World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

Fire control room of the Yangtze battleship, 1 p.m.

Zhang Zhen peered through his binoculars at the distant merchant ship, which had already been brought under control. Lanfang sailors had boarded and were inspecting the cargo holds. According to preliminary reports, the Kasuga Maru was carrying 500 tons of cotton yarn, 300 tons of machinery parts, and 100 tons of medicine, destined for Manila.

"Medicine..." Zhang Zhen murmured.

"Sir, what should we do?" Chen Qiming asked. "Detain them or...?"

Zhang Zhen pondered for a few seconds. According to the laws of war, enemy merchant ships could be seized and their goods confiscated. But medicine… that was for saving lives.

"Transfer all the crew to our ship, merchant ships..." He paused, "...sink them."

"Sink it?" Chen Qiming was taken aback. "But the medicine..."

"The medicine can be left behind; let the crew take some first-aid supplies. But the ship must sink." Zhang Zhen's voice was calm. "The message we want to convey is not 'we are merciful,' but 'we can cut off your maritime transport lines, anytime.'"

He walked to the communications station: "Speak to the captain of that merchant ship. I want to talk to him personally."

A few minutes later, the radio connection was established. Matsuda Koji's voice came through, hoarse and weary: "This is Captain Matsuda of the Kasuga Maru. Please speak."

"Captain Matsuda, this is Zhang Zhen, the commander-in-chief of the Lanfang Navy's East China Sea forward operations." Zhang Zhen said into the microphone, "Your ship will be sunk, but you and your crew will survive. You can take some first-aid supplies and personal belongings and board our ship. We will take you to the nearest Japanese port."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Then Matsuda's bitter voice came through: "Why? We're just a merchant ship, carrying civilian supplies..."

"Because of the war," Zhang Zhen said calmly, "because your country refuses to negotiate, because your government is still fantasizing about winning. So we want you, and all the people of Japan, to know: if the war continues, the losses will not only be warships, but also merchant ships, ports, factories, and... the lives of ordinary people."

"Will sinking a merchant ship change the minds of those politicians in Tokyo?"

"If one isn't enough, then ten. If ten aren't enough, then a hundred." Zhang Zhen's voice remained unwavering. "Until everyone in your country understands that continuing the war will only lead to death. Only then will peace talks truly begin."

Matsuda fell silent again. Finally, he said, "I understand. Please give us ten minutes to pack our belongings."

"Can."

The call ended. Zhang Zhen put down the receiver and looked out the window. In the distance, the crew of the Kasuga Maru were hurriedly moving things. Some sailors were crying, some were cursing, but most were just numbly doing what they were supposed to do.

"Sir," Chen Qiming whispered, "Isn't this a bit too...cruel?"

"War is inherently cruel." Zhang Zhen turned and walked towards the bridge. "But today's cruelty is for the sake of ending the war sooner tomorrow."

He went up to the bridge and ordered the gunnery officer: "Main guns, high-explosive shells, target the Kasuga Maru waterline. One salvo to send it down."

"yes!"

The main gun turret of the Yangtze began to rotate. The eight 380mm cannons slowly rose, pointing at the lone merchant ship ten nautical miles away.

On the Kasuga Maru, Matsuda and the last crew members boarded the lifeboats. He took one last look at his ship, the ship he had captained for eight years, the ship that had carried him all over East Asia.

Then, he heard a roar.

It wasn't a single roar, but eight roars combined into one, a deafening explosion. The Yangtze's main guns fired in unison, the flames from their muzzles illuminating half the sea.

The shell flew through the air for twenty seconds. Then, the midships of the Kasuga Maru exploded.

A 380mm high-explosive shell struck the waterline directly, tearing a ten-meter-wide hole. Seawater rushed in, and the ship began to list at a visible speed.

The second and third shots landed around them, creating huge columns of water. But it was no longer needed; Kasuga Maru was sinking, sinking very quickly.

Matsuda sat in the lifeboat, staring blankly. He watched his boat tilt, break apart, and slowly slide into the sea. A huge whirlpool formed on the surface, sucking in all the debris, cargo, and his personal belongings that he hadn't taken with him.

The entire process took only eight minutes. Eight minutes later, the Kasuga Maru disappeared. Only some oil slicks and scattered debris remained on the sea surface, proving that a ship had once been there.

The lifeboats were pulled aboard the Yangtze. Matsuda and the crew were taken to the deck and guarded by armed sailors. Their faces were all expressionless; no one cried, no one made a fuss, they just stood there blankly, like a group of soulless puppets.

Zhang Zhen walked up to Matsuda. The old captain, in his fifties, looked up at him, his eyes filled with no hatred, only deep weariness.

"Where will you take us?" Matsuda asked.

"Nagasaki," Zhang Zhen said, "go back and tell your compatriots, tell your government: the war can end, as long as they are willing to talk. Otherwise, the Kasuga Maru's fate today will be the fate of all Japanese merchant ships tomorrow."

Matsuda gave a wry smile: "Who would listen to what a small boat captain like me has to say?"

"Then say it a few more times," Zhang Zhen said, turning and leaving, "until someone listens."

He returned to the bridge and looked at the radar screen. On the screen, several dots representing merchant ships were moving; some were fleeing, some were hesitating, and some had already turned back to port.

"Sir," the radar officer reported, "we have intercepted numerous radio communications from merchant ships, all warning each other about the presence of the Lanfang warship in this area. Some ships have already turned back."

"Very good." Zhang Zhen nodded. "This is the effect we wanted. Cut off their sea transport lines and make them feel the pain. Only when they feel the pain will they want to stop."

He looked westward, towards the Japanese archipelago: "I just don't know how long we have to make them suffer before they really want to stop."

Outside the window, the sea wind howled. Where the Kasuga Maru sank, the oil slick was still spreading, like a black scar on the azure sea.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, far away, in those heatedly debating conference rooms, no one knew that a merchant ship named Kasuga Maru had just sunk in the East China Sea.

But soon they will find out. Then there will be a second, a third, and a hundredth.

Until they realized: the war had to end.

Tokyo, secret meeting room of the Ministry of the Army, 11 p.m.

The conference room was filled with smoke, and those seated there were the core hawkish figures within the army: Chief of the General Staff Yoshimichi Hasegawa, the Vice Minister of the Army, the division commanders of several main divisions, and... Okaichinosuke.

Yes, Okaichinosuke. The Minister of the Army, who had reluctantly agreed to negotiations at the "Five Elders Conference" during the day, now had a gloomy face and suppressed anger burning in his eyes.

"The Kasuga Maru has been sunk," he said, his voice icy. "An 8,000-ton merchant ship, carrying cotton yarn, machinery, and medicine, was sunk by the Lanfang battleship west of Kyushu. The crew was captured, the cargo was lost, and the ship sank."

A chorus of curses erupted in the conference room.

"This is piracy!"