The enemy is at our gates. Our nation is blown asunder. The powers that be care not for us. The fight over our history, but we yet have the time to seize it. Arise, workers of the world! Bother not for the mediocrity of the present powers. Arise, people of China! Bargain not with the enemy of the people! What use is there to ask nicely and to wash away our dreams and brighter futures in the mud of the capitalist and the imperialist? Do not ask, but demand! Rise forth, and demand too from the Party liberation and change the course of this world. You know that there is no chance elsewhere. You know there are no other options. The cornered tiger does not plead for life like a meek house cat. It lunges forth from its corner and becomes more dangerous than the hunter and his spear! We can break the chains and shatter the swords of the old world and alight anew with our energetic hearts. Set out, let the sun rise red over the eastern horizon! [right][i]Pamplet #12[/i] [i]Wen Chun Ming[/i] [i]1933[/i][/right] [h1]Russia[/h1] [h2]Yerofeysky [/h2] Light had barely broke the horizon as the village's streets filled. The panic of the previous night calmed but broiled still on a low tentative simmer. Could it happen again? And when? Men with flash lights and lanterns went about inspecting the damages. No one had been injured in last night's assault. The Russians counted their blessings as they swept up the broken glass and flecks of wood. But after that episode, few had gone back to bed. The Chinese themselves were particularly tense. The episode had woken them all through the night. They all being new – save for many of the officers – felt particularly alert now that they were for sure at war. This wasn't simply a walk in the woods, this was the campaign. Yu Huan could still feel his body hum and shiver from last night. He felt hyper-alert, awake. Outside the footsteps on gravel and sandy gravel sounded as if next to his ears. Every shift in the house as it groaned and sighed in the cool Siberian night felt like the foot steps of a dozen men through it. He believed he could even feel the scurrying of mice. All through that night they stood watch to wait and see if they would be fired on again. But as the cold hours dwindled not a report came from the trees. But the restlessness did not cease. Even as patrols changed and he went off to bed he lay awake, staring up at the ceiling from a makeshift cot close to the floor. Sleeping in the commandeered abandoned farm house they called a barracks a soldier sat at the window smoking a cigarette. The orange star of its burning ember growing bright as the sun as he rose it to his lips and took a draw. He struggled to go to sleep, first battling with the still racing adrenaline, demanding his alertness and snapping open his eyes at every move someone took. Then the lingering fear, he would close his eyes and drift off to the nightmarish sound of a rifle shot and the whipping crack of a bullet passing by his ears. But by morning as the village began to mill about on tip-toes, afraid of stepping on broken glass and summoning another assault Huan's real day could begin. He felt exhausted and wasted by a long night of waiting and half asleep. He had visions, day dreams as he lay half awake of a Cossack breaking through the door with a knife clenched between jagged uneven teeth. His ragged uniform caked with mud and blood. It never came, but the stillness of the night kept the tension. Morning call, the sharp piercing whistles of the officers came almost as a relief, but he felt no more rested from it. Rising with the rest of his cadre Huan joined in with his squad and took up his rifle again and trudged out into the cool dim morning air. A faint mist enveloped the village and there was a soft dewy glisten in the grass. A clear sky overhead glowed with a still misty blue and orange light. Heavy from sleep, Huan could not help but throw a weary eye towards the edge of the village and its surrounding hills, waiting for the flash of a rifle. None came, and they came to their appointed field. An orchard more or less, where in the long shadows of the apple trees they began gathering. Their commanding officer soon came, a tall athletic man with a trim face and all the proper cuts and dress. Huan knew him to have a cold, distant air in his gray brown eyes. But this morning he seemed to lack that. Though he pretended to act stoic and indifferent, Huan noticed just the smallest hint of the same nervousness that he felt as the commander passed. “I don't think I need to remind you all.” the officer said as he walked into the middle of the clearing. He rested a hand on the hilt of his sword and gripped it tightly as he paced, “I think it goes without saying. Likewise, I think we all deserve to know the circumstances of what happened. “At 22:00 hours, at the western edge of the village an unknown number of hostiles opened fire into the village. No one was injured, which has lead us to conclude that the attack was threatening, or provocative.” by 'us' Huan knew he meant the commanding corp of officers at the center of the unit, “Shang shi Ju Gan, you were front and center. What happened from your perspective?” Evidently Huan could tell, this would be an open debriefing. The air was quiet, the unusual situation becoming real. Speaking loud Ju Gan spoke in a clear voice, “My men and I were on patrol, headed south along the west-side foot path, about ten, fifteen meters from the creek at the cross house we came under fire from an unseen force. Taking cover, several shots of retaliatory fire were exchanged. Enemy fire stopped, and not knowing where they were we held back. When zhōngwèi Hui Shang arrived to back us up with squads in tow, we made a pursuit into the woods. Though, given how dark it was we did not stray far. We only found casings.” “How far would you say you penetrated?” “Perhaps five meters, six. We didn't want to lose the lights of the village or fall into a trap. Hui Shang gave us the order to withdraw and wait until morning.” The commander nodded with a bow. This was Gan's call to relax. “The situation has changed for us. From this point I want to double the guards full time. These security patrols will be extended into the day and I'll be issuing the new schedules later this morning. What would be most important is investigating who attacked us last night and will be organizing a full reconnaissance effort to find evidence of who, and where they went. Responsibility of such will go to Hui Shang, who I've authorized to make and selections. “I have also received a cable early last night, and this may be related to the incident up here. But on the survey route north one of the patrols were attacked. No one survived. Clearly the enemy is on to us, and I advise we all stay on our toes. The worst is yet to come.” The officer took a brief pause as he looked out at the troops. “If no one has anything else left to say. Then we're through here.” he said. No one else spoke. “You're dismissed.” The orchard was filled with the sound of movement as soldiers rose or leaned off of the apple trees. Boots crunched through the long grass. But Yu Huan remained, his head resting against the rough bark of the lichen-covered apple tree as he half dozed in the wet dewy grass. He heard something next to him and looked over to see Lei. He squatted on the other side of the tree, his rifle resting across his lap. Adjusting the bandoleer he wore he looked over at asked, “How are you feeling?” He showed a genuine concern in his dark eyes. But the rest of his face was without expression. His wide broad pan face caught in a soft frown. “I don't know, Zuang Lei.” Huang said, “I didn't sleep much.” “I understand.” Lei said. “I kept thinking someone was going to come in and kill me. Finish whatever job they tried to start.” Lei nodded. “Is this going to get much better?” asked Huang. “I suppose so. You got to sleep eventually.” Lei looked back the way everyone was going, “Time to eat first.” [h1]China[/h1] [h2]Zhongnanhai[/h2] Hou stood by the window. Looking outside as he poured a glass of water he peered through the lattice windows of the second floor. Walking across the paved courtyard outside visitors moved along, looking up at the darkened windows from where Hou stood hidden as they toured the small off shooting of the Forbidden City. Inside as outside a musty head permeated the air and every breath of air brought into his nose a smell of the dry, dusty ancient. At least looking outside at summer time Beijing Hou felt fortunate that he had ceiling fans. Positioned above the long central table in the middle of Politburo's conference room a sequence of fans hung from the ceiling. Pushing down on the air they kept a fair deal of circulation going to keep the room feeling comfortable. With the high ceilings and curtains drawn partially over the windows the comfort was advanced further. It was hardly a cold mountain breeze, but they were not sweating. “I think we're ready, comrade.” a voice said behind Hou and he nodded. “Should we start with reading last meeting's minutes?” Hou asked as he moved towards the table with a glass of water. Halfhearted, the ministers at the table rose their hands and voted in to begin with a reading of the minutes from the last meeting. Motioning to a middle-aged secretary in the corner of the room Hou bid she begin reading the notes from the last convening of the Politburo. The motion took only a minute. After the reading Hou asked from his seat, “Are there any materials we need to discuss from last week? Any developments?” The tacit silence from the ministers confirmed as much and Hou nodded, “So moving on to the material at hand.” he sighed as he opened up a file and produced the docket for that week's session, “Our first subject is a proposal by the Qíngbào Jú who asks for permission to begin foreign operations. Comrade Dong Jiao-Long, would you mind sharing with us the details?” A hunched over figure sat at the far side of the table, a cigarette between two long clawed fingers. With the light streaming through the crack between the curtains of the window his pale gray hair glowed with a soft light. He tapped out the cigarette on a nearby ash tray and rose, brushing his hand down his black uniform he began speaking, “Simply put, following the discovery of the Philipine based freighter sailing out of Vietnamese waters by our agents, it has been decided by myself and the deputy committee in the Qíngbào Jú that a far more robust network of foreign informants and agents is required to better inform the nation as to the activities of regional actors. While the freighter serves as evidence to us as to the involvement of the Philippines in Vietnam it does not make any assured confirmations. To the deputy committee and myself an expansion of our knowledge in foreign activities is necessary to validate our beliefs as to what is going on in Vietnam and the Philippines so we can be sure what is happening. “To this end, we have decided that we are permitted to establish a foreign directorate in order to organize and manage foreign agents and contacts with more accuracy and efficiency. The primary objectives of the new foreign directorate will be for the cultivation of moles and informants abroad, through direct and indirect networking through proxy bodies. Through the course of which we hope to gain insights into foreign operations, regional or even global. “Our immediate goals in the establishment of this directorate amount to two main missions: Firstly, to infiltrate the government of the Philippines so as to capture details on state memos and planning and to discover the source of the arms shipments to Vietnam, whether as sourced directly from the Philippines itself or by some foreign body. Secondly, in continued suspicion of the Waikou that we mature our observation from simply feeble attempts to observe Japanese movement at the border, or the accumulation of common knowledge rumors and hear-say into a verifiable body of information that effects Japanese national policy and military goals. “We in the Bureau believe that the Japanese are the closest primary actor in Vietnam. “That's all, comrade.” Jiao-Long said with a reptilian smile, and bowing. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the assumption we already had foreign contacts?” Zhu Mang asked from across the table, “Would it be too imprudent to simply expand from there as opposed to starting from scratch.” “Those contacts are in a different class.” Jiao-Long admitted, sitting back down, “We can hardly classify them as a formal intelligence asset. On average, they are an informal material that mostly keeps a finger on the underclass and the common citizenry of Taiwan and Japan. We can rarely glean anything from them that focuses on what the Japanese government is currently doing. But we can follow what is happening on the ground and how public opinion is moving. In so far these are only particular concerns per the Canton and Manchurian Directorates, as well as to a much more limited extent the Western Directorate. These missions are normal per regular regional operations.” “Yes, but these operations can not be expanded?” Mang asked, “They can't directly recruit people higher up?” “They do not have the resources.” Jiang-Long replied with a cold snap of his tongue, “The operations I am suggesting would require more intensive procedures. Most often, the directorates dealing directly with the citizenry of a neighbor are doing so as either refugees or with protected smuggling operations. These do not require any sort of masking or proxy, most often they are dealt with directly with agents whose openness depends on their attitudes. As such, they also prove a low-risk. The information is hardly high-value, and if a source disappears its not damaging to anyone but the source itself. A separate department focused to acting purely outside China would allow a concentration of resources and talent to achieve higher value objectives.” “They Philippines, didn't they just have an election several months backed?” a minister asked. Clean shaven neck and a wiry mustache. His hair was cut short. With pudgy fingers he lifted his glasses further up his squat nose to frame his beady eyes, “I seem to recall that.” “They did, Tsai Tang. Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal's party lost power.” Hue Yu said, speaking up as he lowered a glass of water from his lips, “Their new president, what's his name. Well I hear he's friendly to China.” “Then it might be an option to meet him.” Tang said with a smile, “Comrade Jiao-Ling, you were saying your men might need some sort of proxy, or a cover in your Foreign Directorate?” “I did.” the Qíngbào Jú said. “Would this work need to be illegitimate, or legitimate?” Tang again asked. “Either or.” “Perhaps we can settle the Bureau's infiltration in the Philippines here and now then. I was going to bring it up here today anyways but now is as good a time as either. I propose we extend foreign relations to the Philippines and the institution of an embassy there, likewise they here. As we did with Ethiopia. The world is wide and we will need friends of some kind. And who knows, perhaps with a receptive president we can build something.” “The Philippines is hardly a finished revolution though. I am as on edge about the principle surrounding extending relations with the Ethiopians on that. As I am about the Philippines.” Zhu Mang argued, “They're still acting on the market. It will be one bad decision from their government before the country goes bad to the dogs! We should really consider treating our relationships as a sign of approval, to build a bulwark against the bourgeoisie, not to approve supporting them or reactionary aristocrats.” “I believe your concerns were trounced when we spoke about Ethiopia.” Tang reminded him, “Never the less, whether it is all true I would argue we set precedent and we may as well continue with it. If at the least, the Philippines like Ethiopia are a non-imperial power and may be the diplomatic groundwork for a non-imperial alliance. Or more hopefully, our guiding presence in the country will serve as a beacon to guide the people to emancipation and self rule.” “Well spoken.” the young Hue Yu complimented. “I agree.” Lou Shan Yuang spoke up, having found the time that week to attend. Zhu Mang banged his hands on the table in frustration as he was slowly outmaneuvered on the subject. “So while out of place in the discussion I suppose at the least we have consensus on extending formal relations to the Philippines. But what about the Foreign Directorate?” “From what has been said of it, I would suggest that we may expand it further.” Hue Yue jumped in, “Expanding it from the Philippines as a part of the new diplomatic mission into Ethiopia as a part of the existing diplomatic mission. There would surely be ground there. As comrade Tang said, to be a beacon for the self emancipation of its people.” “There is ample opportunity.” Tsai Tang lit in with a smile, “In particular Swahililand.” he gave a knowing nod to Jiang-Long. For a while now Chinese assets had been sold or loaned to the Swahilis to materially strengthen them. “We've considered this in the Bureau,” Jiang-Long said, “This will come later.” “I want to ask as a change of subject, to Hue Yue: how is the survey I asked for.” “I've had the department organize the survey, the matters aboard the ships are being settled and methodology is being prepared. There is nothing concrete yet. But we'll soon be on our way to measuring Chinese fishery fields. May I ask why we're doing this?” Yue asked. “I had a personal hunch and been in contact with my brother. He's been writing back about how he has had to sail out beyond the Philippines. I'm concerned this puts our boats in danger of conflict with the Japanese. I would like in the future to organize some way we can stabilize our activity so we're not going so far.” “That's smart, I heard piracy is an issue too in the south.” Lou Shan Yuang said simply. “Moving further along on the docket... Shan Yuang, Ming Xing was prepared to organize extending rail service into Russia. Knowing the immediate moment is not optimal, is there anyway we can organize something in the future?” “Rice and roads then...” Commander Shan Yuang said dryly.