Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 240 Escape (Part 2)

Just as Haruko knelt on the ground, pressing down with all her might on the wound of the one-armed soldier, trying to use her frail body to stop the gushing life force from flowing out.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat... Boom!!"

A series of extremely loud and intense gunshots, mixed with the violent explosion of grenades, suddenly rang out outside the courtyard of the bandage clinic!

The sound was so close that it shook the entire humble house violently, and dust from the roof fell in a rustling sound, landing on Haruko's hair and shoulders.

The bandage room fell into a deathly silence; everyone froze in their tracks.

The groans of the wounded and the shouts of the doctors were completely suppressed at this moment by the sound of death that was so close at hand.

Haruko looked up in horror, her heart feeling as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, almost stopping.

"The Chinese have attacked?!" This most terrifying thought flashed through her mind.

However, the next second, what rushed into the courtyard was not the enemy they had imagined.

"boom!"

The wooden door of the bandage clinic was violently kicked open. A squad of heavily armed Imperial soldiers, exuding a thick aura of gunpowder and murderous intent, charged in like wolves, bayonets fixed to their rifles. They quickly took control of every corner of the courtyard, their cold gun barrels pointed warily outwards.

Immediately afterward, an officer wearing the rank of lieutenant colonel strode into the center of the courtyard. His uniform was covered in dust from artillery fire, but his posture remained ramrod straight. His face, blackened by gunpowder smoke, was expressionless as he glared fiercely at the wounded soldiers in the courtyard.

He looked around at the seriously wounded soldiers lying in the courtyard, in the corridor, and even in the rooms, their eyes filled with a mixture of expectation and fear as they looked at him.

Then, in a flat, emotionless tone, he slowly began to speak:
"Gentlemen, you have dedicated yourselves to the Great Japanese Empire. Amaterasu Omikami will protect you."

His voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

Then, he changed the subject, his voice becoming even colder and more resolute.

"The troops are on an emergency mission and will be breaking out in ten minutes. Please take care, everyone. Thank you."

"Please (頼んだぞ)"—this polite phrase, often used in Japanese to ask or request, felt like a death sentence at this moment. Every word carried immense weight, striking the hearts of all the wounded soldiers with devastating force.

They were abandoned.

After speaking, the lieutenant colonel didn't even glance at his former comrades again, but instead bowed deeply and formally in the direction of all the wounded.

Then, he straightened up and suddenly waved his hand.

"let's go!"

The group of over thirty soldiers, just as they had arrived, quickly and silently withdrew from the courtyard, disappearing into the chaos outside, leaving behind only a courtyard full of wounded soldiers sentenced to death and a group of helpless medical staff.

After a brief, suffocating silence.

"what--!!"

A soldier lying on a stretcher with both legs blown off suddenly let out a wild, heart-wrenching scream!

"Kill me! I'll kill you!" (Kill me! Kill me!)
"See the house of the house! The empire of the house is the house of the house!" (Are you abandoning us! Is the empire going to abandon us!)
That desperate roar was like lighting the fuse of a powder keg.

"Let us die!"

We're going to die!

Several of the most seriously injured soldiers, who had no hope of survival, began to scream with their last ounce of strength.

The remaining wounded soldiers finally snapped out of their daze of the cruel reality. The humiliation of being abandoned, the fear of the torture that awaited them after capture, and the twisted, deeply ingrained sense of "honor" of Bushido instantly destroyed all their reason!

In an instant, the entire clinic transformed into a chaotic battlefield filled with madness and self-destructive desires!

A soldier struggled, grabbed a scalpel from the medical tray, and without hesitation slashed it across his own neck! Blood gushed out instantly!

Another soldier pulled out his last "lifeline"—a Type 97 hand grenade—from the pocket of his tattered uniform. He pulled out the safety pin and, with all his might, slammed the grenade's fuse against a rock beside him!
"Crack!"

The crisp sound of the fuse being triggered was particularly jarring amidst the chaos!
Upon witnessing this hellish scene, Haruko and the other dozen or so nurses were terrified! They screamed and instinctively backed away, huddling together. Their faces were filled with extreme fear and disbelief.

They couldn't understand why the life that was lying in their hands and needed their rescue just a moment ago could turn into a crazed beast eager to destroy itself the next!

Just as Haruko and her companions were huddled in a corner, terrified by the bloody, self-destructive scene before them, their minds blank and unable to do anything but scream and tremble...

A figure covered in mud and gunpowder smoke, like a ghost, suddenly squeezed through the chaotic crowd and appeared beside her.

Before she could react, a strong, powerful hand, trembling slightly with nervousness, suddenly grabbed her slender arm!

"Come with me quickly!" A hoarse and urgent male voice rang in her ear.

"Eh……?!"

The sudden, rough tug sent a shiver down Haruko's spine, nearly scaring her out of her wits! Instinctively, she opened her mouth, about to let out an even louder scream.

But the man seemed to have anticipated her reaction, and immediately roared with all his might, in a volume that was almost a roar and drowned out all the surrounding noise:

"Haruko! I'm Katsuhiko Nakata! Takeuchi Takama asked me to come and save you! Come with me right now!"

Katsuhiko Nakata? Takeuchi Takama?
These two familiar names, like two bolts of lightning, instantly cleaved through Haruko's chaotic thoughts, which were shrouded in fear and confusion.

Takeuchi was her fellow townsman and also her fiancé. Before the war, he did ask his best friend Nakata to take good care of himself if anything happened...

Before Haruko could answer or think, Katsuhiko Nakata exerted force without warning!

A tremendous, irresistible force pulled her out of the corner!
"what!"

Haruko let out a short gasp, staggering as she was almost dragged along, following Katsuhiko Nakata's desperate escape towards the door of the bandage clinic.

Her nurse's cap fell off during the tug-of-war, her smooth black hair came loose, and she looked utterly disheveled.

They bypassed the crazed wounded soldiers who were ending their lives in various ways, and ignored their fellow nurses who were also screaming and crying in terror. Katsuhiko Nakata had only one goal… to escape this impending explosion of hell!
Just as they rushed out the door, an extremely pungent, strange smell, a mixture of gasoline and some kind of chemical, suddenly filled Haruko's nostrils.

She instinctively turned around to look.

"Boom——!!!"

A deafening roar, more terrifying than any explosion before, came from inside the bandages behind them!

A massive, orange-red mushroom cloud, filled with thick black smoke, human remains, and building debris, shot into the sky! A scorching shockwave swept in like a tsunami, slamming hard into Haruko's back and shoving her forward, nearly knocking her to the ground.

It's unclear which soldier, driven to utter despair, set fire to the medical team's sparsely stocked fuel depot.

The raging fire turned the entire hillside a shocking crimson, serving as a final and most tragic funeral march for the dozens of wounded soldiers abandoned by the empire and the medical personnel who were unable to escape.

At this moment, the sky became unusually dark due to the thick smoke of gunpowder, as if dusk had arrived prematurely.

Underfoot, there were rubble and an unknown, sticky liquid everywhere.

Haruko was being held tightly by Katsuhiko Nakata as they stumbled and ran wildly through the ruins.

She saw several figures in the darkness in front of them suddenly scream and fall to the ground.

Then, several more followed.

All around her, a chorus of shouts she couldn't understand rose up.

That's not Japanese.

Haruko's brain, which had been numb with fear, finally began to function sluggishly.

She thought, this must be... the Chinese attacking, right?

They didn't know how long they ran, or how far they traversed amidst gunfire and explosions, but when Katsuhiko Nakata pulled Haruko along and plunged into a relatively dense grove of trees, their tense nerves finally had a chance to catch their breath.

The gunfire around them seemed to have receded somewhat, and the branches and leaves of the trees partially concealed their disheveled figures and filtered out the firelight of the hellish battlefield.

Haruko could no longer hold on.

Her legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the cold, damp ground covered with fallen leaves with a thud.

She was gasping for breath, her chest heaving violently, her lungs burning with pain. Sweat and tears mingled and slid down her dirty cheeks.

Katsuhiko Nakata leaned against a tree, also breathing heavily. The rifle in his hand was propped up on the ground, supporting his almost collapsing body.

After a long while, Haruko finally caught her breath. She raised her head and, using the faint, dark reddish light filtering through the leaves, carefully examined the man who had saved her life.

His face was covered in black soot and dried blood, his military uniform was tattered, and his eyes were filled with fear and exhaustion, but the familiar silhouette of his fellow villager finally confirmed his identity.

"Nakata-kun...is it really you?" Her voice trembled with a hint of relief and uncertainty.

"Don't you recognize me even now?" Nakata Katsuhiko forced a bitter smile that was more like a grimace.

"Of course not... I know... it's just that I haven't seen you in so long."

Haruko lowered her head shyly, her voice barely audible. Then, as if suddenly remembering something important, she abruptly raised her head, her bright eyes filled with anxiety and anticipation as she stared intently at Katsuhiko Nakata. "Nakata-kun... Where's Takeuchi-kun? How is he?"

Upon hearing the name "Takeuchi," Katsuhiko Nakata's wry smile froze instantly. He paused for a moment, avoiding Haruko's expectant gaze, his voice becoming low and hoarse.

“Takeuchi-senpai… is dead. He was killed by Chinese artillery fire. I saw it with my own eyes. Before that, he foresaw his own end and asked me… to take good care of you.”

Haruko's body trembled violently.

But she didn't cry or scream or become hysterical as Katsuhiko Nakata had imagined. Perhaps she had experienced too much death and terror that day, and her nerves had become numb.

She just sat there blankly, her eyes, which had been full of expectation just moments before, instantly losing all their light. Two clear tears uncontrollably slid down from her empty eye sockets, silently dripping onto her mud-stained dress.

A long time, a long time.

She then spoke in a chillingly calm tone, as if stating something unrelated to herself, and said softly, "Nakata-kun, we can't escape, can we?"

This is not a question.

Katsuhiko Nakata did not answer, but simply lowered his head even more heavily. His silence was the best answer.

"I understand," Haruko said softly, as if she had long anticipated this ending. She wiped away her tears, but a poignant, relieved smile appeared on her face.

"I'm not afraid of death, I just... I just have some regrets." Her voice was as light as a breeze. "I'm not even married yet... It's such a pity to die like this."

Katsuhiko Nakata sighed softly and remained silent. As a young soldier himself, how could he not share this regret?
Looking at Katsuhiko Nakata's silent and reliable back in the darkness, Haruko suddenly felt an uncontrollable, crazy, and resolute impulse surge in her heart.

She felt that since Katsuhiko Nakata was willing to risk his life to save her, she had an obligation to spare him, and herself, this greatest regret in the last moment of her life.

This was the only way she could repay him.

“Nakata-kun…” she called softly.

Then, as the other person looked at her with a puzzled expression, she uttered a shocking statement in a tone that was a mixture of shyness, sadness, and determination.

"Then let me... be your wife tonight."

After saying that, she began her actions without waiting for Nakata Katsuten to react.

Her fingers trembled slightly with nervousness and excitement, but her movements were unusually firm. One button at a time, she unbuttoned her nurse's uniform, which was stained with blood and dust.

As the buttons were undone, she slowly took off the tattered white coat that symbolized saving lives.

Her fair and slender arm was pulled out from the dirty sleeve, and her shoulders, slightly thin from long hours of labor, and her chest, rising and falling gently with tense breathing, were exposed in this dark grove of trees, filled with the aura of death...

(End of this chapter)