1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 112

This group possessed both innate fear and the courage to sing praises. The people on the North Shore simply couldn't understand what they had encountered that would drive them to flee in such a frantic manner.

The people of South Korea endured endless exploitation by the Japanese army during the war. At that time, both China and Japan were exploiting local Korean resources to support the war. However, the republican government was still a civilized regime and had some bottom line.

Republican government officials and military personnel are still human beings. Whatever they do is for their own benefit. They will not cause harm if there is no benefit, and they may even treat others kindly if they are in need of benefit.

But the Japanese were completely different. During the war, they exploited the Korean people without any limits. After the war ended, the Koreans thought they would usher in peace and stability, and many fools from the North even fled to the South.

Unfortunately, what awaited the people of South Korea after the war was an even more ruthless and inhumane treatment from the Japanese. The defeated Japanese troops stationed in Korea turned into a beastly army, venting their anger at the Koreans. They frantically exploited and even slaughtered the local Koreans, and a large part of the reason was not for profit, but for pure killing.

Republican government officials and the armed forces at least follow some rules and will not kill indiscriminately unless absolutely necessary, because only the living have value and can create benefits.

But the Japanese have a strange thought process; perhaps they don't belong to the human category. If they feel unhappy, they kill, not for profit, but just for fun.

It was under such circumstances that South Koreans desperately wanted to escape. No one wanted to be with a group of purely mentally ill murderers. Drowning in the river would be a quick death, but falling into the hands of the Japanese would most likely result in inhumane torture and murder.

"What, what should I do?" Park Yoo-jeon's simple worldview was shattered, and he was completely panicked and at a loss.

Wang Dali pulled out the rope he had been using to tie people up and cursed, "Damn it, what else can we do but save them! Save them first, they're human lives after all!"

In the Han Chinese value system, human life is of paramount importance. No matter who it is, when faced with a life-threatening situation, the first thought of the Han Chinese is to save the person first, and then talk about other things.

Wang Dali brought over a piece of dead wood, tied it to a rope, and then he and Park Yoo-jeon worked together to throw it into the river.

The North Koreans near the north shore saw the rope and swam over like madmen, as if they were fish finding bait.

Within seconds, more than a dozen hands grabbed the rope, scaring Wang Dali so much that he tried to pull back, but he couldn't budge it at all.

Park Yoo-jeon finally had a moment of wisdom and quickly tied the other end of the rope to the nearest big tree, making a tight knot.

Other villagers and police officers on the shore quickly followed suit, tying ropes together and throwing the ropes into the river.

The ropes that were thrown over didn't sink; they were all grabbed by a dense mass of hands. People on the shore pulled with all their might, while people in the water swam for their lives.

Once ashore, no one ran away. They all knelt on the ground, wailing and crying, and many even grabbed handfuls of soil from the north bank and chewed it frantically.

Many people came with their whole family, but only two or three people remained when they reached the south bank. After rushing into the river, even more drowned, and in the end, only one person managed to escape to the north bank.

Countless women and children drowned on the river. Wang Dali watched as a woman handed him her last surviving child, but she was completely exhausted and could not even hold onto the rope. She looked at Wang Dali helplessly and desperately before disappearing into the turbulent river.

Wang Dali reached out to try and salvage the situation, but could only grasp at a desperate groan in vain.

Looking at the emaciated little girl in his arms, Wang Dali frantically tried to rush into the river to save her, but Park Yoo-jeon quickly stopped him. "In the current state of the Imjin River, even if you are a world swimming champion or a triathlete, you will have a very slim chance of survival if you go in!"

The following day, after daybreak, the Imjin River returned to calm, and there were no more refugees on the south bank during the day; only at night did they have a chance to fight for their lives.

The river continued its westward flow, merging into the sea, and the bloodstains from last night were carried away by its constant scouring.

At the mouth of the Han River, more than ten kilometers away, thousands of corpses floated on the sea, including men, women, and children. Fishermen from the north shore were terrified.

Separated by a river, yet it represents the difference between life and death, and the conflict between humanity and bestiality.

Chapter 188 The Imjin River Incident

At this moment, the north bank of the Imjin River was deathly silent. Wang Dali had completely collapsed, and Park Yoo-jeon was also slumped on the ground, with no strength left in his body.

The north bank was densely packed with more than 4,000 South Korean refugees who had escaped death. Governments from all around began to organize personnel to transport supplies and food to provide relief. The notoriously stingy military also sent a team of medics and military doctors to provide humanitarian aid.

On the south bank, groups of inhuman Japanese soldiers were examining corpses with bayonets and hammers, and finishing off wounded soldiers who were still groaning.

The soldiers of the National Defense Army on the north bank cursed loudly, and even the civilians couldn't stand it anymore, so they also put all their strength into cursing the Japanese on the other side.

To everyone's surprise, the Japanese troops on the other side of the river were not ashamed but proud. Some Japanese soldiers even deliberately used their bayonets to lift up the children's corpses and raise them high above their heads to provoke the people on the north bank.

After holding it up for a while, he felt tired, so he casually tossed the body into the river and let it float downstream.

In the end, the Japanese army simply stopped at finishing off the wounded and forced the surviving refugees to throw all the corpses and the wounded into the river. Many of the wounded were still struggling, but they were still ruthlessly thrown into the river.

Reporters from the Pyongyang Daily, affiliated with the provincial government of North Korea, captured these scenes with their cameras. They rushed over overnight after hearing the news and only arrived this morning.

Upon arrival, we witnessed this appalling scene; no one could believe that the Japanese had such a shameless motive.

After the survivors on the south bank finished carrying the bodies, the Japanese soldiers still did not let them go. They tied all the refugees' hands tightly, then hung stones on their feet and forced them to jump into the river from the steep riverbank with bayonets.

The south bank was filled with cries of despair, while the Japanese troops laughed wildly.

The tragedy didn't completely end until the afternoon. The Japanese army left triumphantly, leaving behind a group of furious soldiers and civilians on the north bank. No matter who you are, as long as you are a normal human being, you would find it hard to accept this scene.

Even if it's a large-scale massacre for political or military reasons, people are indignant, but not so furious.

But the kind of killing perpetrated by the Japanese, without any ulterior motives or reasonable justifications, purely for the purpose of killing, is incomprehensible to anyone who witnesses it.

"What should we do?" Park Yoo-jeon regained some strength and turned to look at Wang Dali.

Wang Dali turned to look at the refugees who had survived the ordeal, sighed, and said, "What else can we do but go home!"

Park Yoo-jeon asked, "Where's the money?"

Wang Dali said, "They've already gone this far, and you're still thinking of selling them for money? You son of a bitch, are you even Chinese?"

Park Yoo-jeon's face paled, and he realized what he had done: "I was wrong! I was wrong! I'm sorry!"

Wang Dali nodded and said, "Let's go. We'll leave this to the government. We've done our best."

Wang Dali untied the rope, retied it around his waist, and ignored the refugees who could be exchanged for rewards. He simply carried the little girl he had rescued the night before and headed home.

He still couldn't forget the look in the little girl's mother's eyes before she finally let go, under the light of the flares last night. It seemed to be guilt. Wang Dali decided to adopt the little girl, which would also put an end to a regret.

"Do the Japanese really want to die?! Do they think there's no one left in China?"

"My Korean Province has suffered such a great calamity, with so many people perishing at the Imjin River. As the governor, I can only sit in my office, powerless and furious. I have failed the people of Korean Province!"

Du Qingwu was furious in his office. A group of core provincial government officials, including Yan Bicheng, the garrison commander, all stood there with livid faces. At this moment, no one dared to provoke Du Qingwu, this big shot.

Even the usually arrogant Yan Bicheng was now meek and submissive, remaining silent and offering no opinion.

Everyone has their own difficulties. As the governor of North Korea Province, Du Qingwu was nominally a powerful official in charge of the entire Korean Peninsula. From an international perspective, the outbreak of the Imjin River massacre was none of Du Qingwu's business.

But from the perspective of the officials of the Korean province, this is a blatant slap in the face. Japan is massacring its people. The refugees who died last night were, in theory, all citizens of the Korean province!

After China decided to abolish the Kingdom of Korea and establish the Province of Korea, it became a matter of political conclusion. If you annex someone else, you naturally have to bear the corresponding responsibility.

Rights and obligations are reciprocal; if you have the right to rule North Korea, you naturally have the obligation to protect it.

"General Yan, is there nothing we can do? Is the military just going to sit idly by and watch these inhuman Japanese pirates slaughter our Chinese people?"

Du Qingwu questioned Yan Bicheng with words full of anger, his sharp eyes staring directly at him.

Yan Bicheng was also furious, but he could only respond with a formulaic answer: "Governor, without the approval of the central government and the order of the Ministry of National Defense, not a single shot or soldier of the Seventh Army can move."

"If there were a central will, and the Ministry of National Defense gave the order, my army could have swept south last night and conquered South Korea. I guarantee that none of those Japanese pirates would have survived!"

"But I am ultimately just a lieutenant general, a garrison commander, a small army group commander. Without the approval of the central command, I am powerless to help!"

The 7th Army Group cannot be moved unless the Japanese army actively invades North Korean territory. In that case, Yan Bicheng has nothing to say and can simply retaliate passively. Even if they fight their way all the way to Busan Port, the higher-ups won't be able to say anything.

But the Japanese army did not fire any guns or cannons, nor did they cross the border to invade. Yan Bicheng did not dare to do anything like that, and no general in the army would dare to do such a thing.

Because Zhao Yan is no pushover, and the central government is not the Japanese cabinet. Anyone who dares to overthrow the government and use the name of a mere garrison district to hijack the will of the entire country is courting death!

The overall interests cannot be compromised, and the central government is unlikely to abandon the overall national interests for the sake of local interests.

Yan Bicheng was furious and turned to question the director of the General Office: "The telegram reporting has been sent for seven or eight hours. Has the central government replied yet?"

The director of the general office replied tremblingly, "Not yet!"

Yan Bicheng roared, "Then go and urge them! If I don't say anything, will you stop working? What's the point of keeping you around? You know to urge them when wages are owed, but now that so many people have died, you're all blind and deaf?"

"Yes, Governor!" The Director of the General Office was very obedient and turned to send a telegram to urge the central government.

The others exchanged bewildered glances, secretly marveling at Du Qingwu's audacity. He dared to send a telegram to urge the central government! Other provinces sending documents were like elementary school students handing in their homework, terrified of being noticed by their teachers.

But you, Du Qingwu, dare to urge the teacher to grade the papers quickly? That's simply going against the natural order.

But a person's face is like a tree's bark. If Du Qingwu does nothing this time, he will lose the support of the people in North Korea. Who the hell will respect an official who doesn't care about the lives and deaths of his subjects?

Du Qingwu was now gritting his teeth, wishing he could tie all those Japanese to stones and sink them into the Pacific Ocean.

Du Qingwu didn't care so much about the lives of South Koreans; it was a matter of face. If the Japanese were to kill people secretly, let alone tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, Du Qingwu could pretend not to see it.

But you killed someone right in front of me and provoked me so much that reporters took pictures. This is a complete humiliation and a slap in the face. If you can tolerate this, who will respect you in the future? Who will take a regional official who has no temper and no achievements seriously?

After enduring the agonizing wait for more than half an hour, the Director of the General Office finally returned, his hands trembling as he handed a telegram to Du Qingwu.

After reading it, Du Qingwu's vision went black, and he collapsed into his chair.

People around rushed to help, pinching his philtrum, loosening his collar, and fanning him, all fearing that something might have happened to the governor.

Yan Bicheng picked up the telegram out of curiosity and glanced at it. It contained only a few simple sentences: Maintain peace, abide by the Shanghai Treaty, safeguard stability in the Far East, and do not take any rash actions otherwise!

The message from above is very clear: the lives and deaths of South Koreans are not important; what matters is peace and stability. The entire country must seize this rare window of opportunity to pursue rapid development.

The central leadership sees this very clearly: this is just the last hurrah of Japan, a clown trying to deliberately provoke China and lure it into attacking, thus positioning itself as the victim and the weak.

The more China oppresses and the stronger it becomes, the more important Japan becomes, and Western countries will support Japan in balancing China.

The current core framework of the Far East balance is China-Japan-Russia, but discerning people can see China's unstoppable rise and its natural advantages in the Far East.

European and American countries, especially the United States with interests in the Pacific and Britain, France, and the Netherlands with extensive colonial interests in the Far East, were not fools. So they were all quietly helping Japan and Russia, providing them with loans and aid to help them recover from the post-war effects.

However, such assistance depends on the changing situation. If the balance is stable, the assistance from Europe and the United States will be lukewarm. If the balance is in danger of being broken, Europe and the United States will increase their assistance dramatically.

When China is weak, Europe and the United States help China. The most typical example is the Three Kingdoms returning Liaodong to China. But conversely, if Japan and Russia are weak, they will help Japan and Russia. In short, they will not allow a situation where one country dominates the Far East.

The central government saw through the thoughts of Europe and the United States, and also saw through the crazy appearance of the Japanese clowns to understand their true purpose.

That is to lure China into breaking the balance, allowing Japan to receive massive amounts of aid and escape its current predicament.

The Japanese wanted to follow Zhao Yan's old path. Back then, many European countries supported Zhao Yan with great effort to prevent Britain and Japan from monopolizing the interests in the Far East. Zhao Yan also relied on his amazing strategic art and military capabilities to lead China out of the brink of collapse in just two or three years and transform it into a brand-new republic.

Japan also wants to replicate Zhao Yan's approach, pushing China to a position of dominance in the Far East, and then the West will frantically bet on Japan to maintain a balance strategy.

This is the only way Japan can think of to break the deadlock. Otherwise, if things continue like this, Japan will suffer a slow death. When it comes to development and potential, who the hell can compare with China?

Only by surviving against all odds can we understand China's enormous potential better than any other country. Given time to develop and restore its ancient glory, China could easily dominate Asia and crush the restorative clowns, if not dominate the world.

The Japanese understand that the current peace is merely the calm before the storm. The longer this peace lasts, the more violent the future thunderstorm will be. This nation, known for its ability to learn, can only resort to last-minute cramming.

As I said before, as long as you step forward and bravely take the lead, the world will match you with the right teammates.

If the provocation succeeds now, Britain and the United States will definitely come to the rescue, and there will certainly be an opportunity. But if it drags on for ten or eight years, even with the help of Britain and the United States, Japan will not be able to defeat a recovered China.

The idea was good, but this time they encountered Zhao Yan, a seasoned veteran. What hadn't Zhao Yan seen? You think you can use my tricks against me? Zhao Yan saw through it in a second, and then he used the cold shoulder and the power of public opinion to deal with it, and he just wouldn't make a move.

The crazier you are, the more it proves I'm right!

Now, the small-time scoundrel is trying to extort money from a promising startup boss. The more agitated the boss gets, the more the scoundrel benefits. If the boss takes action, the scoundrel will immediately receive legal aid and financial support from the boss's competitors, helping him fight the case to the end and plunging the startup boss into a public relations and litigation crisis, making him lose interest in starting his business.

Chapter 189 Major Shakeup Within the Party

“Master, you’ve changed. You’re no longer that brave, fearless, and selfless revolutionary. You’ve become a politician who only knows how to scheme!”

"How dare you! Who gave you the audacity to say such things to me?"

"This doesn't require courage; it's the behavior expected of a revolutionary. You once said that revolution is not a dinner party, but an action of bloodshed and sacrifice!"

"You, you, you! Don't think that just because you've learned a little theory you can show off your skills in front of me! This is no longer the stage of a grassroots revolution; now it's a situation where governing a large country is as easy as cooking a small fish!"

A fierce argument was raging in the Imperial Study, with serious disagreements and conflicts arising between Jean Sinor, a veteran of the Restoration Party, and his most revered mentor, Zhao Yan.

The public opinion surrounding the Imjin River massacre has been in an uproar both domestically and internationally. Within the Revival Party, there is widespread indignation, primarily among the extremist factions who cannot accept Zhao Yan's indifferent attitude.

The proletarians simply cannot accept the brutal oppression and exploitation of South Korea by Japanese militarism. Now, with such a blatant massacre, they have long since erupted like a volcano, leaving Zhao Yan with no choice but to loosen the reins.

The radicals were also quite dissatisfied, believing that Zhao Yan's inaction did not conform to the theory of Han nationality superiority. Since Korea had been naturalized, all land under heaven belonged to the emperor. Although Koreans were only new Han people, they still represented the face of the Han nationality. How could the radical nationalists sit still when they were massacred like this?

However, the first person to rush to the Imperial Study to confront Zhao Yan face to face was none other than the most courageous extremist elder, Jean Sinor.

Even when Zhao Yan got angry, Jean-Sinor still didn't back down an inch: "Master, you have taught us many things, but the one thing you never taught us was cowardice and retreat."

Your actions now no longer meet my expectations for the revolution!

Zhao Yan slammed his fist on the table: "How dare you! Is this your idea alone, or the idea of ​​all of you? What about Wu Zifu? What is his attitude?!"

Jean Sinor said without fear: "This is the will of the revolution. Many comrades in the party and Wu Zifu agree with my view. The revolution of the proletariat should be a mighty and vigorous one, and should be a forward march to liberate the whole world, rather than being confined to a corner and only responsible to a certain country and a certain nation."

We are responsible to the oppressed peoples of the world, to all the unjustly oppressed proletariat, to liberate them, to overthrow all imperialist regimes, and to eliminate all injustice, exploitation, and oppression. This is the responsibility history has entrusted to us!

Zhao Yan's face darkened: "You've gone too far! Do you intend to commit treason? Or are you going to betray your master and ancestors? Huh!"

Jean Sinor replied without hesitation, "I only adhere to my ideals and beliefs. If you are willing to continue leading our revolution, then you will still be our mentor!"

Zhao Yan said firmly, "Xinuoer, think this through, you're trying to force me to abdicate! I am the head of state, I am the party leader! And I am also your mentor!"

Jean Sinor did not back down: "I must first be a proletarian revolutionary, and then any other identity!"

Zhao Yan had never been so angry. He gritted his teeth and said, "What if I still refuse?"

Jean Sinor resolutely declared, "This will be the last time I call you Master. I resign and leave the Revival Party. I am going to find my own path!"