readytorunbook Chapter 694 Qi Quan: I've only come to Japan to do 3 things.
Chapter 694 Qi Quan: I've only come to Japan to do 3 things.
As the Japanese soldiers listened to these Koreans, whom they had once regarded as lowly subjects, reprimanding them in this way, their facial muscles twitched, a mixture of shame, indignation, humiliation, and fear, yet they dared not show it in the slightest.
They bowed deeply, almost at a ninety-degree angle, their foreheads nearly touching Qi Quan's desk, and said in unison, their voices trembling:
"Yes! We fully understand Qi Jun's requirements! We will definitely follow orders and do our best to carry out the work without any delay."
“Very good.” Qi Quan leaned back in his chair and placed his hands on the table. “My adjutant and this translator, Park Jung-soo, will handle the specific arrangements for setting up collection points and publicizing the information. Remember, I’m only giving you seventy-two hours.”
After saying that, Qi Quan raised an eyebrow: "Go. Don't disappoint me..."
The Japanese soldiers, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, bowed several times and backed away, almost running, from the suffocating office.
The orders were relayed with astonishing efficiency.
Military control propaganda vehicles drove onto the streets, and loudspeakers on the vehicles repeatedly broadcast confiscation orders in Japanese.
An extremely excited Park Jung-soo, along with his Korean subordinates who also served as translators, accompanied armed Nanyang soldiers as they went door-to-door in Fukuoka to announce the arrival of the soldiers.
Initial resistance and concealment were present.
But when fully armed Nanyang soldiers and those Korean auxiliary personnel who were eager to show off and searched with extra effort, even with a perverse desire for revenge, actually found hidden rifles, knives and even grenades in several houses that had been reported or randomly inspected, and handcuffed and took the homeowners away on the spot, their will to resist quickly collapsed.
Three days later, early in the morning, the former Fukuoka Castle Honmaru Plaza is now Fukuoka Peace Park.
This place was designated as one of the main collection points.
Machine guns were set up around the square, and Nanyang soldiers were stationed every five steps and sentries every ten steps.
Behind the makeshift long table sat a registrar with a serious expression.
A breathtaking scene is taking shape in front of the table.
One by one, samurai swords, from ornate gold-inlaid and jade-embellished masterpieces to crude mass-produced ones, were held with trembling hands by their former owners or their descendants and placed on designated mats.
The registrars recorded the serial numbers, inspected the hilts, and checked for any taboo markings such as the royal chrysanthemum pattern. Then, they tossed the hilts behind them as if they were scrap metal.
There, a jumble of swords and knives had been piled up into a small mountain that gleamed with a cold light.
The blades of the samurai swords that the Japanese soldiers once boasted about clashed together, producing a cold, crisp sound.
Around the square, the Japanese soldiers and civilians who were watching had their heads down, and some were even sobbing.
At this moment, the mountains of samurai swords and the samurai spirit they once symbolized were carelessly placed, no different from scrap metal.
Compared to the samurai swords that could only be obtained by people of a certain status, the square was now filled with various rifles, shotguns, bayonets, pistols, and the like.
Countless Type 38 rifles, Type 99 rifles, and double-barreled shotguns were neatly stacked up, like a small mountain.
Meanwhile, Japanese soldiers kept bowing and placing their weapons on top, adding bricks and tiles to the small hill.
Below the stage, under a makeshift pavilion, the Japanese man in a suit, temporarily representing Fukuoka Prefecture, stood beside Qi Quan, wiping away sweat and bowing.
"These...these are all items left over from the original Jade Shattering Plan. They were definitely not something we intentionally hid or intended to..."
"Alright." Qi Quan waved his hand. "I don't care what you say, I only care what you do. Those who handed over today are innocent, but if I find any more that have been secretly hidden away... you know what I mean?"
"Hey! We Japanese all yearn for peace. The mistakes were all made by those guys in the military. Their consciences are absolutely rotten!"
The Japanese soldiers in suits immediately began to distance themselves from the situation.
Qi Quan didn't say anything more. He knew very well that Zhang Chi had sent him for three reasons.
First, it demonstrates the presence of Southeast Asia and highlights the status of the victorious nation, so that decades later, the Japanese won't even know who defeated them and forced them to surrender.
Secondly, there is the issue of retaliation. If we win a battle but don't retaliate, then what's the point of winning? As for the Japanese, we must thoroughly reform them and completely break their backbone.
Thirdly, it's about reaping benefits. This sword-hunting ceremony is just an appetizer. The real show is how to exploit the Japanese industrial facilities in Fukuoka, Kyushu, such as the Yawata Steel Works, Kokura Arsenal, Kyushu Aircraft Company, and Nagasaki Shipyard.
Under Qi Quan's watchful eye, the action in the square continued.
One by one, the Rising Sun Flags, symbolizing Japanese militarism, were doused with gasoline and set on fire.
The soldiers from Southeast Asia worked expressionlessly, occasionally kicking aside old steel helmets that blocked their way with their leather boots.
The air was thick with the scent of defeat.
In the distance, more Japanese civilians gathered around, silently watching everything unfold.
Many people had tears in their eyes, but dared not cry out loud.
The small hill of weapons, under the bleak autumn sun, resembled a huge, cold tomb, burying the legacy of a crazy era and foreshadowing an unknown future that would be completely conquered and transformed.
The ruthless methods have only just begun.
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Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu, a land area of about 4,900 square kilometers and a population of about 3 million, was an important industrial base and coal-producing area for the Japanese before the war.
The industrial belt of northern Kyushu spans Fukuoka and Yamaguchi prefectures. The steel production of the Yawata Steel Works once accounted for a quarter of the entire Japanese national output. The Kokura Arsenal produced guns and cannons, Wakamatsu produced coal, and Nagasaki produced ships...
These names once fueled the roaring operation of the Japanese war machine.
However, at this moment, the shadow of defeat hangs over the hearts of every Fukuoka resident.
Most of the factory chimneys have stopped emitting smoke, the port is piled with rusty machinery that has not yet been shipped out, and the streets are full of demobilized soldiers in tattered uniforms with blank stares.
It was on this land filled with failure and confusion that a special force began to take shape—the 10th Squad of the Special Military Police Battalion stationed in Japan, mainly composed of Koreans, whose captain was Park Jung-soo, who had emerged from a prisoner-of-war camp.
Park Jung-soo knew that his current position was entirely due to the appreciation of Mr. Zhang Chi.
He and his dozens of fellow Koreans were seen as "traitors" by the Japanese, even more hateful than the soldiers of Southeast Asia, but by the Southeast Asians, they were "useful and carefree Koreans."
To survive and gain more in this precarious situation, one must be more loyal and ruthless than anyone else.
Qi Quan, representing the Office for the Promotion of Anti-Military Purification and Democratization, issued the "Temporary Control Law for the Occupied Territories of Kyushu," which was quickly posted throughout the streets and alleys of Fukuoka.
The public display of the Rising Sun Flag and old military flags is prohibited; the singing and playing of militaristic songs such as "Kimigayo" and "Naval March" in public is prohibited; public rituals related to shrines that promote "eternal military fortune" or "sacrifice for the Imperial State" are prohibited; all publications and broadcasts must be reviewed by the Military Control Command; those who conceal weapons or fail to report war criminals will be held accountable...
Laws are cold words, and Park Jung-soo's disciplinary team are the enforcers who turn those words into a biting, chilling wind.