Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Ambition of Soshin Yamaguchi

The allied forces retreated to the Kaiping region. Of the 38 warships involved, including those that had shelled the southern shore batteries, only 21 managed to escape; in a single day, 17 warships of various classes were lost. The losses in manpower were even more horrifying. Of the more than four thousand soldiers, only about two thousand six hundred returned. Many of the survivors were so traumatized that they muttered about wanting to go home, calling for their mothers.

"So, you're saying the initial assault went smoothly, but then some kind of weapon, the likes of which we'd never seen, decimated your forces in a matter of moments?" Waldersee inquired about the situation.

Alfred von Waldersee, Field Marshal of the German Army, was the overall commander of the allied land offensive.

"It wasn't just that we were routed; we had no power to resist at all. That weapon could fly in the sky, smaller than a sparrow. Our weapons couldn’t touch it. But once a soldier was hit by the beam it fired, he would vanish into thin air," a French colonel recalled with a shudder the scene he had witnessed in broad daylight.

"Ridiculous! Beams of light can kill people?" an English major general sneered.

"It was holy light—like the Judgment of the Angels—capable of purifying all the filth of the world! We've offended the gods of the East; the Eastern gods have acted! Dammit, we should never have come to this cursed place!" an Italian officer cried out loudly.

They had originally come hoping to profit with minimal effort, sending only a small contingent: eighty marines, five army soldiers, and two warships.

Edward, the Italian naval commander, had only two ships at his disposal and so entrusted them to British command, taking the opportunity to cozy up to the British on their flagship, hoping to claim a larger share of the spoils should victory be achieved.

When Lin Lei launched his counterattack, both Italian warships were destroyed, but Edward himself narrowly escaped with his life.

Of the original eighty-five Italian soldiers, only six remained now, and Edward was finally overcome with terror.

"Hmph! If the East truly had gods, they’d have appeared sixty years ago! If you’re so afraid, go crawl back to Italy!" the British major general continued to mock.

After all, the British had taken the heaviest losses in this campaign; if they couldn't exact revenge, the honor of the Empire upon which the sun never sets would be irreparably tarnished.

"Enough! No more bickering! What matters now is whether our soldiers were captured or killed," Marshal Waldersee interrupted.

If they were merely captured, there was still room to maneuver—prisoners of war could be ransomed through negotiation, and once the enemy’s weapons were understood, they could strike back. But if they were all killed, then the reputations of all the involved nations would suffer, and even if the war became more difficult, they would have no choice but to continue, even if it meant sending in more troops.

However, no one could answer this question. The battlefield had been utter chaos; every nation’s soldiers had fled for their lives, and no one dared return to investigate.

"We’ll do this: tomorrow morning, we’ll send someone to negotiate with Luo Rongguang, the commander at Dagu, to find out whether our soldiers are alive. If possible, we should also try to discover what sort of weapon they used. Qing officials are usually quite amenable to bribery," Waldersee proposed holding back the forces for now.

"Your Excellency, while we negotiate, we must also apply sufficient pressure. I believe the army should keep advancing to create a sense of urgency; otherwise the Qing officials will never yield," a Japanese lieutenant general interjected.

During the earlier naval battle, the Japanese fleet had rushed ahead and, after destroying the Left Camp battery, immediately redirected their fire at the secondary battery. Due to the other allies intentionally excluding them, the Japanese marines were denied the chance to "claim victory," so when Lin Lei counterattacked, the Japanese managed to escape with minimal losses.

Among the allied powers, Japan had committed the most troops but was consistently marginalized and had little say. Now, with the other nations clearly showing fear, the Japanese general saw his chance to assert influence.

"If you’re not afraid to die, you go. I’ll order my men to stay put," the French colonel refused to stick his neck out.

Having had their already paltry numbers further decimated by Lin Lei’s counterattack, the French were in no shape for heroics.

"General Yamaguchi, you can see for yourself—the allied troops' morale is at rock bottom. Far from intimidating the Qing, we might instead reveal our own weakness," Waldersee remarked.

It was obvious he had no intention of sending his own men to lead the charge.

Lieutenant General Yamaguchi, full name Yamaguchi Motonori, was the third commander of the renowned Japanese Fifth Division, the Itagaki Division, and the main force of the allied expedition, fielding as many as twenty thousand soldiers.

"This time, let my Fifth Division take the lead! Even if, as Mr. Edward claims, this strange weapon is the work of Eastern gods—what of it? The Empire of Japan is itself an Eastern empire. Whether it was the war with the Qing five years ago or this campaign, the goddess Amaterasu has always protected us. The Qing’s so-called immortals are nothing to fear!" Yamaguchi declared with confidence.

Their fortunate escape from the previous naval battle had gone to Yamaguchi’s head, convincing him that Amaterasu herself was shielding the empire.

The other allied commanders exchanged glances. Finally, Waldersee spoke: "Very well, we leave it to you, General Yamaguchi."

At this point, so long as their own men weren’t in the vanguard, glory or no glory was irrelevant.

"Rest assured, gentlemen! The Fifth Division is the Empire’s most elite unit and will see this mission through to the end!" Yamaguchi was overcome with excitement.

This was an opportunity to win fame for the Empire; exerting pressure on the Dagu defenders was merely secondary. Yamaguchi’s real aim was to seize the Dagu fortifications in a single stroke.

The earlier disastrous defeat had left the allied camp demoralized, so they had no choice but to rest for a night before resuming their march at dawn.

Around three in the morning, the deepest hour of human sleep, Lin Lei, who had waited patiently, silently drew near the allied encampment.

He unleashed the Judicators, using the cover of night to eliminate sentries and patrols, then pressed forward into the camp, killing as he advanced and using his divine sense to gather food, weapons, ammunition, and other supplies.

A silent massacre played out in Kaiping town. Large numbers of allied soldiers were killed in their sleep by drones, leaving behind only charred holes in their beds.

The silent slaughter lasted for an hour and a half. When a quarter of the high-energy crystals had been depleted, Lin Lei finally ordered a halt.

In this operation, over fifteen thousand allied soldiers were slaughtered, and vast quantities of supplies were seized, totaling more than seven hundred contribution points.

Aside from the high-ranking officers, fewer than nine thousand allied soldiers survived, and all their food, ammunition, and weapons—both light and heavy—were completely stripped away.

There were several reasons Lin Lei didn’t wipe them all out. First, it was to further terrify the Eight-Nation Alliance, especially the senior officers, who were the main culprits behind the invasion. Letting them die peacefully in their sleep would be too easy for them.

Second, Lin Lei had already earned enough contribution points to repay his war debts. Until the loan was repaid, any further earnings would be taxed at forty percent by the system. Having been burned by the system before, Lin Lei wasn’t about to do it any favors.

Third, the remaining soldiers’ value for recovery was low. The nine thousand or so unarmed survivors were worth less than a hundred contribution points; after the system’s cut, that left at most sixty in net profit, while the consumption of high-energy crystals was about thirty points.

In other words, even if he wiped out the remaining nine thousand soldiers, Lin Lei would net only about thirty points—not worth the effort for such meager profit.

Thus ended the account.