Not enough Japanese devils to kill? 1.4 billion people volunteer for the Battle of Shanghai.

"Don't worry, I'm tough. The King of Hell won't take a troublemaker like me."

Iron Anvil chuckled and turned to walk towards the trench.

The night was as dark as ink.

Wild dogs barked in the ruins on the north bank of Luodian.

Crows were circling overhead.

But more often than not—

snore.

The steady, reassuring snoring that finally allows me to get a good night's sleep.

The one-eyed company commander did not sleep.

He leaned against a sandbag, gazing at the starry sky with one eye, clutching half a piece of unfinished compressed rations in his hand.

He took small bites and chewed very slowly.

Iron Anvil walked over and sat down next to him.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Iron Anvil asked.

"I can't sleep," the one-eyed company commander said hoarsely. "I'm afraid that if I close my eyes and open them again, I'll find that it was all a dream."

Iron Anvil took out the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it over.

The one-eyed company commander paused for a moment, then took it, smelled it, and said, "Good cigarette."

"Try it." The anvil lit it for him.

The one-eyed company commander took a deep breath and then coughed violently.

He had a lung injury and coughed up blood.

But he didn't stop; he took another puff, and this time he managed to control himself.

Smoke rose slowly into the night.

"You..." The one-eyed company commander looked at the black armor on Anvil's body, and at the equipment he had never seen before at his waist, "Are you really from... 2026?"

"Hmm." The anvil nodded.

"Is that place... nice?"

"Okay," said the anvil, his voice soft but unusually firm. "When the people have enough to eat, the children can go to school, and the country is strong, no one will dare to bully us."

The one-eyed company commander listened, and something flickered in his one eye.

He took a drag of his cigarette and asked again, "So...did we win? This battle?"

The anvil turned to look at him.

Looking at this company commander, who was covered in wounds and had only one eye left, yet still held his ground.

Looking at those soldiers who were still smiling in their sleep.

He nodded slowly:

"We won."

"And right here on these ruins, we built a strong and democratic nation."

The one-eyed company commander's hand suddenly trembled.

The cigarette butt almost fell to the ground.

He gripped the half-smoked cigarette tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

After a long while, he lowered his head, looking at the flickering light of the cigarette butt, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing together:

"That's good...that made it all worthwhile..."

He didn't cry.

But his shoulders were trembling slightly.

The anvil didn't say anything, but simply reached out and patted his shoulder hard.

Then he stood up:

"I'm going out for a bit. You guys take this time to rest. Tomorrow... there might be another tough battle."

The one-eyed company commander looked up, a glimmer of tears still lingering in his eye: "Where are you going?"

"Go deliver some 'gifts' to the Japanese." Iron Anvil grinned, his smile appearing somewhat sinister in the night. "I'll be back soon."

After saying that, he turned around and disappeared into the night.

The sound of combat boots treading over the rubble quickly faded into the depths of the ruins.

The one-eyed company commander looked in the direction where he disappeared and took another drag of his cigarette.

Amidst the swirling smoke, he suddenly smiled.

I laughed so hard that tears came out.

These are not tears of sadness.

It's that kind of...burning tears of finally seeing the light, seeing hope, seeing that all your efforts have not been in vain.

He wiped his face, finished the last puff of his cigarette, and stubbed it out in the scorched earth.

Then, leaning against the sandbag, he closed his one eye.

This time, he slept very soundly.

Under the same night sky.

In the distance, the clock tower.

Colonel Kato stood by the broken window, holding a cup of sake in his hand.

That was the last thing he had treasured, originally intended for a celebration after conquering Luo's shop.

Now, he only wants to use it to numb himself.

The scenes from the daytime kept replaying in my mind.

The Tanaka squad's ecstatic rush into the blind spot... was then torn apart by a bullet flying from the side.

The Nishimura squad used the wall for cover to approach... and were then eliminated by flanking fire that crossed the obstacle.

Those three enormous Chinese tanks, despite their turrets pointing in different directions, resembled three steel warriors back-to-back, sharing a common understanding.

Their machine guns covered each other's blind spots.

Their firepower intertwined to form an impenetrable, deadly net.

No matter which direction or method the Imperial soldiers infiltrated from, there was always a machine gun that could send them to hell from an unexpected angle.

"Baka..." Kato gritted his teeth, making a grinding sound.

He tilted his head back and drank the sake in his cup in one gulp.

The spicy liquid burned in my throat, but it couldn't burn away the chill in my heart.

"Colonel..."

A trembling voice came from behind me.

The staff officer was still slumped on the ground, holding his head in his hands, his body trembling uncontrollably.

This young officer, a graduate of the Army University's staff department and originally a promising young man, now had a vacant look in his eyes, like a frightened little beast.

"No...it really won't work..." he murmured, his voice trembling with tears. "The casualties are too high...I've calculated it. In this afternoon's battle, we lost 237 men...164 of whom were killed in action, and 73 were seriously wounded...while the enemy...they didn't even damage a single tank..."

He looked up, his face covered in snot and tears.

"This isn't war...this is suicide...Colonel, let's retreat...let's retreat under the cover of night..."

Kato slowly turned around.

Moonlight streamed in through the broken window, illuminating his pale face.

He did not scold the staff officer.

He didn't even show any anger.

He simply looked calmly at the distraught young man with an almost empty gaze.

"Retreat?" He repeated the word softly, as if savoring something bitter.

"During the last Baoshan Campaign, the commander of the 6th Regiment was recalled by the military headquarters for 'poor performance in combat and unauthorized retreat.' Guess where he is now?"

The staff officer was stunned.

"In the military police's interrogation room," Kato gave him the answer, "or... he's already committed seppuku."

He walked up to the staff officer, squatted down, and looked him into the eyes:

"What do you think will happen if we retreat now?"

The staff officer's lips trembled, and he couldn't speak.

"I will be sent to a military court and sentenced to death for 'desertion'—or, give me a rib so I can have some dignity."

Kato's voice was calm, eerily calm:

"And you, all of you staff officers, every single one of you, will be taken to the military police interrogation room. They will ask you:"

"Why didn't you dissuade your superior? Why didn't you devise an effective tactic?"

"Why...did the Empire lose so many precious soldiers?"

He paused:

"In such a place, even death is a luxury."

The staff officer's face turned completely pale.

Kato stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the Chinese defenders' positions in the night.

Looking at the three vaguely visible steel outlines.

"Signalman!" he suddenly shouted.

"Hai!" A young private jogged in and stood at attention.

Kato took out a pre-written letter from his pocket and handed it to him.

There were no words on the envelope, but Kato's personal stamp was on the seal.

"Set off immediately. Make sure this intelligence reaches Lieutenant General Fujitsugu before dawn." Kato stared into the communications soldier's eyes, his gaze chillingly dark. "Remember—make sure."

The communications soldier, Ibe, received the intelligence and nodded emphatically: "Yes, sir! I swear to complete this mission, even at the cost of my life!"

"If the intelligence hasn't been delivered..." Kato's voice suddenly turned cold, "you don't need to come back. Commit seppuku as an apology."

He shuddered slightly by the well, but still stood tall: "Hai!"

He turned around and ran quickly down the clock tower.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell, gradually fading into the distance.

Kato turned around and looked at the few remaining staff officers and officers in the room.

Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

Under the moonlight, their faces were equally pale.

"Gentlemen."

Kato spoke, his voice echoing in the silent clock tower:

"In this battle, there is no turning back for us."

He slowly walked to the center of the room, his gaze sweeping over everyone:

"If we retreat, I will commit seppuku to atone for my sins."

"And you—" he paused, "you will all be taken to the military police's interrogation room, one by one."

The room was deathly silent.

Only the occasional cawing of wild dogs or crows could be heard from afar.

"so."

Kato took a deep breath, his voice suddenly rising in pitch:

"Rather than go to the interrogation room, suffer humiliation, and die like a dog—"

He suddenly drew his military knife from his waist!

The blade gleamed with a chilling light under the moonlight!

"It would be better to—"

He spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice hoarse yet filled with madness:

"Right here!"

"Shatter, you shall perish!"

"And the remaining less than two thousand soldiers of the 34th Regiment."

"Let's all perish together!"

The saber slammed heavily to the ground!

Under the moonlight, Colonel Kato's face was twisted and ferocious.

Like a beast driven to the brink of despair, ready to crush everything in its path...