Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 71 Quarrel
Despite Iinuma-no-kami's objections, Tani Hisao remained unconvinced and merely sneered.

"The British are a thing of the past. Asia now belongs to the Japanese. The Great Japanese Empire is fighting on its own territory. What right does it have to criticize us?"
Moreover, I can say without reservation that Britain today is like an aging lion, lacking both the courage and the ability to get involved in Asian affairs.

"Tani Hisashi-kun... don't forget that the British have tens of thousands of troops in Hong Kong and Singapore, and even the United States has tens of thousands of troops in the Philippines. Are you so sure they will just stand by and watch the Japanese Empire annex China?"

What if we don't agree?

Tani Hisao's eyes widened. "For His Majesty the Emperor, for the Holy War of Greater East Asia, we should do everything we can to crush any force that dares to stand in our way!"

What's wrong with you guys? You're even afraid to use special ammunition? Where's your Yamato spirit and Bushido? Where did they go?
The 9th Division fought so timidly, are you all scared too?

Seeing Tani Hisao speaking righteously, and several generals around him showing expressions of admiration, Iinuma Kami shook his head helplessly.

Yoshizumi Ryosuke, however, looked furious. "Tani Hisao, I can understand that you want to impress the prince, but you don't need to belittle the Ninth Division to elevate yourself, do you?"

The unsuccessful battles of the past few days, coupled with the ridicule from his colleagues, finally caused Yoshizumi Ryosuke's pent-up anger to erupt.

"enough!"

Yoshizumi Ryosuke stared at Tani Hisao and said coldly, "It is not up to Tani Hisao to judge the combat strength of the Ninth Division."

If you think the 9th Division is performing poorly, you can transfer the 6th Division to replace us. I wouldn't mind applauding and cheering for Tani Hisashi-kun from the sidelines!

"boom!"

Tani Hisao slammed his sheathed sword heavily onto the sand table, causing teacups on the table to tumble to the floor. He pointed at the map on the table and sneered:

"The British gunboats are trembling at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Why should you worry about them, Yoshizumi? If the commander agrees, the Sixth Division is willing to take over the attack on St. Paul's Cathedral from the Ninth Division."

"Baka...Are you insulting the Ninth Division?" Yoshizumi Ryosuke's eyes turned red upon hearing this.

"Didn't you say it yourself?" Hisao Tani asked with a cold laugh.

"you……"

"Please allow me to show you something."

Yoshizumi Ryosuke suddenly ripped open the collar of his military uniform, revealing a gruesome shrapnel scar below his collarbone.

He pulled three things out of his briefcase: a broken Type 38 rifle barrel, a deformed Type 92 heavy machine gun heat sink, and a half-burnt 7.62x63mm bullet casing.

"The defending troops on the other side were not ordinary Chinese troops at all. Their soldiers were not equipped with Mauser rifles, nor with British or French equipment, but with the active-duty American Garand semi-automatic rifles."

This rifle has a rate of fire of forty to fifty rounds per minute, while our rifle... only manages a pitiful ten rounds per minute.

"These are spoils of war that my soldiers risked their lives to retrieve from the battlefield."

As he held up the spent cartridge, the burn marks on the metal surface gleamed with an eerie blue light under the lamp. "My 7th Regiment was firing at Garand with Type 38 rifles. Before we had even fired five rounds, the enemy had already emptied all eight rounds in their guns and even broke our rifles in two."

Upon hearing this, Tani Hisao chuckled and pulled open his collar insignia, revealing the Order of the Rising Sun embroidered in gold thread: "Yoshizumi-kun seems to have forgotten that back in Fengtian, our Type 38 rifles made Zhang Xueliang's Hanyang rifles unable to lift their heads!"

He casually picked up a brass candlestick from the table and drew a glaring flame mark on the battle map. "The Chinese army is nothing but a rabble of people carrying foreign toys!"

"A rabble?" Yoshizumi Ryosuke was amused by Tani Hisao's anger. He took a photo out of his pocket and threw it on the table. It showed more than a dozen Japanese soldiers' corpses arranged in a radial pattern, each with large and small bullet wounds on its chest.

He then pulled a handful of spent bullet casings from his pocket and scattered them on the table: "These are the ones I personally built up on the front lines, one by one. Garand's bullets can penetrate our helmets from 300 meters away!"

The air suddenly froze, and a voice rang out abruptly, "Where are our tank units? Why haven't they joined the battle?"

"Tank units?"

Yoshizumi Ryosuke suddenly choked up, his fingers digging deeply into the velvet on the desk. "Do you think the Chinese only have these rifles? They are also equipped with a large-caliber anti-tank rifle."

The moment our Type 89 tanks showed themselves, they were torn to shreds by their anti-tank rifles.

Tani Hisao looked doubtful. "Do the Chinese have such weapons?"

"The Chinese consume so much ammunition, so why didn't our reconnaissance planes spot their transport convoys?"

"This is a matter for the intelligence agencies, why are you asking me?" Yoshizumi Ryosuke suddenly roared.

"enough!"

Just as Yoshizumi Ryosuke was about to lose control of his emotions, Prince Asaka Yasuhiko's deep voice rang out, and he glared at Tani Hisao with displeasure.

"Gu Shoujun, the Ninth and Sixth Divisions are the elite and pillars of the Empire, and should not be objects of your ridicule."

I understand your desire to make a contribution, but this is a military conference, not a vegetable market in Tokyo. You're not a woman out buying groceries. I hope you can have some self-respect, understand?

Hisao Tani felt a chill run down his spine, knowing that the commander was giving him a warning. He quickly bowed his head and said, "Hai... Thank you for your instruction, Commander."

"Well!"

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko then turned to look at the assembled generals.

"Gentlemen."

His Highness's pale fingertips traced the gilded pocket watch, the chrysanthemum pendant hanging from the chain gleaming coldly under the light. "With each chime of the bell tower of St. Paul's Cathedral, the laughter of the United States, Britain, and other countries toward the Great Japanese Empire grows louder."

He suddenly turned to Yoshizumi Ryosuke, a cold glint flashing in his gold-rimmed glasses. "Tomorrow at noon, I want to hear the sound of the Kuomintang flag falling from the top of the church."

He slowly extended his right index finger. "Yoshizumi-kun, I'll give you one more day. If you can't take that damned church by noon tomorrow, I'll send the Sixth Artillery Regiment to assist you. Understand?"

"Hai."

Yoshizumi Ryosuke's heart tightened. He knew this was the deadline given to him by Prince Asaka Yasuhiko. If he couldn't take St. Paul's Church by then, the headquarters would have to use special ammunition. This would be an insult to him, who had confidently declared that he could take the church in one fell swoop.

"Commander, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave!"

“Go!” Prince Asaka Yasuhiko nodded.

"Hai!"

Yoshizumi Ryosuke's Adam's apple bobbed laboriously, and the collar of his military uniform was clenched so tightly that it formed deep wrinkles.

As he turned and slammed the door shut, the sound of military boots shattering glass echoed down the corridor—the sound of a broken celadon teacup beside the staff desk, mixed with fragments of uncollected battle maps.

I recommend a book by an older author: "Back to 1978, I Got Admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University".

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(End of this chapter)