si-mexico Chapter 1264 Things Have Gone Wrong
Chapter 1264 Things Have Gone Wrong
The gunshots were quickly investigated and found to be a conflict between the military police of the mountain city and some local stragglers. The conflict was mainly due to the unreasonable behavior of the military police, who wanted to drive people out of their cramped living quarters in the city, just like the scene Li Shaoyi had encountered, except that it was a different army.
The entire city was in a state of panic that day. Some people even spread rumors on the streets that the Japanese had already invaded, causing many people to pack their bags and prepare to leave the mountain town. Many shop owners didn't even open their doors.
Although the radio kept broadcasting the news, saying that the Japanese were still hundreds of miles away and it was impossible for them to have reached this place, the gunfire just now was too intense. It wasn't a small-scale skirmish; even a fool could tell that it was real fighting.
"The matter has been clarified. A total of more than 60 people died in the conflict, including more than 20 military police regiments. There were many more remaining units, at least a dozen."
When Li Sibei walked in from outside, she had figured out what had just happened. Upon hearing the news, Li Shaoyi shook his head helplessly. If this problem wasn't rectified quickly, the entire city would probably be ruined.
There are too many corrupt officials at the highest levels of the Party and the State, and we are now at a critical juncture. Yet these people show no sign of slowing down their pace of lining their own pockets, and they even accuse the troops returning from the front lines of not following the rules.
Who doesn't want to follow the rules? Who wants to be seen as a thief? They simply had no other choice. During the frontline fighting, their original unit numbers had been wiped out, and various units had joined together to form temporary armies. But after the war, they were withdrawn to the vicinity of the mountain city for reorganization. The problem was, once they arrived, no one cared for them; they couldn't just go without food, could they?
"Man is made of iron, food is made of steel; you'll get hungry if you skip a meal." This saying is from our ancestors. Now we're talking about these stragglers. After arriving in the mountain town, they were initially given some food, but it quickly ran out, and they didn't know who to ask for more. Forget about medicine; getting two meals a day was already considered a high standard of rations.
The Central Army soldiers fared slightly better, since they were considered the "favored sons" and received some supplies. But the miscellaneous troops were a different story. These men were never popular; when they were still combat-ready, their supplies were often withheld. Now that they were no longer as effective, they were even less valued.
“Brother, we have to think of something. These people are heroes on the battlefield of the War of Resistance. Although they didn’t fight very well, they risked their lives at that moment. I’m not comfortable with just leaving them in the city to fend for themselves.”
Liu Xiaoshan was an honest man. Back in the north, if something like this happened in our army, it would be treated like royalty. After returning to the rear, you'd not only receive a pension, but also a secure job. Basically, as long as you didn't commit murder or arson, you'd be set for life.
But after arriving in the mountain city, he felt his entire understanding was overturned. These people were clearly our heroes, playing their part on the battlefield of the War of Resistance. But once they arrived in the rear, no one cared about them; they didn't even have anything to eat. Were we living under the same sky?
"Do you think I'm happy about this? Back in Pujiang, I said that if they didn't want these people, we could take them in completely. It would be beneficial for our army, since our newly trained troops in the rear haven't seen the battlefield yet. Putting these people in, even as temporary instructors, would greatly improve our army's understanding. But the problem is that the Nationalist government thinks I'm forming factions, and if I did that, wouldn't it make them look even more incompetent? They'd rather not make themselves look incompetent than let me take these people back. So let these people stay in various places and suffer."
Li Shaoyi said somewhat speechlessly, "If it weren't for the united front against Japan, given my temperament, I probably would have already started fighting these guys."
Liu Xiaoshan knew that the Party and the State cared about saving face. But he never expected that for the sake of that meager face, they would let ten or twenty thousand people just linger here.
Saying they were left to fend for themselves wouldn't be an exaggeration. When they arrived, many of them were living like beggars. And that was only for those who weren't injured. If someone had even a small scratch, it could be fatal without proper medical attention.
The Japanese didn't kill them on the battlefield, but if they starved to death in the cities behind the lines, it would be the biggest scandal ever. The news agencies are suppressing it, and the newspapers dare not publish it.
But some things don't simply disappear just because you want to escape them.
This conflict between the military police and paratroopers has pushed the tensions between the two sides to their limit. If a proper solution isn't found soon, there could be even bigger conflicts in the future, jeopardizing the safety of the Nationalist government in the mountain city.
Moreover, this presents an opportunity for the Japanese. Whenever problems arise within our ranks, the Japanese see it as their chance. They already face difficulties in infiltrating the mountain city, and now, if these people are starving, some of them might defect to the Japanese.
Like many puppet troops in enemy-occupied areas, this isn't to say I'm speaking for them, but during the retreat, their assigned task was to cover the Central Army's retreat. So, if they stayed in the area, their only options were to surrender to the Japanese or fight them to the death.
Some chose to fight the Japanese to the death, while others chose to surrender. According to their thinking, the Central Army took everything they could, leaving us behind to cover their retreat—clearly, they had no intention of giving us a way out.
Thinking about all these messy things, Li Shaoyi shook his head helplessly.
"Sir, the Ministry of Military Affairs is holding an emergency meeting and requests your attendance in one hour."
The operations staff just recorded a phone report: due to the conflict within the city, this matter must be resolved. The Ministry of Military Affairs is also about to hold an emergency meeting, indicating that the higher-ups are already aware of the situation. If this is ignored, there will likely be even greater conflict, and these officials won't be able to live peacefully anymore.