The Age of Blood and Iron (1)
July, 1936.
The outskirts of California.
A car driven by a Black chauffeur entered a research complex surrounded by massive barbed-wire fences in the middle of the suburbs.
Passing through tight security, the vehicle continued deeper inside for quite some time before finally stopping beside a building under the heaviest guard.
A secret research facility owned by one of the top ten major groups in California.
The moment the car stopped, a young man from the back seat sprang out and headed straight inside.
"Hellooo."
"Huh? What brings you here? What about school?"
"How could a free citizen of the United States be confined only to the shackles of school?"
Anyone working at the San–Franco Aeronautical Technology Demonstration Team had probably entertained the same cheeky thought at least once—that if that family fell into water, only their mouths would keep floating.
The engineers quietly turned their heads away and returned to their work, leaving just one person beside Henry to chat with him.
After acquiring Ford's aviation division, Yushin Kim had sold off most of the production facilities, keeping only what was necessary for research and development.
They couldn't compete in productivity, nor could they survive in the aircraft market by quickly selling new models. So he made the decision to focus solely on R&D, backing it with massive investment. As a result, the company's development capabilities were steadily climbing upward.
But as time passed, the employees grew increasingly uneasy.
"How's development going?"
"Every time your father drops by and throws in his two cents, we end up working overtime. Honestly, if he weren't the boss…"
"Haha… please understand. He's invested so much money."
"Still, suddenly telling us to replace the engine—isn't that a bit much? That new engine we got feels really unstable."
Henry shuddered slightly, recalling what had happened because of that "engine."
"That didn't get discovered, right?"
"Huh? By who?"
"Uncle Ezell. If he finds out that engine's here, he'll come in with a gun."
"Damn it. You stole it again? Anyway, we can't use this. It's not suitable for military use. Put a busted heart like this in a plane, and it won't fly far before crashing."
"Can I try flying it once?"
"I'd rather just kill myself than allow that."
Henry pleaded a few more times, but they wouldn't budge.
Putting the boss's son into a test aircraft powered by an engine that couldn't even last 100 hours before failing? It would be safer to load six bullets into a revolver and play Russian roulette.
After arguing for a while, Henry finally gave up and instead asked to at least see the engine in question. The staff couldn't refuse that.
"Here it is."
"Father seems pretty interested in this engine."
"Honestly… I don't get it. Sure, Rolls-Royce makes good engines, but Ford isn't exactly lacking either."
"Of course, of course. Both my father and I know you're among Ford's top engineers."
"Right. But in my personal opinion, this engine is trash. Pure trash. If the old Ford chairman saw this instead of Chairman Kim, he'd tear it apart with curses."
A design difficult to mass-produce.
No one who had worked at Ford would like something like this.
Yujin Kim was practically a mirror image of that philosophy—even his son could pass for him in that regard. He always said, "Rather than making one insanely powerful superweapon, I'd rather produce ten decent ones." And Henry agreed with that view as well.
So why was he so obsessed with this engine, which went against both Ford's and Kim's philosophy?
"Sometimes… I just don't understand my father."
"The fact that you understand him even occasionally—guess blood doesn't lie."
"No, I mean it. I understand his level of knowledge and his interests perfectly well. But sometimes, in completely incomprehensible moments, his 'intuition' kicks in. Like an angel appears in his dream and tells him the answer to the future."
"Not a demon?"
"Apparently demons just tear and kill, so they don't show up in dreams."
So maybe that engine really was something special?
Of course, he'd thought that before and ended up completely wrong several times, so he didn't fully trust his father's intuition.
"What's it called?"
"Merlin. They call it the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine."
"Guess we'll have to see whether it's a wizard or a fraud."
"Indeed."
***
At the same time, on the opposite side of the Earth.
Imperial Japan, Tokyo—Cabinet meeting room.
A suffocatingly tense atmosphere filled the air.
A massive map on the wall was covered in symbols and markings, while charts and statistics displayed opposite it revealed several stark truths to the empire's politicians and bureaucrats.
But knowing the truth and accepting it were entirely different matters.
"Is this something that can be accepted with common sense?"
Prime Minister Yamanashi Hanzo shouted angrily at the high officials staring at him.
"I don't know either. At this point, I'd rather just quit and retire to the countryside. Why don't you all just let me go already? Maybe you should all go to America or Europe and get your brains examined."
Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo also lashed out in frustration, but the rest of the cabinet's core members remained unmoved.
"Based on all intelligence gathered from China, the Empire now stands at a crossroads between survival and destruction."
Army Minister Jirō Minami flipped through a thick stack of documents and spoke in a cold, bureaucratic tone.
"Last year, while Tokyo burned during the rebels' uprising, Chiang Kai-shek in China moved more aggressively than ever to seize control of the continent."
"Ahem!"
"…That was not meant as criticism of the navy. Returning to the main point—Chiang Kai-shek has now forced nearly all warlords to submit, and through repeated anti-communist campaigns, he has significantly weakened the Reds. There are many reasons this was possible, but the most decisive factor is—"
"Tanks."
At the Prime Minister's mutter, Minami nodded.
"The armored forces Chiang Kai-shek expanded at the cost of his political life, trained by German officers. Our conclusion is that no warlord can stand against them. In fact… it is questionable whether even the Imperial Army could defeat them."
"Army Minister! If the man representing the Imperial Army—the very pillar of our Empire—falls into such defeatist thinking, what are we to do?!"
"Even at this very moment, Chiang Kai-shek continues to mass-produce tanks. By next year—no, by the end of this year—the Imperial Army will no longer enjoy armored superiority. Commander."
At the overwhelming pressure of the Army Minister, who looked ready to split his skull open with a sword at any moment, Kwantung Army Commander Hajime Sugiyama chose to keep his mouth shut and quietly sat back down.
A tank battle across the vast plains of Manchuria.
If the Imperial Army—having bet everything on armored forces to crush the Nationalist Army in one decisive blow—were to lose such a battle without superiority, then Manchuria and even Korea would have to be abandoned. It would mean the collapse of everything achieved since the Restoration.
"This is the last moment when the Imperial Army can be confident of victory against the Nationalist forces. Issue the order to advance immediately. We must show the world the annihilation of Chiang Kai-shek's armored divisions. This is the only way to annex North China and realize the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere!"
"But you see, as the Finance Minister has said repeatedly… don't we lack the war funds? China is vast."
"With the large-scale development of Manchukuo underway, if operations are conducted for up to two years, we can avoid severe damage to national strength while securing future growth momentum."
The Minister of Commerce and Industry's words made it feel as though all avenues of retreat were closing.
Those damned conglomerates.
To overcome the Great Depression and secure the army's dominance in politics, Japan had poured everything into developing Manchukuo. Even handing over Korea to be effectively managed by the navy, they pursued Soviet-style aggressive development policies. The results were slowly beginning to show—but now, pressure to seize North China was rising throughout the country.
"What is the Foreign Minister's opinion?"
"Italy's Benito Mussolini has annexed Ethiopia. As a victor of the last great war, it suggests that a certain level of military action may be tolerated—"
"I asked the Foreign Minister! Hey, just because you're the Kwantung Army Commander, does that make you everything? What class were you in the academy?!"
"I—I'm sorry."
"A brat whose blood hasn't even dried yet… Foreign Minister?"
Watching this "warm" exchange between academy seniors and juniors, the Foreign Minister lowered his head back to the documents.
"The Olympics are soon to be held in Berlin, Germany. If we resort to force, would it not damage the prestige of Chancellor Adolf Hitler, who is preparing for the event?"
"Hmph. That man is pro-China. He's been supporting China's military expansion in every possible way. How many of our imperial soldiers will die to German-made weapons, I wonder?"
"However, the Chancellor has consistently shown friendly gestures toward us as well. There seems to be no need to turn him into an enemy."
The Foreign Minister continued:
"Additionally, a presidential election will soon be held in the United States. Unless something unexpected occurs, the current president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, will likely be re-elected. However, during the transition period, it will be difficult for the United States to act decisively."
"The United States, hmm… the United States has him."
At Yamanashi's words, the entire room fell silent.
After a moment, the Foreign Minister wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and spoke again.
"General Kim has, for several years now, conveyed his opinions to us in private meetings."
"What did he say?"
"If we attempt to fully swallow China, then cooperation between Japan and the United States—and all collaboration with General Kim—will end, and both nations will inevitably suffer… that is what he said."
"How insolent!"
"This is a threat!"
No one could quite tell who was threatening whom, but the military officials in the room all began fuming, condemning Yujin Kim's arrogant remarks.
"I met General Kim when he once visited the Empire. He was an upright samurai at heart and clearly a man with favorable feelings toward Japan."
"You must not jeopardize our grand cause over mere goodwill toward a single individual."
"My point is that we should avoid worsening relations with the United States as much as possible. Is there no way?"
At that moment, the door burst open, and a man rushed in, gasping for breath.
"What is it?"
"The—the Kwantung Army—the Kwantung Army has clashed with Chinese forces. The situation is serious. Hostilities have broken out—"
"What nonsense is this?! Why would combat break out?! Your Excellency, this was not my order!"
"If it wasn't ordered by you, the commander of the Kwantung Army, are you saying your troops attacked the Chinese on their own?! Hey! How exactly are you managing your forces? What have you been doing?!"
At the very top of the Empire—
Completely unrelated to the will of its leadership—
The runaway train known as the Empire of Japan had already derailed, racing toward some destination no one could even identify.
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