Jero Bonaparte, who had taken the petition organizer hostage to break through the encirclent, was quickly supported by vigilantes and regular police outside the encirclent. Ard with blunt weapons and smoothbore pistols, they shielded Jero Bonaparte from the workers.
The workers, worried about harming the hostage, dared not advance after seeing their leader taken, fearing Jero Bonaparte would kill the respected gentleman.
"Let go of Mr. McGrady, you bastard!"
The radical workers shouted, demanding Jero release him, but Jero ignored them, curiously observing the bespectacled, gentlemanly "riot" leader in front of him. He asked, "Are you McGrath? The leader of this strike?"
[McGrath: mber of the Executive Committee of the Charter Faction Association]
Even surrounded, McGrath, the Charter Faction’s "petition" leader, maintained his composure. Jero Bonaparte spoke with passionate tones, "Sir, our strike’s purpose is rely to fight for our rightful claims! Is it wrong to pursue our interests? Is it wrong to pursue happiness? We work 15, 16 hours a day, isn’t that enough effort?"
McGrath’s speech rendered Jero Bonaparte silent, internally yearning to side with McGrath and the workers worldwide.
Having "grown up under the red flag," he instinctively felt a connection, yet his rank ant he could never truly stand with them.
The workers’ power in the 19th century was weak. In this era dominated by the aristocracy and the erging bourgeoisie, the proletarians were deprived of their voice.
Jero realized that even if he sided with the workers, the result would only be another exile, or being killed in so uprising.
Compared to Jero Bonaparte’s "inner conflict," the fat police chief had wholly transford into a thorough bourgeois executioner.
Seeing the hesitant workers, the fat chief regained his arrogance, spat in front of McGrath, and contemptuously remarked, "You’re just a bunch of trash, swine! Your purpose for existing is..."
Before the fat police chief could finish humiliating McGrath, Jero Bonaparte, visibly irritated, forcefully interrupted, "Shut up, you fool!"
The fat police chief suddenly stopped, his face with a tinge of anger as he pointed at Jero Bonaparte, shouting, "You’re just a vigilante! How dare you yell at ? Do you know I could lock you up too?"
The arrogant words of the fat police chief further annoyed Jero Bonaparte. He drew his gun, aid at the fat chief’s feet, and fired. With a "bang," white smoke billowed from the revolver’s muzzle, the choking powder filling the air, and a small hole appeared at the fat chief’s feet.
The sudden turn of events left the fat police chief stunned and unable to react, now pointing at Jero Bonaparte, his voice trembling with fear, "You...!"
"Fool! I told you to shut up!" Jero Bonaparte spared no face for the fool in front of him. The workers’ anger was growing, and any more provocation could lead them to charge directly. Jero didn’t want to die with this foolish police chief.
The conflict between Jero and the fat police chief gradually eased the tense atmosphere, as workers watched in confusion at the police infighting.
So of the official police mbers also broke into schadenfreude smiles—a foolish superior was everyone’s nightmare.
"Mr. McGrath!" Jero Bonaparte ignored the fat police chief’s murderous glare, instead speaking to the "prisoner" in a negotiating tone, "Could you ask the worker brothers to leave?"
Brothers
McGrath had not heard the word "brothers" in a long ti. Most respectable people only viewed workers as the lowest class of scum.
McGrath, curiously observing Jero Bonaparte, said, "Sir, allow to refuse! Even if you kill today, they won’t leave! Only if the governnt accepts our terms!"
Jero Bonaparte shrugged and said, "Mr. McGrath, trust ! The United Kingdom Governnt will never agree to your terms. They will just label you as rioters and arrest you all!"
"We resist! We strike! We want them to see our determination!" McGrath spoke with determination.
"It’s useless! Strikes can’t solve the problem! Capital can dehumanize people into tools. For factory owners, if tools are useless, they can be replaced!" Jero Bonaparte pointed to the workers standing opposite and said, "Factory owners can accept short-term losses. Can they?"
The workers in Britain worked under high intensity daily, yet could only maintain a level slightly above starvation for a family of three.
They could only struggle under the premise of subsistence; those starving can never afford to fight!
"If I were them, I’d unite all London factory owners, blacklist the disobedient! At that point, what would you do?" Jero Bonaparte continued pressing.
"I..." McGrath was left speechless, never having considered such issues despite organizing the strike.
"You rush into organizing a strike with passion, unable to handle the aftermath! If workers lose jobs due to the strike, how are you any different from the United Kingdom Governnt?" Jero Bonaparte continued to press McGrath.
"We want to overthrow the bourgeoisie, claim our rights!" McGrath spoke, although sowhat less confidently.
"What do you rely on to overthrow them? What do you have? What is your foundation? Who are you trying to unite?" Jero fired a series of questions.
McGrath found himself even more speechless, suddenly feeling this man seed to understand revolution better than he did.
...
"Reinforcents have arrived!"
The police officer sent by the fat chief for reinforcents returned breathlessly, shouting to announce it. Behind him was a force of over 200 composed of vigilantes and police.
"Looks like you can’t escape," Jero Bonaparte shrugged, addressing McGrath.
The arriving reinforcents of vigilantes and police collectively arrested all the workers and put them in jail.
McGrath, as an advocate, was arrested as well.
Surprisingly, Jero Bonaparte, originally seen as a "police hero," was also arrested.
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