A University Too Far

(This article was originally posted on the public account "Wandering Home Liang Er", but it was quickly reported to delete the post, so go here.)

Things came to a head in November, when they launched a three-strike campaign, hoping to paralyze the city to force the government to respond. The Hung Hom tunnel outside Polytechnic University, the city's main thoroughfare, was successfully blocked, but they were also surrounded by police on the PolyU campus.

On November 17, after a day of fighting, the encirclement gradually shrank until it was closed, and more than a thousand people were trapped in the school. At night, the voice of "Save Poly" spread on the Internet.

Nathan Road

At 10:30 p.m., the bus was blocked in Mei Foo, and there were people in black who set up roadblocks, so I could only get off the bus and walk. After a few streets, I got on another bus. Because of the activities in the Mong Kok area, the bus finally only reached Sham Shui Po. When I got off the bus, I was still 4.7 kilometers away from PolyU, and it should take less than an hour to walk.

There are no vehicles on Nathan Road, there are many people on the road, and there are bricks under the ground at some intersections. There are roadblocks at other intersections and burnt rubbish, and firefighters are leaving after extinguishing them.

As we approached Mong Kok, the bricks on the road were getting denser and there were more and more people on the street.

Looking towards the end of Nathan Road, a jet of blue water spewed out from the left. Because it was still a few hundred meters away, the water cannon was blocked by the building, and it was impossible to see who was hit by the water cannon. Among the neon lights of street lights, traffic lights, and advertising light boxes, the blue fog has a romantic feeling.

The people around watched calmly, no one panicked, it seemed that they were used to it.

The air started to sting.

Gascoigne Road

When they got closer, the water cannon had already retreated along Gascoigne Road, but the air was getting more and more acrid. There are about three or four thousand people in black at the intersection, many of them wearing gas masks, but most of them only wearing masks, holding umbrellas, bamboo poles, railings, bricks, and preparing to move forward.

Tear gas is still being fired in the distance, and the fog is staggered by car lights and silhouettes, and only powerful flashlights and laser pointers penetrate the foggy walls from time to time. The umbrellas were opened one after another, and someone shouted hoarsely: "Go to the front line with a gear!"

Without the gas mask commonly known as "pig's mouth", it is difficult to walk into the place filled with tear gas, so the voice screamed urgently and even a little desperately, and I had to retreat in the opposite direction.

Originally, I just felt a little tingling in my eyes, and I wanted to go to a place where the concentration is not too high to rest for a while. Unexpectedly, I couldn't open my eyes in an instant, the inside and outside of the eye sockets were unbearably hot, and the face seemed to be opened by a knife, so I could only squinted and stepped back. Until a voice said to me, "I'll wash it for you."

I turned my head to the side, the salt water slowly sprayed into my eyes, the fire was gradually put out, and I felt much more comfortable. When I slowly opened my eyes, Brother FA was already washing the eyes of another person.

After the smoke had almost dissipated, the people around gathered again, walked on Gascoigne Road again, and moved forward.

Along the way, there was water, bricks, dismantled guardrails, tattered umbrellas, and tear gas shells on the ground, and people poked their feet between the bricks. But it didn't go very far, the crowd began to come back, and when I stood up, the blue water column spewed out from the smoke wall. At this point it is no longer romantic, there is no distance between us, and the heart of fear suddenly rises. So I poured into the alley on the right with the crowd, but it was not safe yet, because the water cannons could still shoot directly into the alley. Fortunately, there was another corner not far away. I stayed in front of the corner for a few seconds, and heard the call under the mask behind my back, "It's here! It's here!", and when I looked back, I saw the black running, the umbrella, and the mist splashing from behind the wall. , and the last-second spray of water.

Back in the alley, the footsteps of the crowd slowed down, and the panic disappeared without a trace. Everyone walked almost in unison, and flowed back to Nathan Road from the other end of the alley.

An FA on the side of the road asked an uncle, "Do you want salt water?"

"Remaining back is better than being born later." (For young people)

Water cannons and tear gas opened Gascoigne Road, and police cars also drove to Nathan Road. 1.3 kilometers from PolyU, the driven crowd began to look south for other roads leading to PolyU.

Jordan Road

From Nathan Road to the south, the next road leading to PolyU is Jordan Road. Crowds of people poured in one after another, but before they walked a few hundred meters, there was a strong light on the opposite flyover, followed by tear gas. The difference from before is that the police seem to have no signs of advancing, and there is no shadow of the water cannon, but in order to prevent accidents, the men in black began to erect roadblocks. Many private cars were blocked on the road, and someone reminded them to "don't turn on the air conditioner". The door of the Kowloon Union Church next to it is open. The pastor and social worker are standing at the door with mineral water: "Pray on the right, toilet on the left, there is water, you can rest."

"Don't remove the mask, there is cctv."

Austin Road

Jordan Road was blocked, and some of the men in black continued to look for the way to PolyU along Kokshi Road to the south, shouting, "Save Poly, move forward" as they walked. When we got to Austin Road, we encountered the blockade again. The men in black passed through Nathan Road and Jordan Road, and there were only a few dozen people left. They opened their umbrellas and formed parachute formations in front and rear, trying to fend off the falling tear gas. I hid behind a corner, in the leeward position, and watched a young man in a shirt and shorts walk into the thick fog with a bundle of bamboo sticks.

"It's almost there", "Hold it up", the two girls in black shouted.

It is less than 500 meters from the main entrance of PolyU.

With such a concentration of tear gas, it is impossible to advance without a gear, and many people continue to go south and walk into the alley. After going up and down several stairs, through an alley, a group of more than a dozen people walked to Austin Road. These people basically have no gear, only wear masks, and almost all of them are coughing. Some neighbors stuck their heads upstairs: "Come on, restore Hong Kong!".

Observatory Road

Go all the way to Observatory Road, which is the Tsim Sha Tsui nightlife "Puchang" and the closest place to PolyU during the "action", less than 400 meters from its main entrance. But after several dispersions, only a few dozen people arrived, but there were many neighbors around, and there were people who had just finished drinking and came to watch the fun.

At one end of the road, there were four or five police officers armed with riot guns. At the other end, men in black formed an umbrella formation. Behind the umbrella formation, someone started digging floor tiles. When I got out of an alley, the police happened to be walking towards the umbrella formation. A couple who seemed to have just finished drinking crossed the road. The man took pictures and the girl warned at the umbrella formation, "Get ready to shoot!"

As soon as I got back into the alley, I heard gunshots behind me. Drilling out from the other end, the observatory road is already filled with smoke. People in the back row walked into nearby alleys and buildings to avoid it, and then returned to the road when the smoke cleared. Since there were only a few police officers, they walked back after the tear gas canisters were fired, and the number of demonstrators was not large enough to launch an offensive to advance towards PolyU until reinforcements arrived.

I was going to go back to Jordan Road or Nathan Road, so I walked back along Austin Road, but found that a few rioters got out of the car on the road. There were a few neighbors standing at the door of a building, and they seemed to be waiting for the police to leave, so I walked over and stood with them, a westerner holding a bottle of beer and asking the middle-aged man next to him, "Do you support the protest ( Do you support this movement)?", he replied "I'm part of it (I'm already in the movement)."

Austin Road, where the umbrella formation has just been erected, has been occupied by the police, and the demonstrators on Observatory Road have been cut off from their backs.

Jordan Road

It was past midnight, and I walked back to Nathan Road, again between the two armies. On the left is the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, police cars are lined up, and more than 100 meters on the right is the umbrella formation on Nathan Road, followed by a dense crowd. Only then did I realize that the main force of the demonstrators was still on Nathan Road. There were 5,000 or 6,000 people, and they still expected to push into Austin Road or even Observatory Road to reach the Polytechnic.

The position was too dangerous, so I moved along the corner towards the crowd, quickly crossing the "front line" and into the "rear". As soon as I felt "safe", I heard the familiar sound of riot guns behind me: "Crack! Slap!"

Looking back, several long parabolas fell into the umbrella formation. Although they were occasionally thrown back by the demonstrators in the opposite direction, the smoke inside the formation was getting thicker and thicker. The people in the "rear" formed two rows of human chains, with hundreds of people in each row, using the method of human-to-human transmission to transport bricks and other materials to the front line. Most of the "logistics" only wear masks, and they should be "He Lifei" who came to "help drag".

material chain

M texted, she was on Shanghai Street, "It's safe here!"

From Jordan Road to Shanghai Street, people in black are everywhere, and they should be people who have withdrawn from several different "front lines" to rest on the inner streets. In order to "save poly", tens of thousands of people may have gathered in the Yau Tsim Mong area.

I met M in Jiexin Park, gossip about what I've seen and heard in the past few hours, and got the consensus that "it was too intense tonight". After sitting for a while and drinking a few sips of water, I saw from the news that many people were arrested outside the Polytechnic University, and they were sitting on the ground tied behind their backs. After a while of silence, I asked M, "Go to the front line again?"

Walking back to the street, there were two supply chains in different directions, one from Nathan Road to the south and the other from Jordan Road to the east. The number of people had reached several hundred. There are all kinds of materials, including cable ties, helmets, stools, iron sheets, and lime boards, but the most common ones are umbrellas, bricks, and bamboo tubes.

At the junction of Jordan Road and Nathan Road, there are many people digging bricks on the sidewalk, digging with small shovels or even screwdrivers, digging up and smashing them with tools such as hammers. A group of people gather together, although there are many people, but the efficiency is not very high.

We walked along Jordan Road and wanted to take pictures, but we were forced to come back due to the strong tear gas. When I returned to the junction, I suddenly heard a very loud mechanical noise, the kind on the construction site, da da da da. Looking closely, it was a big man of South Asian descent, holding an impact drill and prying bricks. He was wearing a helmet but not a mask. His muscles and veins protruded all over his body. Not only was the brick thrown up quickly, but he was also smashed by the impact drill. The brick diggers were excited, and some onlookers clapped and applauded.

A building on Jordan Road is under construction with scaffolding made of bamboo poles. Several men in black climbed onto the shelf and handed down bamboo poles several meters long from the second floor. Many people volunteered to follow below, either sending them to the front line themselves or passing them on to the supply chain. The supplies were linked to the bamboo poles, and a pair of hands passed them along, and a few minutes later they were sent to the rear of the umbrella formation.

front

The wind direction changed at some point, and the tear gas was getting thicker and thicker on Jordan Road. "My eyes hurt so much", M exclaimed. Many people have retreated from the front line, and the FA is washing their eyes.

At the end of Jordan Road, hundreds of men in black were forming an umbrella formation, planning to move forward. A large amount of supplies were sent to the Umbrella Array, but they were not used immediately. Different from the "defensive tactics" when they bloomed before, the goal of the man in black now is to "attack and save people". Apart from bricks, there is no need to erect complicated roadblocks.

In the back row, the action of the front line cannot be seen, only the silhouette of the umbrella formation can be seen printed on the white smoke wall. After a burst of fierce artillery fire, tear gas shells fell again like snowflakes, at least 40 or 50 rounds, and even slowly covered the umbrella formation.

This was the most intense attack I've seen all night. People shook their umbrellas, but the smoke didn't dissipate, and the back row began to loosen. Many people couldn't stand it even with their pig mouths on. They stepped back from the front line to wash their eyes and faces. But the tear gas went farther and farther, passed the parachute, hit the "rear", and even landed around me.

That's when I saw the first casualty. A boy came back from the front, supported by two FAs, bleeding from his eye sockets and eyebrows, but conscious and calm in his eyes. The FA said he was hit by a rubber bullet or a beanbag.

The other wounded with gauze on his head also seemed to have been hit by a stray bullet. Although he also had his eyes open, he needed a few FAs to carry him into the church.

The most impressive one is an elder with a grey beard but in Full Gear. Black trousers, knee pads and wrist guards, a 6500 gas mask hangs around his neck, and a helmet hangs behind his back. He was shot in the calf, the wound had been bandaged, supported by an FA, and walked into the church with great difficulty. Later, I saw him in the church toilet. When bending over to wash his hands, he couldn't bend his knees, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

After 2:30, there was still no progress on Jordan Road, and the position of the umbrella formation was the same as it was three hours ago. The concentration of tear gas was getting higher and higher, and many people returned to Nathan Road. M sent me a message and said to go to church to rest for a while.

As they approached the church, there was a commotion behind them. Looking back, people rushed out from Nathan Road, shouting "Go! Go!" and fled around. This only means one thing, Nathan's umbrella formation was broken, the front line collapsed, and the Athlon team rushed into the crowd and began to arrest.

Although there was still some distance away, the crowd was still nervous when they ran to their side. However, Athlon only caught up to the intersection, and the man in black also stopped when he saw it, gathered again, turned around, and walked up again. A girl behind them shouted slogans again. Someone held an umbrella, walked zigzag, picked up a brick on the ground, or lit a bottle in his hand and threw it hard at the other party.

The muscles of the arms were no match for the gunpowder in the gun, and the bricks were still half a distance from the target, but the tear gas bombs bloomed at the feet of the man in black, and after a while, the surrounding area was filled with smoke again. Riot appeared behind the Athlon, and they began to advance.

I had to return to Union Church.

church

As soon as I entered the church, the door was closed. The pastor asked everyone to be quiet and repeated: "Pray on the right, toilet on the left, there is water, you can rest. Don't take off the mask, there is cctv."

Several reporters and social workers gathered in the foyer. The corridor on the left led to a rest room, where the lights were not turned on, and dozens of people were sitting on the ground. Further inside is the toilet, and there are four or five people queuing up. To the right of the foyer is the auditorium, where dozens of people are scattered. Two social workers asked in a low voice, "Do you need water and food?" Except for a few reporters looking at their mobile phones, everyone in the church bowed their heads and no one spoke.

I found M in the auditorium, and she looked calm: "Looks like we're going to stay here for a while." (M told me later that she was very scared at the time) We sat three or four FAs on the left, backpacks and helmets were anti-virus Masks are spread out on the ground; two masked boys in front, 3M 6000 gas masks, hang around their necks, their heads buried under their arms.

The pastor walked into the auditorium, closed the door behind him, and told everyone that Jordan Road had been blocked by riot control, and there was riot control outside the door. "But let's keep calm and let's pray together."

He went to the pulpit and led the crowd into a hymn.

The auditorium had snow-white walls, gothic window frames, and a wooden roof with a spinning ceiling fan, the piano was melodious but the singing was not so melodious, and a boy sitting in the back of us was crying sadly.

After singing the hymn, the pastor began to preach. He said a lot, and later he talked about prayer, praying for the city, for the people trapped in PolyU, for the "brothers" in the streets, for the police with riot guns, and for the politicians in the city.

I am middle-aged, with undershirts and shorts, a mobile phone, and I am not too worried about myself. I'm not very good at praying either, never, but I couldn't help but give it a try.

After staying in the church for nearly two hours, I can still see the flashing police lights through the curtains, and I can still hear the sound of gunfire in the distance.

Suddenly, a social worker walked in and asked everyone to hide the gear, as if rioters could enter the church at any moment. The atmosphere in the auditorium became tense again. At this time, the piano sounded again, and the priest on the stage sang the hymn again and signaled everyone to sing along. We stood up, picked up the songbook that was just released, and sang in tune.

In less than two minutes, another social worker came in and said, "There is no riot control on Jordan Road now, and there are 'brothers' coming back outside. Those who want to leave can hurry up and leave now."

When I opened the door, I saw that there wasn't a single riot guard on the street. Many men in black occupied Jordan Road again. All of them were relieved and walked out of the church together.

It was four o'clock at this time. Before I said goodbye to M and took the minibus to leave the scene, Athlon once again broke through Jordan's defense line. The men in black returned to Yau Ma Tei and were retreating to Mong Kok, getting closer and closer to PolyU. Far.

At the intersection of the street, I heard the desperate call again: "Bring back, save Poly!"