The Manchurian Candidate: Pu Yi's Attempt to Restore the Qing Empire

Myth: Have no fear. The Major is being led in exactly the direction he is supposed to. As a matter of fact, were it not for the diligence of Major Li, operation rabbit hole would have no chance of success. I know, I know. It says so much and yet so little.

Mr Keaton: Thank you for your kind words and nice to have you along for the ride. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Tribolute: Ah Trib, its not a who, but a what. And with that I will leave you where you hate to be...dangling.

Sorry, no update tonight. Some dumbass left his notes at home. o

Raze said:

Oh no! I wonder who that is...

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The culprit shall remain nameless...uhemmm.

Chapter 2​

The Will of the Gods​

December 20th, 1935. Town of Manzhouli, Manchurian-Soviet border…

Manzhouli was a small town on the Soviet-Manchurian border just north of the Hulun Nur and just east of the border with Mongolia. The town had been chosen for the meeting due to the fact that the Japanese had no garrisons in the area. There had been a Manchukuo militia division here, but it was already on its way back to Changchun for disbandment. The journey from Changchun to Manzhouli had been terrible. Besides the weather, the road conditions east of Qiqihar were horrendous. None of this mattered though as Pu Yi stepped from the car into blowing snow and howling winds of a Manchurian winter.

“Are they here yet?” asked Pu Yi of the man who had come out to make preparations for the meet.

“Yes Emperor. Just the other side of the border, about 200 yards, they have a tent set up”, replied the man.

“Why a tent? We are surrounded by perfectly good buildings”, said Pu Yi, feeling a little put out.

“Stipulations of the agreement your Majesty. The meeting had to be on their side of the border, and we would not agree to go all the way to Zabaykal’sk, which is another couple of miles down the road. So, it is a tent or nothing”, said the man.

“Very well then. Let’s get this over with”, said Pu Yi as he strode off through the winter night, the man following in his wake.

As Pu Yi approached the tent, he could see his guards and the Russians eyeing each other warily. No one challenged him as he reached the flap, flipped it aside, and walked in. Inside, the tent was lit by a number of kerosene lanterns and heated by a portable stove. Sitting on the other side of a field table was man in the uniform of an NKVD colonel. The colonel looked up and slowly rose. “Greetings comrade, please have a seat, make yourself comfortable. I am Colonel Markin. I have been sent here to listen to your request and convey them to Moscow. I have no authority to make binding agreements, let me make that clear at the outset so there will be no misunderstandings.”

Pu Yi removed his greatcoat and laid it over the back of a chair and then set his satchel on the table. “Do not worry yourself Colonel. I was under no illusions that any agreements would be made here today. And, although I have no doubts of your ability, I must say that I am a little disappointed that someone of higher rank was not sent. It makes me think that perhaps comrade Stalin does not place any importance on this meeting.”

The Colonel regarded Pu Yi, “Comrade, please do not take it as such. The NKVD is used for all such clandestine meetings, and as the highest ranking officer of that branch in the area, it is my responsibility to handle this.”

Pu Yi stared at the Colonel for a moment then nodded his head. “Very well then. Let us commence with the meeting. Colonel I am here to propose to your government a trade. I will give you something now for certain political and possible trade considerations in the future.”

“Not to offend comrade, but what could you offer the Soviet Union?” asked the Colonel.

Pu Yi reached for his satchel, opened it, and extracted a piece of paper which he then handed to Colonel Markin. “I think that this might prove of some interest to your government.”

Colonel Markin looked at the piece of paper, his eyes slowly getting wider as he read. When he had finished he looked up. “You would do this?”

Pu Yi nodded in the affirmative.

Colonel Markin leaned back in his chair, pulling at one ear as he looked down at the paper again. “And the political considerations?”

“It is my plan to soon be free of the Japanese. When that day comes, if the Soviet Union would recognize us as a free and independent nation with, perhaps, a guarantee of independence, this would help me greatly in our cause. I would also put forth certain trade considerations. Should things go sour in the west, I think it might prove beneficial to both our nations to have a trading partner with a secure common border” finished Pu Yi.

“I see. As I said, I can make no binding agreements, but I will definitely relay your offer to Moscow. I can’t promise anything, but there might be some….interest in your proposal”, said the Colonel.

“That is all I can ask. I think we are done here then. I will eagerly await your reply”, said Pu Yi as he rose and put on his coat. He grabbed his satchel and was walking towards the door.

Colonel Markin, rubbing his chin and again starring at the piece of paper replied in a distracted way. “Uh…yes comrade. Until we meet again.”

Pu Yi exited the tent to find the man waiting for him. “I think we have piqued their interest”, said the emperor as the two quickly made there way back to the car.

Myth said:

is it a non-aggression pact?

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Dont think the soviets are worried to much about aggression from Manchukuo, but nice try.

Thank you for your comments. It is fun to see people guessing about what the master plan may be.

Dionysius: There are no territorial considerations in the plan.

Mr.Keaton: This will be more a case of editing than modding. Although I guess any change to the original game parameters could be considered modding. Pu Yi's plans are not necessarily evil, although as events play out some may consider them so. Pu Yi merely considers it self preservation by any means possible, though his character will be bothered by some of the decisions that he makes, he will carry on none the less. Having to fight the Japanese is a foregone conlusion. It is just a matter of when.

NiseJapanses: I have tried to make the ministers as accurate as possible within the framework of historical info that I have on them. Some characters, like Major Li are completly fictional. The mysterious Man, once he is revealed is real, although his history has been somewhat altered for the plot.

When Operation October Revolution finally plays out, which should be this week, I hope I obtain suprise on everyone with what I did. Stay tuned and I hope you are having as much fun as I am.

Chapter 2​

The Will of the Gods​

December 23rd, 1935, Harbin…

Major Li sat at a small table outside a small shop that catered to the working class lunch crowd in the Harbin industrial sector. He sipped his tea and took a slow drag from his cigarette as he watched the warehouse that housed the small shipping firm that he had been investigating. He was dressed in nondescript working class attire, although it did not seem to help him fit in, as people took one look at him and gave him a wide birth. Li smiled at this. You could dress a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but the sheep would still recognize the wolf.

Li had been watching the building for three days now and still had not spotted any obvious guards. He could see no hired muscle, that were so conspicuous because of the fact that they usually did nothing that made them look like they worked there. He supposed some of the workers might have some skills, but he didn’t think so. This bothered him a little at first, but after he thought about it, it made a kind of sense. If this operation had been going on for some time without anyone noticing, it meant they weren’t doing things the usual way. Li looked down the street towards a man who was leaning against a wall. Once he knew the man was looking at him, he nodded his head once. The man eased himself off the wall and walked around the corner.

Five minutes later, two trucks pulled up in front of the warehouse and disgorged two squads of uniformed Imperial Security personnel armed with rifles. He knew another truck had arrived at the rear entrance. The police rushed into the building yelling at everyone to stay where they were, as the workers stood looking shocked. Major Li put out his cigarette, stood, and slowly walked over to the warehouse. When he walked inside he saw that the police had everyone rounded up against one wall, while a short balding man pleaded with one of the sergeants for an explanation.

“I’ll handle this Sergeant” said Li as he approached the two. The sergeant backed off a few steps and stood there waiting for orders.

“What is the meaning of this? I have done nothing wrong. Why are these men here, and who are you?” whined the man as he waved a handkerchief around in some distress. The man was sweating profusely, and was clearly nervous. Li thought about this, but then, if he were in the man’s position he would be nervous also. Well, maybe not.

“I am Major Li, Imperial Security. It has come to my attention that this establishment is involved in arms smuggling” said Li, eyeing the man.

“Arms smuggling?! Arms smuggling? Absolutely not. I would never have anything to do with that. We deal in farm equipment, fertilizer and the like. That is all!” said the man, his voice rising to almost a shrill as he finished his sentence.

“Then you won’t mind if we have a look around. Not that you have a choice” said the major, smiling at the man.

“By all means. By all means. You will find I have nothing to hide” said the man, waving his handkerchief at his boxed merchandise at the end of the warehouse.

Major Li looked back at the sergeant. “Take most of the men and start tearing this place apart. You know what to look for.”

The Sergeant smiled, “Yeah boss, I know what to look for.” With that the sergeant and twenty five others started to search the warehouse.

The search had been going for twenty minutes when the sergeant rose from behind a stack of wooden crates. “Boss, you might want to have a look at this.”

Major Li looked at the man who had been dabbing his perspiring forehead with his handkerchief, “Come with me.” The man followed nervously.

Li walked around the stack of crates to find the men wrestling with a long wooden crate that was marked “shovels”. Li looked at the crate and then at the sergeant. “Well?”

“It’s marked “shovels”. Yet if you look over there, all their shovels are shipped loose, no crating. So why is this set crated?” said the sergeant.

“A very good question, Sergeant. So, my good man, why are these shovels crated?” asked the major in a menacing tone.

“I…I…I don’t know. But he is right, we do not crate our shovels. I don’t know what this is”, said the man looking genuinely confused.

“Open it”, barked Major Li.

The sergeant grabbed a nearby pry bar and commenced opening the crate. When the lid finally came off, the owner of the warehouse promptly fainted. Major Li looked at the contents of the crate, then at the man lying on the floor at his feet. “Something tells me that this was something he did not expect”, said Li in a dry tone, as he stared at a crateful of brand new Russian made, Nagant rifles.

Myth said:

I suppose Li just walked into the trap laid for him?

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I would never let it end so quickly. No, this is just the beginning of Major Li and Minister Chin's ordeal. Yes...just the beginning. Muhahahahaha!