Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 728 That Year, That Event

At that time, the Xidu urban area was the area enclosed by today's Metro Line 3, extending to the Yitong River. There was also an area north of the train station, but it was not large and was a military zone.

Because the deposed emperor was merely a figurehead ruler at the time, he was not taken seriously and was placed in what is now the site of the puppet palace.

Starting in 32, the Kwantung Army moved its headquarters from Fengtian to Xidu and began large-scale construction in Xidu, building Datong Road and Datong Square in the city center, which are today's Renmin Road and Renmin Square.

The Japanese buried a leveling point stone marker in the center of the square, making this the very center of Manchukuo.

The stone marker was later dug up by the Russians, and that's where the airplane monument is now. In 45, the Russians occupied this area, renamed Datong Square to Stalin Square, and erected the airplane monument. In fact, at that time, the Russians wanted to seize the entire Northeast.

In 33, the League of Nations passed a resolution not recognizing Manchukuo and issued a proclamation stating that Northeast China was part of China. This was actually the work of the Russians, who wanted it.

In 34, the Kwantung Army found that democratic governance was not very suitable for the region, so it installed the deposed emperor as emperor, changed the country's name to the Manchukuo Empire, and adopted the reign title Kangde.

In the same year, plans began to be made to build the Imperial Palace on the site of today's Imperial Garden, and an attack was launched from Xidu to the whole of the Northeast.

This was, in fact, the second Russo-Japanese War to take place in Northeast China since 1904, except that Maoist Russia was no longer there, and the Kwantung Army's opponent was now socialist Soviet Russia.

In the same year, the First Army of the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army was established, with Yang Jingyu serving as its commander and political commissar.

In 1935, the Kwantung Army occupied Harbin and drove the Russians out of Northeast China. Under pressure from the Kwantung Army, the Russians sold the entire South Manchuria Railway to Japan for 170 million yen and fled.

Thirty-five years ago, the Northeast Railway and its extensions were in Russian hands; Japan only occupied Dalian and Lushun.

In 1936, Japan began sending immigrants from its mainland and Korea to the northeast. It was called the Million Household Immigration Plan, which aimed to immigrate one million households and five million people, but it was ultimately not achieved. By the time of Japan's surrender in 1945, a total of 600,000 households and nearly three million people had been immigrated.

In the same year, the "Outline of the Five-Year Industrial Plan of Manchuria" was released, marking the beginning of the first five-year plan.

That's how the Five-Year Plan came about.

Starting in 32, the Japanese began to build the city of Kito according to the plan, constructing government buildings, or bureau office buildings, centered around Datong Square. The first government building was the National Capital Construction Bureau. This first modern office building in Kito's history was bombed by the Russians in 45, rebuilt in 48, and then demolished again in the 90s.

Its design is the same as the current Shanghai Pudong Development Bank building, but the central tower is taller, with six floors, and it is located in the northwest corner of the Children's Park.

The second building is today's Municipal Bureau, the Manchukuo Capital Police Department.

To make a long story short, the Kwantung Army built a total of fourteen buildings in Xidu at that time. The first building was the National Capital Construction Bureau, the second was the Capital Police Department, now the Xidu Public Security Bureau, and the third was the Finance (Economic) Department, now the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.

The fourth department was the Ministry of People's Livelihood, now the Petrochemical Research Institute; the fifth department was the State Council, now the Basic Medical Sciences Department of Bethune University; the sixth department was the Ministry of Justice, now the Bethune Medical School of Jilin University; the seventh department, the Jilin-Heilongjiang Water Transport Bureau, was the smallest of the fourteen departments and has been demolished; it is now the site of the Jilin Northern Finance Department.

The Eighth Department was the Transportation Department, now the School of Public Health at Jilin University. The Ninth Department was the Public Security Department, later changed to the Military Department, now Building No. 1 of the First Bethune Hospital. The Tenth Department was the Economics Department, now the Second Branch of the Jilin University-China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

The eleventh department, the Industry Department, was renamed the Agriculture Department in 40 and is now the Northeast Normal University Affiliated Middle School. The current building is a reconstruction based on the original design from the 90s. The twelfth department, the Xing'an General Bureau, was later renamed the Mongolian Administration Department and was demolished in 94 to build the China Unicom Building.

The Thirteenth Hall, the General Bureau of Development, is now the residence of the Jilin Opera Troupe of Jibei Province. The Fourteenth Hall, the Ritual and Ceremonial Hall, is the most mysterious building. It was destroyed shortly after it was put into use, and there is no information about when or who demolished it. Its original site is now within the Xinmin Campus of Jilin University.

Fourteen buildings stretched from People's Square to Ziyou Avenue, all the way to the top of Nanhu Park, and then the city's construction and greening began around these fourteen main buildings. Before that, Xidu was just a large, barren wasteland.

The current provincial party committee building was formerly the headquarters of the Kwantung Army, and the Songyuan Hotel was the official residence of the Kwantung Army commander. The provincial government used the headquarters of the Kwantung Army Military Police. To the south of the Kwantung Army headquarters was Higashi Honganji Temple, the largest temple built by Japan in Northeast China. It was next to Xidu No. 1 Experimental Primary School. Surrounding Higashi Honganji Temple was the former meeting hall area, the most famous of which was the Japanese-Manchukuo military meeting hall, which no longer exists; it is now the site of the primary school.

Another prominent and influential organization at the time was the National Defense Women's Association, whose headquarters is now the Ark Art Museum in the southeast corner of Victory Park. The Women's Association mobilized women to participate in social activities.

At that time, women had a relatively low status and rarely participated in any activities. As a result, there were many respondents, and their efforts were quite significant. They contributed to fundraising, comforting soldiers, producing war supplies, and especially planting trees. The lush greenery that covered Xidu owes much to them.

The puppet central bank, now known as the People's Bank of China, was the most expensive building in Xidu at the time, costing six million yuan. It was probably also the most sturdy building in Xidu. The puppet Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now been converted into the headquarters kitchen.

There are too many to list. I won't go into detail about the less important buildings. Anyway, most of the bureaus still use old buildings that served similar functions. For example, the post office used the former Manchukuo telephone communications building. The Unicom headquarters used the old broadcasting bureau building. The Discipline Inspection Commission used the Ministry of Supervision building, and so on.

To be honest, the Japanese are far inferior to the Russians in terms of architecture. Their buildings are all large and short, and not very impressive, but the cost is quite high. For example, the Jilin University Archives building cost 1.8 million yuan at the time.

However, Japanese buildings have one major characteristic: they are all made of reinforced concrete, making them sturdy.

Today, at least half, or more, of the buildings in the entire Xidu city area are remnants from that period, most of which have been converted into residential houses. From the air, the city is divided into diamond-shaped areas, with the Garden Square as the dividing point and roads connecting them, each area featuring distinct architectural styles.

Starting with the six-pointed star altar-like layout centered on People's Square, each Japanese building has its own special meaning. The builders arranged the buildings according to the pattern of written symbols, but unfortunately no one has studied it. Now no one understands what these building symbols mean.

Japan surrendered in 45. The defeat was so sudden that the government at the time didn't even have time to react. At that time, Kito was still under construction. When the Emperor's proclamation was announced, people were still dancing and talking about ***** in the hall.

The central government didn't react in time, but the Soviets reacted very quickly. They could never forget this land, so they erected Red Army statues everywhere and built Soviet monuments everywhere. Datong Street was also renamed Stalin Street.

Japan's defeat was not at the hands of China; we must remember this. The Soviet Union's invasion was not for China's sake either; we must understand that as well. And the soldiers buried beneath those magnificent monuments were not there for our better lives.

Now, all of that is in the past. The planned palace has become a university, and Stalin Street has become People's Street, but we should not forget this history, and we should remember it even more than the September 18 Incident.

We need to become stronger.

(End of this chapter)