A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1058 Military Exercises

Wu Mingqiang was taken aback for a moment, then sighed and said, "Miss is truly thinking of me. Don't worry, I will handle this carefully."

The next day, Gui'er was woken up early by a series of strange noises, like many people moving things. At first, it was the intermittent commands carried by the wind in the early morning, followed by the neighing of mules and horses and the muffled thuds of vehicles rolling over the dirt road. The sounds seemed to be coming from a distance, and at first she thought she was dreaming.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself fully awake. I quickly got up and went to the window, but I couldn't see anything.

She glanced at the wall clock; it was only a little past 6. But the strange noise was keeping her awake.

Dressed neatly, they arrived on the first floor. Sister-in-law Aying skillfully placed the breakfast she had prepared on the table, and Dingxiang stood beside her. Both of them looked anxious and uneasy.

"What's going on? Did you hear that sound? It seems to be coming from a distance."

"Miss, we were woken up early this morning. We heard it's from Shenzhen, the Japanese army is conducting some kind of exercise..."

"An exercise?" Gui'er asked in surprise.

"Yes, Liu Jin went out to inquire early this morning, and now Steward Wu has also gone out to gather information. I heard from the servants of the surrounding families that they are probably going to attack. You know, we are just ordinary citizens, they shouldn't do anything to us, right? Luckily, Steward Wu bought a lot of food a couple of days ago, enough to last for a week or so."

Gui'er realized something was wrong, so she quickly finished the steamed bun and drank the soy milk. Then she prepared to go to the school to see what the arrangements were and discuss with Lin Peishan what to do.

After finishing her meal, she tidied her clothes, picked up her schoolbag, and was about to leave when suddenly a rumbling sound came from afar.

"Oh dear!" Dingxiang screamed in fright, squatted down, and covered her ears.

Gui'er also witnessed the bombing of Guangzhou firsthand; that's the sound she heard.

She rushed out the door and looked up at the sky, but did not see any airplane.

Acheng was already waiting in the car at the door when he ran in and said to her, "Miss, it seems the Japanese have attacked. Why don't you skip school today? The streets are probably in chaos right now."

Gui'er hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to go. She said, "But if they attack from here, we can't guarantee our safety. I need to go back to school to see what arrangements they have, and then ask my classmates what they plan to do. I need to know at least some information. I think even if the Japanese attack, they shouldn't be able to get in so quickly. The British troops on horseback will put up some resistance, right? They're well-equipped; they should be able to hold them off for a while. Let's go."

Acheng thought that made sense, so he turned around and got into the car. Dingxiang chased after him and shouted, "You must be careful on the road!"

Along the way, one could constantly hear distant booming and explosion sounds.

The pedestrians on the street hurried along, their faces filled with fear. Occasionally, they would see one or two acquaintances and stop, looking around in terror while exchanging information they knew.

The shopkeepers on both sides of the street were struggling to stay open and do business amidst the panic, but if you looked closely, you could see that they were all whispering to each other, and some had already arranged for their employees to pack up the valuables in their shops, as they were also planning to close down at any time.

Food stores and daily necessities stores were doing brisk business, with many families rushing to buy emergency supplies such as candles and biscuits. Gui'er sighed. In her opinion, people didn't seem to realize the horror of war and were only dealing with it as if it were a typhoon disaster.

After finally arriving at school, Gui'er entered the classroom and found that many classmates were not there, and Lin Peishan was not there either. She asked a classmate who had arrived earlier, "Have you seen Lin Peishan?"

"She probably won't come. When I went out this morning, I heard that her family said they were going back to Macau to avoid the situation."

Gui'er was stunned, but this was indeed the standard practice of wealthy families: to prepare in advance and make a clean getaway at the first sign of trouble.

"Did you hear that when you went out today?" She glanced at the classmate in the expensive dress, who should be the one who had been getting close to Lin Peishan recently, I think her name was Liu Lanfang.

"Yes, my house is quite close to hers. I originally wanted to ask her to go to school together, but their housekeeper said this, so I came here by myself. Anyway, we can't leave Hong Kong. My father said that Britain is an ally, and the Japanese won't attack Hong Kong. They're just putting pressure on Britain, I think they're trying to get them to agree to some condition, but I forgot."

Gui'er couldn't take these words to heart at all, but she thought it was normal; there were still quite a few blindly optimistic people these days, so she just said thank you.

Taking advantage of the situation, Liu Lanfang said, "Let's sit together. None of the guys who usually hang out with me are here today."

Gui'er saw that it was indeed true; she was the only one in the rich girls' group. She nodded and said indifferently, "Okay."

Just then, the school bell rang, and the teacher walked into the classroom. He glanced around, frowned, and said, "So many students are absent? Although the situation is difficult now, everyone should work even harder." After saying this, he paused, perhaps feeling somewhat powerless himself, and sighed, saying, "Never mind, let's start class."

The class seemed unusually long. The distant sounds of artillery and gunfire could be heard intermittently. The students whispered among themselves, and the teacher frowned repeatedly. Finally, he couldn't help but raise his voice and say, "Students, this is the Japanese devils putting pressure on us, trying to intimidate and scare us. We should resist to the end and ignore their threats."

However, these impassioned words had little effect amidst the sounds of gunfire.

Finally, get out of class ended, and the students immediately gathered in twos and threes to discuss the matter.

This person said, "France has already surrendered, and even the Allied powers are in a bad situation now. I feel that the Japanese will attack Hong Kong sooner or later."

The person said, "The Japanese army is showing off its military power in Shenzhen. Anyone with eyes can see that this is to put pressure on Britain. I heard that the two countries are currently negotiating. Japan wants to force Britain to close the Burma Road, which is used to send supplies to our country. Its main purpose is still for the war at home. I don't think they will attack Hong Kong in the short term."

Another person said, "It's hard to say. My uncle works as a translator for the British. He said that these foreigners are all looking out for their future. Some want to go to Singapore, some want to go back to their country, and the worst option is to go to Macau, which is under Portuguese control, and Portugal is a neutral country."