wind in the dark night

Chapter 214 Devil’s Heart
That year, Second Lieutenant Noda Tsuyoshi of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army had a sudden idea and proposed to his colleague, Second Lieutenant Mukai Toshiaki, that the two of them have a "Hundred Man Killing Competition" with the standard of killing 100 Chinese people. The prize would be a bottle of wine. Mukai Akitoshi readily agreed.

The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun's accompanying reporter sent real-time news of the competition back to the country. Once the news spread, public opinion was in an uproar.

——Killing for pleasure is intolerable by heaven!

……

With a clang!
Kitahara Masao drew his saber.

The blade is as bright as snow and the edge is extremely sharp.

Captain Nomura praised: "Nice sword!"

Kitahara Masao smiled and said, "Speaking of this saber, there is another interesting story. When I was in Nanjing, I followed General Tani Hisao to inspect the troops. On the way, I met General Nakajima Imao. General Tani Hisao said to General Nakajima that the limelight of the entire Central China Expeditionary Army was taken away by your 16th Division. General Nakajima was puzzled, and General Tani Hisao said that the two second lieutenants under your command were almost becoming Japanese combat heroes."

Captain Nomura said: "I heard that the two of them have returned to Japan and are giving speeches in various schools to inspire students' patriotic enthusiasm!"

Kitahara Masao said: "It is the military's idea to let them return to the country to give speeches. I think it is necessary. The future of the empire lies in the young generation. What we need to do is to instill correct ideals and beliefs in them! Goebbels once said..."

Captain Nomura added: "He said, without a country, you are nothing!"

Kitahara Masao said: "I agree with this statement very much. The reason why Germany is strong is because there are many talents like Goebbels."

Captain Nomura said, "I'm sorry, I seem to have interrupted you."

Kitahara Masao said, "It doesn't matter. There are many young people present here. It will be of great benefit to their lives if they listen to such words. Well, let's talk about this saber. This saber is the Sekison Rokumei sword used by Lieutenant Mukai. When General Nakajima met him, he presented the saber to General Nakajima as a gift, and General Nakajima gave it to me!"

Captain Nomura pondered and said, "General Nakajima must have a deeper meaning for doing this..."

Kitahara Masao said: "The general wants me to take the lead and start a similar competition among senior officers!"

"Oh, I see……"

"That night, I used this sword to behead four Chinese soldiers to inspire the soldiers' fighting spirit. I never thought that this incident was known by an American priest, who wrote a letter to the League of Nations... Later, the League of Nations sent an observation group, claiming that it would investigate the indiscriminate killing of prisoners of war. Humph, what are prisoners of war? If prisoners of war pick up guns, they will turn around and kill us. It would be stupid not to kill them all!"

“The League of Nations has always favored China.”

Captain Nomura echoed.

Kitahara Masao put the sword back into the sheath: "You are only half right. The League of Nations controlled by European and American powers has a deep prejudice against the empire, but they are not biased towards China, but they do not want to see Japan rise. Because of this incident, I was transferred from the front-line troops. I haven't used this saber for a long time. Captain Nomura, your arrival has made my wish come true!"

Captain Nomura said, "I have heard that Commander Kitahara has already advanced to the fourth degree of kendo while studying at the NCO Academy. It is my honor to be able to test my sword skills with a top-notch master like you!"

Kitahara Masao shook his head: "Captain Nomura, you are too kind. I am not top-notch at all. I just don't want to let down the hero's sword!"

"Director Kitahara, can we begin?"

"let's start."

Captain Nomura turned to a sergeant and asked, "Are you ready?"

The sergeant stepped forward and said, "Report, everything is ready as you ordered!"

"start!"

"Yes!"

The sergeant waved his hand and said, "Bring everyone out!" More than a dozen disheveled prisoners were tied up with ropes as thick as thumbs. Under the guard of Japanese soldiers, they came out of the detention center one by one. Although they were wearing National Army uniforms, they were already in tatters.

These people were all prisoners of war of the National Army. Because they refused to surrender, they were transferred from the interior to the outside of the Great Wall after many twists and turns, and finally sent to the Pingfang Special Military Zone. According to the Japanese, this was called waste utilization.

Kitahara Masao wanted to satisfy his desire to kill people, but he couldn't find a suitable person. He was a police officer of the puppet Manchukuo and it was impossible for him to kill people for fun without any reason.

Captain Nomura arrived at that time, and the two hit it off immediately. Captain Nomura, in the name of the Kwantung Army General Staff, "borrowed" National Army prisoners of war to be used as experimental subjects from the Pingfang Special Military Zone to satisfy Kitahara Masao's twisted devil heart!
Looking at these prisoners of war, Kitahara Masao was very satisfied and said to Captain Nomura: "Very good, we should let them wear military uniforms so that it will feel better. If they are civilians, it will be less fun. Captain Nomura, thank you very much this time. If you hadn't come forward, my wish would have been difficult to realize."

"Director Kitahara, you are too polite. If you have such a wish, I am happy to serve you!"

Captain Nomura was eager to try it out; he also wanted to experience the "pleasure" of chopping a living person with a knife.

A prisoner of war was untied and taken to an open space. He looked at his colleagues and then at the Japanese soldiers around him, somewhat dazed.

Kitahara Masao drew his saber, circled the prisoner twice, suddenly shouted, and chopped off the prisoner's head with his saber.

Blood gushed out and the corpse fell to the ground. Even though the head and body were separated, the corpse was still twitching slightly. In the silent dark night, it looked extremely terrifying.

The prisoners cried out in surprise.

At the beginning, no one knew what was going to happen, including the prisoners of war who were killed. Now that they know, everyone is extremely shocked and angry.

Qi Yue, who was hiding in a tree, couldn't hear what they were saying until Kitahara Masao swung a knife and killed someone. Only then did he understand what was going on.

"Chief Kitahara, your knife is so fast!"

Captain Nomura said in admiration.

Kitahara Masao said, "I haven't practiced for a long time. I'm at least a quarter slower than before. Captain Nomura, do you want to give it a try?"

Captain Nomura said, "I'm not in a hurry. You go first and I'll watch for a while."

Kitahara Masao walked to the table, drank a glass of wine, ate a few bites of food, then closed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath of the bloody smell floating in the air, and sighed comfortably, "This feeling is as if I'm back on the battlefield, watching those Chinese soldiers fall under my sword one by one, it's great!"

Captain Nomura warned, "Kiku Masamune's sake has a strong aftereffect, so don't get drunk."

"It's okay, it's just a habit. For me, this is an appetizer, and then the main course will come. And it's delicious."

He came to the prisoners holding a knife and said in Chinese: "You are all soldiers. Soldiers should move forward bravely, instead of being like rats who only want to hide in holes! I want to ask, are there any brave men who will take the initiative to stand up!"

A prisoner wearing a second lieutenant's collar stepped forward and said with a sneer, "If you are really brave, give me a knife and let's have a fair fight to see who is the rat!"

Kitahara Masao looked at the second lieutenant and said contemptuously: "I'm not afraid of you, it's that you don't deserve it! But I can give you fairness - come here!"

The Japanese soldier brought a wooden stick.

Kitahara Masao said to the lieutenant: "If you use this stick to hit me, you won't have to die. How about that? Is that fair?"

The lieutenant took the stick and held it in his hand: "Okay! I hope you keep your word!"

"I never break my promise!"

Kitahara Masao slowly raised his saber.

(End of this chapter)