afterglow

Chapter 261 Bravery; the imperial edict arrives

The temporary residence of the First Marine Regiment was arranged on the edge of the public concession, which covered the west and southwest of Tokyo City, occupying about one-third of the territory in total.

As a public concession, the citizens of the major powers actually enjoy the treatment of superior citizens here.However, its actual operation and management are in the charge of Britain, France, and the United States, and the municipal committees are also jointly negotiated by representatives sent by them.

Previously, the Ming court also proposed to participate in the Municipal Committee of the Tokyo Public Concession, but it was rejected by Britain and the United States.

Even today, it can be said that Feng Shui has taken turns. As the British and French forces withdrew from the Dongying Islands, when the imperial court asked to participate in the management, the Americans chose to remain silent.

"Very good, very good, my Wang Shi's army is neat and tidy, and everyone in the world is proud of this heroic appearance. It's refreshing to let those high-spirited Xi Yi go down."

The commissioner who came from the capital was a middle-aged man with a big belly and old-fashioned, but different from the stereotype of "stern-faced and arrogant" officials of the Ming Dynasty, this person was always smiling and talked a lot.

"Please pay attention to safety. After all, the flames of war have just ended, and someone may be murdered." Yao Liangchuan corrected his expression and warned.

"I have brought more than ten guards..." The commissioner surnamed Hu stroked his short beard and said hesitantly, "I'm afraid it's not enough."

Zhou Changfeng was flipping through a newspaper, and said casually, "To be on the safe side, let me assign a squad of guards to accompany you."

"Okay, please, Mr. Zhou."

"fine."

The car carrying Commissioner Hu left slowly, passed through the concession checkpoint, and drove straight to the Municipal Committee Building.

In fact, standing at the temporary station, you can see the general situation there. The Mi Zi flag and the tricolor flag have fallen a few days ago, and today they are replaced by a sun and moon flag.

A total of four checkpoints were set up at the junction of the public concession and the urban area. Originally, only the police from the Municipal Police Department of the concession stood guard.

Now, two of them are taken over by the [-]st Marine Regiment, and the other two are under the responsibility of the [-]th Army Division.

The red-headed assan who used to be arrogant here and the local ruffians who turned into dogs in uniforms have disappeared.

"All ministries should pay attention to military discipline. Don't think that being a winner can do evil. Before doing bad things, think about your identity." At the officer meeting, Zhou Changfeng warned everyone present.

Everyone's reaction was indifferent, and they didn't take it seriously at all.

Seeing everyone's contempt, Zhou Changfeng knocked on the table quite dissatisfied, and said seriously: "It is absolutely forbidden to rob and kill people. Let me see who dares to defy the law."

Only then did the officers respond loudly again.

The order issued by the military department did not actually have clear and strict requirements. It only said that we must ensure morals, and that we must not do anything that would damage the image of Daming.

In Zhou Changfeng's view, this order was a bit ambiguous. Although it was not conniving, it was far from being strict.

Obviously, the military department wants both face and reputation. First, they don't want to make a fool of themselves, and second, they don't want the officers and soldiers to be too restrained.

"Report."

"what's up?"

"The wounded Resistance general killed himself in the hospital."

The news brought by Xiao Li made Zhou Changfeng, who was about to drink water, stop what he was doing. He asked in surprise, "Did you commit suicide without saying anything?"

"That's not true. It is said that he wrote a suicide note."

Because it was fighting near the downtown area of ​​Tokyo, the Ming army sent all the wounded and captured resistance soldiers to the local hospital.

Due to the large number of people, several medium and large hospitals were all full, but it was still impossible to treat a large number of wounded soldiers.

However, the Americans are obviously very good at winning people's hearts and disgusting opponents-they publicly stated that they allow wounded resistance soldiers to enter the public concession for medical treatment, and the expenses are all earmarked by the municipal council.

This is a dilemma for the Ming army-send it, and it is in the arms of the Americans; don't send it, and reporters from various countries will make a big fuss about it.

In the end, Nie Quan still chose the former, let the Americans be good people again.

Under the supervision of the International Red Cross, hundreds of resistance prisoners and wounded soldiers were transferred to prison camps and various hospitals.

Ordinary soldiers are of little value, but middle and senior officers still need to interrogate information, so Lieutenant Fujiwara Yoshiharu, who was captured due to serious injuries, shock and coma, received special treatment, and several military police from the Fourth Division specially guarded his ward.

However, no one expected the sudden change. When the gendarmes were discussing what to eat at noon, they heard movements in the ward, as well as screams and exclamations from under the hospital building.

After leaving the suicide note, he slowly moved to the window, then fell down from the fourth floor where he was, and fell straight on the brick floor with his head on the ground, dying on the spot.

The suicide note was also very concise, including three parts: reason, inheritance distribution, and expectation. The reason was clearly written—since he was the one who ordered the organization to fight back to the death, it was impossible for him to live alone after almost all his subordinates died.

Zhou Changfeng was silent for a few seconds, and said, "This...at least the basic ethics are up to standard."

"It's a pity, I could have learned more about the situation of the Resistance Army." Zhu Lishuo said regretfully.

"A large part of these people's resistance and aversion to our dynasty is because they are worried about being assimilated. They feel that once they become vassals, the local culture of the Japanese country will soon be impacted to pieces, and no one will respect tradition in future generations. cultured." Yao Liangchuan said.

In the past two days, he took time out of his busy schedule to participate in many interrogations of the prisoners of the resistance army, and questioned them about the original intention of opposing the Ming army.

"Wait a minute, I still don't understand. It's as if they were able to maintain their cultural independence before. After the reform, the Wa country opened its arms to welcome the West. What else is there... Oh yes, leaving Asia and entering Europe " Xie Wancheng asked suspiciously: "Why? Are you treated differently?"

"I'm afraid that's the case. People are all Mu Qiang." Yao Liangchuan replied with a look of naturalness: "In the past hundred years, after the rise of the Thai and Western countries, the world has flourished. The vassal system almost collapsed, so the Wa people naturally believed that Ming Dynasty was similar to them, while the West was superior."

Zhao Hanfeng, who was eating melons and watching the show to join in the fun, covered his forehead and said, "Yes, we are despised."

"In the end, we must rely on strength to speak, and one of the important manifestations of strength is fists. War is a stage to show hard strength." Zhou Changfeng smiled, looked at the concession municipal committee building and said: "We will wait and see."

Although the resistance in just a few days was short, the destructive power of "modern" warfare was astonishing. All the fighting areas in Kawasaki, Tokyo, Funabashi and other places were destroyed by artillery fire and air strikes.

Therefore, Nie Quan sent someone to propose to the Japanese government, asking them to recruit some people to repair the places affected by the war. The prisoners of the resistance army were also assigned to do the same thing, and their compensation was also provided by the government.

According to the three articles of the "Geneva Convention", when prisoners of war are assigned to work, they must ensure one day off per week, no more than eight hours of work per day, one hour of rest every day, and eight days of paid leave per year, and corresponding remuneration must be given .

Obviously, the Ming army would not pay the money, so let the Japanese take care of it themselves.

Walking on the streets of Tokyo, perhaps because they have long been accustomed to the detached status of the citizens of the great powers, the citizens behaved no differently to the presence of the Ming army.

When encountering soldiers wandering in groups of three or four, the citizens naturally lowered their heads, quickened their pace and quickly staggered away.

The army has always been a place where fish and dragons have mixed together. Among the soldiers, there are honest farmers and rogues who used to be domineering. It can be said that there are all kinds of people.

In addition to the first marine regiment, the Ming army stationed in Tokyo also had many air force and naval officers and soldiers, as well as a fourth division and a seventh division, with a total number of more than [-].

Although discipline violations are a low-probability event, it is impossible to expect them not to cause trouble when the base number increases to tens of thousands.

The lowest average infraction rate is for the Air Force, followed by the Fleet, slightly higher than the Marine Corps, with the Army, as expected, at the bottom of the list.

"What?! It's okay to be brave."

Zhou Changfeng asked for some photos from Jiang Ning, who had been promoted to lieutenant of military doctor, and took some photos himself. Then he developed these photos and sent them to his father-in-law's house along with the letter he wrote.

However, at this time, they learned something outrageous - three soldiers from the [-]st Marine Corps reconnaissance team broke into the Holy Mary Catholic Church last night, raped two nuns, and then walked away.

Because someone inadvertently left behind his belt buckle, the church personnel came to the door according to the three mountains and sea ripples exclusive to the Ming Marine Corps.

Knowing this, Zhou Changfeng was almost not pissed off. Yesterday he was still thankful that his subordinates were not as lawless as the army, who robbed and raped women in the street, but today it was his turn to deal with this matter.

"Hurry up! Call a few gendarmes over there to screen them!"

Zhou Changfeng, Yao Liangchuan, and Xie Wancheng rushed to the reconnaissance team with more than a dozen gendarmes. At this moment, more than a hundred people had already assembled.

Since someone has lost the belt buckle, it is very convenient to find it, and it will be found out after a search.

The other two were also frank. Seeing that the "good brother" was arrested, they immediately stood up.

"What are you guys thinking? There are fireworks and willow alleys everywhere in this place, why don't you go, and just want to break into someone's church to be happy?" Xie Wancheng said helplessly.

"As a scout, maybe you don't like to follow the rules." Yao Liangchuan, who couldn't laugh or cry, made a joke.

Zhou Changfeng glared at him, but looked at Han Yi, the chief officer of the reconnaissance team, "How do you control your subordinates? According to the rules, you must be accompanied by at least five people to leave the camp."

The latter looked calm, as if he didn't think it was a big deal, "It's indeed my fault, but it should be fine, and please don't punish the leader."

"Amusing? I don't care about the sentence." Zhou Changfeng couldn't help being even more annoyed when he saw that he was still protecting the calf. He waved his hand and said, "Send it to the general army!"

The prison sentence of the military law in such civil penalties is roughly the same as that of the ordinary criminal law, except that it may be punished with more sticks.

The normal sentence is five to eight years in prison, and a certain amount of compensation; if the behavior is bad, it can be added all the way to the death penalty.The military law is the same, but there are fifty sticks, eighty sticks, and one hundred sticks more.

After being escorted to the Military and Political Office of the Headquarters, the civil officials who had witnessed many cases in the past two days could not help but lament that these three people were really bold.

But they were so busy that they didn't have the energy to try it carefully, so they quickly gave the verdict--one year's imprisonment, fifty rods, and six months' fine.

"...That's it, do you have any objections? If not, go directly to the execution."

The sentence was completed, and a stick was thrown from above, and it fell to the ground with a clatter.

This was already a lenient sentence, and the three soldiers naturally agreed, so they were immediately taken to the execution ground not far away by the military police.

Civilian criminal trials inevitably have to comprehensively consider public opinion, public opinion, feelings, etc. Military criminal trials have to consider even more. Improper sentences will directly affect morale. Dare to joke.

If it is a violation of the law in the country, it is basically a judgment in accordance with the written requirements; but since it is now after the war and it is located in Japan, the civil servants in charge of the judgment have selectively abandoned the principle of fairness.

What's more, the military department's order said that "serious acts of violence must be punished according to the law, and the rest will be dealt with according to the circumstances." What is serious violence?In fact, only murders, arson, explosions, and other acts of killing people count.

Other general acts of violence are dealt with according to the circumstances. Once the word "discretionary" is used, it will by default have nothing to do with justice and reasonableness.

The days of returning to peace passed quickly. By the last day of mid-March, except for the Kansai region still occupied by the Americans, the rest of the region had completed the takeover.

The weather is fine, and the spring breeze is blowing in the morning, which is very pleasant.

There are countless people gathered at Tokyo Airport at this moment, the police maintaining order, the Ming army guarding safety, citizens watching the excitement, reporters with excited faces...

After these days of preparation, the imperial envoy appointed by the Emperor Ming finally arrived with the canonized edict.

Although Western countries have always believed that the vassal state and the suzerain state under the suzerainty system are unequal and violate the spirit of equal status between countries under the Westphalian system, Ming has always sneered at this.

This is the characteristic of the Chinese tributary system. Since the Eastern international system has not disintegrated, it is not the turn of the Westphalian system to enter East Asia.

For the newspapers of various countries, "the emperor of China will create a new king, and Japan will become a new vassal state", such a rare historic event cannot be overestimated, and it is definitely worthy of front-page headlines.

The major newspapers in Britain, France, China, Italy, the United States, Russia and other countries have made preparations early. Whether they are specialized in transshipment or patchwork, they have set up a full set of live broadcast equipment at Tokyo Airport, which can not only send voice The signal can even broadcast the picture live.

"Look! The plane is coming!"

Everyone followed the prestige and saw that under the escort of six fighter planes, two passenger planes were slowly descending and preparing to approach.

(End of this chapter)