Cicada Moving

Chapter 1215 Confrontation of Public Opinions

　　It was cold and windy in the mountain town in the early morning, and the branches and leaves of the trees were swaying in the strong wind. There was no one on the streets, but there was a lively scene in the printing workshop of the "Central Daily News".

The ironing machine that ensures the ink is completely dry emits bursts of white mist. While the water vapor is steaming, workers pack and carry the newly printed newspapers to trucks and mule carts, and there are constant shouts and shouts.

Under the moonlight, you can see that the top newspaper is printed with the words "The rebel bandits are deliberately rubbing against each other, and the central government revoked the designation" as well as multiple photos.

 “Central Park 4900 copies!”

 “3000 copies of Qixingkan!”

 The person in charge of the printing workshop holds the distribution list in his hand and stands at the door of the workshop shouting the place names and numbers.

These figures are the number of newspapers sent to each distribution point, from where they are then sent to lower sales points.

 Since the government moved westward, with the arrival of countless intellectuals, the newspaper industry in mountain cities has developed greatly.

By the end of 1940, the circulation of all newspapers in Shancheng reached hundreds of thousands. The daily circulation of "Ta Kung Pao" alone was more than 90,000.

This is also the reason why the Democratic Party pays more and more attention to news censorship. As long as it controls people’s access to information, the government can fabricate any “truth” at will.

Due to the high stakes of today's newspaper, the Press Inspection Office and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attached great importance to it and monitored the entire printing process to ensure that the content of the newspaper was accurate and perfectly conveyed someone's intention.

Watching the trucks and mule carts driving out of the back door of the newspaper office, the agents let out a sigh of relief, yawned and prepared to leave. After staring here all night, even a strong man couldn't bear it.

Seeing this, a young agent who had just joined the job asked: "Team leader, don't we need to follow the car?"

When the others heard this, they all looked at the little spy with murderous intent in their eyes. They wished they could sew his mouth shut to show that he could do it!

　　The team leader raised his hand and gave him a slap on the head: "What are you following! This is a newspaper, not a banknote. Is there still someone who can't rob me? Shut up now."

The little agent was a little unconvinced, scratched his head and retorted: "What if the rebels set fire to the newspaper?"

The team leader sneered: "I hope the underground party will do this, so that we have a reason to arrest people. You have only been doing this for a few days, so just obey the orders. What nonsense."

 After saying that, he kicked the little agent's buttocks with his foot and walked away with the others.

 Leave aside the aggrieved little spy, the vehicles transporting newspapers left the newspaper office and drove to their respective destinations.

 Due to the restrictions of air defense regulations, the lights cannot be used, and the drivers all stared at the road with wide eyes to prevent hitting pedestrians.

Not only the "Joongang Daily", but other newspapers in the mountain city also used the same process to transport the newspapers to the distribution point at the same time, and then uniformly distributed them.

 At 4 o'clock in the morning, the doors of various distribution outlets opened, and distribution staff stood on the roadside, waiting for the arrival of newspapers.

More than ten minutes later, the nearest distribution point of the "Joongang Ilbo" was the first to receive a truck. Bundles of newspapers were thrown from the truck to the ground, and then split into piles of 100 or 200 copies. They were transported by bicycle or Manpower transport to point of sale.

During this period, there will be a dedicated person responsible for reviewing the content of the newspaper. This is the last step before the newspaper is delivered to readers.

After everything was confirmed, many transporters on bicycles and carrying baskets set off. They walked skillfully through the alleys, occasionally ringing their bells or shouting to remind passers-by to be careful.

 At dawn, when visibility is at its darkest, a bicycle was speeding on the road.

The cyclist was humming local Sichuan opera, and two large, heavy canvas bags were hung on both sides of the bicycle frame.

When the bike reached a curve, two figures suddenly appeared on the side of the road and blocked the road in the middle. The rider was startled and squeezed the handbrake hard, and the bike stopped in place with a "zilla" sound.

 “Xianren Banban! What are you doing?”

The cyclist stood on the ground with one leg and yelled curses at the two people opposite him.

Although the mountain town is now full of refugees and the public security is chaotic, he has no money on him, no valuables on his car, and his bicycle has a public stamp, so he is not afraid of encountering robbers blocking the road.

Hearing his curse, the two blockers strode forward and lifted up their clothes to reveal their shiny black Zilaide pistols.

The cyclist suddenly raised his hands in the air, closed his eyes and shouted: "Brothers, I didn't see anything, you can do it yourself if you want anything."

The two people on the opposite side didn't talk nonsense to him. One held his gun on guard, and the other took a few steps forward to the bicycle, opened the canvas bag and took out all the newspapers inside.

Listening to the sound of rummaging for items behind him, the cyclist guessed what the other person was going to do. Could it be that someone had even snatched the newspaper now? It was so unethical.

 In the eerie silence, the visitor unpacked the newspaper and took out a bunch of things from his bag. After some manipulation, he restored the newspaper to its original shape and put it back into the canvas bag. Immediately afterwards, a man's voice slowly sounded: "You haven't seen anything, and you haven't touched anything. Don't make any small moves. We have people watching you, do you hear me?"

“I heard it, go on well, brothers.” The cyclist replied without hesitation. In this world when begging for food, the most important thing is to keep your mouth shut.

 After more than ten seconds, the two footsteps gradually faded away, and the surroundings returned to silence.

The cyclist opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when he looked at the empty road. Without any time to think about it, he got on the bike and drove off, pedaling like a hot wheel, sending up a trail of smoke and dust behind the bike.

 As for what’s missing in the canvas bag? It's not necessary. The newspaper belongs to the newspaper company, but your life is your own.

After pedaling hard for a while and looking at the sales point not far away, the cyclist's pounding heart gradually calmed down. He quickly stepped on the pedal a few more times and came to the sales point. He stopped, took out the newspaper, threw it on the ground and left quickly. go.

 The staff at the sales point didn’t pay attention. They distributed the newspapers to the newsboys who had been waiting for a long time. They briefly talked about the contents of the headlines and ended their work for the day. At this time, the sky was already showing the blush of the rising sun.

Scenes like this happen all over the mountain city. Hundreds of newsboys carrying satchels are active in the streets and alleys of the mountain city, shouting to attract readers.

 “Sell newspapers! Sell newspapers!”

 “JoongAng Ilbo!”

“The rebels were wiped out in one fell swoop, and Captain Wei ordered the organization to be disbanded!”

 Such shocking news attracted many people. From time to time, some people stopped and called the newsboy to hand over their banknotes to buy a copy and take a closer look.

A man who looked like a teacher unfolded the newspaper and saw the headlines "State Military Council's Electrification on Disbanding the Northwest Jiangnan Army" and "State Military Council Spokesperson's Statement" printed on the front page.

“The northwest Jiangnan troops have disobeyed military orders and disobeyed dispatches. Since last month, they have concentrated all their troops in the Jiangnan area, deliberately disrupting the war situation and undermining the anti-Japanese front. This is a long time ago.”

"Such acts of disobedience and rebellion are clearly rebellious. If they are not severely punished, they will not be able to complete the mission of the war of resistance. Therefore, their designations will be revoked immediately, and the military chiefs will be tried under military law and punished in accordance with the law."

“Thanks to the hard work of the soldiers at the front, the local people clearly distinguish between loyal and traitorous people and help put an end to the rebellion. Among the rebel officers and soldiers, there are many who have a deep sense of righteousness and are unwilling to rebel and surrender one after another. As a result, the army will definitely be able to put down the rebellion.”

“At a time when the whole country is united in the war of resistance, it is extremely sad that such a rebellion should occur. Central military orders must be implemented and disciplines must be maintained in order to win the final victory of the war of resistance.”

The teacher was reading with an expression of indignation. The Japanese were almost attacking the mountain city. These dissidents still wanted to rebel. They were really criminals of the country.

 But before he finished reading, a reader next to him also read the newspaper, but the content was completely different from his, or completely opposite.

“The Jiangnan troops were brave and courageous and had outstanding service. This time they were ordered to move north, but they were suddenly attacked by pro-Japanese factions and suffered heavy casualties.”

"This siege and suppression has been brewing for a long time, and the current development is just the beginning of a nationwide surprise attack. If the person who issued the order dares to publicly issue this anti-separation order and risk the disapproval of the world, he must have the determination to completely break up and surrender completely. "

“We officially warn them, be careful, this kind of fire is no fun, watch your own heads.”

Hearing this, the teacher quickly moved over to look at the newspaper in the other person's hand, and was surprised to find that the title of the "Central Daily News" was different from his own.

"Order of the Underground Party Military Committee", "Conversation of the Underground Party Military Committee Spokesperson to a reporter from Xinhua News Agency", "The truth about the tragic encirclement and annihilation of Jiangnan troops", "The anti-Japanese troops were heavily surrounded by enemy invaders while moving north" .

The teacher and the newspaper reader looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion and shock. How could there be two editions of the JoongAng Ilbo? Could it be a work error?

When the party authorities discovered that counterfeit newspapers appeared on the market, they immediately dispatched military, police, constitutional and special personnel to the streets to collect them, but a large number of newspapers had already broken through the blockade.

In just half an hour, two different "Central Daily News" reports were circulated. The people in the mountain city were divided into two factions, one supported the national government and the other supported the northwest. Public opinion became chaotic.

While the government was in chaos, many underground party agents put on makeup and went to the post office to send relevant information to important people and overseas Chinese in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia.

At the same time, private newspapers in mountain cities such as Xin Shu Daily, Xin Min Daily, and Ta Kung Pao also welcomed the main leaders of the Northwest Office, and the two sides started discussions on this matter.

In addition, the staff of the office also visited the British Ambassador to China, the British Ambassador to China, the Red Russian Ambassador to China, and the representative of the US President who visited the Republic of China, etc. to introduce the truth of the Jiangnan incident face to face.

 (After analysis, the screened name may have a specific place name, so let’s use Jiangnan below)

After receiving the news, democrats in the mountain city and leaders of the opposition parties also rushed to appeal, believing that during the Anti-Japanese War, this kind of armed conflict was a great misfortune for the country and would affect the fate of the entire nation.

 The modern public opinion war proposed and led by Zuo Zhong was like a set of punches hitting someone and the government on the forehead. The party was caught off guard and panicked.

 (End of this chapter)