Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan.

The Imperial Garden is the royal huā garden, but it is not quite accurate to say that it is only a huā garden, which is actually a natural garden covering dozens of hectares of ancient trees and thick shade, with tall walls, hills, rivers and verdant lawns, as well as Japanese-style bungalows and pavilions for the royal family to rest. Viewed from the air, the Imperial Garden resembles a green satin, connecting the vast and scattered palace complexes into a staggered whole.

Like all lonely Oriental emperors, Taisho Emperor Kahito locked himself and his family in the thousand-year-old palace of the Mori Palace. It is not that Emperor Taisho is unwilling to step out of the red wall and shop and talk freely like ordinary Japanese civilians, enjoying the bright sunshine on the seashore and breathing in the less fresh but free air of the streets of Tokyo, but that the imperial status is like an invisible rope that binds them hand and foot, turning them into "gods" rather than "people" on high above.

The greatest feature of Eastern feudal politics lies in its mystery.

In Western democracies, all heads of state and government, whether presidents, prime ministers, prime ministers, or presidents, are required to report to the people on stage (national conditions consultation), and when they leave power, they go to business, open restaurants, sell raw rice, write books to earn manuscript fees, and queue up to receive relief money. If you make a mistake, you will still be criticized, and if you violate the rules of jiāo, the police will still be fined, and so on. In short, the commonality between the president and the common people, the prime minister and the common people is that they are all ordinary people with blood, ròu and hope, but there is a distinction between the stage and the stage.

But in the East, it's very different.

The monarchs of the East are by no means willing to admit that they are ordinary people, and they deliberately create a lot of evidence to prove that they are different: for example, the Japanese emperor is a descendant of the "Amaterasu Okami", and the Chinese emperor is the embodiment of the "true dragon son of heaven". Even the peasant rebels in Wagangzhai, Liangshanbo, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as soon as they conquered a corner of the country, began to break away from the masses and engage in corruption, claiming that they were the immediate family members of Emperor XX or Emperor Yù and other relatives who had descended to "save" the suffering common people. This situation is actually very similar to the traditional Chinese folk witchcraft: the sorcerer hides in the dark and pretends to be a god and ghost all day long, deliberately produces many mysterious effects, and then claims that "the gods possess the body" (human rights are bestowed), and then he can do whatever he wants, and even cut off the life of the believer. If we strip these shamans of their disguise and drag them to the public and in front of the eyes of the public, it is not difficult to see that they are nothing more than a group of bipeds that are severely degraded from the gods of jīng to the physiology.

Now, the 123rd Emperor Kahito, the 123rd Emperor of Amaterasu, is breathing fresh air in the damp woods of Cháo to nourish his somewhat sober mind. Behind him, the Empress followed in a cumbersome Japanese kimono with heavy makeup. Her Majesty struggled to move her little steps through the trees, looking like a colorful clumsy tropical goldfish swimming in the green air. At this time, the trail was still stained with lù water, and it was very slippery to step on, and Emperor Taisho unfortunately fell on his back, and although the fall was not very heavy, the expression on his face became angry and embarrassed. A court servant rushed to help Emperor Taisho up, and cautiously bowed down to ask for instructions: "The cabinet ministers are all waiting for the holy car in the Privy Council chamber, please ask the emperor to tell me when to be diligent?"

Hearing the words of the servant officials, Emperor Taisho was very unhappy, in his opinion, these people did not have any right to disturb his life early in the morning and make him uneasy. Shouldn't the emperor enjoy the tranquility and freedom of life?

Emperor Taisho's anger was justified, since he had been given the privilege of preserving the fate of 100 million Japanese since he fell to the ground, so his personal life was destined to be uneasy. The emperor is the supreme god and the symbol of the national body, so everything about him, including his personal life, does not belong to himself, but to the whole country.

Emperor Taisho furrowed his brows and commanded loudly, "Call them in, and I will receive them here." ”

Hearing Emperor Taisho's orders, the servants couldn't help but look at each other. This is because it is not in accordance with court etiquette and precedent for the emperor to receive ministers in the wet woods of cháo, not to mention that the emperor still has a lot of dirt on his body. ,

"Are you deaf?" Emperor Taisho said angrily, "Don't go to that Privy Council, tell them to come in and talk to me and do as I tell me."

The shì servants agreed repeatedly, so the empress led the nv dependents to retreat, the shì servants spread out parasols and blankets in the woods, and Emperor Taisho sat on a chrysanthemum chair and began to receive the courtiers.

In the eyes of the court servants, Emperor Taisho was an arrogant, arrogant, irascible and easily immovable man, who would beat his servants with a horsewhip when he was upset. Emperor Taisho was also a Western admirer, with a horned mustache similar to that of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and often dressed like a German cavalryman, riding a tall horse on a rampage through the palace. Like his father, Emperor Meiji, Emperor Taisho was also frail and sickly since childhood, suffering from meningitis, and the jīng god was good and bad. Emperor Taisho often behaved in a ridiculous manner in public. For example, when watching a military exercise, he would suddenly run down the review stand, open the soldier's backpack and rummage through it. Once, when attending the opening ceremony of the National Assembly, he actually rolled the speech into a cylinder, put it on his eyes, and used it as a telescope to take a picture of the foreign envoys. Because of this "telescope incident", Japan's political elders found it unbearable, and at one time planned to support the crown prince Hirohito as regent.

In fact, Emperor Taisho did suffer from meningitis as an infant, but he had already recovered his health in his youth, and his jīng god state was sound. After ascending the throne, political elders expected him to learn from Emperor Meiji and become a majestic and ruthless monarch, because a weak emperor did not fit Japan's image of a powerful empire, which severely suppressed his unrestrained enthusiasm and health.

The reason why Emperor Taisho had so many strange behaviors can be seen as a kind of dissatisfaction and rebellion against reality.

"Do you want to invite the prime minister to meet you first?" The Minister of the Imperial Household asked the Emperor.

"Okay, I'll see the Prime Minister first." Emperor Taisho nodded and said.

Soon, Prime Minister Hara was led into the Imperial Garden in fear, and after crouching, he was given a flat body.

"Aiqing, do you have any news to tell me?" Emperor Taisho asked with a smile. The shì slaves around them couldn't help but be surprised to see that the emperor's mood had returned to normal.

Hara Kei didn't notice the change in the expressions of the shì servants, and he couldn't wait to show off what the military had done recently to put aside the political fǔ, and the seriousness that it had caused.

“…… The Army believed that the government's interrogation of the Army's actions was a serious violation of the Emperor's commanding power, and that the Empire's provocative actions against the Chinese Army must not sit idly by. But in fact, it is difficult to say whether it was the Chinese army that provoked the imperial ** team. The current situation is that the government of China is increasing its troops in Manchuria, and violent actions against Japanese and anti-Japanese anti-Japanese goods, boycotting Japanese goods, and infringing on overseas Japanese have taken place in various cities of China. The Army saw these as an indication that the Chinese government had become determined to be an enemy of the Empire. The Army was determined to deal a heavy blow to the Chinese army in both Manchuria and the coastal areas of China, severely punish the brutal Chinese, and achieve the goal of securing Manchuria. And that would mean a state of total war for the Empire and China......"

"Is it true that the Prime Minister thinks the Army's actions are wrong?" Emperor Taisho frowned and asked.

"Of course, the opinions and feelings of the Army cannot be ignored, but the Army cannot put aside the political fǔ and act on its own." "The international environment facing the empire is very complicated, and the government is trying to get out of isolation and establish good relations with Western countries, especially Britain and the United States, and now if a war breaks out between the empire and China, it will surely become the enemy of the whole world." ”

Listening to Hara Kei's words, Emperor Taisho was silent for a while.

"Has Your Majesty decided to go to war on China?" Yuan Jing asked again.

"I want to hear the Prime Minister's opinion."

"The Cabinet believes that the time has come to immediately stop the build-up of troops to Manchuria and Siberia, to pursue a policy of not expanding the war, and to avoid stabbing the Anglo-American powers and Soviet Russia."

Hearing Hara Kei's answer, Emperor Taisho's face couldn't help but turn a little pale.

"In fact, given the isolated situation that the empire is facing now, whether it is a provocation by the Chinese army or not, the empire should not have taken any action to expand the situation, because behind the Chinese army, there is the support of Britain and the United States. According to reliable information, the China Navy has a total of 12 giant ships of more than 50,000 tons, all of which were built by the United States, and their combat power has surpassed that of our navy. If there is a slight setback in our navy in the event of a war, the more than 100,000 army forces in Siberia will be alone, and then it will be dangerous," Yuan Jing said with some anxiety, "I hope that the emperor can stop the army's actions with the world's billions of trillions of dollars."

"What does the Prime Minister want me to do? Let them say that I am wrong again? Emperor Taisho sighed and said.

Listening to Emperor Taisho's words, Yuan Jing was stunned at first, but he quickly understood that Emperor Taisho was telling the truth.

"Please ask the crown prince to come to the Imperial Treasury and wait for an audience, I will discuss with the crown prince," Emperor Taisho looked at Hara Kei and said calmly, "Prime Minister please step down first, the result of the deliberation and my decision, I will let the Imperial Minister inform you on my behalf, what does the Prime Minister think?" ”

Hara Kei silently bowed to Emperor Taisho, then turned and left.

At this time, Yuan Jing had already roughly guessed what the final result of this kind of deliberation would be.

Mukden, railway station.

The sound of gunfire gradually faded down, and a bleak full moon hung high in the air. The air was hot and pungent, and the burning embers flickered everywhere in the Japanese fortifications, and the smell of grain, rubber, wood, and burnt people wafted from some improvised positions.

Yoichi Takahashi struggled to his feet from the rubble.

It was a temporary fortification built from the station warehouse, and at this time most of the fortifications had collapsed, many bunkers had been razed to the ground by artillery fire, and a single Japanese artillery gun that had been blown up fell to the rubble. Takahashi endured the pain on his body and shouted a few times, and no one in the empty position answered him at all.

This means that the combat team he led may have all been "broken" with honor, and the heavy responsibility of holding the position has historically fallen on him alone.

Just a few days ago, Yoichi Takahashi, who was still a timber merchant, was told by the officers of the garrison that tens of thousands of squadrons would soon launch a full-scale attack on the Japanese army in Mukden City.

At that time, the number of Japanese expatriates living in Mukden was considerable, including bankers, merchants, investors, students, intellectuals, làng people, monks, hooligans, jinv, and all kinds of people. They have different occupations and identities, but they come from the same country and form a common force to enter the Chinese market. But the problem is that now that there is going to be a war, business will definitely not be done, Japan is a country with a tradition of patriotism and martial arts, so the fùnv and the old, weak, sick and disabled have been evacuated back to China, and the remaining thousands of Japanese overseas Chinese men have volunteered to stay behind to form a "self-defense force" and take up arms to assist the army in fighting.

At first, the Japanese diaspora did not see this as a partial confrontation with a huge disparity in strength.

For a long time, due to the deliberate propaganda of the government and some non-governmental organizations, the squadron has been shaped into the image of the world's most incompetent army in the minds of the Japanese, and in the impression of the Japanese, a few hundred soldiers of the Japanese Empire can defeat the squadron of tens of thousands of people.

Although Japan lost the local war with China in 1915, this impression did not change. Because in that war, the Japanese army caused the attacking squadron to pay heavy casualties, and if it were not for the outbreak of the plague, Japan would probably have defeated China at that time.

But this time, things seem to have changed.

The squadrons that came to attack were well-equipped and had high morale, and it can be said that they had taken advantage of the advantages of time, place, and people, and they carried out ferocious attacks like a flood day and night, giving the Japanese Self-Defense Forces on the defense an unprecedented horror. As far as the Japanese Self-Defense Forces were concerned, they were all amateur soldiers, and many of them had never been in a barracks, so they suffered heavy casualties as soon as the war began. Yoichi Takahashi, who had served in the Navy and was appointed as a squad leader, suffered more than half of his squad casualties in just two days. But the SDF members still encouraged each other to hold their ground.

"All our soldiers and civilians should be loyal and brave to kill the enemy, raise the prestige of our country, make great achievements, and forever record the glorious history of the empire"

I remember that day, Takahashi and the members of the Self-Defense Forces heard the "supreme instructions" of the Holy Emperor from the country, and Takahashi and his team looked up in the direction of Japan, and all of them shed tears.

On this very day, they fought valiantly for the emperor until "yù shattered", and not one of them retreated and fled.

There was a sudden, imperceptible tremor on the ground, as if a very heavy train was passing far away. But soon the sound gradually widened like ripples of water, and the ruins of the warehouse began to shake, and the roof supports let out a moan. Yoichi Takahashi shuddered as if he had woken up, and then leaned out of his cover to observe. ,

In the flickering light of the fire in the distance, a rumbling behemoth appeared

Takahashi's eyes widened, and he looked ahead, only to see that the figure of the other party looked like a small hill that would move in myths and legends. This was followed by the second and third towers...... As the metal tracks of the enemy tanks rolled closer, many monster-like enemy infantry were hiding behind the shadow of the tank, either crawling or jumping to follow.

Takahashi Yang pressed his face tightly against the cold bunker wall, and at this moment, all he could hear was the strong and powerful beating of his heart.

Yoichi Takahashi is 40 years old this year, he has been retired from the army for 10 years, he has a wife and children, and his family life is harmonious and happy. Although he was successful in business and very wealthy, in the subconscious of this former navy major, he never gave up the noble idea of being a hero of the empire.

In the eyes of a true Japanese soldier, death is not a pain but an honor. The enemy is right in front of you, either tǐng comes out and dedicates himself without hesitation, or pretends to be dead on the spot, and then sneaks out of the battlefield in the dark and picks up a life. In this last moment of life and death, Yoichi Takahashi did not hesitate, he despised death and admired honor. The Yamato people are a people who are not afraid of death, they believe in the god of bushido, and believe that death is not suffering but sublimation, so whether you are a professional soldier or not, you must be prepared to die to defend the honor of the Yamato nation. When the enemy approached, any thought of survival was shameful and guilty, so Takahashi Yoichi even secretly thanked the enemy for giving him the opportunity to complete the glorious deeds of serving the emperor and the imperial trust with a glorious "yù shatter".

He can't defeat a powerful enemy, but he will overcome himself.

For Japanese soldiers, the highest purpose of existence is to enter the Yasukuni Shrine, so there is no big difference between whether they live or die, the only difference is whether they can obtain this kind of recognition, because it is related to the honor or shame behind you.

Yoichi Takahashi, a retired Japanese military officer who "longs to serve the motherland", almost effortlessly overcame his inner fear, that is, he chose to abandon individual life and material forms. He took a deep breath of the spicy air of the battlefield, barely supporting his wounded and almost unconscious body, and then slammed into it the moment the enemy's first tank approached, steadily pulling the fuse on his explosive bag.

Yoichi Takahashi happily watched his life burn rapidly in the fire of the sneering fuse......