At this mont, because of Marlo firing a shot, the police from Midnapore Special Zone across the way all drew their pistols from their waists, while the suited officials hid behind them.
Gu Ji noticed that the potbellied fat man had been secretly glaring at him.
It seed that the mobsters and corrupt cops sent to attack him earlier were dispatched by him, otherwise, who else would dare to lay deadly hands on a disaster relief officer appointed by the Central Cabinet?
"They fired! They fired! They’re trying to silence us!"
"Everyone don’t be afraid! I don’t believe they’ll really dare to shoot us! Let’s go together!"
"I’ve turned on my phone! If they dare to shoot and kill, I’ll send the video to the dia! Shiva will not forgive them! The people of India will not forgive them either!"
"Charge! Drive away these boars!"
...
Seeing the villagers being intimidated by the row upon row of AK-203s from the special border forces, a few well-dressed middle-aged Indian n and governnt officials shouted out from different positions, inciting the crowd!
Gu Ji finally understood.
These ignorant villagers were deceived by a small group of influential people, who should be the major landlords of East and West Midnapore Districts, major victims of the dam demolition plan; these landlords not only controlled the workers and servants under them, which ans they held the votes, but they also had substantial financial resources.
This is why governnt officials were sparing no effort to et their demands, just to secure funds and public support for next year’s state governnt elections.
But just as the villagers were preparing to rush forward for a second wave.
The blinding white spotlight from afar tore through the night sky, sweeping over, forcing the villagers to cover up with their hands. It was those two Mi-17 and Mi-171 helicopters.
Under Swaraj’s command, the helicopters braved the heavy rain, beginning to descend towards the area where the landlords, police, and governnt officials were gathered.
Ratatatatat...
The deafening roar of the helicopter blades sounded with a rumbling fury, dark and threatening to crash down, but more importantly, the accompanying whirling tornado-like winds began to forcefully sweep across the ground, scattering rain droplets with a piercing whistle, leaving everyone anxious and crouched down, fearing the helicopters might accidentally launch a missile.
Seizing this opportunity, Gu Ji hurriedly dashed towards the assault vehicle.
"Marlo, you’re responsible for securing the explosives! Explosive squads, a few of you co with to bring the vehicles here to form a line!"
"Got it!"
Marlo understood instantly, and the riot police caught his drift, imdiately gathering four or five people, taking advantage of the villagers being subdued by the helicopter winds, twisting the engine together, arranging the vehicles side by side to block between the villagers and Gu Ji’s side.
Only then did the remaining police have a chance to lift the wounded and transport them to the rear for injury assessnt.
"Hiss... ah!"
"Don’t move! Don’t move, I think my leg is broken!"
"Roif, what’s wrong with you! Wake up! Wake up!"
Gu Ji jumped off the car, listening to the riot police’s anxious shouts, witnessing the ghastly injuries on their bodies and the scattered batons, riot shields, and tattered clothes, his fury surged to its zenith, making him almost ready to command the special border force to charge.
But he couldn’t do that.
"Gu Ji, you must stay calm..."
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the rage within.
Resorting to violence now would not only fail to solve any problem, but it would completely exacerbate the conflict between both sides, and if civilians ended up getting killed, with the dia broadcasting it, the people in West Bengal would no longer trust the Central Cabinet or the military. He would lose the hard-earned command authority and credibility.
With this thought, he once again raised the gaphone before the second round of conflict erupted.
"Please everyone, look at the injured compatriots around you, is this really the outco you desire? And look at those so-called governnt officials who claim to care about you, how many of them are at the front lines during the conflict?"
"Do not be swayed by certain vested interests; the dam demolition plan is imperative because it concerns not just a few plots of farmland but the lives of tens of millions of people. Besides, the destruction of the dam is only temporary. Once this tropical storm season ends, the Central Cabinet promises to restore the dam within four months and ensure a certain level of compensation for affected residents and farrs!"
With this sudden outcry.
The villagers, bewildered and suppressed by the helicopters, began to turn and look at the police and governnt officials behind them, just as Gu Ji described, now all unhard and hiding in the back.
Unexpectedly, the potbellied governnt official boldly shouted:
"Don’t listen to his nonsense! Look at those two people they took away, one fought alongside you, defending your hos, and the other is our Midnapore Special Zone policeman, now both are beaten bloody by them!"
"Yes! These people only talk! What compensation? That 3000 rupees a month from the Central Cabinet, it barely covers our losses!"
"They have no sincerity at all!"
...
Hearing the conversation, Fatima suddenly raised her eyebrows, noticing sothing amiss.
"No! Vidi! Why is the compensation only 2000 rupees? Wasn’t our plan this afternoon supposed to set a single-person monthly compensation of 5000 rupees for affected residents? Why’s it reduced by this much?"
"It’s down by 40%? Contact finance and taxation imdiately... No! Report this to Mr. Anurag directly so he can contact the Pri Minister!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Ji squinted his eyes, realizing at once that soone must have altered and embezzled from their original plan.
Because in the Pri Minister’s office that afternoon, Dieter personally said the plan still needed to go through the finance, taxation, and the Cabinet Secretariat for final detail revision, any of which might have tampered with it.
No wonder these Midnapore villagers refused to agree at any cost, the problem lay in the "money."
The East and West Midnapore Districts have a population of 4 million, at least 800,000 affected by the Farakka Dam demolition, so reducing 2000 rupees per person totals 1.6 billion rupees, 130 million in Xia Kingdom currency!
"Damn it, who would have thought the ones ssing up in the end were my own people!"
Gu Ji cursed internally, though aware that India’s corruption wasn’t a day or two old, he could only brace himself and urge, "Everyone listen! Our original disaster relief compensation was 5000 rupees per person per month, yet I am unsure why the distributed figure to you changed. I’ve already reached out to the Pri Minister, rest assured the Central Cabinet governnt will not diminish your rightful interests!"
"5000 rupees..."
"This seems like a decent price?"
"With this, my family of five could indeed gain an extra 10,000 rupees in inco!"
In the end, money’s allure proved incredibly strong. Upon hearing about doubled inco, the villagers lost their urge to continue fighting. Just then, a new wave of assault police vehicles arrived, part of the first ergency team reinforcents sent by the district chief secretary at his previous request.
Seeing another sixty or so riot police join, the villagers completely lost their willingness to resist, one by one laying down their batons.
This turn of events left the landlords and governnt officials stunned.
For them, whether it’s 3000 or 5000 rupees hardly matters at all, because their reliance lies on vast farmland, not the headcount, but precisely because the Cabinet’s policy offered very little subsidy for land.
"What are you doing! Do you really believe he’ll increase the money?"
"Chief commissioner, the riot police keep growing, we can’t handle them at all!"
"Yes, that official nad Vidi seems quite genuine, we can negotiate with them!"
By now, many villagers awoke to reality.
Just when Fatima thought the situation was turning a corner, an elderly village representative suddenly stepped forward, stating: "We agree to the 5000 rupees compensation, but we won’t let you blow up the dam until we’ve seen the Cabinet’s promise in black and white!"
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