what is this weeaboo shit

If the sun had any sympathy for the people of Chongqing, it did not show it. Morning was still as bright as ever, and the week’s consistently clear skies offered great weather on all accounts. As such, aircraft frequently flew over the recently captured city, their crimson roundels proudly shining on their wings as they went about, patrolling the area. Such alertness was no longer needed, but General Yamashita was adamant about being prepared until the peace treaty was signed.

There were no soldiers defending the now-fallen capital of the Kuomintang. The meager wooden huts that the Chinese passed for bunkers were easily swept aside by the victorious Imperial Army. The only real obstacle they had to contend with was the city’s closed gate, but the garrison – made up of its civilian inhabitants and which barely had any munitions – quickly opened it. Not an hour later and every Kuomintang flag was replaced by that of the Hi no Maru or the Rising Sun, and every house was buttoned up while Japanese troops marched up and down millennia-old streets that were suddenly empty.

There was no repeat of Nanking. Yamashita was not as morally bankrupt as Prince Yasuhiko, nor as lacking in respect as Iwane. He was the Tiger of China who broke the back of both the Communists and the Nationalists and secured the Middle Kingdom for the Land of the Rising Sun. Those who were under his command admired the man, and even with the unique military culture of gekokujou prevalent over the junior officers, his every order was obeyed from the highest to the lowest levels in the chain of command.

As such, his orders to not rape, to not pillage, and to not kill innocents on pain of death were taken very seriously. Although, were it not for his endless victories, this chivalric professionalism of the past would never have returned to the Imperial Army of today.

Lt. Tanaka Ishimaki was one of Yamashita’s admirers. Skeptical of the man’s tactical ability at first after having been under a string of mediocre commanders, his doubts were quickly done away with after serving for the entirety of Operation Rising Storm. He was there from the first fortress taken to the final surrender of over a million encircled Chinese – and for his gallantry and courage in combat, Yamashita even personally awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun. To Tanaka, there had not been a greater man since Admiral Togo. That was part of the reason why he was beating a replacement to near-death for disobeying the general’s ‘Three Don’ts’ order.

The young man was on the hard cobblestone, in a fetal position. Surrounding him were the members of 2nd Platoon, of which Tanaka was in charge. They were further shadowed the buildings that formed the border of the city’s central plaza. The 17-year-old private covered his face and curled inwardly as much as he could while the lieutenant brought a hobnailed boot repeatedly into his much-abused gut.

“Damn you!” Tanaka said between strikes. “If you want to make yourself a man, don’t do it by threatening a woman at gunpoint and trying to raping her!” His boot then impacted the private’s spine. “Do it by fighting and defeating the enemy on the battlefield! What the hell is wrong with you? What would your mother think, you damned fool!”

The entire thing had been going on for a while and attracted numerous pairs of worried civilian eyes meekly peeking through a couple dozen half-opened windows. Veterans of the company looked on with disinterest, while the new recruits, fresh from the homeland, were thoroughly intimidated. Soon enough, however, it ended. Tanaka ordered the recruit to stand up – and somehow, he did, though looking thoroughly ragged, wobbly, and bleeding from several small cuts on his face.

“Don’t do it again,” the lieutenant said. He clicked his heels sharply. The private then immediately saluted as best as he could, but was surprised when the officer did not return it. Instead, the lieutenant turned towards the only woman, who looked quite terrified, in the 50-person gathering and gently said,

“Miss, I have punished the offender as best as possible. Is this fine with you?”

Of course, she did not speak a lick of Japanese, but got the meaning well enough. Tanaka noted the meek nodding of her head before finally returning the private’s salute.

“All of you,” he then bellowed, “dismissed!”

The gathering broke up shortly thereafter. Squads walked way, already chattering about the event, while the would-be-rapist walked back to the barracks, head low, by his lonesome. The woman looked agitated, but a smile and a nod from the lieutenant allowed her to walk briskly back home so she could forget any of this ever happened. Calmly, the officer drew a cigarette from his breast pocket and lit it.

The smoke curled serenely in the warm Chinese morning. He looked toward the distance, past the tiled roofs and the high walls, to look at the sun rising over the mountains. Since graduating from the academy almost a year ago, he’d known nothing but ceaseless fighting. His unit was ever unlucky in that their front never experienced a ceasefire. Yet, that only made them veterans among veterans. However, this invaluable experience was being diluted by the poorest excuses for soldiers the homeland was sending to replace the lost and the fallen.

The platoon sergeant, Yamaguchi, approached Tanaka with his characteristic carefree smile, putting an end to his contemplations. “That was quite brazen, lieutenant. They’ll be talking about this for months to come.”