Chapter 9 Nanjing (Part 1)

  Whether or not to go to Nanjing, this question has been entangled in my heart since I withdrew from the Shanghai battlefield. As a Chinese person, the history of the Nanjing Massacre is deeply buried in my heart. There is a voice in my heart that keeps urging me to do something, but what can I do? I have no military power and no connection to the high levels of the Nationalist Party. Moreover, I admit that I am afraid of death, even more afraid of dying without value, going to participate in the Nanjing defense war would be a futile sacrifice. To be honest, I couldn't do it, I know I can't be a hero because I'm afraid of death!

  In my heart, I silently repeated the historical process of the Nanjing Massacre. On December 9, the Japanese army scattered "Surrender Advisory" leaflets over Nanjing. At 1 pm on December 10, the Japanese army launched a general attack on Nanjing after failing to persuade it to surrender. At 4 pm on December 13, the Japanese army occupied Pukou along the north bank of the Yangtze River, and Nanjing fell into enemy hands.

  It's only mid-November now, which means there is still almost a month before Nanjing falls. Deep in my heart, I keep hearing a voice urging me to do something. Although I'm afraid of death, the moral baseline and national righteousness are weighing on me, making it hard for me to breathe. I must do something, I must do something, I must...

  "Ghost brother, I just heard the little Japanese say that if they capture Nanjing, they will massacre the city for seven days!" I made up a lie, because I really didn't know how to explain my precognition of history to Old Ghost.

  "What? Didn't happen, did it? I don't think there was a massacre when the Northeast fell!" Zhuzi questioned my question before Lao Gui could.

  "That's different, think about it, the Japanese army that invaded Northeast China didn't encounter such determined resistance, I reckon those little devils lost a lot of men in this battle too, that's why they massacred the city. When Northeast China fell, they hoped to enslave our minds, completely turning us into their slaves!"

  "Can you understand Japanese?" The old devil stared into my eyes and asked.

  "A little bit!"

  "Then you tell me two sentences!"

  "Hai yi, ba ga, si la si la de!" I mumbled a few sentences that everyone knows, hoping to fool the old devil.

  "Say a couple more sentences, these few sentences, the pillar said more than you." Looks like the old ghost is still not easy to cheat.

  "Long? En~~~~ Hehe, no problem, listen carefully?" At this time, these few sentences of "Japanese" suddenly appeared in my mind. Thanks to the hard work of the crosstalk actor, I quickly said a line from the crosstalk: "Where did the potatoes go to dig, potatoes went to the mountain to dig, one dug a sack."

  The ghost brother looked at me with a mixture of trust and doubt for half a day, and finally believed me. He changed his expression and said: "What's your idea? Don't have any unrealistic ideas, we're not going to send ourselves to death!"

  "Of course, of course, we just need to inform the people in Nanjing city about this news and then let nature take its course?"

  "How can we notify them? There are hundreds of thousands of people in Nanjing!"

  "Find the student union or other folk organizations, tell them the news, and then we'll withdraw. What do you think?" I looked at Lao Gui and the three of them also exchanged a glance and said: "Good!"

  It was around 2 pm when we sneaked into Nanjing City. Hǎozi said this is the time when people are most tired. When entering the city gate, we didn't encounter much trouble and blended in with a group of merchants to get into Nanjing City.

  Everyone didn't bring any weapons on them, although I haven't been a soldier for long, but once the knife and gun leave my hand, I feel uncomfortable all over, I think I've already fallen in love with them.

  "You go find the student union, we're going to have some fun." Zhuzi patted me on the shoulder, his face full of lust, and looking at his disgusting expression, I knew where we were headed. Just as I was about to shout for Lao Gui and Haozi to stop him, I saw that their expressions were also the same, damn it.

  "Can't you guys just finish the task at hand before going to find a mistress?" Seeing the three of them staring at me with wide eyes, I suddenly remembered that in this era, there was no such term as "finding a mistress". Looking at their faces full of lust, I reckon they're already infatuated and nothing can be done about it. "How will I find you guys after I've finished my task?"

  "Go to the most bustling brothel, Vak!." After dropping a sentence of nonsense, several people walked out without looking back. I really doubt what they were thinking when they agreed to come to Nanjing to rescue people, was it with their big head or small head.

  I asked a passerby for directions to Nanjing University and hurried over. My body is completely out of rhythm, I'm so sleepy during the day that my eyelids are heavy, I really don't know how Lao Gui and the others have such high spirits. I tried to think about the national spirit taught in elementary school politics class, but it didn't work. Thinking about Lao Gui's full spiritual state just now, I started to follow their example, turning my mind to erotic things, Matsushima Kaede, Maria Ozawa, a string of names and images flashed through my mind, damn, I'm not so sleepy anymore. After silently scolding myself for being an idiot, I sped up towards Nanjing University.

  A large number of students gathered at the school gate, as if preparing for a parade or something. One person stood on high ground, giving an exciting speech. The audience below was mostly students. A girl with a student headband and clear eyebrows asked, "Hello, I'm looking for the president of Nanjing University's Student Union." Based on past experience in college, beautiful girls usually have a good relationship with the Student Union.

  A pair of big eyes looked me up and down several times before saying: "Who are you? What brings you to him?"

  "I am also a patriotic young man with a fiery passion, just like all of you, and I want to discuss some great matters of national salvation with the student union chairman." Saying this makes me feel somewhat nauseous.

  Another glance, "Alright, you come with me." I turned around to look at the guy speaking on stage, unexpectedly receiving a hostile gaze. Damn, isn't he treating me like a romantic rival? Lately, I've found myself infected by Old Ghost and Zhu Zi, now this dirty talk is getting more and more frequent, truly "those who are near ink get stained black".

  Following the student in front of her, her mind wandered aimlessly, and she stumbled into a room.

  "Get him!" The girl student in front gave an order, and suddenly seven or eight male students rushed out from both sides of the house. In a flash, I was pressed to the ground and then tied up with five flowers.

  "I'm the student council president you're looking for. Who are you and what brings you here?" The female student said calmly, sitting on a chair.

  "You're the student council president, don't joke around, I think you're not much different from the local bandits back in my hometown." Before he could finish speaking, a boy's large foot kicked me squarely in the chest, but it didn't have much force behind it. The physical fitness of our citizens really needs to be improved, I reckon that kick wasn't painful enough, and it actually got me thinking wildly about something else.

  "Now it's my turn to ask you questions, speak up. Actually, I already know even if you don't say anything, you're just a deserter. You'll be sent to the Nanjing Garrison Department soon, and what awaits you is a bullet." The girl student's words really gave me a fright, and my chaotic thoughts were immediately pulled back.

  "Alright, you're right, I'm a soldier, but I don't think of myself as a deserter..." I recounted the story from my enlistment to participating in the Battle of Shanghai, then to Erwa's sacrifice, and how we were deceived by the enemy's trickery, and how one by one, vivid lives were swallowed up by the flames. In between, I even got a few sips of water, it seems that after liberation, I can become a storyteller. After taking another sip of water handed over by the students, I continued: "Later, our group broke through the enemy's blockade and unexpectedly intercepted their intelligence. The content was translated for us by an interpreter, which said that after capturing Nanjing, they would massacre the city and implement the 'Three Alls' policy - kill all, loot all, burn all."

  After a moment of silence, the student chairman said: "Then why don't you go to Nanjing's garrison to report the situation and find us? After Northeast China fell, Japan has always adopted a policy of appeasement. Shanghai also did not experience a large-scale massacre after it fell. Why would there be a massacre in Nanjing?"

  "First, if I go to Nanjing to report the situation, I estimate that before I even open my mouth, a bullet will have shot into my brain. Second, there was no large-scale massacre in Northeast China because the little devils obtained it through cession and they also wanted to enslave the three northeastern provinces, so they adopted a policy of appeasement. Shanghai did not experience a large-scale massacre because the Japanese army did not make a large-scale entry into Shanghai, but do you know that the villages along the way were basically all slaughtered, women were all ***, men were all stabbed to death with bayonets, and even had their flesh stripped off one leg, leaving only a white bone below the hip, while still alive, in so much pain they couldn't even muster the strength to cry out, only able to hum out a little sound. Women were even more pitiful, from 70-year-old grandmothers to several-year-old girls, these beasts didn't let one go, all raped and killed.

  The scenes of the Nanjing Massacre movie replayed in my mind, helping me vividly recount those terrifying scenes.

  Finally, if you think that after I clearly knew the devils' plot, I still want to jump into the fire pit ahead and die, then you can send me to Nanjing.

  I said this with a heroic tone, making a gesture of 'a soldier can be killed but not humiliated', but in my heart, I was trembling: "My little aunt, I came to rescue you all with good intentions, you must understand."

  "Hurry up and untie." The female student said while helping to untie, "Mister, we mistakenly tied you up, it was unavoidable. There were too many deserters fleeing from the Songhu Battlefront, we've caught several in the past few days."

  Looking at those self-righteous students, I silently cursed: "Damn it, what kind of cowardly bastards are you? If you were on the battlefield, you'd probably all wet your pants."

  "What do you think we should do? How can we evacuate the tens of thousands of civilians in Nanjing now?" Student Mei asked anxiously.

  "This is beyond my control, all I can do is inform you, I still have to go find my lost comrades, don't know where they are fighting now." Just thinking of those three bastards makes me angry.

  I bid a hasty farewell to Nanjing University, and with a tired body, I hailed a rickshaw. Based on my past experience, the driver was generally familiar with these places of ill repute. As expected, we soon found a brothel. After fending off the enthusiastic madam, I was about to appreciate the charm of the Republican-era brothel when I saw an old man emerging with his pants down. Then, I saw a pillar embracing two "aunties".

  "Where's the mouse?" I asked, looking around but seeing none.

  "Opposite tavern is eating, Haozi doesn't like women, just likes to eat." Zhu zi said lazily, seemingly having not exhausted his physical strength.

  "Grass, Zhuzi, what aesthetics do you have? How did you find two such big aunt-like (women)?" They know I used to study with foreigners, so they're also used to my occasional outbursts of new words. As for me, speaking like this has become second nature.

  "Insufficient silver, bullying my 'little pillar'!" The pillar said while touching his crotch, then suddenly wrapped his arm around my shoulder, scaring me into bending my waist to avoid the pillar's first floor.

  Across the street, we found a glutton who was eating alone at a table with many delicious dishes. He ate until he was dizzy and people around him were staring at his incredible appetite. With one hand holding a chicken leg and the other holding beef, it's hard to imagine what his stomach is made of. Following his lead, we stuffed ourselves silly for a while, finally filling our bellies to the brim. After paying the bill and wrapping up the leftovers in thick paper, we hastily left the restaurant, with a trail of astonished gazes behind us. Only when we looked up at the sky did we realize that it had already turned dark, this glutton having eaten for almost an entire afternoon, wow~~~~~~

  Due to the rush of the past few days, everyone was really too tired. Lao Gui suggested finding a place to stay and rest for a night. In the dark Nanjing city, we followed Lao Gui to the gate of a large household, but the gate was locked from the outside, it seemed that the whole family had already moved to the rear, leaving this empty mansion behind.

  Pillar leaned against the wall, legs apart, hands crossed on his abdomen, mouse foot tip stepped on it, borrowing the pillar's upward thrust, both hands quietly locked onto the eaves, arms exerted force, and he flipped over the not-too-high eaves. In the same way, I and Lao Gui climbed up one after another, finally pulling Pillar to flip into the courtyard.