The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 201

201. Omen of Division

At the same time, downtown Urumqi.

Over 400 protesters were locked in a stone-throwing battle with the police.

However, instead of dispersing the protesters, the riot police blocked one side of the road, preventing them from approaching a specific area.

The road led to the construction site of an oil storage facility.

The Xinjiang oil storage facility was planned as the final destination for oil from the Caspian Sea coast of Kazakhstan, transported via a 3,000km overland pipeline.

Once completed, the storage facility would be a large-scale complex capable of storing 20 million tons of crude oil annually.

China was almost entirely dependent on the Hormuz Strait sea route for crude oil transportation.

If the United States were to blockade the sea with its powerful aircraft carrier fleet, China’s crude oil supply could be cut off overnight, a militarily fatal weakness.

To compensate for this vulnerability, China was investing heavily in the construction of overland pipelines.

Three kilometers ahead of the oil storage facility, tanks and armored vehicles were positioned.

Security was so tight that civilians approaching this area would be shot on sight, so the protesters did not dare to venture near.

The background to the Xinjiang-Uyghur separatist movement was not solely based on race and religion.

Vast shale gas deposits were also a significant factor.

Nearly 70% of China’s shale gas reserves were concentrated in the Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Sichuan Basin, and the quality was also very high.

The Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region was attempting to leverage this shale gas as an asset to gain independence.

However, the Chinese Communist Party, desperate for energy to sustain its 1 billion population, could never relinquish control of this shale gas.

Therefore, China was implementing even more severe measures, which were seen as human rights abuses, to maintain control.

Three old-fashioned armored vehicles blocked the entrance, preventing the protesters from advancing.

At that moment, a loud firing sound echoed from behind a building.

Thwack!

An RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] was launched.

Trailing a long smoke plume, it flew directly towards the armored vehicle.

Bang!!

The armored vehicle was hit directly, creating a large hole, and flames erupted.

The driver inside, as well as the gunner manning the machine gun at the hatch, were thrown onto the road, their bodies ablaze.

The armed police were thrown into a panic by the sudden appearance of an RPG among protesters who had previously only thrown stones.

While black smoke billowed and they were in disarray, two more RPGs streaked towards them.

“Missiles! Take cover!”

The armored soldiers, who had been spaced out, scrambled to evade, but they couldn’t outrun the speed of the incoming rockets.

Bang!!

Boom!!

One armored vehicle was completely destroyed, and another was hit in the wheels and tilted precariously.

Tatatatata!

The frightened armored vehicle gunner frantically fired the machine gun.

Several protesters fell, bleeding.

Armed guerrilla groups revealed themselves and unleashed automatic weapons fire.

Ttrrr- Ttrrr–

“Ugh!”

The riot police, armed with only a few rifles, tear gas, and batons, were not equipped for formal military engagement and fell helplessly.

A full-scale armed uprising had begun.

“Long live independent Xinjiang Uyghur!”

“Glory to Allah!”

Trained Afghan special forces guerrillas contacted the Xinjiang Uyghur separatist leadership and launched an organized armed uprising.

*

The center of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

Protesters occupying the road shouted slogans and scattered leaflets.

“Tibet is an independent country!”

It was a protest against the authorities’ order to completely ban religious activities, denouncing religion as opium, and demanding the display of the Chinese national flag, the Five-Starred Red Flag, in homes.

As befitting a Buddhist country, hundreds of people chanted slogans peacefully and in an orderly manner.

At this time, a young monk wearing red robes slowly walked to the front of the road.

His body was already soaked in thinner [a flammable solvent].

The monk lit a match.

Thwack-

The flames engulfed the monk’s body in an instant.

Kyaa-

A woman near the monk engulfed in flames screamed and ran away.

It was an act of self-immolation, a protest demanding Tibetan independence.

Large-scale protests and armed attacks occurred simultaneously in Xinjiang Uyghur, Tibet, Mongolia, and Manchuria.

However, military forces were concentrated on the Korean Peninsula and were in the process of being redeployed to reinforce the border guard forces, which were currently undermanned. Only armed public security (police) were guarding the borders, but their numbers were insufficient to stop the armed rebels.

*

China.

An emergency standing committee meeting was being held.

The leadership was shocked by the report from the Minister of Public Security that there were simultaneous large-scale separatist protests and armed attacks in five autonomous regions.

Deng Xiaoping said.

“Separatist protests have always existed, but armed attacks that destroy armored vehicles and suicide bombings at party headquarters, and the fact that they were triggered in five autonomous regions on the same day, are very ominous.”

“That’s right. It’s too well-planned to be a coincidence.”

“Then who is commanding the separatist rebellion?”

“We are currently investigating. If we arrest the rebels, the truth will come out, Chairman.”

“Arrest? They are using RPGs to launch armed attacks. Can we even suppress them?”

“Frankly, the current level of police armament will not be enough. Military intervention is urgently needed.”

“The military? Do you know what’s going on in the country right now? All the troops are concentrated in the east. Are you suggesting we divert them back to the west?”

“Anyway, it’s just a show of force. Even if we redeploy about 200,000 ground troops, it won’t fundamentally change the situation, will it?”

“Hmm, hmm!”

Deng Xiaoping, who was secretly calculating the possibility of a full-scale war, had no immediate justification to openly oppose the proposal.

“Okay. Then redeploy two corps to Xinjiang Uyghur and the four autonomous regions.”

“Understood, Chairman!”

It was a wasteful and time-consuming journey that would take a month to transport troops and armored vehicles from one end of the country to the other.

*

One month later. Urumqi.

Chinese tanks, armored vehicles, and armed forces were deployed throughout the city.

A state of emergency was declared, and a curfew was set for 8 p.m.

The commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s black sedan was heading to the Communist Party headquarters.

Vroom~

Two blocks behind, laundry hanging on the roof of a building fluttered in the wind.

Screech!

The commander’s car stopped at a traffic light at an intersection.

The commander took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

The moment he flicked the lighter, a finger-sized hole appeared in the car window.

Tick!

The commander slowly tilted to the side.

One side of his face was caved in, and blood was pooling.

“Commander!”

He had been sniped.

The guerrillas had already sniped five high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials.

When the suppression forces suppressed the protesters with guns, they refrained from mass demonstrations and resorted to sniping.

The snipers were elite marksmen trained in Afghanistan.

With the help of local residents, they identified sniping targets, tracked their movements, hid and waited, and then pulled the trigger.

Instead of a full-scale war, leaders were dying from bullets fired from hidden locations, and generals and officials had no choice but to lie low.

Also, almost every day, severed heads were found hanging on roadside trees or in parks.

Locals who cooperated with China were kidnapped, beheaded, and their bodies displayed with the word ‘traitor’ attached as a warning.

The Chinese leadership was struggling to contain the rebels who were not engaging in a full-scale war but were hiding in the city and waging guerrilla warfare.

Small provincial cities where public authority had broken down fell into a state of uncontrollable chaos.

*

The Kremlin.

The world’s attention was focused on Moscow.

This was because Brezhnev of the Soviet Union and the US President were holding a summit.

“Welcome. I welcome you.”

Brezhnev extended his heavy hand in the ornate reception room that had once been used as a banquet hall during the Tsarist Russian era.

The US President also reached out his hand.

Click! Click!

The two men continued to shake hands for a full five minutes, symbolizing the best interests of each country.

As it was a meeting between the leaders of the two superpowers on Earth, the media headlines used historical terms.

– The global village is buzzing with the historic meeting between the US and Soviet leaders

– Is the era of Cold War ideology coming to an end?

– Will the US and Soviet leaders announce an agreement of the century?

After a three-day, two-night schedule, the US and Soviet leaders announced an agreement between the two countries that had been pre-arranged.

“The United States and the Soviet Union agree to a Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreement, going beyond freezing strategic weapons!”

They announced agreements on easing tensions and economic exchanges between the two countries, including the establishment of a hotline.

As a result, the detente [easing of strained relations] atmosphere, previously led by the US and China, was immediately shifted to the axis of the US and the Soviet Union.

The announcement of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty further cornered China, which was already facing a potential nuclear war.

*

The Chinese leadership was anxious because North Korea had not made any moves even after a month.

Anti-Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong openly mocked the Chinese government in editorials.

『- Is China a sleeping tiger or a paper tiger? –

It has been a month since 1.8 million troops set out to conquer North Korea, but not a single Chinese soldier has crossed the Yalu River. The people of the continent are holding rallies every day, shouting ‘Liberate North Korea,’ and the size of the protesters is growing.

What is the Chinese government afraid of?

North Korea’s tactical nuclear weapons?

Doesn’t the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] have 2 million troops and strategic nuclear weapons?

The justification that they are hesitating because they are the same socialist country is also dubious.

Why has the diplomacy between the two countries been deadlocked for a month? Can’t communist countries resolve things through dialogue? Jang Seong-taek is sternly telling China to immediately withdraw its military threats, let alone expressing regret to China.

Some analysts say that the People’s Liberation Army differs in opinion from the chairman, saying that it is a war without justification, and is taking an awkward stance.

Whatever the reason, China is being treated as a paper tiger that cannot bite by the rest of the world.

For this reason, armed rebellions are frequently occurring in autonomous regions in border areas, and lawless cities where central control is impossible are increasing.

The Chinese leadership is missing the opportunity to repair China, which is heading for division.』

*

Tiananmen Square.

Hundreds of photo panels of People’s Liberation Army soldiers who had been bombed were on display in the square.

500,000 Red Guards [a mass student-led paramilitary social movement] wearing red armbands gathered in the square to hold a mass rally.

This was also at the instigation of Deng Xiaoping.

“Liberate North Korea!”

“The incompetent military should step down!”

“Disband the Central Military Commission!”

*

Chinese Standing Committee meeting.

The atmosphere was heavy.

Deng Xiaoping said to the military chairman.

“Decide whether to withdraw troops or cross the Yalu River.”

The military chairman had never deeply considered the follow-up measures after the North Korean military demonstration.

He had assumed that Deng Xiaoping would handle the political settlement through North Korean diplomacy, but because he was being ignored, the public’s criticism was being directed at him.

He was completely outmaneuvered by Deng Xiaoping in the public opinion manipulation.

“The Military Commission’s opinion is to withdraw troops. It would be beneficial to have the justification of suppressing the armed rebellion in the five autonomous regions.”

Deng Xiaoping said.

“The military chairman should make that announcement himself.”

“Me? This is ultimately the party’s decision, so wouldn’t it be more appropriate for the party spokesman to make the announcement?”

“Frankly, the opinions of the party and the military are different. The people want to liberate North Korea at this opportunity. I can’t make the announcement myself.”

“…….”

North Korea showed no signs of surrendering, and there were no accidental clashes, so it was somewhat different from the original plan, but time was on Deng Xiaoping’s side anyway.

This is because Deng Xiaoping succeeded in maintaining his power by sacrificing the military.

Now it was time to replace the military – to discard the rabbit after the hunt!

However, the military, which was in crisis, made an unexpected decision.