Canteen System Assistance Notes

The naval base is composed of crew members who have completed naval training and internship in the district and soldiers who have experience in maritime combat in the Suzhong region.

At a time when the Guopu Navy had long been destroyed and the Kuomintang-controlled navy existed in name only and became the "River Army", they were the most orthodox spokespersons for the "Chinese Navy".

Now, this small naval force, which was established less than a year ago, has achieved its first meeting with the most powerful naval force of the Allied camp in World War II. Although the tonnage of the three gunboats combined is less than a quarter of that of the "Ru Yu", the attitude of the Eighth Route Army naval soldiers, neither humble nor arrogant, still left a deep impression on the Americans.

The two sides quickly completed the connection, and the Eighth Route Army pilot boarded the American submarine and took them to Rizhao Port. Within a few hours, the lookout on the submarine could see the dark coastline with the help of the faint moonlight and began the port entry process.

The submarine's intended berthing location was at Rizhao Harbor, where the maximum berth depth exceeded 10 meters, ample enough for large vessels, including submarines with a draft of 4.8 meters. The Wanpingkou Lagoon to the north, while more advantageous, was less than 5 meters deep at high tide, making it suitable only for torpedo boats. Fortunately, Rizhao Harbor was relatively unoccupied at the time, and with the assistance of some equipment left behind by the Japanese, the "Nautilus" quickly retreated within the breakwater and began the intensive process of loading and unloading.

A large amount of equipment and materials began to be transported out from the mine-laying port at the stern of the ship, and were ferried ashore by "large boats" and cranes: the more than 1,000 tons of cargo included finished MK14 torpedoes, power kits, control kits and assembly tools, submarine fuel filling equipment, battery maintenance equipment, standard seawater and other equipment and consumables, enough for the Eighth Route Army to build a naval supply station according to the standards of US submarine support ships (of course, it can also be used by the Eighth Route Army's torpedo boats); at the same time, there was a large amount of aviation equipment and industrial equipment to support the construction of the airport cluster in Shandong Province.

As for the remaining tonnage, the Argonaut was loaded with carbines and carbine ammunition shipped from Pearl Harbor. Because the new M1 carbine had only recently been deployed and was unavailable, the Navy intercepted approximately 300 RAR3s (American-made G3 assault rifles firing .30 carbine rounds) purchased by the Marine Corps, and equipped each rifle with nearly 5000 rounds of ammunition (.30 carbine ammunition was in ample supply) and sent them to the Marine Corps. This instantly made the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Area the military region with the largest number of assault rifles in the Eighth Route Army system.

The Eighth Route Army replenished the submarines with fresh food, storable food and other supplies, and provided lubricating oil, diesel fuel, distilled water and concentrated sulfuric acid for maintaining submarine equipment.

According to the agreement between the two militaries, the Rainbow Fish will rest briefly in Rizhao Port, with the sailors, under the Eighth Route Army's management, resting in a closed camp for two weeks. After completing light maintenance, the Rainbow Fish will take several Eighth Route Army naval officers with them as trainee officers, temporarily using Rizhao as their home port to conduct route exploration in the Yellow Sea until the new transport submarine departs Midway Island.

However, in times of war, happy times are always short-lived.

The days of eating, drinking, and having fun in the closed camp did not last long. Just as the American sailors and mechanics were teaching the Eighth Route Army how to maintain submarines and use American-made machinery, while consuming American Navy funds, munching on "strange round steaks" and "Chinese-style tortillas" and guzzling "Merlin Cola", the shrill air raid sirens sounded.

The Japanese are coming.

Chapter 685: Harsh Counterattack

"We must launch a severe and unparalleled counterattack against the brutal Chinese who surrendered to the British devils and American beasts!"

Ever since Hideki Tojo shouted this sentence at the Imperial Conference, the Japanese navy and army have indeed taken action and launched "terrible revenge". Moreover, instead of shirking responsibility or wrangling, the two sworn enemies have actually taken serious action on this matter.

However, after being implemented, the effectiveness of these actions is mostly difficult to describe.

On the ground, the North China Army itself was completely incapable of launching any offensive. Whether it was Rizhao Port in the "T Coastal Area" or the Communist airfield somewhere in Shandong Province, whose exact location was still unknown, the North China Army was no longer able to resolve the problem on its own. Even the remaining three strongholds of Quancheng, Jiao'ao, and Weihaiwei began to be frequently subject to visual and fire reconnaissance by the Communist Army—the enemy was clearly gathering intelligence before an offensive.

This is how to do?

The North China Army has no solution. They can only protect themselves now - and even self-protection is becoming increasingly difficult. The people in the headquarters are also helpless.

I just hope General Okamura can hold on a little longer.

The situation of the Kwantung Army was slightly better. The 13 fully equipped and powerful divisions (the 10th Division was gone) seemed to be strong and powerful. As long as all the troops entered the pass, they could easily crush and completely defeat the Eighth Route Army; even if "all the troops entering the pass" were not strong enough, withdrawing half of the troops should have no problem destroying the 101st's base in Shandong Province.

However, contrary to popular belief, the massive Kwantung Army couldn't be deployed at will. Due to its numerous garrison duties in Manchuria and the Sino-Soviet border, even by the end of 1941 in the original universe, it only had three mobile divisions: the 10th, 29th, and 28th. It couldn't be "all selected for a collective attack."

In this time and space, as of mid-1942, the 10th Division had been destroyed, the 28th Division had been damaged in the counterattack in Shanxi Province, and retreated to the Shimen area to assist in defense; the 29th Division had replaced the 33rd Division of the North China Front Army in the original time and space as early as January 1942 (in this time and space, the 33rd Division is now guarding the area north of Hankou and confronting the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army), and was filled into the bottomless abyss of the Pacific Ocean.

Now, the huge Kwantung Army, after completing its mission of assisting in the defense of North China, is unable to spare a single soldier!

Faced with this situation, Kwantung Army Commander Tada Shun proposed a solution.

He suggested that, since the Russo-Japanese Treaty had already been signed and Russo was already at war with the Republic of Korea, it would have no intention of attacking Manchuria. Therefore, it would be better to re-recruit returning soldiers and police forces in Manchuria, and to recruit men of military age from the colonization corps to form a Soviet-Manchurian border garrison to replace the existing garrison divisions. At the same time, the original plan to recruit 7 active Manchurian personnel would be doubled. Besides forming the Manchurian army divisions, the remaining personnel would be assigned to local security forces as volunteer corps to maintain public order.

In this way, if everything goes well, after completing the "emptying the cage and replacing the bird", the Kwantung Army will be able to withdraw about 5-6 divisions of mobile forces to be used for entering the pass.

This plan is indeed a good one, and because it is not expensive, it is quite feasible. However, after the Kwantung Army completes the re-recruitment, reorganization and replacement work, the time will come to the first half of 1943. If the Kwantung Army launches an attack now, it will definitely be an "oyster".

The situation on the navy side is also quite complicated.

Last time, the UJN, at the request of the Army, sent a patrol formation to bombard Rizhao Airport. This was supposed to be a routine exercise, but in the end, two ships were sunk, one ship was severely damaged, two ships were moderately damaged, and the rest of the ships were slightly damaged. Several aircraft were shot down or damaged, which was a real disgrace to the Navy.

Although these ships are not main battleships, they still make the navy feel extremely embarrassed: they are just "doing a favor" to help the army solve the problem.

He tried to save some face and fight for some budget, but ended up losing the boat himself.

Although they are all old ships, they are all assets of His Majesty the Emperor!

The Navy was clearly divided into two camps regarding this matter. One faction believed that the intensity of the attack should be increased, and warships should be sent to "show the Communists some color." The other faction believed that this was a task that the Army should handle, and there was no need for the Navy to risk further exposure. The Navy was busy and had more important things to do.

"The key to the navy's current mission is to advance southward, particularly Operation B!" said Nagano Osami, one of the core representatives of the UJN's "no-holds-barred" faction. He had clearly been persuaded by Mussolini's rhetoric during the tripartite conference. "The British Navy is in name only, retreating in the face of the Imperial Empire's powerful aircraft carrier fleet. They should seize this opportunity to sweep the Indian Ocean, disrupting the Communist Army's and the Chinese Nationalist Government's supply routes to Iran and India, and forcing them to land in Britain to advance overall victory!"

But in the end, considering that the Communist Army was now squatting outside the navy-controlled Jiaoao Port, threatening the navy's interests, the UN finally decided to send warships led by "Ise" and "Hyuga" to Jiaoao for a demonstration - they had no intention of going to places like Rizhao again - to bombard the Communist Army's departure positions in order to deter them from gathering troops around Jiaoao.

Then… in early May of 1943, while conducting artillery training near Iyo Beach, Japan, the Hyuga experienced a mechanical failure in the right barrel of the No. 5 turret. The right barrel detonated the primer of the shell while the gun port was still open, triggering a massive explosion inside the turret. The powerful shockwave blew off the No. 5 turret's roof, killing 51 men and injuring 11.

The IJN was forced to ground all warships using this type of turret and main gun for a thorough inspection and ordered them to remain at anchor and not fire their main guns until the cause was determined. This put the IJN's large warships out of action for a short period of time.

However, it is difficult to deploy the main forces of the navy and the army, but if it is said that aircraft take off from (pseudo) Manchuria and North Korea to bomb and harass, there is no problem at all.

From the British "show operation" in June 1942, the Eighth Route Army clearly felt that the Japanese air force's small movements began to increase. The Japanese troops in Quancheng, Jiao'ao and Weihai areas of Shandong Province had been suppressed, but the number of aircraft crossing the sea increased.

Since Shandong Province does not yet have complete industrial facilities, a large number of industrial products need to be transported by land. Even if a small amount of non-hazardous chemicals can be delivered between canteen branches through the canteen's service provider E*S′, this is ultimately a drop in the bucket for aircraft maintenance.

Over time, even with the aid of early warning and surveillance radars, the Eighth Route Army basically gained air superiority over Shandong Province and began to replace its aircraft with advanced "Corsair" fighters. However, the Japanese reconnaissance planes and bombers had the advantage in sortie rate, and occasionally they could successfully sneak into Shandong Province, shoot a roll of film, drop a few bombs, and then escape.

This mosquito-like harassment had limited success, and the small bombs carried by high-speed fighters could hardly inflict significant damage on key targets, but it ultimately annoyed the Eighth Route Army. After several surprise attacks, even in the newly liberated coastal areas of eastern Shandong, a coastal village was bombed, injuring a farmer, killing a livestock, and destroying several houses.

After nearly a month of this cat-and-mouse game, not long after the Argonaut arrived in Shandong Province, the Japanese finally launched a relatively large-scale air raid. As many as eight Type 100 bombers, launched from Dalini, under the control of Manchuria, struck at high speed towards the liberated areas of Shandong Province. They were escorted by six of the newer Hayabusa fighters.

(The "Jong-Gang" fighter was also used by the Kwantung Army and the Korean Army, but at this time, the "Jong-Do" was classified as an "air defense fighter" in the IJA's aviation sequence, mainly used for air defense and interception operations.)

The Eighth Route Army, having detected the Japanese aircraft on radar, immediately responded. Airfields across Shandong Province quickly launched their on-duty Wildcats with interceptor loadouts and dispatched their newest Corsairs, forming a 6+12 interceptor formation to meet the Japanese.

Although the newer "Falcon" is more difficult to deal with than the Type 97, its firepower is weak and it is difficult to pose a threat to the six tough and tough "Corsairs". As for the main target of interception, the "Type 6" bomber, although it is equipped with a 20mm self-defense machine gun on its back, it has no fire control equipment and can only rely on manual control by the swivel shooter, with a very low hit rate. On the contrary, the Wildcat carrying the "Hangzhou Arrow 82" interceptor rocket with a proximity fuse can strike the bomber formation at a longer distance and produce effective hits.

For a moment, aluminum sheets flew everywhere and flames shot out over Jiaodong.

The discrete-rod warheads, known for their destructive power against large aircraft, flew through the air, driven by high-frequency induction fuses, tearing apart the fragile structures of Japanese aircraft. While the 12.7mm machine guns were inferior to cannons, they were still powerful enough to penetrate the Hayabusa's duralumin skin. After the engagement, the bomb-laden Hyaku-Shiki were the first to be defeated, having to jettison their bombs and turn to flee. However, several aircraft lagging behind were still unable to shake off the Wildcats' pursuit. Soon after, the Hayabusa, under increasing pressure, was forced to fire flares, signaling the remaining aircraft to turn and evacuate.

After this engagement, the Eighth Route Army successfully shot down five of the eight Hundred-Type fighters and damaged two. They also shot down two of the six Hayabusa fighters and damaged two. Three of the Eighth Route Army's Wildcats were damaged, one was shot down, and all six Corsairs sustained damage, though their structures were sturdy and none were shot down. Only one, struck by excessive bombs, could not be repaired after its forced landing and needed to await the delivery of key components before repairs could begin.

However, before the Eighth Route Army had time to rejoice over having once again thwarted the Japanese sneak attack, new bad news emerged.

A call came in from the Linglong Gold Mine in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, to the Nanzhao County Party Committee in Xihai District. As soon as the liaison officer picked up the phone, an angry male voice exploded on the other end: "Poison gas bombs! You little bastards, they threw poison gas bombs!"

Chapter 686: Fascists can’t change their habits*

Gold mining in Zhaoyuan has a long history, dating back to the fourth year of the Jingde reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. However, in modern times, this mineral-rich area has been coveted by invaders.

In the original timeline, the Japanese began entering the area in 1924 through Li Jiakai, a descendant of Li Jiakai, the Qing Dynasty governor of Jidong Taiwulin and the director of the Zhaoyuan Mining Department, mining gold and shipping it back to China to support their military buildup. From then until 1938, when the Japanese invaded the region, they used local puppet troops to establish mining companies and continued to plunder the Zhaoyuan area. Two years later, convinced that the puppet troops were underdeveloped, the Japanese enlisted Mitsubishi Corporation to conduct predatory development themselves. Until the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Japan's surrender, according to incomplete statistics, a total of approximately 6824.34 kilograms (180,000 taels) of gold were plundered.

During this time and space, our troops had been active in the Zhaoyuan area since 1939, intercepting and sabotaging Japanese transport vehicles. To protect the smooth operation of the gold mines, the Japanese launched numerous raids, even attempting to use fortification tactics to protect convoys. However, these bunkers could not survive more than two weeks against the brunt of the attacks and recoilless rifles. Aside from the months required to transport machinery to expand the concentrator, operations at the gold mines were virtually halted, with only the core mining area able to function normally under the protection of a complex of fortifications.

Finally, during the Zhucheng Campaign in Shandong Province in March 1942, the Shandong Military Sub-district of the Eighth Route Army dispatched 160mm heavy mortars, which used delayed fuses to fire at large angles and finally blasted through the core bunker group reinforced with reinforced concrete by the Japanese army. With the cooperation of the miners' armed forces, they completely wiped out a garrison company and a reinforcement company of the Japanese 54th Division (formerly the 5th Independent Mixed Division), and completely recovered the mining area.

But before this peaceful life lasted a few months, the Japanese army's revenge came.

Captain Feng Guanling, carrying a Type 38 rifle, walked briskly along the hilly path. His brow was furrowed, his initial joy and pride gone, replaced only by instinctive worry.

As a highly disciplined group, miners have always been a crucial base for our Party's organizational development. Even before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, underground Party organizations had already flourished and grown to a substantial size in several of Zhaoyuan's major gold mines. With the Japanese driven out, the "Miners' Armed Self-Defense Force" emerged from the shadows, becoming a workers' organization dedicated to maintaining security in the mining areas.

Not long ago, they discovered a burning plane that had crashed near a gold mine, specifically on the hillside north of Xiaojiangjiashan Village. Before the plane shattered to pieces on the ground, knocking down a large area of ​​trees, a few parachute flowers floated down from the sky.

The sharp-eyed people at the mine quickly recognized the plane with a big red circle on it. It was a Japanese plane. The Japanese plane was shot down by our soldiers!

Since the mine was recaptured by the Eighth Route Army, the workload has been reduced, the arrangements have become more reasonable, everyone's food standards have been improved, and wages have been paid on time. Although there are a lot of more troublesome safety regulations, such as wearing gas alarms and protective masks, it shows that our government cares about everyone's safety.

This was the experience of the miners in the Zhaoyuan mining area since March 1942—very good, very comfortable—but the only unpleasant thing was that the Japanese, having been driven out, refused to accept defeat and kept trying to send planes to drop bombs on the mines. Although they were almost always driven off by the Eighth Route Army comrades in the sky, there were always a few days a month when the air raid sirens sounded, which was very annoying.

Everyone was so excited about the chance to capture the Japanese pilot today. With a long whistle from Captain Feng Guanling, the entire Self-Defense Force gathered like the wind, shouldered their guns, and ran out.

The village militia coordinated well, joining forces with the miners' self-defense force to form a large circle around the area where the parachute flowers had landed. A sweeping, net-like search quickly located and surrounded the six surviving crew members. As soon as the two sides came into contact, some drew their guns and attempted to retaliate, but the prepared miners immediately opened fire, instantly reducing several of them to briquettes. At last count, only three prisoners were still breathing.

"Now, you guys, come with us and identify your plane! If you cooperate, you'll have food to eat; if you don't, you'll die!"

Regardless of the three prisoner teams, they began to pack up their things and prepare to head towards the crash site.

It's funny to say that after the Japanese pilots parachuted, the "100-type" bomber, which was originally on fire and hit by countless bullets, did not lose stability and crash. Instead, it flew level and floated on the hillside, completing an "autonomous forced landing" without catching fire or exploding. This kind of aircraft wreckage is very valuable and dangerous. Whether it is the flight plan, communication code book, or unexploded bombs that may be left in it, they all need to be properly disposed of later.

The miners' self-defense force included professional demolition technicians, skilled in both detonation and bomb disposal, and experienced in handling these unexploded bombs. However, this time, the situation seemed a little different. As the team approached the crash site near Xiaojiangjiashan Village, the Japanese pilots, bound by ropes, seemed to sense something.

“なhて龍! ?高自己自己亿行<な!” (What are you doing? Don’t go there!)

The mine's Japanese-speaking clerk had fallen ill a few days earlier and wasn't accompanying the operation. As a result, no one in the Self-Defense Force could understand what the Japanese idiot was saying. "What the hell are you yelling about, you Japanese idiot?"

“V Island! I don’t want to go there! I don’t want to go there!”

"What bad luck! Why are you screaming?" The soldier in charge of guarding was so annoyed that he grabbed the prisoner who was still screaming and slapped him twice in the face, trying to calm him down.

But when they weren't being hit, the three men just howled and thrashed. Once they were hit, they began to tumble and crawl. One of them even ignored the fact that his hands were still tied behind his back and leaped up the hillside, ready to roll down. "Nonsense!"

Captain Feng Guanling reached out and grabbed the rope. He landed in a solid horse stance, exerting his strength from both sides, and pulled the Japanese pilot aloft. When the pilots realized they couldn't escape, they plopped down on the ground and cried like little kids in kindergarten—these little Japanese didn't want to go to the crash site. There must be something fishy going on in the plane!

But before Captain Feng could think much, he saw the vanguard running towards him from a distance. The young man holding the gun had already put on a "pig nose gas mask" and was running out of breath but he didn't dare to take it off.

"Captain Feng, it's bad! Something's happened!" He shouted in a muffled voice through his gas mask, "That Japs plane didn't have a bomb on it, it was filled with poison! A fellow villager went to check on the plane before we arrived, and he was poisoned!"

The danger level of the incident escalated rapidly. As several teachers from the gold mine's chemistry laboratory rushed over with a full set of protective equipment, and the Self-Defense Force used the mine's phone to contact the county party committee and the garrison, the situation soon became clear.

It turned out that among the Japanese bombers that attacked this time, in addition to seven planes equipped with conventional aerial bombs, there was one Type 7 that did not carry any bombs. Instead, it was modified with an "aerial skimmer" that looked like a pesticide sprayer. The intention was that if it successfully broke into the interception circle of the Eighth Route Army in Shandong Province, it would fly to a low altitude and spray the liquid poison it carried - mustard gas - over the target area of ​​the Zhaoyuan gold mine.

However, things did not go as smoothly as they had imagined. The carrier plane was detected by Eighth Route Army radar after taking off from Dalini and was immediately intercepted. The bomber, loaded with poison gas, was even more clumsy than the one with ammunition, and was hit by several proximity rockets, making it difficult to continue flying. Even more unfortunate, the gas tank used to pressurize the poison gas was also damaged, and the nozzle of the pipe was blocked by ice in mid-air, resulting in the plane not being able to successfully spray even a drop of poison gas until it was shot down.

However, the impact of the landing caused the container carrying the poison gas to break, and the oily mustard gas still leaked out. This leak was not serious, but the villagers who were watching the incident on the hillside were unfortunately caught and poisoned by the mustard gas.

"Fuck you, you little devil! Besides my fellow villagers, are there any other people poisoned?"

At the Nanzhao County Party Committee, the person who answered the phone had become the County Party Committee Secretary Su Jiguang. As soon as he heard that the Japanese plane was loaded with mustard gas, he felt his blood boiling and coughed non-stop with anger.

Regardless of the fact that he had only recently recovered from a parapulmonary disease, he grabbed the phone and shouted, "Captain Feng, you must be careful! The comrades in the army have sent chemical defense troops to support us, and the doctors from the county hospital are also here! Your masks and gloves may not be effective against mustard gas, so don't push forward! I'll be there soon!"

"Wait! Secretary Su, you've only been ill for a few days, don't come! We all know about these things. Gold mining has to deal with dangerous chemicals. We have already sealed off the hillside and dug a blockade ditch on the mountain!"

Standing at the gold mine's gate, looking out over the miners' self-defense team setting up blockades and digging trenches, Captain Feng Guanling hurriedly and forcefully persuaded the workaholic secretary, who was eager to personally visit the front lines: "Secretary Su, the chemistry teacher at the mine said that mustard is very toxic to the bleach, baking soda, and detergent!"

"We have all three of these things here, but we don't have enough detergent. So when the county sends support, in addition to medicine, rubber raincoats, and respirators, please also prepare plenty of dishwashing liquid... Oh, and please ask the county to contact the Jiaodong Administrative Office and bring along the comrades from the trial court."

"No problem! Detergent, raincoat, respirator, medicine, and we need to bring comrades from the Tribunal... Wait, what are we bringing comrades from the Tribunal for?" "What?"

Feng Guanling angrily said, "Of course it's a public trial!"

Chapter 687: Double-Line Criticism

Whenever the Communist Party established a new base, the administrative and judicial systems often followed suit. These systems, which expanded along with the military campaigns, were like tentacles and roots, gradually extending in the wake of the Eighth Route Army's liberation of lost territory while building a grassroots work network that reached towns and even villages, drawing strength from the broad masses of the people to support the military struggle.

Therefore, the judicial system under the rule of the Eighth Route Army was still quite sound - especially in this time and space, when the civil justice system had not experienced repeated raids and destruction by the Japanese army and repeated invasions by the stubborn army, and had not eliminated those cadres and comrades at a loss rate of more than 30%.

Taking the original Shandong Province base as an example, under the judicial system's "three-level three-trial" model, a case would at most go through three levels of trial: the county trial court, the special district court, and the administrative agency's high-level trial department. The parties could present evidence, debate, and even appeal in court, which was very modern.

Therefore, regarding this failed Japanese poison gas bombing incident, although this was not the first time that the Japanese army used poison gas, the Eighth Route Army was still prepared to carry out a complete "procedural justice" and hold a public trial with complete procedures: this would not only educate the masses and inspire the anti-Japanese fighting spirit of the military and civilians, but also carry out propaganda, expose the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in China, and win the support of the world's anti-fascist camp.

The only regret is that the people on trial this time were only a few direct perpetrators of the crimes, and the culprits who initiated the crimes were not able to get retribution.

The two lines of development, the weapon of criticism and the criticism of weapons, are progressing very rapidly.

In the presence of representatives from the Allied war zone, investigators from the Eighth Route Army's Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Area, donning heavy protective gear, rushed to collect evidence before the contaminated debris and soil could be completely disposed of. They recruited soldiers from the gold mine's self-defense force and chemical laboratory technicians who had participated in the rescue, as well as witnesses and village representatives from Xiaojiangjiashan Village. They listened to their opinions and testimonies and crafted a sternly worded and logically coherent indictment.

The accompanying court staff set up their operation in Xiaojiangjiashan Village according to the "standard format" of a mobile court: they placed seats on a stage at the entrance of the village, hung portraits of Marx, Lenin, and Mao, and the sickle and hammer of the Party flag in the center of the stage, transforming it into a temporary public trial venue.

Finally, after all preparations were completed, the three Japanese pilots were brought up with their hands tied with ropes and shackled, ready to face the public's anger and severe trial.

The three captured were the pilot, co-pilot, and bombardier of the Type 100 bomber. They belonged to the newly established 6th Flying Division on the Korean Peninsula and were the direct perpetrators of the failed poison gas bombing. This organization, completely different from historical ones, had only been established a few months earlier, its main purpose being to carry out bombings on Shandong Province and intercept bombers departing from there.

Based on the investigation and interrogation of them and other prisoners, and information from other channels, the prosecutor on the scene revealed the pilots' background: during the bombing on July 2, they, according to the order of the headquarters, loaded their Type 7 heavy bombers with mustard gas, mixed in with the bombers equipped with conventional bombs, and flew towards the Zhaoyuan area of ​​Shandong Province, intending to carry out aerial poison spraying in densely populated areas.

Because the Japanese were technologically incompetent, they couldn't load oily mustard gas into aerial bombs for atomized airbursts. Instead, they used gas-pressurized micronized liquid dispensers, distributing the poison from mid-air. However, the pressurized gas canisters were shattered by the rocket's discrete rods, and the dispenser's nozzle froze over. Consequently, the gas dispenser remained unsuccessful until it was shot down by a Chinese fighter plane.

"Objection! We are soldiers! It is our duty to follow orders. We cannot sentence them to death for this!"

Amidst the roar of the crowd, they shot him! "Killing him would be too easy, just skin them alive!" The captain, the only one of the three who dared to speak, argued loudly in Japanese: "Didn't you say you would treat prisoners well? You can't kill us. This violates the Geneva Conventions!"

"Furthermore, this is our first time fighting in China. Do you, who boast of your righteousness, mean to kill a rookie soldier?"

"The Geneva Accords? How dare you mention that? When have you ever adhered to them?"

The anti-war alliance fighter in charge of translation muttered softly, suppressing his discomfort as he continued translating. When the rebuttal ended, the cheering from the audience even paused for a few seconds, as if everyone was shocked by the shameless statement. Then, the cries of "shoot to death" and "skin alive" almost became actions. Many of the hot-blooded men from Shandong Province could not bear it any more and even threatened to rush onto the stage to teach these Japanese a lesson.

The soldiers who were maintaining order had to suppress their impulses and form a human wall to maintain order.

"First time? It doesn't look like it."

The prosecutors seemed to have been prepared. They pulled out a document from the materials, cleared their throats, and began to read:

According to our investigation, this isn't the first time these three invaders have committed violence against the Chinese people. You three were previously part of the same crew, serving in the 3rd Heavy Bombardment Squadron of the 60th Flying Squadron of the 3rd Flying Group. Between 1939 and 1940, you piloted Type 97 heavy bombers and conducted numerous bombing raids on Shancheng and Chengdu. It's said you even managed to escape interception by the Sino-Soviet Joint Air Force.

"After this, you will return to China to train on the new Type 100 bomber. Together with the 7th Flying Squadron, you will be assigned to the 6th Flying Division, with the intention of conducting poison gas bombings on the liberated areas of Shandong Province. I believe you must be experienced and well-rounded to be selected as the crew responsible for transporting poison gas!"

The prosecutor stood up and said, "As for the Geneva Convention, it's even more ridiculous! The moment you used poison gas to attack innocent civilians, you already lost your status as a 'prisoner of war'. What awaits you is the people's judgment!"

"Comrade Judge! The facts that Sergeant Hidei Nozomi, Sergeant Sato Chiyome, and Pilot Officer Murakami Taro have committed poisoning, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace are clear and the evidence is sufficient," he said loudly, ignoring the three men's self-proclaimed effective "false name" tactics. "According to the 'Regulations on the Treatment of Japanese Pilots by the Anti-Japanese Democratic Government' and the 'Regulations on the Protection of Human Rights'... please sentence the three men to death.

Immediately, the hammer fell, and the judge on the stand pronounced his verdict: the three Japanese pilots, having used poison gas to attack civilians, had lost their prisoner-of-war status and were sentenced to death for their multiple crimes. Then, the representative from the Shandong Provincial Wartime High Court, who was also on the stand, continued to speak, declaring the verdict final as the second instance.

"You guys! Hahahaha! If you're going to kill him, why go to all this trouble?"