After nightfall, Injiro hitched a ride on a truck returning to Yokohama's supply depot from the Otomo troop position. As the truck drove out of its shelter and onto the road, Injiro, who was sitting on the body, saw the flames soaring into the sky in the distance.

"Tokyo is burning again," Injiro shook his head.

At this time, one of the wounded soldiers lying in the car bed said: "If we were still part of the Ming Empire, the Yankees would definitely not dare to fight like this." ”

No one answered, so Injiro took off his old top hat and played with it in his hand.

After dark, the ruins that kept passing by the roadside looked very eerie. Except for the distant fire, the whole land was dark, and there was not even the slightest feeling of inhabitation.

This has nothing in common with the night in Kanto that Injiro remembers, and it has become a completely strange place.

Injiro has always been able to speak well, after all, as a small trader, his mouth is the capital of life. But now in the face of this situation, he was speechless for a while.

A carload of people arrived at the supply base in Yokohama in silence.

The supply base was busy, and the rough shouts of the sergeant major could be heard everywhere, and the soldiers, at the urging of the sergeant major, ran desperately to deliver supplies to the empty trucks, and then rushed to the newly arrived trucks to help unload the trucks.

Injiro jumped out of the car and stood blankly in the middle of the busy crowd, if it was usual, he would definitely come forward and enthusiastically want to help out, but now he has no idea of doing so at all. He just stared at the busy soldiers, the howling sergeant majors, and the numb faces of the wounded who had been casually thrown under the outer walls of the buildings and left unattended.

Finally, Injiro raised his hand, put on his old top hat, turned around and bowed to the driver of the supply truck that had brought him, and walked towards the outside of the supply depot.

After walking on the night road, Injiro felt inexplicably sentimental, shook his head, and continued on his way home through the burning Tokyo.

**

Tokyo, Katsushika area.

Hibiki returned from outside the house and reported to Kamihime-sama, "The Americans have retreated. ”

"Then hurry up and contact the nearest army and send me back to Hachioji!" Lady Kamihime said so.

Hibiki sighed.

"Even if you go back, you won't have any magic armor to use."

"Wordy! If that's the case, I'll drive the wheeled armor used by the battle queen and go to the coast to meet the landing force of the Americans! ”

Hibiki looked at Lady Kamihime and finally made up her mind. She didn't know where she got her courage, she only knew that she didn't want to let the petite Shenji in front of her as if she was her sister be sent to death in vain.

So she said to Mistress Shenji, "Then I'll go and contact the troops, and before I leave, please drink some porridge to replenish your strength." ”

Michi-sama nodded, and Hibiki exited the house and brought in the porridge and side dishes that had been prepared in the hallway outside the door.

Normally, Kamiki wouldn't eat this kind of food that hasn't been tested, but now that the situation is limited, Kamihime-sama probably can't care about that much. Like a sick child, she obediently ate the gruel that Hibiki fed her.

After eating a bowl of porridge, Hibiki put down the bowl and spoon, bowed to Lady Shinhime, and said, "Then, my lord, I will go to contact the army." ”

"Well, go and come back quickly, stay safe." With that, Lady Kamihime let out a long yawn.

Hibiki stepped back and left the room with a tray of empty bowls.

After closing the door, Hibiki went to the first floor, and Sakura, who had taken them in, was waiting for Hibiki in the entrance on the first floor.

"Is that really good, isn't that Lady Shinhime?" Sakura looked worried.

Hibiki smiled at Sakura and said, "You can see the condition of Miji-sama, she can't fight anymore, and even if she wants to fight, we don't have any weapons that can be used for her, and she will only lose her life if she goes back." So, let's let her sleep peacefully for some time after the war, and when the war is over, I will apologize to her. ”

"Sounds like the war is coming to an end?" Sakura keenly pointed out, "Are we going to win?" Can ......"

"Doesn't look like it, does it? Yes, we can't win, but the war is really coming to an end, because we will soon be defeated. ”

Hibiki calmly said the sentence that made Sakura smell and change color, and seeing Sakura's panicked appearance, she smiled and comforted: "Don't worry, Tegaoke probably won't have the time to take care of us now, and after the war, Tegaoke can't exist anymore." ”

"This—That's it......"

"Now, Sakura, I have a question for you," Hibiki said with a serious expression, "Everyone in the neighborhood has fled, why would you stay here alone?" ”

"Actually, when the evacuation order was given, I fled to Saitama with the elderly and children at home." Sakura smiled at Hibiki, "I only came back here after settling them in." ”

"For what?"

"My brother sent a letter to his family before the war, saying that he would rush home before the war, and I can't leave an empty house for my brother, right?"

Hibiki raised her eyebrows, and the expression on her face showed a slight interest: "You have an older brother?" ”

"Yes, but he ran away from home because of a quarrel with his father, and it is said that he lived as a small merchant in various places, and from time to time he would send me something from the post office, and I have received letters stamped with the postmarks of various places over the years. Not long ago, my father and mother passed away one after another, and my brother seemed to know the news through the fellow villagers' association, so he planned to come back to pay tribute to the two old men. He said that the letter to return had arrived before the evacuation order was issued, and it appeared that there had been a considerable delay in the mailing process. ”

Hibiki said, "Even if he originally planned to come back, he wouldn't have come to Tokyo in this case, right?" ”

"Yes," Sakura sighed softly, "but my brother is a very stubborn man, and I always think that he may be desperate to return here despite the war." If he hadn't been so stubborn, he wouldn't have run away from home back then. ”

Sakura paused and continued: "My father is also a stubborn person, and over the years, many bourgeoisie have come to buy my family's printing shop and real estate, but he just doesn't agree. On the surface, there are a lot of big truths, but in fact, my mother and I both know that he is afraid that after selling the property, he will not be able to receive the things sent back by his brother. Because my brother is wandering around, there is no way to tell him about our family's change of address. ”

Hibiki looked at Sakura's face, and her expression relaxed.

She was worried that Sakura was a spy planted in Tokyo by some country, but now it seems that there is no such possibility, she is just an ordinary Tokyo citizen, who resolutely stays here for the sake of her family, and is not even afraid of the heavy artillery of the Americans.

At this moment, Hibiki felt a slight warmth in her heart - it was clear that it was terrifyingly cold in the room at this time because she couldn't make a fire.

Hibiki sighed and muttered softly, "War is such a thing, it's really a bastard." ”

Sakura didn't say anything about Hibiko's exclamation, but her expression already showed what she was thinking.

**

In the early morning of the next day, the battle unfolded somewhat differently than the Japanese expected, and the American forces did not enter the bay of Tonkin again, but left some warships outside the bay, and the main force of the fleet moved south along the bay.

It seems that the Americans believe that Japan's Shenki power is no longer enough to fear, and is ready to continue to destroy Japan's last bit of war potential. In addition, the observation post outside Tokyo Bay reported that the American battleship remaining outside Tokyo Bay had been observed to take off from the Kamiki in the morning, but the Kamiki lingered in the air for a while before landing on the ship.

There is no doubt that in this way, the Americans told the Japanese that there was a god in the fleet left behind, and you could think of a surprise attack.

The members of the Emperor's Imperial Council had a heated dispute over the matter, and some believed that this was obviously a suspicious ploy by the Yankees, but in fact, the fleet left behind outside Tokyo Bay was not equipped with a god queen at all, and his own god queen had already seized the opportunity to take the initiative.

But after the debate reached the extreme, the emperor still did not make up his mind to take the initiative.

In fact, the Americans really left Helen and Luna outside Tokyo Bay, Helen's armor needed about thirty hours of repair time, and Luna's mental power was seriously damaged, but because the U.S. military originally expected her armor to be seriously damaged, they made additional preparations, so her armor instead Helen's magic armor completed the preparation first.

Therefore, early in the morning, Helen drove Luna's armor around the sky, deliberately letting the Japanese see clearly, in order to deter the Japanese and win time for the American army to repair the armor and rest.

But in fact, even if the Japanese Shenji attacked, Helen and Luna's current condition would be enough to deal with it - the Japanese Shenhime's armor repair condition is definitely worse than that of the Americans, and the two sides are on the same running line in terms of fatigue, and neither has an advantage.

Before the main U.S. fleet headed south, it used artillery to entertain both sides of the exit of Tokyo Bay, and in addition to Yokosuka, which had been bombed many times, the southern part of the Boso Peninsula, which was not highly industrialized, and Miura on the west side of the bay also suffered.

A cruiser fleet of Americans also penetrated deep into Sagami Bay and shelled coastal cities that had been relatively calm since the start of the war.

The main force of the U.S. fleet headed southwest to Nagoya.

The U.S. fleet had no intention of hiding its movements at all, so it went south in front of the observation posts along the coast, and when it encountered a civilian ship suspected of being a Japanese reconnaissance ship, it would signal with a light signal, "Our ultimate goal is to blow up Kure City," and ask "where the arrogant Japanese Navy is."

And Emperor Hirohito and his important ministers of the Imperial Council also had nothing to do with this fleet, because the main force of the navy had already taken the initiative to attack according to the plan of the Kuroshima Kameto, and the army warriors did not dare to move this fleet at all, because the ships of US President Charlotte Roosevelt were in this southward fleet.

In the unlikely event that Charlotte and this main force went south together, dispatching the battle queen to attack the fleet would be tantamount to sending her to death.

This war has been fought so far, and there is no suspense left.