The Fourth Disaster, Starting from the Movie Eight Hundred

The Japanese government even resorted to instrumentalizing religion, with Shintoism becoming a spiritual tool to consolidate patriotic ideas. It promoted the idea that Japanese warriors who died in the war would gloriously enter the Pure Land of Bliss, become gods' attendants, and enjoy supreme glory.

The Yasukuni Shrine is the embodiment of this idea.

At this time, the whole of Japan had been completely engulfed by militarist ideology. Many people lived in such a high-pressure environment and dared not complain at all. When systematic oppression began, it no longer mattered whether you were willing or not. The war engine of the entire country was roaring, and no one paid attention to the individual's voice.

The Japanese Communist Party, which can still exist and fight under such circumstances, deserves the praise of being a "true hero" no matter how bizarre their actual operations are.

The difficulties on a macro level may not sound like a big deal, but when it comes to individuals, the story becomes extremely clear.

Ichiro Okayama is a Japanese boy that player K met during his journey north. His family lives in a crowded long wooden house, which is cold in winter and damp in summer. It looks dangerous and feels cramped.

His father had been drafted into the army long ago, leaving behind his wife and five children. Ichiro Okayama was the eldest brother, and he had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. Their life was very difficult.

Every day before dawn, my mother would wrap herself in thin clothes and line up to receive rations. She had to go early because if she was late, she would get nothing. Those who were left behind were the worst off. Those who distributed the rations would not sympathize with the Okayama family because of their hardship. On the contrary, because my mother was quite good-looking, she was often harassed.

The rations we received were "mixed rice", also called "patriotic rice". The latter was a name given by the locals to make light of the situation, meaning: if you can swallow this without any discomfort, you must be a patriotic man.

Before, they could get tofu dregs, but now they can’t even get tofu dregs.

Breakfast is a thin multi-grain porridge. Anyway, Brother K thinks that giving this stuff as three meals a day to women and children is a serious violation of the Geneva Convention. As for the side dishes, see the stuff mixed with radish and radish tops next to it? That's it.

As for the taste, it is salty, but not too salty. It is not even a qualified pickle.

Okayama's mother wanted to buy rice on the black market, because her son was eating her out of money. But rice on the black market was too expensive, and the price had been rising recently. A liter of rice cost three dollars, while local workers earned less than one dollar a day.

This is still the area close to Tokyo. The situation will be even worse in places a little further away. Some families have started to live on loans or simply become members of the underworld.

In order to keep the family alive, both the mother and Ichiro Okayama worked hard.

His mother joined the "Women's Volunteer Corps." The name sounds like comfort women, but in fact there are many types of "Women's Volunteer Corps" in Japan. The type that Okayama's mother joined was the type that only needed to sell labor temporarily. The job content was to sew clothes for soldiers and work more than 10 hours a day. It was common for them to be suddenly asked to "work overtime for patriotism" one day. Even so, the salary they earned with great efforts would be deducted on the grounds of "patriotic donation."

After a day of tiring work, they have to be busy again when they get home because the government requires every household to grow "vegetables to serve the country", so small vegetable gardens are forced to be cultivated. Some of the crops that were produced before now have to be handed over to "support the front line" for the sake of "patriotism". I just don't know whether Japan's technology at that time can produce "canned vegetables" for the frontline soldiers to eat.

Brother K was very curious about this matter, so he secretly investigated it and found out that all these "patriotic materials" were put into the pockets of local government bureaucrats, and they also enjoyed the vegetables and fruits themselves.

Damn, is this patriotism or love for you!

Because of the harsh exploitation, many local women who joined the "Women's Volunteer Corps" were severely malnourished. It was common for them to faint during work, but they would not be sympathized with. Instead, they would be scolded as "pretentious", "cowardly", and "unfair to the warriors of the jihad". Brother K once saw with his own eyes a woman who fainted from hunger and accidentally dropped the sewing tools in her hand. The person in charge splashed cold water on her to wake her up, slapped her in the face, and then asked her to come to him to report on her work after get off work.

What work to report?

Brother K was also curious. After watching it, the next day, the man disappeared on the spot.

He really couldn't bear it anymore. The manager here not only exploited the women to the utmost, but also took advantage of them. It was like a non-stop revelry every night, with a different person ruining them every day.

You have to know that it is only 1939, and Japan has not yet been mass-produced by LeMay. Those Japanese factories are still running at full capacity. As long as their government has a little conscience, the Japanese can live a good life. It is certainly difficult to become rich, but at least it doesn't have to be so difficult.

Invasion comes and goes, but only the upper class of Japan gets fattened up, while the vast majority of the lower-class Japanese are still in poverty. In the eyes of the Japanese ruling class, the lower-class people and the Chinese are not considered human beings, but just consumables with slightly different characteristics.

Regardless of whether you are close or not, you are divided by class. You must always recognize who your real enemy is.

Before leaving, out of sympathy, Brother K gave the Okayama family some canned food, but not long after, the players who arrived later brought Brother K a bolt from the blue news.

Because of those cans, the Okayama family was convicted of stealing military supplies.

Then, in order to prevent the dirty Okayama family from tarnishing their patriotism, the local villagers locked the entire family in the house and burned them all to death.

This is the story of the Okayama family, and there are many stories like theirs all over the world.

Knowing all this, Brother K was silent for a long time before he spoke: "I know why we must long live the great unity of the people of the world."

Chapter 86: The Temptation of White Rice

(Third update, 10,000 words reached! You guys are so cruel, the tickets for urging me to update are forcing me to smack my keyboard until it smokes)

Sapporo Liberated Area, Japan.

Yes, it's liberated here, onboard!

The total population of this city is less than 200,000, and its defense is very lax. After all, the Soviet naval power is a joke to Japan, and Sapporo on the Japanese mainland is very safe.

Then they were caught off guard by the Volunteer Army.

The players first let the NPC commanders and fighters fight outside, while they had already lurked in Sapporo. When the Japanese troops in the city were attracted out and began to assemble, they directly used their support skills to call out their names one by one.

The defense here was originally very lax, and the troops stationed here were not elite. The original elite troops were transferred to the northeast to fill the line. Now it is too easy for players to bully them.

The defeated Japanese army only had time to send a telegram saying "Sapporo was attacked by unidentified armed forces" before they were completely wiped out. Sapporo in Hokkaido became the first truly liberated overseas area of ​​the Volunteer Army.

Next, a new problem arose: how to mobilize local resources.

All the buffs that players can obtain require local industrial and agricultural production capabilities. Now Sapporo has fallen into a semi-paralyzed state. If various production work is not restarted, the social problems caused by the local shutdown will soon evolve into a problem of all local Japanese resisting the "invasion" of the volunteer army.

"Don't overthink it. Just let them enjoy the wonderful life afforded by advanced productivity."

The washing machine method is very simple. First, drag the local dignitaries out and kill them as a sacrifice to the gods. Then the remaining ordinary people can be organized to work, and the volunteers will exchange their labor for the supplies in their hands.

Anyway, it’s all canned food. In wartime, canned food is great.

So the volunteers set up a huge stall in the center of Sapporo, filled it with various canned goods, cooked delicious food, and then began to recruit workers. Considering that the locals and the volunteers had not yet established a trusting relationship, and even tacitly accepted a hostile relationship, they adopted a daily settlement method. The currency used was the silver coins printed by the volunteers themselves, which were the size of a one-yuan coin. The appearance was very exquisite and the anti-counterfeiting was achieved to the extent that it was impossible to pirate. The precious metal itself is a general equivalent and has its own credit, which can directly separate Sapporo from the local economic system of Japan at the physical level.

On the first day of recruitment, there was no one there, but the players clearly observed that there were many Japanese watching secretly. They were obviously tempted, but they did not dare to be the first "non-nationals".

It's the broken window effect, I understand.

Just when the players were preparing to disguise themselves as locals, a middle-aged man appeared in front of the stall tremblingly, and seemed to want to say something but stopped himself several times.

"What's your name, fellow villager?"

"Tan...Tanaka Goro."

This is the warrior who broke the window - Goro Tanaka. As the name suggests, he has at least four older brothers.

"Are you here to buy something or to apply for a job?"

Tanaka Goro swallowed hard and said with difficulty: "I want to find a job."

Now the whole of Sapporo has been controlled by the Volunteer Army, and the production facilities are naturally under the management of the Volunteer Army. Without the Volunteer Army's request, the locals can't do anything, or dare not do anything.

For the vast majority of ordinary people, they have no power to resist the changes in the world and can only go with the flow. Not to mention whether they can make their own choices, they don’t even have the final say in their own lives and thoughts. They even have to be careful whether their words and deeds will become a disaster that harms their own lives.

Every militaristic government has very strict domestic control. Compared with real fascism, Britain's 1984 is nothing more than a drizzle.

Of course, the great virtue of Daque with Ying is not comparable to that of ordinary fascists.

"No problem. We have a form here. Tell us what you're good at. The daily wage is listed below. Settlement is made on the same day."

“Same-day settlement?”

"Yes, we'll settle the bill on the same day. I guarantee you won't suffer any loss."

At this moment, Goro Tanaka's stomach rumbled, and he instantly felt embarrassed and wanted to leave.

However, how could the players give up this opportunity to buy horse bones for a fortune? So they immediately stopped him and said, "Don't leave. We also provide meals here. Only when you are full can you have the strength to work. Come, sit down." -p

Soon, a bowl of fragrant rice with a piece of luncheon meat was delivered to Goro Tanaka.

"This... is for me?"

"Yes, eat quickly."

“But...but I...I have no money.”

"Didn't I tell you that you'll get food while you're working? Three meals a day, all at this standard. Eat quickly."

Under the urging of the volunteers and the influence of the aroma of rice in his hand, Goro Tanaka immediately began to eat voraciously.

After the rice entered his mouth, he had only one thought: It smells so good!

The Japanese who were observing secretly saw that Goro Tanaka actually had rice and meat to eat, and soon a second and a third person came to apply for the job. There was nothing they could do, as the combination of white rice and luncheon meat was too lethal to them.

Although the Japanese rulers made a lot of money during World War II, the vast majority of the lower classes in Japan did not enjoy any war dividends at all. They paid more for the "holy war". Since the economic crisis in 1929, Japan's economy has not been good. Even the interests snatched during World War I did not make Japan prosperous much. After these pressures were transmitted layer by layer, the lower classes in Japan now have to think about every meal they have.

What a fascist empire that oppresses everyone equally, dirty, ugly and greedy.

With the demonstration effect, the players can start their work in Sapporo smoothly. It must be said that these Japanese people are quite honest and sincere. After eating the power meal of white rice and luncheon meat, they did whatever the volunteers asked them to do. The factories and other facilities in Sapporo also quickly resumed operation. However, the original local officials were arrested by the volunteers, and they will definitely be subjected to a combination of complaints and public trials against the locals later.

After seeing the local people's attitude towards white rice with luncheon meat, the players knew how to treat the locals.

Isn't it ironic that in a country where the "Imperial Army is invincible" and occupies vast lands, the people in the country can only be said to be slightly better off than beggars. In other aspects, they can only barely make ends meet, and even if they are slightly exploited, they cannot guarantee enough food and clothing.

However, the volunteer soldiers were not good people. Those who had military dependents in their families were specially picked out. They were not going to be shot directly with machine guns, but for other purposes.

"Your families are the criminals who invaded China. Of course, we volunteers are reasonable. In the face of imperialist oppression, you had no choice, but the established fact of the invasion cannot be erased, so you must atone for your families."

Then these people became cheap laborers who were only paid three meals a day and had to atone for the sins of their loved ones for five years.

This method has two purposes. The first is to differentiate those who agree with it, so that others will subconsciously form the idea that "invading China will not end well." At the same time, they will have a sense of moral superiority, "I did not invade China, I am a good person to the volunteers," so that these people will be more proactive in moving closer to the volunteers.

The second is to conduct experiments to see if this method can be implemented throughout Japan.

It is true that most Japanese were pushed by their country, but the fact that they actually helped the invasion cannot be directly denied. People easily remember the food but not the war. If you want to completely transform a nation, you must instill new national memory in them and guide them to do what is right.

Players currently divide the Japanese into five tiers.

The first one is the war criminals who invaded China. There is nothing much to say. Let’s start the family tree elimination game.

The second group is about the traitors who fled to Japan, and they also start with a family tree elimination game.

The third category is those Japanese soldiers. Even if they plead guilty, they still have to undergo labor reform, with a minimum sentence of five years. They will serve their sentences in China and engage in dangerous infrastructure work depending on the severity of their crimes. Whether they can survive depends on luck.

The fourth group is the Japanese civilians who were forced to bear the responsibility of paying reparations for the invasion.

The fifth group consists of those Japanese Communists and true peace advocates who persisted in opposing the war and fighting during the darkest moments of Japan's fascist rule. They are the ones who should be won over, and their treatment will naturally be better than the previous four groups.

Currently, the five-level division is only temporary and will be adjusted according to actual conditions. We will try it out in Sapporo first.

Then the players discovered that the advantages of running well were amazing.

The local people's vigilance and hostility towards the volunteers were quickly diluted in the face of sufficient food. After all, Japan was already in a difficult situation in 1939, and now they were repeatedly defeated by the steel torrent of the volunteers. Not to mention white rice and canned food, in some places, as soon as they paid the "patriotic donation", the whole family had to go out to beg for food and dig wild vegetables all over the mountains and plains, and this was when there was still something to eat.

Don’t forget that one of the most attractive conditions for the Japanese to recruit soldiers was “being able to eat white rice.”

This thing is nothing to us, but to the Japanese it has risen to a very sacred level. It is now a symbol of identity and status. This worship even continued after the war, creating magical beings such as the Rice Immortal.

Although the Sapporo area is far away from the central prosperous area of ​​Japan, it is still Japanese territory after all. The Japanese here also have to bear military service and taxes. The local output is already quite difficult. After paying these things, life is really like Wang Xiaoer's New Year - this year is not as good as last year.

Now, a large amount of cheap food is flooding the market, and the volunteer army's terrifying supply capacity has directly squeezed the local black market. When everyone is well fed, and especially when they know who is feeding them, their mentality will change.

You can also say that after eating, there is enough energy to support the brain's complex thinking and logical operations.

The locals didn't need the volunteers to ask, they would wonder why the "Imperial Land of Paradise" forced them to eat dirt, but after the volunteers came, they were well fed and well-drinking, and could even have three meals a day and a midnight snack?

Then the local Japanese will start to settle accounts themselves.

You see, when the Imperial Army was still there, they wanted to collect this and that, and they were almost tearing the ground clean. But after the Volunteer Army came, as long as everyone worked hard, they could live a decent life, and they didn’t accept any “patriotic donations” or the like. So, whether these things were given or not actually had a huge impact on our lives!

It’s not that no one has thought about this in the past, but under the circumstances at the time, no one dared or could think so. Since everyone was in the same situation, no one would feel oppressed.

But if a ray of light shines in at this time, more and more people will be unable to bear the darkness.

Their thinking may not be that high-minded, but they definitely know who they can rely on to have a good life. When the simplest ideas of the people converge into rivers, they become an unstoppable torrent of history.

On the 7th day after the Volunteer Army liberated Sapporo, local people took the initiative to approach the Volunteer Army, saying that they wanted to join the army.

The players were puzzled. Their complaints and public trials hadn't even begun, yet someone was already volunteering to join. Were they motivated to join the volunteer army because they thought the food was better?

I don’t understand, but it’s really fun, so the washing machine decides to interview the young man.

"What's your name?"

"Ichiro Hirata!"

"Okay, very enthusiastic. So, why did you join the volunteer army?"

"Because... because... because if you leave, we won't be able to protect ourselves. When you're here, everyone can have enough to eat, but if you leave, those imperial troops will come back, and we'll have to live the same hard life as before. So I want to join you. You will definitely defeat the government that bullies us, right?"

"Who told you this?"

"I figured it out myself."

"Really?"

"Really! After you came, the snow on the streets was cleared. Someone's house collapsed, and you repaired it for them. The school also provides nutritious meals. My brother can go to school every day now with great energy. I don't understand the so-called paradise of the emperor, but I know why life was so hard before. I also know that with you, I will definitely have a good life!"

After listening to Ichiro Hirata's words, a sentence involuntarily emerged in the washing machine's mind: Do what you should do, the people don't need you to teach them, they know who is good to them, whoever they help, whoever wins!

Chapter 87: Now is the time for fantasy

(I won’t give up! Start struggling! Today is also the day of 10,000-word updates, and there will be more to come!)

"Our volunteer army has liberated Sapporo, Japan. The blade of sanctions is about to fall. The Japanese fascists must pay the price for their crimes!"

When the news came that the volunteer army had liberated Sapporo, the whole world felt it was unreal.