26. It Had to Proceed as Usual

Fengtian, the Japanese consulate.

The atmosphere was somewhat gloomy.

Sato Kenichi held a cup of sake, sipping it leisurely, a trace of contempt in his eyes.

"Mr. Matsui, the Feng Army was defeated when it entered the Pass and suffered heavy losses. Zhang Yuting is now a sick tiger with its tail between its legs. He's no threat."

Across from him sat a stern-faced man in an Army military uniform. He was none other than Matsui Shigeki.

At those words, the corner of his mouth curled into a cruel smile.

"Mr. Sato, a sick tiger is still a tiger. What's more, I hear Zhang Yuting's son, that boy named Zhang Xueming, has been making quite a few moves lately."

"Oh?" Sato Kenichi set down his cup, intrigued. "What could a greenhorn like him possibly accomplish?"

Matsui Shigeki snorted and picked up an intelligence report from the table.

"He's started a newspaper and is setting up some kind of new-style education. I hear... he even wants to build some sort of modern air force and navy."

"Pfft."

Sato Kenichi nearly spat out his sake.

He wiped his mouth and laughed so hard he doubled over.

"An air force? A navy? Mr. Matsui, are you telling jokes?"

"What would they build them with? Are they going to lash planes together from sorghum stalks? Or use rafts as warships?"

"According to the report, they've already built an airfield outside Fengtian, and they've also fenced off a plot in Yingzhou, supposedly to build a naval port." Matsui Shigeki's tone was full of disdain, too.

"Let him be." Sato Kenichi waved a hand and picked up his cup again. "It's nothing but a child's game. I do think we ought to give this sick tiger a little 'surprise' and make him face reality."

A glint flashed in Matsui Shigeki's eyes.

"Mr. Sato, you mean..."

"I hear the Army has just developed a batch of new Western-style mountain artillery. They're tremendously powerful," Sato Kenichi said unhurriedly. "Zhang Yuting's hometown is in Haicheng, isn't it? We could hold a live-fire artillery drill near Haicheng."

"Let's show them what real power looks like!"

Matsui Shigeki slapped the table and jumped to his feet, brimming with excitement.

"Excellent idea! It's settled! I'll make Zhang Yuting and his son hear the guns of the Great Neon Empire's Army right on their doorstep!"

Sato Kenichi nodded in satisfaction, then added, "But a drill is still a drill, so we must exercise restraint. Set the impact zone outside Haicheng. There's no need to actually shell the city. After all, we still need the Feng Army as a shield."

"Understood!" Matsui Shigeki replied with a sinister grin.

Just as the two men were congratulating themselves on their "brilliant plan," the office door burst open.

An intelligence agent came tumbling in, his face deathly pale and his forehead slick with sweat.

"Mr... Mr. Sato! General Matsui! This is bad! Something terrible has happened!"

Sato Kenichi furrowed his brow, deeply displeased.

"Pull yourself together! What kind of behavior is this?"

The agent didn't even bother to wipe away his sweat. Trembling, he pulled an envelope from inside his coat.

"Ying... Yingzhou Port! Our men took these there!"

Matsui Shigeki snatched the envelope, tore it open roughly, and tipped out several photographs.

The moment he saw what was in them, he froze completely.

Curious, Sato Kenichi leaned over as well.

With one glance, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The photographs showed a deep-blue sea and a brand-new port.

Three colossal vessels sat quietly in the harbor!

Their sleek hulls, towering bridges, and enormous, fearsome gun barrels pointed toward the sky... Every detail proclaimed them to be modern battleships, without a doubt!

"Th-this is impossible!" Matsui Shigeki's voice trembled. "How could the Feng Army have anything like this? What country's warships are those?"

"The flag... Look at the flag!" Sato Kenichi pointed at the banner flying from the warship's mainmast, his voice dry.

It was a flag they had never seen in any country's navy.

A red field, with eighteen golden stars.

The Iron Blood Eighteen Star Flag!

"It... it's the Chinese flag!" the agent added in a trembling voice. "And according to our men, these three warships... were probably just launched."

"New ships?" Matsui Shigeki's mind buzzed.

Sato Kenichi felt the world spinning around him. He braced himself against the table, gasping for breath as his vision darkened.

Secretly built?

Three battleships?

How had they managed it? Right under the Empire's nose?

This was no longer a child's game!

These were real weapons that could kill!

The shock and impact were too much for him to bear.

"Mr. Sato!"

"Sir!"

As Matsui Shigeki and the agent cried out in alarm, Sato Kenichi rolled his eyes back and toppled straight over.

After a great deal of frantic fumbling, they finally revived Sato Kenichi by pinching his philtrum.

The first thing he did upon waking was grab Matsui Shigeki's arm tightly, terror in his eyes.

"Call it off! We must call off the artillery drill immediately!"

"Mr. Matsui! We were wrong! We severely underestimated Zhang Xueming!"

"Three battleships! Amaterasu! That force is already powerful enough to threaten our interests throughout the entire Kanto Region! We must report this to the homeland at once and request that the Combined Fleet send more warships!"