As the British collaborated with local Irish elites, Sinn Féin became the primary target for both parties. With many of the older generation of Sinn Féin backbones arrested, the younger generation who had returned from studying in China, like Valle, naturally became the party's new core.

Valle and the other young people had predicted that they would soon become the next targets for the British and the Irish elites. Faced with this future, they all moved into the countryside to begin building grassroots organizations.

In this time of skyrocketing prices, what ordinary Irish people needed most was an organization that could protect their interests. Someone was needed to help them effectively hide their grain, bypass the surveillance of landlords and their lackeys within the same village, and obtain necessary items through bartering.

When a single village could not meet its needs, an organization spanning a wider area was required to facilitate trade between different settlements.

Sinn Féin's previous work in these areas had been weak, but Valle and his colleagues had received training and practice in these very tasks. They quickly took root in the countryside.

The current population of Ireland was only about 4 million, half of its peak of 8 million. However, 4 million people provided enough cover for eight hundred enthusiastic young people to hide among them.

The expected crackdown against Valle and the others did not arrive, though they didn't know why. The three British divisions originally slated for deployment to Ireland had been diverted to other purposes just before boarding their ships.

Temperatures in the North American theater had begun to rise. Even though it was still a world of ice and snow, the Chinese army, having received large amounts of grain from the Southern Hemisphere, launched its first round of offensives for 1944.

The Anglo-American forces were caught off guard and suffered heavy blows; their defensive lines in the plains, established during the winter of 1943, were broken in one fell swoop. The British government urgently mobilized four corps of troops to Canada to plug the gaps in the line.

In North Africa, more than 300,000 troops from the 11th, 12th, and 13th Armies of the World People's Liberation Army (WPLA) were engaged in sustained combat with 450,000 Allied troops from Britain, Germany, and Italy.

As the two reorganized WPLA armies led by white volunteers began their offensive into Morocco in southern Spain, the 120,000 poorly equipped Spanish government troops suffered a heavy defeat. Britain and Germany each dispatched two corps to fight in Morocco.

Following these diversions, British domestic troop strength was severely insufficient, forcing them to scrap the plan to send troops into Ireland.

Although Valle and the other young revolutionaries were unaware of these changes, they hadn't held back from the start out of fear of a crackdown. They simply put all their effort into organizing the masses in the countryside and maintaining their livelihoods.

Time quickly moved into April, and spring plowing in Ireland had begun. Sinn Féin held a secret meeting on the West Coast. Before Valle set off, several male heads of tenant households in the village came together to find him. There were no pleasantries; the man leading them said, "Brother Valle, can you get us some iron plows?"

Valle nodded and looked at the other men. Seeing him nod, the men were actually a bit hesitant to believe him fully. However, the difference between having iron plows and not having them during spring plowing was too great. Although Valle was just a young man twenty years their junior, the men still told him about their current poverty.

"...Brother Valle, you've been in the village so long, you must know how hard life is now."

Despite being in a hurry to get to the meeting, Valle listened patiently as the local peasants aired their grievances. Once they had said almost everything they could, Valle said, "Don't worry, everyone. If it's just for plowing with farm tools, these tools definitely won't cost you a penny."

The reason the men had rambled so much was precisely because they didn't want to pay any more for their planting.

After the initial surge, commodity prices in Ireland hadn't continued to skyrocket excessively because the market had reached a stage where goods were priced but unavailable. Ireland was not large; since prices no longer had meaning, speculation became meaningless.

Acquiring metal farm tools was now very expensive, far beyond what an ordinary farming household could easily accept. Current prices were such that even in a bountiful harvest year, well-to-do families could not afford them, let alone ordinary people.

Hearing this young man Valle say they could get tools without paying, the men didn't quite dare believe it. They truly didn't think he had the ability to achieve such a thing, and more importantly, they weren't sure what his motive was for doing so.

Valle was not a clergyman who could collect taxes from a parish, nor was he a public official. Of course, if Valle were a public official, these uncles wouldn't have dared to approach him. Actively seeking out a public official meant walking right into a trap to be extorted. No one had any interest in that.

Since they couldn't imagine what Valle could do, the men were unwilling to speak. They waited quietly for him to continue. Since he was willing to provide a service, it meant he would surely make a request.

As expected, Valle said: "Brothers, the tools I can get are not in the village; they need to be transported from outside. When the time comes, I'll need your help to transport and escort them."

Hearing that Valle's request was so simple, the men immediately agreed.

Valle also stood up. "Brothers, if there's nothing else, I have to head out."

The men hurriedly escorted Valle to the entrance of the village. As they watched his figure recede along the wet road, they were all moved, though they didn't know what to say.

Finally, one man sighed, "Who knows when Brother Valle will be back."

The others looked at each other, and some began to wonder if Valle was just boasting. He likely couldn't do what he said, so he had run off, planning to return after the spring plowing was over. By then, everyone would no longer need the tools, and Valle could conveniently renege on his promise to get them for free.

They thought this, but no one said it aloud. At least for now, Valle was the only hope for the village.

Valle was heading to Galway, a port city in western Ireland. It had a good harbor and a population of 40,000. Entering Galway, Valle truly couldn't see it as a city. He had lived in Hangzhou for a long time and had visited Suzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, Jiangning, Beiping, Tianjin, and the Chinese capital.

Compared to those cities, Valle really couldn't see Galway as a city. The level of this city was just that of a Chinese county seat—and a poor one at that.

You had to pay to enter the city, a European tradition of over a thousand years. Fortunately, this meeting was held outside the city. The youth working in the Irish countryside held their meeting in a mansion on the outskirts.

The owner of this mansion was the father of one of the youth. The old man was a staunch patriot; although his ancestors were indeed aristocrats, he had become a committed republican after being oppressed by British nobility.

However, when the old man met Valle this time, he didn't give him a friendly look. He immediately questioned: "I heard from my foolish son that you're going to implement land buyouts?"

Under the old man's sharp gaze, Valle squared his chest and replied confidently: "Yes. To ensure no one in Ireland starves to death again, land buyouts must be executed."

"Doing this just means you don't want me, an old man, to have a good life!" The old man's tone was full of anger.

"Uncle, Ireland has a small population and very poor conditions for industrialization. To make life better for the Irish, there are only two ways: one is trade, and the other is developing certain industries uniquely suited to Ireland. But no matter what is done, Ireland cannot industrialize in the short term. Do you know why large-scale collapses of the poor didn't occur during the industrialization processes of the United States and China?"

Hearing this, the old man sat down heavily in his chair and asked in a contemptuous tone, "Why don't you tell me, boy?"

Valle saw that the old man looked disgruntled but was asking these deep questions, obviously pretending to have no interest in the revolution while actually caring a great deal.

In a revolution, one needs to make many friends and few enemies. In any country, those truly capable and courageous enough to oppose a revolution are a minority. Most people, when hearing of a revolution, first consider what they will lose.

And given that this old man could send his son to study in China, it wasn't as if he didn't want a revolution. That was certainly not the case.

The reason he was so unhappy now was likely that he wanted to hear the views of the leader of this new group in Galway, which was currently under the guise of the Irish Sinn Féin but had actually chosen a socialist path.

If the old man was willing to listen to revolutionary theory, Valle was more than willing to tell it. "Uncle, the United States is vast and sparsely populated. If urbanization failed, one could go to the countryside to farm. China is a country with thousands of years of agricultural history. With the completion of land reform, all those who choose to join industrial production can return to the countryside even if they don't want to live in the city anymore. At least they won't starve."

"But in our Ireland, 80% of the land is concentrated in the hands of less than 20% of the people. This results in 80% of the population being unable to withstand any upheaval. If we want Ireland to become a country where everyone can lead a good life, we must ensure that everyone has at least a basic fallback. Therefore, we firmly believe that the process of state land buyouts must be completed, nationalizing the land and having the state guarantee that everyone can obtain land use rights."

"In the end, it's still us old-timers who suffer!" the old man expressed his displeasure with the land nationalization policy.

"Uncle, in our vision, the entire population of Ireland will eventually live in cities. In a place where a city has a population of millions, living there can hardly be considered suffering," Valle laughed.

The old man's eyes instantly became sharp. "Didn't you say you were going to distribute land to everyone? Why are they moving to cities now?"

Valle was now even more convinced the old man had a genuine interest in revolutionary policy, so he immediately explained: "Agriculture, after all, doesn't generate much wealth; only urbanization can sustain massive wealth. In the future, as Ireland's industry develops, cities will clearly be more suitable for living. In this process, the vast countryside will consist only of various farms and ranches. Only a few people will be needed to complete the farming and production, while the majority of the population will perform more efficient production work in the cities."

The old man's brow furrowed. After thinking for a while, he spoke in a somewhat low voice: "I heard from my foolish son that Ireland is still to establish an alliance-like relationship with China. Aren't you afraid of China controlling Ireland?"

"The Chinese leaders are very clever. They know very well that where there is oppression, there is resistance, so they won't spend huge sums on colonizing Ireland. However, as an extra-regional power, China needs a foothold in Europe. France is an important partner for China, but France alone is not enough. To weaken Britain's ability to blockade the European continent, Ireland must also be an important partner for China."

"Uncle, don't you think Britain is like a big lock on the European maritime routes, capable of blockading Europe's sea lanes at any time?"

The old man thought for a moment and nodded silently.

Valle continued: "Then Ireland is a knife at Britain's throat, pressed against its jugular to balance Britain's trade threat to Europe. Ireland must take responsibility for the security of Europe's trade routes to prevent Europe from being threatened by Britain. This will also highlight Ireland's value."

"Only when Ireland can provide security guarantees for European routes will China and Europe invest in Ireland. These investments will surely be in the cities, and only Irish cities can accommodate a large population. The future urban population will earn money from trade, security, and industries that maintain a good urban life. The vast countryside will earn money through efficient agricultural production, ensuring that everyone in all of Ireland has a job and can earn money through that work."

"If we only rely on distributing land to live, the Irish may not necessarily lead a good life. By then, destitute Irish will still only be able to emigrate overseas or look for very meager wages in those pitifully small cities. The Irish people will still live in great pain."

Hearing this, the old man's expression finally softened slightly. He sighed, "Valle, you're all good children. But you're still too young; perhaps you'll be deceived by those powerful nations. Ireland has been colonized by Britain for centuries, and no great power has ever truly made an effort for Ireland's independence. This time, don't let yourselves be cheated."

Valle nodded. "Uncle, once we've achieved the independence of the entire island of Ireland, we will surely invite you to become a Member of Parliament or a head of government. You are well-traveled and experienced; you will surely see the dangers we cannot see."

The old man sighed. "You've all been to China; your experience is greater than mine. I'm worried you're too radical and will end up sacrificing yourselves. Valle, too much Irish blood has been spilled already. You must protect yourselves."

Valle replied solemnly, "Uncle, 1 million people have already starved to death in Ireland, and 2 million have emigrated overseas to struggle for survival. We must never let such things happen again. For Ireland, we will do our best."

Having first won over the old man, the subsequent national meeting was held within the mansion. No investigation, no right to speak—641 members attended this national meeting. According to the current administrative division of Ireland's 26 counties, it was held in 26 group sessions.

The first order of business was to conduct elections. The group committee members for the 26 counties were first elected. The committees included a secretary, as well as party, government, and military members. Subsequently, each group submitted reports based on social investigations by its members, including people's livelihoods, customs, production relations, and special local figures.

This was not something the young Irish overseas students had come up with themselves, but experience accumulated over nearly thirty years by the He Rui government, learned from lectures at the Hangzhou University of Political Science and Law.

After the members of each group submitted these reports, the groups began internal discussions on each report. The group chairmen determined the subsequent discussion topics, and after discussion, a vote was taken on the contents of each document.

For example, in a county in southwest Ireland, one report concerned an analysis of the class attributes and personal positions of three people. The member who wrote the report believed these three prominent local figures were moderate nationalists. However, in the discussion, most people believed that among the three, one was an Irish comprador, one was a political broker closely linked to religion, and the third was actually a diehard republican.

The youth had all just returned from China and were not familiar with local Irish conditions. Therefore, everyone utilized the analytical methodologies they had learned to conduct their analyses.

Finally, after the group vote determined the basic attributes of the three, the group established a special investigation committee and executed investigation methods targeting them.

Such meticulous work required each young person to perform a massive amount of work every day. The old man providing the venue sometimes listened in and sometimes handled the logistics related to the youth's meeting.

After the group meetings, a plenary session discussed and analyzed the submitted reports. Finally, the group leaders of the 26 counties submitted their own reports to all attendees based on the current situation. In addition to analyzing the current state of Ireland, the reports had to propose their own views.

When all reports were delivered, the attendees voted to elect the members of the Central Committee of the Irish Youth Sinn Féin, the General Secretary, and the Party Chairman.

This process was highly similar to the Chinese Civilization Party. Valle, with his sufficiently profound views, was elected Chairman of the Youth Sinn Féin. Subsequently, the Sinn Féin Central Committee selected a Standing Committee to be responsible for the daily work of the Youth Sinn Féin.

The Central Committee was not just about official positions; their task was to summarize the reports from the 26 counties, come up with national solutions for common problems, and leave individual cases to specialized committees (various ministries) for processing.

After the meeting, each participating youth returned with their own assigned tasks. Valle then requested another audience with the old man who provided the venue. "Uncle, we hope you can help us contact ships capable of maritime transport."

"What are you going to do?" The old man's expression was calm this time, but he was very cautious.

Valle did not hide it. "We want to provide farm tools to the poor. You know the current prices, so we've already contacted channels in France. We'll get a batch of tools from France and distribute them to the poor."

The old man stared at Valle for a long time before saying, "Even if you can get the tools into Ireland, do you have a way to transport them to the local areas?"

"Please rest assured. If someone is willing to help us transport the goods, we can provide farm tools as payment. Or we can pay with food and other supplies. As long as the supplies are brought into Ireland, we will mobilize the masses to help transport the tools to the countryside for the poor to use."

The old man fell silent again. He recalled what he had seen and heard of these proposals. The actions of the Youth Sinn Féin led by Valle these past days had greatly surprised him. Their methods even made the old man feel a bit of awe—the organizational power and analytical ability, and the conclusions ultimately reached, far exceeded the vision of the current Irish upper class.

After thinking for a while longer, the old man asked: "I have one question. Why are you so opposed to lavish funerals?"

Valle was somewhat surprised but replied immediately: "In rural Ireland, weddings are expensive and can only be attended by invitation. Conversely, anyone in the community can attend a wake and funeral."

"During Irish wakes, people enjoy refreshments (mostly alcohol) and entertainment (mostly singing) until late into the night. Their funeral services are mostly Requiem Masses."

"Many families fall into debt and eventually go bankrupt because they must hold such funerals."

"Uncle, don't the Irish know the danger of these funerals? But what can they do? If they don't hold these funerals and spend heavily to invite religious figures to hold a Mass, the family will be seen as outcasts in the village, as unfilial and dysfunctional. They don't do it for the funeral, but to continue living in their current environment."

"So we oppose lavish funerals because only by liberating the people from such traditions can everyone live better."

The old man hesitated for a moment and continued asking: "But in some of what I heard, you believe those who hold these funerals are being exploited, or that there's man-made malice involved. Can you explain?"

"Being exploited refers to those who have already incurred heavy debts to hold funerals, so they naturally don't want others to have it better. They don't realize that their hardship actually has nothing to do with the funeral itself; these are the exploited people."

"As for those with malice, Uncle has surely seen the guys who provide loans for funerals, supply the alcohol, and invite the religious figures for the deceased. These people have actually monopolized the content of these funerals; they do it deliberately. They're a bunch of vampires sucking the blood of the Irish people, and they never tire of it."

"These people are doing it deliberately, so they belong to the malicious group. We must not only eliminate the blood-sucking system but also the vampires themselves—and we must eliminate both!"

The old man stared at Valle for a long time before replying, "I know a few people in the maritime business. I can only be responsible for introductions; you'll have to talk to them yourselves."

The meeting happened quickly, and the talk was very difficult, but Valle and his comrades felt these smugglers were more respectable than the vampires. Because the smugglers only wanted to make money through "illegal" acts, whereas those who relied on the system were making money by sucking blood.

Ultimately, the smugglers demanded 30% of the goods as payment. Although this was a significant amount, the funds provided by China were sufficient, and the 30% cost had to be accepted at such a time.

Three days after the agreement was reached, the smugglers completed the delivery at sea and, as agreed, handed over 70% of the supplies to Valle and his colleagues.

Valle and the others relied on the poor organized by the Youth Sinn Féin to build a transport line. Once the poor received the farm tools promised by the party organization, they spared no effort in transporting the supplies under the cover of darkness. With the current Irish Free State covering an area of over 70,000 square kilometers and with the help of the poor in each village, the tools were quickly transported to various locations.

When Valle returned to the village he was responsible for and handed the tools over to the village organization formed by the Youth Sinn Féin, the men who had first asked for his help were astounded. Upon learning that the tools were for free use, but the village had to organize internally and ensure those who got them first didn't monopolize them, the men were somewhat surprised. They had originally thought Valle would provide tools to their families alone, but they hadn't expected him to be serving the entire village.

The agreement was made, and three days later, Valle led several young men from the village's Armed Work Team to block a family. Valle asked coldly, "It's time for your family to bring out the tools."

This family were also local thugs. Hearing Valle say this, the leader spat in front of him, rolled up his sleeves, and shouted, "We got them by our own ability, why should we bring them—"

Before he could finish, Valle, who had received combat training at the Hangzhou University of Political Science and Law, punched him in the face.

Knocking the thug to the ground, Valle tossed aside his coat and said coldly, "I prefer to convince people with virtue, but since you refuse to follow morality, I also know a bit about fighting."

The thug was not willing to submit. He got up and lunged at Valle. A few minutes later, Valle had knocked the thug's family to the ground for the fourth time. The family could no longer get up, groaning in pain on the floor.

Seeing that he had convinced the thugs with his fists, Valle and the Armed Work Team members went straight into the house, searched out the tools, and left. That same day, the families who should have had the chance to use the tools received them.

Following this "criticism by weapons," everyone in the village accepted the fact that Valle and the other youth had mastered the "weapons of criticism," and order quickly improved.

Although Valle looked relaxed, the pressure on him was still immense. He was surprised that the British government hadn't dispatched troops to suppress Ireland. Although he didn't know what had happened, he still made a judgment: either Britain was preparing something big, or it had weakened to the point where even dispatching troops was very difficult.

A few days later, a suppression force mainly composed of Northern Irish locals finally entered the Irish Free State. Valle was then certain that Britain was indeed very weak.

Valle left the village overnight and headed to the current location of the Youth Sinn Féin Central Standing Committee to begin formal operations. His first order was: "Prepare for military struggle!"

Britain was indeed in a dire state because the troops just sent to the Kingdom of Morocco in southern Spain had been ambushed by WPLA forces. The losses were very heavy.

The Spanish troops in Morocco were annihilated. Many members of the units participating in the encirclement of the Spanish government troops were from the International Brigades and the Republican faction who had been defeated in the Spanish Civil War. Therefore, this campaign was very bloody; the members of the International Brigades and Republicans hated Franco's government forces to the bone. Not only did they fight very hard on the battlefield, but they also executed a large number of Spanish Francoist government troops after the battle.

France, while shouting about sending troops, held fast to the Algerian border and did not actually launch an attack on the WPLA within Morocco.

At the request of the Spanish Franco government and the German Nazi regime, Britain had to once again dispatch two corps to enter Morocco to fight alongside two Nazi German corps.

As for Ireland itself, Britain was no longer able to attend to it, so it let local forces mainly composed of Northern Irishmen enter Ireland.

By this time, the faction in France advocating for friendship with China had used the established smuggling channels to send a large batch of weapons and ammunition to the Youth Sinn Féin.

As long as it could hurt Britain, the French would support it. Even the French conservatives, who advocated giving China a "lesson," didn't particularly care about the Irish killing British.

If French conservatives were faced with two choices—prioritizing a strike against Britain or a strike against China—most would likely choose to strike Britain first.

On March 15th, a small detachment of the Northern Irish force was ambushed on its way to the countryside and was completely wiped out. The attack was launched by members of the Youth Sinn Féin and a portion of the Irish Republican Army.

The war of the Irish people against British colonial rule had begun once more.