Chapter 63: Departure from Japan (Part 1)
"...Woooo——"
Facing the dawn, the long whistle sounded the prelude to the voyage. The ocean liner "Rukawa Maru", loaded with more than 9,000 refugees, spewed out clouds of billowing black smoke. Along with countless similar-looking cruise ships and cargo ships, Slowly sailed out of Osaka Port.
——The familiar city gradually faded away at the stern of the ship, and the world in front of me became more and more open: the endless sea, the sparkling sea surface, seagulls circling on the mast, the bow of the ship broke through the blue sea surface, and the snow-white waves were The salty and humid sea breeze makes people feel relaxed and happy.
However, this is not a warm and pleasant peaceful journey. Just looking at the many steel battleships flying the rising sun flag in front and around, as well as the bombers and fighter groups flying in formation from time to time, you know what lies ahead. The journey is likely to be dangerous.
——The final destination of this huge fleet is the distant South Pacific...
These war refugees who were admitted on cruise ships became armed immigrants for the Japanese government to enrich the occupied areas of Southeast Asia and Australia.
In a sense, this can be regarded as a kind of tit for tat, an eye for an eye - if you smash my house, I will use yours to pay for it!
Since the Anglo-Saxon nation destroyed their home, they will live in the Anglo-Saxon nation's home with guns!
Standing in the driving room of the cruise ship "Rukawa Maru", Lieutenant Colonel Erich Top, the former Nazi German ace U-boat commander who had just been released from the prisoner of war camp, was somewhat carelessly controlling the steering wheel of the "Rukawa Maru" and at the same time. I lamented in my heart that I had just survived an extremely cruel war and had to plunge into another new war, and it was a war that did not belong to me... It felt really frustrating.
But there is no other way. We have reached this point, so we have to bite the bullet... Speaking of which, why are there wars between humans? From swords, guns and halberds, to the roar of artillery fire, to giant ships and fighter planes, times are turning like wheels. Why do humans fight?
Are they really just like animals, killing each other cruelly just to survive and reproduce, and to live a better life?
Looking at the vast sea, Captain Top was thinking absent-mindedly, feeling as if he had become a philosopher... Anyway, he finally sent a food parcel to his family before setting sail, which contained only his first food. The monthly salary, the saved candy rations, and the dried fish and canned beef obtained from the ship’s kitchen must be able to make the family live a little more comfortably...
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"...The reason why the United Fleet wants to go to Nanyang to fight is so that the Yamato nation can live a good life and fight for the living space of the yellow race!"
In a restaurant on the cruise ship "Rukawa Maru", which was crowded with refugees, a one-armed retired sailor who was blind in his left eye, wearing a somewhat worn navy uniform, was looking at a picture hanging on the wall. A map of the Southwest Pacific was announced loudly to the crowd.
The widow, Ms. Higurashi Suzune, who happened to have her turn to relax, held her child in both hands and sat opposite, listening attentively.
"...In the past, the Army used to have a lifeline for Manchuria and Mongolia, saying that by conquering China, uh, no, it will be called China now, and everyone can live a good life. But in reality? In the past, the Imperial Army fought so hard in China For many years, except for Manchuria, it has been losing money even if it is occupied! Why? Because the land in East Asia has been overcrowded and over-developed, and the resources have been exhausted. In addition to being relatively fertile and rich, most of the land is so barren that the Chinese living there can't even feed themselves! The land looks huge, but in fact it's mostly desert with nothing but stones. The Gobi Desert, the suffocating mountains and plateaus... Even if the land in Manchuria is not bad, the winter there is colder and more miserable than in Hokkaido. It is simply the army's horse manure wasting resources indiscriminately to gain military merit..."
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"...So..." the old sailor raised his voice, "...if Japan wants to gain living space, the right way is to conquer Nanyang!"
"...Compared to the cold Manchuria and barren China, the climate in Nanyang is warm and humid. It is spring and summer all year round, and there will be no cold winter. The ocean there is the best fishing ground in the world. Just cast the net as many times as you like. You can catch a lot of plump tuna. There are fertile lands everywhere on the Nanyang Islands. The indigenous monkeys there don’t need to work hard. As long as they drop the seeds, the fruits and rice will grow by themselves...
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Even before the war broke out, Japan's sugar supply had been rationed, but Nanyang produced sugar that all the Japanese could eat without opening their bellies, as well as cocoa beans used to make chocolate, and a variety of delicious and delicious foods. Delicious spices...
Further south, Australia and New Zealand not only have kangaroos, but also high-quality cattle and sheep. The white people who immigrated there can eat the meat as food, and even pour endless milk into the river, but refuse to Let us Japanese have a taste! Now these cattle and sheep belong to us! ”
Under the attention of everyone, the old sailor took out a promotional album newly issued by the wartime base camp. It contained "color photos" that were very rare in this era, showing the richness of Southeast Asia and Australia to the public - the first photo It is a net bag full of fresh fish of various colors spread out on the deck of a fishing boat; the second photo is a dark-skinned Filipino worker standing next to a huge hill-like pile of sugar; the third photo is a photo full of various kinds of fish. seductive Exquisite candies and chocolates; the fourth photo shows a tropical seascape resort composed of coconut groves, beaches, blue sea, sun umbrellas, cocktails, bikini beauties and seaside cabins; the fifth photo shows a giant slaughterhouse with assembly line operations, where people are slaughtered one by one The beef cattle waiting to be processed were hung from one end of the workshop to the other... Finally, there is a photo of workers in blue uniforms pouring buckets of milk into the river...
——Of course, in order to achieve the best deception effect, the content of this promotional brochure is actually basically a copycat and ostentatious. For example, the tropical seascape comes from a resort in the Maldives in the 21st century, which is full of alluring exquisiteness. Candy and chocolate are the 21st century The advertising pictures of a certain candy company, including the picture of pouring milk into the river, are actually screenshots from a movie that reflects the Great Depression in the United States, and the remaining pictures are more or less incompatible with the era and location. "Small problem"... However, no one here knows this at the moment.
On the contrary, every one of them believed it, and their eyes lit up when they saw it. For a moment, I was so embarrassed by the hot bikini beach girls in the photos. Although I was saying "immoral", I felt like there were countless ants crawling in my heart. After a while, I was tempted by the sweets and delicacies in the photos and my mouth watered - in Japan before World War II, even sugar was not something ordinary people could buy casually, and sweets were even rarer luxuries. And when they saw the photo of pouring buckets of milk into the river, this wasteful behavior made them even more excited.
Then, the retired navy soldier continued to talk eloquently, saying that of the many delicious food and drinks provided to the refugees these days, part of it was aid from the Soviet Union (in fact, there was basically none), but most of it was the joint effort of the Navy. The supplies that the fleet has worked so hard to obtain from Nanyang (a little but not much), and the things you have been eating and drinking these days are all at the expense of the compatriots who have gone to Nanyang to work hard. However, there is never anything for nothing in this world. If you want to live such a good life with plenty of food and clothing every day for the rest of your life, and even let your children and grandchildren enjoy the happiness for generations to come, you should go to Nanyang and Australia to work hard together... That place is so beautiful Wealth, as long as everyone has courage and perseverance, there is no need to worry about not having a good life...
"...In short, Manchuria is destined to be lost now, and North Korea and Taiwan cannot be saved. It is already thankful to God that we can regain the mainland. Those horse excrement Baga in the Army who advocate mainland policies all day long have fought in vain for so many years. But it doesn’t matter, we still have Nanyang and Australia that the navy has captured. The territory there is much larger and richer than Taiwan, North Korea and Manchuria combined. As long as we defend and develop it, everyone will have a bright future! Think about what you are eating these days. You should be able to understand! Japan’s future lies in Australia and Southeast Asia!”
The old sailor waved his fist and said incitingly, "...immigrate to the Southern Hemisphere and celebrate the New Year every day! Open up the living space of our nation!"
Motivated by the previous speech, many refugees in the restaurant also became excited and cheered in response:
"...Yes! Immigrate to the Southern Hemisphere and celebrate the New Year every day! The Japanese Navy is onboard!"
"...Japan's future lies in Australia and Nanyang! Everyone must work hard when they get there!"
"...Open up the living space of our nation! The empire has eight banners and one universe, and the military fortune will last forever!"
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Listening to these seemingly "politically incorrect" slogans and speeches from the propagandists sent by the United Fleet, the political commissar of the "Rukawa Maru" couldn't help but feel a little panicked. But in fact, he only had a high enough academic qualification, and was recruited temporarily by the "academic faction" of the Japanese Communist Party. Less than three months after he joined the Japanese Communist Party urgently, he was sent on a cruise ship without caring about how to learn theoretical knowledge. "Rukawa Maru" served as a political commissar and was criticized many times for his inadequate knowledge of navigation technology, so when faced with such a situation, he didn't know what to do for a while. In short, after hesitating for a moment, this unqualified rookie political commissar decided to resort to the omnipotent method of bureaucracy - pretending not to know, and then changing the subject - he stepped forward and squeezed away the The one-eyed retired sailor posted a picture of a kangaroo on the wall and started a lecture on popular science knowledge about the Southern Hemisphere: "...many of you here may know, This thing is Australia's most famous specialty, kangaroo. But what most people probably don't know is that except for the kangaroo tail, the meat of other parts of the kangaroo's body is very smelly without special treatment. , ordinary people can't eat it at all, so when you get there, don't just hunt kangaroos and eat them..."