my bright sword career

Hearing the voice, Aono Akira turned his head and saw a figure crawling towards him.

It wasn't until someone approached him that he recognized that it was a fellow soldier, Adachi Haruhiko, who joined the army with him.

"Aono-kun!"

Adachi Haruhiko's height is about 1.6 meters 1.5, which is considered outstanding in the Japanese army whose average height is only about [-] meters [-].

"Adachi-kun, you are still alive!"

Perhaps because he saw too many people die in front of him these days, Aono Akira was very happy when he first saw an acquaintance.

He patted Adachi Haruhiko on the shoulder, "Aren't you on the right wing, why did you come to me?"

Adachi Haruhiko lowered his head, "Don't mention it, the right wing position has been lost, and my squadron leader has also been killed."

"Nani...then how did you come back?"

Aono Akira was slightly startled, he would be shot if he abandoned his position or deserted during the war.

"It's okay, we were ordered to retreat." Seeing Aono Akira's surprised expression, Adachi Haruhiko quickly explained.

"There are only six people left in our squadron, which has lost the meaning of defense. The captain ordered the retreat, and then we were assigned to you."

After finishing speaking, he asked again: "By the way, how is the situation here?"

Aoki Aono gave a bitter smile, "Our squadron is slightly better than yours, but it's still limited. There should be about one squadron left."

In the Japanese army, the number of a standard squadron is between 190 and 250 people, with three sub-units.

From Aono Akira's words, we can know that two-thirds of his squadron has also been killed.

Adachi Higashihiko was silent for a long time before quietly asking: "Aono-kun, can we return to the mainland alive?"

"Who knows." Aono shook his head wearily, "However, after this battle is over, I will ask the squadron leader to retire.

I have served for five years, and I think I am worthy of the emperor and the empire, so whoever dares to stop me is my enemy. "

When the word "enemy" was mentioned, Adachi Haruhiko clearly saw a hint of fierceness in the eyes of his fellow countryman.

It stands to reason that soldiers like them who have served for five years would have been able to retire long ago, but in this damn war, they have already served three years overdue.

The soldiers have long been tired of war, and ideals such as those for the emperor and for the Greater East Asia Jihad that once made their blood boil have now become disgusting slogans.

Now their greatest wish is to be able to board the return ship and return to their hometown.

But even such a simple wish is an unattainable luxury for them.

Like them, the first group of Japanese soldiers who came to China, except for a small group of lucky ones who were well-connected and related to retire on time, there are less than 300 people who are still alive, and after this fierce battle, there may be even fewer.

1942 was the largest and most arrogant time in Japan's history.

Its range extends from Attu Island and Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands in the north to northern New Guinea and northern Solomon Islands in the south, Wake Island and Gilbert Islands in the east, and the Andaman Islands and Burma in the west.

It can be said that Japan's sphere of influence reached its peak in this year.

But as the saying goes, prosperity and decline.

As of 1942, Japan's total military strength had reached 240 million, including about 30 in the navy and 210 million in the army.

However, most of the Japanese navy's troops were held back by the U.S. military in the Pacific Ocean. Apart from the 40 troops of the army who stayed in the mainland, 130 million soldiers were exhausted on the Chinese battlefield, and only 40 troops could be devoted to the Pacific battlefield.

At that time, the total population of Japan was about 7190 million, of which about 4000 million were adults.

In other words, at this time, every 29 ordinary people in Japan have to support one active soldier, which is already a very dangerous signal.

Take North Korea in later generations as an example. Since it is necessary to maintain an army of 110 million people all year round, it means that every 20 North Koreas must support one soldier.

Such a huge pressure has also led to their extremely bad national economy, and the lives of ordinary people are nothing to mention.

Not only that, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance, as of 1942, Japan's military expenditures accounted for 40.00% of the national fiscal expenditures[-].

Judging from the lessons of World War I, once military expenditure exceeds 50.00% of fiscal expenditure, the country's economy will be in danger of collapse at any time.

But these crises were all overshadowed by the superficial glory of the Japanese army. Some radical young officers of the General Staff Headquarters even shouted the slogan of massacring the Soviet Union and destroying the United States and dominating the world.

In such a frenzied atmosphere, the overdue service of soldiers can only be regarded as a trivial matter.

After all, in the eyes of those fanatical officers, those red deer worth only a five-cent postage stamp are not human beings at all, they should be recruited after they die.

In such an atmosphere, more and more veterans who have overdue their service have developed grievances. When such grievances accumulate, various conflicts will erupt.

Just as Aono Akira and Adachi Haruhiko were complaining to each other, a sharp siren suddenly sounded in the sky.

As soon as the siren sounded, the two rushed into the nearest blast hole almost at the same time.

Almost at the same time, above their heads, a Stuka dive bomber painted black made a sharp and strange howl, while swooping down towards the ground at a nearly vertical angle.

Then a long and thick bomb fell off from its belly, and then hit the ground heavily.

"boom……"

This is a heavy aerial bomb weighing one thousand kilograms.

Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion, with the explosion point of this heavy aerial bomb as the center, everything within a radius of several hundred meters was lifted into the sky.

Black cumulus clouds spiraled high into the sky, forming a funnel shape with flickering fire and puffs of smoke.

The blasted dirt and various stones fell from the sky.

There was even a horse falling from the sky on all fours, and various bunkers, light and heavy weapons also rained down from the sky, fell to the ground again, and were lifted up again, turning into fragments and powder.

A whole squadron of Japanese troops was shrouded in the explosion range of this bomb.

After an unknown amount of time, two figures suddenly appeared from the entrance of the blast hole that had been charred into charcoal.

Like dead leaves blown by the wind, they swept across the field, fell and piled up, lay down on the ground or stood up again, continued to drag their heavy feet forward, and fell again.

A tall soldier staggered out of the smoke, stumbled like a drunk, and suddenly laughed harshly. At this time, he was no longer a five-year veteran, but a lunatic. .