Capto Iugulum: 1920 - 1939

Jacksonia applauds Russia for their cool head in this incident, and would encourage Britain to follow the Russian lead in this regard. There is no need to expand the suffering to thousands or millions.
 


To: The United Kingdom
From: High Shahansha Abdul al-Din of the Islamic Kingdom of Persia
CC: Guangxi, the World

Persia sends many condolences for your loss. Britain has shown many a time that not all foreigners are selfish scum, and we consider you friend. The untimely death of a king is something a nation never truly recovers from, and we condemn the cowardly attacks by the proletariat of China. May your ruler, and the ruler of Guangxi be remembered as martyrs who died with honor.
 
From: Germany
To: Guangxi
CC: The World


Germany echoes the sentiments of other nations on this matter. While a last-minute delay meant our own delegation never arrived, that does not mean we do not see this as anything less than a heinous act to be put to justice. Should you (or the U.K. for that matter) require any sort of aid, whether economic or military, to recover and push past this, let it be known that Germany will answer the call to support you.
 
To: The world
From: South Africa


King Rodger is horrified by this most cruel twist of fate. He deadly mourns the loss of one of his most beloved relatives.
 
July 4, 1929 Issue

@EQ: shouldn't this be transpiring July 4th 1930?

Official Statement of the Holy See on the Guangxi Massacre

The Holy See firstly...

~ Pope Paul VI

-Gathering of the cardinals still have not announced new Pope after two weeks of deliberation.

@Jehoshua: I don't think there is a pope at this time to be issuing that statement.

From Occitania
Regarding the Red Army Massacre in Guangxi


We mourn for the fallen. A festival of solidarity has been dashed by revolution and murder. We wish the British, Russians and Japanese the best in whatever course of action they may take.
 
To: The World

The Republic of Orléans deplores this savage attack upon the celebration of twenty years of progress in the Dominion of Guangxi. We reject the claims of the barbaric Red Army, and any who might support their agenda of terror, and we condemn this action in the harshest terms. Our sympathies lie with the families and friends of those who have likewise lost those they loved, and with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Dominion of Guangxi, whose beloved monarchs were callously murdered by these proletarist reactionaries.

We pray for the swift recovery of those members of all delegations injured in this attack, and we mourn the loss of Jacques Etienne, who served the Republic faithfully representing the constituency of Chartres, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Republic stands ready to mete out deserved justice to these criminals, wherever they should hide, and will offer no leniency to those who aid or abet them in their flight.
 
OOC: @Jehoshua
Didn't the Pope die, as mentioned in the EXTRA?

To: Guangxi
From: Argentina


This Guangxi celebration was a complete fiasco. Although all necessary precautions were taken, this still occurred. Please find and punish those responsible. Another group of Proletarist murderers is to be expected; do not let them triumph.
 
The Grand Republic, in its eternal wisdom, has already prepped a response to the Prole menace before the Guangxi massacre.

This is where PADA can make its mark on human history or fall into irrelevance.

EDIT: more thorough writeup forthcoming
 
To: World
Re: Prole menace
From: Guangxi


The people of Guangxi are touched by all of your heartfelt condolences, though more substantial aid may be needed in the weeks to come. Guangxi currently lacks an Air Force, and with our patrons in Britain occupied elsewhere, if any nation were willing to send an expeditionary air wing to provide air support for our troops we would be very appreciative.
 
TO: Britain and Guangxi
FROM: Brazil


We have already committed a small expeditionary force of P-27s for 1931. But do not expect large numbers of aircraft from us, as our home defense is still mandatory. We can however, offer you both P-27s at export rates should you need to rapidly build air power in the region.
 
From: Germany
To: The United Kingdom, Guangxi


Germany is able to commit a number of air wings for support if so desired.

However, if taken up the offer, we would suggest that military tacticians in charge of any campaigns in the area (offensive or defensive) place our pilots as far as possible from the Brazilians to avoid any accidental unpleasantries.
 
A Week in Xinjing

"But the embassy?" asked Ambassador de Souza, sipping tentatively at his drink.

Markus laughed "I'm sure things between our nations wouldn't get that bad."

With that, a deafening shock blasted the building. In an instant, Markus' military training took over.

"Ner!"

Before the Brazilian diplomat could question the Vinlandic Crown Prince's reversion to Swedish, Markus dropped, pulling de Souza to the ground with him. A second, then a third blast echoed. The noise was deafening. Markus pressed himself against the floor, trying and failing to shout over the noise. His eyes were clenched shut as another blast rattled the area. He had no conception of direction, but felt a stabbing pain in the backs of his legs, and a searing blast of air. A deep, bass groaning rose above the tumult for an instant, before a crushing blow struck Markus and all faded to nothing.

*****

Markus' eyes opened to darkness. He blinked unable to see.

"Oh God... I'm blind." The thought shot through his head, but he quickly dismissed it- he felt no pain in his eyes. But what was he doing here? The Crown Prince of Vinland groggily shook his head, still heavily disoriented. A dull pain in his legs alerted him that something was wrong, as his mind began to piece together the situation. Under his right arm, there was something warm, gently breathing. For a moment, he thought of his wife, Kristina, but he immediately knew it could not be her- she was safely half a world away, at their home in Nya Stockholm.

Thousands of miles away- of course! Markus could feel his senses returning to him. He was in China. There had been an attack. He inhaled deeply, assessing the situation. There was pain in his legs, as if they'd been lacerated. He could wiggle his toes- they were cold, but they had sensation. His left arm was free, his right arm was on a person- David! Ambassador de Souza, one of the Brazilian delegates to the Guangxi celebration.

"David?" Markus croaked, before clearing his throat and speaking more clearly. "David?" Markus shook the man at his side. The diplomat responded with a cough and a groan.

Markus began to push himself up off the ground, but rapidly ran out of space- a flat, solid object was low above him.

"Are you alright, Ambassador?"

The man cursed in Portuguese, and Markus could hear him shift slightly, before the man emitting a sharp cry of pain.

"Augh! No... my leg."

"Stay still then."

"Where are we?"

"Under a wall I think. In China."

"Great." groaned de Souza. Markus chuckled silently, before focusing himself on the task at hand. The fallen wall above him was too low to allow crawling, but he could shimmy along the ground. A brief flash of concern for his suit arose, but was quickly suppressed by his appreciation of the gravity of the situation. As Markus slid along, he tapped against the roof. It seemed to be of light construction- a dividing wall, fortunately, instead of a heavy load-bearing structure. Squirming around, Markus managed to get himself sideways, then over onto his back. In this position, he began to push against the wall.

"Eeaugh!" cried de Souza. Markus halted.

"Your leg?"

"My leg." grunted the man, through clenched teeth.

Markus looked around. His eyes were beginning to adjust to the gloom. It wasn't, in fact, pitch dark- there was some dim light a short ways away, coming in from the side of the collapsed wall.

"Help!" shouted Markus, in the general direction of the light. "Help! Is someone out there?"

No response was forthcoming. Markus twisted his head around to look at de Souza's barely-visible form. His upper body was in the clear, but his legs were out of sight.

"How are you doing, David?"

"I'll live."

"Which leg's hurting?"

"Right- but my left's caught in something."

Markus felt around the small chamber they were caught in. A supporting wall had fallen down on them, but it wasn't flush with the floor- something was holding it up. When Markus had tried to push up the wall from the middle of the chamber, it had pivoted on de Souza's leg... so a push from the other side of the Brazilian should free him.

"David. I'm going to try getting around you and getting the weight off your leg. I'll need you to push up the wall with me, okay?"

"I'll do it." The Ambassador's voice was layered with pain.

Markus slid his way around from de Souza's prone body, until he was jammed into the corner, close to the trapped man's legs.

"Alright... can you do a push-up? With your arms?"

The Brazilian gave a pained laugh.

"Heh. 'Can I do a push up?' I fought in the Great War when you were still learning to lace your shoes.... ah... your majesty."

Markus snorted in mock-offense. "Alright then. Push now!"

The two men pushed with all their might against the fallen wall. Suddenly, it cracked, and a tremendous rush of dusty air blasted the two men as the wall snapped in two, collapsing half of the chamber. The much-lighter remainder of the wall folded upwards, then fell over onto itself. Blinding light met the eyes of the two men as they looked up. The roof, with all of its elegant paintings, was gone. Markus stood up, noticing once again the pain in his legs. Looking down, he saw that his pants were shredded, and dried blood stained them heavily. His back and clothes were singed, but a superficial inspection made most of the damage look fairly superficial.

Looking around, however, revealed carnage. The dining hall was in ruins. In the distance, he saw teams of men desperately moving stretchers, helping move the wounded, and lifting away pieces of fallen masonry. Markus was stunned. He stood in place, staring at the ruins, staring at the dead bodies, covered hastily in tablecloth shrouds. He stared for only a few seconds, but time seemed frozen, as tears began to well up in his eyes.

It had been the Red Army. He'd known this was coming. He'd known the risks, Ingvar himself had warned of them when Markus had announced his trip. He knew that it was tempting fate, he knew that it could happen... but he'd never truly believed that it would happen. That they would actually do it.

The unending moment ended. Markus turned around, looking to de Souza. He crouched down, and extended a hand. Unevenly, he pulled the man up, allowing the Brazilian to brace his weight oh his left shoulder. From this point, time lost meaning. A group of Chinese rescue workers came and brought de Souza off on a stretcher. Markus had followed, before joining in the manual lifting of another fallen wall, uncovering the crushed and lifeless bodies beneath.

Together, for the rest of that day, the rescue attempts continued. Markus stood alongside other haggard men, some European, some Chinese. Some may have been nobility, some may have just been common folk, but in tattered and dust-caked clothing, everyone looked the same.

Day turned to evening before Markus' attachés found him. At their insistence, the dead-eyed Crown Prince of Vinland was brought in before a doctor, an Englishman named Jacobs. The doctor picked out some of the larger pieces of shrapnel before cleaning and bandaging Markus' wounds. It was the best he could do in a few minutes- triage called, there were others of less prominent rank waiting with far worse injuries. Markus felt relieved and sickened at himself all at once.

The next day, he met de Souza, whose leg was now set in a cast, before returning to the rescue effort. The ratios were even worse today, with few living bodies being recovered. After a few hours of work, Markus was requested to depart, as more Chinese labourers poured in to take over the effort. Back in the hospital wards, many great figures and leaders of men lay maimed. Some were lucid, others out of their minds, freed from their pain by the effects of opium. Several were on their deathbeds. Markus stood by Henry Tudor's side, with many others, as the King of Great Britain and Ireland passed away. That night, the Prince Regnant of Guangxi spoke before the assembled survivors. The Crown Prince of Vinland slept poorly that night.

On the final morning, Markus departed, with the survivors of his delegation and the bodies of the Vinlandic deceased, under a heavy security detail. In time, subsequent surgeries would remove the remaining shrapnel from his legs, and the burns on his back would heal- but it would be many, many decades before the memories of his visit to Xinjing would begin to fade.
 
A Formal Statement from King Leopold II, King of Denmark, Lord of Iceland and Greenland, President of the Folketing

I, the government of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the all the people of Denmark itself offer their its condolences to the nations of Guangxi, to Britain, Russia, Brazil, Japan, and all other nations affected. We offer condolences to the families of those killed in this cowardly act.

Once again, we see the cowardice and brutality of Proletarists worldwide. As you mourn the losses of your families, remember that is the work of Proletarism, a cold, barbaric ideology that seeks to uproot all that the world holds dear. No value is sacred, no gathering spared, to proletarism.

We continue to exhort the governments of Guangxi and Japan to fight the good fight against Proletarism. We stand, a thin green line, between the horrors of Proletarism and the rest of Europe, ever watchful and vigilant. Just as Denmark stands between Europe and tyranny, we exhort Guangxi and Japan to stand between Asia and similar tyranny.

Fight the good fight, gentlemen!

ED: Unfortunately, all air wings that Denmark possesses are currently 100% necessary for Denmark's territorial security, given the similarly cowardly attack by Proletarists in Europe last year. Our hopes go out to Guangxi, however, that the fact that Europe ignored us last year does not mean that you will not be able to fight the proletarist menace itself.
 
To: Guangxi, United Kingdom
From: Unified Realm of China


The allegations against us are baseless and prejudiced. Chinese officials and dignitaries were among the crowd, the same as any others. That they survived can only be referred to a miraculous. The Red Army struck a deep blow, to be sure. The Red Army. Not, I repeat, NOT the Unified Realm of China! We offer our condolences to the innocent Chinese citizens of Guangxi and all dignitaries who suffered in any way from this attack.

The Red Army cannot be punished for this, for the simple reason that it is beyond human means to increase that which the Unified Realm of China already dispenses upon it as punishment. The Unified Realm of China has no place for Proletarism or Socialism of any kind, and as such is not party to its dealings. We continue to walk separate ways and continue to be confused for each other by outsiders who claim to understand China in monumental ignorance. Considering their most recent performance we are right in condemning the Qing as no different from any other foreign oppressor.

This "police action" you threaten China with, if such you call it, is a waste of Chinese lives that dances on the line between irresponsibility and criminality, before falling squarely on the criminal side. The Chinese people will defend themselves from the Qing oppressors as they have since the days of King Kong (OOC: I literally cannot type his name with a straight face). This is no different, but for the support the Qing receive from the British in exchange for becoming marionettes. We repeat this: we will defend ourselves. Do not start that which we will finish for you.

General Yehao
 
Guangxi accepts the German and Brazilian offers of aid.
 
Seems like an uncharacteristic response for Peru, seeing as you have a monarchy too.

*sits up, startled, cheeseburger falls out of mouth*

In all seriousness though:

To: Guangxi
From: Peru


The most sincere condolences from our people and our king go to you and your people for this most outrageous action. May the cowards and subhumans responsible for this incident be caught and executed for their crimes.

To: China
From: Peru


Explain yourselves.
 
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