Chapter 936: Ishii's Unit

The Ishii Unit of the Kwantung Army was officially known as the “Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department,” but in reality, their work mostly consisted of finding ways to give the enemy’s epidemic prevention units a massive headache. Most of the soldiers in the Ishii Unit, including Shirō Ishii himself, were highly educated, high-tech criminal “talents.”

If there was a large group of people who, after years of education, instead of taking up decent jobs to benefit humanity, gathered together to study how to more efficiently violate international law through nefarious means, then to the rest of the world, these people would be the legendary terrorists, to be condemned and eliminated by all.

Unfortunately, Shirō Ishii, who had been personally beaten and left with internal injuries by Akado, was the leader of just such a group of high-level intellectuals who had been driven mad by their studies and were now obsessed with using the “poor man’s atomic bomb” to expand the Great Japanese Empire. This was a perfect example of how the destructive power of an educated person who goes down the wrong path is far greater than that of others.

When Ishihara Kanji was preparing his northern advance to attack the Soviet Union and needed his unit, Shirō Ishii, disregarding his own internal injuries and continuing to work while vomiting blood and taking medicine, decided to go to the front himself. The butcher of Unit 731, along with a group of Japanese “scientists,” would personally witness and summarize the effects of his own bacteriological and chemical weapons in order to obtain firsthand data to develop even better superweapons.

While the rest of the world was focused on developing new weapons technologies, using the emerging nuclear weapons to circumvent international law and commit “reasonable” crimes, the Japanese had placed their bets on winning the war through one brutal crime, and then using their status as victors to escape sanctions… It had to be said that from Tojo Hideki to Shirō Ishii, it was hard to find another country like Japan, so unconventional from top to bottom, inside and out, from strategy to weapons development.

At the same time as the German General Küchler was ordering a change in the original attack rhythm and a reckless assault on Stalingrad, the most skilled infantry in the Japanese Army were putting on their suffocating gas masks.

An hour after General Ishihara Kanji had given the order to deploy the Ishii Unit, Shirō Ishii had finally arrived at his operational command post. Because the convoy transporting the chemical weapons ammunition had to, according to regulations, stay far away from its own troops and had a strict set of storage and transport rules, it was clear from this that a hooligan is not to be feared, but a cultured hooligan is.

“Your Excellency, General Ishihara, you must move your command post back three kilometers,” Shirō Ishii said. He knew how terrifying the weapons his unit had developed were, so as soon as he entered the room, he demanded that Ishihara move his command post back to avoid being accidentally hit by the chemical weapons.

It should be known that the entire Unit 731 had many departments. In fact, the one Ishii was in charge of, and the one he cared about most, was the bacteriological weapons department. But this kind of weapon was of no use in an offensive operation. After all, this weapon, at present, lacked the ability to destroy the enemy’s will to resist in a short period of time.

Because it was difficult for the attacking force to wait for several months before swaggering onto the occupied territory that had been contaminated by bacteriological weapons, this would simply be creating greater trouble for their own side. So this time, what Unit 731 was using was not the powerful bacteriological weapons, but the fast-acting and relatively quick-to-dissipate chemical weapons.

This was the first time the Japanese army had used dangerous weapons that violated international law outside of the Chinese theater, and it was also a concrete manifestation of Ishihara Kanji’s determination to go for broke after sensing the danger. This Ishihara was a genius strategist, almost a demon in his intelligence. He was adept at considering the operational mission changes in his own theater in the context of the overall situation in Japan, and possessed an extremely sensitive ability to judge the situation, like a rat on a ship.

He had recently received an internal army message about the Japanese army’s unfavorable combat situation in Australia. From this message from the army, Ishihara had calmly judged the unfavorable situation of the Japanese Combined Fleet. Referring to the fact that the navy had not questioned the Japanese army’s northern advance, one could easily know that the Japanese Navy’s gains in the Solomon Sea were not as astonishing as the Imperial General Headquarters had touted.

In Ishihara Kanji’s view, if there was a problem with the navy, then it was up to the army to turn the tide—this had always been an old tradition of the army, and even Ishihara was no exception. So when the offensive did not achieve its intended objectives according to his will, he had, without hesitation, adopted the most expedient plan.

“Ishii-kun, we are the subjects of His Majesty the Emperor. We should be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor! In this situation, you want me to move my command post back?” Ishihara smiled and pointed to a cup of water on the table, signaling that Ishii could have a drink to quench his thirst. “That won’t do. I appreciate your good intentions, but from the moment I set out, I had already made up my mind not to retreat a single step.”

“Your Excellency, General Ishihara! A soldier like you is the pillar of the Great Japanese Empire. Although your subordinate is dull, I am willing to be your vanguard!” Shirō Ishii was an absolute fanatic of militarism. Hearing Ishihara’s statement of not retreating a single step, a morbid flush rose on his face.

In fact, the main chemical weapons production base of the Japanese Army was on the island of Ōkunoshima, known as “Poison Gas Island,” and the main research, maintenance, and use unit was the professional chemical warfare unit, designated 516. But due to a series of developments in this timeline, this 516 chemical unit had now become a neighbor of Unit 731, uniformly under the command of Shirō Ishii.

“Ishii-kun, these chemical shells you have brought, how much are they affected by the weather conditions? At the very least, I also need to know that if the wind direction changes, how far from the front line can be called a safe zone?” Ishihara Kanji, as the supreme commander of the frontline Japanese forces, of course had to understand some of the problems of using chemical weapons. He sat at the map table, picked up his water cup, and asked Shirō Ishii.

Ishii immediately bowed and replied, “Your Excellency, General, the feedback from the Chinese theater shows that the range of this weapon varies greatly with different weather conditions. For troops without protection, the lethality of these chemical weapons is very great. At least when we attacked the Chinese army, we inflicted incalculable losses on them.”

“Sō ka!” Ishihara Kanji nodded and then closed his mouth. It was unknown if it was because he personally had no good impression of using chemical weapons, or if it was for some other reason. In any case, he said no more, but fixed his eyes on the military map in front of him, making it impossible for anyone to know what he was thinking.

Shirō Ishii tactfully closed his own mouth and sat there, waiting for the scheduled time for the general offensive to arrive. For a time, the entire forward command post was dead silent. Everyone had stopped their mutual conversation, as if their throats had been locked by a fierce ghost. Some of the staff officers held their gas masks, waiting around the two men.

Ishihara Kanji, in order to encourage everyone to fight to the death, had not moved his command post back a single step. His purpose was to create this kind of enterprising atmosphere. If it really came to the point where the poison gas was blown back by the wind, then wearing a gas mask was a necessary protective measure. Otherwise, if they were to lose their supreme commander, it would be an unbearable loss for the Japanese army.

In the end, the Japanese shells, which had been silent for half a sound, finally exploded on the Soviet positions. The Japanese shells, whose explosions were not very loud, were quickly discovered due to the vigilance of the Soviets.

“My God! The Japanese! The Japanese are using poison gas!” a Soviet officer who had seen the poison gas smoke rising from the position shouted, and then began to rummage through the pile of luggage behind him for the not-often-used canvas bag that held his gas mask.

“These damn Japanese, to use such a despicable method!” a veteran Soviet soldier said, attacking his enemies with the most vicious language as he put on his gas mask. Just as he had put it on, and the deadly smoke began to invade his skin, the order to retreat was finally given.

After leaving behind four to five hundred bodies, the Soviet army abandoned its defensive positions. The Japanese army was able to continue its advance two hours after the poison gas attack, continuing to push towards their objective. But the Soviets had not given up their resistance. Behind this defense line, there were second and third lines waiting for these Japanese soldiers.

Kimura, following his unit as the main force passed through the first Soviet defense line, saw the bodies of the Soviet soldiers piled up in the trenches. These bodies had terrifying expressions, and a disgusting liquid was flowing from the corners of their mouths. There were even signs of burns and decay on their exposed skin. Kimura swallowed hard and continued to advance with his unit, but his hand unconsciously reached for the gas mask on his back. Just a few hours ago, he had been tempted to throw away this seemingly cumbersome extra item. Now it seemed that this piece of equipment absolutely could not be discarded. It could at least save his life in a dangerous situation.

The effect of the poison gas was much better than Ishihara Kanji had estimated. After all, the Japanese army had used a large amount of chemical weapons in China and was the world’s number one in their use. With this strength as a support, they could naturally achieve an even more shocking effect. But he also seemed to be quite clear that to rely on poison gas for a surprise attack again was an impossible matter.

“Have the armored units in the reserve commit to the battle! I want to break through the Soviets’ last defense line as soon as possible!” Ishihara Kanji said, pressing his hand on the map in front of him with a fierce expression.

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