One man's resistance against Japan, I mobilized a million people to aid Shanghai.

Vancouver.

Maple Leaf Army Headquarters.

"General!"

A young communications soldier rushed into the operations room, his face pale. "The enemy has sent a plaintext telegram! It's...it's for you!"

Curry took the telegram.

The paper was ordinary, but the contents on it instantly plunged the entire operations room into a deathly silence.

To the Commander of the Vancouver Garrison, Canada:

"You are holding onto this isolated island and putting up a stubborn resistance. It is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. You are overestimating your own strength."

"Our army now controls the strait, with warships like a forest and a million soldiers. We will destroy your small city as easily as crushing dry leaves."

"However, Heaven cherishes life, and I am not a bloodthirsty person."

"You have twenty-four hours to open the city gates and surrender."

"Disarmed soldiers can save their lives; submissive civilians can find a way to survive."

"If the city does not surrender by the deadline, on the day it falls, not a single chicken or dog will be spared."

"Don't say you weren't warned."

In the operations room, even the sound of breathing had disappeared.

All eyes were on Curry.

The old general's hands were trembling slightly, not from fear, but from anger.

The wrinkled face turned from white to red, then from red to green.

"Not a single chicken or dog will be spared..."

He repeated those four words, his voice forced out through clenched teeth, "What a 'clean-out'..."

He slammed the telegram onto the table: "Arrogance! Ignorance! Barbarian!"

Colonel Carter picked up the telegram, read it carefully, and frowned:

"General, this letter urging us to surrender... is very suspicious."

"Strange?"

"Yes." Carter pointed to the telegram.

"First, it's sent in plaintext, which means anyone listening to this line can receive it. It doesn't look like military communications; it's more like... propaganda."

"Secondly, his words were extremely arrogant, almost deliberately provoking us."

Curry calmed down and squinted his eyes:

"You mean... the purpose of this letter isn't to persuade them to surrender?"

"I believe that Li Xiangdong does not want us to surrender at all."

Carter said slowly, "He wants a bloody siege, a precedent that can completely destroy Vancouver and shock the entire country."

"And this letter was his pretext for starting the war."

Silence fell over the operations room.

After a long silence, Curry let out a cold laugh:

"Arrogant and overconfident, does he think he's already won?"

"Alright! Then so be it."

He walked to the center of the operations room and looked around at all the officers present: "Gentlemen, you have all heard that."

"Zhu Ganglie didn't want surrender, he wanted a massacre."

"What they want is not the city, but fear."

"We have 100,000 troops, and Vancouver has 600,000 civilians."

"Behind us lies the entire Maple Leaf Country, a nation of 11 million people."

His voice suddenly rose:

"Can we let these barbarians succeed?!"

"No!" the officers responded in unison, but their voices were uneven, and some of them had shifty eyes.

"Colonel Carter, record my reply."

Curry straightened his back. "Send it in plaintext too, so everyone can hear it."

Carter picked up a pen and paper.

Curry took a deep breath and said, word by word:

"You barbarians have invaded our land, slaughtered our people, and committed countless atrocities, arousing the wrath of both heaven and man."

"Vancouver is the heart of British Columbia and the jewel of the Commonwealth of Maple Leaf."

"The soldiers and civilians in the city are united as one, vowing to live and die with the city."

"Though you have a million jackals, I have an iron will and a loyal heart; though you have a thousand warships, I have an impregnable fortress."

"Persuade us to surrender? There's no need for that! Now is the time to attack."

"But remember: every brick of Vancouver will drink your blood, and every inch of its land will bury your corpses."

"We, the soldiers of the Maple Leaf Nation, would rather die in battle than live on our knees."

"If you want the city to fall—first trample over our corpses!"

When the telegram was finished being read, applause erupted in the operations room.

It started sparsely, then became intense.

A sickly flush rose on the officers' faces—a frenzy fueled by despair.

Carter finished recording and hesitated for a moment:

"General, isn't this reply... a bit too much..."

"Too what? Too forceful?"

Curry looked at him. "Carter, you saw German poison gas on the battlefields of World War I, and you saw rotting corpses in the trenches."

"You should understand that there is never a gentle option in war."

"Win or die, and today..."

He looked out the window; on the sea, the morning mist was dissipating, and the outlines of the distant fleet were faintly visible.

"Today, we want to make Zhu Ganglie understand: the soldiers of the Maple Leaf Country can be defeated, but they will not be intimidated."

The telegram was sent.

Plain text, full frequency band.

......

At the same time.

The forward command post on the outskirts of Vancouver.

Li Xiangdong sat on a small stool, toying with a captured Maple Leaf Country officer's sword in his hand. The inscription on the hilt read: "For the King and the Empire."

"For the King and the Empire..."

He scoffed, threw the knife on the ground, and said, "Bullshit."

Lieutenant Li Gan pushed open the door and came in, holding a telegram he had just received: "General, a reply from Vancouver."

Li Xiangdong lazily took it and glanced at it.

Then, he sat up straight.

I watched it again.

One more time.

The temperature in the operations room plummeted as his expression changed.

Li Xiangdong's face went from calm to gloomy to ashen, and finally turned a terrifying purplish-red.

"Barbarians..." he repeated the word softly.

"Jackals..."

"I'd rather die fighting than live kneeling..."

He slowly stood up, his movements were slow, but every muscle in his body was trembling.

Li Gan instinctively took a step back.

"General..." Li Gan tentatively began.

"read."

Li Xiangdong's voice was eerily calm: "Read the last paragraph out loud."

He swallowed hard and picked up the telegram: "But remember this: every brick in Victoria will drink your blood, every inch of land will bury your corpses. We, the soldiers of Maple Leaf Nation, would rather die in battle than live on our knees..."

That's enough.

Li Xiangdong interrupted him.

He walked to the window, turned his back to Li Gan, and looked out the window.

There, a million-strong army was poised to march, and he had originally intended to give these foreign devils a chance.

But they're useless and insist on courting death, so there's no need for me to hold back anymore.

The silence lasted for a full minute.

Then, Li Xiangdong turned around.

"Pass on my orders."

"The 24-hour deadline is cancelled. The all-out offensive begins now."

"Notify artillery positions that all buildings in Victoria city proper are to be designated as targets."

"Especially government buildings, churches, and hospitals—these places are most likely to become centers of resistance."

"General, international conventions..."

"Stop talking nonsense about conventions. Any convention that I haven't signed is just toilet paper."

Li Xiangdong's eyes turned cold and sharp, and then he said:

"After the city falls, execute the extermination order."

Li Gan's hand trembled, and the notebook almost fell to the ground:

"General...is this inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with it?"

Li Xiangdong exuded murderous intent. "What's the most important thing when you're in this business?"

"It's about integrity!"

"If we say leave no one alive, then we mean leave no one alive!"