Episode 5 Elite and Grassroots

"Ding—"

The electric clock in the central command hall of the Purple Mountain Fortress just pointed to 6:40, and then the voice of the female announcer on the radio said sweetly:

"It's 6:40 a.m. Nanjing time...... The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already sent official notes to the major Powers informing them of the beginning of the war for unification...... Ladies and gentlemen, we have just taken the world by surprise......"

All the posts in the hall were working nervously, and when they heard the last sentence, they continued to bow their heads and continue to work. Afterwards, a team of cooks pushed a small cart into the command hall and delivered breakfast to each post.

In front of several temporary desks of the People's Guard, Xiang Xiaoqiang commanded his two generals: Li Gensheng and Stomach Ache, and they were busy with them. In a while, he will work with Li Gensheng to contact the mobile teams of the People's Guard on the left and right roads to understand the advance of the armored division on the left and the laying of the pontoon bridge on the right; After a while, it will be necessary to contact the intelligence network of the security team in the Northern Qing Dynasty to collect various reactions from the Northern Qing Dynasty in a timely manner, as well as whether there will be a large number of troops moving south.

A few desks next door are the temporary office locations of the East Factory. Dongchang and the People's Guard, these are the two largest intelligence networks of the Southern Ming Dynasty in the Northern Qing Dynasty. Now the two are table by table, and they have completely entered the most "intimate" state of cooperation. If there is something wrong with one intelligence network, raise your head and shout at the other side, and immediately the information of another intelligence network will be replenished in time.

Now that the war has begun for an hour and forty minutes, there is no obvious indication that the Northern Qing Dynasty has moved a large number of troops to the south. Even after continuous feedback from the two intelligence networks in Beijing, it seems that the news has not yet reached Beijing! At least Emperor Guangwu doesn't know yet!

The "air defense exercise" conducted in eight cities along the Yangtze River in the early hours of the morning has now been going on for more than two hours. The citizens of these eight cities are still hiding in bomb shelters.

However, according to the timetable, it is necessary to inform the public of the war at the same time as sending notes to each country......

……

Sure enough, at 6:40, broadcast loudspeakers were set up in the central squares and intersections of major cities. The Jinling Broadcasting Company also resumed broadcasting, and solemnly informed everyone that it would soon hear Her Majesty the Respected Empress speak to you.

In the air-raid shelters of the eight cities along the river, citizens are complaining, and many places are already restless and noisy. The air defense exercise was also too long, and the alarm was not lifted for a long time. Rumors spread in the major air defense fortifications, all saying that it was possible that the Qing captured the southern invasion. An atmosphere of panic pervaded.

But suddenly, the broadcast system in the bomb shelter rang, connected to the radio broadcast, and the familiar voice of the announcer of the Jinling Broadcasting Company came to everyone's ears:

"Now, I would like to invite our beloved Majesty the Empress to speak to you."

The crowd soon fell silent. There's a huge thing going on — a huge, huge thing, happening...... This is the first thought that sinks in everyone's heart.

God, don't be a Qing captive to invade the south......

……

"Subjects of the Ming Empire ......" Zhu Yourong's voice appeared, "Just today, at 5 o'clock in the morning on October 4, our heroic army launched a comprehensive and sudden attack on the northern puppet Qing control area. By the time of an hour and forty minutes, the Qing army's defenses had collapsed on the 800-kilometer-long offensive front...... The vanguard of our army has penetrated 10 to 20 kilometers into the area controlled by the Northern Qing Dynasty...... My Ming Dynasty's all-out counterattack against the Qing captives has begun! The war of the Ming Dynasty aimed at recovering the north and unifying China has begun! ”

Suddenly, a frenzied cheer rang out in the various bomb shelters. In the streets, squares of the cities in the rear, enthusiastic cheers also sounded.

It was mainly young people who cheered. Especially in the universities, the students shouted loudly, threw their hats in the air, stamped their feet, whistled, and blushed, desperately venting their excitement. Many students hugged each other, wrestled, climbed onto their desks and writhed into various dances......

The pain of being invaded by the Qing captives last time, the prisoner of war incident this time, and the depression brought to them by the humiliating "Lushun Treaty" are all vented at this moment.

But most of the older people, the middle-aged and the elderly, don't have the excitement of the younger. The expressions on their faces were complicated.

Unlike young people who don't know what it feels like, they have too many responsibilities on their shoulders. They have a large family to protect and support...... They know much more than young people what war means and what it will bring.

In addition to age, different reactions to war also occurred in all strata of Ming society.

The poor at the bottom, the proletarians who had nothing but their hands, the people who usually complained the most about the government, were now overwhelmingly supportive of the war and became the most loyal supporters of the government. Those "three low-income people" who were born poor, low age, low education, and low income were immediately moved by Her Majesty's speech, and soon long queues formed at various recruitment points, and most of those who signed up to join the army were these people.

What drove them to the battlefield was, on the one hand, the boiling blood in their hearts, wanting to become a part of "setting the Central Plains in the north and unifying China", and on the other hand, they also wanted to change their fate through the army. They lack education and can only engage in simple and low-level labor in peacetime, working in the "sweatshops" of capitalists, receiving the least wages and working the longest hours. But now, the war is coming, and there is no place with more opportunities than in the army. During the war, as long as the combat bravery is performed well, even small soldiers have many opportunities to be promoted like rockets.

But among the middle and upper classes, the level of welcome for war was very different.

This is also a relatively concentrated class of intellectuals. Intellectuals are not the same as those with low education. The biggest characteristic of the low-education group is that they are prone to fanaticism, while the greatest characteristic of intellectuals is that they are easy to be sober.

They can clearly foresee what fate the Ming Empire may face after the war, what the people will gain and what they will lose.

Quite simply, first of all, the areas close to the Yangtze River defense line, these cities, counties, towns, and villages are likely to become victims of artillery shelling and air raids by the Qing army. People in these areas will henceforth live in fear of war, day and night, and rush into bomb shelters with their children, food and water in their arms as soon as they hear the sirens. I didn't even know that my home was still there after the alarm was lifted.

Second, even if people in the interior do not directly face the horrors of war, their sons, brothers, and husbands are on the front lines, and they have to deal with death every day. As the war continues, death notices continue to be sent to families in the rear, and more and more families will lose their loved ones and fall into lifelong wounds that will not heal. Now the army of the Ming Dynasty has reached more than 2 million people, while the entire population of the Ming Dynasty is only 90 million. It can be said that most families have relatives in the army.

Thirdly, in the early days of the war, the quality of life of people in the interior may not change much, except in the frontier areas. But as the war drags on, the supply of various supplies will become increasingly tight. According to the experience of the Great War in Europe, in large-scale wars, the citizens of the belligerents lived extremely difficult lives. All kinds of daily necessities have to be rationed, such as sugar, oil, meat, eggs and other high-calorie nutrients, and in the end, they can only be bought at high prices through the black market.

There is also fuel, coal, gasoline, etc., which should also be given priority to the army. Heating in the average home in winter will be a problem, and it is difficult for the wealthy to get gasoline for their cars. There will also be a limited supply of fabrics, so ladies will no longer be able to buy a wide variety of clothes cheaply...... In short, the pain of war will penetrate deeply into every detail of people's lives.

Finally, and the most terrifying possibility, is that the Ming army lost the battle on the front line and suffered a major defeat, the war potential of the Northern Qing Dynasty gradually came into play, and the balance of war gradually shifted to the side of the Northern Qing Dynasty...... In that case, the Ming army would be defeated and eventually retreat back to the Yangtze River defense line. At this time, we will face the problem of homeland defense. In the face of the Qing army's millions of victorious troops, whether the Yangtze River defense line can be held is a question. Of course, in the eyes of most people, the Yangtze River defense line is still very competent.

Moreover, Her Majesty the Empress also promised in her speech that she would definitely give everyone victory, continuous victory, and would never let the war threaten Nanming proper. Moreover, Her Majesty the Empress also personally promised that if she was really unfortunate enough to reach that point, she would stay in Nanjing, as she had done in the last war, and live and die with the Yangtze River defense line. The people still believe in this. Because His Majesty did exactly that last time. And the majority of the people also believe that when the point comes, with Her Majesty the Empress and the defense line coexisting, the soldiers of the defense line will fight desperately, and it is impossible to hold it.

In addition to the intellectuals and the middle class, another class that has mixed feelings about war is the upper class, the rich class. The poor have nothing to lose in war, and the rich have too much to lose. So they also think much more.

But the rich class is not the same as the middle class. The middle class is overwhelmingly opposed to war, and does not like to win or lose. The middle class likes to maintain the status quo and wants a stable social environment. Therefore, the middle class is also the cornerstone of a country's stability, and the larger the proportion of the middle class in a country, the more stable the country will be. But the rich are different.

Those wealthy people who set up industries and owned industrial and mining enterprises were more likely to welcome the war. On the one hand, they were particularly wealthy, and the reduction in living standards during the war did not affect them much. What's more, the door to war gains was opened.

In times of war, they don't have to think about what to sell, they sell as much as they produce. Usually I am worried about the lack of orders, but now I just need to care about the production line and whether there are enough workers. …… Of course, although this group of rich people welcomes war, there is a precondition, that is, they must win. If the war is won, all the fruits can be preserved. If you lose, then it's all clear.

Therefore, it was precisely this group of people who were most enthusiastic in purchasing Patriotic War bonds not only with patriotic enthusiasm, but also with consideration of interests. At the same time as the Queen's war speech, the branches of the Imperial Bank and the Royal Bank opened their doors in advance at the same time and began to sell war bonds. Huge sums were sold in the first few hours. It is mainly these "patriotic businessmen" who let people buy. Because, they are a community of interests tied to the Ming Empire.

But other wealthy people, those who run shopping malls and run consumer industries such as entertainment and luxury goods, have a sad face and curse the war. During the war, the whole society must have operated according to the wartime system, and the consumer and retail industries were hit hardest. If you want to make money by hoarding and driving up prices, it's best not to even think about it. I have to "collect" myself in prison.

……

On the morning of the first day of the war, Quan Daming's reaction to the war was so different, like a glass of mixed wine. On the streets of the cities, marchers of various political views shouted slogans and marched in the same direction on the same road, with a nervous line of police in the middle......

The various processions and assembly groups have also lost their usual calm and civilized image. In the midst of all kinds of fanaticism and blood boiling, countless young people and college students with opposing opinions began to shout at each other, throw things at each other, and sporadic fights broke out...... Everyone believes that the country and the nation are now at the most critical moment, and I, the "puppet", are responsible. What is even more serious is that each faction believes that its own side is truly patriotic and has the country and nation in its heart, while the other faction is bent on killing the country and the nation and wants to push 100 million people into the abyss from which they will never recover......

Each side sang the national anthem, waved the national flag, and hurled insults and attacks on the other......

Soon, in Nanjing alone, there were large-scale group fights in several places...... Armed with rattan signs and brandishing batons, the police desperately squeezed into the chaotic crowd, handcuffed the fighters, and dragged them out...... However, this will not control the situation at all.

Fire water trucks were brought in, and high-pressure taps sprayed into the crowd. In the late autumn of October, this trick was very effective, and the scene of the group fight was dispersed one by one......

……

In the Purple Mountain Fortress, Zhu Yourong had just finished his speech, and before he had taken a few sips of water, he received reports of varying degrees of chaos in cities across the country.

It was more than she expected. She sat dumbfounded, unable to say a word for a moment.

"Why is this happening?"

She muttered to herself.

It just so happened that Xiang Xiaoqiang came in and asked her about things. Because the People's Guard is not as good as other armies, there is only one superior, Zhu Yourong.

When Zhu Yourong saw Xiang Xiaoqiang, he immediately showed this report to Xiang Xiaoqiang as if he had a backbone.

"Well, how can this be? Did we do something wrong? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was so busy that he read the report hastily, and said with a smile:

"Your Majesty, this is not worth the fuss. It is clear that our people are still short of exercise. Compared with the British and American people, the Ming people are still like a toddler at the moment, and it is inevitable that they will not walk well and will inevitably fall. It doesn't matter, it's going to be as good as others. Your Majesty, what the people need most now is victory. A string of victories. Your Majesty, soon you will see the morale of our people high. ”