Chapter 244: The Difference Between Superior And Inferior Eaters
Heyuan Japanese Gendarmerie
“Deputy Minister, Major General Miyai of the Ninth Brigade personally delivered a corpse and asked you to verify it immediately.”
The assistant walked over and reported to Sato Jino.
Sato Jino was the deputy minister of the gendarmerie, and autopsy work was not his specialty, but simple verification was no problem.
“What corpse?” Sato Jino asked.
A corpse personally delivered by Major General Miyai—this corpse’s identity was probably not simple.
“Sakura Tree.” The assistant answered.
“Baka!” Sato Jino cursed, then hurriedly walked out quickly.
Seeing Sato Jino come out, Brigade Commander Miyai of the Ninth Brigade quickly said: “Sato-kun, come take a quick look. Is this Sakura Tree?”
“Brigade Commander Miyai, what exactly happened?” Sato Jino asked while having people carry the wrapped corpse inside.
Sakura Tree was so important; the Eighth Route Army probably weren’t fools either.
Whether it was the Imperial Army or the Eighth Route Army, neither would let people die so easily.
“Sigh.” Major General Miyai sighed and said, “At that time, a group of Eighth Route appeared and attacked our three brigades. Our three brigades charged toward that group of Eighth Route, but we didn’t expect another group of Eighth Route carrying Sakura Tree to be returning to the base area. When they were passing through Kumamoto Division Commander’s encirclement, Kumamoto Division Commander ordered heavy cannons to block the Eighth Route. It was pitch black and hard to see clearly, and as a result, the heavy cannons accidentally hit Sakura Tree.”
Upon hearing this, Sato Jino couldn’t help but curse: “Kumamoto Division Commander must have guessed at the time that the group attacking the encirclement was carrying Sakura Tree. Why did he still order heavy cannons? This is no joke!”
Anyway, with the encirclement and suppression army there, the Eighth Route Army’s lair would be wiped out sooner or later, and wiping out the Eighth Route Army lair could also rescue Sakura Tree.
You, Kumamoto Division Commander, didn’t need to be so hasty with heavy firepower.
“Sato-kun, what’s done is done; talking won’t help. Please identify it right away.” Major General Miyai was very annoyed. “We haven’t reported to Commander Shinozuka yet. Report after we have the results.”
Sato Jino didn’t ask more and walked to the dissection room, having people start to uncover the covering cloth.
Major General Miyai was at the side and still asked: “Sato-kun, how is the progress on your search for the Eighth Route Army Arsenal?”
“It’s going smoothly so far, just waiting for the Eighth Route Army to bite the hook.” Sato Jino said, “Commander Shinozuka also gave me two military dogs. At that time, as long as the Eighth Route Army takes the bait back to their arsenal, we’ll use the military dogs to track the scent and lock the position. Then it will be up to you.”
“Sato-kun, rest assured. If you can find the Eighth Route Army Arsenal’s position, I will definitely make this group of Chinese pigs…” Major General Miyai immediately said through gritted teeth.
He didn’t finish his words; Sato Jino had already uncovered the shroud.
Although Major General Miyai had already seen this mutilated corpse before, looking at its miserable state now, he still couldn’t help but shut his mouth.
Tragic!
This was really too tragic.
Face completely unrecognizable, body blown into a pulp, face impossible to identify, limbs shattered, torso riddled with holes.
Sakura Tree was the Empire’s outstanding woman, naturally beautiful.
Her skin was delicate and fair, very recognizable.
Unfortunately, this skin was mostly blown away, and the original color could no longer be identified.
Sato Jino couldn’t judge by the skin and could only check the remaining bones and organs.
But in the end, Sato Jino still found nothing.
Sato Jino said to Major General Miyai: “If I have to conclude, this is probably not Sakura Tree.”
“Not Sakura Tree?” Major General Miyai, upon hearing this, looked at Sato Jino with surprise. “Did you find some flaw on the corpse?”
“Not a flaw found on the corpse, but the corpse is destroyed too thoroughly.” Sato Jino said.
Major General Miyai didn’t quite understand Sato Jino’s meaning and stared blankly at him: “What do you mean?”
“No traces for identification at all; I feel this was deliberate.” Sato Jino judged. “The Eighth Route Army might have intentionally disguised it.”
Upon hearing this, Major General Miyai’s surprise faded a lot: “Sato-kun, that means you basically couldn’t identify it.”
He thought Sato Jino had found a flaw.
“I suggest sending it immediately to Unit 731 for inspection.” Sato Jino said, “Sakura Tree was once a Navy high-level elite, with very good food. So her body fat, skin layer, and that of Chinese women would definitely differ.”
Unit 731 was best at live experiments; they had very advanced inspection techniques to distinguish bodies of those with good food from those with poor food.
Major General Miyai didn’t hesitate and immediately had people rewrap the corpse and send it off right away.
Of course, relying solely on Major General Miyai’s authority wasn’t enough.
Unit 731 now belonged to the Kwantung Army; to send the corpse to Kwantung Army’s Unit 731 for inspection, Commander Shinozuka would need to give the order.
In other words, this needed to be reported to First Army Headquarters immediately.
“Brigade Commander Miyai, I suggest you write in the telegram that it’s impossible to confirm if this is Sakura Tree.” Sato Jino suggested.
“Sato-kun, don’t distract yourself with Sakura Tree’s matter.” Major General Miyai looked at Sato Jino. “Focus your energy on finding the Eighth Route Army Arsenal. In the end, it might still rely on you to root out the Eighth Route Army!”
Although the encirclement and suppression army had plenty of troops, this Eighth Route Army was too slippery.
And Chinese civilians were helping them hide their tracks.
Major General Miyai could foresee that wiping out the Eighth Route Army in a short time was unrealistic.
If Sato Jino could find and lock the Eighth Route Army Arsenal’s position, that would be hitting their vital weakness, solving them from the root.
“Rest assured, I will do my job.” Sato Jino nodded.
Sato Jino didn’t ask about the warfare, and Major General Miyai didn’t stay longer; he soon left, needing to quickly return to his command post.
“Deputy Minister, I think your judgment is correct.” Watching Major General Miyai’s departing back, the assistant said to Sato Jino, “How could it be blown so perfectly, without leaving any traces.”
“We don’t need to worry about Sakura Tree’s matter; put all our energy into our own tasks.”
“Yes, Deputy Minister.”
……
Taiyuan First Army Headquarters
“Hai!”
First Army Commander Shinozuka Yoshio assured into the telephone microphone: “I will definitely rescue Sakura Tree as soon as possible!”
After the call ended, Shinozuka Yoshio shouted outside: “Someone come.”
“Your Excellency Commander.” A staff officer quickly walked in.
“Immediately send telegrams to the Ninth Brigade, Twenty-first Brigade, and Twenty-ninth Brigade. I give them only three days.” Shinozuka Yoshio roared. “If they can’t rescue Sakura Tree in three days, they won’t keep the stars on their shoulders!”
Major General Miyai, Muto Juichi, and Major General Kawashima now had only one star on their shoulders.
If the stars were removed, they would be demoted to colonel.
Promotion within the Japanese Army was very difficult.
Once demoted from major general back to colonel, rising again was harder than ascending to heaven.
Shinozuka Yoshio had no choice but to put such pressure on them.
The call wasn’t from North China Area Army Commander Okamura, but from domestic high-level.
They were furious about Sakura Tree being captured.
The Army’s warship manufacturing was at a critical juncture and couldn’t do without Sakura Tree’s assistance.
If the person couldn’t be rescued in time, it would delay the Army’s ships launching!
“Hai.” The staff officer nodded and ran out.
Soon, a communications officer handed a newly arrived telegram to Shinozuka Yoshio: “Your Excellency Commander, urgent telegram from Brigade Commander Miyai.”
Seeing the communications officer’s bad expression, Shinozuka Yoshio immediately had a bad premonition in his heart—this was probably related to Sakura Tree.
Shinozuka Yoshio didn’t dare take it and said: “Read the telegram aloud.”
“The Eighth Route Army carrying Sakura Tree tried to return to the base area. Kumamoto Division Commander ordered heavy cannons to intercept, accidentally hitting a female target wearing Sakura Tree’s clothes. The gendarmerie couldn’t verify her identity. The corpse is to be sent quickly to Unit 731 for autopsy. Request Your Excellency Commander smooth the channels.”
Upon hearing this, Shinozuka Yoshio felt as if struck by lightning: “Baka! What does this mean? Was Sakura Tree hit by that idiot Kumamoto’s heavy cannons?”
He had just assured the domestic side to rescue her soon.
Now you’re telling me Sakura Tree was blown up by heavy cannons!
The communications officer corrected: “Brigade Commander Miyai only said it’s suspected…”
“Baka, that’s just Miyai and the others deceiving themselves.” Shinozuka Yoshio kicked over the table in front of him with one foot; the teacup shattered, documents scattered everywhere.
The communications officer stood trembling at the side, not daring to breathe.
Lately, these troubling matters were really too many.
Cuicun Arsenal was gone, Yanzhen Arsenal was snatched, five trucks of tungsten ore were robbed, and now senior shipbuilding engineer Sakura Tree fell into Eighth Route Army hands and was suspected shattered.
Your Excellency Commander’s temper was getting worse.
As the atmosphere froze, North China Area Army Chief of Staff Miyano Doichi walked in.
Seeing the scene, Miyano Doichi immediately realized there must be bad news.
Thinking of something, Miyano Doichi quickly asked: “Your Excellency Commander, what bad news made you so angry?”
“See for yourself.” Shinozuka Yoshio pointed at the telegram in the communications officer’s hand.
Miyano Doichi took it and looked; his whole body immediately froze like electrocuted, stunned: “Baka, impossible! How is this possible!”
Sakura Tree was suspected blown to death by heavy cannons from that idiot Kumamoto. Even though it said suspected and unconfirmed, it was still a huge blow to Miyano Doichi.
Such a beautiful woman, beauty and wisdom combined; even last night Miyano Doichi had dreamed about her.
Dreamed of rescuing Sakura Tree, the two sitting together drinking tea.
Damn it!
Damn Eighth Route Army!
First they defiled her, then suspected her gone—this group of detestable Chinese pigs, they all deserve to go to hell!
“Your Excellency Commander, I will personally deliver the corpse to Unit 731.” Miyano Doichi’s eyes were bloodshot.
If this really was Sakura Tree, Miyano Doichi wanted to personally send her off.
“Go.” Shinozuka Yoshio understood Miyano Doichi’s thoughts and waved him off.
Miyano Doichi turned and walked out, tripping over the threshold on the way.
Shinozuka Yoshio’s gaze fell on the communications officer’s face: “Send a telegram to that idiot Kumamoto. Have them launch a large-scale attack on the Eighth Route Army base area; no more dawdling.”
“Hai!”
