Chapter 139:
Chapter 139
The Japanese leaders, who were on the verge of collapse due to the war, ordered their subordinates to secure more food.
“Bring all the grains from Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula, even if it means starving ten million Manchurians and Koreans to death!”
“Your Majesty, the people’s sentiment is becoming more and more unstable in Manchuria and Korea! Especially in the major cities like Gyeongseong and Busan, the Korean Communist Party is regaining its strength…”
“Damn it! How can the colonies be a problem when the mainland is starving to death? Do you think the communists are quiet in the mainland?”
The crops were all destroyed by the American herbicides in one year.
The price of rice was already fluctuating, and bigwigs started to hoard rice everywhere.
What if the fatal blow of soaring rice prices was added to the already growing discontent of the factory workers due to the war-induced workload?
The Japanese knew well how their empire had collapsed due to the war and famine just a few decades ago.
“Those Russians are eyeing the Far East greedily…”
The Russian Empire had lost the Russo-Japanese War and the World War I, and suffered a great turmoil as the bread prices soared due to the grain exports.
The Tsarist government tried to suppress the workers’ discontent with guns and swords, like the ‘Bloody Sunday’, but eventually fell to the Bolshevik Revolution in a few years.
The current situation of Japan was no different from that of the Russian Empire at that time.
No, it was actually worse. At least then, there was no Soviet Union behind the scenes, laughing sinisterly at all this.
The communists at that time were a small organization with no resources or manpower, but now they were receiving the support of the Soviet Union, which claimed to be the homeland of the world’s proletariat.
They couldn’t even crack down on the communists, because if they turned them into enemies, the army would be in danger of collapsing.
“Anyway, we need rice to prevent those red bastards from causing trouble! This is also the will of His Imperial Majesty.”
“…Tenno Heika Banzai!”
***
“Oh my, we will starve to death without this!”
“Get lost! You bastard, just take this!”
Aiyee, the rural woman screamed and fell to the ground, groaning and unable to get up, not knowing what was broken.
Nakamura, a notorious and wicked officer in the village, stroked his long beard like a traitor and slapped the shoulder of the cart driver.
“Make sure you tell the quartermaster that we collected this much grain from our district. Got it?”
“Yes, sir! I got it.”
“Here, take this and have a drink on your way.”
Nakamura smirked and tucked a envelope into the driver’s waistband. He spat on the ground next to the woman who was still groaning on the floor.
“How dare you refuse to cooperate with the empire’s war as a loyal subject of the Great Japanese Empire? That’s why you’re inferior Koreans!”
“Heaven, heaven will not forgive you!”
The people could only watch the officer’s atrocity with tears in their eyes. They muttered that heaven would punish him.
Of course, not everyone was like that.
The officers of the Japanese Empire and the administrators of the town were blinded by the grain collection ordered by the higher-ups.
They didn’t pay attention to anything else.
While they were busy with the collection, the young men started to spread the word at night.
“‘That day’ is coming…!”
“We’ll show those bastards what we’re made of! Get ready, everyone!”
They didn’t talk about divine retribution. They only focused on the history that humans could create.
The farmers had to soothe their bitter hearts with muffled curses at the back of the Japanese who scraped away every grain of the freshly harvested rice.
“They say the imperial palace of those bastards is on fire!”
“They say they’re already starving to death. If we hold on a little longer…!”
But most of them just clenched their teeth and endured.
They chewed on the misery of the people who lost their country.
Japan was powerful, and the peasants were literally trampled under the boots like grass roots.
If they were peasants, they would have been trampled.
***
The rice collected from all over the country gathered at the main ports of Korea.
The large ports where the rice bound for Japan was piled up were busier than ever. Wonsan, Incheon, Gunsan, Busan, and others.
Even if the major ports of Honshu were blocked, the submarine operations were ongoing, and there were plenty of other small ports where the mines were not installed.
Waiting for the departure order that would soon fall, the Japanese transport ships began to load the rice bags that filled the port.
Until ‘that day’.
“Everyone! Korean workers!”
A loud voice echoed towards the people who were bustling in the port.
The port workers who had been suffering from hard labor day after day, loading and unloading the cargo on the ships, turned their heads to the loud voice as an excuse to rest for a moment.
“Korean workers! I am Kim Yong-sik, working at the second pier of Incheon port! Please listen to me!”
On top of the high stacks of rice bags, a worker rolled up his sleeves and began to speak. His neck was covered with veins.
“Look at all this rice! This is the rice that our Korean farmers worked hard to grow! But we Koreans can never eat this rice. The wicked Japanese are taking it away from us for their war! To feed their soldiers!”
“Boo! Drag him down! Drag him down!”
“Right! Right!”
The soaring price of rice in Japan had already affected Korea. The quick-witted businessmen had started to reduce the lunch portions they provided to the workers.
The port workers, who had to watch their children starve without anything to eat, began to agree with him one by one.
Of course, the Japanese police did not leave him alone.
With sharp horn sounds, the police with guns and swords ran out from everywhere and rushed towards the rice bags where Kim Yong-sik was speaking.
“Working to death every day, with overtime, extra work, night shifts! Working until our bones break, but not being able to eat enough in this filthy empire. Do we have a say? We are human! Living and breathing human beings! Fuck, let’s eat some rice! You bastards!”
“Get him! Shoot him!”
As the workers buzzed, the officers fired their guns. Bang, bang. Red blood spurted from the bronze arms.
“Ah! Korean workers, my brothers! Don’t let them take the rice…!”
“Shut up! Commie, Chosenjin bastard!”
As he struggled, an officer who had climbed up grabbed his hair and dragged him down. Dozens, hundreds of Korean port workers watched the scene.
“What are you doing? Get back to work! You lazy ones…”
“Did you call us lazy?”
“Yes! You’re lazy, that’s why you lost your country! You have to work hard like us Japanese… Ugh!”
A stone flew from somewhere and hit the face of the Japanese lieutenant who was scolding the Koreans. He clutched his face, which was bleeding from his nose.
“Who is it? Which one of you?”
“We’re living like machines, unable to live or die, and you call us lazy?”
“Spit! You’re worse than dogs. You have big mouths…”
Boos and jeers, along with stones and trash, flew at the Japanese police.
The Japanese officers aimed their guns and threatened, but the rough port workers didn’t care and booed and threw garbage.
“Without those lazy ones, you’d starve to death!”
“Boo, boo, go away, Japanese!”
People started to gather from everywhere, seeing the commotion. People with sunburnt faces and strong arms from hard work.
Some people ran to Kim Yong-sik, who was bleeding and losing consciousness.
“Yong-sik! Yong-sik! Wake up!”
“You, you… are you okay?”
“Everyone, back off! Go back to your work!”
Gradually, the workers began to step forward, glaring at the officers.
The lieutenants felt a chill down their spines.
They remembered similar incidents that had happened ten years ago.
In Wonsan, North Hamgyong Province, the workers who were angry at the unfair treatment had united around the port workers’ union and went on a general strike.
“Damn it…”
With a pale look, the surrounded lieutenants cursed. There were more angry workers than bullets they had.
“Shoot!”
“Kill them!”
****
“Raise the flag!”
“Waaaaah!”
The killing of a worker by a lieutenant in a corner of the port sparked a strike in Incheon port.
The flags painted by hand and stained with blood rose in the port. The workers built barricades around the port to block the police forces.
“We want to live like humans! Work hours to ten hours a day!”
“Give us rice! Give us food! Let us eat the rice that grows on our land!”
Various slogans burst out. White cloths with crooked letters were plastered everywhere. The workers wrapped their heads and wrote down their demands.
[Do not plunder the goods that grow on Korean land]
[Pay overtime and night shift allowances on time]
After blocking the port with barricades, the workers had a feast with the rice piled up in the port.
“Wow, I thought my stomach was stuck to my back…”
“I finally had a good meal!”
They filled their bowls with rice, which was much better than the barley and porridge they had been given at the cafeteria. They laughed and rejoiced. Some people took rice wrapped in cloth to their families at home.
“Everyone, please listen to me for a moment!”
And the man who led the strike finally came forward.
“Europe and the Pacific War are entering a revolutionary phase! The United States is bombing the Japanese mainland and turning it into a sea of fire, and the Soviet Union has achieved a decisive victory over Germany’s Nazis!”
With a ringing voice, he spoke with his fist clenched. His eyes were fixed on everyone. His stubby fist, with a few fingers cut off, rose to the sky. He sensed the heat of the crowd instinctively and raised his voice even higher.
“Not only Incheon port, but also Wonsan, Busan, and Gunsan port workers will join the strike! By refusing to ship rice, we can starve Japan. We can bring down that huge empire with our own hands!”
“Waaaaah!!”
The sorrow of a nationless people.
The sorrow of being treated worse than dogs as workers.
The resentment that had built up burst out and became a roar that shook the port.
“With our hands! With our power, let’s claim our liberation! Long live the liberated homeland! Long live the independence of Korea!”
“Hooray! Hooray!”
The port workers shouted hooray together at the man’s speech, Cho Bong-am. They shouted with all their might, trying to wash away the humiliation they had received from the Japanese.
The thousands of voices echoed in the dark Incheon sea.
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