World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"Pause the offensive," he said. "Let them rest. Also... send a telegram to London, inquiring about why their soldiers are still among the German troops. We need an explanation."

"Yes."

Horatio took one last look at the battlefield. The North Korean soldier wielding the Japanese sword was crouching beside a corpse, tearing the identification tag from its neck and putting it in his pocket. His movements were slow and deliberate, as if performing some kind of ritual.

"Send the order to the Japanese officers overseeing the battle at the front," Horatio added, "tell them... to be careful. Don't provoke those beasts."

He put down his binoculars and turned to leave the observation post. The sky outside remained overcast, and sporadic artillery fire came from the direction of the Somme River, like the heartbeat of a dying giant.

This war was far more complex than he had imagined. It was not merely a contest between nations, nor simply a standoff between trenches and steel. There were deeper things at play—ethnic hatred, a backlash against colonialism, the rage of the oppressed—things that, once unleashed, would alter the very nature of the war.

And they were all playing with fire.

Inside the trench, Kim Soon-sik strung together the seven identification tags of the Japanese soldiers he had collected with wire and hung them on his belt. The metal tags clanged against each other, making a crisp sound. Each sound represented a life.

Lee Sung-chan walked over and handed him a water bottle. "It's sake, found on a Japanese officer."

Kim Soon-sik took it and gulped down a large mouthful. The strong liquor burned his throat, causing him to cough violently, tears streaming down his face.

"Take it slow," Lee Sung-chan said. "There's still a long way to go."

"Long?" Kim Soon-sik wiped his mouth. "We might not survive this afternoon."

"Then kill a few more." Li Chengcan's voice was calm. "Killing one is enough, killing two is a bonus. Anyway..." He looked at the eastern sky, though separated by thousands of miles, "Anyway, our lives are already worthless."

Kim Soon-sik remained silent. He touched the identity tag at his waist, then the amulet and Yong-ho's iron box in his pocket. Mother, Yong-ho, all those who died here… their lives were worthless.

But at least, he could make their deaths have some value.

"Sung-chan," he said, "next time we charge, let's stick together as much as possible."

Lee Sung-chan nodded: "Okay."

The two sat side by side in the trench, listening to the distant cannon fire, awaiting the start of the next attack. The clouds on the horizon grew thicker; a winter rain was brewing. The rain would wash away the bloodstains and bury the corpses, but it could not wash away the hatred, nor bury the memories.

On the other side of the front line, deep within the German defenses, a German staff officer lowered his binoculars, his face grim.

"The Xth Division of the Sakura Kingdom, the 1st Company of the 5th Regiment... was completely wiped out."

"Those North Koreans are insane," another officer said. "They're like wild beasts."

"Report the situation to headquarters. Also... when will our new equipment arrive at the front lines?"

"Thirty Panzer I tanks arrived tonight from Cologne."

"Very good. Tomorrow, let those beasts see what a real war machine is."

The staff officer raised his binoculars again, looking at the desolate, corpse-strewn wasteland. The wind blew, lifting fragments of tattered uniforms like banners summoning souls.

The seeds of hatred have been sown; now, it's time for steel to take the stage.

And this war has only just begun.

The cold rain fell at midnight.

At first, it was a light drizzle, tapping on the corrugated steel plates of the trench, making a monotonous pattering sound. Around two o'clock in the morning, the rain intensified, and large raindrops pounded into the mud, washing away the bloodstains of yesterday's massacre into pale red streams that meandered over the shell craters and flowed into the lower-lying puddles.

Kim Soon-sik huddled in a half-collapsed artillery shelter, wrapped in a raincoat he had stripped from a German corpse. Rain dripped from the edge of the shelter, forming a small puddle at his feet. He couldn't sleep, his eyes wide open in the darkness, staring at the water seepage marks on the shelter walls.

The identification tags at his waist occasionally clinked together, producing a soft metallic sound. Seven tags. The lives of seven Japanese soldiers. He should have felt the satisfaction of revenge, but his chest was filled with only a cold numbness. Yonghao's body still lay two hundred yards away in the deserted area, slowly stiffening, discoloring, and rotting in the rain along with thousands of other corpses.

"Soon-sik".

Lee Sung-chan's hushed voice came from the cave entrance. Kim Soon-sik shifted her body, making room for him. Lee Sung-chan crawled in, soaking wet, the bandage on his left arm stained dark red by the rain.

"You've changed shifts?" Kim Soon-sik asked.

"Hmm. It's the third squad's turn for the second half of the night." Li Chengcan leaned against the cave wall, took out half a compressed biscuit from his pocket, broke it in half, and handed it over. "Eat. I don't know if we'll even get to eat today."

The two ate their biscuits in silence. The coarse grains, mixed with rainwater, tasted like chewing sand.

"I was at the observation post just now," Li Chengcan suddenly said, "and I saw movement behind the German lines."

"What's that noise?"

"Lights. Vehicle lights. Lots of vehicle lights, coming from the highway behind them, entering their reserve position." Li Chengcan paused. "They weren't ordinary trucks; the sound was off. The engine noise was deeper, more... heavy."

Kim Soon-sik frowned: "Tanks?"

"Maybe. But it doesn't sound like the British tanks we've seen." Li Chengcan finished the biscuit in a few bites. "Anyway, today won't be easy. The Japanese soldiers in the supervisory team are particularly tense this morning. They gave out more ammunition than usual, and for the first time ever, they even gave each of them a small bottle of sake."

"Courage-boosting drink." Kim Soon-sik sneered.

Footsteps sounded outside the cave, and Lieutenant Sato's voice rang out through the rain: "All squads! Assemble! Prepare for battle!"

The two men exchanged a glance, stuffed the last bit of biscuit into their mouths, grabbed their rifles, and crawled out of the gun shelter.

At four in the morning, the sky was still pitch black, and the rain had eased slightly. The second trench was crammed with survivors—nearly two thousand yesterday, but less than twelve hundred could stand today. Every face bore the marks of exhaustion and a suppressed restlessness. After yesterday's bloody hand-to-hand combat, something had changed. The Cao County soldiers no longer kept their heads completely bowed; the look in their eyes as they gazed at the Japanese overseers held less fear and more cold, hard hostility.

Sato clearly noticed the change. Today, he stood closer to the machine gun of the supervisory team, his hand resting on his holster, his eyes scanning every face as he spoke.

"Today's battle plan!" he shouted in broken Japanese, and a translator beside him repeated in Caoxian dialect, "Our army will launch another attack on the German third line of defense! Objective: capture the line and consolidate the position! The attack will begin at 7:00 AM sharp! Follow the tanks! No unauthorized charges! Disobeying orders will result in—"

He paused, seemingly recalling that no one had obeyed orders yesterday. "Court-martial!"

No one answered. Only the sound of rain.

"Check weapons! Replenish ammunition!"

The ammunition box was brought over. Each person received sixty rounds of rifle ammunition, two grenades, and the small bottle of sake. Kim Soon-sik unscrewed the cap, tilted his head back, and gulped it down. The strong liquor burned his throat, bringing a false sense of warmth. He threw the empty bottle into the mud.