The Bengal region was a Muslim-majority area. Since it bordered the Republic of Assam, it had been the frontline of British India's defense against China since the Sino-British War. On September 3, the headquarters of several relatively radical local political parties were suddenly surrounded by troops composed of Sikh and Hindu soldiers. Under the command of the British, these party headquarters were sealed off, and the Sikh and Hindu soldiers took away all the personnel inside. The political party leaders in the Bengal region were dragged out of their homes and taken away.

Southern India was an area where indigenous Indians were in the absolute majority. Bengali soldiers and Hindu soldiers rushed into the headquarters of relatively radical local political parties, sealed them off, and took the party leaders away.

Eastern India was a relatively mixed region. Radical political parties were wiped out by Sikh soldiers.

In the northern region where Hindus were in the majority, Muslim soldiers and Sikh soldiers raided the headquarters of radical Hindu political parties.

Britain played the policy of "divide and rule" to the extreme. Those arrested, whether Hindu, Muslim, or indigenous Indian, were all hung up. Fiendish interrogators took turns beating these party leaders with sticks and leather whips, asking the same question: "How did you collude with the Chinese?"

More than 85% of the arrested party leaders had basically never had contact with the Chinese. Under such beating and interrogation, they naturally answered, "I didn't, I haven't, don't talk nonsense."

The "denial three-combo" of the Indian party cadres provoked the displeasure of the Indian interrogators. The Indian interrogators believed that since these Indians refused to confess the testimony required by the British masters, it only showed that leather whips and sticks were too childish. Those arrested Indian party cadres were dragged into deeper torture chambers. The style of these torture chambers changed drastically; inside were torture instruments inherited from the European Inquisition.

Iron pincers for nails and fingers, steel needles and iron skewers for small-area pain, rotating iron spikes for large-scale pain, spherical burning coals for skin, steel hoops for the head, large water tanks and iron cages for the respiratory system, and iron maidens for the fear of dying.

In addition to the heritage from the European Inquisition, there were also torture methods with Indian characteristics: gays targeting shame, ugly fat women good at castration, and relatively modern electric shock equipment.

This level of interrogation room was located underground, so the screams of the victims could not be heard outside. Starting half a day later, the Indian interrogators successively obtained a large number of confessions from the Indian party leaders and cadres. A few days later, the ordinary members of those radical parties learned that the local Indian political party they had chosen actually had various close collaborations with the Chinese. It turned out... the Chinese really had been helping Indians to become independent from British rule.

By mid-September, citizens in Indian urban areas had at least heard the rumors circulating among the people that China wanted to drive the British out of Indian land. In order to achieve this goal, China had colluded with various Indian political parties.

Ordinary Indians quickly accepted such rumors. The Indian Congress Party soon noticed that ordinary Indians were not very interested in resisting the Chinese invasion, and relatively radical Indian independence activists even thought this was a good thing. These independence activists hoped to help the Chinese drive away the British first, and then negotiate terms with the Chinese to get China to withdraw from India, thereby liberating India from British rule.

Those who agreed with this line of thought included not only various radical Indian independence factions but also many within the Congress Party. The upper echelon of the Congress Party was shocked. Originally, the upper echelon of the Congress Party hoped to penetrate the entire India by cracking down on the independence factions. Judging from the current public sentiment, the Congress Party had instead become the big traitor.

At this time, the British Indian colonial government ordered the arrest of people seeking Indian independence. These British police chiefs and local Indian lackeys did not target specific groups; anyone with independence ideas was within the scope of arrest. As more and more Indians discussed cooperation with China, some Congress Party members were also arrested.

After a round of torture, the arrested Congress Party members also confessed the "fact" that they colluded with China and sought Chinese help. The radicals within the Congress Party were caught one after another.

In order to clarify its attitude, the upper echelon of the Congress Party issued a statement. In addition to continuing to emphasize the position of "non-violence, non-cooperation," it also emphasized that the Congress Party did not cooperate with China, and the Congress Party would only bring a beautiful future to India through consultation and cooperation with Britain.

This statement was the consistent attitude of the Congress Party, and the Congress Party thought there would be no problem. But in the following days, the Congress Party was subjected to overwhelming criticism in local Indian newspapers.

Before making such a statement, the Congress Party considered the interests and position of the Congress Party. Britain allowed India to establish an Indian parliament. As long as the Congress Party maintained a situation of struggle without breaking with Britain, it could steadily occupy the position below the British and above the ordinary Indian people. For this reason, the Congress Party resolutely opposed radicals like Chandra Bose who advocated India gaining independence through armed struggle, striving to maintain its status as Britain's best partner in India.

But the Indian public had no opportunity to obtain the interests of the Congress Party's upper echelon, so they naturally could not view problems from the perspective of the Indian elite. In the view of the ordinary Indian citizen class, Britain was not the victor in the Sino-British War that ended in 1927. Last year, in the Western European campaign of 1940, Britain was defeated. Since Britain had lost wars twice in succession, and the most recent one happened last year, in the view of the Indian citizen class, Britain was no longer an invincible and terrifying force.

Since China had defeated Britain, and Britain lost the war again last year, if China attacked India, the British would likely be defeated again. At such a time, the Congress Party surprisingly expressed that it would only cooperate with Britain, which proved that the Congress Party did not consider India's interests, but only the Congress Party's interests.

In addition to opposition from the Indian people, the British Cabinet believed that the Congress Party's statement was highly threatening. In the view of the British Cabinet, India was a colony, and the local Indians were born servants of Britain. When the master was threatened, the Congress Party, as a servant, surprisingly did not call on the Indian people to unite around Britain to fight China, but instead issued a statement of consultation and negotiation with Britain when Britain was threatened by China. This was enough to prove that the Congress Party's original intention was to rebel.

At the current stage, there was the covetous China outside and the harboring-evil-intentions Congress Party inside. The British Cabinet could not afford the risk of losing India, but could not take the initiative to launch a war against China either. One of the current choices was naturally to first solve all potential enemies who might stab Britain in the back.

When the Viceroy of India received the order from Downing Street, he fell into a dilemma. The Viceroy of India naturally had to obey the orders of the British Cabinet, but as the government leader directly managing India, the Viceroy of India was very clear about the fierce contradictions within Indian society. In such a situation, it would be best for the British colonial government to strike precisely. But the British Cabinet's order not only required the Indian colonial government to use strong means to thoroughly suppress all Indian opposition forces but also required the Indian colonial government to mobilize local Indian resources to the greatest extent to provide services for Britain's next war. This completely exceeded the capabilities of the Indian colonial government.

But the British Cabinet's order could not be disobeyed, so the Viceroy of India could only assign the task from Downing Street down. A few days later, the Viceroy of India regretted it. In such a tense situation, the execution of this order was "expanded."

British officials in various places enjoyed privileges in India and had long formed a mindset that they could deal with Indians at will. They were very clear about the war threat they faced and were afraid of losing their privileges, so they developed extra anger towards Indians.

Driven by such emotions, first the leaders of the Congress Party were basically arrested, and then the leaders of various political parties that were not closely united around the British colonialists were arrested one after another.

At this time, the local princely states that relied on the British launched a "Loyalty Movement" one after another. By September 18, the princes of the princely states in northern India held a meeting and reached a decision to purge traitors.

The definition of so-called traitors in the meeting's external documents was naturally those in India who opposed British rule. So it received the approval and support of British officials in these regions. But the British regular army was preparing for war with China in India at this time, and the British colonial government had begun large-scale conscription and grain requisition in India since the outbreak of the Western European campaign last year.

Those who actually executed these plans were the private armed forces of the Indian princes. Whether the "traitors" in the eyes of the princes were Britain's traitors or the "traitors" in the eyes of the princely states, this question could only rely purely on discretionary judgment.

In the first week after the operation began, the princes first arrested the suspects of being traitors in the eyes of the British masters. Starting from the second week, the traitors in the eyes of the princes were arrested and even killed. Seeing so many rebels arrested, most British officials in the northern region immediately expressed appreciation for the Indian princes who had always been firmly loyal to Britain, encouraging them to make persistent efforts and achieve great results. Only a few British officials sent reports to the Governor-General of the colonial government, implicitly raising their concerns.

Entering the third week, the Indian feudal landlords encouraged by the British colonial government began to massacre the intellectual class and local small forces not under their control on a large scale.

The most famous was the speech of Gayu, the High Priest of a northern Indian sect: "Anyone who wears glasses and carries a pen in their chest pocket is a chaotic party member." Although the Hindu caste system was strict, the schools opened by the British did not pay much attention to caste level. Many smart children from low-caste families also relied on studying in British schools to achieve class mobility. Many of them also entered the British colonial government as civil servants. This group of people undoubtedly touched the cake of the Indian Brahmin landlords.

The children of Brahmin families knew it was dangerous outside and would certainly not go out randomly. Even if they went out, with their looks and skin color, as well as the style of being surrounded by attendants, it was easy to determine that they were high caste and would not be killed by mistake. Other educated people who dared to act alone outside at this time, needless to say, must be these chaotic party members engaging in liaison and conspiring against British rule.

Such a purge went on for a week. By October 8, a large number of civil servants of the British local colonial governments were killed, attracting the attention of the Indian local colonial governments. By October 9, the Viceroy of India, who had long felt something was wrong, ordered the operation to stop. But once the slaughter began, to stop it required a large number of central armed forces to suppress it personally in the localities. But the British colonial authorities were fully preparing for war; although the army was in hand, it could not be mobilized at will. The great purge inside India not only did not stop but intensified.

On October 11, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK handed over a diplomatic note from the Chinese government to the British government, questioning why the British government massacred the people of the Lower Burma region who were petitioning peacefully. The British Foreign Secretary took the diplomatic document and listened to the severe accusations of the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, unexpectedly feeling a bit relieved for a moment.

It was not that the British Foreign Secretary had a conviction of victory in the Sino-British War, but that after months of fear and trepidation, the other shoe had finally dropped.

In the Sino-British War ending in 1927, China took the Upper Burma and Assam regions according to the armistice agreement, while Lower Burma remained in British hands. The massacre by the ANZAC Corps took place in Lower Burma. The Chinese National Defense Force captured the ANZAC Corps who committed the massacre. After these "British masters" were tried at the Asian International Court of Justice, those who should be executed were executed, those who should be sentenced were sentenced, and the people in the massacred areas received civil compensation.

The people in the Lower Burma region had relatively close blood and economic relations with the Upper Burma region. When receiving the compensation, Lower Burma was reduced to a British colony again, which made the people of Lower Burma very emotional.

The terrain of the Lower Burma region was flat with many farmlands, and Burmese intellectuals formed many political parties. These party members found that Upper Burma, which was originally much poorer than the Lower Burma region, was first given independent status by China, and then began to establish the Republic of Upper Burma, forming its own government and obtaining independence and freedom that the people of Lower Burma could not possess.

After the Republic of Upper Burma joined the Asian Economic Community, its economic level continued to rise over the past ten-plus years. However, the life of the people in Lower Burma did not change much; they were still exploited by British colonialists and British running dogs, living a poor life. As one fell and the other rose, the living standard of the people in Upper Burma had completely surpassed that of the formerly wealthier people of Lower Burma.

In recent years, when people in Lower Burma got married, they all required "Three Rounds and a Sound." The Three Rounds were a bicycle, a sewing machine, and a watch. The One Sound was a radio. Such a standard might not even be achieved by the rich in Lower Burma. And it was not only the people originally living in the Upper Burma region who reached such a living standard; the poor people of Lower Burma who fled to the Upper Burma region ten years ago also had such life requirements. When those people crossed the border to return to their hometowns to visit relatives, they not only brought back daily necessities such as cloth but could even bring back "money" recognized by the British colonial authorities. With this money, goods could be purchased. These people returning home to visit relatives repeatedly caused a sensation in the countryside of Lower Burma.

In recent years, the intellectual class in Lower Burma generally generated a consensus to follow the path of Upper Burma. In their plan, Lower Burma would first become a Chinese colony, then obtain independence with China's recognition, and then join the Asian Economic Cooperation Organization. For this reason, they sent people to China many times to seek cooperation and sent a large number of young people to study in China.

The Chinese side had always stated that it had no intention of turning Lower Burma into a Chinese colony, but accepted a large number of students from Lower Burma. Until a few months ago, China published the *Pacific Charter*. Chinese officials in contact with Lower Burma stated that if the people of Lower Burma were willing to struggle for independence, China would support Lower Burma to establish an independent state directly, and provided a detailed plan.

On October 8, 1941, the largest political party in Lower Burma, "We Burmans," united various Burmese political parties to display the Chinese flag in Rangoon and other places, starting to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of China. On October 10, after holding parades to celebrate China's National Day in multiple cities, some personnel of various Burmese political parties held a peaceful demonstration in front of the British colonial government in Rangoon and submitted a petition for Burma's independence.

The Sino-British War ending in 1927 left a very deep impression on the Burmese people. At that time, China only attacked a very small area of Bengal, but fought to the vicinity of Rangoon and once occupied the entire Lower Burma region. Therefore, the impression of the Burmese people on this war far exceeded that of the Indians. Many Burmese people were heartbroken when they thought that their region was surprisingly not occupied by China.

Therefore, after hearing the news that China might seize Lower Burma, the British servant army in Lower Burma, from generals to soldiers, had no thought of confrontation. Instead, they looked forward to this day coming sooner.

Seeing that the servant army unexpectedly did not go to suppress the "rebellious Burmese," the British troops in the local area were exasperated and took action personally. The British army fired directly at the Burmese peaceful petitioners, creating the Rangoon Massacre with 8 dead, 21 wounded, and more than 90 arrested. When this massacre occurred, many foreign reporters were present. While rescuing the wounded, the names and identities of the wounded and the dead were all investigated clearly. Even the designation of the British army that fired, the commander, as well as the names, ranks, and military service history of most of the soldiers participating in the massacre were figured out.

Burmese newspapers immediately published the full content and photos of the time, and Chinese newspapers reprinted them immediately. And on October 11, a diplomatic note was presented to the British government, strongly condemning the British government's barbaric atrocities. The murderers should be arrested and brought to justice immediately, and a fair and open trial should be conducted. In order to prevent such tragedies from continuing to happen, the Chinese government suggested that the British government withdraw all military personnel from Burma, leaving only administrative personnel. And these administrative personnel should not possess any weapons.

As the British Foreign Secretary, an important part of this excellent British "shit-stirrer," hearing these words, felt that what should come had finally come. So he asked, "What if the British government does not accept your government's suggestion?"

The Chinese Ambassador to the UK immediately replied, "Given that the British government's barbaric atrocities have broken through the bottom line of human civilization, if the British government is unwilling to abide by the bottom line of human civilization, the Chinese government can only regard the British government as a government composed of barbarians. All subsequent consequences will be borne by the British government."

Hearing such severe diplomatic accusations, the British Foreign Secretary replied coldly, "The Chinese government is destroying peace!"

The Chinese Ambassador to the UK shook his head. "Peace is a matter between civilized people. We suggest that the British government curb the barbaric impulses in its nature and strive to make itself do things that civilized people would do."

A real anger erupted in the British Foreign Secretary's chest. If this were an era allowing duels, he wanted to challenge the Chinese Ambassador to the UK to a duel immediately and kill the other party with his own hands in the duel. Being reprimanded as a barbarian to his face by a Chinese, especially being reprimanded by a Chinese with a condescending attitude of contempt, was a humiliation the British Foreign Secretary had never encountered.

However, the British Foreign Secretary was a civil servant after all, and the Chinese diplomat was a young man in his thirties, while the British Foreign Secretary was sixty years old. If fists really flew, the British Foreign Secretary would definitely suffer a big loss.

Just before the British Foreign Secretary wanted to curb his anger as soon as possible and fight back with acrimonious words, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK said with a face full of disdain, "I have finished my words. I hope the British government behaves itself."

After speaking, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK turned and left. Looking at the arrogant back of the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, the British Foreign Secretary trembled all over with anger, wishing he could immediately find a gun and shoot the Chinese Ambassador to the UK directly from behind.

The British Foreign Office secretary next to him was also fuming with rage, but seeing that the Foreign Secretary seemed about to take actions breaking the bottom line of diplomatic personnel behavior, he hurriedly stepped forward to block in front of the Foreign Secretary and shouted loudly at the back of the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, "You will regret this!"

The Chinese Ambassador to the UK did not turn his head, but just raised his hand and waved, bidding a contemptuous farewell to the British Foreign Office secretary.

When the figure of the Chinese Ambassador to the UK disappeared from sight, the Foreign Office secretary heard a loud bang behind him. Turning his head in astonishment, he saw that the British Foreign Secretary was smashing a stack of documents fiercely on the ground. The loud bang just now was the noise made by the Foreign Secretary kicking over a chair.

The Foreign Office secretary watched the Foreign Secretary vent for a while, then sit dejectedly on the sofa, with tears actually in the corners of his eyes. He felt the same anger in his heart as the Foreign Secretary.

The matter of the Sino-British war starting was not abrupt, and the Foreign Office secretary was not angry about this. Given the nature of the British Foreign Office's work, the Foreign Office secretary needed to avoid war as much as possible. What really made him angry was the look of the Chinese Ambassador to the UK when he attacked the British as barbarians. That was really a disdainful attitude of regarding Britain as a weak country and regarding British people as incompetent barbarians. This completely fresh feeling was the place the Foreign Office secretary could tolerate least.

The reason he didn't immediately find a gun to shoot the Chinese Ambassador to the UK from behind was entirely because if he did so, it would confirm the view that the British were barbarians.

Even so, the British Foreign Office secretary trembled all over with anger, and it took several minutes before he could barely act normally. He immediately picked up the phone and called the Permanent Secretary of the British Government. When the other party picked up the phone, the Foreign Office secretary immediately said loudly, "Your Excellency, please contact the Prime Minister immediately. The Foreign Secretary has urgent business to see the Prime Minister."