"The contract is about to be signed. Our Ryukyu people have died in vain. There are tens of thousands of them. General Liang, please think of a way. We can't watch the French devils land. Our brothers, sisters, and our folks cannot die in vain... …”
"Where is the old shopkeeper? Let the old shopkeeper come back. I know that the foreign company still has a batch of arms hidden. Take them out and let's fight these beasts..."
"I don't believe Gong Cheng, and we don't believe the French either. No matter how you try to persuade me, I have asked my company to prepare for war secretly, with three times the base amount of ammunition...General, we can't just watch, we have to Take action.”
In a fort in Qixing Mountain, Liang Kun, who had a plaster splint on his leg, leaned back on his chair with a livid face, staring at the harbor dock at the foot of the mountain.
Beside the general, more than a dozen New Army officers were die-hard hawks. In their eyes, there was absolutely no such thing as surrender or compromise. These people even disobeyed orders and distributed weapons and ammunition without authorization, and even broke up the Tibetan army into pieces. among all peoples.
If according to the usual rules, people in the New Army who dare to use weapons and ammunition without authorization or disobey military orders will be expelled from the New Army without death, but today Liang Kun no longer has the energy to punish these daring young people. Even he himself wished he could lead his troops to raid the venue on the dock.
"General, please tell me, we can't just watch in vain. Now the Royal Forest Army has taken over the main transportation route from the city to the suburbs. They want to blow us all out. This is to exclude us."
It was only now that Liang Kun turned his head to look at him and asked softly, "Without our new army, what kind of military parade would Cai Mao have? Do he rely on his sailors?"
"Oh my general, right now the people in Shuri City are afraid that we will cause trouble and are trying to drive our people away. I heard from my friends that what Cai Mao used for this military parade was put together by the sailors from the fort and the Imperial Guard..."
"Tch, what can the Royal Forest Army do? It's just a showpiece... Where's the old shopkeeper? Isn't he also stopped..."
"That's not true. Ryukyu's treasury has already bottomed out. After the agreement is signed, the French will have to take away 30,000 taels of cash. Who else can they rely on besides the prime minister's foreign bank? The old shopkeeper must be here. of……"
Hearing that Fan Jian had already participated in the signing ceremony, the light that had just appeared in Liang Kun's eyes suddenly dimmed. "Don't count on the old shopkeeper now, he is also in trouble."
Of course Fan Yan had difficulties in his heart. This old man who had always been strong and patient was determined to fight with the French to the end. However, at the end of the negotiation, the cunning Gong Cheng caught the weakness of the old shopkeeper and successfully hit the soft spot with one blow. This changed Fan Yan's attitude.
Xiao Letian is still alive, Huniu is still alive, and the hope in Fan Qian's heart has not been shattered. His daughter and uncle are everything in the old man's heart.
In order to save the family business for his daughter's uncle, the old man even subconsciously wanted to avenge his uncle. The old man forgot about life and death and only wanted to fight and take revenge, even if he died with the French.
But it was no longer possible. When he knew that his daughter and uncle had already sailed on the sea and were on their way back to China, and were likely to be chased by French warships, the old shopkeeper became furious.
The feeling of licking the calf is so powerful that it can overthrow everything that he had insisted on before. The old shopkeeper has now made a 180-degree turn, and suddenly changed from a warring faction to a peace faction.
"Hurry up and sign an agreement with the French. If they want money, give them money, and if they want face, give them face. We will discuss everything after my daughter and uncle are safe. As long as a person is alive, he has everything."
Liang Kun could not forget the original words of the old shopkeeper last night. He sighed and said to his hawkish officers, "Restrain your men and don't cause trouble. If there is peace, I think the Prime Minister will be optimistic about the outcome... It’s better than leaving it to the Prime Minister in ruins.”
"Sir, do you really believe in the French? Do you really believe in Gong Cheng?" the crowd shouted.
"It doesn't matter if I believe it or not. People's hearts are broken. How do you want me to lead this team? You want to kill the French. If when you take action, the Royal Forest Army stands in front of you, will you shoot or not?" Liang Kun suddenly roared angrily.
"What can I do? I am just an ordinary veteran of the kingdom of heaven. If I am still the hair in people's mouths, I don't care who gets in the way, and I will kill whoever gets in my way. But it won't work. Who made me listen to the Prime Minister’s words, who made me know what nation and country are.”
"The Prime Minister has taught you so much. When did he teach you to massacre your own people? If those people who hold the slightest illusion of peace block the muzzle of your gun, who of you would dare to pull the trigger?"
Liang Kun was as angry as a lion, "Who dares, who of you dares to pull the trigger." In the roar, all the officers blushed, and there was a big stone stuck in their chests that they couldn't let go.
The scene suddenly became cold, and no one could refute the general's words, because they knew that this was not a fantasy, but a very confusing reality.
War is not terrible. As long as everyone is united and willing to sacrifice their lives, no matter how powerful the enemy is, they will not be able to take advantage of it. They are only afraid of divisions among their own people. Once the concept changes, it will be like cracks in the foundation. A slight change in external forces will Come on, this house is in danger.
Most of the people are just getting by. As long as they can have three meals a day and the lives of their families and children without worries, this kind of society can be called a peaceful and prosperous age. They don't care who becomes the emperor or who they love.
The reason why Gong Cheng's plan succeeded was that he captured the people's psychology, first used brutal bombing to scare away the people's courage, and finally gave them a glimmer of hope. How could the people not be fooled?
If these new troops disobey orders and go their own way, I am afraid they will lose the support of the people, and all their previous achievements in protecting Ryukyu will be lost in the Pacific Ocean. At that time, it will not be the French who scold the new troops, but their own people.
Liang Kun was speechless, and the officers around him were speechless, but they didn't know that the scene they guessed was now happening in the streets of Naha City.
In the wide streets, the new army, which has received military orders jointly signed by King Shangtai and General Cai Mao, is retreating outside the city. It is said that the army should be directly commanded by Liang Kun, but everyone knows that General Liang Kun was injured on the Beishan Trail and is now recuperating. period.
As long as the military orders of King Shangtai and General Cai Mao cannot be vetoed by General Liang Kun, the new army has no reason to refuse. Those unwilling soldiers have been waiting for General Liang Kun's veto of the military order, but they have never waited.
When the sun rose from the east, when the final time limit for the military order arrived, Liang Kun's military order did not arrive either. Countless companies burst into tears. The iron-blooded men did not shed a single tear in the face of the French artillery fire, but today there were actually many Everyone was so aggrieved that they cried.
"How could this be possible? When did our new army retreat? That's why I want to be a deserter..."
"Why should we leave the city? Why are we afraid that we will attack the French? If they are afraid, then don't go ashore and go back to Europe..."
"What is this? Did our brothers die in vain?"
The squads, platoons, companies...all the grassroots military units were in commotion. They looked at the infuriating military order and knew in their hearts that the Ryukyu monarchs and ministers were determined to sign the contract and that they were determined to betray the country.
"Brothers, what Ryukyu is today was built by the Prime Minister. Why should they betray the Prime Minister's country?"
This sentence was so heartbreaking. They actually thought that this was the prime minister's country. Cao Cao didn't dare to say such a thing back then. Didn't this bring trouble to Xiao Letian?
However, with the public sentiment aroused, no one could avoid suspicion, and the soldiers' mood became increasingly unstable.
How dare the Imperial Guards in charge of guarding these soldiers take care of them? They even secretly retreated for fear that the city gate would catch fire and harm Chi Yu.
Just when the soldiers were most emotionally unstable, an unexpected scene happened. Groups of Ryukyu people came from countless alleys, carrying boiling water and freshly prepared breakfast.
"Drink the soup. This is fresh kombu soup... There are pancakes here that are freshly baked in the morning... Take them, the newly boiled eggs. I know you haven't eaten yet, so take them quickly..."
White-haired old men, aunts and uncles with sweaty faces, and even countless children stuffed eggs and rice cakes that they were reluctant to eat into the hands of the new army.
The sudden warm scene suddenly dispersed the anger that had just gathered. All the soldiers felt as if a stone was blocked in their hearts, or as if they had just swallowed two ice lumps after drinking a basin of hot soup.
Hot and cold breaths collided in their chests, and the soldiers felt like crying.
"No, no, no, we don't want it... We have military rations, we have discipline..." The soldiers were dodging.
"Take it, I know you are angry, and to be honest, I feel bad too... But we have to live, we have to face reality..." The uncles and aunts cried while talking.
Liang Kun really guessed that the New Army was not afraid of anything but this hand. They were afraid that the people they had been protecting would cry. They were even more afraid that everything they had been working hard for would be abandoned by the people. "Folks, we're not leaving because... we want to protect you..." He couldn't finish the sentence mid-sentence. The eyes of the people had already given the New Army the answer.
That is the desire to survive, that is cowardice in the face of fate, that is the shame after giving up dignity...
"Everyone listens to the order...all stand at attention and salute..." Under the orders of the officers, countless soldiers stood at attention and paid standard military salutes to the common people. At that moment, almost all the common people did not dare to look into the eyes of the soldiers.
"Everyone is here... Let's go together... Let's leave the city and enter the mountains..." At that moment, everyone heard the cry in the officer's throat.
"Brothers... don't embarrass the Prime Minister, remember what the Prime Minister said, who we are..." the officers roared.
"The New Army, we are the Prime Minister's New Army... We are the New Army of East Asia..."
