Chapter 33: The Rise of War in East Asia (I)

In early January 1946, on the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, Hamgyong Province

The Korean Peninsula is mountainous, especially in the area of Hamgyong Province in northeastern North Korea, where a variety of towering and steep mountains are lined with lush trees. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info you can also see the steep granite cliffs from one or two thousand meters high on the steep down.

If you look at it from the air, or when you walk through the mountains and seashores, the mountains and seascapes of northeastern Korea can be said to be very beautiful, even beautiful - dangerous peaks, strange rocks, pine trees, and golden cypresses. The blue sky is deep and clear...... But all this scenery is definitely not good news for travelers who are forced to travel long distances through the mountains, and it can even be said to be a nightmare.

-- There are no road to the cliffs everywhere, and the few roads that cross the mountains are not only winding, but also often deserted, making it difficult to replenish food and water. Most of the roads in the mountains are small paths, and people and livestock can only pass one by one, and it is even more difficult for vehicles to pass.

In particular, it is the cold winter of Wax Moon, and heavy snow is falling everywhere in the Hamgyong Mountains and the Gaima Plateau in northern North Korea. The entire Gaima Plateau is covered in snow: pine leaves, boulders, earth, and mountains are as beautiful as a white veil of feathers. But for those exhausted travelers who are staggering through the mountains, this beautiful northern scenery is not as tempting as a sip of hot soup: the temperature in the mountains has dropped to minus 30 degrees, the cold climate of wind and snow, and the complex terrain of high mountains and narrow roads, if you still have to travel over the mountains, then if you do not meet the standard of a death march, it can at least be regarded as a march of suffering.

But even so, in this snowy winter, there are still groups of travelers, trudging between this snow-capped mountains. Those who traveled from west to east were mainly soldiers of the Japanese Kwantung Army who had been ordered to evacuate back to their home countries, as well as Japanese expatriates who had been evacuated with the troops from various parts of Korea.

-- At present, although the situation in Manchukuo, which is in the process of changing power, is somewhat turbulent, because there is no war, at least the order in a few large cities is barely bearable, and the supply of materials is acceptable, at least there is no obvious food shortage or famine.

In order to ensure that the Manchurian industrial system left over from the Japanese Empire could continue to function and not collapse instantly with the escape of the Japanese technical backbone, the Chinese Red Army and the Soviet Red Army, which had taken over the northeastern provinces, did not immediately forcibly repatriate and organize the more than 2 million Japanese expatriates who had relocated to the areas over the years, but announced that they would recruit and retain skilled workers and engineers with Japanese nationality, and that they would be treated as favorably as possible in all aspects. The remaining Japanese nationals may continue to reside for up to three years if they are willing to comply with the laws of the new regime. In view of the fact that the mainland of the Japanese archipelago is currently in a pot of porridge, except for the army that must obey orders to return to China to participate in the war, the vast majority of ordinary Japanese choose to stay in Manchuria for the time being to wait and see the situation, hoping to wait until the world is more peaceful.

On the Korean Peninsula, south of the Yalu and Tumen rivers, on the other hand, it is now a pot of porridge. Under a secret agreement with the Soviet Union, the Korean Governor's Office of the Japanese colonists retreated to the port of Pusan, relinquishing control over most of Korea. The Soviet power in Korea, which was supported by the Soviet Red Army, and the provisional government of the Republic of Korea, which was supported by the United States, immediately followed one another, frantically fighting for territory, and constantly clashing with each other, and seeing that a melee was about to break out.

Since there was no political force strong enough to quickly take over the entire Korean Peninsula, the social order in most of Korea collapsed for a time, and rioters from all walks of life surged in all directions, and those Japanese expatriates in Korea were not as safe as the Japanese compatriots in Manchuria.

As a result, these Japanese nationals in Korea, as well as some "traitors" who were worried about being liquidated, followed behind the Kwantung Army that had retreated to China, and wanted to escape from the elite areas of western Korea, which had become a battlefield of gunpowder, and go to the ports along the coast of the Sea of Japan, where the situation was relatively stable. Next, they either followed the Kwantung Army to find a ship to return home, or went to the temporary refugee camps set up by the Soviet Union in Wonsan Port and Vladivostok, or took a train south from the Donghae Railway, which was still in operation for the time being, and retreated to the Korean Governor's Palace in Pusan, where they sought resettlement and asylum...... No matter what, you have to find a way out.

At the same time, groups of North Koreans are crossing the long mountain range that stretches across the peninsula from east to west, from the coast of the Sea of Japan to the western essence of North Korea's major cities and populations. They were the soldiers of the Korean anti-Japanese coalition who had returned home from Manchuria and the Soviet Far East, and the Soviet power task forces that had been urgently organized in Wonsan, Cheongjin, and Xianning, which were occupied by the Soviet troops, and were now rushing to the west to take over power.

In order to keep up with the "class enemy" entrenched in Seoul and seize territory, although the northwest wind swept the snowflakes like cotton balls, blowing people unable to open their eyes, they still waved the red flag and marched hard in the snow with a shallow foot. As a result of the forced march in the snow all the way, many people's clothes were in tatters, their faces were swollen and bleeding from the cold wind, many people's ears were frozen purple, and some people's feet were frozen and they could barely wear shoes.

What's worse is that even though they have been so hard, there are still people who don't want to see them go safely.

“…… American Aircraft !! Lie down!!! Air raid!!! ”

With an ominous roar in the distance and a heart-rending shout nearby, everyone panicked and found a place to hide, or fell directly on the snow from exhaustion. Half a dozen later, a small silver plane flew in from the west, but instead of dropping bombs or strafing the Koreans and Japanese on the ground, it circled a few times over the heads of several long marches, then flicked its wings and turned away.

-- This is a reconnaissance plane of the US Naval Air Force, and it cannot undertake the mission of ground combat.

After the enemy plane flew away, many North Koreans lying on the snow got up one after another and continued to move forward. However, when they reached the front of a hanging cliff, they had to stop again: "...... Damn it! Yankee's plane blew up the Watergate Bridge! How can this happen? ”

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Wonsan Port, located on the east coast of the Korean Peninsula and bordering the Sea of Japan, covers an area of about 900 square kilometers and has a population of about 240,000. The urban area is backed by mountains and waters, the south is the Gema Peninsula, the inner side of the peninsula is Deyuan Bay, and there are more than 20 outlying islands such as "Xin Island", "Big Island", "Small Island", "Bear Island" and "Lidao" on the outer sea. In addition, the small peninsula of Gongwei Bay has formed a natural breakwater, and the water depth in the bay and the small tidal range make Wonsan a natural harbor.

After Russia invaded the Far East of China and occupied Vladivostok, it had its eyes on the port of Wonsan, and at one time had the intention of seizing this ice-free port as a wintering anchorage for the Russian Pacific Fleet. But with the crushing defeat of the Russo-Japanese War, this idea naturally became empty talk.

On the other hand, after the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Pacific Fleet was no longer able to pose a threat to Japan, so during the long period of Japanese rule, the Japanese navy basically did not build any military facilities in Wonsan, but with the opening of the East Sea Line (a railway close to the east coast of the Korean Peninsula) and the development of modern transportation, Wonsan was gradually built into a small civilian port.

Today, however, the port of Wonsan is a scene of slaughter with warships gathering and military flags flying -- taking advantage of the last bit of time before the Vladivostok military port freezes in winter, the Soviets have mobilized almost all of their maritime forces in the Far East to the two ports of Wonsan and Hungnam on the waist of the Korean Peninsula, while arranging defensive lines and military port facilities in Wonsan port and hoarding all kinds of supplies. On the one hand, he organized his own Korean exiles to return to China as quickly as possible to take over the regime, and assisted in the evacuation and resettlement of the retreating Japanese soldiers and civilians. However, due to the objective difficulties of hasty and insufficient preparation, as well as the harsh environment in which the mountains were closed by heavy snow and roads were difficult to navigate, the work continued to proceed very slowly, even with the cooperation of the Japanese side.

Up to now, the Provisional Central Government of the Korean Soviet Power, which had just put up its sign, was still forced to remain in the port of Wonsan, under the wing of the Red Army in the Soviet Far East, because it had not yet been able to fully establish its own local power and raise a sufficiently large armed force.

What is even worse is that with the invasion of the Halsey fleet into the Yellow Sea and the organization of the "Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea" to land at Incheon, the peaceful takeover operation that was originally calm suddenly turned into an armed struggle with bayonets. The blatant military intervention of the Americans and the rise of the white armed forces in their own country have cast a gloomy shadow over the future of the North Korean red regime, which is still very fragile and immature.

At this moment, in a simple wooden house in the city of Wonsangang with a plaque of "Provisional Soviet Government of Korea," Comrade Kim Il ♂ Sung, who has not yet become a good figure, is holding a telephone in his hand and a map of the DPRK is spread out in front of him.

“…… What the? The U.S. military and counter-revolutionaries had just blasted the Gyeongwon Line (the Seoul-Wonsan railway, the main artery of railway transportation across the Korean Peninsula) and had also blown up the Yalu River Iron Bridge in Sinuiju and the Suimun Bridge over Jangjin Lake with airplanes? Damn, this is trying to seal us off on the East Coast! ”

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ps: There is news that "Cat Cat History of Japan" was criticized for "insulting the royal family" because it painted Prince Shotoku as a cat, and one episode was banned (Prince Shotoku's episode), which made the schedule open the skylight...... I thought that there were so many messy historical comics in modern Japan, and the officials should not care about it for a long time!