met free Chapter 1282 Epilogue
Chapter 1282 Epilogue
Chapter 1282 Epilogue
"September 18th! The Japanese wolves brazenly attacked Beidaying in Shenyang! Our compatriots in Northeast China are suffering terribly!"
The news spread like a plague, even faster than a plague, throughout Guanzhong and the entire Northwest, instantly igniting the long-suppressed anger on this ancient land! Xi'an was like a pot of boiling oil had been thrown into it! In the streets and alleys, in teahouses and taverns, everyone was running around shouting, waving newspapers, and screaming the same name at the top of their lungs—"Japanese devils!"
The pent-up national humiliation and deep-seated hatred for the invaders were ignited at this moment. Factories shut down, shops closed. The campus of Guanzhong University instantly became the center of a raging storm!
"Students! Fellow villagers! The Japanese devils have occupied our three northeastern provinces! They are burning, killing, and looting on our land! Can we still have books to read? Can we still have homes to return to?!" A student, his blood boiling, jumped onto a dining table in the cafeteria, waving his fists, his voice trembling with grief and indignation.
Down with Japanese imperialism!
"Give us back our land! Reclaim the Northeast!"
"eye for eye!"
The roars were like thunder, converging into a deafening tsunami. With students from Guanzhong University as the backbone, students from various universities, angry workers, and citizens spontaneously gathered together, forming long, angry lines.
Holding aloft huge banners proclaiming "We swear to resist Japan to the death" and "Please send troops," they surged through the weak barriers set up by the military and police, heading towards the provincial government and the Party headquarters! Their shouts shook the heavens, and even the sturdy city walls of Xi'an trembled.
Outside the provincial government compound, a huge crowd had gathered, and the noise was deafening.
Yue Weishan's face was so gloomy it could drip water: "Useless! All of you are useless! You couldn't even stop a group of students!"
The phone on the desk rang shrilly, like a death knell. He grabbed the receiver, and on the other end came his superior's furious, almost roaring accusation: "Yue Weishan! What are you doing?! Students are blocking the provincial government gate! The march is about to storm the Party headquarters! Suppress them immediately! Get the situation under control! If this causes any more trouble, you'll have to pay with your head!"
"Yes! I understand! I will handle it well!" Yue Weishan's forehead was covered in cold sweat as he repeatedly agreed.
……
Inside the president's office of Guanzhong University.
Yue Weishan's face turned ashen: "Principal Bai, can't you see the chaos outside? It's all your Guanzhong University students who are stirring up trouble. If you, as the principal, can't control them, don't blame me for my bullets not having eyes."
"Making trouble?" Qin Hao sneered, "Secretary Yue, what are the students shouting? They just want to avoid being slaves of a conquered nation, to reclaim the land that was forcibly seized, and to protect their homeland. As the principal, am I supposed to suppress their patriotism? To stop them from voicing the opinions of a Chinese person? Sorry, I really can't teach that!"
Yue Weishan slammed his hand on the table, causing the documents on it to jump up: "Greedy! Disrupting public order! Endangering diplomatic relations! This is their so-called 'patriotism'! Bai Zihan, don't give me this nonsense! This is Shaanxi! The Party has the right to maintain local peace! As the Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee, I order you to immediately take effective measures to suppress the students! Prevent the further spread of the demonstrations! Otherwise, you will be condoning a riot! How are you any different from bandits?! Whether you can keep your position as principal is a small matter, don't think that just because you have some empty title, I can't touch you!"
"Yue still has the right to invite you to the Party headquarters interrogation room for tea!"
"Ha." Faced with such a blatant threat, Qin Hao chuckled lightly: "Secretary Yue, what a grand official's arrogance! What a fine 'endangering diplomatic relations'! The Northeast has fallen into enemy hands! Our compatriots are bleeding! Our territory is being lost! And you're talking to me about 'diplomatic relations'? Talking about 'peace' at a time like this? I ask you, Secretary Yue, is your 'suppression' suppressing the Japanese invaders who are burning, killing, and looting in the three northeastern provinces? Or is it suppressing the righteous men who are fighting bloody battles outside the Great Wall? Or... is it just suppressing a group of unarmed students who are weeping and wailing for their homeland?!"
"You want to invite me to the Party headquarters for tea? Fine! I'll be waiting anytime! I want to see if there's any room for patriotic voices under the bright sun!"
Yue Weishan's eyes were like a venomous snake, fixed on Qin Hao for a full half minute. He squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "Fine! Fine, Bai Zihan! You've got guts! I'll remember what you said today! We'll see!"
Even after Yue Weishan left, the commotion outside did not subside. More and more troops were entering Xi'an, and a bloody storm was brewing.
Qin Hao knew that Yue Weishan and his gang were ruthless and might very well take action against the protesters.
The following morning, the school's auditorium was packed with people. Having learned that the principal was going to speak that day, not only the students of Guanzhong University, but also many indignant faculty members and citizens who had heard the news crowded in.
The air was heavy and oppressive, and countless eyes were focused on the podium, filled with grief, helplessness, and bewildered longing.
Qin Hao walked slowly onto the podium, his expression unusually calm. He was not wearing the principal's badge, but only a simple gray-blue long gown. His gaze, like an ancient well, slowly swept over the dark mass of people below.
The clamor of discussion gradually subsided, and thousands of eyes focused on him.
Qin Hao's voice, amplified through a simple loudspeaker, resounded throughout every corner of the auditorium.
"Dear teachers, classmates, and fellow villagers."
"Last night, I had a dream."
"I dreamt that I folded a paper airplane, a very delicate one. I used all my strength to throw it high into the sky. It rode the wind, flying and flying... over mountains, across rivers, all the way to the Northeast..."
"I saw it circling over Changchun and Shenyang. It flew over those swaggering Japanese barracks, over those rumbling armored tanks..."
He paused slightly, then emphasized, "Then, in my dream, I silently chanted: Fight! Fight them hard! Teach those invaders a lesson! My paper airplane seemed to hear my shout and swooped down like a sharp sword! It crashed into the Japanese tanks, and the tanks exploded! It crashed into the Japanese military flag, and the flag was torn to shreds!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it contained surging emotions. Many people in the audience started breathing rapidly, their eyes shining, as if they were also seeing that exhilarating scene in their dreams.
"Bravo!" Someone couldn't help but let out a low roar. This sound instantly ignited the pent-up emotions, and a brief but enthusiastic cheer erupted in the auditorium!
"Great! Well done!"
"That's how it should be!"
However, Qin Hao's face remained expressionless. He slowly raised his hand, suppressing the exhilarating cheers. His expression shifted swiftly from the passionate intensity of his dream to a heavy, chilling clarity.
"The moment the fire exploded before my eyes was truly exhilarating! However, in that instant, the dream ended."
The blinding sunlight streamed through the windowpane. The terrifying flames and explosions from my dream vanished. The room was quiet, with only the sound of my own heartbeat—thump, thump, thump.
"I know, it was a dream."
"I know better than anyone else. No matter how beautifully a paper airplane is folded or how high it flies... it is still just a paper airplane."
"It is light and powerless. It cannot bear explosives, cannot break through armored tanks, cannot tear apart the invaders' steel guns and cannons, and cannot stop those Japanese bandits who took our homes and slaughtered our compatriots!"
"Gentlemen," he said, "paper airplanes won't do! Empty slogans won't do either. We can only, and must, rely on one thing—real, tangible power that can shatter the enemy to pieces!"
Qin Hao clenched his fists and spoke each word clearly and forcefully: "If we don't want to become slaves of a conquered nation, we can only rely on real airplanes and real cannons!"
"From today onward, your battlefield is right here! In the library of Guanzhong University! In the classrooms where you study day and night! On the physics, chemistry, and engineering drawings that you may find tedious! In those cold machines and precise calculations! Pick up your pens, the instruments on your lab benches, the parts on your machine tools—when they are assembled, they will become the real airplanes and cannons you dream of today! That is the true power to wipe out our shame, serve our country, and restore our lost lands!"
Qin Hao's words were like a lighthouse shining on the dark sea, instantly igniting a completely different kind of enthusiasm—a enthusiasm for knowledge, technology, and practical work.
In the following days, the internal structure of Guanzhong University underwent tremendous changes.
Mechanical engineering and applied chemistry-related majors are suddenly overcrowded.
The engineering classrooms were packed with students, and the corridors were teeming with students auditing classes. Many young literary talents put down their poetry and novels, and their notebooks began to be filled with drawings of gears, levers, and chemical equations.
The professors were surprised to find that the liberal arts students who had previously complained about how difficult calculus and theoretical mechanics were were now frowning but also unusually focused on deriving formulas.
In the library, foreign books and professional journals on engineering manufacturing, metal smelting, aerodynamics, and the principles of explosives have become the most sought-after "hot items".
The students read, copied, and discussed with great eagerness, the incandescent lights illuminating their thirst for knowledge in the dead of night.
The corner that was once a place for poets to enjoy the moon and the wind is now filled with hushed debates about "alloy ratios," "ballistic calculations," and "engine efficiency."
Time flows like a stream on the White Deer Plain, quietly carrying a deeper power after its stirring echoes.
The six years from 1931 to 1937 were a period of suffering for the Chinese nation, a time of humiliation and resistance. For the students of Guanzhong University, however, it was a period of hard work and honing their skills.
The literary youths who once crowded in front of the podium to copy notes have lost some of their bookishness and gained more of the rigor and composure of engineers.
The student leader who once gave passionate speeches at the front of the parade is now the "workaholic" in the workshop who stays up all night to solve technical problems.
Fewer people are running on the playground, and the lights in libraries and laboratories are on all night long.
In July 1937, the sound of artillery fire at Lugou Bridge shattered the brief tranquility, and the full-scale War of Resistance against Japan broke out! With the nation in peril, widespread suffering ensued. The soldiers fighting on the front lines faced a predicament even more terrifying than the enemy's: an extreme shortage of weapons and ammunition! The heavy industrial base of Northeast China had already fallen to the enemy, and the newly established military industrial system in the rear was stretched thin. The much-needed guns, ammunition, and mortar shells at the front were like distant water unable to quench immediate thirst.
For a time, "lack of guns and ammunition" became a heavy shadow hanging over all the battlefields of the War of Resistance against Japan. Countless poorly equipped but brave and fearless soldiers could only use their flesh and blood to resist the Japanese invaders' planes and artillery. The casualties were so terrible that they were heartbreaking.
At this moment, Xi'an's strategic importance as the rear area suddenly became prominent. It was given a new and crucial responsibility concerning the survival of the nation—becoming the "lifeline of the military industry" supporting the War of Resistance! Brand-new arsenals and repair shops sprang up like mushrooms after rain in the suburbs and surrounding areas of Xi'an.
At this critical juncture of national peril, Guanzhong University, having accumulated strength for six years, suddenly unleashed its power!
Tens of thousands of university graduates from Guanzhong, especially engineering elites, were inspired by the call of national righteousness and rushed to Xi'an and surrounding arsenals as quickly as possible, like soldiers heading to their respective battle posts.
From long-established large-scale military factories such as the Xi'an office of the Gongxian Ordnance Branch Factory and the newly built Shaanxi First Ordnance Factory, to repair shops serving local troops, and to supporting small factories producing special parts and chemical raw materials... students from Guanzhong University can be seen everywhere.
In these military factories that sustain the lives of soldiers on the front lines, more than 60% of the core engineers, key technical personnel, workshop production supervisors, and quality inspection managers active on the front lines come from Guanzhong University!
Winter goes and spring comes; the seasons change.
From 1937 to 1945, the War of Resistance against Japan lasted for eight years, with the flames of war raging across the land.
As an important educational base in the rear area, the faculty and students of Guanzhong University's engineering departments never left their core positions serving the War of Resistance.
The vast majority of graduates choose to go to arsenals, military research institutions, or even to the front lines of military technical support teams amidst the smoke and fire of battle. From initial imitation and repair, to mid-term technical breakthroughs and efficiency improvements, and then to later quality stabilization and small-scale innovation, they have always been the backbone supporting military production in the rear and ensuring the supply of ammunition to the front lines.
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender.
When the bugle call of victory resounded across the land, those graduates of Guanzhong University who had toiled day and night in various factory workshops in Xi'an, in front of drafting boards, and beside roaring machines,
Besides tears of joy, their faces also radiated pride—they had truly contributed their strength to this great victory with the knowledge they had acquired and the skills they had honed!
Over the course of 14 years, Qin Hao rose from the president of Guanzhong University to the Minister of Education of Shaanxi Province, but he always retained the position of president of Guanzhong University.
While everyone was celebrating the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, Qin Hao showed little joy, because he knew that a life-or-death battle was about to begin.
That same year, Qin Hao resigned from all his positions and returned to Bailuyuan with Leng Qiuyue and their son, a move that caused a huge uproar across the country.
Sorry, everyone, the historical background of White Deer Plain is too sensitive, so many plot points cannot be written. I can only provide a brief ending in the next chapter.