Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 78 The Tragic Scene (Part 1)

Two miles from the church, in the camp of the Japanese 13th Infantry Regiment, the embers of the campfire glowed with a dark red light.

Soldiers from Kumamoto lay sprawled in their tents, their mud-caked boots still in the marching posture.

Some Japanese soldiers huddled together, clutching their Type 38 rifles, their chapped lips twitching occasionally, as if they were still chewing rice balls from their hometown in their dreams.

Even the sentries on night duty were dozing off, leaning on their rifle butts, their helmets askew, pressing down on half their faces.

It wasn't that the sentries were being lazy; it was just that the fighting during the day was too exhausting.

Just as the soldiers of the Kumamoto Army were fast asleep, they were suddenly awakened by a whooshing sound coming from the sky.

More than a dozen poison gas bombs streaked across the sky, accompanied by a wailing whistle, before crashing heavily to the ground and exploding with a muffled thud, followed by plumes of translucent, whitish gas gushing out.

A gel-like, colorless gas gushed from the cracks in the cartridge case, carrying with it the sweet, fermented apple scent that began to drift in all directions.

The winter night wind accelerated the spread of the poisonous gas. Soon, this nearly colorless gas began to drift rapidly, and even insects and small animals hiding in every corner suffered as it passed, their bellies turned white.

The sentries were the first to notice something was wrong. When they saw that the sudden explosion of the shells did not send out deadly shrapnel and shockwaves, but rather some kind of gas, they were initially stunned. However, they immediately connected it to what they had done that day, and their expressions changed on the spot.

"Poison gas!" A sentry's face turned pale instantly, and he shouted hoarsely, "Oh no... it's poison gas... the Chinese have fired special missiles!"

It was only then that the sleeping Japanese soldiers were awakened by the commotion, but they were too late.

Due to the long-term success of the war against China and the weakness of China's industrial base, neither the high-ranking generals nor the rank-and-file soldiers of the Japanese army ever imagined that one day the Chinese army would launch a chemical war against them.

This left almost all Japanese troops completely undefended when the poison gas bombs were launched.

Most importantly, the poison gas bomb that Su Yaoyang launched this time was not a chemical weapon such as mustard gas, phosgene, tear gas, or vomiting gas, but a nerve toxin weapon that should not be invented until next year in this time and space.

Its official name is isopropyl methylfluorophosphonate, a name that many people may not have heard of, but its other name in later generations is very famous: sarin gas.

The mechanism of attack of sarin gas is to enter the human body through the respiratory tract, skin, or conjunctiva of the eye, blocking the activity of specific enzymes and thus damaging the nervous system.

Victims may experience symptoms such as constricted pupils, difficulty breathing, bronchoconstriction, and violent convulsions. Without timely treatment, they can suffocate and die within minutes.

Caught off guard, the Japanese army was thrown into chaos. Countless people frantically searched for gas masks, but they could not find any in time.

The night breeze, carrying the sweet scent of apples, crept into the trenches.

Within seconds of inhaling the gas, the soldiers from Kumamoto felt as if their throats were being burned by flames and were also unbearably itchy. Many of them began to scratch their throats with their fingernails, making a hissing sound like a broken bellows as they scratched.

The camp was filled with panicked figures of poisoned Japanese soldiers. Some were shouting and screaming, some were lying on the ground clutching their throats, and some were even firing their guns indiscriminately in despair.

Of course, many more people were busy looking for gas masks.

Because of China's weak industrial base, the Chinese army simply did not have the conditions to conduct chemical warfare against the Japanese army. Therefore, no one in the Japanese army, from top to bottom, believed that the Chinese army was capable of launching a chemical attack against the Japanese army.

As a result, the Japanese high command and lower ranks did not pay much attention to chemical defense training. Many Japanese soldiers were even too lazy to carry gas masks, which led to extreme chaos when attacked by poison gas.

Countless soldiers of the 6th Division struggled in agony amidst the poisonous fog, their screams echoing throughout the air.

Even the moonlight was swallowed by the dark clouds, and the entire earth was suddenly shrouded in darkness, as if even the moon could not bear to watch this tragic scene.

A few minutes after the shelling, the chaos quickly subsided, and a team, all wearing gas masks and protective suits, began to quietly appear outside the Japanese lines.

"Beep beep..."

Minutes later, a piercing attack whistle sounded outside the defensive line. The sharp whistle instantly tore through the battlefield shrouded in the sound of artillery fire and clearly reached everyone's ears.

"Whoosh, whoosh..." As the whistle blew, five or six hundred soldiers from the First Battalion, dressed in full protective gear, rushed toward the Japanese positions under the leadership of their officers.

December in Nanjing is exceptionally cold, with temperatures reaching minus seven or eight degrees Celsius, but the soldiers of the First Battalion, who were charging forward, were completely unaware of this.

For soldiers running, charging forward while wearing rubber gas masks is not a pleasant experience. The air filtered by the air filter canisters feels extremely thin, making it feel like their lungs are about to explode. Soldiers wearing gas masks open their mouths wide and breathe desperately, because when running at high speed, a person needs more air.

The intense tension, the frantic running, and the thin air made the soldiers sweat profusely. Although they cursed the damned gas masks in their hearts, no one dared to take them off. Instead, they prayed to Buddha and Bodhisattva to protect the gas masks and protective suits from leaks.

The distance of a few hundred meters was covered in just three or four minutes by the soldiers of the First Battalion.

However, not a single shot was fired until the soldiers of the First Battalion rushed to the trenches, and the Japanese positions were silent like never before.

"Sir...look!" A soldier who rushed to the trench suddenly shouted, pointing to his feet, his voice filled with terror.

Under the dim moonlight, a Japanese flag was stuck diagonally in the trench, its surface seemingly corroded with honeycomb-like holes by some kind of viscous substance.

Inside the trenches, Japanese soldiers were crammed together everywhere. Their bodies were convulsing, white foam was coming from the corners of their mouths, and they didn't even have weapons in their hands. Through the lenses of their gas masks, you could even see strange sweat pouring from their faces and bodies. Everyone looked like they had been pulled out of the water.

Of course, there were even more corpses in various poses, still struggling in their final moments. Through the lenses of their gas masks, the soldiers could see the fear and pain on their faces as they faced death.

More corpses lay in the camp behind the trenches, all in the same position as when they died. The soldiers could almost feel the pain they had endured before they died. It was as if the place had been swept away by a demon...

A young soldier in the ranks suddenly stumbled backward and stepped on a supine corpse.

The moonlight shone directly on that bluish-purple face, the corners of his mouth torn to his ears, as if he were laughing maniacally before his death. The veteran grabbed the recruit's trembling shoulder, and a muffled gasp came from behind his mask.

"Report to the commander immediately! We have stormed the camp of the Japanese 13th Regiment and encountered no resistance whatsoever!"

In the charging ranks, Li Gaoyuan, wearing a gas mask, shouted loudly to the messenger beside him, his excited roar coming from the vibrating steel plate inside the gas mask.

Compared to the fear of the soldiers, this officer, who had seen countless life and death, was more excited than ever before. He originally thought that even after using special ammunition, the Japanese army would still have some resistance, and that the First Battalion would have to fight a tough battle with the Japanese army to capture the camp. But now he realized that he was wrong. This was not a battle, but a march.

Then he suddenly remembered something and ordered, "Hurry up and keep advancing. We must not give the Japanese any time to react."

"By the way, see if we can find the Japanese army flag, that's a real treasure."

The regimental commander said, "Whoever finds it will be rewarded with a thousand silver dollars!"

"Jingle Bell……"

The telephone rang urgently in Tani Hisao's room.

"Moshi moshi... I am Tani Hisao... Nani... What did you say?"

"Commander, the Chinese have fired special ammunition at our troops, and the frontline troops have suffered heavy losses!" A panicked voice came through the microphone.

Hisao Tani's fingers tightened suddenly on the telephone receiver, his knuckles turning bluish-white.

Intermittent static came from the other end of the phone, mixed with the muffled thuds of distant artillery shells.

Although the sound continued, Tani Hisao's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

As a general, he knew all too well what the consequences would be if an army, asleep and completely unprepared, were suddenly attacked by special missiles.

"Baka!" The sharp sound of a porcelain cup shattering against the wall startled the crows under the eaves. The broken pieces of porcelain bounced on the tatami mat, creating an eerie chorus with the trembling voice of the staff officer reporting over the phone.

"Immediately order all troops to assemble. We must block those Chinese troops and not let them pass through our lines!"

(End of this chapter)