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“Hey, Kanji. Have you finally lost your mind? The Emperor Himself going to fight those Chinese bastards?”

Tojo Hideki was gleefully tearing into Ishiwa Kanji.

The Emperor’s direct forces.

That title alone should suffice. To say the Emperor Himself has to battle those guys is just absurd.

“Just being on the battlefield is enough. Throughout history, great monarchs always lead from the front, right? Even Xuanzong and Taizong of the Tang Dynasty led their troops against Goguryeo, and the conquering monarchs of Europe were similar. Just look at the Empress of Moscow in this era. The Emperor of Ethiopia, supported by her, is personally dealing with the Communists in the highlands, isn’t he?”

“Hmm. Will His Majesty grant permission?”

The ultimate decision rests with the Emperor.

Ultimately, they must obtain the Emperor’s approval, but can Ishiwa Kanji realistically expect this to work?

“First, we should put in a request to His Majesty.”

The Imperial General Headquarters did not outright oppose Ishiwa Kanji’s proposal.

After all, the very existence of the Imperial Way Faction emphasized the Emperor, and so must war.

Moreover, it was believed that the Emperor would not recklessly put himself in harm’s way.

However, regrettably, due to the nature of Japan being heavily influenced by Russian characteristics post-Imperial Way Faction victory, Hirohito was rather different from the original world.

At this very moment, Anastasia, the Empress, the same age as Hirohito, is battling against the Communists directly.

Even more recently, the emperor of the African tribes is successfully blocking the Italian Red Army. How could the foremost Emperor of the East be tailing behind?

Shouldn’t he personally deal with the Chinese, who are ostensibly tainted by Communism?

Caught up in unnecessary inferiority complex, Hirohito decided to heed Ishiwa Kanji’s heartfelt request.

“Fine. I shall take matters into my own hands. Kanji, you will assist me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! I will faithfully serve you in accordance with Your Majesty’s command.”

The problem is, this whimsical desire was undeniably Hirohito’s worst mistake in life.

Unlike the Tanghulu-coated princess, he claimed to be of the bloodline of unparalleled heritage, a divine being, yet he was no Tanghulu. Unlike Haile Selassie, who personally threw himself against the Italian invaders, he actually was the invader.

And in this careless state, Hirohito directed himself to the front lines in Henan province.

“His Majesty is watching over you! Let’s fight the Chinese bastards! Show the Emperor the Yamato spirit!”

“Long live His Majesty! Long live the Empire of Japan!”

The first army of the Chinese expeditionary force was fired up, cheering at the sight of the Emperor’s appearance.

Hirohito, also delighted by the loyalty of the subjects, waved his hand and encouraged the soldiers, which was nice.

And just then, battle erupted.

He would undoubtedly shine like Empress Anastasia.

“His Majesty, of unparalleled bloodline, is immortal!”

Hirohito was hopeful that his direct encouragement would lead to victory and capture of Henan province.

If the soldiers successfully capture Henan in this battle, the credit would entirely belong to Hirohito himself.

At the very least, he couldn’t be shown up by Mutaguchi Renya, his subject, right?

He couldn’t allow the Emperor’s prestige to be overshadowed by a mere army general.

In reality, battles in which the Emperor participated turned in favor of the Japanese army.

The morale-boosted Japanese forces, with renewed determination, slaughtered the Chinese forces without giving an inch, even breaking through their defensive line.

Meanwhile, on the Chinese side, Tang Shengzhi, who had originally defended Nanjing in history but failed, was now holding back the Japanese forces in Henan. However, as their defenses began to crumble, he ultimately opted to fall back.

And just at that moment.

The reason for the Japanese forces’ newfound vigor reached Tang Shengzhi, who was tearing his hair out, stymied by the tactics of infiltration.

The very reason why those damned Japanese suddenly became so frenzied was made known to Tang Shengzhi— the Emperor’s appearance.

“What?! Are you telling me the head of those Japanese bastards is right there? We’ll incur whatever losses on the army, we don’t need a single prisoner! Shoot everything at that Emperor!”

The defense of Henan was already a failure.

There are limits to even flooding with numbers. Hence, they’d have to at least salvage something.

Ultimately, Tang Shengzhi decided that every ounce of firepower should be aimed where the Emperor was likely present and unleash everything they had.

Bang, bang, bang!

Thus, Tang Shengzhi’s artillery concentrated all efforts to fire shells towards the Emperor.

“What are those foolish Chinese bastards doing with their hit rates? Can’t they even get the angle right? Huh?”

The Japanese forces, not even suspecting that the Chinese were targeting the Emperor first, had no idea.

No matter how low the hit rate was, whether old or new models, if various cannons all aimed at just one person, at least one shot would likely hit its mark.

And as those shells were annihilating the Japanese soldiers, one shell struck the Emperor directly.

Shwoop!

Hirohito, before he even recognized he was dying, became a blackened piece of meat, unrecognizable even as “the Emperor” as it splattered everywhere.

“Your Majesty!”

“His Majesty the Emperor!”

The 1st Army of the Southern Expeditionary Force successfully occupied Henan, but they lost the Emperor.

However, despite their target being beyond Henan, the 1st Army of the Southern Expedition became entangled with Chiang Kai-shek’s troops as they managed to exploit the gap left by the loss of the Emperor.

This incident of the Emperor’s explosive death was seen as the utmost disgrace for Japan, and now it meant one of them had to die.

“These inferior Chinese bastards dare to—!”

“Not a single prisoner is needed! Kill every last Chinese, even the children!”

“All Chinese are Reds! Use poison gas!”

The Japanese forces began a rampage across the continent following the Emperor’s death.

The Second Sino-Japanese War was spiraling into uncontrollable chaos.

* * *

As the Second Sino-Japanese War intensified, I became highly alert.

We must not let it affect the European war.

Naturally, I was observing the situation in Germany and China today.

“What the heck kind of world am I living in?”

The Japanese forces commenced their southern advance, launching an attack on the Republic of China’s Henan province with the 1st Army of the Southern Expedition.

General Hata Shunroku of the 1st Army engaged in battle with Tang Shengzhi, who was defending Henan. The ridiculous part was that the Chinese were defending using human wave tactics to buy time.

They even dared to launch counterattacks—voicing their version of a banzai charge.

Hirohito personally encouraged the Japanese forces who were struggling under this attack, and with support from tank divisions and aircraft, they launched a banzai charge.

Though it wasn’t a full-scale offensive, the Japanese forces managed to capture Henan due to Hirohito’s leadership. The problem, however, was that Hirohito was killed in action.

In other words, the Japanese army captured Henan at the cost of the Emperor’s life.

In history, Tang Shengzhi, who failed to defend Nanjing, also failed in the defense of Henan but now made a record for capturing the Emperor.

How long had it been since the news of General Io Minqiu’s defeat reached the public, that this absurd chain of events unfolded?

No matter how many times I rubbed my eyes and checked the documents sent by the Okhrana, it’s indeed reported Hirohito has died. It’s confirmed by sources from Beijing.

Through multiple checks and cross-references, it’s confirmed Hirohito is dead.

Huh? Is this really right? I was planning to tear that bastard apart in war crimes court? Did he just have a comfortable exit?

Though the front lines haven’t expanded into the Pacific War yet, still… in comparison to original history…

Not bad, is it? After all, this is better than the original history where I struggled desperately to survive.

Well, though the General Headquarters is keeping it quiet, they say the Emperor died instantly, burnt to a crisp like a cube steak.

Uh, hmm. So what happens to the Second Sino-Japanese War now? Since the Emperor is dead, the war is over— well, I don’t think so.

Maybe for an individual general, but with a monarch dead, pulling out would come off as cowardly and could create an impression of fear.

That’s simply impossible.

Retreating like this would completely ruin the Japanese army’s honor.

No matter what, Japan will try to destroy China. They’ll need to elect a new Emperor soon, so war might be tough for a while, but…

Their rampage is as clear as day.

The only fortunate thing for China is that they’ve bought themselves a bit of time. But that means they’ll have to face the repercussions later.

Until now, it was the Imperial Way Faction’s objectives and Ishiwa Kanji’s influence that mattered, but now Kanji will likely be purged as well.

After all, rather than serving the Emperor, he ended up contributing to making the Emperor into cube steak; it’s laughable he hasn’t been executed yet.

Nonetheless, with this development, Japan will earnestly aim to wipe out China. I wonder if Chiang Kai-shek can hold out against them.

Having allied with Communist Germany, will it make a difference?

No matter how much Communist Germany, once the war kicks off, they won’t have the bandwidth to worry about China.

“What happens to the next throne now?”

Will that young son ascend?

He’s supposed to be a guy named Akihito.

“Considering the urgency of wartime maneuvers, it seems a guy named Yasuhito will likely ascend to become the new Emperor.”

“Yasuhito.”

That name is quite… curious. Wasn’t Yasuhito initially a candidate to succeed the Emperor?

Henry Stimson, the Secretary of War, was considering Yasuhito for the next Emperor for post-war punishment.

Well, the Japanese army attacking China has two main justifications for war.

One, to determine the true sovereign of East Asia, and two, to quell the Communists within China. However, therein lies a problem.

With the death of the true sovereign, it’ll inevitably shake the foundations of Japan’s war justification.

Thus, they’ll likely seek revenge for the Emperor’s death, leading to further rampage.

America is in disarray, and the only one helping Chiang Kai-shek is Communist Germany. So Japan still has a chance.

It’s remarkable that the Republic of China is employing the banzai charge.

“The Japanese army has requested various biological and chemical weapons.”

“Why are they asking us for that?”

I was blankly staring at the news of Hirohito’s death when they asked for chemical weapons. Do they dare to make such a request to the nation of saints?

Though it might seem like this country is holy, it isn’t a time for fringe nations to worry about niceties. From Russia’s perspective, they shouldn’t even be using chemical weapons to that extent.

“It seems they’ve become aware of the Zyklon B we sent to Austria. They say the Chinese are already dyed red and there’s no way to save them-”

This is absurd. They must be thinking they need to take revenge for the Emperor, and so they must act.

Asking for Zyklon B means they intend to kill more people than during the Nanking Massacre.

The Nanking Massacre was triggered after suffering considerable losses in battles against China, and Asakanomiyaya Yasuhiro effectively overlooked the massacre.

While there haven’t been any significant confrontations yet, the death of the Emperor clearly had a major psychological impact.

“That’s not what it was originally intended for, though.”

Well, even if that’s the case, it would still be utilized to kill, wouldn’t it?

I didn’t expect Hitler would use it so quickly, but if he had waited until much later, nobody would have connected me to it.

Our Japanese fellows took that in stride.

But can they really kill people with poison gas?

I seem to recall international agreements or treaties against that. But given the chaos in Europe and America, it feels like Japan will act however they please.

Indeed. With the Emperor dead, the Japanese army can only go berserk. Besides, there’s likely no nation left to rein them in.

Ultimately, it will be after the outbreak of World War II that a definitive conclusion will be reached.

“Your Majesty. The Japanese ambassador has stated that, officially, they’re requesting pesticides from Russia for the stabilization and sanitation of the puppet state of Qing.”

Pesticides needed to stabilize and sanitize Qing.

The Japanese desire to eradicate all the rats in Qing is anything but a straightforward declaration of intent—they’re planning to use them as human pesticides.

They won’t be aiming it at Qing but targeting the National Government of the Republic of China instead.

“Hmm.”

They’ve left it suspiciously vague to deter rejection.

It appears they really want to crush China thoroughly.

Since you’re a saint, you can’t turn a blind eye to this! This is their way of getting a foot in the door.

Zyklon B was originally designed as a pesticide, after all.

It’s even being used for rodent control, so from Japan’s perspective, exterminating rats to maintain their puppet state is only natural.

“What do you think of the Duma? It seems rather self-evident that Japan would use it as a human pesticide.”

This kind of matter should be pushed onto the Duma. Anyway, I’ve resolved to inflict damage on China.

In that case, it’d be a cunning strategy to leverage Japan’s help.

“If the price is right, it may even be worth considering.”

“In a humanitarian sense, it may or may not be appropriate.”

“In a humanitarian sense, huh.”

Indeed. It’s right in front of our eyes; sending Zyklon B seems somewhat suspicious.

Especially considering there’s already the case of Hitler. Of course, that bastard hastily denied everything.

The Communists’ deaths were merely coincidental. Zyklon B was used in the stables, he claimed.

Being the Prime Minister, he had enough power to bury it. I wonder how Japan will fare?

“Hmm, it can be understood simply. Murders happen worldwide through various methods. Take civil war, for example—Bolsheviks would go charging at people using farming tools since they were out of weapons. Who would think farming tools kill people?”

Boris Savinkov spoke rationally, albeit with some intimidation.

So that’s how it works. Right. Who would think of a farming tool as a weapon?

Japan is proclaiming to hunt rats for the hygiene of the Qing.

The pitfall is that those rats happen to be humans from the Republic of China. But anyway, it doesn’t sound bad at all.

“How about just sending it? After all, like Prime Minister Hitler, they may only capture prisoners of war.”

Indeed. They could just capture prisoners of war. I have no reason to interfere at that level.

“Even if neighboring countries were to react, it could spread the notion that Japan, despite the Emperor’s death, would still murder people~ Even that is just speculation on our part.”

True. By sending this, the Japanese army may really try their best to catch those rats.

“You think so?”

Yeah. They’ll likely be angry and only use it on prisoners, right?—that’s how we should perceive it.

 

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