Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 532 The Burning of the Barracks Incident ([-])

"Damn it! This is a conspiracy! This is a crime! I am stupid! The Army is bullying people too much!" The former Prime Minister of the Government Affairs Council, the current South Yazihu ​​District Commissioner, and the soul of the civilian faction, the vest, who was just called out by the secretary from his nap, was furious cursed.He has a bad temper, and usually trains the bureaucrats under him like grandsons.He served as the Prime Minister of the Government Council for 13 years, and he is also the only metallurgical industry expert in China. He led the establishment of several most important domestic enterprises, such as Pingan Iron and Steel Works, Dayuhe Armory Factory, Northern Armory Factory, Coking Plant, and the First Machinery Factory. And it has strongly integrated the shipbuilding industry chain of Zhenhai County, and has considerable popularity and prestige whether it is in the civilian faction or in the military.

At this time, when he first heard the latest conflict in the Corrales mining area that the secretary rushed to report, his temper suddenly became uncontrollable.Wearing pajamas, he walked around in the living room, scolding non-stop, from the small army staff officer to the high-ranking army secretary, he scolded them all over and over again.After venting his anger for more than ten minutes, the vest finally calmed down, and then he changed his clothes without saying a word, ready to go out and talk to some people.

Dongfang County on the last day of August was restless.On this day, the mansion area next to the reservoir in Chengguan Town was full of traffic, and senior officials in carriages shuttled back and forth. From time to time, they hurried into a certain senior official's house, and left in a hurry after an hour or two with gloomy faces.Everyone's face was very serious, as if something great had happened.The police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs guarding here complained even more on this day, because all the officials came and went, and they seemed to be in a hurry. If they checked their documents a little later, they might be reprimanded, which made people very annoyed.

The entire mansion area was in a state of turmoil for a whole day until late at night when it calmed down a little.But it turned out that this was just the calm before the storm, because on the second day, Vest, the soul of the prestigious civilian faction, walked into the gate of the Ministry of War with a serious face in full view.

Liao Meng, Minister of the Ministry of War who was working, looked at the vest with an angry expression in astonishment, and understood what was going on in his heart, but he still pretended to be confused and asked, "Mr. , What a rare visitor! Hehe! Secretary Sun, let me have a pot of Longjing."

"No, I'm going to see Chairman Liu soon. Now I just ask you to do one thing. If you agree, then everything can be redeemed. If you don't agree...hmph, you can decide what to do." The vest said expressionlessly.

Liao Meng took up the position of Minister of Army with the support of Peng Zhicheng after returning from overseas colonies at the end of 45. To some extent, he was a generation younger than Ma Jia and others.After all, he debuted with an army veteran like Peng Zhicheng, with extraordinary qualifications and outstanding political achievements.This gentleman is a metallurgical professional, has presided over the construction of many national lifeline factories, and has served as the Prime Minister of the Government Council for a long time. It is impossible to say that Liao Meng does not feel terrified when he sees such a person.At this time, it is obvious that the teacher is asking for a crime, and I have to deal with it carefully, otherwise it will be very troublesome.

"Commissioner Ma, is there something that your government can't solve? Well, tell me, I will never shirk what I can do." Liao Meng tried his best not to talk too much, and said with a smile.

The vest took a deep look at Liao Meng, then shook a piece of paper in his hand, and said: "Xiao Baitu, commander of the 6th company of the army, and Putin, commander of the gendarmerie, these two are lawless and good at provoking border disputes. It's extremely bad. Give me a slap in the face and dismiss him for investigation. In addition, there is Wei Boqiu, the chief of the syphilis patient statistics and investigation department. A quasi-letter, Xiao Baitu and Puting, can we do it or not?"

The smile on Liao Meng's face froze.Xiao Baitu, the commander of the 6th company, Liao Meng still knows something about him. He is a full-fledged opportunist, and he wants to win the position by leading the radical army.For this kind of person, Liao Meng was also extremely vigilant deep in his heart, because it would threaten his authority.However, Xiao Baitu's background is very strong. Not only is he a brother and brother with Liu Ang, the captain of the South African pioneering team, but he is also closely related to Zhu Liang, one of the veterans of the army. In the end, this guy is said to be the vice president of the National Power Alliance, an organization organized in the army. When their chairman, Mo Ming, was in the Far East, it was Xiao Baitu who was in charge of the situation, and his network of connections extended in all directions, so it was not easy to deal with him.

In fact, from the bottom of his heart, Liao Meng is still very willing to do Xiao Baitu, who made this guy dance too happily.It's just that reason tells him not to do this, because it will cause endless troubles, and may end his political life in an instant.It seems that Peng Zhicheng, a retired army veteran, is the only one who can handle Xiao Baitu without causing major trouble, but will he handle him?Maybe behind this incident is the figure of this guy who is still trying to control the situation after retreating, this thing is really a headache!

As for the gendarmerie commander Putin, this man is even more difficult to deal with!This guy turned out to be the leader of the disciplinary police, who strictly investigated crimes against assimilation such as speaking foreign languages, wearing foreign clothes, and spreading cults in the country. The throne of the Commander of the Gendarmerie.This gentleman's style was simple and rude, and his subordinates were also a group of violent elements. Countless Guaranis, Charuyas, and even Spaniards died in their hands.

Liu Yun, member of the Internal Affairs Committee and Director of the General Administration of State Intelligence, once inspected the prison of the gendarmerie. He was deeply impressed by the hellish scene there, and thus had a more real understanding of Putin.This man is a ruthless guy!Offending him seems to be no less troublesome than offending Xiao Baitu, so Liao Meng immediately hesitated.

Seeing that Liao Meng didn't speak, the vest sneered twice, and cursed: "The current Ministry of Army is a bunch of bad guys, and there is no normal person! Forget it, don't make things difficult for you, I will go to Peng Zhicheng later. And you, an eraser Seal's words are meaningless, so I won't embarrass you!" After speaking, he turned around and left without any hesitation.

But Liao Meng stood there with a gloomy face, feeling a burst of heat on his face.The four words "rubber stamp" that came out of the vest's mouth really made him feel embarrassed, as if he had been slapped hard on the face.At any rate, he is also a dignified minister of the army. Although he has not yet been added as a new executive member of the Central Committee, why do these "veteran cadres" treat themselves so ignorantly as human beings!

To be honest, since the beginning of this year, he took over the previous Minister of the Army who resigned due to illness, and his life has been very unsatisfactory for more than half a year.Although he himself is well-known in the army, he commanded the last battle against the Spaniards in 33, but due to his personality and other reasons, he has been a staff officer in the Ministry of the Army for the past ten years. .It was not until a few years ago that he caught up with the expansion of the army, and then he took an opportunity to be released as the company commander of the army, which was considered a preliminary success.

By January of this year, with the support of Peng Zhicheng, he himself took over as Minister of the Army.He was very happy at the beginning, but soon this excitement was worn away by many things, such as the rebellious military leader, the submissive subordinates and the contempt of the naval faction, which often made him sigh again and again , because many things cannot be decided by oneself.

At this moment, he was called a "rubber stamp" in person by the vest, and his face immediately became impatient. He hated Xiao Baitu and others who made trouble in his heart, and secretly thought that he must give these guys a little color this time. Let them always lose face to themselves!Clay figurines are still a bit fiery, and if a tiger doesn't show its power, treat me like a sick cat!

No matter what Liao Meng thought at this time, the vest rushed to the executive committee to meet the chairman Liu Weimin with a joint petition signed by almost all civil servants.After discussing in the secret room for more than two hours, he hurried to Merlin Port and had a long talk all night long with Peng Zhicheng, an army veteran who was there.

On the afternoon of September 9, Vest, who returned to the capital, held secret talks with the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Materials and other civilian forces that have always been neutral (perhaps leaning towards the military).Perhaps the result of the negotiation was satisfactory to him, and only then did a slight smile appear on the face that had been tensed by the vest.

This time the incident was really too big!Due to the strong backlash from the civil-official group with the threat of non-cooperation, Shao Shude, Xiao Bailang and others who had been neutral and even sympathetic to the military forces suddenly spoke out one after another, accusing Xiao Baitu and others of their reckless actions, which made these people For a moment, everyone was shouting and beating like rats crossing the street. The days were very sad, and the ambitions that were originally full of ambition suddenly disappeared.

On September 9th, seeing the situation getting worse and worse, Army Veteran Peng Zhicheng also publicly reprimanded Xiao Baitu and Putin for not talking about politics, setting a bad example for the entire army, and must be punished.Peng Zhicheng's statement can be regarded as completely driving the two into the abyss, and dismissal and investigation have become inevitable.

On the night of September 9, the executive committee held an enlarged meeting to discuss how to deal with the burning of the barracks.In addition to members of the executive committee, many senior officials from the government and military, as well as some "veteran cadres" who have retired but still have influence, were present at the meeting.The meeting lasted all night, during which there were countless debates and quarrels, but finally some formal resolutions were made before dawn.

Xiao Baitu, who was directly involved in the burning of the barracks, was dismissed from his position as the commander of the 6th Company of the Army and sent to Xinhua Island to perform hard labor.It is worth noting that this is the second time Xiao Baitu has been dismissed from his post, and it is also the second time he has been dispatched to the colony.Because Putin, the commander of the gendarmerie, had manpower to protect him, and he explained a lot of the situation in a timely manner when he organized the interview, and he knew how to throw his pawns to save the car, so he was only transferred from the post of gendarmerie commander, and he had no pain or itching. warnings.

The last one is Wei Boqiu of the Mei Agency.This person is really wronged, because he really didn't know about it. His subordinate Sun Heiqi proved to be very suspicious in this incident. pitted.According to his usual neutral attitude and style, getting involved in this matter itself is very puzzling.Therefore, when someone interceded, he was demoted and transferred to the deputy commander of the Gendarmerie, and was sent to the Far East to supervise Marshal Mo along with his subordinate Han Zhen and others.At the same time, Bao Chenan, the deputy commander of the gendarmerie who is currently in the Far East, will be recalled to take up the post of commander of the gendarmerie.As for the Mei organization, it is temporarily managed by the executive committee.

Sun Heiqi, the leader of the Mei Agency's action team who had cheated Wei Boqiu, hid in the Navy Club after the incident and never showed up again. On September 9, he was found dead in the laundry room of the Navy Club. He was shot seven times in the body and multiple shots in the head, chest, abdomen, and legs.The joint investigation team composed of the General Administration of State Intelligence, the Mei Agency, and the Gendarmerie unanimously determined that Sun Heiqi died of suicide, and the incident came to an end.

After dealing with this matter, it is time to face the choice of going to war with the Spaniards.Things have come to this point today, and how to make a choice is already very clear.Therefore, on September 9, Liu Weimin, chairman of the executive committee, picked up his private seal and tremblingly signed his name on a declaration of war.Along with the declaration of war, there were also the national mobilization order, the military plan to attack La Plata across the sea, and the establishment of the planned production management committee, and the country entered the wartime system.

At noon that day, Minister of Foreign Affairs Xu Xin summoned Baron Raul Bravo and officially announced to him that the East Coast Republic of China and the Kingdom of Spain had entered a state of war. The Kingdom of Spain had 24 hours to prepare and submitted a declaration of war.

(End of this chapter)