Canteen System Assistance Notes

I'm afraid there are few living people left on the island.

However, when he saw the colorful poisonous smoke rising and rolling in the flames, the only bit of compassion in the navigator's heart was thrown into the Pacific Ocean again! It's all his own fault, he deserves it! He thought.

Chapter 691: Nothing Happened on the Mainland Today

"Kido."

"Your Majesty, I'm here." Minister Kido Koichi swallowed back the words "Don't be nervous" that were about to come out of his mouth. He said respectfully and cautiously, "Your Majesty, please be polite." "Yes." Hirohito had been the emperor for many years after all, so he quickly adjusted his composure. "Is the current situation confirmed to have improved?"

"Your Majesty, today the navy and army report that the sky over the empire is clear, peaceful, and tranquil, with no clouds."

"That's good, very good."

"So, Your Majesty, would you like to move to Tokyo and return to the Imperial Palace?" As one of the closest people to the Emperor, Minister of the Interior Koichi Kido held a privileged position within the Imperial Household Ministry, responsible for all matters concerning the short Emperor. Therefore, he was the only one who could offer such a suggestion.

"Tojo-san, I just called again." "Yeah."

Hirohito uttered this meaningless interjection in a strange crane voice. He stood at the entrance of the tunnel at the Matsushiro base camp in Nagano Prefecture, looking at the cloudless sky and green trees outside, and no one knew what he was thinking - under the inexplicable profoundness, the emperor who had just rushed in from Tokyo actually had a hint of imperial majesty - but Kido Yukichi naturally knew what this so-called "demeanor" actually represented.

"The army has confirmed and ensured that no enemy bandits can take even one step into the Tokyo defense circle." He lowered his voice, adjusted his expectations and said slowly, "Your Majesty, to ensure the peace of Tokyo and the stability of the empire, you still need to return to the Imperial Palace as soon as possible. The people of the empire are all eager to see your carriage and listen to your imperial voice.

"Also, the army has urgent matters to discuss and resolve, so we need to hold a royal meeting to discuss and resolve them." "Yes."

Hirohito seemed to agree. He withdrew his gaze from the sky and prepared to return to his underground air-raid shelter, tucked away in the mountain, nicknamed the "Imperial Library." But then, as if hesitant or perhaps nervous, he turned his gaze westward, staring blankly at the cloudless sky for more than ten seconds, not even noticing that his small round glasses were about to slip off.

"Let's go back after this week." Hirohito muttered as if he had finally made up his mind.

Less than 12 hours had passed since the bombing of July 16, 1942, and the entire Japanese leadership had not yet been able to formulate an effective response to the two consecutive strategic air raids. In one night, the Yawata Iron Works in Fukuoka and the non-existent poison gas production plant were attacked.

The former was lucky. According to the anti-aircraft troops responsible for the defense at the scene, the first bombing was carried out by the heavy bombers of the United States, who dropped flares with parachutes.

To indicate the target for the subsequent heavy bombing, however, there is a "divine wind" protecting the sky above the imperial country.

The Ming bomb was blown off course by the wind, causing the following "hundred heavy bombers" to blow up the Kyushu Paper Co., Ltd. next to the Yawata Iron and Steel Works.

A large number of bombs rained down from the sky, spreading over a wide area. Besides inflicting significant damage to Kyushu Paper, they also inflicted considerable damage to surrounding dormitories, shopping districts, and other structures. Fortunately, however, the Yawata Ironworks, one of the lifeblood of the Empire, sustained only minor damage to its power station, with no significant reduction in production capacity.

Even though the anti-aircraft artillery unit fought all night, they only achieved the result of "damaging two enemy planes" (but the battle report sent out directly stated that "two planes were shot down and eight planes were damaged"). The mainland did not even find the parachuting pilots and the crash wreckage - this incompetent night air defense made the army very angry, and they talked about developing night combat aircraft, developing electronic reconnaissance equipment, and seeking support from allies at the headquarters.

As for the other side, the Okunoshima poison gas plant that was attacked...the situation was completely different.

The entire island was bombarded by an unknown number of enemy planes—some say more than ten, others say the same "hundred planes"—and a massive explosion ensued.

This triggered a chain reaction of "decisive smoke screen" and chemical raw materials in the storage warehouse.

This chain reaction triggered the explosion of the ammunition depot and the island's power station, burning almost all of the area to the ground. Finally, the ignited pine forest turned the entire island into a torch, causing the fire to rage across the island and continue to burn to this day with no sign of extinguishing.

The firelight reflected on the Seto Inland Sea and illuminated the entire sky, and could be clearly seen from Tadami Town.

But this city, which is just a stone's throw away from Ōkunoshima, has also suffered a bad fate. Its port and the "Decisive Smoke" assembly plant were hit by several heavy bombs and are now burning.

However, because the falling aluminized high-explosive bombs, while highly incendiary, were not the same incendiary properties as napalm, the fire could still be contained by the fire brigade and the civilians involved in the rescue. However, the military police in Tadami Town intervened, not allowing the fire brigade to approach the "R Decisive Smoke" assembly plant but forcing them to extinguish the fire as quickly as possible. This made the fire almost completely uncontrollable, and it only showed signs of abating when it reached the isolation zone removed by the fire brigade.

Meanwhile, the captain of the military police, one of the few who knew about the situation on the island, frantically called Ōkunoshima from his office. When no one answered, he led his communications corps to the beach, firing flares in an attempt to communicate with the islanders. However, these attempts to establish communication channels received no response. The workers, garrison troops, and military police—approximately 3500 people originally on the island—seemed to have vanished into another dimension.

The "hundred-ton bombs" dropped by the "rice animals" naturally could not almost completely destroy Ōkunoshima. A large part of the power to destroy the entire island came from the simultaneous detonation of chemical agents and poison gas products on the island.

However, apart from the part of the poison that was burned out, there was still a lot of unburned poison gas on the island. These leaked quickly after the container was exploded.

Begin to release the deadly poison within.

Because these toxic mixtures were denser than the average density of air, they covered all the low-lying areas of the island like a colorful blanket in just a few hours. They flooded all the tunnels that were not completely sealed, pouring into the surrounding sea like a waterfall, polluting a large amount of sea surface, killing many people who jumped into the sea to survive, and even preventing the Japanese army from advancing.

-The rescue team sent by Bo approaches Okunoshima.

But it's not over yet.

It was July, the time when Japan was gripped by the southeast monsoon. As the fire department in Tadami Town worked to demolish houses and put out the fire, and the military police captain called the military police in Takehara City to report the situation, a wind picked up from the Seto Inland Sea.

It's a southeast wind.

The southeast wind rolled in from the Pacific Ocean, passed over Shikoku Island, absorbed enough moisture in the Seto Inland Sea, and began to pass over Ōkunoshima at low altitude, blowing towards Tadami Town, less than 2 nautical miles north of the island.

The pyrocumulus clouds that had formed due to the heat of the fire on Ōkunoshima began to stratify. Unburned, denser clouds of toxic gas, like indescribable emanations from the abyss and the starry sky, plummeted from the sky like falling stars after leaving the thermals. These clouds merged with the poisonous substances flowing near the sea surface, forming a brown-black wave of death that descended upon the unaware Tadami Town.

The lighter combustion products were carried into the sky above the scorching Ōkunoshima Island by the rising hot air currents.

These condensation nuclei rich in benzopyrene, dioxin and arsenic-containing dust quickly react with water vapor.

They combined and turned into a lead-gray cloud, which began to fly slowly toward the east along the hollow westerly laminar flow with Japanese characteristics.

Hours earlier, this independent atmospheric circulation had been called a "divine wind," protecting the vital Yawata Ironworks from the bombs. Now, it was a purveyor of destruction and death. "What's that smell? It stinks!"

Some people who had fled to the beach to escape the fire complained, and then he began coughing violently, as if he were having an asthma attack. "Cough, cough, cough! Cough, cough!"

The real disaster may have just begun.

Chapter 692: Chi means disaster and death

If the Eighth Route Army's strategic air raids were considered a "natural disaster," then the bombing, which concluded on July 16th with the complete destruction of Ōkunoshima and the resulting casualties of approximately 3500, marked the end of this "natural disaster." Next, it became a "man-made disaster." At this point, the damage caused by the poison gas and its derivatives was minimal. Had the Japanese government promptly disclosed information, responded swiftly, and organized rescue efforts, the situation could have been salvaged.

However, the situation is bad because of this "if".

The poison gas factory on Ōkunoshima was a secret among the secrets of the Japanese Army. Not many people within the Army knew about it, and even many workers in the factory did not know what they were producing (Ōkunoshima nominally produced some insecticides and pesticides). Even on the map published by the Army itself, Ōkunoshima was just a sea with nothing in it.

If something goes wrong here, the first problem Japan needs to face is the inherent resistance brought about by the army's confidentiality system.

When the first signal from Tadami reached the Military Police Headquarters in Takehara City, the officer on duty was completely baffled by the island fire. He searched the wall map for a long time, unable to grasp the meaning of "a massive fire on the sea." He risked a slap from his superiors and called the section chief on duty.

But the section chief didn't know what had happened, so he could only go to the minister who theoretically had the information.

Finally, when the sleepy minister came to answer the phone, there was no one on the other end of the line.

Everyone looked at each other, and could only continue to convey the message upwards: "Tadami Town reports that a ship was found on fire in its southern waters military control zone. The fire is huge, and reinforcements are requested."

The Army's signal transmissions were becoming intermittently incapacitated, and the Navy's were not much better.

The navy, observing the crimson clouds of fire in the waters off Kure Port, was completely blinded. The Army had kept the details of the Ōkunoshima poison gas plant secret even among its own ranks, and they had even more stringently guarded the secret from their arch-rival, the Navy, refusing to disclose it. While these clueless individuals knew that the Ōkunoshima lighthouse lay in the direction of Tadami Town, they had no idea the island housed a chemical plant storing over 5000 tons of poison gas.

However, the UJN were, after all, the "Imperial Warriors" fighting against the Americans and the British, and even on home soil, they maintained a certain level of combat readiness. To be on the safe side, they waited until daybreak, then launched an old Type 94 surface reconnaissance aircraft from Wu Port to investigate the situation.

The dedicated pilot flew the soon-to-be-retired aircraft for nearly 50 kilometers to Ōkunoshima. He was astonished to see the small island, labeled an inhabited island, engulfed in a terrifying, enormous fireball. The dark gray smoke rose, merging with the rolling clouds and drifting northwest; the other part sank, spreading across the sea and enveloping the town of Tadami.

"What a terrifying fire!" The observer in the back seat pulled out his camera and snapped the shutter at the amazing sight. However, as the strong wind blew, he seemed to notice a strange oily film on his goggles. "What's going on?"

But before he could finish his thought, severe pain in his face and a burning sensation in his respiratory tract came one after another. The fierce feeling of suffocation was like a pair of invisible giant hands, pressing down on his neck and making it difficult for him to breathe.

“Oxygen mask, put it on… cough cough cough, cough cough cough!!”

The pilot in the front seat roared and panted. The open-top Neon submersible twisted and turned, trying to escape this area filled with strangeness and destruction. But in the end, it was unable to maintain its flight attitude and plunged into the Seto Inland Sea with a plop.

In the original time and space, in December 1984, during the Bhopal gas leak disaster, a famous chemical pollution incident in India, the Indian branch of Union Carbide Corporation of the United States neglected safety management and ignored safety facilities and means, resulting in about 45 tons of methyl isobituate leaking into the air, polluting the surrounding 40 square kilometers of land.

This disaster killed more than 20,000 people within two weeks, continued to affect more than 500,000 people, and caused more than 200,000 people to become blind, disabled, or suffer from sequelae. It was one of the most serious public pollution incidents in the 20th century in the original time and space - oh, it seems that 1/4 of the eight major public pollution incidents in this original time and space were also contributed by Japan.

The protagonist of this incident is the Ōkunoshima poison gas plant. While the toxic gases produced and stored there, kept secret by the Japanese military, were not the acutely lethal gases like methyl isocyanate (MIC), which can kill instantly at low concentrations, the island still contained a staggering 5000 tons of various types of toxic gases. Even if a large portion of this gas was destroyed by the flames, the remaining leaks would still be enough to devastate the nearby town of Tadami.

At the same time, even the toxic gases that were burned and decomposed formed clouds rich in benzopyrene, dioxins, and arsenic-containing smoke in the air. These clouds drifted eastward, blown by the westerly laminar flow at mid-level, approaching Mihara, Onomichi, and Fukuyama on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea. They did not have the ability to cause significant immediate casualties, but once these lead-gray clouds cooled and turned into precipitation, they would cause immeasurable secondary disasters.

Now, the black clouds rising into the sky have not yet turned into pollutants with the precipitation, but the poisonous gas clouds covering the ground have begun to kill people: Japan has started to develop this "decisive weapon" after World War I, spending huge amounts of national funds, aimed at "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Belt" and "benefiting 100 million people", but now it is first sprayed on its own "imperial subjects".

The toxic gas, reeking of gas, surged toward Tadami Town, causing stinging eyes, breathing difficulties, and itchy skin in anyone who inhaled it. If anyone remained in the escalating concentration of the toxic gas without protection, the stinging would turn into blindness, the breathing difficulties into suffocation, and the itching would progress to inflammation, necrosis, and shedding of the skin's surface.

After some people who had fled the fire collapsed and convulsed on the beach, even a fool could tell that the strange mist was a threat. Those still able to move in Tadami Town fled outside the city, leaving them without even taking their belongings. However, due to a lack of organization and order, with the exception of a few who received effective guidance and care, almost everyone else was running aimlessly.

But to escape the range of the poisonous gas, you must evacuate in the upwind direction!

Due to a variety of factors, the precious rescue window was wasted.

As Tadami Town gradually sank into chaos, violent coughing and screaming briefly rang out throughout the city, and were then replaced by the sound of people falling to the ground. As a small town mainly built for the expansion of Ōkunoshima and the poison gas production industry, Tadami Town now had a permanent population of more than 10,000. As the poison gas spread, the death toll in this first round quickly broke through the 1,000 mark and soared rapidly.

Afterwards, the chain reaction caused by the deaths spread rapidly.

The fire brigade, still battling the blaze, was forced to abandon its mission and evacuate urgently. The fire, which had just been suppressed, began to show signs of reigniting. The telephone exchange, which had previously been able to plug and unplug connectors, collapsed to the ground, rendering the entire Tadami Town phone line inaccessible. The small Tadami Town Hospital was also forced to "triage" and transfer patients due to the approaching toxic gas... The cowardly police chief fled, and the railway signalman who had been at his post collapsed. The entire city's operations were rapidly paralyzed within a few hours.

The horrific consequences of a modern city becoming "disabled" - even if it is just a small town of more than 10,000 people - often go beyond the imagination of those who have not experienced it.

Fires, explosions, car accidents, stampedes... even crimes. From the bombing that began late at night on July 16th to noon on the 17th, the entire Tadami Town fell into collapse. In addition to the more than 1,000 people who died directly from the poison gas, various secondary disasters also took the lives of hundreds of people within a few hours, bringing the direct death toll to over 2,000, and there was no sign of stopping.

Official rescue efforts from Japan have yet to arrive, and the devastating disaster continues.

Chapter 693: The Earl has left, and the Prince has followed

During the "Red Flash" bombing of Tokyo in December 1941, Count Uesugi Takanori, who was believed to have lived in the clouds for many years, was surrounded by raging flames because his official residence was covered by a pile of "burning sticks". He unfortunately died from the suffocating smoke produced by the fire and his soul returned to Kudanzaka.

Although his ancestor Shigenori Uesugi lost his entire fortune in a failed banking venture, Count Uesugi remained a prominent member of the nobility, with a history dating back to the Kamakura Period. The news of Count Uesugi's death spread widely among the nobility, leaving them feeling deeply saddened and unhappy.

However, as the months of peace passed, this sadness, tinged with fear, seemed to fade. For over six months, the Empire had remained safe and sound. Even if the British had suddenly attacked the Empire, it had only dropped a few bombs in the western corner of the Empire—a minor inconvenience, not worth worrying about.

As the nobility began to resume their usual leisure activities, the highly protected and privileged members of the Japanese imperial family had even more reason to indulge in pleasure and sightseeing. This included Prince Asaka Naruhiko, the uncle of Emperor Hirohito.

"Your Highness, the train is ready."

The neatly dressed attendant put his legs together, bent slightly and bowed, reporting to Prince Asaka Naruhiko, who was sitting on the sofa. Facing this guy who seemed to have a gloomy face and mood swings all year round, even the attendant who was by his side every day could not help but feel a little nervous.

"The stationmaster reports that the train is expected to depart in half an hour. It's already quite late, Your Highness. Your carriage has been loaded. Why don't you step inside and rest for a while?"

Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko didn't look at the attendant, but instead moved on to his own. He slowly put down the cane in his right hand, pulled off his gloves, and took out his gold-plated pocket watch to check it. It was 11:26.

He glanced at the already pitch-black sky outside and grabbed his cane again. Seeing this, the attendant reached out and helped the prince, whose leg was broken, to his feet. Seeing the leading prince's movement, many of the surrounding servants, attendants, and Imperial Household Ministry officials also stood up.

Some of them were carrying luggage, some were holding children, some were protecting an elderly person, and some were accompanied by a neatly dressed lady - the lady was holding a child of about 3 years old - although there were quite a few of them, they walked in an orderly manner and soon automatically divided into several groups according to their hierarchy.

"Gentlemen, let's go!" said Prince Asaka.

The war with China has been going on for 11 years, and the war with the Americans and the British has been going on for more than half a year. The whole country is "dead" without victory in the war.

But for the Japanese royal family, these things seemed to be

It doesn't really exist - however, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko has been affected somewhat recently.

As a Japanese prince who enjoys golf, a sport originally played by Scottish shepherds, Prince Asaka frequently travels to several high-end golf courses in Japan, playing at his own expense. However, recently, a letter arrived from the Fukuoka Moji Golf Course, which he had visited in 16, pleading with its members to come and help out.

When Prince Asaka learned about the situation, he found out that a few months ago, the Americans used the violent forces to attack Tokyo at the airport in ZN Lu Province. In order to defend the imperial airspace, the Army Aviation people found the Fukuoka Moji Golf Club with an order, ordering them to give up the green and build an airport to accommodate the Army Aviation troops.

Although the golf course itself has ups and downs and is not suitable for an airport, and there is still a lot of vacant land around Fukuoka at that time, the visiting Army Aviation officers were completely unconvinced and insisted on requisitioning the golf course to build a new "gate driver field" no matter what they said, making the golf club miserable.

Hey, it's not a big deal. It's just that some superiors are jealous of others playing golf, but they don't want to pay, so they want to play for free!

As a general, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko was well aware of the behavior of these men. He quickly replied with his agreement, packed his golf equipment, and summoned the Kitashirakawa family, a member of the imperial family with whom he had a close relationship, to travel from Tokyo to Fukuoka, Kyushu.

Prince Kitashirakawa of the Kitashirakawa Palace was a good friend of Prince Asaka Naruhiko. The two of them once raced cars together in Paris, but they were unlucky:

The car crashed, and Prince Narihiko died on the spot, while Prince Jiuyan broke his right leg.

Therefore, in the days that followed, Prince Naruhiko took extra care of the widow and children of the Kitashirakawa family to show his concern.

After helping the club solve the land acquisition problem with a few words and a dinner, and requesting the club to provide long-term free membership to several army chiefs in Nagasaki and Fukuoka, Prince Asaka Naruhiko, along with several other royal family members, Prince Sukunami Funakai, Princess Shoko, Prince Kitashirakawa Kanmichihisa (5 years old) and Princess Kitashirakawa Hajime (3 years old), had a great time on Kyushu Island for more than ten days before preparing to return to Tokyo with a dull mood.

Of course, almost all the costs incurred in this process are borne by the Fukuoka Moji Golf Club.

"Woo--"

Soon, a long whistle was heard from the train.

The driver shouted, and the newly commissioned C59 steam locomotives, in pairs, smoothly pulled out of the station. To accommodate the imperial family, the busy Hiroshima and Osaka Railway Bureaus adjusted their timetables, moving passenger and freight trains along the route into reserve routes. They also canceled the 7/8 Limited Express sleeping car schedule for the 17th, decommissioned the Limited Express sleeping car that had just arrived in Shimonoseki on the 16th, and transferred the additional first- and second-level 37001 series sleeping cars and the beautifully decorated observation car to the two locomotives, creating this "imperial passenger train" with a large horse pulling a small carriage.

The signal changed, the station attendant waved a flag, and this powerful train, needing no sandblasting, steadily pulled its several carriages into the night sky of Honshu Island, running along the Kure Line in the Chugoku region. With all vehicles yielding and other vehicles backing off, it was able to maintain a steady speed of approximately 60 kilometers per hour on the 1067mm gauge, passing through Tokuyama, Hirosaki, Yano, and Jeep stations before heading to its first technical stop, Kure City.

Here, the special train stopped to add water and coal, and waited for a while for the traffic signal ahead - at this time, it was about 4:30 in the morning of July 17.

If nothing goes wrong, it will depart in a few minutes for its next technical stop, Itosaki Station, and then arrive at Kyoto Station after about 7 hours of travel.

However, whenever the phrase "if nothing unexpected happens" is uttered, some strange mishap always seems to occur. More than ten minutes passed, and the Special Sleeper Express train still hadn't arrived at the Kure Station platform. Remember, this train has the highest priority on the entire railway line, so theoretically, it doesn't need to avoid other vehicles.

However, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, who was sleeping soundly in the carriage, did not feel any of this.

At this time, it was still early. Except for the servants and guards on duty, the royal family members in the first-class "Imperial Rites" carriage and the Imperial Household Ministry officials in the second-class "Offerings" carriage were all sleeping. In fact, the temporarily stopped train made them sleep even more soundly.

In a daze, Prince Asaka Naruhiko heard words such as "Sir T, although there is no problem reported from the front, the telephones at some stations are still not connected. Please wait for a moment with Your Highness", "Your Highness's time is precious. There is no delay in arriving in Tokyo tomorrow" and "Since there is no problem, everything is normal. Why not send off the train?" After that, the rhythmic shaking of the train and the "what's more" sound began to gradually recover, and the special train continued to move towards its destination.

The special train, bearing two Hinomaru flags and a large chrysanthemum, rolled forward and quickly bypassed Mount Yoshimatsu. After passing stations such as Nikata, Andō, and Kazehaya, the waters of the Seto Inland Sea's Yunyu Islands became visible.

The July sun had just risen. The sunlight caused Prince Asaka Naruhiko to open his eyes slightly. The gloomy, lame prince half-straightened his body and peered out the window. Only trains carrying members of the imperial family were afforded this privilege. Normally, even express trains with sleeping platforms would have their curtains drawn when passing this section of the Kure Line.

The azure waters of the Seto Inland Sea shimmered, the sunset glowing softly and beautifully. Yet, in the distance, a rather large island seemed to be ablaze, its plumes of smoke rising to the heavens, like the fiery flames of the fire god Kagutsuchi no Mikoto.

"What happened? What happened?"

The terrifying sight sobered Prince Asakahiko up a bit. He carefully observed the plume of smoke rising into the sky, searching his mind for relevant memories. However, still dazed, Prince Asaka couldn't come up with any useful information. He could only throw on his pajamas and slippers and go to the observation car to check on the situation.

"Your Highness, you are awake," the attendant on duty quickly came over and bowed. "Would you like to eat?" "Not yet," Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko asked. "What's going on over there? Is there a fire?" "Oh, it looks like a very serious disaster."