Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 200 Sniper, the only good man in the Japanese Army

The current situation in Southeast Asia is indeed very different from that in history, and it can even be said to be much stronger.

The entire Dutch East Indies has fallen into the hands of the Japanese invaders. From this perspective, the Japanese army's strategic goal has actually been achieved.

For the Japanese army, the biggest goal of the entire southern campaign was the oil in the Dutch East Indies.

But it can also be said that it did not achieve much. After all, under the influence of Zheng Yi, the Chinese workers burned all the oil wells.

Historically, although the Allied forces also destroyed oil wells, the Dutch army thought they would come back, so the destruction was not thorough and no deep fires were set, so most of the oil wells were only slightly damaged.

Within two years, the Japanese restored 77% of pre-war oil production.

Now Zheng Yi set fire to the oil wells directly. Most of the oil wells will be unusable at least in the short term. If the fires in many oil wells cannot be extinguished, they may even be directly destroyed.

At this moment when the Japanese army is extremely short of oil, this is also a heavy blow to the Japanese army.

It is precisely for this reason that the Japanese army used every possible means to put out the fire, especially when dealing with Allied prisoners and Chinese workers.

Although the Chinese workers tried their best to escape, there were too many of them and about 80,000 of them were unable to escape.

"There are currently 80,000 Allied prisoners throughout the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese are forcing them to put out the oil well fires. Those who refuse will be brutally slaughtered. Chinese workers...are not spared either. The methods used are extremely, extremely cruel."

At home, Zheng Yi had just finished dealing with the Air Force affairs when Lin Shaoliang came over to report.

Zheng Yi rubbed his temples uncomfortably. Although he had expected this, he still felt uncomfortable when he heard it.

Whether the Allied prisoners lived or died was of no concern to him. In fact, the more abuse they suffered, the better it was for him. But the Chinese workers...

If I hadn't ordered them to burn the oil well, would they...?

"What about the Javanese natives? Were they forced into labor, or were they robbed or raped?"

Lin Shaoliang shook his head: "No, it is said that the Japanese are very popular in Jakarta, Semarang, Bandung, Palembang and other areas. They are actively helping the Japanese army to capture Chinese people. The Japanese army's beastly desires are all directed at the Chinese, especially in Semarang, where there are many Chinese people. Now..."

Zheng Yi: "It was all the Dutch's fault, and now it's falling on the Chinese."

"I heard that the Japanese army was very quick in restoring the oil wells. They forced Allied prisoners to go down to the oil wells under the blazing flames to spray fire extinguishing agents. It is said that several oil wells have been able to resume partial production."

Zheng Yi nodded and said, "It's within expectations, but it's not a big deal. Starting tomorrow, Penang will deploy a full fleet of bombers to bomb those oil fields. It depends on whether they can repair them faster or we can bomb them faster."

"Whoo~"

Zheng Yi lit a cigarette and said, "The key is the 70 million indigenous people there. If these indigenous people really support Japanese rule, it will be very difficult to deal with. How many people are there in the whole of Malaya? Compared with the Javanese, there is a huge gap."

"With the support of these 70 million people, why should Japan worry about not being able to gain a foothold in Southeast Asia? Throughout Indonesia, we have food, people, oil, coal, nickel, tin, copper, and all the mineral resources that the Japanese are in urgent need of, as well as rubber. Indonesia has everything."

"It's so close to Penang, this is a huge threat. Imamura Hitoshi, how come there is such an outlier in the Japanese army? Is he really an idiot in the army?"

To be honest, we are not afraid of the Japanese being brutal and murderous. If the Japanese army continues to be brutal, in the end they will get nothing except the initial pleasure of looting.

But I am afraid that the Japanese army will try this kind of appeasement, and I am afraid that they will really promote the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Belt.

If Indonesia, with a population of 70 million and rich resources, could really be used by Japan, it would undoubtedly be like recreating a Japan. Once Indonesians are truly pro-Japanese, it will also have a great impact on Zheng Yi's development of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation after World War II.

It may even threaten the security and prosperity of SAARC!

"Any plans? Imamura Hitoshi will be a threat a hundred times greater to us than Yamashita Tomoyuki. If we can assassinate him... even if the price is higher, I can accept it."

Lin Shaoliang: "Assassination is probably difficult, but dealing with Imamura Jun may be much easier than you think, Master."

"Oh? What do you say?"

"As far as I know, there is a lot of dissent towards Imamura Hitoshi throughout the Japanese army, and every army unit has condemned him by name."

Zheng Yi: "Condemn? Imamura Hitoshi? What's the reason for the condemnation?"

"Some people believe that the military and political policies implemented by the New Village in the occupied areas were indecisive and lacked authority. The Japanese army in the Dutch East Indies was completely unlike the Imperial Army of the Empire of Japan."

"The Southern Army Commander, Terauchi, sent these criticisms of Imamura Hitoshi to Tokyo intact. Prime Minister Tojo decided to send a special envoy to 'inspect' Imamura Hitoshi's work."

"Ah...huh?"

Zheng Yi couldn't help but be stunned. For a moment, he didn't quite understand the thought processes of those who reported and opposed Imamura Jun.

And why Tojo wanted to investigate Imamura Hitoshi.

A country with a population of 70 million and extremely rich natural resources, and most importantly, a country where there is rarely any resentment towards the Japanese army and genuine support, and where there is almost no sense of independence, national consciousness, or state consciousness. To put it bluntly, it is a nation that regards the Japanese as heroes.

I heard that after Su and Ha formed the Indonesian government, they were extremely flattering to the Japanese and demanded that Dutch words should not be seen in any occasion throughout the country, and all public languages, road signs, etc. must be in both Indian and Japanese.

Children throughout the Dutch East Indies are learning Japanese, which can be said to be much more flattering than a certain leader named Wang.

Why not treat such occupied areas well instead of oppressing them?
Would they feel happy if they could turn the Dutch East Indies into the same state as North China?

[Sure enough, the Japanese, especially the army, have such stupid thoughts that I can’t understand.]

However, Zheng Yi's brain also became active.

During this time and space, although the Japanese army's southern campaign was considered successful, it was not as successful as in history. Historically, the Dutch East Indies was almost the last place in Southeast Asia to fall.

After sweeping across Malaya and forcing Singapore to surrender, Yamashita Tomoyuki even brought two divisions to Java Island to help Imamura Jun maintain order.

In this time and space, Yamashita Tomoyuki has not yet been able to take over Singapore. On the one hand, it is because of the trouble in Pattani, and on the other hand, it is because he did not attack Alor Setar at all and failed to sweep across the Malay Peninsula.

Naturally, he did not dare to completely let Alor Setar go. He had to leave an army to keep an eye on Alor Setar, for fear that the Yugoslav Army and the British Army would attack him from both sides.

Therefore, in this time and space, Yamashita Tomoyuki not only cannot spare the time to help Jinmura Jun, but also has to ask Jinmura Jun to help him.

Not to mention, there is also Marshal Mai in the Bataan Peninsula.

"It seems that someone in Japan wants to punish Imamura Hitoshi."

Lin Shaoliang: "A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. The Japanese army has been fighting for so long, and they have always destroyed everything they have conquered. Apart from the initial surge in looting in the areas they occupied, they have absolutely no governance capabilities, and the cost of ruling is extremely high."

"Especially in the army. It's like this everywhere, everyone is like this. Only you, Imamura Hitoshi, are capable and can live in harmony with the local people. If the Emperor and the Cabinet recognize him, wouldn't it make the rest of the army look like idiots?"

"Of course, in fact, everyone in the Japanese Army except him is really an idiot."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay, okay, so how can the Japanese army be undefeated? Since someone is investigating, this matter naturally has an opportunity. What do you think?"

Lin Shaoliang: "In Tokyo, I have arranged for people to spread this news everywhere. In fact, the Japanese are quite easy to provoke. As long as we can spread the word that the Indonesian natives have endless rice and fruit to eat every day, and even meat to eat, that will be enough.

Zheng Yi thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "Let's add one more point. Let's say that the Dutch East Indies is a fertile land gifted by God. The local natives never farm. All they have to do is sow some seeds, and they will naturally have a good harvest without any tillage."

"The land is rich in products and food. Besides having an endless supply of food and fruit, the climate is also very pleasant. It's warm year-round, and there's a sea breeze, so it doesn't feel particularly hot."

"As a result, local people have developed very lazy habits. They only work two or three hours a day, then go out to bask in the sun or sing and dance. They are so happy that they don't even need to work. If they earn money, they spend it on the same day. Anyway, they won't starve to death."

Upon hearing this, Lin Shaoliang looked hesitant and said, "Isn't this... too exaggerated? Will it work?"

This statement was ridiculous, and in Lin Shaoliang's opinion, it was completely fake:

If the Dutch East Indies was really such a good place, why did famines that killed tens of millions of people occur under Dutch rule?

If this place is so good, why did the Dutch lose money when they colonized it?
The local natives were bullied so much that they looked at the Japanese army as if they were welcoming the royal army. Was it because the Dutch had not exploited them harshly enough?
However, Zheng Yi said confidently, "Don't worry, it will definitely work. The Japanese will definitely believe it. People, almost all nations in the world, believe that they are the most hardworking and brave."

But I was thinking that, let alone Japan in the 30s, even at the University of Tokyo in 2024, there would be many people who believed this argument.

People living in temperate climates truly feel from the bottom of their hearts that the climate and environment of the lands near the equator are very good, and that those countries are so poor simply because they are lazy.

Even some people who have worked there for a period of time but have not been deeply involved in grassroots society will reinforce this impression.

People are all the same. Even in the 21st century, where consulting services are so developed and Odebora bananas are available everywhere, modern people cannot change this objective impression. Why didn't the Japanese in the 30th century believe it?
As long as you believe this, it will be easy.

"The industrialization of this generation of the Japanese was achieved through the scissors gap between industry and agriculture, and through the cruel oppression and exploitation of the people. The vast majority of the people may never have experienced what it feels like to have enough to eat in their entire lives."

"And from what I know, their workers need to work more than ten hours a day and rarely have holidays."

"Human nature has always been like this. The moon is always rounder in foreign countries. People always like to believe that their lives are so hard because of poor resources or a bad government. There must be many places in the world where such hardship is not a problem."

"The inevitable result is jealousy: Why do I have to work so hard just to make ends meet, while those lazy people only need to work three or four hours a day and then sing and dance?" "If news spread about Imamura Hitoshi's kindness to the Javanese natives and his low taxes, combined with the accusations of those army idiots that he lacks the dignity of the Imperial Army, what do you think the Japanese media and people would think?"

Lin Shaoliang nodded in understanding and said, "Then this jealousy will inevitably turn into anger. As far as I know, although there is no famine in Japan right now, there is still not enough rice to eat. Everyone has a quota."

"As long as the people know that there is plenty of rice in the Dutch East Indies and they can eat it without farming, with no quota, they can eat it to their heart's content. Then their anger will naturally be vented on Imaura Hitoshi. Master, you are very wise."

Zheng Yi: "Haha, these are just preparations for public opinion. I'm afraid they won't necessarily be fatal in the short term. Although most of the idiots in the Japanese army are idiots, their superiors are not stupid."

"Well... Tojo might be a complete idiot, but the others in the cabinet, even Hirohito, still have some basic brains. People like Imamura Hitoshi are incredibly rare in the army, and they're also high-ranking."

"Simply relying on this kind of public opinion and rumors might be able to shake Imamura Hitoshi's position and make the army, high and low, dissatisfied with him. However, if you want to directly get the cabinet to remove him from office, I'm afraid you still need some concrete evidence that is actually detrimental to Japan."

Lin Shaoliang: "How about we fight a guerrilla war?"

"Guerrilla warfare? Javanese?"

"Of course it's us Chinese, especially the people of Fuqing. Before Penang's rise, there were quite a few Chinese in the Dutch East Indies, and most of them were from Fuqing. If you can stand up and call for us people from Fuqing to go back, at least in places like Semarang, Palembang, and Yangshan to fight urban guerrilla warfare, everyone will definitely respond positively."

Zheng Yi waved his hand with a half-smile, then looked at Lin Shaoliang with a smile and said meaningfully:

"I won't show up, but your idea is good. Go find Sister Wen and ask her to show up. With my current status, I can't blatantly favor our fellow villagers. It's all the same anyway."

"Yes, then, I'll go talk to Sister Wen later."

Because they were from the same hometown, Zheng Yi knew that Lin Shaoliang and Qian Qiwen had a very good relationship, just like a pair of real siblings, so they usually talked about their own things.

In fact, Zheng Yi is not much older than Lin Shaoliang.

He knew exactly what the child was thinking.

However, as the saying goes, there are no factions within a party, and there are all kinds of factions. The Chinese in Southeast Asia are made or broken by their hometown factions, so the internal political game will naturally only rely on their hometown factions.

Palace fighting is just a manifestation of local factional politics.

However, he was not averse to this. In a short period of time, he was not able to make the people of Nanyang put aside their prejudices. You know, this kind of thing is inevitable even in modern society, and this phenomenon exists everywhere in the world, but it is particularly serious in Nanyang.

Then we can only take advantage of the situation and make use of it.

To be honest, if there was no internal fighting among these people, these were actually the Fuqing gang of his fellow Fuzhou natives, who took the initiative to propose returning to Java to fight guerrilla warfare?

Appropriate competition is healthy.

This thing is mainly about controlling the degree. If internal fighting does not affect the overall situation, then let the fighting take place.

With his prestige, if nothing unexpected happens, as long as he is still alive, he should be able to suppress it.

Of course, if he ever became paralyzed, wheelchair-bound, or senile, that would be a real mess. Those three women would probably rebel. He'd believe it if one of them was a Lü Zhi. But he was in great health now, enjoying everything he ate, so naturally, he didn't think about that.

Zheng Yi: "How do you plan to fight this guerrilla warfare?"

"Master, please give me your instructions."

Zheng Yi: "It's not really an instruction, but if it's guerrilla warfare, remember to keep your hands to yourself and your guns to yourself. Focus on business, just like we did in Malaya, or even more cautiously."

"Especially remember, you must not kill civilians on Java Island and intensify ethnic conflicts. Of course, it is not completely forbidden, but when killing civilians, you must disguise yourself as Japanese."

"If you really want to fight guerrilla warfare, my advice is to do more business with the local indigenous people."

"The copper and nickel resources over there are very good. We'll take as much as we can get. Even if it's a little more expensive, that's totally acceptable. Also, the tobacco and cigars over there are very good, too. I want them too. Of course, the most important thing is food."

Lin Shaoliang: "Will this money fall into the hands of the Japanese? Will it aid the enemy?"

Zheng Yi: "Of course it will fall into the hands of the Japanese, but I can almost be sure that this money that falls into the hands of the Japanese will not fall into the hands of the Japanese government or the Japanese army."

“We also want to sell some things, such as beer, soft drinks, potato chips, rice crackers, and other snacks produced in Penang, as well as cloth, clothing, and even some small appliances. As long as it is a consumer product, we can sell it.”

"We Fuqing people always have some connections in Indonesia. We can use some Javanese people we already know as our agents. If we can get in touch with Japanese officers, that would be even better. It would be best if we could drag them into the water."

"There's so much Japanese Yen in the Yasuda Bank in Penang that I can't spend it all. I could definitely spend some on those Japanese officers."

"Yes, I understand."

In the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese army had already established a certain ruling foundation, so it was extremely difficult to drive the Japanese army out.

Historically, after surrendering, the Japanese troops on Java Island simply left all their weapons to the local natives and even helped them train their army. When the Dutch returned, these natives used the weapons left by the Japanese troops to defeat the Anglo-Dutch forces and successfully achieved national independence.

So human joys and sorrows are not the same. Although they were all occupied and colonized, in Indonesia, there are probably few people who hate the Japanese. The entire country is highly pro-Japanese from top to bottom.

This is because in history, Imamura Hitoshi was transferred in the late stage of the Pacific War, and his ruling policies could not continue. In the later period, in less than a year, the Japanese army began to exploit the native Javanese on a large scale.

These Javanese people are so special that I'm afraid the relationship between us neighbors will be very difficult in the future.

The Chinese look at the Javanese: "Japanese running dogs, bah!"

The Javanese look at the Chinese: "Dutch running dogs, bah!"

There's no way they can even like each other.

But it would be different if guerrilla warfare could be used. As long as the rice and minerals on Java Island could be smuggled out, Zheng Yi could take the initiative to send the evidence to the Japanese media, adding to the public opinion stain on Imamura Hitoshi himself.

Given Hirohito's irresponsible character, it would certainly be impossible to protect him.

As long as Jincun Jun is withdrawn, it doesn’t matter who else takes over.

There is only one normal person left in the Japanese army, and the others are basically beasts. It doesn't matter which beast comes up.

Considering that Imamura Hitoshi was dismissed for treating the Javanese well, the new beasts will definitely become even more beastly on top of their already beastly behavior logic.

As long as the Japanese army's butcher knives were used on a large scale against the natives of Java Island, Zheng Yi would have many options available to him. He could even let the Fuqing people lead the Javanese to fight a real guerrilla war.

In this way, the Javanese and the Southeast Asian Chinese would be comrades in the same trench.

As for whether the Japanese army would carry out a massacre on Java Island or even launch the 731 biological warfare to suppress the rebellion, he had no right to care.

The people who did these beastly things were the Japanese army, and had nothing to do with Zheng Yi. What did he have to feel guilty about?

Plan passes.

"Oh, right, you come up with a plan. I need photos and videos of the Japanese army abusing prisoners in Palembang, especially American prisoners. It doesn't matter how much it costs. The quality must be high, and the content must be as cruel and bloody as possible."

Lin Shaoliang: "That's definitely no problem. Even if I don't do it, the Japanese army will probably film it. People of this nation have always been unable to distinguish between advance and retreat, right and wrong. If you have money, those Japanese reporters are easy to bribe. I'm afraid the Japanese army won't refuse their filming. So, what do you want, Master?"

"Ah, of course it's for the Americans."

Zheng Yi recently bought a building in New York and planned to make the building's outer curtain wall into a decorative one with a screen, intending to show them some movies after the end of World War II.

His SAARC wanted to industrialize and was counting on the Japanese, so after World War II he would definitely treat the Japanese well.

Then naturally we can only kill with a borrowed knife.

So he is now intentionally collecting photos and videos of the Japanese army abusing American soldiers. When the time comes, he will buy one or two large billboards in places like Times Square and every major city in the United States.

They do nothing but broadcast these bloody scenes 24 hours a day.

Historically, when the US military occupied Japan, wasn't it because there were too many incidents of rape and other things that caused protests from the people in their own country, so they forced General MacArthur to enforce military discipline?

By then, videos and photos of Japanese soldiers raping American soldiers will be shown on billboards every day for the American people to see.

I don’t know if there will be another Bataan Death March this time.

If anything, Zheng Yi even planned to buy the Death Route on the Bataan Peninsula and shoot a movie about the Bataan Death March.

Then organize a reality show challenge in the United States.

Zheng Yi would reward any American who could walk the more than 100 kilometers of tropical rainforest without drinking water, eating food, or wearing shoes, recreating the state of American prisoners of war during the Bataan Death March, and not giving up halfway, with $3,000.

Is he a magnanimous person? Even as a Chinese, he can still forgive Japan.

But if the Americans don't forgive Japan by then, then it will have nothing to do with him.

(End of this chapter)