Chapter 729: Vicious

In the occupied territory of China, within the three northeastern provinces, south of the city of Harbin, in a place called Pingfang, a group of Chinese prisoners of war were being escorted by Japanese soldiers with fixed bayonets into the cells that held them.

A Japanese major general stood not far away, admiring these “materials,” which he called “logs,” as they were locked away in the dark “warehouse.” This major general was the commander of the infamous Japanese “Togo Unit,” Shiro Ishii.

This Japanese major general had spent his entire life studying bacteria. It could be said that the work he was engaged in was just about the dirtiest in the world. However, he personally had a bit of a mysophobia. His military uniform was spotless and was frequently sent to the laundry to be cleaned until it was exceptionally pristine before he would wear it.

He had just rushed back to his Pingfang laboratory from Tokyo, bringing with him the high command’s plan to develop a new generation of secret weapons. Japan needed a weapon of mass destruction, a superweapon that could block an American offensive and instantly change the tide of the war.

However, compared to the German nuclear weapons research department, which had a strong industrial base and the guidance of Akado, Japan had very obvious gaps in both its industrial foundation and its research direction.

Although the University of Tokyo had equipment related to nuclear weapons research, there was still a very large gap to mass-producing nuclear raw materials. What made the Japanese even more desperate was the lack of mineral deposits for nuclear raw materials within Japan. This made Japan’s path in nuclear weapons research even more difficult and tragic than Germany’s.

On the other hand, nuclear weapons research requires an accumulation of terrifyingly large infrastructure. For example, the development process requires a large amount of electricity to support it. Germany, where Akado was, had been continuously building thermal and hydroelectric power stations for ten years to solve these power supply problems. It was only recently that they had a surplus of electricity to provide a stable supply for the costs of nuclear energy research. Japan had never been able to achieve such a large-scale popularization of electricity construction in its own country, so it simply could not produce the corresponding power.

And so, the “clever” Japanese high command, believing that they could not develop nuclear weapons in their lifetime, could only settle for the next best thing and research a cheaper “poor man’s atomic bomb.” After much deliberation, among the weapons of mass destruction that the Japanese had their eyes on, only bacteriological and chemical weapons could barely meet the military’s requirement of “instantly changing the battle situation.”

To coordinate with Shiro Ishii’s research, the Japanese high command had also launched a super long-range bomber project. This project planned to use a giant bomber equipped with six engines to drop bombs filled with bacteriological weapons on the west coast of the United States, so that all Americans would be infected with bacteria and die in a short period of time, thereby destroying America’s formidable industrial capacity.

This was also the main reason why Shiro Ishii had been promoted to major general in a short period of time and was in control of such a large experimental base. In fact, he himself knew very well that if he could not develop a bacteriological virus that could completely break the Americans in a short period of time, then his fate would not be much better than that of these “Chinese logs” in front of him.

“Colonel Kasahara Shiro! Tonight, you will personally dissect 10 Chinese prisoners of war. Have your men prepare the bacterial embryos and use them on these people in the afternoon! Write a report as soon as possible and give it to me!” Shiro Ishii said, glaring at the colonel beside him.

“Hai!” Kasahara Shiro bowed his head and replied, “Your Excellency, General, I have already cultivated a virus with a fast reproduction speed and a high fatality rate at the fastest possible speed. Please rest assured. For the everlasting prosperity of the Great Japanese Empire, your subordinate will certainly do his utmost.”

“Kasahara-kun, your loyalty to the Great Japanese Empire is beyond question,” Shiro Ishii nodded and said in a tone of approval. “I believe in your ability, and I believe you will develop this virus we need as soon as possible. But you must remember, we are running out of time. Take a look at this latest battle report.”

After speaking, he handed a document to his capable assistant. Kasahara Shiro frowned, took the paper, and read it carefully. The content was not much, but the amount of information was undoubtedly huge.

Marshal Yamamoto Isoroku’s Combined Fleet of the Great Japanese Imperial Navy had suffered a setback in its offensive in the waters near Kauai and had retreated to the vicinity of Midway to rest and refit. This news was still a top secret in Japan and had not been released to the public. In fact, most of the officers in the Japanese Army did not even know this news. They still thought their army was marching from victory to victory and was on its way to the American mainland.

Japan’s control over public opinion was even more exaggerated than Germany’s, to an unparalleled degree. Most Japanese civilians had no idea of the real situation at the front. The most shameless part was that Japan liked to boast when it won and say it was “advancing in another direction” when it lost.

“Your Excellency, General, is… is this news true?” Kasahara Shiro looked at Shiro Ishii. This butcher, who had killed thousands of Chinese, Soviet, and American prisoners, felt a chill run down his spine after seeing this news, as if some terrifying thing was staring at him.

“The news is naturally true. That’s why the high command was in such a hurry to summon me and so generously allocated such a huge amount of research funding,” Shiro Ishii said, seemingly not regarding Yamamoto Isoroku’s setback as anything terrible. In the depths of his heart, he felt that he was the one who held the initiative in the war. As long as the results of his research entered the practical stage, the North American continent would become a no-man’s-land in an instant.

Speaking of research funding, Shiro Ishii was a little smug. Since his research had begun, although the high command had attached great importance to this area and had allocated a special fund of 200,000 yen (which was not a small sum at the time), this was the first time they had allocated a full 1.5 million yen in one go.

He was even already considering what new instruments and equipment to purchase with this money, and which scientists to recruit. Every time he thought about how much larger his den of murderers could become, he felt a thrill of excitement all over. For Shiro Ishii personally, to be able to kill people with the bacteria he had studied his whole life was his greatest pleasure.

Thinking of this, his back ached faintly. That was in the early spring of 1922. This Doctor of Bacteriology from the Great Japanese Empire had been ordered to go to Europe to inspect a series of countries, including Germany and France. His purpose was very simple: to come into contact with and learn about the world’s most advanced bacteriological and chemical weapons at the time, and to bring the experience of developing these weapons back to Japan.

However, his trip was not very smooth. Although the French had received him warmly, they had no interest in sharing the results of their research with the Japanese from the East. And when Shiro Ishii left France in frustration and came to Germany, he realized just how hospitable the French had been.

The person who received Shiro Ishii was a German expert in chemical weapons prevention. It was said that he had even been selected by the Wehrmacht to host him. Shiro Ishii thought his luck had come, but he had not expected that after he walked into the basement of the Wehrmacht General Staff Headquarters, a real disaster would befall him.

This Wehrmacht major, along with several other officers, had beaten Shiro Ishii senseless. Fists, feet, and clubs had rained down on him, and they had almost beaten this poor Japanese bacteriology doctor to death in the dim basement of the Wehrmacht intelligence section. If the Japanese embassy had not arrived in time to prove that Shiro Ishii was not a fraud or a spy, the commander of today’s “Unit 731” might have been someone else.

Of course, thinking back now, Shiro Ishii still felt that even though he had been beaten, he was still relatively lucky. Because of the several German officers who had beaten him back then, the leader, the chemical weapons prevention expert, was named Akado Rudolph. And the one who had kicked him in the stomach with his leather boots was the big shot of the German Wehrmacht intelligence department, Gascoigne.

As for the reason for the beating, only a genius would know. According to the explanation given by the German authorities to the Japanese consulate, it contained a detailed account of Shiro Ishii’s attempt to fraudulently obtain prohibited weapons in France, and the German Wehrmacht admitted that it was a misunderstanding. So in 1922, Shiro Ishii had taken that beating for nothing.

That beating back then had left an indelible memory on Shiro Ishii. He still had internal injuries, to the point that sometimes he had to rely on medication to get through the pain. So now, when he thought of killing people with bacteria, he would feel a very wonderful pleasure.

Because in his heart, while the Americans were an enemy that deserved to be killed, the Great Japanese Empire’s other enemy, Germany, far away in Europe, was also a target of his revenge. He wanted to use the weapons he had developed to destroy all who had humiliated him, to destroy every other race in the world except for the Japanese.

“Akado! You just wait! I didn’t know why you were so desperate to kill me back then! But since I didn’t die, it’s your turn to die! Wait for me, don’t you dare die first! You must wait for me! Wait for me to personally stuff a petri dish of bacteria into your mouth!” Shiro Ishii said, his body bent, his teeth clenched, his face a grimace of a smile.

With his laughter, a large truck rumbled out of the main gate behind him. A huge canvas was covering the back of the truck, but because there was so much inside, a little bit was still exposed around the edges.

They were pale arms and legs, swaying slightly with the truck’s movement. A cold wind blew past, carrying a desolate and sinister air. The very air here was despairing, and every breath held the sound of death.

Published: 2025-09-22T03:38:55.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-03-16T18:18:46.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c729-vicious-139443992

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