Chapter 27 2. The Killing Game Maniac

Heisuke Yanagawa told a lot of lies to deceive Japanese soldiers and people during the invasion of China. However, the assertion that "I dare say that all the troops of the Japanese army that captured Nanjing killed people in this way" was when the executioner was proud. Bluntly leaked a big truth from Tianji. Yanagawa Heisuke said the competition to kill the Chinese was referring to the competition held by two young officers under the command of Nakajima Imasago of the 16th Division.Of the two young officers, one is Toshiaki Mukai, the captain of the Artillery Second Lieutenant of the Katagiri Army, and the other is Noda Iwa, the second lieutenant of the Katagiri Army.They met when they landed at Baimaokou, 7 kilometers northwest of Shanghai, in early November.When they marched towards Nanjing, they met for a "Friendship Killing Contest", that is, before Nanjing was completely occupied, those who could kill 100 people by themselves won the championship. On December 4, the two met while fighting outside the city of Jurong, and reported the number of murders to each other. Toshiaki Mukai had killed 89 people, and Noda Iwa had killed 78 people. When Asami and Suzuki learned about it, they immediately went to interview and rushed to write a news report on the "killing contest", which was published in the "Tokyo Niichi Shimbun" on December 6.

On December 12, after the Nakajima troops fought fiercely with the garrison teaching corps outside Nanjing, Mukai and Noda met again at the foot of Zijin Mountain.As an infantryman, Noda came to take a rest at the foot of the mountain after frantically beheading Chinese soldiers on the front line, while Mukai came here excitedly after brutally massacring many Chinese captives and civilians in the back.After the two beasts met, they were naturally inseparable from their bloodthirsty nature, and immediately showed off their brilliant military exploits in beheading the Chinese. Noda said, "Hey, I'm 105, what about you?"

Mukai said: "I am 106 people..." The two looked at each other and laughed. So the two executioners discussed that no matter who killed 100 people first, as a matter of the past, there was no winner for the time being.From now on, it will be changed to a competition of beheading 150 people, and then it will be a showdown. Toshiaki Mukai said happily: "Before we knew it, we had surpassed the record of beheading 100 people. What a joyful thing it is!..." When the two executioners met at the foot of the Zijin Mountain, two reporters, Asami and Suzuki, who followed them and reported on them, came to the front line, interviewed them again, and offered to take a photo of the two heroes of the imperial army.

So the two beasts stood together majesticly, legs spread proudly, all in yellow uniform, deep boots, mustaches, shoulder to shoulder, saber to saber.Mukai Toshiaki put his sword on his chest with both hands; Noda Yan, who was slightly shorter than him, held his saber with his left hand and bent his right hand behind his back.Although the postures are different, the expressions are the same: the arrogance and murderous intent of conquerors are revealed between the brows of both of them; After taking the photos, and watching the two reporters leave the foot of the mountain, Toshiaki Mukai sighed and said, "Noda-kun, our competition to kill the Chinese people was just a one-time game, but I didn't expect it to be published in the domestic newspapers. Look, how interesting it is!"

Noda Yan said with deep empathy: "Yeah, I didn't take it seriously. I killed the Chinese people, just like chopping firewood in my hometown Kagoshima, just for fun!" Toshiaki Mukai said: "No, it's more like we split sugarcane in Tokyo, it's sweet!" The two beasts were happy, and sat on the ground, drawing out their sabers and examining them carefully. Mukai proudly said: "I split a guy's helmet on both sides. Look, the saber is missing!" Noda Yan felt the same: "Yes, my saber is also damaged. In my opinion, our Japanese saber still needs to be improved!"

The two chatted excitedly on the grass, and they didn't return to the team until the troops assembled and they met in Nanjing City to see each other again. On December 13, Japan's "Tokyo Daily News" once again published a report from special correspondents Asami and Suzuki from the foot of Zijin Mountain in Nanjing: Second Lieutenant Mukai and Second Lieutenant Noda held a competition to kill 100 Chinese. The championship has not yet been decided. Second Lieutenant Mukai has killed 106 people and Second Lieutenant Noda has killed 105 people, but it cannot be decided who will kill 100 people first.Now the two agree not to use 100 people as the standard, but 150 people as the standard.

At the same time as this report was published, a photo of two executioners holding a "killing contest" at the foot of Zijin Mountain was distributed. On December 14, the "Tokyo Daily News" newspaper, which published the news of the "killing contest", was airlifted to Nanjing.After watching it, Nakajima Imasago, the commander of the 16th Division, said very happily: "Very good, very good, no matter how many Chinese people there are, all of them will be killed, and no mercy will be shown to women and children!" Therefore, under the instigation of Japanese newspapers, with the support and connivance of senior Japanese generals, the Japanese soldiers who occupied Nanjing set off a climax of visible and invisible "killing competition".There are no accurate statistics on how many Japanese soldiers participated in the "killing competition", but one thing is certain. The "killing competition" held by the Japanese army that captured Nanjing was by no means an isolated phenomenon, and it was definitely not just Tanaka Junji. , Toshiaki Mukai, and Noda Iwa, the three beasts.