Massacre in quiet alleys

The combined title of a series of tragic events that took place a few months before the events of the game in the New Capital, and led to the exile of the Emperor deep into the country.

The first event in the chain was the public discussion of the gala ball at the governor-general's house in the New Capital. Rumors circulated that the head of the city was hosting a lavish celebration for the coming of age of his daughter, while at the same time, data was published about the deaths of ten thousand families in the south of the country due to famine. The official cause of the famine was a crop failure, but the general public linked the famine to the policy of seizing bread and grain from struggling people in favor of the Army. The rumors of the celebration sparked protests and even a spontaneous gathering around the governor-general's residence, where thousands of people gathered and filled the streets.

The next event in the chain was a speech by the Emperor, who publicly condemned the governor-general and promised to hang him and anyone else involved in the event if the allegations were proven true. The Emperor gave a long, solemn speech in which he said that in times of war and suffering, there can be no forgiveness for those who are feasting while the country is in crisis. A special commission was appointed to investigate, and they headed straight to the residence, which was surrounded by protesters. According to the investigation materials published by the "Forces of the Revolution": "Upon arrival (a few hours after the start of the gala event), the commission found not only the head of the city and his family, but also the head of the police, the minister of finance, the minister of education, three generals who were supposed to be at the front, and many other high-ranking and noble persons. Everything was reported to the Emperor, who issued a secret written order for the discreet evacuation of the guests and, in part, the relatives of the Governor General".

The third event was a clash between the protesters and the police, who were trying to discreetly evacuate the guests of the Governor General from the residence. The protesters fought with the accompanying police officers, and two protesters accidentally died after being hit by a car in which they had planned to take the Minister of Finance. This caught the attention of people around the residence, and within half an hour, all of the protesters were aware that the police were trying to get people out of the celebration. The head of the police of the New Capital arrived at the scene and assured the protesters that they were being taken for investigative measures. The protesters did not allow the nobles to be taken away and they had to return to the residence, where they remained until the next morning.

The fourth event was the arrival of police units at the Governor General's house, who tried to persuade the protesters to disperse and promised an honest investigation under the supervision of the Emperor himself. The crowd did not want to disperse and demanded punishment not only for the participants in the celebration, but also for those who had killed two protesters the day before. The negotiations ended in a stalemate, and the police cordoned off the entire block. According to the recollections of surviving witnesses, at that point, calls for lynching were already being heard in the crowd. With each passing hour, there were more and more protesters in the narrow streets around the Governor General's residence.

The next event was the arrival of the Guards Battalion, stationed near the New Capital, to the site of the protests. Within a few hours, the soldiers began to forcibly clear the protesters from the surrounding streets, but met with resistance which only allowed them to clear one street that did not even adjoin the Governor General's residence. According to the investigation materials published by the "Forces of the Revolution": "The elite army unit that arrived at the scene of the tragedy was the so-called 'Golden Battalion', composed of officers from noble or wealthy families. A distinctive feature of this unit was its direct subordination to the right hand of the Emperor, General Valerian, who lacked any combat experience but had ambitions to become the new Minister of Defense. His brother was at the Governor General's residence, and he wanted to get him out of this situation by any means. The investigation could not establish whether he acted on the direct orders of the Emperor. At the moment, there is only indirect evidence of this."

Hours after the arrival of the Golden Battalion, even more protesters began to arrive at the site of the protests. According to eyewitnesses, there were several heated exchanges between army officers and policemen. The police once again appealed to the protesters with a request to disperse. During regular negotiations between the police and the protesters, the first shots were heard. According to the investigation materials published by the Forces of the Revolution: "It is impossible to determine the source of the initial shots. What has been confirmed is that the police units were completely unprepared for this. An examination of the site after the tragedy and further examination by forensic experts showed that two dozen policemen received bullet wounds in the back, which caused their deaths. I clarify: the shots were fired by the guards soldiers, not the protesters."

This event had the expected effect: panic broke out, leading to chaotic developments. Some people tried to run away from the bullets, while others grabbed the weapons of the killed policemen and tried to resist. According to eyewitnesses, in the first minutes of the tragedy, people could not understand what was happening or who was shooting at them. The police looked just as confused as the protesters. According to data published after the tragedy, at least three hundred people died in the first ten minutes of panic due to the crush in the alleys.

Twenty minutes after the start, cases of armed resistance by both the police and protesters against advancing soldiers were recorded. The protesters had spontaneously joined the clash. The Emperor himself appeared at the site of the tragedy and called for an end to the shooting and for everyone to go home, effectively halting the bloodshed.

According to the memoirs of journalist A. Ginzburg from the newspaper "Spear": "I remember that moment vividly. I sat on the roof of a building and looked at the rivers of blood and the layer of corpses that covered all the streets around me so densely that I could sometimes not see the ground beneath them. For a brief moment, I was sure that I was already in hell. It was at this moment that the Emperor's cortege appeared. Several horsemen separated from him, jumped down, and shouted that the Emperor himself had personally arrived and was asking everyone to lower their weapons. I remember how people around me, at first incredulously, then more and more boldly, peeked out from their hiding places. The Emperor himself! Could he really be doing something himself and acting normally for once in his life? I remember when the shooting stopped. I remember how my heart was filled with joy. God, the shooting's over! Has it stopped? I grabbed my notebook and camera and ran downstairs. I saw army officers and policemen approach the Emperor. I saw them talk. I settled down in a shop window ten meters away from them. Those long twenty, maybe thirty minutes of waiting... Then they parted. The Emperor remained with his retinue and General Valerian. I didn't know it was him at the time, but they explained it to me when we prepared the pictures. They were discussing something, and then I saw the Emperor look at his boots and realize they were covered in blood and dirt. His face contorted and he began to slowly wipe his boot on the corpse of the man next to him. It was at that moment that I took the picture. I don't regret anything. How quickly my joy turned to disgust. I speak now as a person, not a journalist. I have never felt so disgusted in my life. The flash attracted attention, but by the time the soldiers ran to the store, I was already near the back entrance and they couldn't catch up with me."

The publication of the photograph, first in the newspaper "Spear" and then as a duplicated copy throughout the New Capital, had a catastrophic effect. The next day, anyone who could arm themselves with even just a frying pan was already on the streets. State buildings were on fire throughout the city. A spontaneous whirlwind spread throughout the New Capital, and a week later, new leaders emerged who first took power in the city and then throughout the country.

According to the latest published figures, more than 1,500 people died in the "Massacre in Quite Alleys".