What Prisoners? Have You Seen Any? I Sure Haven't!

Hawaii. The battered harbor of days past was undergoing emergency repairs. Compared to MacArthur, who would be endlessly analyzed by later generations, Chester Nimitz was undeniably exceptional in his tactical command. At Midway, he had completely crushed the Imperial Japanese Navy's ambitions. At the cost of a single carrier and a cruiser sunk, he had broken four Japanese aircraft carriers—*Akagi*, *Kaga*, *Hiryu*, and *Soryu*—along with a heavy cruiser, over three hundred aircraft, and more than three thousand casualties. American losses, by contrast, were less than a tenth of that. With the battle over, the officers raised their glasses together in celebration. Sitting at the head of the table, Nimitz looked at Liu Ren. "Liu, where are the prisoners? Why didn't I see any numbers on the logistics roster?" "What prisoners? Have you seen any? I sure haven't!" Liu Ren looked back at Nimitz with an innocent, skeptical expression, then turned to Alexander. Hearing Liu Ren's words, Alexander quickly chimed in, "Admiral, the Japanese forces were exceedingly stubborn. Far from surrendering, they were screaming about an honorable death of jade shattered..." Looking between Liu Ren and Alexander, Nimitz's expression shifted from skepticism to grim resolve. "Fuck. In that case, there's no need for prisoners. Tell the Marines on the ground to stay sharp around those bastards!" Hearing Nimitz's command, Alexander and Liu Ren nodded in unison. "Yes, Admiral!" *** With the Battle of Midway concluded, the Pacific Fleet advanced rapidly toward Guadalcanal. Around August 6, the fleet was less than sixteen nautical miles from the island. "Prepare to land!" Liu Ren ordered his men, his expression hardening. As the amphibious landing craft were lowered into the water one after another, the roar of their engines tore through the morning haze. The Japanese forces stationed on Guadalcanal immediately caught wind of the operation and bellowed, "They're here! The enemy is here!" Soldiers who had been resting scrambled into the trenches, frantically organizing a counterattack. Yet when the amphibious landing craft were still less than two nautical miles from the shoreline, they opened fire. *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Hundreds of howitzer shells ripped through the sky and slammed down on the defensive lines, setting off an ear-splitting cascade of explosions. As Guadalcanal was lit up in an instant, blooming with flowers of death, Nimitz held his binoculars and remarked, "That really is terrifying firepower." "Isn't that a good thing for us?" Alexander said, raising an eyebrow at Nimitz. Shouldering their Gatling guns, the Orc Lads broke into gleeful grins. "Fight! Fight! Waaagh!" Watching the Orc Lads draped in countless belts of ammunition, Howard asked in shock, "Are they really human?" "Doesn't look like it to me," Forrest said meaningfully, frowning. All that gear easily added up to nearly two hundred jin, yet those brutes could still sprint around like that. They were pure monsters. *Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom!* Under the relentless rain of artillery, the amphibious landing craft soon hit the shore. Next came close-quarters combat. To Liu Ren, that was hardly bad news. Armed only with their Type 99 short rifles, how could the Japanese possibly stand against a brigade armed to the teeth? Garands were merely standard issue; every single squad was also equipped with Maxim machine guns, Thompson submachine guns, and Bazooka rocket launchers. "Waaagh!" With an ecstatic roar, an Orc Lad hoisted his Gatling gun and sprayed lead wildly into the distant jungle. As the dense storm of bullets swept across the treeline, thick trunks and men alike were cut in half in the blink of an eye. "Bring up the field howitzers! Move, move, move!" Amid the shouting, logistics vessels carrying weapons and ammunition pulled up fast. As they were organizing the equipment, the Japanese counterattack began. When roaring shells fell from the sky, many soldiers threw themselves flat onto the ground. Yet the moment the Japanese opened fire without reserve, the heavy cruisers in the rear swung their main batteries around and commenced a heavy bombardment of Guadalcanal. After all, a military operation could fail, but if Liu Ren were killed, hell would break loose. The only reason the heavy cruisers were anchored here was to cover the landing of the 1st Marine Division's combat brigade. *Boom!* Shells tore into the forested hills, instantly igniting raging fires. Listening to the deafening thunder, Liu Ren couldn't resist roaring, "Goddamn right—big ships and giant cannons are a man's true romance! Hahaha!" "Fight! Good! Waaagh!" Infected by Liu Ren's excitement, the Orc Lads charged forward even more maniacally. "Wait, what the hell are you idiots doing?!" Watching the Orc Lads plunge headlong into the jungle, Liu Ren froze. He had only found those five after the Battle of Midway, and at the time, they had been brawling over whose neck they were going to snap. Liu Ren: *Good news, the Orc Lads' combat power is off the charts. Bad news, they don't listen to orders!* Orc Lads: *What're ya babblin' about? Waaagh!* *** The jungle warfare on Guadalcanal was underway. The soldiers advanced rapidly, calling for rear-line support the moment they hit any resistance. With firepower vastly superior to that of the Japanese, Liu Ren had no intention of engaging in a bayonet fight. An ordinary commander might not have had the clout to summon heavy cruiser fire-support on a whim, but whenever Liu Ren spotted a reinforced bunker, he got on the line with the cruisers immediately. How much did a single shell cost, anyway? Liu Ren wasn't just paying double; he was handing out greenbacks to every sailor in the fleet. Facing a patron of such staggering wealth, what could the sailors on the cruisers say? They simply swung their guns around and fired! "Commander! There are Japanese holed up in the cave ahead! Should we storm it?" a young soldier with a soot-blackened face hurried back to ask. Hearing this, Liu Ren looked at him in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? You want to throw away our brothers' lives? Storm what? Toss in Reagent No. 3!" Liu Ren's face twisted into a savage scowl. Hearing that, Howard asked in shock, "Reagent No. 3? What's that?" "A blessing from God that spares people from suffering!" Without further explanation, Liu Ren patted Howard on the shoulder. A soldier gingerly stepped forward in protective gear, retrieved Reagent No. 3 from a crate, and threw it straight into the cave. Seeing this, the other soldiers scrambled back in panic, setting up a perimeter of overlapping fields of fire outside. Seconds ticked by, and before long, blood-curdling shrieks like those of vengeful ghosts erupted from within the cavern. As the thrashing Japanese soldiers burst out of the entrance, the young soldier immediately barked, "Flamethrowers!" *Whoosh! Whoosh!* Roaring flames engulfed the Japanese soldiers, reducing them to charred husks in an instant. As more and more Japanese poured out, the Gatling and Maxim guns opened fire simultaneously, creating a terrifying wall of death. "War is fought with brains, not brute courage. If you can carpet-bomb the ground, why risk your neck? Right?" Liu Ren patted the young soldier on the shoulder, a meaningful smile on his face. For the sake of World War II, his conglomerate was capable of pouring tens of thousands of tons of shells onto the battlefield in a single day. Listening to the despairing howls and agonizing screams, Liu Ren held a cigarette between his fingers and chuckled. "Now that's more like it. If they didn't scream, I'd have thought they were mute. Hahaha!" Looking at Liu Ren in horror, cold sweat broke out all over Howard and Forrest. Did Gatsby really need them to protect a guy like this? Compared to the demons in hell, the Liu Ren standing right in front of them seemed far more terrifying.