Steel Soviet Union

"Escape? Do you think we can still escape now?"

With a miserable look on his face, Taketake Okada knelt on the ground and maintained a posture of preparing to commit seppuku, shaking his head with a wry smile.

Perhaps because the chief of staff said this, his emotions suddenly aroused. Okada Taketake, who had originally planned to stab his stomach, spoke with emotion again.

"Matsumoto-kun, do you still remember what it was like when we first came to this land? At that time, you and I were much younger than we are now. We dreamed of making contributions to His Majesty the Emperor. How powerful was the Kwantung Army at that time? Full of vitality and majesty.”

""

When the division commander said this, the chief of staff, who was holding the command knife with trembling hands, heard this and his thoughts immediately flew to that beautiful time many years ago.

As the elite ace of the Kwantung Army Group when it started, the Second Division was one of the first Japanese troops to invade the three eastern provinces.

And Okada Yiwu and the chief of staff beside him were already members of the Second Division as early as that year.

It's just that the identities of the two at that time were not as prominent as they are now. They were just minions and lackeys under Neji Okamura.

Time has passed by for more than ten years, but I never expected that the Second Division, which came to the Northeast as a vanguard, would now end up with the entire army annihilated at the same place. It can be said that the starting point and the end point are the same, and the fate of heaven is reincarnated.

When Taketake Okada, who knelt on the ground and performed seppuku, felt extremely desolate and ironic when he thought of this, he was followed by a deep sense of powerlessness that covered his body like a nightmare.

"Hey, that's it, that's all, it's all over -"

Okada Taketake, who felt sorry for himself and lamented himself, couldn't say whether it was his own fault that caused the Second Division to end up like this, or it was a "crime other than war" caused by the too strong Russians on the opposite side.

I'm afraid that while I'm still alive, I won't have the chance to find out the truth.

I just don’t know whether people will go to another world after death? If that world really exists, maybe we can get the real answer when we reunite with our friends in the future.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, it's all the fault of those Germans! They are complete traitors and scum! They must have colluded with the Russians from the beginning and deceived us with false information and mountains of lies! Inducing the Second Division step by step Go to the abyss! And betrayed us at the last moment!”

"They are the murderers and the culprits responsible for the failure of our Second Division! Damn it!"

""

Just as he was thinking about continuing the suspended seppuku, he heard the chief of staff next to him suddenly say this.

Okada Yiwu, whose eyes were slightly condensed and deep in thought, thought for a moment. When he raised his head again, his expression was different from before, and he became more convinced, almost certain.

"Maybe you are right. Maybe those Germans didn't really intend to help us from the beginning. Now that I think about it, if we hadn't been too trusting and busy with the war and neglected them, allowing them to take advantage of it, maybe the Second Division wouldn't have been able to help us either. To get to this point so quickly.”

Before he finished speaking, he closed his eyes and shook his head. At this point, no matter what he said, it would be useless.

There is no regret in selling medicine, Okada Yiwu still knows, and he understands even more clearly that there cannot be any "what if" on the battlefield.

"Comrades and warriors of the empire, we will meet again in the next life! See you at Kudanzaka!"

"No! Your Excellency, the division commander, wait——"

Okada Taketake, who had already drawn the tip of the knife to his belly, was about to use force. The chief of staff on the side subconsciously stopped him and just blurted it out. A scene that no one expected suddenly took place at this moment.

Da da da da——

"ah--"

"Come in! Quick!"

"Nani!? So fast!!!"

Fierce gunfire mixed with screams and shouts came from outside the camp. The shocked Okada Yiwu knew as soon as he heard that his doom had come.

I never expected that the Russians, who were still some distance away just now, could attack so quickly.

In desperation, Okada Yiwu immediately plucked up the courage and stabbed the short knife into his belly. However, as soon as it penetrated a finger-width deep, he felt excruciating pain, as if a jackal and wild dog was holding the soft tissue on his belly. The meat bites like crazy.

"Tooth-tooth! It really doesn't hurt like ordinary pain!"

In the past, I just saw how painful it was for others to commit seppuku, and I used to respond with disdain, thinking that only cowards would not be able to do it. There were even cases where someone was forced to stop in the middle of committing seppuku, rolling on the ground in pain, which was even more disturbing. I couldn't help but laugh at it.

But now it was his turn to commit seppuku. Only then did Okada Yiwu realize that this harsh job was really not that easy to deal with.

Just stabbing it into the stomach already hurts so much. If he really stabbed it in completely and then pulled the knife horizontally with his own hands, wouldn't it be so painful that he would be rolling on the ground like those who had been ridiculed by him?

No, you can't do this, it's too embarrassing!

The glory of the samurai family cannot be ruined in his own hands, he must retain his last dignity!

Thinking of this, Okada Yiwu, who really had no other choice, resisted the pain and turned his head. Once again, and probably for the last time in this life, he gave an order to the chief of staff.

"Matsumoto-kun, if - if I am forced to stop later, please don't hesitate and swing your sword at me immediately! Please!"

The so-called intermediary is the role currently played by the Chief of Staff of the Second Division.

This is the job of beheading a person who commits seppuku when they are in the most painful moment, specifically to end their pain. Generally, only people close to and trusted by the person committing seppuku can take the role, at least among the current Japanese army.

It's just that most of the time, the person has to commit seppuku, and the intestines and internal organs are splashed on the ground along the incision. The person is still about to die and is not alive for a while, and then the knife is used to strike.

He committed seppuku without removing his hands. As soon as he stabbed it a little into his belly, he asked the wrong person to be ready to do it in advance.

This kind of requirement is not to say completely absent, but at least it is very rare.

The chief of staff, who had never heard of such a strange request, was stunned for a moment when he heard this. His hands holding the handle of the knife were still trembling. He had no time to think about it and could only nod quickly.

"Then, just drive-"

call out--

puff--

"Wow!!!"

The short knife that had already pierced his belly with its tip failed to penetrate him in the end. A bullet whizzed from the door of the camp, forcibly interrupting Taketake Okada's operation that wasted too much time due to fear, timidity, and hesitation.

With a scream, he fell to the ground on his back. His right shoulder was shattered by a shot from a 62mm medium-power rifle bullet, so much so that even the short knife fell out of his belly and fell to the ground before he could get up.

I saw that the chief of staff beside him had already raised his command knife, which was originally used to correct mistakes, and rushed towards the camp door with a strange scream.

“Onboard!!!”