Nine Songs of Anti-Japanese War

Even on the most prosperous commercial street in the past, at least from the facade, there is no festive atmosphere.There are only more than ten days before the Chinese New Year. Normally at this time, even if there is no bustling crowd of people walking shoulder to shoulder, the merchants should have hung a newly painted plaque on the door beam, and guarded the door to attract customers who buy new year's goods.

But this year, there was almost nothing—Chang De, who had just returned home from the street, shook his head secretly.After all, the city has a certain scale. He dare not say that there is no one that is fully open as in previous years, but there is really not much difference between one or two and none.The city had only experienced a fierce battle a month ago, and it barely managed to keep it, but it would not take a month to restore the order of daily life.No matter how enthusiastic the masses are, it is useless if the hardware cannot keep up.These days, he is busy clearing up the ruins that hinder traffic on the main roads in the city, using waste as much as possible to build urgently needed new houses, and dredging the most basic plumbing facilities. Others are always trying to persuade him not to be tired because he is injured. In fact, there is not enough supplies. , often can only stop and wait for the next supply. On average, he doesn't spend much time on work every day.

Chang De stepped over the threshold and stared at his empty main room.Except for a few tables and chairs that escaped the flames of war, naturally there are none.Ben still has a little hope to wait for the most basic repairs to be completed, buy some food symbolically and invite a few relatives and friends to come over for a quiet year. It seems that he is thinking too much.However, people always look forward to Sichuan like this!In Yue Yang's words, since she lost her jurisdiction in 38 years, "it's terrible, it's been almost six years", and it's as humiliating as if it happened yesterday, and he was lucky enough to meet the warriors of the 57th Division in Changde , defending the city side by side until the victory, although the price was heavy, she was really beautiful and blameless, and she was too late to envy her. 【Note 1】He still thinks this is not enough, he wants to complete the post-war reconstruction, and wants to celebrate the New Year normally, if Yue Yang is still by his side, he will be ridiculed to death by her.

He has sent Yue Yang back to Changsha.Although Yue Yang couldn't show up directly during the battle, the rear also helped him a lot. Now that the battle is over, and the year is approaching, he is still living in a family, so he can no longer drag her into trouble.After trying to persuade Yue Yang to leave, Changde was a little at a loss in the face of the empty room.There is no one to talk to him, and it is not time to change the bandage, so what should I do...

He entered the wing room, and was cleaning his face that was dusty from the dust in the morning, when he suddenly heard noises in the backyard, he hurriedly leaned over to the window.At this time, there will be no thieves, right?

There is no thief, but there is a relative or friend who did not say hello.Standing in the scorched-earth courtyard, Hengyang looked around as if seeing it for the first time, walking around, not paying attention to his trousers dirty with mud and waste.He was wearing a winter gown, which was not eye-catching, but the material was more exquisite, which was rare among the people in this city who were struggling to survive after the war.

Seeing that he found out, Hengyang just laughed and said: "Is it sad that there is nothing in the yard? It doesn't matter. When we have a prosperous new year, I will sow seeds with you, put aside the ornamental plants first, and plant a variety of plants. Vegetables, we will be busy when spring begins."

"I also said that during the New Year, didn't you see that I have no reserves at home!" Chang De pulled him back into the house.The room is also cold, after all, it has been repaired, so it is better than the desolate backyard. "Besides, my city reconstruction will take a long time, and I don't know when the war situation review meeting will be held. There is no way to entertain you. Did you come here to see what vegetables can be grown in my yard?"

"Of course not." Hengyang was not affected by the cold water he poured, and he still looked happy. "I stopped by Changsha's house on the way to ask. He said that the date for the military meeting for the Battle of Changde has not yet been set, but it must be After the new year, he confirmed with Chongqing. You are a hero in the battle. The capital hopes you have a good year. What are you worried about? As for the reconstruction of the city, there will be no rush. In short, I will treat you this year home."

"But... I don't have anything to eat here, and I don't even have enough chili for a few meals. I explained it in the first sentence!"

"Oh, I'm still worried about food." Heng Yang gave him a meaningful look with a smile, untied his backpack, and took out the bags one by one. "I thought about it a long time ago. We in southern Hunan haven't been too devastated by the war, and our small life is not bad, and it's more than enough to help you. It will be the day of offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, and then we will celebrate the New Year, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Eve...everything. It's enough, it depends on how motivated you are. Forget about today, let's clean the kitchen together tomorrow?"

"Even Xiaonian wants to..." Words can no longer express Changde's mood at the moment.

"Why can't I have it? Anyway, you still have the same custom as me. It's not easy to mix with those in Zhuzhou. After the new year is over, add something else. If everything goes well, they will also bring them in Changsha before New Year's Eve. When the fresh meat comes, we will be able to watch the New Year lively together."

Chang De held his breath and did not sigh.Hengyang has only become a provincial city in recent years, and he is not as senior as him in terms of seniority, but he is definitely not young, and his usual performance is quite stable and peaceful.He felt a little bit resentful that the other party ran over to drag him into the New Year without saying hello, and he knew it was for his sake and couldn't bear to show his kindness, so he didn't bother with it anymore: "Okay, it's up to you. You can't just meet with Changsha on purpose. Did you ask about the Chinese New Year?"

"Too much talk." Hengyang didn't know whether he pretended not to understand or really didn't understand. "Which one are you asking specifically?"

"The overall situation seems to be good, but has Changsha revealed whether there will be a war in this war zone and when it may be fought?"

"Well... I also said a little bit. He was not sure, and his words were very vague. He didn't mention you, but told me to be careful."

"Tell you to be careful? Why?"

"I didn't say the reason, I just said it was something like a hunch. Patriarch, you always think a little more than us. Don't be nervous about these things that might happen! Those problems will naturally be discussed at the military meeting, and life still has to live Yes." Hengyang took out another small package, "I bought firecrackers on the way, it's a store I don't know, I don't know how the sound is, let's try to put one first?"

Chang De was no longer in the mood to stop him, so he just waved his hand and told him to do whatever he wanted.But Hengyang was not reluctant and insisted on dragging him to the yard to order.

"Wh-touch!"

Amidst the crackling sound, Changde covered one ear, but he could still hear Hengyang clapping his hands and laughing: "The sound is very loud! So don't worry, Changde, we will have a good year!"

The surrounding residents will be attracted by the untimely sound of firecrackers.Changde no longer finds it bothersome when he thinks of this, and the physical pain left by the war and the fatigue of urban reconstruction in the past few days seem to have subconsciously eased a lot.Forget it, he looked at Hengyang's energetic smiling face and thought.People always need companionship.

Not just Chinese New Year.May everything go well this year.This is the wish that the two made together when they stared at the smoke from the firecrackers.

There was another rumbling sound like thunder above the head.

The sky is trembling, the earth is whining.Leningrad just used inertia to ignore these noises.Outside voices mean nothing to him.Images are also meaningless, since they are almost invisible.Since he was patrolling the streets four days ago and was buried in the darkness by a bomb that flew over suddenly along with the house, the meaning of time to him has also gradually weakened.Soon, it will also disappear along with the sound and video.

The city lord who had been active on the front line and presided over the work disappeared, and the military should have launched an all-out search, but unfortunately it didn't seem to be successful.When the house collapsed, it didn't hit Leningrad directly, but only broke a lower leg, which he disposed of with pieces of clothing.The mere lack of food and water is not enough to cause the death of the city incarnation. He originally held this expectation and survived the three days and nights that seemed like years.But on the fourth day, today—he had a premonition that he was going to die.

More than just three days.In the curtain of despair that can't be stretched out, the torture he endured, the days of being surrounded...

"800...how many days?"

He muttered to himself.

Indeed, after the Soviet army launched Operation Mars last year to open up a land passage, the situation in the city has improved in many ways. The bombardment no longer sounds endless, and there has been no cannibalism this winter.However, his fire of life may have gradually exhausted its fuel in the previous two winters.The small fire that remained was so vulnerable that four days without food or drink in the collapsed house without help could barely survive.

Let's blow a little wind again.He leaned against the beam and opened and closed his eyes, but what he saw was the same darkness.At first, he was able to distinguish the outlines of some objects with his senses stronger than human beings, but now those outlines are also hidden in the darkness.He has completely become an unarmed human being waiting to die.Once the wind blows, the small fire can really be extinguished.

Then he heard a small noise.The distant voice is meaningless, but the nearby voice is different.He tried his best to distinguish the source of the small voice, stretched out his fingers, and touched the other party.It was a little girl living in this room. At that time, Leningrad was about to ask her if she was the only one in the house, and the house collapsed.The little bit of water and black bread that the two of them got was given up by Leningrad, and these were only enough for a child to last for two days.But the problem wasn't the food.When Leningrad saw her, she was already severely malnourished and skinny, as if she would break into a pile of bones on the ground with a light tap.Even without this unexpected disaster, she probably wouldn't last a week.Besides, he had decided the first time he saw her eyes that her will to live was dying.

These four days, just like consuming the only fire of his life, the little girl's remaining will must have been exhausted.

There is a stubborn and hopeless corner of his heart, but he does not want to lose this suffering friend too soon.He touched her fingertips and asked, "Are you okay?"

"It's okay." The other party answered in a soft voice, which didn't sound good at all. "I heard you talking just now, didn't I?"

"Uh, I was... talking to myself."

"Can you tell me?"

"Well. It's nothing, just counting the days."

"Count... what days?"

The day the city was besieged.Days when my citizens keep falling.The days before I will be thrown into the arms of death.Of course none of this can be said. "Did I tell you, I have a brother...two days ago? Three days ago?"

"Three days ago." The girl remembered it better than he did.

"He's in Moscow. I haven't seen him since the place was blocked. But I believe that I will meet him within 900 days, so I've been waiting. It's almost there, but I can't wait."

"Last time you said..." The small voice hesitated, "You don't have a particularly good relationship with him."

"Yes. There are some—conflicts, but I still love him very much." Leningrad blinked his dry eyes. "Love him very much."

"I understand you. I have had older brothers... not one, but three."

This is the first time the little girl mentioned her family.Leningrad had no intention of asking further questions, but the little girl ignored him and continued to say in her gossamer voice: "Mom, dad, three brothers, a sister, and I are a very big family. They are all dead. ...The last one who died was my favorite little brother, just a week ago."

"All six...?" he asked.

"Well, all six of them... two of them will die every winter, just like an agreement. I'm the only one left." The girl gasped twice, "I didn't even want to live anymore, I don't want to live anymore. Know what's the point of living...but I met you. You were gentle and gave me food like my brothers. At that time I thought maybe I should live because only I remember them Ah. When the war is over, I can find someone as gentle as you to marry and have a few children. These children will definitely not have to starve anymore. Then I will tell them the stories of my parents, brothers and sisters... let them remember , There have been such good people in the world.”

The little hand wrapped around his fingertips loosened, then suddenly tightened.

"But I... I can't do it anymore."

Knowing that it was an unstoppable ending, Leningrad suddenly had a futile resistance: "Don't talk like this, you are okay, just wait..."

"Thank you, but I really don't have the strength... It's okay, I don't have to watch the person I like die anymore. But you... you will definitely survive. You have to last until 900 days, until you and your brother It's a reunion."

"Please...be sure..."

The thin little hand loosened.What was left was a long dead silence, Leningrad's eyes widened, and his vision in the dark environment returned briefly with the disappearance of another person's life signs.He saw her lying body, and the body temperature was rapidly flowing away from that body at a speed that seemed to be visible to the naked eye.During the four days, they talked a lot, but when he saw her clearly, she was just a corpse.

Boom.Boom.The vultures spread their wings, and hell beats drums.The thought of the world receded to an invisible distance amidst the beating of the world-shattering drums. Only the beating of the drums played back and forth in his mind accompanied by the songs of fate.He couldn't tell whether it was the echo in his head or the resonance in his chest, he only knew that it was an unreserved hymn to the god of death: "We will die in transparent Petersburg" [Note 2]

Poetry and darkness are wonderful companions.The chaos that had plagued his brain for many days suddenly disappeared without a trace, and his memory began to work frantically, splicing together the fragments of the more than 200 years since he was born in this world, and rotating them patiently for him to see one by one.Looking at the fragments, he suddenly realized that he was not yet three hundred years old since the city was founded, and he was still very young.

"Here Proserpina rules us"

However, it is also very old.Recalling the grand occasion when his first king, Peter the Great, moved his capital here, those pictures are vivid but far away.Pskov lowered his eyes and whispered while helping him straighten his clothes, your brother will be here soon, he still refuses to get rid of the old etiquette and customs, don't talk about it with him, let alone quarrel.As Xindu, you are also a junior, so you should be more humble at this time.

"We swallow the air of death with every sigh"

The result was still noisy.He couldn't figure out why the person who had done his best to support his growth and encourage him to breathe new air would trap himself in that stale, dark, death-smelling cage in the old capital?When we met again after a few years, the other party had changed his face and had long hair.When he praised his change, Moscow only coldly urged him to go back, the capital born to be a king should not waste his life in this rotten place.

"Every hour is the hour of death for us"

He witnessed the rising sun after the reform of the empire, and also saw countless bones that had fallen into the underworld illuminated by the rising sun.The emperor personally supervised and beheaded his son, just because he failed his father's hope, yearned for a life of a mortal, and refused to inherit the throne.The foundation of a huge empire is still the countless serfs who are unable to convey their wailing out of the abyss.

"Goddess of the sea, majestic Athena"

But he has a long time to live in prosperity before sorrow comes.At the dinner party, he looked at the back of Berlin leaving and turned to Moscow, making no secret of his playfulness in his tone.It seems that he likes you a little more, so I'll give him up to you, okay?

He was answered with an angry slap and scolding.You lucky, dude, born with a golden spoon in your mouth, never knew what suffering is, and any relationship between people is just an object for you to play.You can play however you like, but don't take me by your side.The man then cut off his long hair and officially retired from diplomatic engagement with the West.

"Please take off your mighty stone helmet"

The sun's light and heat diminished, and fate revealed its terrible other half.The blood of the Decembrists washed the floor tiles of the Senate Square, and his mournful pleas did not stop the tsar's order to sentence him to death by hanging. Ninety years later, when he advised the Tsar to stop armed suppression and abdicate voluntarily, he was also ignored.Moscow, accompanied by Yekaterinburg, threw the blood-stained pendant at his feet.I can't tell whether it belongs to the second daughter or the third daughter as the princess's relic, so just take it.

"We shall die in transparent Petersburg—"

The execution was approved by the central government, right?You obviously can stop it, right?He grabbed Moscow's neck in unprecedented anger, but Moscow raised the corners of his lips and looked down at him with pity.He said, it is really stupid of you to participate in the revolutionary rebellion despite being an imperial capital, and dare to dream of a happy ending.He said, you have been the imperial capital for 200 years but are so naive, how can you adapt to the dangerous revolutionary situation in the future.Sooner or later the Soviet will abandon you in favor of mine. 【Note 3】"Here you are not the master, but Proserpina."

What should not have died is already dead.What should die continues.Only endless suffering and trials are the truth of life that is not easy for all ages.He knew that at the end there stood a goddess of Hades called Proserpina, warm and peaceful in her embrace, where all suffering would be reduced to nothingness.Just like the autumn day when he left three years ago, Moscow embraced him three times according to Russian etiquette at his request, and the farewell words still rang in his ears: You never know what it is to be afraid.You don't fear death, you just hate the enemy who brings it...

Later...he grasped his chest tightly in a trance, and he still had the collar badge that Moscow stuffed him under his chest.What else did he say afterwards?Oh, he remembered, they were talking about life, about fighting not for glory but for the common life on earth.Later, his brother cried.

Yes, that's the way it is.Even if there was a sad dispute, that embrace is much warmer than the embrace of death.Even if it has an ugly face, the world where people live is much more beautiful than the dark underworld.I am here singing the praises of death, but all I have been, have been, is just to live.

I still have too much to say to you.I still have a sincere heart that I can't express to you.I still have bright and beautiful things that I want to witness, what is happening and what has not yet happened, and I don't want to miss it so easily.The little girl I was with died, and I remember her.If I die, how can I leave traces of her existence in this world?

I want to live.I want to live.I think……

live.

The black curtain was lifted, and the noise from the outside world suddenly returned to his ears.It is no longer the deafening bombing and heart-piercing cries, but a very common noise in which the crowd is busy and chaotic.He felt being pulled into an embrace with a familiar atmosphere, so he tried to open his eyes again to confirm the identity of the other party.

The person who hugged him also lost weight.He reached out to touch the other's light golden eyelashes, and before he could say anything, hot tears rolled down his fingertips, and hit his face drop by drop.

"Brother." He glanced at the blue sky, then turned back to the face of the person in front of him, and said, "Why are you crying again?"

As soon as he stopped talking, Moscow twisted his face and smiled, and the tears fell even more. "Your attention is always different from mine..." His elder brother couldn't speak any more after saying this sentence, and only continued to cry while pressing him into his arms.

一声礼炮鸣响在城市废墟的上空，宣告列宁格勒之围正式解除。从1941年9月9日到1944年1月27日，这座经受了872天死亡封锁的城市自冥府周游一圈归来，正在用好奇的初生婴儿般的眼睛打量着那无垠的散去硝烟的蓝天。

It was as if he was born into this world for the first time.It was as if this sky was the pure and flawless sky when Rose was baptized thousands of years ago. 【Note 4】At that time, he had not yet been born, and naturally he had never tasted the misery of the world, and now he is only immersed in flawless happiness wholeheartedly.

After more than six years, in the small courtyard in front of him, the dry landscape in Nagoya's memory has not changed his familiar appearance.The seemingly inadvertent arrangement and combination of planks, stones and trees is simple and mysterious, forming a small world independent of the world.Compared with the time when he was ordered to cross the sea to participate in the Songhu Battle in 37, these carefully placed landscapes have neither moved a bit, nor have they shown signs of aging.As if all these years of his stationed in a foreign land, dealing with injuries, bandages, surgical instruments, even killing and being killed, were just a big dream, where he fell asleep and finally woke up again.

It would be fine if it was just a big dream.He turned his head and glanced at Tokyo who was drinking tea on the couch.After deciding to attack China in an all-round way, Tokyo invited more than a dozen people with missions to this private house and held a banquet to wish them prosperity.This private house was built entirely with traditional wooden structures during the Meiji period when Daxing imitated the Western style. It has been around for many years, and Tokyo likes it very much, especially the uniquely designed Karesansui in the courtyard.Tokyo once said that this is a very suitable place for meditation.Nagoya has been stationed abroad all year round, and rarely sees Tokyo when he comes back occasionally. I don’t know if he also held a banquet here after the decision to attack Pearl Harbor was issued, so as to inspire the city lords who went to the Pacific to fight.I am afraid that since then, Tokyo, which has to worry about every move in the Pacific Ocean, has no energy to sit quietly surrounded by dry mountains and rivers.I remember that at the banquet before departure, although everyone had different ideas, they were generally considered to be in good health and high-spirited.As for the group that Tokyo summoned at this time, apart from Nagoya, only Hirosaki, Kumamoto, and Sendai remained. Fortunately, Kumamoto had a serious fight with the U.S. military in the Solomon Islands at the end of last year, and his sick complexion could not be suppressed even if he tried his best.

No matter how sad you are, the business still needs to go on.Tokyo first expressed condolences to Kumamoto, saying that since he had done his best in the offensive and defensive battle on Bougainville Island, he would not be held accountable. 【Note 5】Then asked about the defense status of the respective garrisons of Sendai and Hirosaki.In the end, he exchanged pleasantries with Nagoya, but he didn't ask about work like he did to the other three people. He only said that the flowering period was approaching, and it seemed to be a natural transition to the theme of this party.

Tokyo sat in a good posture and said: "The few of you here are all people who are familiar with the war. After these years of fighting overseas, they must have become more mature. Although they belong to different theaters, you all have your own opinions about victory and defeat. Understand, I shouldn’t need to do unnecessary advice. But today I invite a few people to come here, but I want you to work together to achieve a common achievement. It is very necessary to make preparations for cooperation in advance, so I have to explain something one time."

"Does it mean that we are going to a battlefield together?" Sendai was the one who reacted the fastest.Getting a nod from Tokyo, she asked again: "In that case... Myanmar?"

This speculation is very reasonable.Since China, the U.S. and the U.K. started their counterattack on northern Myanmar in October last year, the garrisons in that area have been under tremendous pressure.But Tokyo denied this conjecture: "It's not Myanmar. To be honest, it is impossible to completely reverse the disadvantages of our army in northern Myanmar. This counterattack has been planned by China, the United States and Britain for a long time. It has invested a huge amount of troops and supplies. Isn't it We can fill it up by sending a few more people. But in terms of overall strategy, we still have room to regain a city—"

There were no maps or anything like a map hanging in the room.Tokyo just lowered his head and drew a double folded line on the floor. "From Kanto, to North China, through Central China and South China, and finally to Indochina, Thailand, and Burma."

The four remained silent on the answer.Although some of them had heard the rumors, it was hard to avoid being surprised that the important task entrusted to them was to join the Chinese battlefield, which was not tense at this time and was far away from the center of the conflict.

"Opening up this land line of communication in East Asia is of extraordinary significance to us. As you know, the situation in the Pacific Ocean has been unfavorable. Sea traffic has been frequently damaged by the US and Chinese air forces. These air bases in southern China are very threatening, especially Liuzhou and the two in Guilin, the bombers taking off from there are very likely to attack the mainland of our country. If we can capture these bases, it will relieve us of a serious problem for our continued operations in the Pacific Ocean. However, the most direct thing is that it will allow the Kwantung Army , The Chinese Dispatch Army and the Southern Army are connected to support each other. Now we are no longer as strong as we were in the early days of the war. It is time to consider the issue of protracted war. The vast space of the East Asian continent is suitable for our army to make long-term strategic plans. This The conclusion may come as a surprise to you all, but it has indeed been demonstrated in detail by the headquarters. I also hope that you can live up to your mission and defeat the enemy with one heart."

Judging from the faces of Kumamoto and Sendai, it was clear that they had fully accepted the appointment.

"When we went to China, should the troops under our own management also go together?" Hirosaki was still a little puzzled, and asked, "The journey is long, and it is easy to be attacked halfway. Moreover, Kumamoto has just finished a battle, and is already very tired... ..."

"There is no need to send troops here. Hirosaki, Kumamoto, and Sendai, as long as the three of you go, the new troops will be mobilized directly from the mainland, and the specific allocation will be discussed at that time. As for Nagoya, he is the only one of you who has been stationed with the army. Chinese people, although he is in charge of logistics work, but he has very good organizational and coordination skills, and his third division can have the title of ace army is inseparable from this." Tokyo handed a formula to Nagoya The smile was mostly for the other three people to see, "His familiarity with the Chinese battlefield is unmatched by others. After you go, you should learn more about the situation from him, and don't act blindly."

The three of them naturally agreed, and Nagoya quickly humbled himself.

Sendai said: "Listen to my lord, this is a series of large-scale battles with decisive influence. This kind of offensive battle must not rely on Wang's puppet army. Now China's dispatched troops are completely insufficient. Is it possible that the troops mobilized from the mainland will Much?"

"That's right. I can tell you clearly that for this battle, all the Type B and Type C divisions in China will be upgraded to Type A divisions. In addition to recruiting troops from the mainland, they will also be drawn from the Kwantung Army. The general mobilization It is roughly estimated that the number of people will reach more than 35. Sendai, this number is twice as high as the Russo-Japanese War in which you were active, and I think you already know it.”

Sendai expressed solemnly that she not only knew what was in her mind, but also determined to live up to the expectations placed by the base camp, and she was determined to recover the setbacks suffered in Nanyang in the new battlefield.Tokyo then talked about some unconfirmed battle plans, and said that everything that should be explained has been explained, and everyone can play freely in his house before lunch.

The two women, Hirosaki and Sendai, naturally got together and chatted about topics unrelated to work.Nagoya looked at Kumamoto, who was sitting quietly where he was, and thought that he was a notoriously hot-tempered man who attached great importance to the success of the battle, but he had suffered too many setbacks in the Pacific Ocean in the past two years. I must still be very brooding, so it would be better to go up and comfort her.

"...Let's go to the yard for a stroll?" He suggested to Kumamoto.

"Okay." Kumamoto glanced at him, agreed lukewarmly, and followed him out of the reception room.

As soon as he arrived in the yard, Nagoya felt a cold object pressing against his lower back.He didn't make a sound, but turned his head in surprise, and Kumamoto stared at him silently, not daring to relax his hand at all, and leaning against his waist with the unsheathed side handle that he was wearing around him.

"What do you mean, Kumamoto..."

"There's something wrong with your eyes. It's not the eyes of someone who wants to fight. It seems to be in a hurry to perfunctory, go home and sleep with your head covered. You must... have something to say that you didn't say."

"So you are threatening me? Just by the look in my eyes? It seems that no one else thinks so except you? No one will believe you when you say it. Put down the knife quickly."

"I won't let it go." Kumamoto's voice was even lower, and his breath brushed against Nagoya's ears, and it was cold, "Your Majesty may trust you, but I have decided to kill him before that. Nagoya-sama, this is how you treat him." It was not my original intention, after all, I am too presumptuous in my capacity. But you, a person who is stationed in the most fierce war zone in China, can only say yes to the plan without a single constructive opinion. Eyes... It's hard not to doubt you."

"You can't help but think so. Then, what do you want from me now?"

"Two ways. One, immediately make up for your mistakes and fulfill your due responsibilities. The other, I won't talk about it..."

"..."

Nagoya thought that once a person like Kumamoto made up his mind, he would follow through regardless of the consequences, and bargaining with him was doomed to not get a good result.Maybe it's not that he doesn't care about the consequences, but that what he wants to achieve is far more important than side effects like "consequences".If I couldn't give him a satisfactory answer, it would not be uncommon for him to directly rectify the Fa on the spot.

But what really shook Nagoya was not Wakizawa who was at the back.Kumamoto's words hit the frailty of his heart.

I am not a person with firm beliefs.Letting Changsha go privately many years ago, on the surface, it can be whitewashed as unwillingness to blackmail the enemy with dark means, and would rather fight openly without burden, but in fact it is out of guilt after witnessing the tragedy of breaking the enemy's capital .Letting Changsha go, I thought that he would be found by accident, and the man should lose his strength after a fire, so it doesn't make much difference whether he is let go or not.I don't want the Changsha area to become a hard bone. There have been three battles and repeated fights, and it is still in the enemy's controlled area.

War brings out the worst in human nature, something they have long known.Burning, killing, prostitution, and looting, all kinds of evil deeds, as incidentals of war, must also be accepted by them.When he was moved by this at the beginning, he felt guilty and made amends, but it was by sacrificing the interests of the motherland.From this perspective, he committed the unforgivable sin.

After all, whether the country is right or wrong, where is it his turn to judge?Can his so-called moral sense really lead to the right result?He was really tired after seeing the see-saw in China for more than six years, but he would never be able to escape.For the upcoming battle, Changsha is one of the key points.If this battle fails, the line of communication is completely cut off, and the US army invades the mainland... He dare not think about it anymore.

"I will do my duty," he said, "and please put down the knife."

Kumamoto pulled Wakizashi back to his waist.The two found Tokyo Study, and Nagoya said, "My lord, I just discussed tactics with Kumamoto, and I just remembered an important proposal. I hope the higher-ups can take it seriously."

"Huh? Say."

"For a long time, armored divisions have been mainly deployed in Southeast Asia, and have not been used on a large scale in China. But this operation is of great significance and runs through the north and south. I think it is time for them to go to China to show their skills."

"Hmm... I really never considered using an organized armored force in China before. But the situation is different, and what you said makes sense. I will inform the headquarters, and they should adopt your opinion."

Nagoya thanked him, wiped Kumamoto who finally had a smile in his eyes, and walked out without looking back.

One month later, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, the Japanese army mobilized 2400 soldiers on the 41-kilometer-long front, and the "Operation No. [-]" that ran through the three regions of Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi from north to south began.

注1：1943年9月到1944年1月，日军第11军进攻湘西北常德地区，与中国第六战区部队发生激战。中国第74军57师死守常德直