The sun never sets

The Japanese government was unwilling to believe the information given by the Alliance Central Committee, but they dared not disbelieve it. A magnitude 7 earthquake or above happened in Tokyo. If they turned a blind eye to it now and it really happened again in the future, the current Japanese leadership would all commit seppuku.

“Will there really be a big earthquake?”

"Is there anyone who would joke about something like this?"

The Japanese government confirmed the news of the earthquake again and again, and then, as if whipped by the night raid group: 6949, 36135, it moved quickly. The transformation speed of Tokyo and other cities became much faster, and the bigwigs found excuses to leave Tokyo. Leaving Tokyo alone was not enough, and those who had the means left Japan and ran to China.

The relevant government departments released the news that a major earthquake might happen, which caused some confusion in society. Some Japanese comrades thought that this was not appropriate, as nothing had happened yet and they were making a fuss. What if there was no earthquake a few months later?

Geology is a subject full of assumptions and theories that cannot be verified and are difficult to disprove. When it comes to predicting earthquakes, no one has ever dared to say that they are 100% accurate.

Even a country like the Alliance, which has mastered numerous advanced technologies, cannot make accurate predictions about earthquakes. It is normal for Japanese geologists to doubt the predictions made by the Earthquake Bureau. No country in the world dares to guarantee something like crustal movement.

Some Japanese comrades reported this problem to the League Central Committee, saying that they should keep calm and not act so harshly. However, these opinions were suppressed, and the Central Committee continued to urge the Japanese local governments to speed up their preparations for a major earthquake with a stern attitude.

The time period given by the Earthquake Bureau is September - actually it was Lin Yongchang who said it - since August, the Kanto region of Japan has become tense. Many people know that a major earthquake may occur in the Kanto region of Japan, but no one can say for sure whether it will actually happen.

Time quickly entered September. On the first day of September, the ground in the Kanto region kept shaking. A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 9 suddenly broke out, turning Tokyo and a large area around it into ruins.

According to the records of seismographs in Sendai and several other places, the intensity of the earthquake reached 7.9, and some say that the intensity of the Kanto earthquake reached 8.1. Whether it is 7.9 or 8.1, it is considered a rare earthquake. The earthquake claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, left more than 200 million people homeless, and caused a total loss of more than 30 billion yuan.

Even though the alliance had made a lot of preparations in advance, facing such a terrible natural disaster, how much human power could do?

Heavy casualties are inevitable, but the speed of disaster relief and reconstruction is much faster, after all, there are preparations in advance.

The Great Kanto Earthquake almost destroyed the entire Tokyo, and the tragic casualties and losses made the Japanese local government almost breathless. But fortunately, the leaders of the Japanese government chose to trust the central government beforehand, did a lot of preparations, and conducted several rehearsals, which reduced the casualties and losses.

Chapter 736: The Strong One

The "Second Five-Year Plan" was overshadowed from the very beginning. In five years, it encountered the unprecedented "American Flu", huge typhoons rarely seen in decades or even hundreds of years, and two major earthquakes. The alliance was simply unlucky in the past few years and suffered heavy losses in these natural disasters.

The intensity of the Kanto earthquake was not as strong as the Haiyuan earthquake, and the number of casualties was not as high as that of the Haiyuan earthquake, but the population of Tokyo and Kanto was much larger than that of Ningxia, with more than 200 million people displaced, and the economic losses were several times that of the Haiyuan earthquake.

The Japanese government alone is not able to handle a natural disaster of this scale.

However, the disaster brought more than just bad things. The plague made the Alliance establish a more complete sanitation system, and thermos and drinking boiled water became a tradition for the Alliance people.

After the Shantou typhoon, the Haiyuan earthquake and the Kanto earthquake, the alliance government allocated a large amount of funds for disaster relief, and local governments, institutions and enterprises, as well as people and social groups from all over the country, extended a helping hand to the people in the disaster areas.

These actions have, to a certain extent, broken down the barriers between regions, and made many people realize that whether it is Russia, China or Japan, they are now part of a great alliance. Although they look different, they now live in the same country.

In order to raise funds for disaster relief, the People's Revolutionary League held many performances and broadcast news from the disaster area on radio every day. The film department also produced films related to disaster relief, which were broadcast in every town and village in the league.

The Alliance was the first in this world to develop radio broadcasting and film, and as a result, shot a lot of valuable material, including footage of world wars and disaster relief footage.

With the widespread dissemination of those video materials, the concept that the People's Army is the people's army has been deeply rooted in people's minds. Every time a natural disaster occurs, the People's Army is at the forefront of rescue efforts. However, the news heard or seen in newspapers and on the radio is far less direct than video materials, and the sensory impact it brings to people is also greater.

Lin Yongchang used to hate the saying "a country thrives in times of adversity", but adversity can really reshape the national spirit. Now he still hates the saying "a country thrives in times of adversity", and if any media uses this term, he will not force them to make corrections.

Perhaps this year is really unlucky. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, China suffered another drought. Many provinces have not seen rain for several months in a row. The drought spread across the Central Plains and the harvest in many places was affected.

Over the years, the alliance has been developing water conservancy projects, both maintaining and dredging existing rivers and canals, and building many new canals and reservoirs.

Although the first phase of the Three Gorges Dam has not been completed, it is still able to resist drought and floods to a certain extent. Under the attention of the central government, governments at all levels have taken various measures to alleviate the drought.

Under the leadership of party members and cadres, the drought was curbed to a certain extent by digging wells and using pumps to pump water, but it was only curbed a little.

Because of the severe drought, the local militia, in cooperation with the Meteorological Bureau, used a special artillery shell to create artificial rainfall. The artificial rainfall was linked to the previous prediction of the Great Kanto Earthquake. Many people, especially those in rural areas, believed that Chairman Lin had great magical powers and could not only predict earthquakes but also create rainfall.

It is the Dragon King's duty to make it rain. Chairman Lin can not only make it rain, but also do other things. He is definitely better than the Dragon King.

There is no belief in the Dragon King in Russia, but they have a tradition of believing in God. Although the Central Committee of the Union has ordered the destruction of many churches and so-called "miracles", this does not prevent many people from associating Chairman Lin with the Son of God or an angel.

Of course, the Alliance Central Committee has a negative attitude towards any superstitious activities, either severely cracking down on them or not having the time to care about them, and will never promote those messy things. Even if it is the claim of deifying Lin Yongchang, as long as it gets out of hand, it will also be the target of crackdown.

Various natural disasters came one after another. Fortunately, the Alliance’s health bar was very thick, and it managed to hold on in the continuous natural disasters.

Many natural disasters occur on Earth every year. The Alliance has suffered a lot of disasters in recent years, and other countries have also suffered a lot of disasters. For example, in the United States, hurricanes land every now and then, causing a large number of casualties and economic losses.

Unlike the coalition government, the top leaders of the US government have clearly stated that "the government has no obligation to provide disaster relief." White House spokespersons and state legislators have publicly stated that "only the strong deserve to survive" and "disaster relief must be done by ourselves, not by the government."

The actions of the US government are in stark contrast to the coalition's mobilization of national forces for disaster relief. Since government departments have given up on helping the people, the people have no choice but to form associations to protect themselves, which in turn brings more problems.

In many places, farmers buy horses

The Keqin machine guns were kept at home, otherwise, they would most likely lose their land.

The United States has a lot of arable land, but the population growth rate is far slower than that of the Union, which has a lot to do with the US government's style of only collecting taxes and not providing relief. John Jack Reed criticized the government's approach in the newspaper, believing that the Union was the conscientious government that truly put the people first.

These American leftists are sometimes naive, and they regard the alliance across the Pacific Ocean as a paradise on earth. But the alliance is not heaven, and Lin Yongchang couldn't help shaking his head after seeing the praise from American leftists.

Perhaps because they were too far away, Reed and his people only saw the good side of the alliance and did not see the endless problems of the alliance. Many people said that "the alliance is a super-large patchwork monster". Yang Du and some comrades believed that if it were not for Lin Yongchang, the alliance would most likely fall apart due to various contradictions.

Not only the Chinese and Japanese comrades thought so, but also comrades such as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin.

After the Great Kanto Earthquake, Comrade Lenin went to the front line of disaster relief and collapsed due to overwork, and never really stood up again. After the doctor's examination, it was found that Comrade Lenin had suffered a stroke.

Comrade Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was once the undisputed core of the Bolsheviks. After joining the People's Party, Lenin was also one of the highest leaders and was able to participate in the formulation and revision of policies. In the political landscape of the People's Party, Comrade Lenin played a pivotal role.

Now Lenin had collapsed due to a stroke, which represented the collapse of a major faction within the alliance. Lin Yongchang had Lenin taken back to Chang'an for recuperation and expressed his condolences to Lenin on behalf of his comrades.

Chapter 737 Completed

"Who do you think could take your place? Sverdlov or Bukharin? Or Stalin?"

In the ward filled with the smell of disinfectant, Lin Yongchang peeled an apple and asked, "Or do you prefer Comrade Trotsky?"

Because Trotsky had been advocating "world revolution" and "permanent revolution", he had been driven to the French Commune by Lin Yongchang. Syndicalism and Trotskyism are similar in many ways, and it is said that Trotsky did very well there, and could be described as a fish in water.

Comrade Lenin had his first stroke, so he recovered quickly. Although half of his body was still a little inconvenient, he was not lying in bed unable to move. He shook his head and said, "Thank you, I don't want to eat apples now."

"Oh, I saw you shaking your head, and I thought you were not satisfied with Sverdlov and the others. If you are not satisfied with them, you can also propose new candidates."

Lin Yongchang took a bite of the apple and liked its soft texture. He didn't like crispy apples, he just liked apples like this.

Lenin shook his head again. "Why must there be a successor? The Central Committee should not mix other factors when considering things."

Lin Yongchang finished the apple in two or three bites and said, "This is politics."

".......Then let the central government decide."

"Okay, Mr. Lenin, please take good care of yourself. Only if you live long enough can you see more different things."

Lenin looked at the other person's receding back and fell into deep thought. What did Chairman Lin look like 20 years ago? He didn't know. But in the past seven or eight years, Chairman Lin's appearance has hardly changed, which is a confusing thing.

If you live long enough, you will see more different things?

"Comrade Lenin, it's time for you to rest!"

The nurse's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Lenin looked out the window, but the convoy had already left and he could see nothing but trees and gardens.

Due to health reasons, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was unable to continue with the high-intensity work and had to put down his work to treat his illness, but the government still had to continue to operate and would not stop because of the absence of any one person.

Whether it is the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake or the rescue work of the Central Plains drought, there is no room for delay. Not only Japan and China have various natural disasters, but Russia has also had them, but none of them are as large as the Great Kaihara and Great Kanto Earthquakes, which can easily result in the death of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

Although natural disasters have caused great losses, they are still far less than world wars. When it comes to killing people, humans are still the best.

There had been several natural disasters before, and the Alliance Central Committee had used various methods to catch up with the progress that had fallen behind, and the same was true in 1923. Although the Great Kanto Earthquake caused the death of tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 200 million people, the Alliance had a population of million, and the population was still increasing. Therefore, the human losses caused by natural disasters were not serious for the Alliance. What really affected the "Second Five-Year Plan" was the economic price paid for it.

In order to provide disaster relief, the alliance issued two bonds, which brought the alliance's total debt to 120 billion yuan, which was considered a huge debt. However, the economy of the [People's Revolutionary League] has always been booming, and even if the debt exceeds 100 billion, it will not have too much negative impact on the economic operation of the alliance.

If the Union had followed the practice of printing money like the United States, Britain and Germany, it would have been easy for the Union to repay its debts. However, in order not to cause a rapid rise in prices, the central bank cannot do that.

What to do.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, 1923 is about to end. In the process of implementing the second "Five-Year Plan", the League encountered various difficulties, including natural disasters that could not be changed by human power, and more than once. Those difficulties did not affect the People's Revolutionary League's completion of the "Second Five-Year Plan".

Because the alliance's second five-year plan left a lot of redundancy, as if the central government had long known that there would be so many natural disasters. No, not as if, but it was indeed the case.

The Alliance Central's accurate prediction of the Great Kanto Earthquake is inexplicable. Ordinary people may just think it is amazing, but in the eyes of scientists and experts, it is incredible.

Some public intellectuals like to use gimmicks to attract attention. They introduced in detail in newspapers what predicting earthquakes means, which triggered round after round of controversy. The matter was not settled until those people were called in for tea by the relevant departments.

After all, this world is still material, and all the weird things are not as strong as steel. If the time scale is extended to ten or a hundred years, religion may be more resilient than steel, but as long as they meet head-on, the believers of God and Allah will be torn to pieces by steel and gunpowder.

The "Second Five-Year Plan" was to produce more steel, more gunpowder, and more fighters who believed in Lin Yongchangism for the Alliance.

在第二个五年计划期间，联盟人民的生活水平得到很大提高。大工业的职工人数由1918年的610万，增长到1923年的1250万，增加1倍多。超额完成计划57%。职工的全年平均工资比1918年增长68%，超额完成18%。职工的社保金额1923年为61.2人民币，是1918年的2.5倍，超额77%。

According to estimates by the Economic History Research Society of the League Economic Research Institute, the GDP of the People's Revolutionary League in 1923 was approximately 1200 billion RMB, roughly equivalent to 650 billion US dollars.

联盟的教育迅速普及，1923年识字人口达到90%，适龄儿童入学率达到96%。联盟在西伯利亚、南洋、漠北和波兰等偏远落后地区大力进行教育投资改造，普及九年义务教育。欧洲小学儿童入学率由1918年的54.7%提高到92.5%。亚洲地区儿童入学率达到了99%以上。

The number of students in colleges and universities increased from 52 to 170 million. The second five-year plan provided the country with 48 experts, and the majority of workers and farmers enjoyed free education from primary school to university.

The second five-year plan was completed, and the ideological, cultural and moral level of the people of the alliance and the quality of the nation were greatly improved. After 1918, the Party Central Committee strengthened the social atmosphere and the ideological, moral and style construction of party members and leading cadres at all levels, and eliminated most of the prostitution and gambling phenomena. The special campaign of cracking down on gangs and eliminating evil made the gangs extinct, and the crime rate dropped from 1918 per in to per . The advantages of Lin Yongchangism in building the country were undoubtedly revealed.

In 1923, social unrest in the United States was under control, industrial strength returned to normal levels, and annual steel production reached 4500 million tons, while the Union produced 6700 million tons of steel that year.

From this year on, no one believed the People's Revolutionary League's claim that it was still a developing country. Although the League's per capita steel production was still not as good as that of the United States, its industrial strength was beyond doubt. Not only in industry, but also in agriculture, it was better than that of the United States.

At this point, no matter how the alliance wants to hide itself, such a huge size cannot be concealed. [People's Revolutionary League] This behemoth occupies one-third of the Eurasian continent, and its sphere of influence has expanded to half of the world. From the South Pole to the North Pole, from Alaska to the tropical jungles of the Amazon, it is possible to see the alliance's products everywhere.

Chapter 738: Mahatma

According to the alliance's practice, after the completion of a "five-year plan", a summary of the construction in the past few years will be made, including gains and losses, good and bad. The reasons for the good work must be known, and the reasons for the poor work must also be known.

The Alliance needs to resolve some legacy issues and make some adjustments to the overall industrial and agricultural layout. Due to the less than smooth completion of the second five-year plan, the Alliance's overall strength has jumped to first on Blue Star, but this does not mean that all is well for the Alliance and that it can rest on its laurels.

Development can cover up many problems. As long as the cake can be made bigger, the rulers at the top can be fed and the workers at the bottom can be bribed with some money. But what if the development speed slows down?

The Union claimed to have established a working class, but inevitably, a new ruling class emerged. Twenty years is a whole generation, enough to change a lot of things.

The People's Revolutionary League is now in a stage of rapid growth. Social classes have not yet solidified. As long as you work hard enough and have a little luck, it is not difficult to change your class. In addition, the League government tends to select talents from the broad working class, so the class contradictions in the League have been suppressed for the time being. Compared with class contradictions, ethnic contradictions, religious contradictions and cultural contradictions may be greater, but under the strong suppression of the League Central Committee, these contradictions have not been suppressed.

There was an outbreak.

But this was not the case in other powerful countries, especially in the UK. In the UK, the conflict between the Labour Party and the ruling party had become intense, and the British authorities sent police and troops to suppress workers' marches many times. On the Indian subcontinent, Indians once again launched a vigorous uprising.

Indians have launched countless uprisings over the past few hundred years, and there have been more than a dozen major uprisings that have troubled the British Indian government. Those uprisings were quickly suppressed by the British Indian Army. Even a large uprising that swept across several provinces and involved millions of people could not shake the British rule in India.

But this uprising was different from the previous ones. The Indian rebels not only received assistance with weapons and equipment, but also received advanced theoretical knowledge. Subhas Chandra Bose and some like-minded comrades established the Indian People's Party, put forward a clear political program, and established a guerrilla force.

Most of the Indian rebels did not agree with the BJP's ideas. The crackdown on religion alone could not gain the support of most Indians. Therefore, the BJP, to which Chandra Bose belonged, did not become the backbone of the Indian rebels at the beginning.

Following the advice of the advisory group, Qian Delai* Bose did not compete for the position of the rebel leader, nor did he focus on the big cities like other rebel leaders. Instead, he led the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party deep into the vast rural areas and took root there.

During this process, Chandra Bose and the Bharatiya Janata Party encountered many difficulties. Many of the alliance's policies were not well accepted in India. Members of the advisory group tended to copy the alliance's experience dogmatically. The hard battles and sacrifices caused many people to leave Chandra Bose, and some of them even defected to the British Indian government. Chandra Bose encountered several dangers. At the most urgent moment, the bullets of the military and police who came to arrest him hit less than three meters away from him.

Many people died, but more people joined Chandra Bose's team. In the second half of 1923, the British army dispatched more than troops to deal a devastating blow to the Indian rebels. Chandra Bose and his comrades were not wiped out because they focused on the vast rural areas. Instead, after many of the rebel troops were wiped out, they absorbed many stray soldiers and remnants, and their strength increased several times.

Subsequently, the BJP launched a wide range of guerrilla warfare in the northwest. They did not engage in direct combat with the British army, but instead divided the whole into small groups, consumed the British Indian government's manpower through piecemeal attacks, and severely cracked down on local Indian forces that cooperated with the British.

Chandra Bose and his followers attacked police stations and outposts everywhere, blew up railways and bridges, blew up factories, and burned warehouses, which caused great headaches for the British Indian government. Send people to fight against them, but those guerrillas run as fast as rabbits, and the British army often can't find them.

Even if we can sometimes get to the tail of the guerrillas and eliminate some of their members, more guerrillas will soon emerge.

The Indian Governor hated Chandra Bose and his guerrillas. In order to wipe out this gang of shameless bandits, the British Indian authorities released Gandhi from prison. Although Gandhi was also against the British, Gandhi's resistance was so lovely in the eyes of the British.

This fool actually wanted to drive away the British colonists by fasting. Gandhi not only fasted himself, but also led many of his followers to fast. If all Indians were like Gandhi, the British rule in India would be as solid as a rock.

Gandhi's political line was completely opposite to Chandra Bose's, and he was firmly against the use of violent means. Gandhi knew Subhas Chandra Bose, who was once his devout follower, but later went astray and embraced force and violence.

After being released from prison, Gandhi gave speeches everywhere, calling on the Indian people to join him in resisting Chandra Bose's armed struggle, and calling on Indians to join him in a hunger strike and "non-violent non-cooperation." This was the method Gandhi used to drive out the British.

Although Gandhi's idea was a bit naive, the concept of "non-cooperation" was still useful. Britain not only needed various raw materials from India, but also needed India's vast market. If Indians did not buy British goods, it would cause great harm to the British economy. If Indians could really do it.

Gandhi and Chandra Bose had a common goal of driving out the British, but the means they used were very different. "Non-violent non-cooperation" and "armed struggle" were the lines of contention among the Indians.

Many times, heretics are more hateful than pagans. Gandhi thought that Chandra Bose killed too many people and shed more Indian blood; Chandra Bose thought that Gandhi simply failed to understand the irreconcilable interests between India and Britain. How could the British colonists be driven out without bloodshed and sacrifice?

There were many clashes between the supporters of both sides. Chandra Bose's side was more combative, but Gandhi had the support of the British Indian authorities, and the two sides fought to a 50-50 draw.

The Governor-General of India curbed the spread of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Northwest through the use of force and division and disintegration, and at the same time protested to the League, claiming that the League's practice of instigating civil unrest in India had brought extremely adverse effects on the friendly relations between Britain and the League.

Chapter 739: Earthquakes

The mountains of Afghanistan are hot and cold.

The sun is so hot that it dries people out. The highest temperature in the eastern city of Jalalabad can reach 49°C. Winters are extremely cold, with the lowest temperature in the north and northeast being below -30°C.

The total rainfall in this fucked-up place is only 240mm. Except for a few places like the capital Kabul, most areas are not suitable for developing agriculture, or even animal husbandry.

The harsh environment made the people here savage and fierce. Even in the era of airplanes and tanks, the tribal warlords in Afghanistan still had a very strong fighting power. After the end of the World War, the British army invaded Afghanistan again and fought with the Afghans in the mountains for two years. Finally, they could not bear the huge consumption and had to withdraw to India.

Afghanistan's geographical location is very important to Britain. Only by occupying Afghanistan can the UK block the road to invade India from the northwest.

Before the British came, all the foreign invaders who invaded India first occupied Afghanistan and then marched into India. The British government saw clearly that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau could not pose a threat to India for the time being. There were only two routes to India from land, one was Afghanistan in the northwest, and the other was Southeast Asia, half of which was occupied by the alliance.