A Bridge Zhou Far - Three Stars Rising | Summary Thread

[Subotan]

In a war of revolutionary character, guerrilla operations are a necessary part. This is particularly true in war waged for the emancipation of a people who inhabit a vast nation. China is such a nation, a nation whose techniques are undeveloped and whose communications are poor. She finds herself confronted with a strong and victorious Japanese imperialism. Under these circumstances, the development of the type of guerrilla warfare characterized by the quality of mass is both necessary and natural. This warfare must be developed to an unprecedented degree and it must co-ordinate with the operations of our regular armies. If we fail to do this, we will find it difficult to defeat the enemy. – Mao Zedong, on Guerrilla Warfare.

After a day’s walking over rolling hills and through curved valleys, the survivors of the Battle of Heihui Chen laid down their packs and set up camp. They had stopped for the night in the crux of a valley, on a clear area of raised grass next to a small, fast flowing stream. Whilst traveling, the Communists had been discussing who should be leading them, and two candidates had quickly emerged as the frontrunners. Beskar and GeneralHankerchief were soon the clear favourites, despite attempts by Azathoth, YLC and Beefy187 to convince the patriots that they could lead the Communists to victory as well as the leading candidates.

Beskar and GeneralHankerchief argued intensely on the journey, with GeneralHankerchief accusing Beskar of being a “soul snatching capitalist”, and Beskar in turn accusing GeneralHankerchief of bribery and unscrupulous deals. The Communists were confused by the debate and appeared to be roughly divided between the candidates by the time a common agreement decided to stop on the banks of the stream to set up camp for the night. As tents, cooking fires and a designated Lavatory Pit were all established; it soon dawned upon the official Counter of votes that there was a tie.

“Hmm, I wasn’t expecting this”, said the Counter. “This is a real pain, why couldn’t there be a landslide? I guess the only way for this to be solved is for some kind of Sudden Death mechanism where the-”

“I VOTE FOR GENERALHANKERCHIEF!” yelled a voice.

Everyone turned around to see Sigurd sitting on the grass with a grin on his face

“I’m voting for him because he has a green hat, like me!” Sigurd’s grin widened as he pointed at the puzzled, but happy GeneralHankerchief to indicate that, yes, he was indeed wearing a very green hat.

“Well, that’s settled then. GeneralHankerchief is now the Chairman of the People’s Extraordinary Detachment.” said the Counter. “Congratulations GeneralHankerchief, you now have to pick an Officer Corps to save us from the Imperialists. I sincerely hope that your, as well as our judgment is sound.”

“Of course”, said the new Chairman. “Under my leadership, PEXDET shall take the action required to ensure that we all survive to build the Marxist Utopia that Comrade Mao has promised us.”

And with that GeneralHankerchief leaped on to a nearby hillock, raised his fist and voice and let out a cry:



“Hail Mao Zedong Thought! Crush Reactionary Scheming! Strive for our Very Survival and Inevitable Victory!”

The assembled soldiers replied loudly, and in unison

“Banish the Imperialists! Break the Chains! Secure the Proletariat’s Triumph!”

Even Beskar joined in the chanting, disgruntled though he was that he had lost the election.

Once the fevered shouting wound down, the Chairman spoke, in a much calmer tone

“I know it’s now night, but I shall be accepting nominations all night for the four Officers who shall serve with me. I can accept nominations for other people, or for specific posts, but I need a nomination before I can pick you. You may choose to speak to me in private, or you can announce it in thread. But other than that, you are dismissed”

The Socialists then scattered, with some going back to their tents for rest, others going to nurture cooking fires, some staying still to play cards with their Comrades, and a few sprinting towards the designated Lavatory Pit.

But as the sun set, plans were created that, when revealed for all to see the following day, would show just how much that strong leadership was needed.

GeneralHankerchief – 12 – GH, Khaan, AA, landlubber, autolycus, John, Blackadder, Seamus, miotas, DIY, Renata, Sigurd

Beskar – 11 – Beskar, Romanic, Split, Secura, Azathoth, Shlin, Flax, CDF, aThis, Cute Wolf, Chaotix

YLC - 3 – Pinman, Winston, Beefy

Jolt – 1 – Jolt

Taka – 1 – taka

ACIN – 1 – ACIN

Didn't vote- TWELVE- AVSM, Death is yonder, Joooray, M3YUZ, Methos, Nictel, Niklas, Sasaki, Thermal Mercury, wideyedwanderer, wishazu

It is now the Night Phase, This phase will last for 23 hours, until 21:00 GMT.

[Subotan]

It is a fact that during the war the enemy may take advantage of certain people who are lacking in conscience and patriotism and induce them to join the guerrillas for the purpose of betraying them. Officers must, therefore, continually educate the soldiers and inculcate patriotism in them. This will prevent the success of traitors. The traitors who are in the ranks must be discovered and expelled, and punishment and expulsion meted out to those who have been influenced by them.

In all such cases, the officers should summon the soldiers and relate the facts to them, thus arousing their hatred and detestation for traitors. This procedure will serve as well as a warning to the other soldiers. If an officer is discovered to be a traitor, some prudence must be used in the punishment adjudged. However, the work of eliminating traitors in the army begins with their elimination from among the people. – Mao Zedong, on Guerrilla Warfare

Beskar was thirsty. His dry throat had his complete attention, and the irritation was preventing him from getting to sleep. He tossed and turned in his tent trying to think of Mao’s plump cheeks and his surely rousing voice, but his mind always drifted back to fountains, rivers, oceans-

Beskar snapped out of it. Putting on his boots and strapping his holster to his chest, he wiggled out of his tent into the night. The night was clear, but the waning moon did not allow for perfect vision. Embers from the campfires glowed at the entrance to some of the tents. Beskar glanced around him to make sure that no-one had noticed he was breaking curfew. The coast was clear.

Beskar slowly but surely began to tip-toe towards the stream which ran past the camp. The stream was about knee deep and twelve feet wide, with large flat rocks dotting the current, and its pebbly banks crunched as Beskar slunk towards the flowing water. Beskar’s tongue hung out as he gazed upon the water. Beskar lay down and began to dink deep, practically submerging his head in the clear water.

“Glug, glug, glug…”Beskar, now fully refreshed, lifted his face out of the stream stood up to a crouch, and opened his canteen, filling it up for fear of getting so dehydrated again. As the water pooled in the flask, Beskar looked around him. The stream seemed oddly quieter then it did a moment ago, and the various noises which the night amplifies so loud had all but ceased. He began to feel uneasy. Beskar’s eyes found themselves fixed to a bush on the opposite bank which was shadowed by a large tree. Beskar, eyes glued to the bush, removed his flask from the water and screwed the lid back on, tight.

Suddenly, Beskar dropped his flask, and his hand went to his waste to pull out his pistol. As his hand touched his holster, a terrific bang exploded from across the river, and Beskar felt a woosh nearly touch his ear. Bekar leaped to his side and fired a return shot blindly across the bank. An angry shout was heard and the bush was uprooted and tossed aside to reveal a furious, unwounded Japanese Officer standing behind the bush, pulling back the bolt on his rifle.

The Officer jumped down onto the pebbly bank on his side of the stream, and still holding his rifle, leapt from stone to stone with the speed of a demon. Beskar could only look on in horror as the Officer got closer and closer and closer, avoiding Beskar’s bullets as if they were ladybirds. Beskar threw away his useless weapon and began to scramble up the bank towards the camp, screaming for help. But the Officer was too quick for him, and landing on the shore with a nimble grace, he brought down his rifle butt on Beskar’s head with a skull splitting crack. Tutting in disapproval that the now unconscious Beskar’s head remained intact, the Japanese dragged him back to the river, and held his head under the water. Large bubbles escaped from Beskar’s nose, and the psychopath grinned as he kept Beskar’s head submerged.

“Hey! Stop!”

The Rightist spun around to see three men, all holding weapons running from the camp towards him. Abandoning Beskar, the murderer scrambled to pick up his rifle and aimed it at the newcomers. The newcomers in turn pointed their weapons at the maniac, but uneasily due to a lack of training and concern for their drowning comrade. The Japanese slowly circled around the Communists, making sure that they would be unable to both catch him and rescue Beskar. The standoff was lip-bitingly tense.

The Marxists suddenly lost their nerve and ran to rescue their charge from the water. Seeing their attention was distracted, the Officer turned and slipped into the shadows back towards the camp. The Marxists pulled Beskar out of the river, and rolled him onto his back. Seeing he wasn’t breathing, and lacking any medical training, they slapped his face, shouted and punched his chest.

Happily, with a cough and a splutter, Beskar woke up, albeit with a headache and a newfound fear of water.

***

The following morning, GeneralHandkerchief assembled the Communists before him.

“It is as Subotan feared. Last night, as we slept, one of our Comrades was attacked by vile Imperialist forces.”

Another gasp went through the crowd

“Last night, we were lucky. Men were assigned to watch over Beskar, and he is managed to escape with only concussion” Said GeneralHankerchief

“Yeah, “only concussion” ” muttered Beskar, nursing his head and his pride, still damaged after losing the election.
“But we are fortunate” said GeneralHankerchief “For I have picked my Officer Corps, who shall surely help us rat out the traitors.”

“a completely inoffensive name is now the Political Commissar ”

Hearing his name, ACIN stood up and gave a crisp salute to the Chairman

GeneralHankerchief continued: “Seamus Fermanagh is now our Medical Officer, autolycus is now our Director of Proletarian Justice and Yaseikhaan” he said with a slight pause and smile, “Is our Special Operative”.

All of the mentioned (Save Yaseikhaan, who stood still at the back of the gathering) walked to the front of the group and each gave long winded speeches about how they were going to serve PEXDET and Communism in China fully and how they would deviate from the Revolutionary line etc.

When the speeches had finished, GeneralHankerchief resumed speaking “I suggest, in order to prevent a dictatorship by myself, that whilst marching, we collectively select someone who at the end of the day is lynched by us, so that we shall be able to find the traitors and punish them as one”

Everyone in PEXDET agreed, and GeneralHankerchief dismissed the meeting. Everyone then rushed to collect pots and pans, roll up tents and bury the Lavatory Pit, and within ten minutes, PEXDET was marching once again, down through the valley and through rice paddies and villages, in the direction of Yan’an, and safety.



***

It is now the day phase. This phase will last for 23 hours until 21:00 GMT+1. Please Vote for who you think is an imperialist using the Vote:Lynchee mechanism, and it would be nice if you could remember to put the name of the person you are unvoting if you change your mind.


Alive players: 40/40
ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
autolycus
AVSM
Azathoth
Beefy187
Beskar
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
johnhughthom
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
Methos
miotas
Nictel
Niklas
Pinman
Psychonau
Renata
Romanic
Sasaki
Seamus Fermanagh
Secura
shlin28
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
taka
TheFlax
Thermal Mercury
wideyedwanderer
Winston Hughes
Wishazu
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 0/40

Killed Players 0/40

[Subotan]

In guerrilla warfare, select the tactic of seeming to come from the east and attacking from the west; avoid the solid, attack the hollow; attack; withdraw; deliver a lightning blow, seek a lightning decision. When guerrillas engage a stronger enemy, they withdraw when he advances; harass him when he stops; strike him when he is weary; pursue him when he withdraws. In guerilla strategy, the enemy's rear, flanks, and other vulnerable spots are his vital points, and there he must be harassed, attacked, dispersed, exhausted and annihilated. Only in this way can guerrillas carry out their mission of independent guerrilla action and coordination with the effort of the regular armies. But, in spite of the most complete preparation, there can be no victory if mistakes are made in the matter of command. Guerilla warfare based on the principles we have mentioned and carried out over a vast extent of territory in which communications are inconvenient will contribute tremendously towards ultimate defeat of the Japanese and consequent emancipation of the Chinese people. – Mao Zedong, on Guerrilla Warfare

It was decided that Comrade autolycus’ proposal, that PEXDET should “require a donation from each farmer of a seventh of his crop to our worthy cause, and that we compensate the farmers of each town with an hour's service in their fields each morning before we continue onwards.”, was now the policy of PEXDET towards acquiring food for the Revolutionaries. The peasants were disgruntled with this deal, as it was the sowing season and they disliked giving away such a large portion of their food before the winter came, but there wasn’t much that the peasants could do, and they reckoned that it was better then the soldiers taking all of their food. To the peasants, the Socialist were just another band of traveling thugs, as no attempt was made to instill Marxist ideology into the town was made, somewhat surprisingly.

***

Winston Hughes was sleeping. He had commandeered one of the richer peasant’s house for his sole use, and he had been pleased with the comparative luxuriousness of the bed he was sleeping in compared to the dirty rags he had been used to. Winston was dreaming about a cat, a cat eating poop. The dream quickly degenerated into a nightmare, with the dream becoming more surreal, frightening and harder to understand the longer Winston tossed and turned in bed.

Winston woke up with a start, covered in sweat. The room was pitch black, save for a slit of moonlight which slipped in through the narrow window to his side. All Winston could hear was his fast, shallow breathing, and the odd rustle from the bush swaying in the light wind outside his window.

“Finally” said the darkness, in a low, whisper

Winston jumped out of his skin, absolutely petrified; the poop eating cat was nothing compared to the terror he was now experiencing

“So,” continued the voice “I’ve finally found you. For the first time in three long years, I have you right in my sights. And best of all, there’s no way you can escape this time”

“What are you talking about?” wailed Winston “I haven’t done anything, I’m a good Communist!”

“Yes,” replied the voice, “You would say that. But then your definition of “Communist” would probably be more accurately described as traitor. Remember Si Dalin? Pan Tu? Lang Zhu? And the others you killed? Huh? Remember?”

Winston shook his head frantically.

“Who are they? And I’ve never killed anyone!”

The shadows tutted:

“Even if you hadn’t murdered all those brave, loyal Communists, I’d still be killing you in the next two minutes anyway, because of what you did in Shanghai”

“Shanghai? I’ve never been to Shanghai!” screamed Winston

“Oh yes you have,” replied the dark, “And you killed a man there. He was my brother, and there is no denying that, you villainous scum.”

And with that, a hand reached out of the shadow and grabbed Winston cry the collar, and pulled his face into the moonlight.

“You sneaky slug….you even shaved your facial hair off. You could have done a better disguise than that…”

“I can’t even grow a beard...” whimpered Winston.

The voice responded by plunging a sword deep into Winston’s chest and out the other side. Winston choked and flailed, and blood gushed out all over the bed sheets.

***

On the other side of town, a lock was broken. The door swung open, and in crept a gang of armed men. Five of them slipped in, and surrounded the bed of one Sasaki Kojiro. The men all looked to the tallest man, who gave a nod and drew his firearm. The others complied and drew their own weapons. The gathered all aimed their guns at the sleeping body, and with a second nod from the tall man, opened fire. The hail of bullets was woefully disproportionate, and some of the more enthusiastic members of the group had to empty their clips before they stopped clicking their triggers. Not surprisingly, the body was not moving and was covered in wounds and leaking blood. Gingerly, the tall man reached forward and rolled the mess onto its side to reveal the face of the victim. It was the face of Sasaki Kojiro.

“Hmm”

The tall man was obviously irritated that the occupant of the house was his victim, for some strange reason. He gestured to the other soldiers, and they filed out of the house, silently.

***

johnhughthom was alert and ready for anything. Perched on the roof of his house in the autumn cold, he drank booze and smoked his cheap cigarettes at a furious pace, lighting new ones before the old ones had even burnt out. Because of this, of all the people who were attacked that night in Daozhen, johnhughthom was the only one who was not surprised. Seeing an intruder approach from over the rooftops, johnhughthom immediately stood up.

“Have you come for vengeance, or are you a fool?” shouted johnhughthom

The intruder said nothing and began to reach inside his coat

“A fool then”, said johnhughthom as he snatched one of the bottles that lay scattered at his feet. Lighting the rag attached to it with his cigarette, johnhughthom hurled the lethal weapon through the air in a high parabola. Seeing the petrol bomb gliding through the air, the attacker dived to the side in a frantic bid to avoid the bottle of death. But his jump was misjudged, as he soared off the roof to land in a pile of manure with a sickening squelch, just as a colossal KABOOM lit up the sky and house above him. Disorientated and groaning in disgust, the man could only lie there as johnhughthom scampered away across the rooftops, proud of his handiwork and the awesomeness of the devastation he had left behind him.

***




GeneralHankerchief gathered the survivors of the previous night to the central plaza of Daozhen.

“Comrades, it appears that even if Azathoth was a counter-revolutionary, that there are still more among us, as both Winston Hughes and Sasaki Kojiro were murdered in their sleep last night”

A steely grimness was the reply of the Maoists.


“Obviously, we must again choose a candidate to lynch” continued the Chairman. “But before we do that, it appears that you have volunteered to work in the fields as “payment” for the food we’re commandeering from these poor peasants. Umm, OK then, let’s get to work.”

And with that, the Marxists glumly exited the main gate to the rice paddies surrounding Daozhen. Only a few were genuinely enthusiastic about the prospect of an hour of farm work, with most only supporting the measure because it was the only one available. As it was the sowing season for rice, there wasn’t a huge amount of stuff to do, and the Communists blundered around and generally got in the way of professional farmers who knew what they were doing, although a few of the Socialists were expert farmers who performed their job well. After the hour was up, PEXDET awkwardly left the town, under the exasperated gazes of a town which had seen two murders, a lynching, a house fire and the theft of 1/7th of the town’s food in the twelve hours the Red Army had been there.



Exiting the town, the soldiers found their path gradually winding upwards into hillier and rougher terrain. The already uneven road became more broken and ill defined, and the upwards march was tiring for the Marxists, but it wasn’t like that had a choice.



Alive players: 37/40
ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
autolycus
AVSM
Beefy187
Beskar
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
johnhughthom
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
Methos
miotas
Nictel
Niklas
Pinman
Psychonau
Renata
Romanic
Seamus Fermanagh
Secura
shlin28
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
taka
TheFlax
Thermal Mercury
wideyedwanderer
Wishazu
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 1/40

Azathoth

Killed Players 2/40

Winston Hughes
Sasaki Kojiro

I am expecting more people to actually vote his time. People who have still not voted by the end of this phase shall go on the Bad List. And those on the Bad List will not enjoy that position.

As you are clowning around in the rice paddies, this phase shall end in 22 hours, at 20:00 GMT+1 tomorrow. Happy Lynching!

[Subotan]

It is to be hoped that the world is in the last era of strife. The vast majority of human beings have already prepared or are preparing to fight a war that will bring justice to the oppressed people of the world. No matter how long this war may last, there is no doubt that it will be followed by an unprecedented epoch of peace The war that we are fighting today for the freedom of all human beings, and the independent, happy, and liberal China that we are fighting to establish will be a part of that new world order. A conception like this is difficult for the simple-minded militarist to grasp and it must therefore be carefully explained to him. – Mao Zedong on Guerrila Warfare



The People’s Extraordinary Detachment had spent all day trudging along the narrow terraces that crisscrossed a huge expanse of rice paddies. Winding their way through the cracks in the mirrored surface, the discussion about who was guilty for the attack on Beskar yesterday. Beskar himself was very boastful, and his claims of martial prowess had inklings of hubris.

Two main possible culprits stood out, Beefy187 and Azathoth. Beefy had been caught saying something in Japanese, and the fury of the Communists nearly drove them to kill him on the spot. Beefy panicked, and claimed that it was just a phrase he had picked up in Japan whilst studying Marxism there, and that he really really was a dedicated Communist. So dedicated in fact, that he was prepared to die defending someone from the ravages of the Counter-Revolution. PEXDET was not really satisfied with this excuse, but their attention shifted to another, Azathoth. Azathoth was loud and pedantic, giving the illusion that he was invincible to the power of the revolution, when Sasaki Jojiro said his name wrong.



In the end, as the Socialists entered the town of Daozhen, Azathoth was narrowly chosen over Beefy187 to be the most likely culprit of last night’s attack. Azathoth seemed resigned to his rate. GeneralHankerchief stood before the Maoists and said:

“So it seems that we have decided Azathoth is a counter-revolutionary. Let this be a lesson to any other reactionaries who may lurk within us. This is your fate. ”

And with that, GeneralHankerchief immediately pulled his imitation Mauser out of his holster and shot Azathoth, once, twice, three times, in the chest, thigh and face. Azathoth fell to the floor with a strangled, inhuman noise. The guerrillas looked on glumly.

“That was necessary” muttered GeneralHankerchief. “ I shall investigate Azathoth's belongings, and within three days we shall have a confirmation as to his purpose among us, and whether that purpose was benign.But now onto the next order of business. Whilst staying in this admittedly grotty town, we have to decide on a policy towards peasants we will encounter on our journeys. On one hand, we need as much food as possible to survive, but official Party line is that we must treat the farmers with kindness, so as not to upset them and turn them away from the fruits of Marxism when our revolution is inevitably victorious. I shall delegate the discussion to you, ad I shall enforce any decision we all come to a consensus on.”

It is now the night phase. In this phase, there is an Incident. Please submit your ideas for policy in the form Propose:Blah blah blah and agree with proposals with Agree:Azathoth.

On a slightly different note, I’m going to allow the words “Nip”, “Jap” and variants upon, for the purposes of roleplaying. I’m guessing that the Chinese in this period used much stronger words than “Nippo” to describe the Japanese invaders. I don’t need to make it clear that any use of such words other than for RP will be dealt with.

This phase shall end in 23 hours at 21:00 GMT +1

Azathoth - 5 - Sasaki, CDF, Chaotix, autolycus, AA

Beefy - 4- Azathoth, Beskar, Seamus, ACIN

autolycus - 2 - Beefy, taka

taka - 2 - Renata, WH

ACIN - 2 - WEW, Shlin

Chaotix - 1 - Khaan

Psychonaut - 1 - DiY

Didn't vote: EVERYONE ELSE


Alive players: 39/40
ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
autolycus
AVSM
Beefy187
Beskar
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
johnhughthom
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
Methos
miotas
Nictel
Niklas
Pinman
Psychonau
Renata
Romanic
Sasaki
Seamus Fermanagh
Secura
shlin28
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
taka
TheFlax
Thermal Mercury
wideyedwanderer
Winston Hughes
Wishazu
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 1/40

Azathoth

Killed Players 0/40