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

121. Kato, my dear nephew!

The rocket accurately hit the window on the third floor of the clock tower.

The explosion's flames instantly engulfed the entire floor!

Almost instantly, Colonel Kato's figure transformed into a writhing, wailing human torch, plummeting from the height of the clock tower.

When it fell to the ground, only half of the charred torso remained, barely recognizable as a human body.

The fabric of the uniform had been carbonized, but the colonel rank insignia on the shoulder straps had melted halfway in the high temperature and was twisted and deformed.

Beside the charred remains lay a military knife, also burned and deformed, with a bent blade—the cherry blossom pattern on the hilt was still recognizable.

It was the sword that the Emperor bestowed upon Kato.

Now, both the knife and the people have turned to charcoal.

And behind Kato—

The adjutant fared even worse; he didn't even have time to transform into a torch before the shockwave hurled him out of the window like a broken sack.

The thin officer, who was less than 1.6 meters tall, flew in an arc through the air before crashing headfirst into the pile of bricks below.

When he landed, he fell right into the rubble below, and was smashed beyond recognition.

The two company commanders died a little more "dignifiedly." They were riddled with shrapnel from the explosion and lay in pools of blood, their eyes still open, dying with their eyes wide open.

And there was Staff Officer Watanabe, who was paralyzed on the ground. He didn't even have time to scream before he was buried alive by the collapsing ceiling and bricks.

Immediately afterwards, the entire clock tower began to shake violently.

The bell at the top shattered with a loud clang, crashing heavily into the ruins below.

boom--!!!

Dust flew everywhere.

Flames emerged from several windows of the clock tower, burning in the darkness like a giant candlestick for the invaders' funeral.

In the distance, amidst the ruins.

The anvil lowered the rocket launcher after it had been fired, looking at the burning clock tower and at the figures inside, which were vaguely visible, twisting and struggling before gradually coming to rest.

He grinned and smiled silently.

"Target number three, eliminate."

He said softly:

"knock off."

"withdraw."

After saying that, he turned away from the burning hell and disappeared into the deepest darkness before dawn.

Behind them, the Japanese camp was engulfed in flames.

Cries, screams, the echoes of explosions, and the roar of collapsing buildings rose and fell.

Chaos descended completely.

Under the same night sky.

North bank of Luodian, the headquarters of the Japanese Third Division.

Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu did not sleep all night.

He is fifty-two years old this year, not tall, slightly overweight, and his hair is already gray.

With a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his face, he looked more like a scholar than a lieutenant general commanding more than 20,000 Japanese troops.

But at this moment, there was no gentleness or refinement on the face of this "scholar" general.

Only solemnity.

A huge military map was spread out on the table, with the area on the north bank of Luodian repeatedly marked with a red pencil.

Next to the military map was a piece of intelligence that had just been delivered at great risk by a communications soldier.

It was sent by his nephew, Colonel Kato.

Fujita has already watched it three times.

Each time I read it, my heart sinks a little deeper.

"The enemy's mysterious tank is enormous, with heavy armor, far surpassing any tank currently in service with the Empire..."

"The enemy soldiers were extremely high in morale, and after the battle they cheered and jumped for joy on the battlefield as if celebrating a festival..."

"Commander Kato of the 34th Regiment has resolved to lead his troops to their deaths in service to His Majesty the Emperor. However, I humbly suggest that Your Excellency, the Division Commander, must not underestimate this enemy. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit..."

The last line, "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit," was written in such shaky handwriting that it was almost illegible.

Fujita knows his nephew very well.

Proud and arrogant, he was an outstanding student at the Army War College and was personally awarded a military sword by the Emperor upon graduation. He was arrogant and looked down on even his fellow officers.

To make him write phrases like "Never underestimate him" and "A lion hunting a rabbit"...

Fujita took off his glasses and rubbed his sore eyes vigorously.

Just then—

boom--!!!

The first muffled explosion came from afar.

Fujita's hand froze in mid-air.

He suddenly looked up and gazed out the window.

Second tone! Third tone!

The sound is getting closer and louder!

Then he saw—

In the northwest direction, a ball of fire shot into the sky.

To the southeast, an even larger and more terrifying pillar of fire shot straight into the sky like a volcanic eruption.

"What's going on?!" Fujita suddenly stood up and rushed to the window.

The staff officers and officers in the command post were awakened and rushed to the windows in a panic.

"It's in the direction of the mortar position..."

"That flame...it's an ammunition depot! It must be an ammunition depot!"

"Enemy attack! Large-scale enemy attack!"

Fujita stared intently at the sea of fire, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped by an icy hand.

He knew where that was.

That was the area where Kato's 34th Regiment was last stationed.

That's where his nephew is...

Then, he witnessed something even more terrifying—

In the distance, in the center of Luodian Town, stands that iconic clock tower.

A white, meteor-like streak ripped through the night sky and crashed precisely into the third floor of the clock tower!

The explosion instantly engulfed the entire clock tower!

Amidst the flames, the clock tower shook violently, and the bronze bell at the top crashed down!

Like a giant, burning tombstone.

Fujita stopped breathing.

His mouth was open, but his throat felt like it was filled with scalding sand, and he couldn't utter a single word.

He could only watch.

Looking at that burning clock tower.

Looking at the camp that had turned into a sea of fire.

Watching... the place where his nephew might have lasted turned into a deathly inferno.

for a long time.

Fujita slowly, extremely slowly, turned around.

He walked back to the table and put his glasses back on.

The movements were slow and steady, almost unnaturally so.

Then he picked up the blood-stained intelligence report.

I took another look.

His gaze was fixed on the last sentence, "This enemy should not be underestimated."

suddenly--

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Fujita smiled.

The laughter started softly.

Then it gets bigger and bigger.

His voice grew increasingly hoarse.

It's getting more and more... insane.

"Haha...hahaha...Kato...Kato Morikazu..."

He smiled, but tears rolled down his cheeks, dripping onto the intelligence report and blurring the words.

"My...my dear nephew..."

"You remind me... that I must not underestimate you..."

"You're making me... hunt a rabbit like a lion..."

"But you...but yourself..."

His voice suddenly choked with emotion.

Then it turned into a heart-wrenching, completely unrestrained outburst—

Wailing.

"Waaaaaahh ...

A 52-year-old lieutenant general, a division commander leading more than 20,000 elite troops, was like a child who had lost his most precious toy. He put his hands on the table, lowered his head, his shoulders heaved violently, and burst into tears!

Tears and snot mingled together, covering his face.

It dripped onto the table, onto the map, onto that blood-stained intelligence report.

The command center was deathly silent.

All the staff officers and officers stood frozen in place, staring in disbelief at the scene.

They had never seen a division commander like this before.

I have never seen this lieutenant general, who is always calm, always refined, and always in control, so out of control, so... devastated.

A few seconds later.

An old staff officer with gray hair, who had followed Fujita for many years, had tears in his eyes.

He slowly took off his military cap, lowered his head, and his shoulders began to tremble.

Then she cried.

The remaining Japanese officers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Both of his superiors—the division commander and the old staff officer—were wailing.

If they stand there without crying...

Doesn't that seem too cold?

Will it affect my career?

A young lieutenant colonel was the first to react. He pinched his thigh hard, his eyes instantly turning red, and squeezed out a few tears: "Colonel Kato...you died such a terrible death..."

With one officer taking the lead, the second officer also "got into character."

He covered his face and squatted on the ground, his shoulders shaking—if you looked closely, you could see he was snickering, but the sound was like he was sobbing.

The third officer went even further, kneeling on the ground with his hands clasped together, chanting, "Amaterasu Omikami... please bless Colonel Kato's heroic spirit..."

Then came the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh...

It's like toppling the first domino.

Inside the command post, one after another, these officers, who were usually arrogant and considered themselves the elite of the empire, began to cry in a theatrical manner.

Some people covered their faces, peeking through their fingers at others' reactions.

Someone leaned against the wall, head tilted back, trying to squeeze out tears.

Someone was kneeling on the ground, chanting scriptures, but their eyes were glancing at Fujita.

The entire command post was instantly engulfed by a mournful, comical, and strangely ritualistic wailing.

Like a pack of hyenas that have suddenly lost their alpha wolf and are now putting on a show of loyalty in front of it.

Amidst the sobs, Fujita slowly raised his head.

His face was still wet with tears, and his gold-rimmed glasses hung askew on his nose, but the eyes behind the lenses no longer held the devastation and grief he had just displayed.

All that remained was a cold, insane feeling—

Hatred.

He reached up and wiped his face, forcefully removing tears, snot, and the drool that was uncontrollably flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Then stand up straight.

That's enough.

He spoke, his voice hoarse, yet exceptionally clear.

The crying gradually subsided.

All the officers looked up at him.

He looked at the division commander who had just been wailing, but now seemed like a completely different person.

Fujita slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the command center.

His eyes were like two poisoned knives.

"Today's enemy—"

He spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice echoing in the silent command post:

"Not yesterday's enemy."

"Today's battle—"

The voice suddenly rose in pitch:

"This is not yesterday's battle!"

He suddenly grabbed the tear-stained intelligence report from the table, held it high, and then slammed it to the ground!

"Kato-kun... has shown us this with his blood, his life!"

"The 34th Regiment, with over 1,700 men, is now almost entirely wiped out!"

"The mortar positions were taken! The ammunition depot was blown up! Even the command post was wiped out!"

"The enemy is right under our noses, killing our people, blowing up our equipment, and burning down our command post!"

His voice grew louder and more violent:

"If we don't launch a full-scale counterattack now, and crush those Chinese on the north bank of Luodian, along with those three damned tanks, into dust—"

Fujita suddenly drew his military sword from his waist!

"Zzzzt—!"

The cold glint of the drawn blade illuminated his ferocious face!

"How can I, as the division commander, possibly face His Majesty the Emperor?!"

"My dear nephew, did he die in vain?!"

"And you all—"

The blade slowly swept across the face of every officer in the command post:

"What face do you have to call yourself a soldier of the Empire?!"

Dead silence.

Absolute silence.

Only Fujita's heavy breathing and the slight hum of the saber's blade could be heard.

Just then—

"Your Excellency, Division Commander!"

A loud voice broke the silence.

Everyone turned to look.

Major General Katayama Satoichiro, commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade, strode out from behind the crowd.

He was about forty years old, tall and strong, with a standard beard.

Katayama Riichiro walked up to Fujita, stood at attention, and saluted.

Then he shouted:

"Since a single regiment couldn't take the north bank—"

He paused, then his voice suddenly rose:

"Then we'll use one brigade!"

Everyone in the command post looked at him.

Katayama Riichiro surveyed his surroundings, a near-grotesque smile spreading across his face:

"Your Excellency Division Commander, I am willing to lead the 5th Infantry Brigade to crush the remaining Chinese on the north bank with overwhelming force!"

He turned around abruptly and pointed to the location on the map north of Luodian:

"The 34th Regiment's defeat wasn't due to the enemy being too strong, but rather because Colonel Kato underestimated them and was too conservative!"

"True Imperial soldiers should be like an iron torrent, using sheer numbers and overwhelming force to crush all resistance into dust!"

He turned back to look at Fujita, his eyes burning with fervor:

"Please, Division Commander, give me this opportunity!"

"I guarantee that within three days—no, within two days! The north bank of Luodian will be completely leveled!"

"Blow those three nonsensical tanks to scrap metal! Send all the resisting Chinese soldiers to hell!"

Fujita looked at Katayama Riichiro, the major general known in the military for his "recklessness" and "overconfidence."

for a long time.

He nodded slowly.

"Katayama-kun..." Fujita began, his voice low, "You truly are the Empire's finest warrior."

He walked to the map and pressed his finger heavily on the location of Luodian:

"Our Third Division's objective is to capture the entire Luodian area and serve as the vanguard for the subsequent landing of the Central China Expeditionary Army."

"We absolutely cannot stand still here."

Fujita turned around and stared into Katayama Riichiro's eyes:

"Katayama Riichiro, I'll give you three days."

"No--"

He paused, then a fierce glint flashed in his eyes:

"Just like you said, two days!"

"At the first light of dawn, launch the attack!"

"I want to see your Fifth Brigade, like a real flood, engulf the North Shore!"

Katayama Riichiro snapped to attention, chest puffed out, and his voice boomed like thunder:

"Hai!"

"Your subordinate will certainly live up to the division commander's trust!"

"Within two days, the flag of victory will surely be planted on the highest point on the north bank of Luodian!"