Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Tokyo, Shitamachi Ward.

In a narrow and damp alley, several low wooden houses are huddled together, as if trying to keep warm in the cold wind.

The air was filled with a lingering, sour smell, a mixture of cheap soy sauce and pickled vegetables.

The Tanaka family is just one example among countless impoverished families.

Nobuo Tanaka was once a respectable worker in a textile factory.

Now, the factory has long since ceased operations due to a lack of cotton and electricity.

He could barely support his family of four by doing odd jobs and relying on the meager government rations.

"Ugh!"

A long sigh broke the silence in the room.

Tanaka Nobuo's wife, Chiyo, was squatting in front of the stove at that moment.

She looked at the "mixed rice" floating in the earthenware pot with a few vegetable leaves and grains of rice, her brow furrowed in worry.

This is their family's dinner for today.

"Nobuo, this month's rations have been reduced again."

Her voice was choked with sobs: "There's no rice left at all, only these grains mixed with sand."

"Even the miso and soy sauce are as thin as water."

She turned around and looked at the two children lying on the tatami mat, their faces pale and thin.

My eldest son, Ichiro, is only ten years old this year.

He was as thin as a bean sprout, and due to long-term malnutrition, his hair was dry and yellow, and his eye sockets were sunken.

The youngest daughter, Hanako, was so hungry that she didn't even have the strength to cry.

"The children's bodies can't hold on much longer." Chiyo finally couldn't hold back her tears. "If this continues, they'll die!"

Tanaka Nobuo sat silently in the corner, forcefully smoking a cigarette made of rolled-up newspaper stuffed with unknown dried grass.

The choking smoke made him cough incessantly.

“What can I do?” His voice was hoarse and weak. “All the shops on the street are closed, and the price of rice on the black market has risen to more than gold. I spent the whole day at the dock carrying goods, and all I got in return were these two shriveled sweet potatoes.”

He took two pitifully small, mud-covered sweet potatoes out of his pocket and placed them in front of his wife.

This is what he earned with a day's worth of blood and sweat.

It was his last vestige of dignity as a father.

Chiyo looked at the two sweet potatoes and cried even harder.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the wooden door.

"Tanaka-san, are you home?" It was Mrs. Suzuki's voice from next door.

Like Nobuo Tanaka, Mr. Suzuki was also an unemployed worker.

Chiyo wiped away her tears, walked over, and opened the door.

Mrs. Suzuki came in carrying a small bowl, which contained half a bowl of fish soup that smelled quite fragrant.

"This is my husband. He was lucky today and caught a small fish by the river." Mrs. Suzuki smiled shyly. "Here's something to help your children recover."

"Suzuki-san, I can't accept this." Chiyo quickly declined.

In these times when every family is struggling to make ends meet.

A bowl of fish soup like this is nothing short of a life-saving elixir.

"Take it." Mrs. Suzuki shoved the bowl into Chiyo's hands. "We're neighbors, no need to be so polite."

"Sigh, when will this world ever end?"

She looked at the thin child in the room and couldn't help but sigh.

“Speaking of which,” she lowered her voice and whispered in Chiyo’s ear, “have you heard? The newspapers say that our army seems to have suffered a defeat in the south.”

"Shh! Keep your voice down!"

Tanaka Nobuo immediately stood up nervously and looked out the window warily.

"You can't just say things like that!"

"If the Special Higher Police hear this, you'll be arrested and imprisoned!"

Mrs. Suzuki pursed her lips: "What's there to be afraid of? It's being talked about everywhere on the streets right now."

"It is said that tens of thousands of us died in Southeast Asia, and even the division commander was captured alive."

"Otherwise, why would this month's rations be so much less?"

"But didn't the newspapers say that we've been 'retreating' and winning victories?" Chiyo asked, somewhat bewildered.

"victory?"

Mrs. Suzuki sneered, "We've won, so why are our men unemployed?"

"We've won, so why are our children going hungry?"

"We won, so why didn't they even send back a box of ashes to Yamada next door? They only received a note that said 'I'm dead'?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a needle piercing the hearts of the Tanaka couple.

yeah why?
They couldn't figure it out.

They just know.

The grand pronouncements in the newspapers about "Hakko Ichiu" (the world under one roof) and "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" were too far removed from their lives.

All they could sense was the empty rice bin and the faint groans of the children from hunger.

"Listen to me, Tanaka-san."

Mrs. Suzuki said mysteriously, "My husband's cousin works at the naval shipyard. He secretly said that the big shots in the navy have been moving their belongings to the countryside lately."

"They seem to feel that Tokyo is not safe."

This news made Nobuo Tanaka's heart sink.

Even those high-ranking and powerful figures.

Are they all preparing a backup plan for themselves?
So what should ordinary people living at the bottom of society do?

Mixed dishes in the pot.

Finally, it started to steam up with a "bubbling" sound.

Chiyo carefully poured the fish soup in, stirred it with a spoon, ladled out two small bowls, and served them to the children.

When Ichiro and Hanako smelled the fragrance, a glimmer of light finally appeared in their lifeless eyes.

They devoured the precious soup as if it were the most delicious thing in the world.

Tanaka Nobuo's eyes welled up with tears as he watched this scene.

He recalled the scene three years ago when he sent his only healthy son onto a troop transport ship bound for China.

At that time.

Like all fathers, he waved the national flag and shouted, "Long live His Majesty the Heavenly Locust!"

At that time, he felt immensely honored that his son was about to go to war for the country.

But now.

He felt only a deep-seated regret and a sense of absurdity.

His son, perhaps like Yamada, had already perished on that foreign land.

And he.

She couldn't even see her son one last time.

They could only stay here, clinging to life with their two other children who were about to starve to death.

Is this the price of "holy war"?
Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened.

In the distance, the rousing military songs played from a government propaganda vehicle could be faintly heard.

"Crossing the sea, corpses float on the surface; over the mountains, corpses lie strewn across the fields. They sacrificed themselves for the locusts, regarding death as nothing."

The singing echoed in the cool air.

Tanaka Nobuo silently extinguished the cigarette in his hand.

They carefully buried the two precious sweet potatoes in the embers of the stove.

Tomorrow, I must continue to live.

just.

He no longer knew if there would be a tomorrow for such days.
-
Tokyo, Miyagi.

The atmosphere in the Imperial Palace's Imperial Conference Room was as oppressive as solidified lead.

Seated around a massive mahogany round table were the core of power within the entire Japanese Empire: Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, Navy Minister Shigetaro Shimada, Army Minister Gen Sugiyama, Minister of Commerce and Industry Nobusuke Kishi, and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sekiya Ino.

A lingering gloom hung over everyone's face.

Behind the curtain at the far end of the round table sat the figure revered as a god by the Japanese people—Hirohito, the Showa Emperor.

No one spoke; only heavy breathing filled the air.

A top-secret telegram from Southeast Asia, personally sent by the Southern Army Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi, was passed around among the ministers present.

Every word on the telegram struck their proud and fanatical hearts like a hammer blow.

"The main force of the Thai-Burma Front, the 18th and 33rd Divisions, was surrounded by the main force of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the Pyinmana area of ​​Burma and was completely wiped out."

"The 56th Division suffered heavy losses in Siam. Its commander, Shizuo Sakaguchi, was captured, and the remaining troops scattered."

"The Southern Army has no soldiers left to fight in the entire Burma and Siam war zones."

"I have failed Your Majesty's trust and deserve to die a thousand deaths. I am now determined to use my remaining troops to resist the enemy's siege to the death, in order to repay Your Majesty's kindness."

When the telegram reached Army Chief of Staff Gen Sugiyama, his hands trembled so much he could barely hold the thin sheet of paper.

"Shattered to pieces! The entire army shattered to pieces!"

He muttered to himself, as if he couldn't believe his eyes, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! How could the two elite field divisions of the Locust Army of the Brother Country be completely annihilated by the Chinese army?"

Sugiyama Gen suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Prime Minister Tojo Hideki.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister!"

"You must give me, give us an explanation!"

"Why is this happening? What about our Third Airborne Regiment?"

"Where are our logistics troops?"

"Why did we suffer such a crushing defeat, so quickly!"

Hideki Tojo's face was ashen, and veins bulged on his forehead.

The crushing defeat of Pyinmana was like a resounding slap across the face of this "Prime Minister of War."

He didn't have time to speak.

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo said in an almost tearful voice, "Gentlemen, now is not the time to assign blame! We must face reality!"

"That's reality."

He unfolded a report, his voice trembling: "Our army forces throughout Southeast Asia, apart from the 3rd Mixed Brigade trapped in Singapore, consist of only two newly formed garrison divisions stationed in Vietnam and Malaya, as well as some scattered garrison units."

"Total troop strength: less than 50,000!"

"Moreover, scattered across a vast front, they are simply unable to organize an effective defense!"

“What’s even more deadly is…”

Finance Minister Kaya Okinobu added, his face as pale as a corpse: "The Empire's war resources have reached their limit!"
Oil reserves can only sustain the navy and air force for another three months.

Strategic materials such as steel and rubber are already in severe shortage.

Domestic food rations have been repeatedly reduced, leading to widespread malnutrition and even protests.

"at the same time."

He glanced at Navy Minister Shigetaro Shimada: "We are engaged in a war of attrition with the Americans on Guadalcanal!"

“Every day, countless imperial warriors and precious warships sink to the bottom of that damned Solomon Sea!”

"boom!"

Commerce and Industry Minister Nobusuke Kishi finally succumbed to the immense pressure, slammed his hand on the table, and stood up abruptly.

"Enough! This war cannot continue!"

His voice was shrill with emotion: "We have already lost Myanmar, and soon we will lose the whole of Southeast Asia!"

"Our combined fleet is being worn down bit by bit by the Americans! Our people are starving!"

"If the fighting continues, our brother's country will be destroyed!"

He looked at the locusts behind the curtain and almost pleaded, "Your Majesty! Please give the order! Please order negotiations with our allies to stop this damned war! At least we can preserve the empire's homeland and retain our last shred of dignity!"

His words were like a spark that instantly ignited the entire conference room.

"I second that! A ceasefire and negotiations must begin immediately!"

"If we continue fighting, we'll all perish!"

"We can no longer hold on!"

For a time, the voice advocating "ceasefire and peace" gained the upper hand.

These ministers, who were incredibly enthusiastic in the early stages of the war, finally felt a deep-seated fear in the face of the cold and cruel reality.

"shut up!"

A loud shout, like a bolt from the blue, instantly silenced the entire conference room.

It was Hideki Tojo.

He slowly stood up, looked around at the ministers who advocated peace, his eyes like those of a wild beast ready to devour its prey.

"Cowards! A bunch of cowards!"

His voice was low and hoarse, "The war has only reached its most critical moment, and you're already thinking of surrendering? What about the honor of our nation? What about the spirit of Bushido?"

Do you think you can get 'dignity' by going to negotiate now?

He sneered: "I'm telling you, it's impossible! The Chinese and Americans will only see us as pathetic, begging dogs! They will take back all the gains of our 'holy war,' return our country to its state before the First Sino-Japanese War, and even hold us accountable for the war, or even His Majesty's responsibility for the war."

He turned to Navy Minister Shigetaro Shimada: "Shimada-kun, tell them, does our Combined Fleet still have the strength to fight?"

Shigetaro Shimada stood up, straightened his back, and said loudly, "The main force of the Combined Fleet is still intact! We are actively preparing to engage in a decisive naval battle with the U.S. Pacific Fleet! If we can win this battle, we can turn the tide of the entire Pacific war!"

Hideki Tojo nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to what was behind the curtain.

His voice became respectful and fervent.

"Your Majesty! This old minister believes that we must not waver, especially in times of difficulty!"

"The fate of our nation rests on this final gamble! A war to achieve peace is our only way out!"

"As long as we achieve a decisive victory at sea, we can force the Americans to sit down at the negotiating table and acknowledge our vested interests in East Asia!"

"As for the failure in Southeast Asia."

He abruptly changed the subject, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "It's only temporary. Terauchi Hisaichi may be incompetent, but he alone cannot represent the entire Imperial Army!"

He bowed deeply, almost burying his head in his chest.

"We humbly beseech Your Majesty to make a wise decision! For the sake of the Empire's millennium-long plan, and for the ideal of 'Hakko Ichiu' (the Japanese propaganda slogan for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, similar to the idea of ​​universal harmony), please allow us to carry this 'holy war' through to the end!"

The conference room fell silent once again.

All eyes were focused on the silent curtain behind it.

The fate of the brother's kingdom rests on the decision of this "divine" man.

After a long while, a calm yet slightly high-pitched voice slowly emerged from behind the curtain, breaking the silence.

"Prime Minister Tojo's words make a lot of sense."

"Let the war continue."

Upon hearing this, the ministers who advocated for peace instantly turned ashen-faced and collapsed to the ground in despair.

Hideki Tojo, Shigetaro Shimada, and others showed expressions of relief and bowed deeply once again.

"Hi!"

Behind the curtain, Emperor Hirohito gently stroked the folding fan in his hand.

There was no expression on his face.

Hideki Tojo was right.

Negotiation? Surrender?
That would only bring the war to the locusts' lair, and to him himself.

As long as the war continues, as long as the army remains loyal to him.

So, no matter how many people die on the front lines, no matter how many people starve to death in the country.

None of this has anything to do with him, this high and mighty god.

In other words.

As long as these allied forces do not have any means to directly threaten the royal family.

Then this war will continue indefinitely.

Until the other side chooses to negotiate because it cannot bear the casualties of war.

To ensure the ruling position of the Locust Chamber and protect himself.

For Hirohito, that was the most important thing.
-
Please vote for me this month! I promise I won't take any leave this month. —(End of Chapter)