarily-neutered Hungary under the Treaty of Trianon had nothing to gain from enthroning a king considered a war criminal by the victorious nations, but who could know his true intentions?

So, the Admiral of a country without a sea, the Regent of a Kingdom Without a King.

A person in power who started a civil war hand-in-hand with the royalist faction, only to fall into conflict with them again because of a war-criminal king.

"Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to accept my unofficial invitation."

The Horthy who said this was a dignified, middle-aged man whose stern facial expression suited him well.

The man standing at his rear was a handsome young man, but I could tell their relationship at a glance.

The resemblance is too strong, isn't it? He's a younger, more handsome Horthy.

The younger, handsome Horthy, whose eyes met mine, smiled gently.

"I am István Horthy, and I am assisting His Excellency, the Regent."

But for some reason, István's eyes held a strange goodwill as he looked at me, which I found a bit puzzling.

Why, though? Is there some case that connects us?

"He is my eldest son."

"I see. You must be very proud."

When I said that without much thought, the Regent smiled benevolently, to my surprise.

Does the dictator of Hungary cherish his family more than I thought?

"Haha. Well, then, since this is an unofficial meeting, let's get straight to the point."

"Of course, Your Excellency, the Regent."

Horthy smiled faintly and opened his mouth.

"Is Germany willing to hand Slovakia over to us?"

So it's this, after all.

Slovakia was Hungarian territory for a very long time.

Although the ethnic composition is different, and relations with the Hungarian people are not very good, it was still Hungarian territory for nearly a thousand years.

"Regrettably, that is not something Germany can decide on its own. We plan to grant independence to Czechoslovakia."

The Sudetenland is a land where Germans are the majority, and it's the result of the officially recognized Munich Agreement, even if it was a nonsensical coercive treaty.

But as for Czechia and Slovakia, holding onto them will only give Britain and France a pretext.

But if I just sell them off, what kind of talk will I have to hear? However, upon hearing my answer, Horthy slightly narrowed the glabella.

"Are you serious? This is an unofficial meeting. Of course, we're not allies, so I won't tell you to be completely frank, but there should be no need to beat around the bush."

"I am serious, Your Excellency, the Regent. The independence of Czechoslovakia is the official policy of the Fourth Empire's government."

Horthy tapped his fingers on the armrest,tap-tap, then spoke again.

"I can't understand. If I were Germany, I would try to hold onto it with any excuse."

Well, of course.

Czechia is a very wealthy region with well-developed heavy industry. If you ignore diplomacy and think only in terms of national power, it's right to hold onto it.

But in the original history, Germany thought that way and held onto occupied territories larger than its home country, and with its already insufficient manpower, it weakened itself further by conscripting even the skilled workers from factories to use as soldiers or for maintaining public order.

There's no way the efficiency would be high if we forced the Czechs to work in the defense industry for Germany against their backlash, and if we're not going to do Nazi-like things like making an example of them to increase that efficiency, it's questionable if it has that much value.

Of course, our choice was one that considered ideological justification and diplomatic reputation more than domestic gain.

"Then, how about liberating Czechia and Slovakia separately? We'll take care of occupying Slovakia ourselves."

He's saying they'll gobble up a newly liberated territory, just like Carpatho-Ruthenia during the Munich Agreement.

It was truly a strange feeling.

Is this what they call the great powers carving up the weaker nations? Though Hungary is a bit lacking in stature to be called a great power.

"If we did that, Germany's face would be ruined, or we would be condemned for collusion with Hungary."

"Instead, wouldn't you be able to avoid a situation where we enter the war and you are forced into a three-front war?"

As the conversation reached this point, Horthy also began to slowly reveal his true colors.

I turned my gaze to Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Erich Kordt, who let out a small sigh and opened his mouth.

"It is the judgment of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Hungary cannot declare war on us in the current war situation."

Horthy laughed as if he found it amusing.

"Why do you think so?"

"Your country's annulment of the Treaty of Trianon is not just about rearmament; it is tantamount to a declaration to reclaim lost territory. The neighboring countries will not turn a blind eye to this."

The Treaty of Trianon arbitrarily tore apart the territory of Hungary, a defeated nation in World War I, and distributed it to neighboring countries.

Even if we say we currently have Slovakia, Romania holds Transylvania and the eastern territories, which have a status comparable to Danzig for Hungary, while Yugoslavia holds a small part of the southern territory.

At the time of the annulment, great power-level countries like France, Italy, and Poland (or so they seemed) approved it, so countries like Romania or Yugoslavia couldn't say much, but now that Italy is suffering a crushing defeat against us and Poland hasn't fought as well as predicted, the story is different.

Hearing Erich Kordt's words, Horthy faintly twisted the corner of his mouth upwards.

"Well, you could think that, but. Yugoslavia is a country that can't even properly manage its own unification. Its political sphere is busy making money selling resources to you, but the military dislikes you, doesn't it? On top of that, it's a country where all sorts of ethnic groups are mixed, so it wouldn't be strange if it exploded at any moment."

The wily Regent who said this showed not a hint of wavering.

"And as for Romania. Where do you think Poland got the weapons and oil needed to operate so many divisions? Surely you don't think we jumped into this game without something to rely on?"

Horthy was smiling confidently.

Is this bravado, or is it the truth? I looked at Erich Kordt, but he too shook his head.

There's no formal treaty that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of, but if there was a secret pact between them, we have no way of knowing what kind of deal was made.

I don't know what Poland promised Romania in return for support in their fight against us, but modern nations don't deal in simple land grabbing, so I can't jump to a conclusion.

If nothing else, Poland has certainly staked its national fate on this matter, so there's a high possibility Horthy's words aren't just bravado.

In that case, shall I try a little bravado myself?

"The Italian Army is already crippled. It will take them at least a month, or two to three months to be generous, before they can fight us in earnest again."

Horthy gave no reply to my words.

As one of the more competent leaders among the Axis powers in the original history, he would surely have made that assessment of reality.

"Poland, which launched an offensive at our most vulnerable moment, certainly dealt us a blow, but it failed to achieve a decisive victory."

Southern East Prussia was occupied, but the key port and core city of Königsberg was successfully defended.

Silesia, too, was only pushed back in a very small part.

"I don't know what great support Poland received from Romania, but even so, I believe their offensive capability will be depleted within three months at the longest, am I wrong? Ah, of course, that is under the premise that the Soviet Union doesn't develop any ulterior motives beforehand."

"Hmm…"

When Horthy said nothing, I added.

"I don't know what you discussed with Yugoslavia or Romania, but I don't know if it's wise to trust only a secret pact when even formal treaties are being broken. It might be different if Italy and Poland were alive and well, but I'm sorry to say it doesn't look like they'd have the spare capacity to help Hungary if it were betrayed."

The treaties created by the Entente Powers after the last great war to maintain peace, represented by the Treaty of Versailles, have almost all been abrogated long ago.

Isn't the Munich Agreement itself a symbol that shattered the illusion of so-called 'treaties' in this era? After all, the treaty Chamberlain called 'peace for our time' was thoroughly betrayed by the annexation of Czechia.

Unless it's a secret pact like the one we made with Britain, where the mutual benefit is so clear there's no need to break it, it's impossible to blindly trust in the faith between nations in an era like this.

"Nevertheless, if you choose to trust Poland and Italy and declare war, that's not something Germany can say anything about, but then we would have to fly to Romania to negotiate."

As if what we could promise would be any less than Poland's?

With that feeling, I stared intently at Horthy.

Horthy was silent for a moment, then met his son's eyes behind him before turning back to me and speaking again.

"I thought you were a pacifist, Vice Minister."

"A pacifist… let's just say I'm one who prioritizes diplomacy. I could buy peace with Hungary by selling off Slovakia, but it's my judgment that the counterpart of a worsening diplomatic standing for Germany is greater."

I'm already holding onto Czechia, wary of when Britain and France might apply pressure, and I'm supposed to sell off Slovakia here?

Even setting aside the fact that, by my personal morality, it was an act like America tacitly approving of Japan's annexation of Joseon—

At a time when I'm short on scheming to quickly gain something and liberate Czechia to remove any pretext, even our diplomacy, our only strength over Nazi Germany, could fade.

Of course, the reason I'm putting on this bravado is that I truly believe Hungary is not in a position to take any rash action.

"Hmm, how about you reconsider? You're not going to liberate the Sudetenland anyway, are you?"

"That is not a matter for Hungary to consider, but…"

Nationalism is still sweeping all of Germany, so it's true that I can't liberate the Sudetenland.

If I did, the high approval rating of the Fourth Reich's War Cabinet would be cut in half.

"No, it is a matter to consider.

Even if Germany liberates Czechia, they will want to reclaim the Sudetenland rather than be grateful. They'll covet the territories we took as well.

In the end, they will be a constant nuisance for Germany and us."

I had nothing to say here.

To be honest, it was a problem I had anticipated myself.

If we grant them liberation without the Sudetenland, will the Czechs really be grateful?

"Rather than that, wouldn't it be better to liberate only the Czechia region just to keep up appearances so they can't have any ulterior motives, and for us to reclaim Slovakia and become Germany's ally?"

As befitting a leader who acquired territory here and there while testing the waters among the Axis powers until the very end, Horthy's argument was quite persuasive.

Honestly, at this point, it's becoming ambiguous to reject it outright based on my personal judgment alone…

"If you don't like that, there is another way."

Seeing that I still wouldn't give a definite answer, Horthy spoke again.

"On the condition that you help us reclaim our former territory from Romania post-war, we will gladly support you with all our might as Germany's ally."

"Isn't that ultimately asking us to put diplomatic pressure on another country that is doing nothing, and to support a war of aggression if they refuse?"

"That's right."

Horthy replied with a natural, gentle smile, as if there was no need to hide it.

At this point, I started to become genuinely curious.

The countless dictators of this era, why on earth do they start wars?

What are they fighting for?

"It hasn't even been 20 years since we lost so much in the last great war.

Yet, if you start another war, drive the young men to their deaths, and gain territory, what remains?"

Horthy glanced at the son standing at his rear, then looked at me for a moment before speaking.

"My name, which my descendants will be proud of, will remain, and the fatherland they will live in will remain."

Having said that, Horthy stared at my facial expression for a moment.

Then, he asked me in return.

"I have answered your question, so I wish to ask one as well.

Must the people whose rights have been unjustly taken away remain as victims forever?"

The leader of a nation seething with nationalism, a nation that lost much just like Germany in the last great war, was looking straight at me.

"Your fatherland is under attack, and blood must be flowing even at this very moment.

Is a politician who discusses moral politics even in a situation like this truly moral?"