Everyone’s just trying to scrape a living, aren’t they? If they’re incorporated into the ranks of the Alliance Army, surely they wouldn’t let them starve?
Who knows, in the future they might even have the chance to become regulars, proud members of the Alliance’s formal military.
But imagine expecting a militia with this kind of mentality to risk their lives in military confrontation with the Alliance?
Don’t make me laugh.
Besides, it’s not just about direct military confrontation, even without war, the Mutual Aid Society couldn’t withstand hostility from the Alliance, let alone its hard measures.
A militia of over a hundred thousand, who’s going to provide the arms?
With just food, could the four million residents of the Beiqing Valley Region survive? A large volume of industrial products, essential goods for life, all depend on supply from the Twin Cities, especially important is medical aid.
If the support of the Alliance is missing, the Mutual Aid Society itself would collapse.
To be frank, there’s no possibility of any direct confrontation between the two sides.
Kroc himself mentioned the Central Province just now, didn’t he?
At least the Central Province could pull together an army of a hundred thousand without any help and in total opposition to the governor. Could the Mutual Aid Society do that? Once opposed, it’s likely that the order established by the Mutual Aid Society in the Beiqing Valley Region over the past couple of months would fall apart on its own.
Moreover, even if an army were pulled together, so what?
Would they be able to defeat the grand forces of the Alliance? How many days did that hundred-thousand-strong army of the Central Province last?
Everyone was rightfully bitter about the Alliance Army’s sudden move southward, but if Kroc believes such feelings could motivate everyone to hard-headedly confront the Alliance, he’s dreaming.
No one will join him in such madness.
Of course, Kroc isn’t delusional enough to think he could incite the Mutual Aid Society to do such a thing. Even if he could, he wouldn’t.
Yet, upon reading the expressions of those around and guessing their mindset, Kroc still felt some disappointment.
But he quickly adjusted his attitude.
He continued, “I know you all are scared, thinking ‘Ah, has this Kroc gone mad, daring to say such words’, but I need to tell you, it is now truly a matter of life and death for us, and no one wants to give up the assets accumulated by generations for nothing.”
“Of course, we are not going to confront the Alliance, to confront the governor. I have no such intention. The Mutual Aid Society was established with the help of the Alliance, His Excellency the Governor has helped us a lot, we, the people of Green Valley, will not be ungrateful.
We are part of the Alliance, in the past, at the present, and in the future; we will always be loyal to The Emperor, loyal to the governor, this will never change.”
As he said this, people finally became interested.
He had started out talking as if everything we had would be taken by the Alliance, almost inciting us to confront them, but then his speech took a total turn, speaking of loyalty to the governor and the Alliance.
What kind of schizophrenic statement is this?
What in the world is he getting at?
Even though his speech had been baffling, when he mentioned that he didn’t actually mean to turn against the damn thing, everyone’s guard and vigilance significantly lessened.
People started to expect that Kroc might really have some good plan to keep everyone’s assets without causing a direct confrontation with the Alliance.
“We are loyal to the governor, to the Alliance, but loyalty does not mean stupidity, we have to consider the way we are loyal,” he said.
“We will show our will to His Excellency the Governor through nonviolent noncooperation. We will refuse to supply the Alliance Army, we will refuse to transfer the command and organizational power of the militia to the Central Group Army.
If there are any direct threats of violence, I allow you to temporarily agree, to promise cooperation; but once the violent threat has ceased, we propose that we will continue to carry out protest actions…”
As he spoke, Kroc’s pace suddenly quickened, intensified:
“Members, this is our way of protest. We will never engage in any head-on confrontations with the Alliance Army, striking, protesting, stopping food supplies—these actions will also not continue indefinitely. We just need a civilized way, a bloodless way, to express our demands, and ultimately achieve the goal of resolving issues through negotiation!”
This speech stirred the audience.
Well done, it’s a strategy of ‘nonviolent noncooperation’, right?
But upon reflection, it’s not unfeasible.
Strikes, protests, withholding supplies… if faced with guns, there’d be no choice; but as long as there are no guns, do nothing.
How many people does the Alliance Army have?
Are they all going to become supervisors in every area?
Both sides just drag it out, the Green Valley Region has always been a mess, how much worse can it continue to get?
But it’s different for the Alliance.
Can the great endeavors of His Excellency the Governor afford such delays?
Creating value in the united front and then at the negotiation table, strive to gain as many benefits as possible…
This approach seems really viable.
But some questioned, “This is a good method, but if the Alliance performs bloody suppression, arrests or even executes the leaders of the protest, that is, us, then how will you respond to that?”
Kroc took a deep breath, “That’s the risk we face: first, would the Alliance do that? Aren’t they afraid of inciting greater resistance? Second, we must protect ourselves. The Beiqing Valley Region is vast, or rather, the whole world is vast, we must hide, in the wilderness, among the people.
We must also find a way to ensure that even under such circumstances, we can still wield sufficient influence over the Mutual Aid Society, over food distribution and labor…”