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El Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos (EE. UU.) informó este martes que no pedirá la pena de muerte para los narcotraficantes mexicanos Rafael Caro Quintero, Ismael “Mayo” Zambada y Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, alias el “Viceroy”, a pesar de las acusaciones de profundos vínculos con las actividades violentas de los cárteles.
Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint.. I'm Nelson John and here are today's top stories.Jet-Lagged in Kerala, may finally leave for home Jet-Lagged in Kerala, may finally leave for home A $115 million British F-35B stealth jet has been grounded at Thiruvananthapuram airport since June 14 after bad weather forced it to divert from the HMS Prince of Wales. While engineers work on repairs, the jet has turned into a social media sensation. Kerala Tourism joined the fun with a viral post: “Kerala is such an amazing place, I don't want to leave.” Cartoons have popped up showing the jet enjoying chai and snacks under palm trees. The UK Defence Ministry has dismissed rumors about dismantling and flying it back via cargo. The aircraft is expected to take off again as early as next week. Nipah Returns: Kerala on Guard Kerala is back on high alert after two confirmed cases of the deadly Nipah virus—one fatal. An 18-year-old girl from Malappuram died, while a 38-year-old woman from Palakkad is undergoing treatment. Nearly 500 people are on the contact list, with 29 in the highest-risk category. Despite this, no new cases have been reported, and containment zones in Malappuram have been lifted. A central health team is on the ground coordinating efforts. Nipah is a zoonotic virus with no vaccine, but Kerala's public health system has managed past outbreaks with early detection and isolation. Vedanta Called a ‘Parasite' in Explosive Report In a scathing 87-page report, US-based Viceroy Research accused Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL) of draining its Indian arm, Vedanta Ltd (VEDL), through aggressive dividend extraction, shady internal loans, and dubious brand fees. The report calls VRL a “parasite” with no meaningful operations of its own, relying on the Mumbai-listed company to survive. It highlights over $8 billion in dividends paid by VEDL despite falling cash flows, unexplained interest costs, and $1 billion in suspect loans. Viceroy also flagged flashy project announcements with little follow-through, a revolving door of senior execs, and 107 legal disclosures since 2022—far more than peers like Tata Steel. The takeaway? A pattern of poor governance and financial engineering. Tax Relief for Green Investors The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) just received a big push from the finance ministry. Its bonds are now classified as ‘long-term specified assets' under Section 54EC of the Income Tax Act. Translation: investors can save capital gains tax by investing up to ₹50 lakh annually in these bonds. The proceeds will be used exclusively for revenue-generating renewable energy projects. IREDA chairman Pradip Kumar Das hailed the move as a “pivotal moment” for green finance. The company posted a strong Q4 profit rise but saw a dip in Q1 earnings. Nonetheless, its stock ended 2.26% higher. Glenmark's $700 Million Global Leap Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has struck gold with the biggest outlicensing deal in Indian pharma history. Its US-based unit, Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI), has licensed a breakthrough blood cancer drug to AbbVie for $700 million upfront, with total potential payouts of $1.93 billion. The drug, ISB 2001, is a trispecific antibody targeting multiple myeloma—an aggressive blood cancer that resists conventional treatments. The therapy is still in early trials but has already received orphan and fast track designations from the FDA. Glenmark will retain rights in India and emerging markets, while AbbVie takes it global. “This puts India on the world map,” said Glenmark MD Glenn Saldanha. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint.. I'm Nelson John and here are today's top stories. Trump Hits Brazil With 50% Tariff In a fiery escalation, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports starting August 1. The move follows a diplomatic spat with Brazil's President Lula da Silva, who called Trump an “unwanted emperor.” Trump fired back with a sharply worded letter defending ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, calling his trial “a witch hunt” and accusing Brazil of censorship and unfair trade. “Brazil has treated Bolsonaro disgracefully,” Trump wrote, adding that the tariffs are just the beginning. A Section 301 investigation into Brazil's digital trade practices is also underway. Trump hinted at possible revisions if Brazil reforms, but warned of further hikes otherwise. #USBrazilTensions #TrumpTariffs #Geopolitics #JairBolsonaro #TradeWar Trump Threatens 200% Pharma Tariff, India Alarmed Trump is now eyeing a 200% tariff on pharmaceutical imports, a move that could hit India's $30 billion pharma exports hard. The threat follows a Section 232 probe launched in April into whether pharma imports pose a national security risk. The U.S. accounts for 31% of Indian pharma exports and sources nearly 40% of its generics from India. Indian manufacturers warn this could worsen drug shortages in the U.S. and disrupt patient care. “Adding tariffs will hurt patients and delay our investments in the U.S.,” said Kathleen Jaeger of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance. The final decision is expected soon, and Indian pharma companies are already weighing exit strategies. #PharmaTariffs #IndianPharma #GenericDrugs #TrumpTrade #DrugShortage New US Visa Fee Raises Travel Costs Planning a U.S. trip? Brace for a higher bill. Under Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a new $250 Visa Integrity Fee is in effect for most non-immigrant visas including B1/B2 (tourist/business), F and M (student), H-1B (work), and J (exchange). The fee, described as a refundable “good behavior bond”, is meant to enforce compliance with visa terms—no overstaying or unauthorized work. Starting in 2026, the fee will rise annually with inflation. For Indian travelers, it means the cost of a U.S. tourist visa jumps from $185 to $472 (~₹40,500). Refunds are rare and only apply to those who strictly follow the rules. #USVisaFee #ImmigrationPolicy #H1B #TravelCosts #VisaNews Vedanta Under Fire: “Ponzi Scheme” Allegation Viceroy Research, the short-seller that exposed Wirecard, is now targeting Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources. In a damning report, Viceroy labeled the Indian conglomerate a “Ponzi scheme,” citing mismanagement and unsustainable debt. Vedanta has denied the charges, calling them “malicious and baseless.” But co-founder Fraser Perring warned more reports are coming. Viceroy, known for its multi-report takedowns, has a track record of triggering steep stock declines—80% of its targets have suffered. Perring also disclosed that he and his team shorted Vedanta bonds in April. With more revelations likely, investor anxiety is growing. #Vedanta #ViceroyResearch #ShortSelling #FraserPerring #MarketWatch India Scrambles After China Cuts Fertiliser Exports Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has warned of the risks of overdependence on China for fertiliser supplies, following Beijing's export curbs on Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP)—India's second-most used fertiliser. India imported over 2.5 million tonnes of DAP in FY25, much of it from China. The restrictions have spiked global prices and sparked fears of shortages during the kharif sowing season. Goyal called for diversified sourcing, domestic production boosts, and long-term mineral partnerships. He also projected India's agri-exports could grow from ₹4.5 trillion to ₹20 trillion with better processing and branding. But the short-term focus remains: ensuring farmers have what they need to plant. #FertiliserCrisis #ChinaCurbs #PiyushGoyal #AgriExports #DAPShortage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On Episode 628 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Vijai Mantri, Co-Founder & Chief Investment Strategist at JRL Money as well as Vibhuti Garg, Director – South Asia at Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).SHOW NOTES(00:00) Stories of the Day(01:00) Markets look for cues even as Trump announces fresh tariff threats(05:30) Mining and metals giant Vedanta faces an Hindenberg moment with short seller Viceroy(06:51) Why and how India's market regulators have to disincentivse derivatives trading(16:25) Monsoon data is looking good, as is the cropping and agriculture patterns(17:26) Demand for education loans drop as visas get tighter(19:42) India's energy demand has dropped for first time since 2020 and renewable energy including nuclear see big production spikeshttps://www.investing-referral.com/aff303Subscribe to our NewsletterFollow us on:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin | Youtube
STORY OF AMERICA - An isolated small Atlantic sandbar situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia is notable for its role in the early history of America when France initiated the first attempts to settle on Sable Island. The Viceroy of New France, Marquis de La Roche, sent soldiers and settlers (mainly criminals) to the Island to establish a fishery and fur trading post. When the convicts mutinied, they were left on the tree-less and stone-less Sable Island. Most of the settlers died, but a few managed to survive in mud dwellings for 5 years before being returned to France. Poorly planned, the settlement failed and was abandoned in 1603. Host Mark Vinet's special guest Eric Yanis of The Other States of America podcast tells this intriguing story. Check out the YouTube versions of this episode at: https://youtu.be/mvyMoeyIWiU https://youtu.be/c72EPqzxWUc Sable Island books available at https://amzn.to/3os1vfA America History books available at https://amzn.to/3OnczVT Great Museum books available at https://amzn.to/43sVuOR ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA podcast: www.parthenonpodcast.com/history-of-north-america Mark Vinet's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistoricalJesu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's Books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
EU capacitará a policías mexicanos para identificar armas y explosivos Juez da 3 meses a “el Viceroy” para negociar su condena Ayuda a encontrar a José Josue Mancilla Pérez, desaparecido en Ocotlán
Rebbe Nachman's classic tale inspired me to compose this melody. Not only is this my favorite story, but the "Simple One" is my favorite character. It's the story of the underdog. Wherever he goes, people are smarter, stronger and more talented than he is. He's the brunt of endless ridicule and disparagement. He has one major virtue - simple emuna. Rebbe Nachman shows us where that takes him. See the lyrics below in English and in Hebrew. Credits: Guitar, arrangement: Guy Tzvi Mintz Violin: Daniel Ahaviel Melody, Lyric, native Israeli flutes: Rabbi Lazer Brody English I'll tell you a story from old, about a simple person with a plain mind. Despite that fact that people ridiculed him, by virtue of his innocence and integrity, he became the Viceroy of the kingdom. People call me simpleton But that just suits me fine I don't look at other folks I'm happy with what's mine So what if they have a high IQ And I'm not very smart They complain all the time But I'm happy with my part. Everyone makes fun of me But I really do not care It's better to be a simple guy Than some high-brow debonair. עברית אספר לכם סיפור מימים ימימה, על איש תם עם שיכל פשוט. למרות שכולם לעגו לו, בסופו של דבר, בזכות תמימותו וישרותו, נהיה משנה למלך. זה מעשה שלו וזה מעשה שלי למה לנו לסתכל ולדבר על אחרים אז מה אם כולם חכמים ואני תמים לרוב הם תמיד מתלוננים ולי תמיד טוב... כל העולם צוחק עלי בלב כה רם אך טוב יותר להיות תמים ולא להיות חכם! החכם אוכל אומצת בקר ואני אוכל פרוסה הוא רודף תענוגים ולי אין שום תאוה הוא אף פעם לא מרוצה ולי יש הסתפקות החכם תמיד מדוכא אך אני תמיד מבסוט! כל העולם צוחק עלי בלב כה רם אך טוב יותר להיות תמים ולא להיות חכם!
Cory Schisler isn't just building beautiful hotels and restaurants — he's rethinking what hospitality actually feels like. He's worked with brands like Proper and Viceroy, co-founded The Madrona in Healdsburg, and has a sharp eye for the subtle — and not-so-subtle — ways hospitality has evolved (and where it still needs to catch up). In this episode, we unpack: – The early experiences that shaped Cory's hospitality worldview – How to balance timeless service with modern guest expectations – The tech that actually enhances hospitality (and the kind that kills it) – Why QR code menus might signal the beginning of the end – What's next: the rise of micro-resorts and the white space between STRs and hotels Cory also shares how he approaches concept development, the difference between good and great creative partners, and what it really takes to build a team culture where guests feel seen — and staff feel proud. This one's packed with insight for anyone thinking about the next generation of hospitality brands. Learn more about Cory here. Explore The Madronna Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world's top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we'd love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Is Bali as exotic as it sounds? Viceroy GM Patrick Farrell shares the real story
In April, travel to the U.S. rebounded with a notable 12% increase in visits from Western Europe, particularly from Germany and the U.K., though the data excludes Canada, where visits have declined. The U.S. air traffic control system is under scrutiny due to outdated technology and staffing shortages, prompting the government to invest billions in modernization, including new towers and increased hiring. Meanwhile, Highgate is expanding its luxury Viceroy brand with new developments like The Harriman in Idaho, marking a shift toward upscale leisure destinations. U.S. Visits From Europe Rebounded in April After Sharp Drop Highgate Expands Viceroy With Sun Valley Launch, Branded Residences — Exclusive Newark Outages Expose Air Traffic Control Crisis — What to Know About the Fix Connect with Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/ WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/ Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social X: https://twitter.com/skift Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.
Mixed by Bixel Boys & Viceroy
This episode of The Option Block hosted by Mark Longo and featuring Henry Schwartz from Cboe Global Markets and Mike Tosaw from St. Charles Wealth Management discusses the latest in the options market. Key segments include an analysis of unusual options activity, the impact of SEC regulations, and Biden's economic directives. The hosts reflect on the contributions of Alex Jacobson to options education. The show also highlights intriguing activity in stocks like Venture Global, Vivid Seats, and First Majestic Silver Corp, and delves into the nuances of market-making and trading strategies. 03:16 Live from the Options Industry Conference 05:38 Market Analysis and Trading Insights 10:09 Retail Trading Trends and Zero-Day Options 23:46 Earnings Reports and Market Movers 30:24 Unusual Options Activity 34:13 Analyzing Vivid Seats Stock Performance 34:59 Exploring a Recent Trade in Vivid Seats 35:40 Arbitrage and Ticket Reselling Insights 37:04 First Majestic Silver Corp Stock Analysis 38:30 Call Palooza in First Majestic Silver Corp 42:28 Mail Block: Answering Listener Questions 44:08 Remembering Alex Jacobson, The Viceroy 50:45 Around the Block: Market Watch and Predictions 57:31 Upcoming Events and Final Thoughts
This episode of The Option Block hosted by Mark Longo and featuring Henry Schwartz from Cboe Global Markets and Mike Tosaw from St. Charles Wealth Management discusses the latest in the options market. Key segments include an analysis of unusual options activity, the impact of SEC regulations, and Biden's economic directives. The hosts reflect on the contributions of Alex Jacobson to options education. The show also highlights intriguing activity in stocks like Venture Global, Vivid Seats, and First Majestic Silver Corp, and delves into the nuances of market-making and trading strategies. 03:16 Live from the Options Industry Conference 05:38 Market Analysis and Trading Insights 10:09 Retail Trading Trends and Zero-Day Options 23:46 Earnings Reports and Market Movers 30:24 Unusual Options Activity 34:13 Analyzing Vivid Seats Stock Performance 34:59 Exploring a Recent Trade in Vivid Seats 35:40 Arbitrage and Ticket Reselling Insights 37:04 First Majestic Silver Corp Stock Analysis 38:30 Call Palooza in First Majestic Silver Corp 42:28 Mail Block: Answering Listener Questions 44:08 Remembering Alex Jacobson, The Viceroy 50:45 Around the Block: Market Watch and Predictions 57:31 Upcoming Events and Final Thoughts
This episode of the Crypto Rundown from the Options Insider Radio Network, hosted by Mark Longo, provides listeners with an in-depth analysis of recent trends and trading activity within the crypto derivatives markets. Key highlights include bitcoin and ETH performance metrics, volatility statistics, and shifts in market sentiment. The program is brought to you by Amberdata, which offers insights and data for digital asset trading and compliance. The episode notes a somber farewell to Alex 'the Viceroy' Jacobson, a respected figure in the options community. Upcoming content from the Options Industry Conference is also previewed. 01:05 Welcome to the Crypto Rundown 03:24 Bitcoin Breakdown 05:08 Exploring the Altcoin Universe 08:45 Conclusion and Upcoming Content
This episode of the Crypto Rundown from the Options Insider Radio Network, hosted by Mark Longo, provides listeners with an in-depth analysis of recent trends and trading activity within the crypto derivatives markets. Key highlights include bitcoin and ETH performance metrics, volatility statistics, and shifts in market sentiment. The program is brought to you by Amberdata, which offers insights and data for digital asset trading and compliance. The episode notes a somber farewell to Alex 'the Viceroy' Jacobson, a respected figure in the options community. Upcoming content from the Options Industry Conference is also previewed. 01:05 Welcome to the Crypto Rundown 03:24 Bitcoin Breakdown 05:08 Exploring the Altcoin Universe 08:45 Conclusion and Upcoming Content
This episode of The Option Block with Mark Longo and Mike Tosaw (St. Charles Wealth Management) covers a wide range of topics including an analysis of the current options market, significant earnings reports, and detailed breakdowns of specific trading activities. The hosts discuss various trades in companies like Cinemark and Gray Media, debating the merits and risks involved. The episode also features an emotional tribute to Alex Jacobson, a key figure in the options community, who recently passed away. The tribute includes personal anecdotes and memories of Alex's contributions to the industry and the Options Insider community. 01:54 Host Introduction and Upcoming Events 03:12 Technical Challenges and Co-Host Banter 04:07 80s Trivia Challenge 07:43 Pro Trading Crate Giveaway 08:50 Market Analysis and Trends 15:15 VIX and SPY Options Breakdown 19:43 Small Caps and Qs Analysis 25:16 Top 10 Most Active Options 27:34 Stock Performance Overview 28:06 Earnings and Options Activity 29:33 Top 10 Stocks Countdown 36:49 Cinema Mark's Recovery 41:03 Gray Media's Volatility 44:21 Tribute to Alex Jacobson 53:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
This episode of The Option Block with Mark Longo and Mike Tosaw (St. Charles Wealth Management) covers a wide range of topics including an analysis of the current options market, significant earnings reports, and detailed breakdowns of specific trading activities. The hosts discuss various trades in companies like Cinemark and Gray Media, debating the merits and risks involved. The episode also features an emotional tribute to Alex Jacobson, a key figure in the options community, who recently passed away. The tribute includes personal anecdotes and memories of Alex's contributions to the industry and the Options Insider community. 01:54 Host Introduction and Upcoming Events 03:12 Technical Challenges and Co-Host Banter 04:07 80s Trivia Challenge 07:43 Pro Trading Crate Giveaway 08:50 Market Analysis and Trends 15:15 VIX and SPY Options Breakdown 19:43 Small Caps and Qs Analysis 25:16 Top 10 Most Active Options 27:34 Stock Performance Overview 28:06 Earnings and Options Activity 29:33 Top 10 Stocks Countdown 36:49 Cinema Mark's Recovery 41:03 Gray Media's Volatility 44:21 Tribute to Alex Jacobson 53:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Tristán de Luna y Arellano is ordered by the Viceroy of New Spain to construct a series of forts and settlements from the Gulf, to the Mound Builders at Coosa, to Santa Elena in modern day South Carolina. With 1500 settlers, only an act of God could derail, De Luna's plans. For more information on the archeological finds related to De Luna see this wonderful podcast: https://thehistoryoftheamericans.com/calamity-at-pensacola/
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In this episode, we explore VICEROY Scholars, a program designed to prepare students for military and civilian cybersecurity careers in the defense sector. Host: Todd Duplantis Director, HCCTV Guests: Robert Glover HCC Interim Executive Director, Military Education Programs Tim Thomas Chief Academic Officer, Griffiss Institute Web Links: https://www.hccs.edu/military-education/ https://www.griffissinstitute.org/ https://www.viceroyscholars.org/ #VICEROY #cybersecurity #defensecareers
Ireland may have been England's first colony but, by the 17th century, Irishmen were carving out their own imperial legacies in India. Gerald Aungier, an ambitious East India Company official, saw Bombay as a new frontier for plantation and trade. Drawing from his family's plantation experience in Ireland, he laid the foundations for the establishment of the legal and economic framework that would define colonial rule in India for centuries. A hundred years later, John Nicholson, an Ulster-born soldier, became a symbol of British military might - and brutality. Known for his extreme violence during the 1857 uprising, Nicholson led savage campaigns against Indian rebels, earning both devotion from his men and horror from his enemies. His actions, once celebrated in Britain, are now remembered as some of the worst atrocities of colonial rule. At the height of the Raj, another Irishman, Lord Dufferin, presided over India as Viceroy. Deeply aware of Ireland's own history under British rule, he feared that Indian nationalism would follow the same path as Ireland's Home Rule movement. So, how did these Irishmen shape the empire that once subjugated their own people? Listen as William and Anita are once again joined by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, author of Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism and the Early Modern World, to uncover the contradictions of Irish imperial history. _____________ Empire UK Live Tour: The Booze & Brews live show is going on a UK tour! William and Anita will be discussing the extraordinary history of ordinary drinks such as tea, Indian Pale Ale and gin & tonic, highlighting how interconnected our drinks cabinets are with the British Empire. Tickets are on sale NOW head to aegp.uk/EmpireLive2025 to buy yours. Empire Club: Become a member of the Empire Club to receive early access to miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to live show tickets, bonus episodes, book discounts, and a weekly newsletter! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up. Email: empire@goalhanger.com Instagram: @empirepoduk Blue Sky: @empirepoduk X: @empirepoduk goalhanger.com Assistant Producer: Becki Hills Producer: Anouska Lewis Senior Producer: Callum Hill Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Este jueves, el gobierno de México entregó a Estados Unidos a un grupo de 29 narcotraficantes, entre los que se encuentran figuras de alto perfil como Rafael Caro Quintero, el Z40 y el Viceroy. Aunque en un principio se habló de que estos criminales habían sido extraditados, la realidad es distinta, ya que la formalidad del juicio de extradición no se ha cumplido en todos los casos. "Nunca habíamos enviado tantos criminales en tan corto tiempo", explicó Óscar Balmen, periodista, en entrevista para MVS Noticias con Luis Cárdenas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The intimate story of a unique marriage spanning the heights of British glamour and power that descends into infidelity, manipulation, and disaster through the heart of the twentieth century.DICKIE MOUNTBATTEN: A major figure behind his nephew Philip's marriage to Queen Elizabeth II and instrumental in the royal family taking the Mountbatten name, he was Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia during World War II and the last Viceroy of India.EDWINA MOUNTBATTEN: Once the richest woman in Britain—and a playgirl who enjoyed numerous affairs—she emerged from World War II as a magnetic and talented humanitarian worker who was loved throughout the world.From British high society to the South of France, from the battlefields of Burma to the Viceroy's House, The Mountbattens is a rich and filmic story of a powerful partnership, revealing the truth behind a carefully curated legend.Was Mountbatten one of the outstanding leaders of his generation, or a man over-promoted because of his royal birth, high-level connections, film-star looks and ruthless self-promotion? What is the true story behind controversies such as the Dieppe Raid and Indian Partition, the love affair between Edwina and Nehru, and Mountbatten's assassination in 1979?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.
Liar’s Club (1665 W. Fullerton) is set to host two fundraisers for victims of the L.A. fires: Friday, January 24, and Sunday, January 26. The Friday event, featuring Local H, Viceroy and Tuff Sudz, is sold out. The Sunday event, featuring Handcuffs, Jon Langford and more TBA, will go on sale soon (keep an eye on Liar’s Club’s social media for updates). I’m joined by Liar’s Club owner Herb Rosen to talk about the events. We met for ice cream, as kids do, so we could chat over gigantic sundaes from Margie’s on Montrose. ## Car Con Carne sponsored by Easy Automation: easy-automation.net Transform your living space with cutting-edge home automation. Experience seamless control over audio/video, lighting, climate, security, and more. Embrace the future of smart living – your home, your rules. Get a quote by visiting easy-automation.net, or give Dan a call at 630.730.3728 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Yosef is set as Viceroy of Egypt. He is presented by Pharaoh as the very symbol of Egypt. All is going well for him when suddenly...his brothers show up. He must address historic rifts and unresolved conflicts and consider who he is in light of all that he finds around him. This parasha is always read during Hanuka. In this episode we look at the complementary aspects of the Hanuka story with Joseph's and how it might apply to our lives.
On this week's episode Daniel and Sherman talk about one of the new commanders from jumpstart. Evereth is a rakdos commander that allows us to sacrifice creatures and artifacts to pump our commander and has a big final damage ability on removal! Definitely check this awesome deck out. Is there anything we missed ? Deck list below https://www.archidekt.com/decks/9952172/evereth_viceroy_of_plunderPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/Intothe99Go to house of cards for the best place to grab lists! Use the promo code IT99 for a discount! Supports a great shop, saves you money and supports the show! https://houseofcards.ca/Check out these amazing sleeves ! Ai Armor is the best in the game and if you click the link below you can get some amazing new designs. Support an awesome company and support us in the process!https://www.amazon.com/stores/AiArmor/page/E772952B-3C23-4BE5-AA38-81B49CA42450?maas=maas_adg_2D6C4AC19673AFF658FDF6AD59314A37_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maasIf you want awesome audio equipment buy Rode ! Our affiliate link is below!https://brandstore.rode.com?sca_ref=6254570.6h6a2qaxNBLooking for some cards but they're too expensive? Check out our Friends over at www.AbyssProxyShop.com Where you can order high-quality proxies to help with the deck budget! Tell them we sent you with our Promo Code IT99 for 15% off your order!We have new merch! Make sure you check it out!teespring.com/stores/intothe99 Intro musicMusic from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/dreamlineLicense code: 9JQ8GOXP0XXBBDW3Outro music Music: www.purple-planet.comSupport the show
Join Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk as they unpack the latest in hotel and travel news! This episode covers the U.S. hotel industry's downgraded growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025, with insights into shifting economic factors and profitability trends. The team also explores Viceroy Hotels and Resorts' new rebranding strategy focused on delivering immersive, authentic guest experiences. On the travel side, they discuss Spirit Airlines' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and what it means for travelers, along with record-breaking Thanksgiving travel projections and an exciting new dog-friendly cruise launching in 2025. Stay informed with this week's essential updates! — Good Morning Hospitality is part of the Hospitality.FM podcast network and a Hospitality.FM Original. If you like this podcast, then you'll also love Behind The Stays with Zach Busekrus, which comes out every Tuesday & Friday, wherever you get your podcasts! This show is structured to cover industry news in travel and hospitality and is recorded live every Monday morning at 7 a.m. PST/10 a.m. EST. So make sure you tune in during our live show on our social media channels or YouTube and join the conversation live! Thank you to all of the Hospitality.FM Partners that help make this show possible, and if you have any press you want covered during the show, fill out this form! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Gungans take the field against the battle droids, Padmé leads the Naboo against the Viceroy, and Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi duel Darth Maul. We are joined by Craig Dickinson from Reading Between the Reels, and Tom Gross from Teachers in the Dungeon for this discussion of The Phantom Menace. The segment of The Phantom Menace we are discussing runs from 1:44:38 to 1:54:39. In this fully armed and operational episode of Podcast Stardust, we discuss: Craig and Tom's memories of seeing The Phantom Menace for the first time, their farovrite characters, and scenes, The Gungans battle against the battle droids and their role in the overall fight, Padmé's infiltration into Theed palace, The battle in the hangar and Qui-Gon's instructions to Anakin Skywalker to hide and stay safe, Darth Maul's emergence in the hangar and the reveal of the double bladed lightsaber, The Naboo assault on the Trade Federation battleship with the N-1 starfighters, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's fight against Darth Maul. For more discussion of The Phantom Menace, check our the last episode in this series, which is episode 786. Thanks for joining us for another episode! Subscribe to Podcast Stardust for all your Star Wars news, reviews, and discussion wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Find Jay and her cosplay adventures on J.Snips Cosplay on Instagram. Join us for real time discussion on the RetroZap Discord Server here: RetroZap Discord. Follow us on social media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube. T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, masks, and posters are available on TeePublic. Find all episodes on RetroZap.com.
The Gungans take the field against the battle droids, Padmé leads the Naboo against the Viceroy, and Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi duel Darth Maul.
So the year 649 was so bad that they went and changed the whole calendar to forget about it! In 650 a white pheasant is brought to the court, and they sieze on that as a chance to rename the era from Taika to Hakuchi. That should make things better, right? This episode we talk about this event--their reasoning, as well as what is recorded as having happened. We also take a look at the completion of the Ajifu no Miya and how it was renamed to the Naniwa no Toyosaki no Nagara no Miya, or the Toyosaki Nagara Palace of Naniwa. This is thought to be what we know today as the Early Naniwa Palace, and it was a real change, and, in many ways, the physical manifestation of the Taika era reforms. For photos and more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-113 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 113: The White Pheasant. The officials of the court stood sentinel at the palace gates, a formidable line of authority draped in flowing, vibrant robes that signified their rank. Each step down the line revealed a cascade of colors, a living tapestry of power and prestige. Only the envoys from distant shores stood apart, their unique uniforms adding an exotic flair to the proceedings, as well as a certain legitimacy as outside witnesses. The air crackled with anticipation as the crowd waited, their breath held, until four figures emerged, bearing aloft a magnificent litter adorned with intricate decorations that shimmered as they caught the sun's rays. Upon that litter rested a cage, and within it,a dazzling white pheasant, plucked from the untamed wilds of Anato. Whispers rippled through the throng; some questioned the significance of this fragile creature, while others dared to see it as a divine omen. Was this bird as pure as the tales had promised? The capital had buzzed with rumors ever since its unexpected arrival, and those in the back stretched their necks, desperate for a glimpse of this rare marvel. The past year had cast a shadow over the Yamato court, leaving the air thick with uncertainty. Yet, this ethereal bird, shimmering with the promise of renewal, seemed to herald a shift—an opportunity for rebirth that everyone craved. At the very least it was a much needed distraction from everything that had previously occurred. As the litter glided past, the courtiers bowed deeply in reverence, forming two disciplined lines that followed through the grand gates. Together, they marched into the palace, hearts pounding with hope. They were not just entering a building; they were stepping into a new era, one that, with a whisper of fate, could rise above the struggles of the past. This episode we kick off the start of a new era—the Hakuchi era, or the era of the White Pheasant. It followed the Taika era, and it does have a different feel. It is less about new edicts and more about how things were shaking out and coming together. And one of the things that was coming together was the Nagara no Toyosaki palace, which is believed to be the same one known to archaeologists as the “Early Naniwa Palace” unearthed in Ohosaka and dated to the mid-7th century. We'll actually start with a look at this palace, continuing our discussion from last episode, as our sovereign, Karu, aka Koutoku Tennou, seems to have been a bit crazy about all of his palaces, and figuring out just which is which can be an issue in and of itself. We'll also touch on the start of this new era, and look at why and what it meant to come up with a new era name—a new “nengou”—in the middle of a reign like this. And so we catch ourselves at the start of the year 650, still, technically, in the Taika era. The year started well enough, with the sovereign celebrating the new year at the Ajifu palace and then coming straight back—the Ajifu palace was apparently yet another new palace and it seems construction had only recently begun. Now, There is some confusion between the Ajifu palace and the Toyosaki palace. The Ajifu palace is traditionally thought to have been located on the opposite side o f the Yodo river, in the area of modern Settsu city, on the site of what became the Ajifu Shrine. Others have suggested that it was actually on the Kanimachi plateau, which is where the Toyosaki palace was. Notably the “Toyosaki” palace is not located anywhere near the modern area of “Toyosaki” with which it seems to share a name. From what little information we have, it seems to have been quite the complex. As to why he would need yet another palace, I could not say. And yet, later we see that the Ajifu Palace is eventually named the Nagara Toyosaki Palace. So are they one and the same? Did they move the Toyosaki Palace? Or did they build the Toyosaki Palace and then *rebuild* it as the Ajifu Palace—aka the Nagara Toyosaki Palace? At this point the way that the Chronicles talk about it, the Ajifu palace site seems to have been almost purely conceptual, while previous accounts seem to indicate that the Toyosaki Palace was already in use. That would have made for an interesting New Year's celebration, probably in temporary buildings erected quickly amongst the grass and fields, with some nearby tomb mounds that would need to be leveled or moved to make room, we are later told. It seems they were still surveying the site, but I guess Karu really was looking for a change. And so he celebrated the new year at the Ajifu palace, but quickly returned back to wherever the work of the government was actually occurring. As to where that was, well, we talked last episode about all of Karu's meanderings from one palace to the other. The Nihon Shoki text itself is not exactly clear, as I read it. It doesn't help that the term for palace, or “miya”, appears to refer to both a complex and a single residence, without a clear distinction given between the two. And so, though I mentioned it last episode, let's recap what we know about the palaces this reign. So in 645, we are told that Karu decided upon Naniwa and we are told that this is the “Toyosaki” palace. Then in 646, Karu took up residence in the “detached” palace of Koshiro in Sayabe, Naniwa. This was likely him repurposing the Miyake, the government offices with the royal granaries. He was only there for about two months, though, before he returned. Then, in the third month of 646, he issues an amnesty claiming to have taken up residence in the new palace—but we aren't told which one. In 647, two years into the reign, the government offices at Wogohori are torn down and a palace was built there. Now this is somewhat confusing because there appear to be two government districts: Wogohori and Ohogohori. You'll probably notice how similar these two sound, though it may have been more like “wogopori” and “opogopori”. Back in the day. Wo-gohori, or the “Small District”, is mentioned once, but mainly just as a place name. Ohogohori, or the “Big District” has previously shown up as the place with government offices for the envoys from overseas. Confusing matters, in a later entry, Karu eventually moves out of the palace at Oho-gohori and into the palace that would be known as the Nagara Toyosaki palace. So was he at Wogohori and then later at Ohogohori? Or was there some scribal error such that the two got confused? And then in 648 we are told that Karu moved into the Toyosaki palace in Naniwa. Two years later, in 650, and he is now celebrating New Year's at the Ajifu palace, which may refer to a location on the other side of the Yodo river, but is likely in the spot we now think of as the Nagara Toyosaki Palace. We then know that in 651 they were still building a palace. And it isn't until the last day of 651 that Karu would formally move from Ohogori into the Ajifu palace, which we are told was then renamed the Nagara no Toyosaki no Miya---the Nagara Toyosaki Palace. I have several thoughts on all of this. One, is that there may have been two “Toyosaki” palaces—there was the Toyosaki palace that he first moved into, and then there is the Nagara Toyosaki Palace. “Nagara” appears to mean something like “Long Handle”, but other than that, I don't know that there is a good translation. It may refer to the fact that it was meant to last longer, or that it was even larger than the previous palace. It may even be that the original Toyosaki Palace was just a few of the buildings, and that eventually it grew into the larger Nagara Toyosaki Palace, but if that is the case, what is up with term “Ajifu”? Was that just one building in the larger palace? Or are earlier mentions of “Toyosaki” anachronistic, and perhaps it wasn't until the entire thing was complete that they gave it that name? Many modern accounts appear to conflate the Toyosaki palace with the Nagara no Toyosaki Palace, saying it just took that long to build. That would imply that the Ajifu palace really was there on the Kamimachi plateau, at the known Naniwa palace site. Alternatively, “Nagara” could possibly have been a reference to the fact that the Ajifu palace was an extension of the larger Toyosaki complex, possibly built out of the government offices of either Wogohori or Ohogohori. For all that we don't know exactly what was happening here, we have a pretty good idea in the archaeological record about at least one of the palace sites on the Kamimachi plateau. This site has been identified as the Toyosaki palace of Karu, aka Koutoku Tennou, and it would actually be reused at a later date. Sure enough, there are remains of at least two palace complexes on the site, with the one from our period known as the “Early Naniwa Palace” site. Based on its size and layout, this Early Naniwa palace was the first of its kind. Previous palaces in Asuka had not dissimilar designs in terms of the general arrangement, but this clearly made use of the structure of continental style palace complexes, and was likely intended to be a new, permanent capital. The north of the palace complex consisted of a rectangular, walled section 185 meters east to west and 200 meters north to south, making up the “dairi”. That's almost 10 acres of enclosed space, set aside as the sovereign's personal living quarters. South of that was a smaller area with the front hall, one of the largest for its time. It was 36 meters east to west and 19 meters north to south. This would have been the hall called the “Daigokuden” in later palaces, where official rituals would take place. There was a gate between it and the Dairi, to the north, as well as a gate to the south, flanked by two octagonal buildings, which led to the Chodoin, the main working area of the court complex. This is part of what sets this palace apart from others, and why it likely took a while to build. It may also explain all the different palace names as there was probably a lot of construction for a long time. In previous instances, as far as we can tell, the sovereign's palace was both their home and the building where state business was conducted. Think, perhaps, of the White House, in the US, and then imagine that the White House, the Capitol Building, and the Supreme Court were all part of the same compound, with only the barest of concessions to privacy between them. In this new layout, the dairi was reserved to the sovereign, there was a small area for the official throne room, and then south of that was the Chodoin, the court hall complex. This was a huge change to how things had operated in the past. While the main audience hall was still nominally part of the dairi, so the “private” areas of the palace weren't entirely “private”, it was still leaps and bounds more separated than in the previous palaces we've uncovered. Sure, the idea of lining up buildings from the front gate to the larger buildings towards the back, making people approach successively larger and more impressive buildings, generally seems to have been a thing as far back as the Makimuku Palace near Mt. Miwa, back in the third century, but even then, there is no clearly defined separation between the public and private spaces of the sovereign. There does seem to have been restrictions on who could enter what parts of the compound, with the sovereign's personal quarters being the most restricted, but now there were walls and gates and guards separating one area from another. The Chodoin itself, the main “business” or “public” area of the court, appears to have been about 262.8 meters north to south and 233.6 meters east to west—a little over 15 acres. Most of that was open space between the 14 “choudou” halls lined up symmetrically, 7 on either side. These were the individual buildings where the various government officials were to meet and conduct business, as well as conduct rituals, feasts, etc. There was a southern gate that provided the entrance to the Chodoin and led to another large area with the Choshuden, the buildings where officials could change into and out of their formal court uniforms, and otherwise prepare for or close out the day. South of that was the main gate for the entire compound, the Suzaku gate, named for Suzaku, the red bird of the south, one of the four directional guardian spirits. We know the buildings largely from their post holes. They were made of wood, and it is likely that most of them were thatched. They may have been painted white, vermillion, and green—classic paints that were based on continental styles and which were said to help prevent the wooden pillars from rotting too quickly. It is unsurprising that this would have taken years—but it is also possible that they built some quarters for the sovereign and then built out from there. This also would have been key to a lot of the governmental reforms, providing an actual location for the work that the reforms were directing. Of course, there was a lot of work to be done, and the halls in the palace were limited, so two areas to the east and west of the complex were set aside and appear to have been built up with other government offices, suitable for carrying out the day to day minutiae that was required. There is still a question of whether or not they also instituted the larger grid system city layout around the palace complex. Currently we have no evidence for that, though perhaps they were considering it, eventually. Unfortunately, with all of the construction in Osaka over time, I don't know if we could be able to find or discern such a layout if we did find it. For now, we will stick with what we know: an absolute unit of a court complex that took them several years to build. Getting back to the Chronicles: Our next entry in the Nihon Shoki, after the New Years celebration, tells us that in the second month, Kusakabe no Muraji no Shikofu, the governor of Anato Province, brought a white pheasant to the court. The report claimed that it had been caught by Nihe, a relative of Obito, the Kuni no Miyatsuko of Anato, on the 9th day of the first month, on Mt. Wonoyama. For reference, the land of Anato was at the far western end of Honshu, part of the San'yodo, itself a designation for the lands along the Seto Inland Sea coast from Harima, modern Hyogo prefecture, out to Anato, modern Yamaguchi prefecture. It was on the Honshu side of the Shimonoseki strait, which was the main entrance from the Korean Strait and the Japan Sea to the Seto Inland Sea. The area would later be known as Nagato, which would eventually be called Choshu, an area which any students of the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate are sure to recognize. We discussed back in Episode 94 how white or albino animals—assuming they weren't normally white—were considered particularly auspicious. So in 598, the land of Koshi sent a white deer they had found to the court of Kashikiya Hime, which is to say Suiko Tenno. And so the white pheasant from Anato was clearly seen as an omen—but was it truly auspicious. Here we see the court investigating this, and how exactly they go about that is somewhat enlightening as to how the court thought in general. First, they made inquiry of the lords of Baekje—I would suspect this referred to those recognized as Baekje nobility residing in the archipelago, rather than sending a correspondence to the peninsula and back. That they went to someone from Baekje would seem to indicate the importance they placed on Baekje as a conduit for continental learning. Indeed, the answer they got back—whether from a single, unnamed individual or a group of Baekje nobility—was that White Pheasants were recorded in the 11th year of Yongping, which would be 68 CE to us, during the reign of Ming of the later Han dynasty. Han Mingdi, aka Emperor Ming of Han was born Liu Yang and also known as Liu Zhang, reigned from 57 to 75 CE. Ming and his son, Emperor Zhang oversaw a period of particular prosperity for the Eastern Han dynasty. On the other hand, there was an attempt to curse Emperor Ming in 67 CE, which ended with the death of the ambitious Prince Jing of Guanglin. Then, in 70, Prince Ying of Chu was also convicted of using magic to try and secure blessings while he fomented revolution against the emperor, and he was exiled, where he committed suicide. So I don't know if this marks the pheasant as particularly auspicious or not. Asking the Buddhist priests, who frequently studied not just Buddhist canon, but other continental texts, they mostly drew a blank—at least on the specifics of a white pheasant. They did recommend that a general amnesty would not be amiss, as it would bring joy to the people. I guess if you aren't sure about the nature of an omen you can certainly do something to help it out. And while they weren't specifically sure about a white pheasant in Buddhist scripture, a couple of priests did have suggestions. The Priest Doutou recounted a story from Goguryeo, when the court there wished to build a new Buddhist temple, but could not divine a suitable and auspicious site. When someone witnessed a white deer, they chose that spot for the temple, which was then called the Temple of the Park of the White Deer. According to Doutou, this temple established Buddhism in Goguryeo. Furthermore, he recounted, when a white sparrow was seen on the farmstead of another temple, or when a dead crow with three legs had been brought back from the Tang dynasty, the people had proclaimed both of these to be good omens. So given all of that, Priest Doutou concluded, a white pheasant must be especially auspicious. The Priest Bin agreed. Bin, you may recall, had been heavily relied upon for his knowledge in setting up the new governmental structure, which would seem to indicate that he was quite well-versed in continental ideas, and he had even traveled there himself. He provided the court several different reasons that a white pheasant might appear. First, it might appear when a ruler extended his influence to all four quarters. Second, it might appear when the sovereign's sacrifices are appropriate, and when his banquets and clothing are in due measure. Third, it might appear when the sovereign cultivates frugality. Finally, it might appear when the sovereign was humane. He didn't provide any specific examples of how he arrived as his conclusions—at least nothing was recorded—and so he may have been relying on his own expertise. However, he did recount one tale in particular. It was a story from the time of Emperor Cheng Wang of the Zhou dynasty. Cheng Wang is said to have reigned in the 11th century BCE, from 1042 to 1021, and so take that how you will. Important to us is not what happened so much as what the Yamato court believed had happened—what was the historical truth that they were workin with at the time? According to Bin, during Cheng Wang's reign, the Yuehshang family brought a white pheasant to the court. Apparently it had been three years without any exceptional storms or rains, and neither the rivers nor seas had flooded. Apparently the old men found this an extremely long time to go without some kind of disaster, indicating that the pheasant was clearly an auspicious omen in deed. Priest Bin also mentioned other accounts, but the Chroniclers omitted them from the record. Whatever they were, the court had heard enough. The White Pheasant was declared auspicious, and a new era was declared: the Hakuchi, or White Pheasant, era. They let the white pheasant loose in the royal garden, presumably with clipped wings or otherwise kept from flying off, and then preparations were made immediately to officially inaugurate the new era 6 days later, on the 15th day of the 2nd month of 650. Before we get into that, though, I want to pause and take a look at something here: The authority of precedent. Time, as conceived of in the continental model, was cyclical. There was the cycle of day and night. The cycle of the year and the repeating seasons. Likewise the planets and heavens all had their own cyclical periods. In addition, there was the idea that the Yin and Yang forces in the universe likewise cycled through predictable patterns—the sexagenary cycle, or cycle of 60 years, being an example of a longer term cycle. And then there was the Buddhist cycle or death and rebirth, at least as long as one remained tied to this mortal plane of existence. If time is cyclical, then one can look to the past to predict the present. Stories of the past were seen as holding authority over similar events in the present. Understanding these historical stories and being able to pull from them provided its own kind of power and authority. Rather than attempting to reason from first principles, precedent was often a more convincing argument. Being able to read and write and recall all of these stories gave scholars the ability to influence events. Of course, who had time to do all that other than people like Buddhist priests or the doctors of the court? This is also one of the reasons that people would have had to write down histories and, eventually, to keep diaries and accounts of what happened. Those accounts would, over time, become essential records to invoke for moments like this—and even a record like the Nihon Shoki or the Kojiki would have similar significance. In many ways, it is propaganda, but not just in how it describes the past as the Chroniclers wished it to be, but it set the precedent for succeeding eras to look back on. While we may challenge that view, today, for many from the 8th century onward the events described in the Nihon Shoki were considered the gospel truth in more ways than one. Of course, all that aside, we've had plenty of auspicious events before, but why, now, would they be enough to trigger a new era? Why not just note them and move on? Well, to start with, let's face it, nobody is likely to name 649 as the greatest year ever, any time soon, and certainly not the Yamato court. The Crown Prince, Naka no Oe, had been tricked into thinking that his co-conspirator, Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa no Maro, was a traitor. To be fair, Maro had been more than complicit in the murderous takedown of his own relatives to set up the current government, and history has time and again suggested that those who put someone on the throne can just as easily take them off it. That's why they are often either brought deeper into the inner circle, or removed—either physically or more euphemistically. In this case, though, it seems that fears of Naka no Oe and others were unjustified, and they sent the royal troops after an innocent man; or at least a man as innocent as any of the other elites at that time. After all, the wealth of the elites came from the rice fields that they owned—or that were at least designated for their stipends—and they certainly weren't working those fields themselves, so make of that what you will. All of that had led to the death of Maro, his family, and the rest of his household. That, in turn, led to the death of his daughter, Miyatsuko Hime, who was married to Naka no Oe himself. When they finally did realize what had happened, the best justice they could figure out was to send the scandal-mongering Soga no Musa out to Tsukushi in a form of luxurious banishment. Demotion by promotion, as he was made the Viceroy of Tsukushi, the top man of the court at the edge of the archipelago. To say that the year 649 had been a bust is an understatement. Don't get me wrong, it was a far cry from the worst year that the archipelago had ever experienced—or would in the future, for that matter. But that was scant comfort to the folks living in it. And so it was with some relief, I suspect, that the court welcomed news from the far flung land of Anato, because they really needed a distraction. With that in mind, let us move on to the events of the 15th day of the 2nd month of the year 650, describing how they inaugurated the new era. Now, if the Chronicles are to be believed, this is not the first time they inaugurated a new era—we are told that year 645 was considered the first year of Taika, or Great Change. But, assuming that did happen, and that it wasn't just named after the fact, the era would have started at the same time as a new reign. Previously, from everything we can tell, dates were based regnal years. Things are recorded as happening in the X year of Y sovereign. Some of the oldest accounts seem to even note it more as X year of the sovereign who reigned from the Y palace, as the palace was likely more distinct a feature than the names and titles that they used, and the posthumous names, like “Koutoku Tennou” were not actually used until the end of the 7th or early 8th century. It is possible that Hakuchi is actually the first true nengo—or era name—and the first one that appears in the middle of a reign—though even here some say that the instantiation of “Hakuchi” is anachronistic. Personally, I see no harm in taking it at face value, at least for now, while acknowledging that everything in the Nihon Shoki is suspect. Still, we are approaching a time when the events being written down may have still been in the living memory of people alive at that time. 720 is only 70 years away, and the project started even before then, so unless there are obvious discrepancies or supernatural events, we can probably assume that the Chronicles at this point are largely truthful, if possibly embellished. And so it is we are told of what happened. To begin with, the court lined the ministers of the left and right and all of the functionaries in four lines outside the “purple” gate, as they would during a New Year's reception, like the one they had just had at the Ajifu palace. The “Purple” gate was probably a reference to the southern gate The fact that the courtiers lined up at the south gate in the same way that they would have during a New Year's reception would seem to indicate that this was seen as the start of a new year. It was no longer a Taika year—starting on that day it was now the first year of Hakuchi. The month and day would not change, however, so it was still the 15th day of the 2nd month. That means that technically the first year of Hakuchi would only have ten and a half months in the year—maybe eleven and a half, if there was an extranumerary month. Likewise, the last year of Taika would only have one and a half months. And if you are thinking that must make Japanese dates really tricky around the start or end of year, you don't know the half of it. Sometimes events will get placed in the wrong “era” because they happened a few months before or after the change, and people forget that when they are translating to and from western dates. It also means era names can't just give you the years of the era, but really need to give you the month and date it starts and ends. Fortunately, most people are quite understanding about the occasional mistake. But anyway, I digress. The courtiers were lined up as though for new years, and then they watched as Ahata no Omi no Ihimushi and three others bore a litter with the pheasant on it and went ahead through the gates. The others followed in rank order—with the Ministers of the Left and Right leading the various functionaries. The Baekje prince Pungjang and his uncle, Sesyeong Chyungseung, whom we mentioned back in Episodes 105 and 107, as well as Mochi, the physician to the King of Goguryeo, a scholar attached to the court of Silla, along with other important persons all advanced as well into the Central court of the palace. The pheasants litter was taken up by Mikuni no Kimi no Maro, Wina no Kimi no Takami, Miwa no Kimi no Mikaho, and Ki no Omi no Maro, who brought it to the front of the hall. There, the ministers of the left and right then took the front of the litter, while the Prince of Ise, Mikuni no Kimi no Maro, and Kura no Omi no Woguso took hold of the rear. Together, they placed it in front of the throne. The sovereign, Kura, and the Crown Prince, Naka no Oe, examined the pheasant together. The Crown Prince then backed away, and the new Minister of the Left, Kose no Omi, presented a congratulatory address. He gave thanks to the sovereign and claimed that the pheasant was a sign that the sovereign would rule for one thousand autumns and ten thousand years across the Great Eight Islands—the Ohoyashima—of the archipelago and the four quarters of the earth. Effectively, this is a long-winded version of “Banzai”, the congratulatory wish of ten thousand years of life for an emperor. Karu responded to this address by quoting auspicious times that white animals had been omens of good rule. He then gave credit to the ministers and functionaries, and urged them to continue to provide good service. Then he declared a general amnesty, forgiving various offenses, and noted that the era name would change to “Hakuchi”. Karu then directed presents to be handed out to the Ministers, the Daibu, the officials of lower rank, all the way down to the clerks. Each received gifts commensurate with their rank. Finally, Kusakabe no Muraji no Shikofu, the governor of Anato, was commended, and granted the rank of Daisen along with what we are told were a goodly number of presents. In addition, the commuted taxes and corvees of Anato were remitted for three years, meaning that Anato would be allowed to keep all of the rice and product for themselves—something that was likely quite significant, though it is unclear whether this means that it was felt down at the level of basic workers or it just meant that the governor was able to keep what he taxed from the people for himself. And with that, we enter a new era. Forget the unfortunate bloodshed and regrettable decisions of the previous year, this was a new start. And that is often how these eras were seen. Whether it was a new reign or things were just going so poorly that the court felt there needed to be a new start, future nengo would often follow a similar pattern. And there was no set time for how long an era would last. In fact, here's a little trivia for you: The shortest nengo in Japanese history was “Ryakunin”, and it lasted just under two and a half months from late 1238 to the start of 1239. It really shows how important it was to come up with a good name of these eras, as “ryakunin”, which seems to mean something like “humane period”, could also be written with characters meaning “abbreviated person”. So they decided to abbreviate the era, instead, changing the era name again. This first year of the new era of Hakuchi continued relatively normally. In the fourth month there were envoys from Silla—another source, according to the Nihon Shoki, claimed that Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla sent envoys every year from this reign onward. Then, in the tenth month, we see more work being done on the palace—presumably the Ajifu palace. We are told that presents were given out in respect to tombs that had been demolished to make room for the new construction, as well as for the people who had been moved off their land. Then Aratawi no Atahe no Hirafu was sent to place the boundary posts, no doubt marking out the outer extremities of the new palace precincts. In addition, that month work began—no doubt at the court's direction—on a giant tapestry, or mandala, with a sixteen foot tall Buddha image, attendant Boddhisatvas, and figures of all eight classes of beings according to the Buddhist cosmology. That includes Heavenly beings, such as Devas; dragons; demonic Yaksha, Gandharva, and Asura; the bird-like Garuda and Kimnara; and the snake-like Mahoraga. All told, there were some 46 figures. It doesn't seem to say where it was to be installed, though it may have been made for the new palace complex. Also in that year we are told that the court ordered Aya no Yamaguchi no Atahe no Ohoguchi to carve one thousand images of Buddha—but once again, we aren't told where they resided. We do know that the 16 foot tall embroidered Buddha was completed in the 3rd month of 651: it had taken them approximately five months. The day after they were completed, the Dowager Queen, Takara no Himemiko, aka the former sovereign, Kougyoku Tennou, who had stepped down in 645, invited ten Buddhist teachers and prepared a feast and entertainment, likely to bless and show off the completed images. At the end of 651, the palace itself was finally complete. We are told that over 2100 priests were invited to the Ajifu palace to read the Issaikyo on the last day of the year. The Issaikyo is the entirety of the Buddhsit canon, and so this was probably done in the abbreviated tendoku style, with priests just reading the chapter headings and flipping through the sutras, though with 2100 it is possible they just each red a different portion, all at the same time. As it grew dark, the palace courtyard was kept bright with 2700 lights while we are told that the Antaku and Dosoku sutras were read. Aston notes that these “sutras” of Antaku and Dosoku don't appear to reference any actual sutras that we know of, and posits that they may simply be rituals for home safety and the like. Given what we know about the fate of so many of these old wooden palaces, it makes sense. After the sutras were read, the sovereign, Karu, formally moved from his residence in Ohogohori into the new palace, which was called Naniwa no Nagara no Toyosaki no Miya. As I noted at the beginning, it is unclear if this was the Ohogohori or Wogohori, and it is even somewhat murky as to whether or not it was considered a palace. Not to mention that after the New Year's ceremonies were completed, the royal chariot—which would have been carrying the sovereign—went back to Ohogohori. I guess things weren't quite ready yet. He would return on the 9th day of the third month, and even then we don't see a note that the palace was completed until the 9th month of 652.. There is a lot here where we see things that appear to be scheduled so that they can occur on auspicious days, even if everything else isn't quite ready. So, for example, reading the sutras and formally “moving” into the palace on the last day of the year so that one could host the New Year's celebration there the next day. That seems like something that was done purely for ceremonial purposes. You may recall that in 650 they did the same thing. There are a few more references to the palace. On the 15th of the 4th month of 652, the Buddhist ascetic E'on was invited into the Dairi to explain the Muryouju Sutra, also known as the Sukhavati Vyuha sutra. E'on was made a lecturer, and there were said to be 1,000 ascetics in the audience, listening to his teachings. That apparently went on for five days, being discontinued on the 20th day. And the power of the sutras, and E'on's teachings, is shown in the weather, because the Chronicles claim that large rains began to fall in a monsoon that lasted for nine days. This wasn't a gentle “water your crops” kind of rain. This was more like a “demolish your buildings and destroy your fields” kind of rain. There must have been massive flooding as men, horses, and cattle were caught up in the water and drowned. Given the way this is written, I'm not entirely certain of the takeaway. Were the sutras that powerful that they brought rain, and E'on didn't understand his own strength? Or was it a punishment for stopping E'on from continuing his lecture? Or was it the rains that caused the lectures to stop, perhaps making it untennable for people to sit out in the courtyard and listen as the rains came down? My rational brain suspects the latter, but I'm not sure how it was read by the people of the 8th century. On the last day of 652, priests and nuns from around the country were invited to the dairi, to the interior of the palace, and entertained and given a feast. Alms were given and lights kindled to celebrate the new year. But that's the last entry I really see for the palace, as such. There was plenty more happening through the era, and we'll touch on that. We start to see Silla and Tang dynasty getting chummy, and we also see some of the reforms still working their way across the land. We also have Yamato's own expeditions out to the Great Tang dynasty. But we'll save that for the next episode, as we continue to dive into the Hakuchi era. And so, until next time, thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.
27 Then Peter answering, said to him: Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee: what therefore shall we have?Tunc respondens Petrus, dixit ei : Ecce nos reliquimus omnia, et secuti sumus te : quid ergo erit nobis? 28 And Jesus said to them: Amen, I say to you, that you, who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel.Jesus autem dixit illis : Amen dico vobis, quod vos, qui secuti estis me, in regeneratione cum sederit Filius hominis in sede majestatis suae, sedebitis et vos super sedes duodecim, judicantes duodecim tribus Israel. 29 And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.Et omnis qui reliquerit domum, vel fratres, aut sorores, aut patrem, aut matrem, aut uxorem, aut filios, aut agros propter nomen meum, centuplum accipiet, et vitam aeternam possidebit. After the death of his wife, St Francis, Duke of Gandia and Viceroy of Catalonia, renounced his high position in order to enter the Society of Jesus. He was the Third General of his Order and died at Rome A.D. 1572.
Join Jessica and Rachel as we sit down with India Hicks for a conversation about the incredible stories in her illustrative biography about her mother, Lady Pamela Hicks. India Hicks is the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten and goddaughter of King Charles III. You can find her on Instagram @indiahicksstyle Follow us on Instagram @podcastroyal Email us at hellopodcastroyal@gmail.com
This episode looks at the impact in Britain of continuing trouble in India. There Gandhi had launched his salt march, walking to the sea to make salt, in breach of the British monopoly and the heavy tax on salt inflicted by the colonial authorities. That had led to his being gaoled. In Britain, the report of the Simon Commission recommended limited reform in India, but not the granting of Dominion Status. That was in spite of the view of one of the Commission's co-chairs, Labour's Clement Attlee, who had been convinced of the need for that status following his travels with the Commission around India. The Prime Minister called a Round Table conference in London which had representation from many Indian groups, unlike the Simon Commission which had had none. Unfortunately, the gaoled Gandhi's organisation, the Indian National naturally didn't attend, and it was the most significant in the sub-Continent. That rather underlines how silly it is to label an opponent as criminal and then proclaim that you don't talk to criminals – it makes negotiations meaningless. Fortunately, the Viceroy of India Lord Irwin (later Lord Halifax) released Gandhi and agreed the Gandhi-Irwin pact with him, which included his attendance at a second Round Table. Winston Churchill was furious that any moves were being made towards Indian self-rule at all, and that his party leader Stanley Baldwin backed them. Baldwin was also under pressure from a campaign by press barons to make him adopt a policy backing tariffs on imports. Baldwin saw off that pressure, denouncing the newspaper proprietors for pursing power without responsibility, ‘the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages'. Even so, he began to soften his own opposition to tariffs, further adding to Churchill's disquiet. By January 1931, he'd had enough and resigned from Baldwin's leadership team. That, for him, was the start of what he would later call his ‘wilderness years'. Illustration: Gandhi, for Churchill a seditious, half-naked fakir, visiting millworkers in Lancashire while in England for the Second Round Table conference. Photo by Keystone Press Agency Ltd. National Portrait Gallery x137614. Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License
Bienvenidos a Tras las Líneas. Hoy, desentrañamos la historia de El Viceroy, la sombra del Cártel de Juárez, su ascenso al poder y cómo mantuvo su imperio en medio del caos y la violencia. El 9 de octubre de 2014, después de años de intensa persecución, las fuerzas federales mexicanas capturaron a Vicente Carrillo Fuentes en Torreón, Coahuila. Su detención representó un duro golpe para el Cártel de Juárez, provocando una reconfiguración del panorama del narcotráfico en México. La captura de El Viceroy marcó el fin de una era para la organización que una vez dominó la ruta de la droga hacia Estados Unidos. La captura de El Viceroy tuvo un impacto profundo en el Cártel de Juárez y en la dinámica del narcotráfico en México. Su liderazgo había mantenido una estructura cohesiva dentro del cártel, y su detención provocó una serie de enfrentamientos y divisiones internas. El legado de El Viceroy persiste en las historias de violencia y corrupción que siguen afectando a Ciudad Juárez y más allá. Distribuido por Genuina Media
Monarchs and milkweed go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. Viceroy butterflies look an awful lot like monarchs. Learn more about these beautiful pollinators in this episode! Support the podcast by becoming a patron! www.patreon.com/dispatchesfromtheforest Email me or donate via PayPal! Dispatchesfromtheforest@gmail.com Check out the merch store! www.Cafepress.com/shop/dispatchesfromtheforest Also follow Dispatches from the Forest on FaceBook, Instagram and TikTok!
In the wake of his son's death, Fracnsico de Almeida takes the law into his own hands. His need for revenge culminates in the pivotal Battle of Diu in 1509. Flash Point History YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTYmTYuan0fSGccYXBxc8cA Contribute on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FPHx Leave some feedback: flashpointhistory@gmail.com Follow along on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FLASHPOINTHX/ Engage on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlashpointHx
By 1943, the price of rice was beyond unaffordable for most in Bengal, and people were dying in the streets. Despite government censorship of letters, news spread about the famine and the tide turned with the introduction of a new Viceroy. Yet when aid eventually did arrive from other regions of India, it was so chaotically handled that some food shipments were halted at the station. Listen as Anita and William are joined again by Kavita Puri to explore the legacy of what is sometimes dubbed “Churchill's Famine”. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We compare the 'The Death of Slim Shady' tracklist to the 'Recovery' tracklist, we discuss the Cardi B & Joe Budden drama, we watch Forgiato Blow's 'Trump Trump Baby' video featuring Amber Rose, and we review the new music from this week. This week's albums are Childish Gambino's 'Bando Stone And The New World', Denzel Curry's "King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2', and $NOT's 'Viceroy'. FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS! Twitter: https://twitter.com/off_the_top_tv/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/off.the.top.tv/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@off.the.top.tv/ JOIN OUR DISCORD SERVER https://discord.gg/GbtjKYsp BUSINESS EMAIL
Andrew Lownie – Lord Louis Mountbatten abuse allegations.Andrew Lownie is a historian and author and former fellow of Cambridge college. He has written substantive and well-researched books on British society and particularly the Royal family.In this interview he talks about the growing allegations that Lord Louis Mountbatten was a serial child / sex abuser.From WikipediaLouis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German descent, was born in the United Kingdom to the prominent Battenberg family and was a maternal uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a second cousin of King George VI. He joined the Royal Navy during the First World War and was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command, in the Second World War. He later served as the last Viceroy of India and briefly as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India.The fresh allegations – one of several that have surfaced recently – is different as the accuser has provided legal, medical and witness evidence, and has also provided his name. Something other accusers have been reluctant to have published for obvious reasons.Book : Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of WindsorThe Mountbattens: The Lives and Loves of Dickie and Edwina MountbattenStalin's Englishman: Guy Burgess, the Cold War, and the Cambridge Spy RingBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.
¡Bienvenido a este episodio de adrenalina! En donde GAFE423 tiene el honor de entrevistar a Irak, un elemento del GOPES que además nos explica que es el GOPES, como es el curso para entrar, la depuración, las fases del curso y sobre todo grandes operaciones en las que estuvo involucrado. Conoce cómo fue que lograron detener a un gran capo sin aún saber quién era, logrando ejecutar una maravillosa jugada. Este importante capo estuvo tratando de negociar ofreciéndoles millones de pesos, pero se negaron para no dejar huir a este personaje al cual capturaron y es apodado "El Viceroy". El adiestramiento en las fuerzas armadas es un punto muy importante porque ayuda a forjar un carácter, tener mejor rendimiento, mayor aguante, pero a la larga te va afectando mentalmente, llegando al punto de causar traumas y trastornos, además de en la vida civil o personal te pierdes todo y en un momento que necesites ayuda muy pocas personas te la apoden ofrecer. Distribuido por Genuina Media
The Mamluk Armada appears in the Indian Ocean! It is deployed against the son of the Viceroy, Lourenço de Almeida. However, the young Almeida is determined for redemption in his father's eyes for his prior failure at the battle of Dabhol. His need to regain his father's favor leds him to make serious mistakes. Flash Point History YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTYmTYuan0fSGccYXBxc8cA Contribute on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FPHx Leave some feedback: flashpointhistory@gmail.com Follow along on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FLASHPOINTHX/ Engage on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlashpointHx
The human dynamo that is Anne de Courcy returns to the podcast by popular demand after her brilliant interview about Princess Margaret and Tony Snowdon. This week she is speaking about one of her most successful books ‘The Viceroy's Daughters', the saga of Lord Curzon and his three talented, beautiful but often wayward daughters at the pinnacle of British and imperial high society in the first half of the 20th Century.Overlapping love affairs, dalliances with dangerous young men and campaigning alongside the most charismatic politician of the age, Oswald Mosley, the former socialist turned fascist leader of Britain's ‘Black Shirts' in the 1930s - this is a story with everything and an incredible window into a glittering but also menacing world of privilege, power and decadence. If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast, please hit the ‘Like' button and we now also have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the 'three dots' next to the ‘download' button. You can buy Anne's books and those of the other authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers...https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-viceroy-s-daughters-anne-de-courcy/5024095?aid=12054&ean=9780753812556& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help...https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on YouTube...https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videosAndrew Lownie...https://twitter.com/andrewlowniePhil Craig...https://twitter.com/philmcraigThe Scandal Mongers...https://twitter.com/MongersPodcastYou can get in touch with the show hosts via...team@podcastworld.org(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please).Production byTheo XKerem IsikProduced byPodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Last time we spoke about the battle of Wakde. Operation Tornado, the amphibious assault of Wakde island faced many logistical challenges, but not as much Japanese resistance. The landing at Arare was a large success, seeing the allies secure a beachhead before advancing inland. Through a combination of air, naval and ground attacks, the smaller Japanese force was pushed back. Likewise the islands of Liki and Niroemoar were taken with relative ease as well. Over in the Burma-India theater, the battle for Kohima was gradually seeing the Japanese fail to meet their objectives. Without ammunition or provision supplies flowing to them, the Japanese at Kohima had no hope of holding back the allies. Thus the Japanese were beginning to fall back and now were setting up a defense to stop the allies from entering central Burma. Meanwhile a siege was being erected against Myitkyina. This episode is the Siege of Myitkyina Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Last time we saw General Stilwell had managed to seize the Myitkyina airstrip. Now allied forces were gradually securing northern Burma, pushing further towards Mogaung. The Japanese 18th Division were absolutely battered and barely holding on around Kamaing. However when the American-Chinese forces seized Myitkyina's airstrip, they had failed to quickly attack the main town, which the Japanese were reinforcing heavily. Now they were being attacked from both ends. This prompted General Stilwell to dispatch General Boatner with the task force to try and turn things around. Simultaneously, Stilwell had just received word of the Chindits abandonment of the Blackpool stronghold, outraged by this he ordered them to advance northwards to support the attack on Mogaung. Three brigades, the 111th, 14th and the 3rd West Africans were to advance north to support Calvert's 77th Brigade to take Mogaung. The Chindits were incredulous. Nonetheless, Lentaigne, pressed by Stilwell, sought to have his 3rd West Africans, the 14th and 111th Brigades squeeze the Japanese along the western flanks of the Mogaung valley, in which Mogaung occupied the lowest point of an inverted triangle, with the other two points being Kamaing on the top left and Myitkyina on the top right. With any luck, his three brigades could capture Kamaing, which occupied an enviable place on the Mogaung River. The 111th Brigade was to move north-east and operate in the Pahok-Sahmaw area, destroying dumps and blocking enemy movement. Thebattered men of the 111th Brigade struggled to cope with the march north, to the hills east of Lakhren and west of Mogaung. Conditions were appalling on the three-day march to Lakhren village. From there, the best approach to Mogaung would be identified. They were making for a waterlogged, mosquito-infested area north east of the Lake. This area was also alive with Japanese units. They were required to support 77th Brigade's attack on Mogaung, by pushing from the west as Calvert's command advanced from the south-east. However, 111th Brigade was spent after Blackpool and many men were forced to return to Lakhren village. There was also a new task for 14th Brigade – the capture of Taungni. With the casualties evacuated, 14th Brigade abandoned the Kyunsalai Pass and headed north towards Mogaung. The steamy swamps continued to take their toll within the ranks of the York and Lancaster columns. Dysentery was rife. Animals collapsed and were shot where they dropped. They reached Mokso on June 25. This much-used rallying point, consisting of four huts, was a sea of mud and detritus, decorated with black clouds of flies. Rations were being consumed rapidly in an area devoid of drop zones. Brigadier Brodie, 14th Brigade's Commander, responded to the extreme circumstances. His men, despite their dangerously poor condition, were still expected to harass the Japanese along the railway and support 77th Brigade's assault on Mogaung. He formed his columns into “Light Battle Groups”, free of heavy weapons and the wounded and sick, now lying together in the mud. Meanwhile, some Nigerian units were now struggling on the road to Lakhren along the reailway, as were the York and Lancaster sick – around 300 in all, 200 of whom were dangerously ill. On May 25th, the same day the Chindits had quit Blackpool, Stilwell ordered the Morris Force to seize Waingmaw, across the river from Myitkyina. Unfortunately, the Japanese had entrenched themselves at the town and enjoyed the luxury of a natural moat after heavy rains flooded the fields on the approaches to the town. Morrisforce was not a proper brigade, having only two columns of troops, to which a third from the 111th Brigade had been added 1,500 troops in total. It had been conceived to harass the Japanese on jungle areas. Now, they were up against fortified positions. The result was a bloodbath. Morrisforce then began to rapidly deplete in strength. By July 14th, it was to consist of exactly three platoons, roughly 120 men. On May 31st, Boatner then launched his first coordinated attack against Myitkyina seeing the 42nd regiment reach the Waingmaw ferry road. Built up twelve feet above the neighboring paddy fields, the road gave the Japanese a magnificent defensive position, which they exploited cleverly. The Chinese recoiled from this natural fortification but were able to beat off a Japanese counterattack. The 150th Regiment reached the riverbank and drew up in an arc about a sawmill in which the Japanese had a strongpoint. Meanwhile Colonel Hunter's 2nd battalion reinforced with engineers advanced to Radhapur where they were heavily counterattacked by the 114th Regiment. The next day, the inexperienced 236th Engineer Battalion was sent against Namkwi. The motive behind the 236th's attack was to contain the Japanese in the Namkwi area and introduce the battalion to combat under relatively easy conditions. One company of the 236th did succeed in entering Namkwi but instead of promptly consolidating to meet the inevitable Japanese counterattack fell out for a break. The Japanese counterattacked and drove the unwary engineers right back out of the village. Both the engineers and the 2600 replacements of the Galahad Unit that had recently arrived lacked adequate experience fighting the Japanese and as such suffered badly when fighting against them. Colonel Hunter's veteran Marauders, however, had suffered ample casualties and thus needed these green replacements in order to continue existing as a fighting force. Boatner tossed a last ditch effort on June 3rd, but his Chinese forces had suffered 320 casualties and their ammunition was running low. While he waited for supplies to build up, he used his green american troops to give them some experience, the Chinese meanwhile tunneled towards the Japanese still suffering heavy casualties. This allowed more Japanese troops to break through and reinforce Myitkyina, with a huge relief force of the 52rd Division soon on its way. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Matsuyama Yuzo of the depleted 56th Division was facing a deadly offensive of his own on the Yunnan front. After a series of negotiations between Chiang Kai-Shek and the Americans, it had been agreed, General Wei Lihuang's Y Force would cross the Salween River to attack the Tengchong and Longling areas. This would effectively allow the allies to link the Ledo Road with China, bypassing the heavy Japanese concentration along the Burma Road. Although the Americans had supplied the Y Force with artillery and ammunition, the Chinese had failed to bring the Y Force divisions up to strength, and many questioned their training. Regardless, General Wei planned to have elements of the 20th army group cross the Salween at several points before initiating a full assault against Tengchong once reinforcements had been ferried through. Further south, elements of the 11th Army Group would also cross the Salween to launch attacks on Pingda and Longling. On the night of May 11th, the Chinese forces began to cross the Salween River against little Japanese resistance, since Matsuyama had decided not to defend the crossing sites, instead placing his main line of resistance along the ridge line some 10 miles west. The 198th Division was able to assemble in front of the Mamien Pass; the 36th division was successfully ferried through Mengka; the brand new 39th Division managed to secure the Hueijen bridge and the 76th and 88th Divisions were converging on Pingda for the attack. On May 12th, the 198th were making good progress against the Mamien Pass as the 36th had surrounded the Japanese outposts in the eastern end of the Tiantouzhai pass. However Colonel Kurashige Yasuyoshi had his 148th regiment launched two surprise night counterattacks. All that night, the Japanese quietly filtered down from a nearby ridge and assembled near the Chinese position. Attacking at dawn, they surprised the Chinese and almost wiped them out before aid came. When darkness came, the 36th were at their bivouac. That night, the Japanese attacked vigorously, overrunning the division command post and causing the flustered 36th Division to fall back to the Salween. At dawn, the 53rd Army commander, Maj. Gen. Chou Fu-cheng, pushed a regiment across the Salween and restored the situation by attacking the Japanese flank. General Chou was an aggressive and tenacious fighter, whom his Manchurian soldiers had nicknamed Old Board-Back, and who had the reputation of never having yielded an inch to the Japanese. But even Chou could not immediately restore the morale of the 36th Division, which for some weeks took no further part in the Ta-tang-tzu fighting, and the rest of the 53rd Army had to bear the burden of clearing the pass. In response to this, Lt General Zhou Fucheng of the 53rd Army pushed the 116th and 130th Divisions across the river to resume the advance towards Tiantouzhai. At the Mamien pass, the 592nd and 594th Regiments began clearing out the Japanese strongpoints while the 593rd Regiment moved west over mountain byways to emerge into the Shweli valley by the 16th, securing the western end of the pass and forcing Kurashige's men to withdraw into the fortified village of Shangzhaigongfang. To the south, the New 39th would be able to secure Hemushu by the 17th. Yet the Japanese under Colonel Matsui Hideji soon recovered from the initial surprise of the Chinese offensive and the 1st battalion, 113th regiment drove the Chinese from Hung-mu-shu. The Japanese exploited their success and pushed the entire New 39th Division back against the Salween. Further south, the 76th Division met outposts of the 1st battalion, 146th regiment and forced them back to the heights overlooking Ping-ka. Meanwhile the 88th Division from the north was fighting through a series of fortified villages as it headed south to join the 76th Division. By the 16th, thirteen villages were occupied in the area northeast of Ping-ka, but the Japanese, as they withdrew, received reinforcements. Strengthened by the 2nd battalion, 113th regiment, the Japanese did not attack the Chinese who were pursuing them, but moved south and hit the Chinese 228th Regiment south and west of Ping-ka. Sensing the imminent danger from the north, Matsuyama redirected the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 113th Regiment to reinforce Shangzhaigongfang, where Kurashige would continue to resist staunchly. Reports from the American liaison teams were not cheerful. Americans observing the Kaolikung Range actions found that Japanese fire was accurate and economical, and that the enemy's use of camouflage and concealment approached perfection. The Japanese revealed no disposition to surrender though they were heavily outnumbered, often surrounded, and had neither air support nor air supply. On the other hand, the Americans reported that the Chinese endlessly wasted manpower and ammunition in costly frontal attacks. They reported that relations with the Chinese were not always as friendly as had been hoped, and they believed there would have to be better cooperation between Chinese and Americans if the Japanese were to be defeated. The Chinese were described as merely tolerating the Americans' presence and as paying little attention to their advice. The liaison personnel freely admitted their own shortcomings, and by their reports suggested that patience was the most important quality for a liaison officer to cultivate when dealing with the Chinese. Matsuyama ha spread his forces widely, over a near 60 mile sector, thus he would be unable to perform mobile operations and was gradually shifting to a defense of the Kaolikung mountain range by the 20th. This allowed the 53rd Army to continue their advance and the New 39th to retake Hemushu. By late May, with the 198th Division apparently contained on the north, Kurashige then rushed with the 113th Regiment to reinforce the Tiantouzhai front, where they successfully stopped the 53rd Army on its tracks. Yet on June 1st, the 54th Army, emerged in the Shweli valley from Ta-tang-tzu pass to join the 593rd Regiment from the Ma-mien pass. Next day the Chinese occupied Chieh-tou village and began patrolling the Shweli valley. They took the advice of Y Force officers and donned Burmese clothes. So disguised, they found it easy to enter Japanese-held villages. When taken by surprise, the Japanese were willing to abandon many of their outer defenses. With TNT charges dropped by the 27th Troop Carrier's C-47's when the weather cleared, the 198th Division also blew up the last pillboxes at Chai-kung-tang on June 13th. When the last shots had been fired and the Chinese farmer boys of the 54th Army reported the area secure, there was bewilderment at finding only 75 Japanese bodies in defenses that must have been manned by at least 300 men, and shock and nausea when the Japanese kitchens revealed how the defenders had been able to prolong their stay. Pitiful and ghastly evidence showed that the Japanese had resorted to cannibalism when their rations failed. On June 14th the Japanese further quit Chiao-tou-chieh, leaving many stores to the 2nd Reserve and 36th Divisions. In the end, the Kurashige Detachment would pull back to Watien while the Inose Battalion retreated towards Kutungchieh. General Wei then ordered the 71st Army to cross the Salween, just below the Huitung Bridge to attack Longling while a containing force attacked the strong Japanese harrison at Lameng. 20,000 troops of the 71st would cross the river by June 5th. At this time the 76th division left a regiment to besiege Pinga while the bulk pushed on to attack Matsuyama's HQ at Mangshi, while the 9th Division crossed the Salween, cutting off Pingda's line of communication. On June 4th, the new 28th Division attacked Lameng and forced Major Kanemitsu Keijirous garrison to retreat into the Mount Song fortress where they would hold out for several months. While the New 28th held down Kanemitsu, the 87th Division continued towards Longling, joining up with the 88th on June 8th to begin a siege of the main Japanese position on the Yunnan front. The Japanese still held onto the Burma Road east of Lung-ling, but as of June 7th the 87th Division had covered about two thirds of the distance along the Burma Road from the river to Lung-ling. The Chinese had to deal with small Japanese tanks, which had some moral effect but failed to halt the Chinese advance. Indeed, the latter had been fairly swift, for the Chinese had surprised the Japanese, and had been able to ease their supply problems by the capture of some Japanese rice depots. To meet the new crisis, Matsuyama dispatched the 1st battalion, 119th regiment to stop the 2nd army at Xiangdaxiang and then attack Longling from the south. Matsuyama ordered Colonel Matsui Hideji to immediately relieve Longling from the north; and for the Yamazaki Composite Group to keep the Mangshi-Longling road open. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Song Xilian, had been making some progress against Longling's two outer heights, the stout defenders would manage to repel the uncoordinated Chinese assaults for about a week. Four days of un-coordinated infantry attacks, with little artillery support, failed to carry the three mountains inside Lung-ling, and there was nothing to show for the heavy drain on the 71st Army's ammunition stocks. This gave more time for Matsuyama's reinforcements to arrive by June 14th. On the 15th Matsui launched a heavy attack, in coordination with the besieged defenders, successfully defeating the 71st Army and consequently driving the Chinese from the vicinity of Longling. The Japanese had thus been able to drive back 10000 Chinese effectives by an attack with only 1500. Repeated attempts by American liaison personnel with the 71st Army to learn how a small Japanese garrison could drive back a Chinese army group only brought embarrassed smiles from Chinese officers. The Chinese finally related on June 25th that the 261st Regiment had bolted, and that the commanding general of the 87th Division had attempted suicide. When fuller details of the fighting around Longling were available, anger and annoyance spread from Y Force to the Generalissimo himself. Y Force personnel considered the Chinese decision to withdraw from Longling inexcusable because the 11th Army Group had sent forward no reinforcements to meet the initial Japanese counterattacks. Of 21 battalions in the Longling vicinity on June 14th, only 9 took part in the fighting. In describing the defensive attitude of the 259th Regiment, as an example of the conduct that had cost the chance of a speedy breakthrough into Burma, one American liaison officer wrote: "From the time that we crossed the river until we reached Longling, the regimental commander continually had his troops in the rear digging emplacements and trenches in the fear that they would have to retreat." Yet that is it for the Yunnan battle for now as we need to head over to the Kamaing area. General Tanaka's 18th Division were withdrawing with the 22nd and 38th division in hot pursuit. To the south the Seton Roadblock was being held by 112th Regiment, threatening to thwart Tanaka's plans. Coming to their aid, General Sun sent his 113th and 114th Regiments to descend upon Lawa, where General Aida began an unauthorized retreat on June 4th. The abandonment of Lawa severely affected the defense of Kamaing, thus General Aida was relieved of command and replaced with Colonel Imaoka Soshiro. Colonel Shoshiro immediately began to dig in at Lagawng. Meanwhile the bulk of the 55th and 56th regiments were holding onto the Nanyaseik area as General Liao's 65th regiment cut their withdrawal route off on June 1st. While the rest of the 22nd Division were applying pressure from the north, the heavily outnumbered Japanese had no choice but to quickly cut a trail southeast, finally withdrawing on june 7th. Their retreat was chaotic, both regiments lost contact with each other and with their subordinate units as they made separate ways towards Kamaing. It would only be the 3rd battalion, 56th regiment who would arrive at Kamaing by June 10th, most of the others would reach Lakatkawng in late june. While retreating, their artillery units were intercepted by the pursuing Chinese and the artillerymen chose to die with their guns. While the 22nd Division and 149th Regiment thus pushed towards Kamaing, General Sun had also sent the 113th Regiment to take Zigyun and the 114th Regiment to advance southwards and support the Chindit assault on Mogaung. The Chinese were able to encircle Kamaing from the west, north and east as the 149th Regiment then moving across the fields and into Kamaing to take the settlement on June 16th, pushing Tanaka's battle-weary troops to the hills south and west of Kamaing. Meanwhile Brigadier Calbert was able to reach the Mogaung area by the start of June. 12 miles from Mogaung, Calvert's forward troops began to run into Japanese patrols and snipers. Despite taking losses, the 3/6th Gurkhas led by Colonel Claude Rome, who in his previous incarnation had been overlord of “Broadway,” pushed on, seizing the western heights overlooking Mogaung on May 31. On June 1st, Calvert's South Staffords linked up with Rome and the Gurkhas at the village of Loihinche. Other elements of the brigade reached the southern foothills of the heights, three miles south of the town, on June 2 and went straight into the fray. That same day, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the South Staffords also attacked Lakum (held by some ordnance troops and a field hospital). The leading force of Fusiliers was soon pinned down by heavy fire, the impasse only broken when a Bren gunner in the leading rifle section went wild, and ran “straight up the hill, firing from the hip and screaming curses at the Japanese.” Softening up the Japanese with airstrikes from Air Commando Mustangs, troops of the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers and 1st South Staffordshires attacked and wrested Lakum village away from Japanese and occupied the summit of the range of hills overlooking the city, to the northwest. Calvert decided he would need to build a base akin to White City, where he could collect supplies and build an airstrip to take out the wounded. Calvert fixed his eye on the village of Lakum, occupying a strategic spot on the eastern foothills of the heights overlooking the Mogaung plain. Upon capturing the village, the Chindits would also find substantial ammunition, a field hospital and buildings which had obviously hosted several Japanese headquarters. The country leading up to Lakum, however, was hard stuff. It was in the midst of thick jungle intersected by deep ravines. The path proved difficult to follow as it sometimes wound along a ridge and sometimes went straight up or straight down. The place was a defender's paradise. “A handful of resolute men could hold successive hill-tops for hours against a large force such as ours overburdened with mules and heavy stores,”. In response to the new threat, Colonel Okada Hakuji rushed over with some units of his 128th Regiment to protect Mogaung, leaving his 1st Battalion to face the rapidly-approaching 114th Regiment and immediately recalling his 3rd Battalion from Seton. Alongside this General Honda ordered General Takeda to turn back from Myitkyina and instead secure the Moguang-Kameing area. Thus the chance to lift the siege of Myitkyina was lost. By June 3rd, the Chindits had built a new airstrip near the Tapaw Ferry, allowing airdrops of supplies and equipment to spill in. Calvert was now ready to launch his attack. Early on June 8th, the 1st South Staffords set off to secure the Pinhmi. The village was defended by elements of 3rd battalion, 128th regiment who were also protecting some ammunition dumps in the area. The Staffords routed the Japanese and destroyed the dumps, clearing the way to the bridge. By now it was afternoon, and they stepped aside to let the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers move on to capture the 150-foot-long bridge. All seemed well until a hail of gunfire shattered the silence, tearing into the Fusiliers. Two companies were pinned down in the ditch while another was in the jungle further down. At about 6 pm, Calvert arrived at the front to confer with Major David Monteith of the attacking company. It was decided that two platoons, under the cover of a mortar barrage would dash across the bridge and secure the other bank. Calvert's mind went to the 4.2” mortars. He intended to use them to deadly effect now. Two platoons of Fusiliers moved in on the bridge, with one platoon attempting to move along the ditch, only to struggle against the thick, waist-high grass, as the second slipped off the road into the jungle. The mortars, about 60 yards behind them, began firing, slowly at first, but then as fast as the men could drop bombs into the tubes. The men, with fixed bayonets, charged across the bridge. The Japanese waited until the British were halfway across before opening fire. Tracers filled that little space, bullets tearing into flesh. The Chindits toppled left and right. Some crawled in their bellies, trying to get just far enough to throw their grenades upon the enemy positions. By 6.15, it was all over, the retreat was called. Calvert summoned US airstrikes. Mustangs swooped in, bombing and machine-gunning the enemy emplacements, but one Mustang mistakenly bombed a group of Fusiliers unloading mules. Because of the unexpected opposition, Calvert would instead direct his forces to ford the Wettauk Chaung and take Mahaung and Ywathitgale, which successfully fell on June 9. The following morning, a Gurkha company attacked towards Kyaingyi and the railway to create the impression that the main attack would come from this direction while the bulk of the 3/6th Gurkhas made a wide right flank advance to attack the bridge from the rear. At dawn on the 10th, Shaw's Gurkhas moved forward, waist deep in marsh water and mud. The bridge assault party was under the command of Captain Michael Allmand, a one-time cavalryman commissioned into the Indian Army in 1942 after escaping from Singapore. Allmand moved his men forward warily. The approaches to the bridge were narrow with the road up on a high embankment with swampy, tree-heavy low-ground flanking both sides. Coming in from the marsh, the Gurkhas set upon the bunkers at the bridge with grenades and small-arms fire, but the Japanese held their ground. At 10 am, they tried again, shooting and hurling grenades from amid waist-deep mud of the Wettauk. Allmand, who was close to shore charged. Throwing grenades to scatter the enemy, he closed in to kill three with his kukri. Rallied by his heroism, the Gurkhas rushed the remaining defenders, capturing the bridge. About 35 Japanese were killed at the bridge and the Gurkhas captured one medium machinegun and two light machineguns. In return, Chindit casualties in the encirclement and capture of the Pinhmi Bridge came to about 130 killed and wounded. By mid-afternoon, Calvert had deployed two battalions up on the Mogaung-Pinhmi Road, while a third occupied the bridge area. Conquering the brigade saw the Chindits suffer 130 casualties, while Okada's troops had also suffered heavy casualties, yet they had successfully delayed the Chindit advance for four days, which allowed Takeda to bring the bulk of his forces back into Mogaung. Knowing full well that the Japanese had been able to reinforce Mogaung, Calvert decided to wait for the arrival of the Chinese troops that Stilwell had sent to reinforce him; but in the meantime, he launched a successful attack against the courthouse on June 11, followed by a failed advance towards the river. To secure his right flank, Calvert had decided to send a company of South Staffords under a new replacement officer, Major “Archie” Wavell Jr, son of the venerable Viceroy, to secure the area between the road and the Mogaung River. The Staffords made good headway, but near the river, they came under heavy fire from entrenched Japanese. Wavell was hit in the wrist, the bullet almost taking the hand off; and he was then pulled out of the line and walked back to the field hospital near Gurkha village, clutching onto his hand, which was now hanging on by a sinew. That night, the surgeons at Gurkha Village were to remove the hand entirely. Wavell Jr's war was over. In the end, the Staffords also had to pull back towards the road after the loss of their commanding officer. By June 15th, the Chinese had still not appeared, thus the Chindits ultimately had to withdraw to Pinhmi. Back over at Myitkyina artillery was arriving by air. Two batteries plus one platoon of 75-mm. howitzers; two 105-mm., and two 155-mm. howitzers, were landed. All except two pieces with GALAHAD were kept under headquarters control. During the siege they fired 600 tons of ammunition, very rarely with massed fire. Boatner renewed his offensive on June 13th, sending almost all his forces to attack the town from all directions. The American-Chinese forces would struggle to make much progress against General Minakami's defenses. Utilizing a system of night attack and daylight defense, heavy casualties were consequently inflicted on the enemy and large supplies of weapons and ammunition were captured and used in the defense of the city. On June 12th the Japanese hit a platoon of K Company, New GALAHAD, so hard that the company broke and re-formed on the L Company line. The portion of the Japanese thrust that hit the perimeter next to the river made most of the men "take off," but two stayed in place and repelled the Japanese with an automatic rifle and a machine gun. To the west of this little break the Japanese worked their way in close but were stopped by grenades and small arms fire. As a result of the attacks, however, the 3rd Galahad Battalion had cut the Maingna ferry road and reached the Irrawaddy north of Myitkyina by June 17th, with the 150th and 88th Regiments also gaining up to 200 yards. The allies needed to capture the Myitkyina-Mogaung-Sumprabum road junction; but for such few gains, Boatner had lost many men and thus had to stop his attacks on June 18th. Stilwell ordered the end of all infantry attacks. Boatner replied that he would stop attacking Japanese positions until ". . . our troops are steadied and a favorable opportunity presents itself." There was reason for the troops to need steadying. A and B companies, 209th Engineers, were cut off from their main body by infiltrating Japanese. Trying to close in on them, Company C and Headquarters and Service Companies were in turn halted by Japanese. The condition of A and B Companies became critical during June 14th, for they had only one meal with them. Two of their men managed to work their way back to the block on the Sumprabum Road with news of their plight, but enemy small arms fire prevented airdrops. The isolated companies finally made their way back in small groups to the rest of the battalion over 15 and 16 June. The 3rd Battalion of GALAHAD reported trouble in effecting reorganization and enforcing orders. The Americans were not alone in their problems. Two companies of the Chinese 2/42nd which had made a small penetration into the Japanese lines on 14 June were wiped out by counterattack that night. These setbacks emphasized the nature of the Myitkyina fighting. The Allies held a ring of battalion and regimental strongpoints enclosing a similar Japanese system. Though the Allied strongpoints were close enough for the troops in one to sortie to the aid of another should that be needed, they were not so close that interlocking fire could be put down to close the gaps. Consequently, there was plenty of room for maneuver and ambush, and the inexperienced engineers and New GALAHAD troops often suffered at the hands of General Minakami's veterans. On the other hand, the Myitkyina Garrison did not emerge entirely unscathed, as they too suffered heavily, losing approximately 1000 men during the month of June alone. But that is all for today with the CBI theater as we now need to head over to New Guinea to start the Battle of Lone Tree Hill. After the fall of Wakde, General Tagami had sent Colonel Yoshino Naoyasu's 223rd Regiment to cross the Tor River inland to attack Arare while Colonel Matsuyama Soemon's 224th Regiment attacked the Toem area from the other side. In the meantime, General Doe's 163rd Regiment patrolled across Tementoe Creek and the Tor River, encountering heavy Japanese resistance at Maffin but successfully repelling some enemy counterattacks. While the 163rd strengthened its defenses on the Tor and at Arare, Doe would also see the arrival of Colonel Prugh Herndon's 158th Regiment on May 21. General Krueger's plan was to use this regiment in a vigorous overland drive toward Sarmi, aimed at throwing the enemy into the defensive and therefore securing the Wakde area. This decision was based upon scanty and incomplete information concerning Japanese strength and dispositions. The Japanese had no intention of abandoning Sarmi and the two airstrips between the town and the Tor without a desperate struggle. The Americans were also finalizing their plans for an operation against Biak, codenamed Hurricane. General Fuller's plan was to land the 186th Regiment in the Bosnek area at 7:45 on May 27th to secure the Green Beaches and its two jetties. Once the two jetties were secured, LCI's bearing the 162nd Infantry, supporting troops, and the task force reserve were to move inshore and unload. LST's were also to move to the jetties when the beach area surrounding them had been cleared by the 186th Infantry. LCM's bearing artillery, tanks, and engineering equipment were to move to the beaches as soon as channels through the coral were found or made, or to the jetties in waves following the 186th Infantry's assault companies. As soon as it reorganized ashore, the 162nd Infantry was to advance rapidly west along the coast from Bosnek to seize the three airdromes. This drive was to be supported by eight tanks of the 603rd Tank Company and the 146th Field Artillery Battalion. The fields were to be repaired quickly to accommodate one fighter group and then expanded to receive an additional fighter group, a heavy bomber group, a reconnaissance group, a night fighter squadron, and one photo reconnaissance squadron. Mokmer Drome was to be the first field developed. Brigadier-General Edwin Patrick would also replace Doe in command of the Tornado Task Force, as the latter would resume its duties as assistant commander of the 41st Division. Admiral Fechteler's Task Force 77 was to provide naval support and cover the assault shipping. Naval fire support was to begin at H minus 45 minutes, 6:30. From that time until H Hour, cruisers and destroyers were to expend 400 rounds of 8-inch, 1,000 rounds of 6-inch, 3,740 rounds of 5-inch, and 1,000 rounds of 4.7-inch ammunition on targets in the airfield area west of the landing beaches. After H Hour the cruisers were to continue intermittent fire on the airfields, bombard targets of opportunity, and respond to calls for support from the forces ashore. Because there were many known or suspected Japanese gun emplacements along the south shore of Biak, counterbattery fire was to take precedence over all other types of fire. Bombardment of the landing beaches was also to begin at H minus 45 minutes. Five destroyers were to bombard the beaches and adjacent areas until H minus 30 minutes, when they were to move westward to join the cruisers firing on the airfield area. Then four other destroyers were to continue beach bombardment until H minus 3 minutes. Total ammunition allowance for beach bombardment was 4,900 rounds of 5-inch and 4.7-inch shells, while 40-mm. and 20-mm. ammunition was to be expended at the discretion of individual ship commanders. Rocket and automatic weapons fire from three rocket-equipped LCI's and two SC's was to provide close support for the assault waves. This fire was to begin at H minus 5 minutes and was to last until H Hour or until the initial wave was safely ashore. Meanwhile General Kenney would toss 52 B-24's to bomb the beaches just before the landings. Additionally, medium bombers and fighters from 5th Air Force would cover the force from the air; and from May 17th onwards, the bombings on Biak's airfields would increase sharply in violence to soften up its defenses. As elsewhere along the absolute defense zone perimeter, primary emphasis was laid upon the construction of airfields. Between December 1943 and the enemy invasion of Hollandia in April 1944, two of three projected fields on southern Biak were completed and put into operational use by planes of the Navy's 23rd Air Flotilla. Their usefulness ended almost immediately, however, when the enemy's vastly superior air forces began operating from Hollandia bases. As in the Wakde-Sarmi sector, the concentration of effort on airfield construction until the Hollandia invasion resulted in dangerously delaying the preparation of ground defenses against enemy amphibious attack. In the five weeks which elapsed between the Hollandia and Biak invasions, the Biak garrison forces, under able leadership and by dint of desperate effort, succeeded in organizing a system of strong cave positions, which proved highly effective after the enemy landing. However, time, equipment and manpower were so short that defensive preparations could not entirely be completed. Some 15-cm naval guns, brought to Biak immediately after the Hollandia invasion to strengthen the coast defenses, were still unmounted when the island was attacked. On May 23rd, the 158th advanced west from the Tor River Bridgehead. The advance of Company L met increasingly strong resistance. Japanese defenses were centered around three small, brush-bordered lakes near the beach about 1,800 yards west of the Tor. The rest of the 3rd Battalion, 158th Infantry, across the Tor before 1130, quickly moved forward to assist Company L, which had been pinned down along the main coastal track west of the lakes by Japanese machine gun and rifle fire. Company K pushed up to the left flank of Company L, while Company I moved toward L's rear. With the aid of mortar fire from the 81-mm. weapons of Company M, Companies K and L were able to push gradually forward during the afternoon, advancing on a front about 400 yards wide. Finding that the attack was not progressing as rapidly as he had expected, Colonel Herndon ordered his 1st Battalion across the Tor. The 1st Battalion did not start moving until 1400 and could not get far enough forward to join the attack before dark. Tanks would probably have been of great help to the 3rd Battalion, but by the time the mediums of the 1st Platoon, 603rd Tank Company, moved across the Tor, the forward infantry troops had already halted for the night. In the end, Companies L and K would dig in for the night across the main coastal track about 400 yards east of Maffin. The following morning, after an ineffective mortar and artillery bombardment, Herndon resumed the attack. Despite the lack of extended artillery support, Companies K and L moved out as planned at 7:30. Company L, on the right, advanced along the beach encountering only scattered rifle fire but Company K, on the main road, had hardly started when Japanese machine gun and rifle fire from concealed positions in a wooded area on the left front halted its advance. Unable to gain any ground, Company K called for tank support. Two tanks, together with a flamethrower detachment from Company B of the 27th Engineers, arrived at Company K's lines about 1000. With the flamethrowers and tanks blasting the way, the infantrymen overran the Japanese defenses, killing ten of the enemy and capturing two machine guns. The remainder of the Japanese force, probably originally some forty men strong, disappeared into the jungle south of the road, whence scattered rifle fire continued to harass Company K. Company L reached the outskirts of Maffin No. 1 about 1400. The movement had been slow, not as a result of Japanese opposition but because the battalion commander did not believe it prudent for Company L to advance far beyond Company K. Despite the return of two companies, most of Colonel Kato's engineers would have to withdraw behind the Tirfoam River against such heavy firepower. Captain Saito's reconnaissance unit, meanwhile, retreated to the jungles south of Maffin alongside one engineer company, which was under Kato himself. Over the Tirfoam River, however, the Americans were again stopped by the tenacious engineers, which again forced Herndon to request tank support. As the tanks moved into position elements of the Right Sector Force, comprising Captain Saito's men of the 1st Battalion, 224th Infantry and an engineer company, charged out of the jungle. The Japanese were under Colonel Kato, Right Sector Force commander, who was killed as he personally led a small detachment against the American tanks. The enemy was quickly thrown back with heavy losses by the combined fire of the four tanks and Company L's riflemen and machine gunners. However, under cover of their infantry attack, the Japanese had dragged a 37-mm. anti-tank gun forward out of the jungle. As the enemy infantrymen withdrew to the southwest after the death of Colonel Kato, the anti-tank gun opened fire. It was soon destroyed and its crew killed, but not before three of the American tanks had been so damaged that they had to be withdrawn for repairs. Facing such heavy resistance, Herndon then sent his 1st Battalion to carry out a deep envelopment to the south across the Tirfoam, yet these troops would similarly be unable to break through by nightfall. After killing 28 men and wounded 75 others, Kato's force allowed Tagami to dispatch the 2nd Battalion, 223rd Regiment to reinforce the Ilier Mountains line. On the morning of May 25, Major Matsuoka Yasake also arrived there with an infantry company to assume command of the remainder of Kato's forces. Meanwnhile Yoshino had crossed the Tor River, 3 days behind schedule and to the east, Matsyuama was assembling on the right bank of the Tementoe River. Herndon relieved his 1st Battalion with the 3rd and then pushed west with the 2nd Battalion following behind them. The next objective for the 158th was Long Tree Hill. Lone Tree Hill, known to the Japanese as Mt. Ilier, had been named for a single tree which was depicted on its crest by the map then employed by the Americans. Actually, the hill's coral mass was covered with dense rainforest and jungle undergrowth. Lone Tree Hill was about 175 feet high, 1200 yards long north to south, and 1100 yards wide east to west. The north side dropped steeply to a rocky shore on Maffin Bay. The hill's eastern slope was fronted by a short, violently twisting stream which was promptly dubbed the "Snaky River" by the 158th Regiment. The main road curved away from the beach to pass south of the Snaky River and Lone Tree Hill through a narrow defile. The southern side of this defile was formed by two noses of Mt. Saksin , a terrain feature about 100 feet higher than Lone Tree Hill. The more westerly of these noses was named "Hill 225", known to the Japanese as Mt. Sento after its height in feet. No name was given to the eastern ridge line, which pointed toward Lone Tree Hill from the southeast. There was a small native village at the eastern entrance to the defile and another at the pass's western outlet. Mt. Saksin was a name given to an indefinitely outlined hill mass which forms the northern extremity of the Irier Mountains, extending inland from the coast at Lone Tree Hill. The name Saksin was specifically applied to a prominent peak about 2,000 yards due south of Lone Tree. On or about May 23rd General Tagami had moved his headquarters into the Mt. Saksin area, apparently on the southwest side of the central peak. Herndon forces continued the advance through the abandoned enemy positions, albeit without tank support, for they could not cross the fragile Tirfoam bridge. In the afternoon, the Americans were finally halted below the southernmost bend of the Snaky River, subjected to heavy machine-gun fire and an intermittent artillery bombardment. General Patrick, who had succeeded to the command of the TORNADO Task Force during the morning, was informed of the opposition encountered by the 1st Battalion. He ordered the advance stopped for the night and instructed the 158th Infantry to remain well east of the Snaky River so that American artillery could register on the native village and the defile without endangering the forward troops. Harassed by a few artillery shells, which by now had been recognized as originating from Japanese 70-mm. or 75-mm. weapons, the 1st Battalion pulled back about 500 yards east of the Snaky. A perimeter was set up with the battalion's left resting on the road and its right on the beach. The 2nd Battalion established a series of company perimeters back along the road to the east. Casualties for the day had been 22 men killed and 26 wounded, almost all in the 1st Battalion, while about 50 Japanese had been killed. When the attack orders for the day had been issued, it had been hoped that the 1st Battalion could reach the top of Lone Tree Hill before nightfall. Since the unexpectedly strong enemy opposition had prevented the realization of this hope, plans were made to continue the advance westward on the 26th. The ultimate objective was the east bank of the Woske River, 2,000 yards west of Lone Tree Hill, and the intermediate objective was the native village at the eastern entrance to the defile. The advance was to be preceded by naval shelling of the northern slopes of Lone Tree Hill from 6:30 to 7:00. A fifteen-minute artillery preparation was also to precede the advance, and the infantry was to start moving at 8:45. The next morning, naval fire started ten minutes late. Two destroyers lying offshore shelled the northern slopes of Lone Tree Hill and the Maffin Bay area, firing on known or suspected enemy defensive positions and assembly points. After a twenty-minute bombardment the two support vessels withdrew. Artillery fire did not begin until 8:30. The time lag gave the Japanese ample opportunity to prepare for the infantry attack which had been heralded by the destroyer fire. The artillery, aiming its shells into the defile and against the eastern slopes of Lone Tree Hill, ceased firing about 8:45. A few moments later the 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry, Company B again leading, started moving westward. The infantry's line of departure was nearly 1,000 yards east of the village at the southeast foot of Lone Tree Hill, and the advance had to be slow because the road ran through heavily jungled terrain. The enemy therefore had sufficient time to reoccupy positions in the defile and on Lone Tree Hill which might have been vacated during the American artillery barrage. The value of both the naval and artillery bombardment had been lost. Herndon's 1st Battalion moved once again against Lone Tree Hill. Company B moved forward to the point at which it had been held up the previous afternoon and was again stopped--this time by fire from the southeastern corner of Lone Tree Hill. Company D's heavy machine guns were brought up to spray a densely wooded area in front of the point rifle platoon. The fire dispersed the Japanese riflemen, and Company B moved forward again. Less than 100 yards of ground had been gained when the company again encountered machine gun and mortar fire originating in the native village. Company A, initially off the road to the right rear of Company B, turned north to the mouth of the Snaky River. One platoon crossed at the river mouth at 1030 but was quickly forced back to the east bank by Japanese machine gun fire from the rocky beach below the north face of Lone Tree Hill. Artillery support was called for, supplied, and proved successful in stopping the enemy fire, and about 1:50 all Company A crossed the Snaky. Orders were to move down the west side of that stream to establish contact with Company B and to send one platoon up the eastern slope of Lone Tree Hill to probe enemy positions. Other efforts were meanwhile being made to scatter the Japanese opposing Company B. Company E moved up to the left flank of Company B and on the south side of the main road. The combined efforts of the two rifle companies proved insufficient to dislodge the Japanese from their positions at the eastern entrance to the defile, and the enemy fire forced the American units to seek cover. Company F was therefore ordered to pass through B's left flank and proceed to Hill 225 to take the Japanese positions from the rear. Company F's attack could not be started before dark and Company A, moving up the west side of the Snaky, was unable to relieve much of the pressure on Company B. Finally, Company A was forced for a second time to withdraw to the east bank of the river as a result of enemy fire from Lone Tree Hill. Tanks would have been of great help to Company B, but the bridge over the Tirfoam could not bear their weight, and the road west of the stream was in such disrepair that tanks probably could not have negotiated it. Only Company A would manage to cross the Snaky River through much effort, yet it would be unable to relieve the pressure from Company B's front and would have to retreat by the end of the day. To prevent further casualties from being inflicted by Japanese patrols, which were expected to roam around the flanks of the forward elements during the night, a semicircular perimeter was ultimately established. Although Herndon's attacks on May 26th had been completely unsuccessful, the 158th Regiment had located and probed some of the principal Japanese defenses in the area and could now be ready to launch a more effective assault. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. General Vinegar Joe was experiencing some major setbacks, but it looked like Myitkyina was as good as his. However the American officers' reports of how difficult the going was for the Chinese was quite disheartening. Over in New Guinea, the allies were yet again faced with a great obstacle, now in the form of One Tree Hill.
Be sure to check out Airwave Media's list of 100 Best podcasts! ThoC is #69 (Nice!): https://blog.feedspot.com/airwave_media_podcasts/ The Kangxi Emperor squashes his beef with the three rebellious feudatories of the south by squashing their traitorous lords, only to have to pivot northward once again to face down... who? The Russians? And the Mongols?! And Tibetans?! And the Catholic Church?! Time Period Covered: 1670-1722 CE Major Historical Figures: Great Qing: The Kangxi Emperor [r. 1661-1722] Crown-Prince Yunreng [1674-1725] Grand Secretary Songgotu [1636-1703] Fan Chengmo, Governor-General of Fujian [1624-1676] Nian Gengyao, Viceroy of Sichuan and Tibet [1679-1726] Mei Wending, mathematician [1633-1721] Tsarist Russia: Tsar Alexis Romanov, "The Quietest" [r. 1645-1676] Tsar Feodor III [r. 1676-1682] Tsar Ivan V [r. 1682-1696] Tsar/Emperor Peter I, "the Great" [r. 1682-1725] Izmailov Roman Catholic Church: Pope Clement XI [1649-1721] Cardinal Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon [1668-1710] Jesuit Missionaires: Fr. Jean-François Gerbillon [1654-1707] Fr. Tomé Pereira [1645-1708] Fr. Joachim Bouvet [1656-1730] Ö löd/Mongol/Dzungar Khanate: Erdeniin Galdan, Boshugtu Khan [r. 1671-1697] Tsewang Araptan [r. 1697-1727] General Chereng Dondub the Elder [d. 1737] Major Works Cited: Perdue, Peter C. (2009). China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia. Spence, Jonathan D. "The K'ang-Hsi Reign" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 9: The Ch'ing Dynasty, Part 1: To 1800. Wakeman, Frederic Evans. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order In Seventeenth-Century China. Wakeman, Frederic Evans. "Romantics,Stoics, and Martyrs In Seventeenth Century China" in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 43, No. 4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Last time we spoke about the Southern Warlords. Yuan Shikai's abuse of power prompted declarations of independence from several southern regions, leading to the Second Revolution of 1913. Despite initial successes, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army ultimately crushed the uprisings. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, after various setbacks and political maneuvers, founded the Chinese Revolutionary Party and later resurrected the Kuomintang. Chiang Kai-Shek emerged as a significant figure within the KMT, navigating through alliances and conflicts. Meanwhile the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) paralleled these events, driven by figures like Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and later, Mao Zedong. Concurrently, various regional warlord cliques, including the Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Hunan cliques, vied for power, often aligning with or against larger political entities like the KMT or the CCP. We have met the warlords now its time to tell their story. #97 The Manchu Restoration of the Pigtail General Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Now where to begin, you sort of have to speak about someone we already have spoken to death about, the father of the warlords, Yuan Shikai. He “helped” with quotation marks usher in the republic of china and had a very heavy hand creating the New Army. He was a man of the 19th century, he had served in the First-Sino Japanese War of 1894-1895, then during the Boxer Rebellion. If you remember, back during the Boxer Rebellion, when Empress Dowager Cixi began frantically calling for an alliance with the Boxers to fight off the foreigners, Yuan Shikai like most governors at the time, put his head down. As the foreigners marched from Tientsin to Beijing, Yuan Shikai spent his time strengthening his position as Viceroy of Shandong. During this time he also received the Viceroy of Zhili and Commissioner for North China Trade. He had very lucrative posts and he used the money to set up military colleges. He hired foreign instructors, procured modern armaments and managed to create a professionally trained military. When the Xinhai revolution broke out, Yuan Shikai was made commander-in-chief and he brought his Beiyang Army to quell the rebels at Wuchang. Yet Yuan Shikai was not a moron and could see where the tides were turning, so he began a plot to take control of the new emerging republic. During his tenure, better said dictatorship, he strengthened his personal rule and suppressed any who could threaten him. Now we have already covered most of his story, during the last year of his life, Yuan Shikai increasingly began relying on the support of his military commanders in the capital and in various provinces. Many of these commanders betrayed him, the first one was General Cai E, the emerging warlord of Yunnan. On January 1st of 1916, Cai E declared independence for Yunnan and indeed Sichuan province thus threatening Yuan Shikai's rule over central China. After this Guangxi and Guangdong declared independence. As Yuan Shikai's subordinates began to betray him one by one, the most significant man amongst them would turn out to be Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui was a very talented young officer in command of the artillery corps of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang army. He distinguished himself during the Boxer Rebellion, helping suppress the Boxers, then in 1911 he was sent against the Wuhan rebels. In 1912 as peace talks were being held between Nanjing and Beijing, Duan was an envoy for Beijing and here he personally declared he was in favor of Emperor Puyi abdicating. This earned him an appointment as Minister for the Army in the northern republican government headed by Yuan Shikai. He soon earned himself governorship over Hubei province. Yuan Shikai increasingly began to isolate himself while in power and he often turned to Duan to help rally support. In April of 1916 Duan was appointed premier over the Beijing government. This was the first real taste of power for Duan, and although he would be quite authoritarian, he was no lover of public office. He had buddhist inclinations, and enjoyed the quiet life. Thus he delegated much of his authority to his subordinates and usually stood by their decisions. One of his primary interests was training soldiers and he made sure to grab the position of Ministry of War alongside his premiership. He managed to convince Yuan Shikai to adopt a cabinet style of government, taking major issues behind closed doors amongst trusted elites. Here was born the fabric of warlord era politics. While Duan was premier had led a cabinet, it was of course at the whim of Yuan Shikai who directed its actions. While Duan could not exact real power in the cabinet, what he did do was perform lesser actions using a smaller cabal of loyal ruling elites, mostly subordinate officers to him. Duan also tried to get Yuan Shikai to give up his title as Grand Marshal and to place all military power in the hands of the War Ministry. That last part is an eye opener to be sure, but Duan never tried to overthrow his master. But while under Yuan Shikai he did transfer a detachment of troops loyal to him to guard against his enemies. Now when Yuan Shikai died he left a sealed box and inside it were three names, Xu Shichang, Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui. None of the three men were eager to take the Presidency, Duan was the first to suggest Li take the job. Li was not keen about the idea, but it is said Duan coerced him into it. Duan spoke with all his senior military officers, they were not at all pleased with the idea of Li Yuanhong as president, but Duan explained to them, it was better to govern in the shadows. Li would be a very useful puppet, he was a southerner not liked by the other northerners, thus very easy to manipulate. Better yet, blame would be cast upon him, and not those like Duan. Yet Duan was very authoritarian and irritated by having to explain his actions to a state council and to president Li, who himself was not always content to give his rubber stamp of approval. Thus the easy puppet began to not be so easy. Worse, Li began taking an interest in military affairs and in relations with other warlords. Duan once in anger exclaimed 'I ask him to sign things and put his seal on them, not to sit on my head!' Regardless, there was a fail safe system. The president of the republic was not permitted to put his seal on any measures not already passed by the State Council which Duan dominated. Now the entire sealed box thing was certainly not how a President gets elected. Just because Li had automatically become president did not mean he would not have to soon face an election to continue it. Now before his death Yuan Shikai had suspended the constitution. Prominent members of the Southern factions in Guangzhou, such as Liang Qichao demanded the 1912 constitution be held up accordingly, ie: that Li face an election. On June 15th of 1917, the commander of the first fleet, Admiral Li Tingxin, at that time based in Shanghai, alongside other admirals declared support for the old constitution being restored and threatened to ignore orders from Beijing if it was not reinstated. This snowballed into the formation of a National Protection Army in the Southwest. This was seriously bad news for Duan. While there were three fleets, the 1st Fleet was the dominant one. Despite protest from other northern warlords, Duan capitulated, the old constitution was restored. This was not the only crisis Duan faced at the time, there were also calls for army reduction nationwide. After years of uprisings, rebellions and regional wars, some many different military groups were established and it no longer made any sense. As you can imagine, many of these so called armies, were in fact Warlords personal armies and any talk of reduction brought Duan directly in confrontation with other warlords. Of course Duan wanted to take the opportunity to weaken his enemies. Duan sought to create a national army consisting of 40 divisions, roughly 10,000 men each and 20 independent brigade of 5000 men each, thus a force of 500,000 or so. Each province was also to supply their local garrisons with 200 battalions nation-wide, a battalion being roughly 5000 men making a total of 100,000 provisional troops. This of course was based on the old Qing system, have provincial armies that did not stray from their respective provinces and a mobile main force. This would not at all be representative of warlord China. Duans plan to weaken the south did not seem feasible politically, I mean, if you were a southern warlord would you go along with this? Duan quickly realized it would be impossible to disarm his enemies, thus he would have to defeat them on the battlefield. Yet in order to do so he required circumstances, such as provinces refusing to pay taxes to Beijing or claiming independence. Now in 1917, Duan was being pressured by the Entente powers to sever relations with Germany and better yet, declare war. As we saw in the previous episodes, a lot of events unfolded during WW1, Japan invaded Qingdao, then Japan unleashed the 21 demands, and in 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted U-boat warfare. The United States invited China to join her in formal protest over this. On March 10th, Duan addressed parliament urging to sever ties to Germany, but parliament was reluctant. For the Chinese military elite, the idea of declaring war on Germany was very attractive. It could possibly open up foreign subsidies, and perhaps a renegotiation of some unequal treaties with Entente powers. It would turn out this was a very popular stance amongst the civilian population as they overwhelmingly voted for a declaration of war later on. However discussions on the matter were quite chaotic. While Duan Qirui wished to declare war on Germany, Li Yuanhong did not. After the March 10th declaration a large series of quarrels began. Duan Qirui in fury offered his resignation as Premier, while vice president Feng Guozhang tried desperately to mediate between him and Li Yuanhong. Most of the parliament team including Liang Qichiao worked to alienate Duan Qirui during the process. In a true Yuan Shikai fashion, Duan Qirui attempted to intimate the parliament into declaring war. Then suddenly in May, an English language newspaper in Beijing published details of a large loan Duan Qirui had secretly negotiated with the Japanese, the infamous Nishihara loans. To the public this looked like Yuan Shikai's Reorganization Loan all over again. Li Yuanhong thus got all of parliament on his side and chose to use his new power to dismiss Duan Qirui. This was honestly a huge gamble as Li Yuanhong had no military support of his own. He was betting on the Beiyang commanders to respect the constitutional president and parliament. Duan Qiruir's supporters as expected all declared independence of their respective provinces and followed Duan Qirui to Tientsin where he established a new HQ. Thus Duan Qirui and his loyal military governor left Beijing and set up shop in Tientsin, gathering forces to rebel against Li Yuanhong and retake the capital. Realizing he was screwed, Li Yaunhong looked for another strongman to defend the capital against Duan. Li had few he could turn to in the north, most of the Beiyang Generals were loyal to Duan. Then suddenly out of the blue, General Zhang Xun offered to mediate the conflict between Li and Duan. Zhang Xun was an eccentric general who had served as a military escort for Empress Dowager Cixi during the Boxer Rebellion and afterwards a Beiyang General in Yuan Shikai's army. He fought on the Qing side in 1911, after the Qing dynasty fell he remained loyal to Yuan Shikai. Despite being a general in the new Republic, he refused to cut his Manchu queue, thus he earned the nickname the “pigtailed general”. Why might he still carry this hairstyle you might ask, well he was a die hard Qing loyalist. He had served Yuan Shikai, more or less to get back at the revolutionaries that had taken down the Qing. Zhang Xun supported Yuan Shikai's emperor phase and earned himself a 1st Class Duke title for it. Now when Duan Qirui expressed his desire to sever ties to Germany, Zhang Xun opposed this. Zhang Xun had few allies as one would guess. There was the leader of the royalist party, Kang Youmei who attempted to restore a monarchy politically and there was the Japanese. From the Japanese point of view, they wanted someone like Emperor Puyi to be placed back on the Manchu throne, simply because they believed he would be easy to control. Japanese prime minister Masaki Terauchi appointed Japan's deputy chief of military staff, Tanaka Giichi and even got some Black Dragon members to go over to brush shoulders with those like Zhang Xun to prod them into restoring the monarchy. Thus Zhang Xun had some political help, and Japanese funding. One story has it that Zhang Xun went to Duan in Tientsin first, and offered to support him if Duan restored the Manchu monarchy. Duan allegedly pretended to agree to this. Zhang Xun then discussed matters with Li Yuanhong and pressured him to dissolve parliament on June 13th, stating if he did so he would help defend Beijing and Li agreed to this allowing him to bring his army over. Thus at midnight on June 30th of 1917, Zhang Xun's army arrived outside Beijing, whereupon Zhang apparently came into the city alone to listen to a play. Zhang Xun then ordered his subordinate officers to invite the temporary garrison commander in chief of Beijing and Tientsin, Wang Shizhen, deputy commanders Jiang Chaozong, Chen Guangyuan and director of the Beijing police department Wu Bingxiang over. He announced to them in a meeting "I am leading the troops to Beijing this time. We are not here to mediate with someone, but to restore the emperor to the throne and restore the Qing Dynasty." He then told them all he planned to enter the palace to ask the emperor if he would retake the throne. He looked at the men and asked what they thought. Wang, Jiang, Chen and Wu were frightened by this sudden statement. Wang Shizhen asked: "Have the provinces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted each other?" Zhang Xun replied: "The diplomacy is indeed sure. Feng Guozhang and Lu Rongting both expressed their approval and sent messages to urge them. The provincial governors also unanimously supported it." Wang Shizhen and others sat silent and speechless. Zhang Xun added: "I am determined to do it. If you agree, then open the city gate and let my troops in. Otherwise, please go back to your arrangements and fight to the death!" Wang Shizhen and others looked at each other and did not dare to say anything else, to them all he seemed to be insane. Zhang Xun went to the gates and demanded they be opened as his 5000-man army entered Beijing. Then Zhang Xun donned a blue gauze robe with a yellow mandarin jack, a red crown and marched with Kang Youwei, Wang Shizhen, Jiang Chaozong, Chen Guangyuan and Wu Bingxiang amongst other civil and military officials to the palace in the early morning of July 1st. At 3am, 12 year old Puyi met with Zhang Xun and the others. Upon seeing Puyi, Zhang Xun kowtowed 3 times with everyone else following. Zhang then asked him to go ahead with a restoration stating "Five years ago, Empress Dowager Longyu couldn't bear to let the people suffer for the honor of her surname , so she issued an edict to establish a republic. Unexpectedly, the people would not live in peace... A republic is not in line with our national conditions. Only when the emperor is restored can all the people be saved..." Puyi followed Chen Baochen's instructions and said humbly: "I am too young and have no talent or virtue to take on such a big position." Zhang Xun immediately praised: "The emperor is wise and sage, and everyone in the world knows it. In the past, the Holy Ancestor Emperor (referring to Kangxi) also practiced Zuo in his early years." Puyi quickly followed Chen Baochen's instructions and said: "In this case, I will do whatever it takes!" So Zhang Xun, Kang Youwei and others knelt down on the ground and shouted long live the emperor, Wang Shizhen and others had no choice but to kneel down and cheer casually. At 4am Zhang Xun sent Liang Dingen, an old minister in the Qing Dynasty to go to the presidential palace with an edict conferring the title of 1st class Duke for Li Yuanhong alongside a memorial Kang Youwei wrote reading "Li Yuanhong petitioned to return the state affairs" Li Yuanhong was asked to sign it. Li Yuanhong was shocked by all of this. Li Yuanhong would recall thinking “I drove away the wolf Duan Qirui at the front door, but attracted the tiger Zhang Xun at the back door”. Li Yuanhong sternly refused stating "I hold the position of president. I am entrusted by the people and dare not do such a thing. If the restoration issue is proposed by Zhang Xun alone, I am afraid that China and foreign countries may not recognize it. How can I dare to agree to it privately?" Liang Dingfen threatened: "If you don't agree, you may regret it." Li Yuanhong refused again, prompting Liang Dingfen to leave in anger. The next day, Li Yuanhong called Vice President Feng Guozhang, who was in Nanjing, to take over as acting president as he fled to the Japanese Embassy District in Dongjiaomin Lane for refuge. People within the city scrambled at the news. The old Huanglong shop that had been out of business for 5 years at that point returned to business but could not meet the demands of the citizens scrambling for traditional paper dragon flags. All the old princes, nobles and such came out of the woodwork as they say looking to celebrate the restoration in front of the palace waiting to see the emperor. Apparently a ton of people scrambled to find queue wigs and mandarin jackets. For the vast majority of China, the restoration was met with absolute outrage. Dr Sun Yat-Sen at the very moment of hearing the news over in Shanghai, simply got up and declared a rebellion…because of course he did…its what he did for a living honestly. Dr Sun Yat-Sen grabbed his colleagues and they all agreed to rush over to Guangzhou to form a crusade against Zhang Xun. Everyone across china did similar actions, in all the major capitals in the south angry leaders got together to form plans. After Li Yuanhong fled for his life, he sent a telegram to Duan Qirui begging him to save Beijing. Duan Qirui who was already organizing a full blown invasion to seize the capital for himself probably smiled. Duan Qirui quickly got his Anhui army together and marched upon Beijing. Back in Beijing within 48 hours of the restoration, numerous edicts were proclaimed trying to bolster the Manchu restoration. As you can imagine this was all very shocking to the general public. Feng Guozhang in Nanjing publicly opposed the restoration as Duan Qirui swore a public oath to end the Qing dynasty again. On July 5th, Duan's forces stormed the Beijing-Tientsin railway just 40 km's from the capital. That same day, Zhang Xun ordered all those loyal to him to bolster Beijing defenses, however he was very outnumbered. Just about all the Beiyang troops opposed him, and that was kind of a duh moment. Honestly this entire event is typically told in a comedic narrative. Feng Guozhang officially took the office of presidency on July 6th while still in Nanjing and by July 11th, Duan Qirui's army surrounded Beijing. Within the city those like Wang Shizhen begged Zhang Xun to surrender, but he refused. On July 12th, Duan Qirui ordered an aerial bombardment upon the Forbidden City. A French WW1 era Caudron Type D aircraft piloted by Pan Shizhong and bombardier Du Yuyuan launched from Nanyuan Airbase and dropped three bombs over the Forbidden city, killing a single eunuch, but doing little damage whatsoever. There are sources that claim the pilot was actually the principal of the Nanyuan Aviation school, Qin Guoyong, regardless this was the first recorded instance of aerial bombardment deployed by the Republican era Chinese Air Force. Li Yuanhong publicly stated he refused to retake his position as president. The newly restored Manchu Court immediately prepared an edict of abdication for Emperor Puyi, but did not dare proclaim it lest Zhang Xun or his loyalist forces kill them. Officials of this imperial court managed to secretly negotiate with Duan Qirui's besieging forces, begging them not to assault the capital. The imperial court officials even began beginning foreign legations to help. Boy a lot had changed since 1900 haha. With Zhang Xun not budging, the courts negotiations fell apart, prompting Duan to announce a general assault would begin the next day. The assault saw Qing loyalists manning the wall of the Temple of Heaven firing at the invaders, but nearly as soon as guns began to fire, negotiations were resumed. It turned out Zhang Xun had fled to the Dutch embassy, so his men begged Duan for a ceasefire. Duan granted it immediately and peacefully entered Beijing, establishing control over the government and police forces. Zhang Xun hid himself in the Dutch legation and would never participate in politics ever again. Zhang first fled to the German concession in Tientsin, then in March of 1918 the Beiyang government pardoned him. With his freedom in hand, Zhang Xun lived a life of seclusion in an apartment in Tientsin. He tried to run a business until 1923 when he got sick and died at the age of 68. He was posthumously given the title “Zhongwu” and buried in his hometown of Chitian Village, Fengxin county. Thus ended the 12 day old Manchu restoration and the Manchu Clique. When approached on the subject, Emperor Puyi stated he never wanted the throne in the first place, who knows the truth of said matter. Li Yuanhong had resigned as president, making Feng Guozhang the new president of the Beiyang government, still no election had been held, mind you. Duan Qirui took back his position as Premier, but refused to restore parliament nor the old constitution. Duan Qirui forced the Beiyang government to declare war on the Central Powers and began sending laborers to the Entente powers alongside a token force to Siberia. Now he was free to use the Nishihara loans uninhabited, building up what would become the dominant army in China, the Anhui army. Meanwhile Dr Sun Yat-Sen and countless others began rebellious activity in the south. Duan Qirui flocked many to his banner, creating his power base in Anhui province. His clique would be the first to organize themselves properly and he had a lot of funding behind him. Zhang Xun's failed Manchu restoration was honestly one of the greatest strokes of luck imaginable for Duan Qirui. Yet as he promoted and appointed family and close friends to prestigious positions, he overlooked many. These military officers and civil servants felt slighted by this and many turned to Feng Guozhang. Feng Guozhang had come back to Beijing to assume the presidency, but not before he had made sure to set up his proteges as military commanders in Jiangsu, Hubei and Guangxi. These three provinces formed the basis strength of his new Clique, the Zhili Clique. Thus two players placed their pieces on the board, there were many more to come. Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang both were inspired to unify China in their own image. Wars would be fought against the Southerners, but wars would also be fought in the north. Duan Qirui felt confident he had achieved supremacy and could now act against his enemies, but what if his enemies all banded together to beat him? I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Qing loyalist, Zhang Xun attempted a Manchu Restoration, and well, he did restore it for roughly 12 days. However Zhang Xun could have no idea what he really ushered in, for his actions had much more dire consequences. Duan Qirui was given a golden opportunity to seize more and more power, and he did, now his Anhui Clique was king of the hill, but we all know what happens in that game.
Kavita Puri discovers a set of cassette tapes containing rare interviews with Indian civil servants who were on the ground across Bengal during the famine, shedding new light on colonial responsibility. And as the need for relief in Bengal becomes ever greater, more pressure is put on the British government from India's new Viceroy. He asks for more food imports. Could the War Cabinet and Prime Minister Winston Churchill have done more to help alleviate the famine in the middle of the war? Presenter: Kavita Puri Series producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Emma Rippon Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Original music: Felix TaylorWith thanks to Dr Janam Mukherjee and Professor Joya ChatterjiInterviews conducted by Lance Brennan courtesy of University of CambridgeInterviews with GS Khosla courtesy of University of Cambridge
Last time we spoke about the Railway Protection Movement and the Wuchang Uprising. Emperor Guangxi and Empress Dowager Cixi were dead leaving regent Zaifeng in charge of the ailing dynasty. Alongside their deaths, the Guangzhou-Hankou and Sichuan-Hankow railway lines would become the trigger to end the Qing dynasty. The people were already angry, but would become furious when news came that the railway lines were going to be nationalized using foreign loans. Some in Sichuan attempted financing their railway line to thwart the foreigners, but in the end they simply were unable. Zaifeng unleashed the brutish General Zhao Erfeng to quell the protesters, but this massively backfired. Revolutionaries within the Hubei army unleashed an uprising in Wuchang. The mutineers formed a military government representing Hubei with Li Yuanhong as their leader. The year is 1911, Wuchang is but the spark that will light the flame of revolution. #87 The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The insurrection that broke out in Wuchang on October 10th of 1911, was not a sheer accident. It was part of a larger event occurring all over China. Revolutionary leaders like Dr. Sun Yat-sen had inspired multiple groups of revolutionaries, many of whom recruited men within the New Armies forming in the provinces. These groups also had links to secret societies. If you pop open wikipedia and look up the Xinhai Revolution or 1911 revolution one of the first things you will notice is the page consists of a long list of uprisings. Uprisings sprang out all over China. Some of these groups were connected, many were not at all. A famous revolutionary leader, Song Jiaron founded the Revolutionary Alliance in 1911. Song Jiaoren and Huang Xing helped Sun Yat-sen start a second uprising in Guangzhou that failed, and this basically ended the Revolutionary Alliance's role as the dominant revolutionary group. When the Wuchang uprising began, all these leaders were taken by surprise. The Hubei revolutionaries had very loose connections to the revolutionary alliance. It was Song Jiaorens intent to use the Revolutionary alliance as a sort of authority over the multiple revolutionary groups. Song Jiaoren advised the Wuchang uprisers to take it slower, but they simply were impatient for action. As a result of the Wuchang uprising, the Qing court ordered the Minister of War, General Yinchang and General Feng Guozhang to lead the Beiyang Army to quell the rebellion in Hubei. In the last episode I mentioned Admiral Sa Zhenbing was also asked to take the Qing navy to quell the rebellion, but they simply sailed off to Shanghai and got caught up in their own sort of mutiny. Now while this was going on, back in 1909 Yuan Shikai, the man who created the Beiyang Army, had been relieved of all his posts by Zaifeng. Yuan Shikai kept networking with influential figures during his exile. Something particularly important he did was manage his contacts that could help him remain in control of his precious Beiyang army. He married his niece to his adopted son Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui was reported to him regularly the ongoings of the beiyang Army. Now the Qing court knew the only force capable of quelling the rebellion was the Beiyang army, but their loyalty seemed to still be with the exiled Yuan Shikai. The Qing court in a panic had been repeatedly requesting Yuan Shikai return, offering him first Viceroy of Huguang and then Prime Minister of the Imperial Court. But Yuan Shikai kept procrastinating, stating he had a foot ailment and could not take such appointments. The Qing court kept begging and on October 30th, Yuan Shikai finally agreed and became Prime Minister on November 1st. As soon as Yuan Shikai took this position he asked Zaifeng to withdraw from Politics, effectively resigning as regent. After this Yuan Shikai formed a new cabinet, notably Han dominant. Empress Dowager Longyu awarded Yuan Shikai the noble title of Marquis of the 1st rank. Basically the Qing court was bending over backwards to please Yuan Shikai because he literally was holding them hostage because he made it clear the Beiyang army was his to command alone. Meanwhile Yinchang and Feng had traveled to Hankou by rail and attempted to seize control over the city's northern suburbs. By October 18th, 1000 revolutionary soldiers had attacked Liujiamiao train station located at the northern approach to Hankou. The rebels were driven back initially, but later that day they regrouped and with the help of railway workers ambushed a train coming in with Qing soldiers. The train derailed, as Qing soldiers fought the rebels, but many also fled for their lives. 400 Qing soldiers were killed by the revolutionary force who proceeded to capture Liujiaomiao. The revolutionaries were greatly emboldened and grew to a force 5000 strong. On October the 20th, the rebels attacked Wushengguan, but were dealt a defeat and forced to withdraw back to Liujiaomiao. Despite the defeat, the rebels had proven themselves capable and this had an enormous impact. On October the 22nd, Tongmenghui in Hunan province led by Jiao Defeng and Chen Zuoxin declared an uprising at Changsha. They captured the city, killing the local Qing general and announced a new Hunan Military government in opposition to the Qing dynasty. Alongside this on October 22nd, Tongmenghui in Shaanxi led by Jing Dingcheng, Qian Ding and Jing Wumu launched an uprising and captured Xi'an after two days of battle. The Hui muslim community was divided on who to support. Hui of Gangsu supported the Qing dynasty while Hui of Shaanxi supported the revolutionaries. The Hui muslims of Xi'an joined the revolutionaries to slaughter Manchu, but General Ma Anliang led over 20 battalions of Hui Muslims to fight for the Qing against a revolutionary army led by Zhang Fengui. Within the Xi'an area, over 20,000 Manchu would be massacred by revolutionary forces. However Ma Anliang would be very successfully fighting back for the Qing forces, it was only after learning later on that the throne was abdicating that Ma Anliang would change sides. Thus Hunan and Shaanxi had both declared independence from the dynasty. Back in Hubei, the Qing court removed Yinchang from command and handed formal power to Yuan Shikai whose loyal lt's Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang were right and ready for action. Duan and Feng led the 1st and 2nd armies who marched upon Wuhan. By the 26th, the Beiyang Army was advancing by rail and stormed the northern suburbs of Hankou. They began their assault using heavy artillery and machine guns to devastating effect. The revolutionary forces took 500 deaths, under the rather poor leadership of Zhang Jingliang. It was suspected Zhang Jingliang was sitting on the fence, possibly collaborating with the Qing. The revolutionaries would lose control over Liujiamiao and regain it twice. By the 28th Liujiamiao saw house to house fighting between the two sides. On that same day Song Jiaoren and Huang Xing arrived to Hankou from Shanghai. They came to offer their support to the revolutionaries. Huang Xing had brought over 1000 revolutionary troops to help bolster Wuchangs 5000 strong force. With the additional support the revolutionaries were able to hold the Qing forces back, but they lacked heavy artillery and machine guns. The Qing forces were dishing out severe casualties. Facing such tough resistance, Feng Guozhang became enraged and ordered Hankou razed to the ground. A fire would burn throughout the city for over 3 days. By the 1st of November, the Qing had seized control over Hankou, but both sides had suffered casualties in the thousands as a result. On November 3rd, Li Yuanhong handed command of the revolutionary forces to Huang Xing who had proven himself a more capable military leader. New recruits from Hunan began to boost their force and by November the 11th the province declared independence. Around this time, the Qing Navy had effectively defected, multiple warships had gone to assist revolutionaries in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. An uprising broke out in Hangzhou seeing revolutionaries capture a large quantity of military supplies. Here a young Chiang Kai-shek captured some government offices and gradually Hangzhou. The revolutionaries of Zhejiang and Jiangsu raised a siege against Nanjing using Qing warships. The siege was led by Xu Shaozhen, Chen Qimei and other defected generals. Between November 24th to December 1st, the revolutionaries captured Wulongshan, Mufushan, Tianbao, Yuhuatai and countless other Qing strongholds. On December 2nd, Nanjing fell to the revolutionaries, it was a tremendous victory. Back over in Hubei, the revolutionaries now 13,000 strong at Hanyang, forded the Han river marching to take back Hankou. Yuan Shikai was on the other side of the river leading a force 30,000 strong. While many revolutionary leaders sought to defend Hanyang, it was Huang Xing who seized the initiative. On November 17th the revolutionary forces began an artillery bombardment of Hankou from the Guishan heights, before launching a two-pronged attack. Their artillery was quite inaccurate and as their infantry advanced, Yuan Shikai's artillery quickly pinned down their right flank. This saw the revolutionary left flank managing to ford the river alone, whom ran into Qing defenders who easily repelled them back by the 18th. The revolutionary army suffered 800 casualties in the disastrous attempt. On the 21st of November, Yuan Shikai launched an attack against Hanyang. One force bypassed the revolutionaries' defenses by assaulting Xiaogan further to the west. The two armies gradually converged and fought at Sanyanqiao. The next day another Qing force forded the Han river from Hankou and seized the strategic heights in Hanyang. The revolutionaries sent reinforcements twice from Wuchang to advance across the Yangtze river to Hanyang, but suffered tremendous casualties in the process. Another group of revolutionaries in Wuchang planned to cross the Yangtze to advance to strike Liujiamiao behind the Qing defensive lines, but apparently their commander got too drunk and failed to initiate on time. As a result his force failed to help the general assault which saw the Qing artillery bombardment the revolutionaries as they attempted crossing the Yangtze. Facing such terrible losses, the Hubei revolutionaries began to preserve their strength, causing outrage amongst the Hunan revolutionaries. After a week of brutal house to house combat, Yuan Shikai's forces gradually fought their way to the center of Hanyang. There they captured the munitions factory and revolutionaries artillery position upon Guishan. By November 27th, the revolutionaries were in a full retreat from Hanyang after suffering 3300 deaths trying to defend the city. By the end of November, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang both submitted plans to Yuan Shikai on how to deliver the killing blow to Wuchang. However despite their victories at Hankou and Hanyang, things overall were not good for the Qing loyalists. During the battle for Hanyang, as Huang Xing became the defacto commander in chief, Song Jiaoren had decided to withdraw south of the Yangtze to create a secondary revolutionary center. This was of course occurring everywhere in China. The fight to dethrone the Manchu empire had created an enormous power vacuum that many were eager to set upon. Within weeks of the Wuchang uprising, as I had mentioned over in Shanghai leaders of the revolutionary alliance began an uprising declaring Shanghai independent. This spread to Zhejiang and Jiangsu, and soon 14 provinces had seceded. With so many provinces declaring independence and so many revolutionary groups vying for power, the need for a central government became a necessity. If the movement was to survive, regional rivalries needed to be overcome, national unity was essential. Wuchang and Shanghai being two of the strongest factions began to clash, but while they did the siege of Nanjing saw the great secondary capital seized by rebels. Now while all of this was going on, secret talks were being made between the revolutionaries and none other than Yuan Shikai. Unbeknownst to the Qing court as they continuously lavished Yuan Shikai with titles, he was being tossed countless bribes to come to the revolutionary side. On november 3rd the Qing Court under immense pressure had passed the 19 articles, intending to finally reconstitute the Qing government into a constitutional monarchy. 6 days later Huang Xing cabled Yuan Shikai inviting him to join their republic. Yuan Shikai was thus in one of the most advantageous positions possible. For he and he alone could control the strongest army in CHina, the Beiyang army. He could crush the rebels in Wuchang, but he did not do so. In fact he had held his men back the entire time. On December 1st, Yuan Shikai agreed to a 3 day cease-fire and secretly began talks with the revolutionaries in Hankou. The 3 day ceasefire soon turned into another 3 days, then 15 days, and finally it encompassed all of december. On December 2nd Nanjing fell, and the revolutionaries agreed the new provisional government should be set up there. Revolutionary leaders met there and passed an outline on December 3rd on how they would create a republic. A public announcement was made that within a week's time they would elect a provisional government. This all was done within the scramble for power, for example Song Jiaoren and Chen Qimei had stayed in Shanghai attempted to hold their own assembly. On December the 18th, a North-South Conference was held in Shanghai trying to figure out how to solve issues between the north and south. Yuan Shikai sent his subordinate Tang Shaoyi to negotiate with the revolutionaries in Wuhan. Meanwhile the revolutionaries chose Wu Tingfang to speak to the foreign powers of the UK, US, Germany, Russia, France and Japan about helping support their new republic. Thus simultaneously, the Revolutionaries were negotiating with foreign powers to fix future deals with their republic as they negotiated with Yuan Shikai to allow their revolution to succeed. In the end, it was Yuan Shikai who held the keys to the car as we say. You might be asking yourself, ok, but where is Dr. Sun Yat-Sen during all of this? At the offset of the Wuchang uprising Dr Sun Yat-sen was in Denver Colorado. He had been in the US for quite some time fund raising for revolutions. He was shocked to find out about the Wuchang uprising and there was little he could do about everything. Huang Xing was thus his 2nd in command trying to hold the fort down for him. Dr Sun Yat-Sen with his closest foreign advisor and friend, Homer Lea rushed over to Britain trying to secure financing for a future Chinese republic, before sailing back to China by December 21st. He had come back just in the nick of time as the presidential election was held on December 29th. Over 45 representatives from 17 provinces participated and Sun Yat-Sen received 16 out of 17 votes. On January 1st of 1912, Sun Yat-Sen announced the establishment of the republic of China in Nanjing and was inaugurated as the provisional president of the republic. General Li Yunhong was made provisional vice president; Huang Xing became minister of the army; Song Jiaoran became director general of law making and countless other positions were filled. At the same time many leaders sought to establish the new flag of the republic. Wuchang wanted to use their 9 star flag; Lu Hadong wanted to use his Blue Sky with a White sun flag; Huang Xing favored a flag bearing the mythical well field system of village agriculture, but in the end a major compromise was met. The new flag would be the banner of 5 Races under one Union. If you google the flag, you can see its 5 colors; red for Han, yellow for Manchu, blue for Mongols, white for Muslims and black for Tibetans. This was all grand, but there was one problem, Yuan Shikai could obliterate their new republic at any moment. To solve the Yuan Shikai problem, some of the revolutionaries sought to lure him to the south. To do so they began secretly negotiating with him, offering to appoint him president over the new Nanjing government. However if Yuan Shikai were to move to the south, he would lose the power of his northern armies. On January 16th, while returning to his residence, Yuan Shikai was ambushed in a terrorist attack organized by the Tongmenghui. 18 revolutionaries tried to kill him with a bomb at Donghuamen in Beijing. 10 Qing guards were killed in the process, but Yuan Shikai was not seriously injured. Yuan Shikai sent a message to the revolutionaries the next day pledging his loyalty to their cause and asking them not to try assassinating him again. To make a point, Yuan Shikai secretly ordered his troops to begin looting and burning down parts of Beijing like the Dong'anmen gate. Thousands of people were killed in this type of mutiny. Yuan Shikai was showcasing to the rebels the new government would be in Beijing and that he refused to move to Nanjing where he would not be able to control his military as effectively. In the meantime there was the pesky issue of…well the Qing dynasty and their emperor still existed! The entire time Yuan Shikai and the revolutionaries were playing game of thrones, Yuan Shikai was also manipulating the Qing court. Yuan Shikai told the Qing court and Empress Dowager Longyu the revolutionaries would butcher them all, unless dramatic concessions were made. Zaifeng stepped down as regent on December 6th, and the Empress Dowager Longyu took over the empire. Yuan Shikai made it clear to her, Puyi had to abdicate the throne, because he would not be able to protect them from the revolutionaries. On February the 12th, Yuan Shikai and Empress Dowager Longyu met, and as recalled in Puyi's autobiography “The Dowager Empress was sitting on a kang [platform] in a side room of the Mind Nature Palace, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief as a fat old man [Yuan] knelt before her on a red cushion, tears streaming down his face. I was sitting to the right of the widow and wondering why both adults were crying. There was no one in the room other than the three of us and everything was very quiet; the fat man snorted as he spoke and I couldn't understand what he was saying... This was the time when Yuan directly raised the question of abdication”. Yuan Shikai pressured Empress Dowager Longyu, by stating the imperial family's lives would not be spared if the emperor did not abdicate. If the revolutionaries reached Beijing before an abdication, the provisional government would not honor and terms between them. On February the 3rd Longyu gave Yuan Shikai full authority to negotiate the abdication terms between the Qing dynasty and the provisional government. Yuan Shikai sneakily drew up his own terms and dispatched it to the revolutionaries. The Imperial edict of abdication of the Qing Emperor would thus end 276 years of Qing rule and imperial rule that has lasted over 2132 years. Nearly 4000 years of monarchy had come to an end. Throughout China's grand history, old dynasties had always been replaced by new dynasties. After 1911, it was the first time a monarchy was completely overthrown and a republic was ushered in. Puyi would retain his imperial title and be treated as a monarch by the new Republic. Puyi and the royal family could remain in the northern half of the Forbidden city and the Summer palace. The Republic would grant them an annual 4 million taels. The reign of the last Qing emperor Puyi, had thus come to an end. All of this was negotiated through Yuan Shikai with the revolutionaries. He promised the revolutionaries he would get the emperor to abdicate, in return to be made the president of the new provisional government. It was a masterstroke of deception and power grabbing. In many ways you game of thrones fans can think of him as little finger if he actually won the throne…well maybe in the books he might still do so if Martin ever gets his fat ass to finish them. The revolutionaries really had no choice in the matter. During the battles, Yuan Shikai proved his Beiyang army was overwhelmingly more powerful. The only reason Yuan Shikai did not crush the rebellion was simply because he sought the best outcome for himself. After working most of his life to bring an end to the Qing dynasty, to usher in democracy, Dr Sun Yat-sen had to give up his presidency. It was a bittersweet moment to be sure. Dr Sun Yat-Sen is considered the Father of the Nation by both China and Taiwan. Though Dr Sun Yat-Sen had to step down, he still fought bitterly to keep the new capital as Nanjing rather than Beijing. But Yuan Shikai's powerbase was in Beijing, his Beiyang Army and loyal officers were all there. On February the 14th the issue came to a vote in the provincial senate, 20-5 in favor of Beijing vs Nanjing, there were two other votes for Wuhan and Tianjin. The senate majority wanted to secure the peace with Yuan Shikai, and there was also the added effect of checking against a Manchu restoration or Mongol secession. Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing argued for Nanjing to balance against Yuan Shikai's power base in the north. Li Yuanhong presented Wuhan as a compromise, the provincial senate voted again, this time 19 vs 6 for Nanjing. Sun Yat-Sen then dispatched Cai Yuanpei and Wang Jingwei to persuade Yuan Shikai to move to Nanjing. Yuan Shikai welcomed the delegation and agreed to the move, but then suddenly on February 29th riots and fires broke out all over Beijing. It was allegedly orchestrated by Cao Kun a loyal officer under Yuan Shikai. The chaos gave Yuan Shikai pretext to stay in Beijing, lest the unrest continue. Thus Yuan Shikai won the issue, Beijing would be the capital. The battles during the Xinhai revolution had raged on for 41 days and in the end 13 provinces joined the revolution. In October of 1912 Yuan Shikai conferred honors to commanders on both sides of the battles to commemorate the founding of the new republic. It is estimated the battles had taken the lives of 4300 soldiers. Yuan Shikai was air quotes elected provisional president of the republic of China on February 14th and sworn in March 10th. In 1912, the Chinese national assembly elections were held, the first for the new republic. 30,000 electors chose 2000 members of the provincial assemblies and 596 members of the house of representatives and 274 senate members were elected by the provincial assemblies. Adult males over the age of 21 who were educated, owned property, paid taxes or who could prove they resided in China for more than 2 years were allowed to vote. Its estimated 40 million people registered for the election, that's roughly 5% of the population. Now Sun Yat-Sen was not going to allow Yuan Shikai to steal the new republic without a fight. Sun Yat-Sen was no fool and knew he would have to take a backseat for awhile so he asked Song Jiaoren to lead the political war effort to try and dismantle Yuan Shikai's stranglehold. Song Jiaoren mobilized the Tongmenghui. He offered an alliance to like minded small parties to join the Tongmenghui and thus ushered in the Kuomintang on August 25th of 1912 at the Huguang Guild Hall in Beijing. Song Jiaoren's KMT party won 269 out of 596 seats in the house of representatives and 123 seats out of 274 in the senate. The remaining seats were taken by the 3 other parties; the republicans led by Li Yuanhong; The Unity Party led by Zhang Binglin and the Democratic Party led by Tang Hualong. There were countless other smaller parties, but effectively Song Jiaoren was regarded as the next prime candidate for the position of Prime Minister. The 3 other losing parties all merged into the Progressive Party under the leadership of Liang Qichao and thus they were the opposition. At this point Yuan Shikai held overwhelming executive power and Song Jiaoren was leading the fight to dismantle that. During his campaigning Song Jiaoren made it abundantly clear he vehemently desired to limit the powers of the president. He also always took the chance to be critical of Yuan Shikai's obvious ambitions. Song Jiaoren from the very beginning began a campaign against Yuan Shikai, accusing him of attempting to restore a monarchical system, most likely to make himself Emperor. Song Jiaoren was learning from Dr Sun Yat-Sen and proved himself a very capable politician, but he also made a ton of enemies, above all else, Yuan Shikai. It looked like Song Jiaoren's first major action would be to push for an election of a future president. On March 20th of 1913, while traveling with a group of colleagues to parliament in Beijing, Song Jiaoran was shot twice at the Shanghai railway station by a lone gunman named Wu Shiying. Wu Shiying had been contracted by Ying Guixin, the leader of the Green Gang an underworld group. Ying Guixin also happened to be the chief of intelligence for Chen Qimei and a close associate of Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai had his secretary Zhao Bingjun order the hit. Song Jiaoren died two days later from his wounds. An investigation was made implicating Ying Guixin in the assassination, but Ying Guixin fled for his life and was murdered by two unknown swordsmen. Then Zhao Bingjun was poisoned. Talk about loose ends? Chinese media sources all pointed fingers at Yuan Shikai and indeed the population basically knew it was him. However there was no significant evidence to pin the crime upon Yuan Shikai and thus he was never actually implicated. Yuan Shikai was busy planning further assassinations of his political enemies and in april he secretly secured a loan of 25 million pounds sterling from Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan. This loan was used to bolster his Beiyang Army. In order to secure this loan the Beiyang government had to cede partial control over its national treasury to foreign ownership as leverage. This of course was humiliating and done without parliament causing massive outrage. The ones giving the most voice against Yuan Shikai were of course the KMT, whose leader had just been assassinated. Yuan Shikai began a process of bribing and killing his KMT enemies. Yuan Shikai began dismissing governors who were pro KMT and did whatever he possibly could to collapse them. Meanwhile as a result of the formation of the republic of China, all the revolutionary armies had been disbanded, but their soldiers were not compensated for toppling the Qing dynasty. This led to wide scale discontent. Yuan Shikai continued to gradually seize control over the government, while increasing his Beiyang Army and diminishing any other military forces that could threaten him. Yuan Shikai had thus greatly angered the revolutionary soldiers and the KMT. His political abuses were rampant, he was using violence to basically dissolve any opposition. The paint was on the wall as they say. Dr Sun Yat-Sen and the KMT would not stand for it any longer, there was to be a second revolution. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Wuchang Uprising was a springboard for other uprisings that ushered in the Xinhai revolution. The Qing dynasty had fallen and now a new Republic of China had emerged, but for how long could this experiment last? Yuan Shikai sought to seize ultimate power and it seems he was winning.
If you grew up anywhere near Chicago, the history of JAM Productions is probably a mirror image to your own history as a concert goer. Founded over 50 years ago (and still independent and going strong), JAM has done more to shape the live music landscape in Chicago than just about any entity we can think of. In the late ‘80s and straight out of college, Nick Miller got a job at the powerhouse promotion company and quickly became an important (and beloved) part of the operation. In fact, if you're going to a show in Chicago this week — there's a good chance that Nick might be in the building. On this episode, Nick schools us on what it takes to be a concert promoter, how to make pizzas at Barnaby's, WVVX, guitars, having a Rolodex for a brain, Jeff Beck, Emo & Judy, Nick's band Viceroy, 4 nights with Cheap Trick, the 90s in Chicago, the Rolling Stones at Double Door, Ice T vs. The Police, the band that starts with a “Z” and ends with a “trope”, and an epic round of “What's The Best?!?” featuring the best concerts (or if you're cool, best “shows”). This is a good one.
Last time we spoke about the New Policies of the ailing Qing Dynasty and the rise of revolutionaries, such as Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Empress Dowager Cixi begrudgingly had to endorse major reforms to try and keep her ailing dynasty alive. It was a step in the right direction, however it came far too late. The Qing dynasty was simultaneously trying to please the foreign powers and her populace. Yet her populace were being strangled with taxes, their faith in their government had never sunk so low and in general many simply felt it was time for real change. Once intellectuals who went abroad came back with new ideologies, it was like death coming to the door. Revolutionaries began protests, strikes, assassinations and uprisings. Dr Sun Yat-sen became one of the most prolific backers of the major uprisings, traveling around the globe trying to received funding support from Overseas Chinese and allies. It was only a matter of time. #86 The Wuchang Uprising Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. There was a little something I glossed over in the last podcast and I did so on purpose, I just felt this episode needed to start with this event. 1900-1908 saw an incredible amount of change for China. As much as I am foreshadowing the downfall of the Qing dynasty, it has to be said the efforts to modernize during this time period were colossal. In their own little way, the Chinese had a sort of Meiji restoration. But while it was going on, at full speed, the year 1908 would change a lot. Despite all of these changes there was a looming, a rather glaring problem. The Manchu minority still dominated the Han majority. Cixi resisted tooth and nail to make sure the inner circle was Manchu. Even Li Hongzhang, whom held a very special relationship with Cixi and was arguably one of the most important people of the empire, was never made a member of the Grand Council. Cixi clinged to the notion the Dragon throne must be occupied by a Manchu and she would undermine the chance of a parliamentary monarchy for a Republic. One of the most fervent advocates of military action to overthrow the Manchu dynasty, is the man we have come to talk about in the last podcast, Dr Sun Yat-Sen. He had been attempting uprising since 1895 and not only would he not give up, he just kept gaining more traction. The empress dowager did not take the uprisings lightly, in her words 'these flames that could spark off a prairie fire', and cable after cable urged them to 'extinguish them; do not let them spread'. The Empress Dowager had a lot on her plate, the western powers were ever encroaching, the Boxer protocol had China paying incredible sums to them. Reforms were likewise expensive, the populace were being fleeced dry and certainly not happy about it. Revolutionaries were trying to kill her and overthrow the Manchu run dynasty. Hell I have not really gone into it, but Japan was spending an incredible amount of money and getting as close as possible to any high ranking official within the dynasty to try and dominate it. The Japanese figured the Empress Dowager was going to die sooner or later so they tossed their efforts at trying to make Guangxu a puppet, then something happened. In 1908 Emperor Guangxu became gravely ill, doctors from multiple provinces were summoned to Beijing. Guangxu wrote notes to his doctors complaining about hearing noises , 'sometimes distant wind and rain and human voices and drum beating, other times cicadas chirping and silk being torn. There is not a moment of peace.' He described 'great pains from the waist down', difficulty in lifting his arms to wash his face, deafness and 'shivering from cold even under four quilts'. He berated his doctors for not curing him or making him feel better. But he hung on tenaciously to life. Now during the summer of 1908, Cixi began to suffer from diarrhea. The year was an extremely busy one for her. She was micromanaging countless aspects of reforms and was meeting with the 13th Dalai Lama, a very important issue as the British had recently encroached upon Tibet. After her 73th birthday on November 3rd of 1908, she felt death was on its way. She ordered Prince Qing to go to the eastern Mausoleums to check out her burial ground and in the meantime she focused her attention upon keeping the empires affairs in order. Then there was the issue of Guangxu. He was bedridden, seemingly on the verge of death, but refused to die. In her mind if he survived her, he might send the empire straight into the hands of the Japanese. And thus Empress Dowager Cixi ordered her adoptive son to be killed. Some of you older listeners or those who've heard about the history of Cixi, might be gasping. But yes indeed since 2008 it a forensic examination of Guangxu's remains have indicated he had a level of arsenic over 2000 times that of an ordinary person. Guangxu was certainly poisoned with arsenic, but who did it, hmmm. There are some who believe it was Yuan Shikai who poisoned the emperor because he knew he would be executed if Cixi died before him. Now Cixi would have had a much easier time poisoning him as she had better access to him. Regardless, at 6:33pm on November 14th Guangxu was pronounced dead by the royal physicians.The Grand Council gathered at Cixi's bedside while Guangxu lay dying and when she learnt of his death, Cixi arranged his succession. Zaifeng was made regent and his two year old son Puyi, Cixis great nephew was named the new emperor of the Qing dynasty. Cixi was said to work throughout the night until 11am in the morning, getting everything settled. 3 hours later she died. And so went one of the most influential figures in modern Chinese history, love her or hate her. Now something else was brewing in the empire. All of the reforms and modernization led to a China to dramatically expand her railways. In the last years of the Qing dynasty the governments railway policy experienced a transition however. The Qing prior to 1908 had supported the provinces efforts to build railways. Then in 1908, Zhang Zhidong was appointed superintendent of the Guangzhou-Hankou railway, and in December of that same year also superintendent over the Sichuan-Hankow line. Alongside the Minister of Communications Sheng Xuanhuai, these two men began shifting the Qing policy to nationalize the two mentioned railways and would rely on foreign investments for railway construction. Historian Sun Zijian has this to say about the issue “Preparations were inadequate. The government neither offered extensive persuasive propaganda nor obtained the approval of the National Assembly or provincial assemblies. The court simply nationalized the railways in an autocratic manner. When nationalization met with opposition, instead of defusing the crisis flexibly, the government persisted in its arbitrary ways. When it found mistakes in the decision-making, the government refused to make any modifications. In the end, the crisis spun out of control. A reasonable policy properly executed could have succeeded'. According to historian Chen Tingxiang the Qing government's response to the backlash, that would become known as the Railway Protection Movement, failed for 3 reasons. 1) The announcement and implementation of the railway nationalization was reckless. 2) the government was internally divided on the issue. 3) the officials suspicions of each other led to the failure in quelling the unrest. Historian Chen Xiaodong also had 3 points to make about the issue. He stated first the Qing government did not present the two issues: railway nationalization and foreign loans to the provincial assemblies and national assembly. Second they violated the new corporation law and attempted to confiscate the shares of the commercial company. And three the Qing government refused to listen to the pleas of the Sichuan provincial officials and were unwilling to compromise forcing the people into desperate actions. Now going back in time to explain some of this, in 1898 and 1900 Sheng Xuanhuai negotiated the Guangzhou-Hankou railway loan protocol with the “American China Development Company” receiving the right to build the line. But the company breached the contract by failing to finish the line on time and secretly sold 4000 of the 6000 shares of the company to Belgium. By 1905 Zhang Zhidong recommended negotiations and recovered the rights to the line. Though the Chinese got back the rights to the line, they still lacked funds to build it. In Zhang Zhidong's words “at present, the only way to do this great project is to rely on borrowed money.” In 1907 to build up the Hubei portion of the line, Zhang Zhidong sought to burrow 2 million pounds from Everard Fraser, the British consul general in Hankou. The following year Zhang Zhidong was appointed the supervisor over the Guangzhou-Hankou line and the Hubei portion of the Sichuan line. On June 6th of 1909 Zhang Zhidong drafted a loan agreement with Germany's Deutsche Bank, the British Hongkong and Shanghai banking corporation and France's Banque Indoseuz. The US wanted to get in on that sweet piece of pie, but during the process on October 4th, Zhang Zhidong died of illness. Because they were in the process of negotiations everything would be shuffled around. On November 5th of 1909, the Hubei railway association opposed the loan and abrogated the protocol. On the 14th a coalition of Hubei gentry, merchants, military officials and educational representatives got together and announced they would fund the railway. They asked the Ministry of Communications and Board of Revenue to cancel the draft agreements with the foreigners. In March of 1910 the coalition was given the right to establish a railway company, but many knew their fund raising could be untrustworthy. This prompted the officials from Britain, France, Germany and America to angrily demand their rights and interests be met. The Qing foreign ministry and ministry of communications offered no answer to this. They both tossed the buck as they say to the board of revenue, who was pissed they were evading responsibility. The foreigners then sent direct communications to the Qing government, receiving no reply. Thus the initial loan was shelved. In August of 1910 Sheng Xuanhuai reported “setting up associations in Hunan and Hubei to resist foreign loans, raise funds, and build the railway on their own are only empty promises of no use in solving real problems. … Their claimed fund-raising figures are unreliable.” The matter was investigated at multiple levels. On October 14th, Sheng Xuanhuai reported regent Zaifeng the Hunan portion of the line required 34 million taels of silver, but the railway company had only collected 1.7 million silver dollars. The Hubei portion required 67 million but the railway company only raised just under 1 million silver collars. If the two railway lines were to be built, they simply had to borrow from foreigners. Zaifeng appointed Sheng Xuanhuai as the minister of communications on January 6th of 1911, and Sheng secretly began to negotiate with the representatives of the 4 nations. By late april they reached an agreement and in may Zaifeng made an imperial edict announcing the nationalization of the railway lines. Its also important to note some other external factors. In june of 1910, the Japanese and Russians signed a second agreement stipulating the boundaries of there sphere of influence over Manchuria. Once that was signed Japan formally annexed Korea. Then Russia on January 12th of 1911 requested the Qing government release them rights in Xinjiang, Mongolia and parts of Manchuria. On March 25th the Qing government was forced to agree and then Britain came and stepped up aggression in Tibet. By January of 1911 the British army was occupying Pianma in Yunnan province. It was under these circumstances, the Qing sort of buried their heads in the sand and focused on the railway projects. Zaifeng was determined to pursue railway nationalization. In order to carry this out he had to adopt a series of radical actions. On May 9th of 1911, Zaifeng canceled the earlier approval of the private railway companies rights to the Hubei and Hunan portions of the line. Then on the 18th he appointed Duanfang as minister in charge of the Guangzhou-Hankou and Sichuan-Hankou lines. Then on May 23rd and 30th he ordered the provinces of Sichuan and Hunan to stop collecting taxes to support the public shares on their rail lines. All of this was designed to get the railway companies to come to new terms. The nationalization of the rail lines was met with fierce opposition from the people of Hunan, Sichuan, Guangdong and Hubei. Zaifengs immediate problem was dealing with the funds collected by the private companies, he needed to buy them out. Many called to have the government bail the companies out, others said they should be held accountable and audited. Zaifeng decided to collect all the shares and issue railway bonds at same value, thus the people who wished to de-vest could. The investors were not happy, specifically the Sichuanese who had the largest public shareholding. Basically all of the investors would only be partially compensated by the government bond scheme, what they wanted was a proper buyout, silver not bonds. The Sichuan railway company by 1911 had raised 14 million taels, 4 of which had been expended and 3 were lost in speculation. Zaifeng was not happy with the governor general of Sichuan and hastily appointed General Zhao Erfeng to replace him by August 4th to force the issue to a resolvement. Zhao Erfeng made his way to Chengde and made sure to bring numerous military and police units to maintain order. On August 5th Zhao Erfeng was given orders to force the shareholders in Sichuan to take the bonds. It should be noted Zhao Erfeng had the nickname “the butcher”. On August 11th, more than 10,000 protestors began rallies against the proposals in Chengdu and organized a series of strikes and boycotts. Students, merchants and workers were showing solidarity. Zaifeng was outraged at the situation and ordered Zhao Erfeng to “firmly suppress the unrest”. This was sweet music to Zhao Erfengs ears and he began requesting funds for additional troops, too which Zaifeng approved. Yet Zhao Erfeng soon found out, the situation was much more dire than they all believed. Zhao Erfeng began sending requests to Zaifeng to reach some sort of solution to the crisis. But on September 2nd Zaifeng issued strict orders to him stating “ suppress [the disturbance] effectively, disperse [the protesters] quickly, and not let the situation lead to chaos. If the troubles persist and lead to unrest, you will be punished” Zhao Erfeng was pushed into a corner, he had no choice. On September 7th he lured out Luo Lun, Pu Dianjun and other leaders of what was then being called the Railway Protection League, the Provincial assembly and the private railway company to the governor general's office by falsely telling them “a telegram from Beijing brings good news. We need to exchange views right away.” Once the men arrived, they were arrested. News broke out of the act and the city of Chengde erupted. Thousands of people flocked to the governor generals office. Zhao Erfeng dispatched troops to cut them off at street corners, but the angry crowd broke through barricades and poured into the governor general's office. At this point Zhao Erfeng ordered the troops to fire upon the people. The angry mob suffered heavy casualties. Despite this the next day more protestors showed up and dozens more were shot. All of Sichuan rose up in arms. On the 7th Zhao Erfeng reported “thousands of people fiercely attacking the governor-general's office. It is not sure whether stability can be restored. We need the court to dispatch thousands of strong troops from the capital to rush to Sichuan to prepare for trouble.” Zaifeng had gambled on forcing the railway protestors into submission and now he had provoked a rebellion. There was no other action than to push forward. On September 9th, Zaifend issued a decree praising Zhao Erfengs performance and gave out the order “select a capable general to quickly lead nearby troops to Sichuan, where Zhao Erfeng will assume command.” On the 12th Zaifeng against the pleas of numerous advisors to peacefully comply with the public opinion, ordered Zhao Erfeng “to direct the new and old armies to destroy those promoting rebellion so that [the unrest] does not spread”. The next day Zaifeng received a telegram, stating Chengdu was surrounded. At this point Zaifeng was sort of grasping at straws. He appointed Cen Chunxuan to deal with the Sichuan situation. Cen Chunxuan was “to work with Zhao Erfeng in calming and suppressing the unrest in Sichuan.” But Cen Chunxian instead advocated for completely reversing the course of action and try to regain the publics confidence through a gentle approach. Cen Chunxian telegram the court advising “the temporary release under guarantee of the detained gentry, and promise the Sichuan people will not lose a penny of their capital; and that no innocent people will be killed. The people and the government must move forward together. There should be some words of self-reproach in the edict. If the court could do this, public opinion will be calmed, … people everywhere will dance for joy”. Prince Qing and his colleagues disagreed with the stance and the Ministry of Communications told the Qing court they rejected the idea all together. Zaifeng took the advice and rejected it as well. Cen Chunxuan telegram the Qing Court “a wind-heat (fengre) has aggravated my old illness and makes it very hard to go to my post. Please relieve me of my position.” By rejecting Cen Chunxians proposal, Zaifeng had lost the last chance to resolve the Sichuan railway crisis. Now going a little bit back a bit because its important, we talked a lot about the new policies. Within Hubei province a sort of elite army had been developed. As part of the New Army program, Hubei like other provinces modernized its military force. French, German, American advisors had come to help with the process. In the end the Hubei new Army became one of the best armies in China, second pretty much only to Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army. Because of this the Hubei army became a sort of model for neighboring provinces' programs. Now Yuan Shikai had strict political controls over the Beiyang army ‘soldiers who form an association, or spread rumors, should be executed.” He privatized his army, by promoting officers from within, building internal cliques around himself. And it was pretty insane stuff, he had an altar for his men to pray to him where they would kowtow every day. The Hubei New Army on the other hand was more loosely controlled by the Qing court. This left some room for revolutionaries to get in. The distribution of the Hubei army garrisons helped facilitate the rapid spread of revolutionary influence. A few amount of troops were scattered throughout the countryside, with the vast majority concentrated around Wuchang. The urban social networks thus crept into the military. Now just before the year 1911 its estimated 2000 of the 15,000 troops were members of the “wenxue she” Literature Society and perhaps another 2000 were members of the “gongjin hui” Forward Together society. The Hubei army is thought to have had roughly 5000 revolutionaries, 4000 who were lukewarm on revolutionary ideas and only 1000 firmly loyal to the Qing. With everything going on, by fall of 1911, the revolutionaries in the Hubei army were preparing an uprising. The revolutionary groups I mentioned, began talks with the Tongmenghui in September of 1911. They were attempting to collaborate to perform an uprising, set for October 6th, during the mid-autumn festival in the Wuhan area. They were forced to postpone a bit. On October the 9th, one of the revolutionary leaders, Sun Wu was supervising the making of explosives in the Russian concession in Hankou when one of the devices accidentally exploded. Sun Wu was hospitalized and the hospital staff discovered his identity and reported him to the Qing authorities. Fearing the jig was up, the revolutionaries within the Hubei army in Wuchang led by Jiang Yiwu, the leader of the Literary Society decided to launch the uprising immediately. However disaster struck twice as the plot was leaked to the viceroy of Huguang who immediately ordered a crackdown. General Ruicheng the Viceroy of Huguang and the divisional commander of the Hubei army Zhang Biao fled for their lives. The previously elected revolutionary commander in chief, Liu Gong was in Hankou, the vice commander Liu Ying was stuck in Jingshan. Jiang Yiwu had also fled and Sun Wu was gravely wounded. Within the catastrophe, provincial commander Wu Zhaolin stepped up to take charge. On the night of October 10th, Wu Zhaolin led revolutionary elements of the Hubei ne army and staged a mutiny at the Huguang garrison. In the process they captured the viceroy's residence, but the viceroy managed to escape. The city was thrown into disorder and many Manchu were killed. “From the night of the 10th to noon of the 11th … the casualties of the revolutionary army were about 20 … while more than 500 Manchu soldiers were killed, and over 300 captured.” The next day, one of the high ranking officers within the Hubei army, Li Yuanhong was persuaded to become the temporary leader of the movement. Wu Zhaolin stated “After the uprising, both military and civil administration will be needed. I propose that we elect Li Yuanhong as military governor of Hubei, and Tang Hualong as head of the civil administration. These two are highly respected in Hubei, so if they agree to be in charge, other provinces are likely to respond and support us” Li Yuanhong was initially very hesitant about it screaming at Wu Zhaolin after his statement “Why do you want a revolution? You put your own family in danger! You are a scholar, not a revolutionary. Don't join the revolution!” But he came around. On October 11th, the mutineers formed a military government representing Hubei. Li Yuanhong led the charge in cutting off his queue and was appointed military governor. At this time Hubei had just suffered some major floods, thus Li Yuanghong began his tenure by ordering “let government employees and civilians go back to work, and give a tax break for a year to alleviate their financial difficulties”. The governments miliary organization was quite chaotic from the offset, it was said “The revolution had just broken forth and many different ideas were put forth. Departments were established and abolished one after the other, and responsibilities kept changing.” It was quickly decided the military would deal with military affairs, leaving civil affairs to civil administrators. The new chief of the civil government, Tang Hualong ordered the existing treaties to be respected hoping foreigners would recognize their new military government. On the 15th the US consul met with Li Yuanhong and Tang Hualong asking about the their treaties and debts with the Qing government. Tang Hualong responded ‘The military government will only recognize debts of the Qing government if they were incurred before October 10; the relief funds for the Hubei floods should be raised locally from wealthy gentry; as for the government structure, there will be no more imperial system, and a republican government will be established after the revolution”. This prompted the US to declare neutrality, followed by Britain, France, Russia and Japan. Prior to the revolution, Tang Hualong had encouraged individual security forces in Hankou to join a Federation of Hankou associations with Ma Zhongji as their president. After the revolution he began arming them to help the revolutionary forces and maintain order. They would become instrumental against Qing forces. 2 days after the Wuchang uprising, the Qing court ordered Admiral Sa Zhenbing to take his fleet to Hubei. However Sa Zhenbing also happened to be Li Yuanhongs teacher at the Tianjin naval academy. Tang Hualong thus proposed Li write him a letter urging for a naval mutiny. Meanwhile Tang Hualong wrote to his brother, Tang Xiangming, who happened to be an aide to Sa Zhenbing “the Wuchang Uprising is justified, and is supported all over the country. Revolution is inevitable. We hope you encourage the navy to abandon the Qing and thus earn special merit.” Many of the naval officers were sympathetic to the revolution and soon gave up on the confrontation. Sa Zhenbing in response to a potential mutiny simply left the fleet and retired in Shanghai. The entire fleet left the Wuhan battleground and headed for Jiujiang. At Jiujiang the navy would mutiny on October 23rd Tang Xiangming was elected interim naval commander. Another revolutionary leader, Huang Xing who helped Sun Yat-sen found the Tongmenghui came to Wuchang to meet Li Yuanhong. On October 28th, Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren came to Wuchang and Huang Xing asked to become wartime commander in chief, while Song Jiaoren asked to assist the military government of hubei with foreign affairs. By early November Li Yuanhong told the men, since their province had the first successful uprising, they needed to set an example for the nation. They needed to form a constitutional document to form a new republic of China. They would model it on the constitution of the US, advocating for a federal system based on the principles of local self governance, guaranteed civil rights and the establishment of a separation of powers. It was the first time in Chinese history that a principle of separation of powers would be adopted in fundamental law. The revolutionaries were all busy planning, however the Qing were not going to just sit back idle. The wrath of the Qing was about to be unleashed. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. What began as a railway protection movement had spiraled out of control when Zaifeng unleashed the butcher known as General Zhao Erfeng upon Sichuan. In his attempts to quell the protestors, Zhao Erfeng had ushered in a full blown revolution. The Wuchang Revolution would springforth multiple revolutions and soon the Qing dynasty would come to an end.
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