Chapter 240: Escape
Just as Haruko knelt on the ground, exerting all her strength to press the wound of the dismembered soldier, trying to use her frail body to block the continuously flowing source of his life.
“Dada da da da… Boom!!”
A burst of extremely piercing gunfire, at extremely close range, mixed with the fierce explosion of grenades, suddenly erupted outside the compound of the First Aid Station!
The sound was so close that it shook the entire makeshift building violently, and dust from the roof fell down “rustling”, landing on Haruko’s hair and shoulders.
A deathly silence instantly fell upon the First Aid Station, and everyone’s movements froze.
The groans of the wounded, the shouts of the doctors, were all completely suppressed at this moment by the sound of nearby death.
Haruko raised her head in terror, her heart clutched by an invisible giant hand, almost stopping its beat.
“The Chinese are attacking?!” This most terrifying thought flashed through her mind.
However, in the next second, what rushed into the compound was not the enemy they had imagined.
“Bang!”
The wooden door of the First Aid Station was violently kicked open. A squad of heavily armed Imperial soldiers, exuding a strong smell of gunpowder and killing intent, rushed in like wolves and tigers, holding bayonet-fixed rifles. They quickly secured every corner of the compound, their cold gun barrels vigilantly aimed outwards.
Immediately after, an officer wearing the rank of Lieutenant Colonel strode into the center of the courtyard. His uniform was covered in dust from the shelling, but his posture remained straight. His face, blackened by smoke, was expressionless as he glared ferociously at the wounded soldiers in the courtyard.
He surveyed the severely wounded soldiers lying in the courtyard, under the corridors, and even in the rooms, all of whom were looking at him with mixed expressions of anticipation and fear.
Then, he spoke slowly in a flat tone devoid of any emotion:
“You have sacrificed yourselves for the Great Japanese Empire, and Amaterasu Omikami will bless you.”
His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone’s ears.
Then, his tone shifted, becoming even colder and more resolute.
“The unit has been ordered to carry out an emergency mission and will break out in ten minutes. Please take care of yourselves, I implore you.”
“I implore you, please.” – This polite phrase, often used in Japanese for entreaty and request, at this moment, was like a death sentence. Every word carried immense weight, crashing down heavily on the hearts of all the wounded soldiers.
They had been abandoned.
After speaking, the Lieutenant Colonel did not even glance at his former comrades again. He simply bowed deeply and formally in the direction of all the wounded soldiers.
Then, he straightened up and waved his hand sharply.
“Let’s go!”
The squad, numbering over thirty soldiers, retreated as swiftly and silently as they had arrived, disappearing into the chaos outside, leaving behind only a courtyard full of wounded soldiers condemned to death and a group of helpless medical staff.
After a brief, “suffocating” silence.
“Ah—!!”
A soldier lying on a stretcher, with both legs blown off, suddenly let out a beast-like, heart-wrenching wail!
“Kill me! Kill me!”
“Abandon us! The Empire is abandoning us!”
This cry of despair was like the fuse igniting a powder keg.
“Let us die!”
“We want to die!”
Several of the most severely wounded soldiers, with no hope of survival, began to shout with their remaining strength.
The other wounded soldiers finally snapped back to reality from the cruel truth. The humiliation of being abandoned, the fear of the tortures they might suffer if captured, and their twisted, bone-deep sense of Bushido “honor” instantly destroyed all their reason!
The entire infirmary, in an instant, transformed into a frenzied battlefield of self-destruction!
One soldier struggled, snatched a scalpel from a medical tray, and without hesitation, sliced it across his own neck! Blood spurted out instantly!
Another soldier, from the pocket of his tattered uniform, pulled out a final “amulet” – a Type 97 grenade. He pulled the pin, and with all his might, struck the grenade’s fuse hard against a nearby rock!
“Click!”
The crisp sound of the fuse being activated was exceptionally jarring amidst the chaos!
Seeing this hellish scene, Haruko and the other dozen nurses were terrified! They screamed and instinctively retreated, huddling together. Their faces were etched with extreme fear and disbelief.
They could not understand how lives that, moments before, lay beneath their hands and needed their salvation, could in the next moment, turn into desperate, mad beasts eager for self-destruction!
Just as Haruko and her companions were huddled in a corner, terrified by the collective self-destruction and bloody hellscape before them, their minds blank except for screams and trembling, unable to do anything…
A figure covered in mud and gunpowder, like a ghost, suddenly pushed through the chaotic crowd and appeared beside her.
Before she could even react, a strong, yet trembling hand, due to nervousness, suddenly grabbed her slender arm!
“Come with me quickly!” a hoarse and urgent male voice sounded in her ear.
“Huh…?!”
This sudden, rough tug made Haruko shiver all over, almost scaring her to death! She instinctively opened her mouth, about to let out an even higher-pitched scream.
But the person seemed to have anticipated her reaction and immediately, with all his might, shouted in a volume that nearly roared, overpowering all the surrounding noise:
“Haruko! I am Nakata Katsuhiko! Takeuchi Takamune asked me to save you! Hurry, come with me!”
Nakata Katsuhiko? Takeuchi Takamune?
These two familiar names, like two bolts of lightning, instantly split through Haruko’s confused thoughts, shrouded in fear and chaos.
Takeuchi was her fellow villager and her fiancé. Before the war broke out, he had indeed asked his best friend, Nakata, to take care of her if anything were to happen…
Without giving Haruko any time to respond or think, Nakata Katsuhiko exerted force decisively!
A great, irresistible force pulled her entire body out from the corner!
“Ah!”
Haruko let out a short gasp, stumbling, almost dragged along by Nakata Katsuhiko’s desperate flight, charging towards the gate of the First Aid Station.
Her nurse’s cap fell off during the struggle, her soft black hair becoming dishevelled, making her look utterly dishevelled.
They skirted around the mad wounded soldiers who were ending their lives in various ways, and ignored their fellow nurses who were also screaming and crying, stunned by fear.
Nakata Katsuhiko had only one goal… to escape this soon-to-explode hell!
The moment they rushed out of the gate, an extremely pungent smell, mixed with gasoline and some kind of chemical, suddenly pierced Haruko’s nostrils.
She subconsciously looked back.
“Boom—!!!!”
A deafening roar, more terrifying than any previous explosion, came from inside the First Aid Station behind them!
A gigantic, orange-red mushroom cloud, mixed with black smoke, human remains, and debris from the building, shot up into the sky! The searing heat wave, like a tsunami, swept towards them, hitting Haruko’s back fiercely, pushing her forward, nearly making her fall.
It was unknown which completely desperate soldier had set fire to the team’s limited fuel depot.
The raging fire turned the entire hillside into a shocking blood-red color, and for the dozens of wounded soldiers abandoned by the Empire, and the medical staff who couldn’t escape, it played the final, and most tragic, funeral march.
At this time, the sky had become unusually dark due to the thick smoke, as if it had prematurely entered twilight.
Underfoot, there were scattered stones, rubble, and unknown, sticky liquids everywhere.
Haruko was tightly pulled by Nakata Katsuhiko, running frantically through the ruins, one step at a time.
She saw, in the darkness ahead of them, several figures suddenly fall to the ground with screams.
Then, several more.
Around them, shouts she couldn’t understand could be heard.
That was not Japanese.
Haruko’s brain, numb from fear, finally began to operate sluggishly.
She thought, this must be… the Chinese attacking, right?
After running for an unknown amount of time, and navigating through gunfire and explosions for an unknown distance, when Nakata Katsuhiko pulled Haruko and plunged into a relatively dense small forest, their taut nerves finally had a slight chance to breathe.
The surrounding gunfire seemed to have receded, and the leaves of the trees partially obscured their dishevelled figures, and filtered out the firelight from the hellish battlefield.
Haruko could no longer hold on.
Her legs went weak, and she collapsed completely, with a “plop”, sitting directly on the cold, damp ground covered with fallen leaves.
She gasped for air, her chest heaving violently, her lungs aching as if on fire. Sweat and tears mixed together, streaming down her dirty cheeks.
Nakata Katsuhiko leaned against a tree, also breathing heavily, his rifle propped on the ground, supporting his almost collapsing body.
After a long while, Haruko finally caught her breath. She raised her head, and by the faint, smoke-tinged crimson light filtering through the gaps in the leaves, she carefully examined the man who had saved her life.
His face was covered in black soot and dried blood, his uniform was tattered, and his eyes were filled with terror and exhaustion, but the familiar contours of a fellow villager allowed her to finally confirm his identity.
“Nakata-kun… is it really you?” Her voice trembled with uncertainty and the relief of surviving.
“Don’t you recognize me even now?” Nakata Katsuhiko managed a wry smile that was uglier than crying.
“Of course I do… I just haven’t seen you in so long.”
Haruko lowered her head slightly, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum. Then, as if she suddenly remembered the most important thing, she quickly raised her head, her bright eyes filled with anxiety and anticipation, staring intently at Nakata Katsuhiko, “Nakata-kun… what about Takeuchi-kun? How is he?”
Hearing the name “Takeuchi,” the wry smile on Nakata Katsuhiko’s face instantly froze. He was silent for a moment, avoiding Haruko’s expectant gaze, his voice becoming low and hoarse.
“Senior Takeuchi… is dead. He was killed by Chinese artillery, I saw it with my own eyes. Before that, he foresaw his end and asked me to… to take good care of you.”
Haruko’s body trembled violently.
But she did not burst into tears or hysterics as Nakata Katsuhiko had imagined. Perhaps it was because she had experienced too much death and horror in one day; her nerves had become numb.
She just sat there blankly, her eyes, which had been full of anticipation moments before, instantly lost all their light. Two clear tears fell uncontrollably from her empty eyes, silently dripping onto her dirt-stained skirt.
After a long, long time.
She finally spoke in a tone so calm it was terrifying, as if stating something unrelated to herself, “Nakata-kun, we can’t escape, can we.”
This was not a question.
Nakata Katsuhiko did not answer, only lowered his head more heavily. His silence was the best answer.
“I understand.” Haruko said softly, as if she had long anticipated this outcome. She wiped the tears from her face, and a tragically beautiful smile of relief appeared on her face.
“I’m not afraid of death, I just… I just have some regrets.” Her voice was as light as a gust of wind, “I haven’t gotten married yet… dying like this is such a pity.”
Nakata Katsuhiko sighed softly, remaining silent. As a young soldier himself, did he not have such regrets?
Looking at Nakata Katsuhiko’s silent and reliable silhouette in the darkness, Haruko’s heart was suddenly filled with an uncontrollable, wild, and resolute impulse.
She felt that since Nakata Katsuhiko could risk his life to save her, she had an obligation to let him, and herself, avoid this greatest regret at the last moment of their lives.
This was the only way she could repay him.
“Nakata-kun…” she called softly.
Then, as he looked at her with confusion, she spoke a shocking sentence in a tone mixed with shyness, sorrow, and determination.
“Then let me… be your wife tonight.”
After speaking, without waiting for Nakata Katsuhiko to react, she began her actions.
Her fingers trembled slightly with nervousness and excitement, but her movements were exceptionally firm. One by one, she unbuttoned her nurse’s uniform top, which was stained with blood and dirt.
As the buttons were undone, the tattered white outer garment, symbolizing healing the sick and helping the injured, was slowly removed.
Her fair and slender arms were pulled from the dirty sleeves, her slightly thin shoulders from long labor, and her chest, which rose and fell slightly with her tense breathing, were thus exposed in this dim, death-filled small forest…
