On the battlefield, time holds no meaning; days slip away in the blink of an eye.
By April 1943, Guadalcanal had fallen entirely into American hands, and the Japanese had lost all hope of retaking it.
Yet the thing that brought Liu Ren the greatest joy every day was ordering large-scale artillery barrages. After all, the shells were manufactured by his own company and cost him nothing, so it was only natural to send the Japanese a few little daily "gifts."
Under this relentless pounding, the Japanese forces were rapidly coming apart. Combat casualties alone had exceeded twenty-four thousand, to say nothing of the nine thousand listed as missing.
After sending repeated appeals to Imperial General Headquarters, Harukichi Hyakutake finally recognized that they had completely lost control of the Solomon Islands.
Yet just as the Japanese prepared to evacuate their ten thousand surviving soldiers, Liu Ren launched an offensive.
He had caught wind of a piece of intelligence: the classified plan for an impending airstrike against "Sugimoto."
Learning that the American air forces were already fully prepared, Liu Ren said, his eyes gleaming, "Tell Alexander that our Special Operations Brigade is advancing the front line. We're going to keep squeezing the Japanese out of their living space!"
Hearing his words, Howard immediately said, "If we push any further forward, those bastards will be forced straight into the ocean!"
"That's exactly where I want them!"
A cold smile tugged at Liu Ren's lips as he brought his hand down on the table with a firm smack.
Before long, word arrived that "Sugimoto" had come under American air attack. Liu Ren roared at once, "Quick! Order the heavy cruisers to open fire! Get the cannon and howitzer battalions moving, too!"
Under standard organization, a US heavy artillery battalion had at most twelve guns. Liu Ren's heavy artillery battalions were entirely different: each possessed twenty-four artillery pieces.
Furthermore, the artillery battalions formed the largest share of manpower across the entire Special Operations Brigade, accounting for two-fifths of all troops—because he commanded five full heavy artillery battalions!
If Liu Ren ordered his infantry to take an enemy position, they might not overrun it quickly. But if he gave the order to level a position, they could absolutely turn it to rubble in ten minutes. His brigade was notorious for having an absurd amount of artillery.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
With nearly a hundred artillery pieces across five battalions roaring in unison, the sky turned instantly pitch-black as iron fell like a torrential downpour.
*Crash! Crash! Crash!*
Explosions echoed one after another. The Japanese, already crammed into an agonizingly narrow strip of ground, were plunged into utter misery.
There were no trees left around them to offer concealment; the area had already been pounded virtually flat by the Special Operations Brigade's shells.
*Rumble! Rumble!*
Listening to the rolling thunder of the barrage, Alexander Vandegrift couldn't help but frown. "Has that fellow Liu started sending the Japanese his daily gifts again?"
Beside him, an aide stifled a chuckle. After all, this had practically become part of the daily routine on Guadalcanal.
Then, hearing that the Special Operations Brigade was advancing, Alexander asked in surprise, "Damn it, what is Liu doing now?"
"Lieutenant General, the Special Operations Brigade intends to keep compressing the Japanese perimeter!" the aide hurried to explain.
Hearing that, Alexander simply shrugged. "Oh, shit. Never mind, let him do as he pleases!"
Thinking back on how Liu Ren had relentlessly hunted down and slaughtered Japanese troops ever since arriving in the Pacific theater, what else could Alexander say? Stop him? What a joke. In the Marine Division, who didn't know that this man was the true god of wealth?
He merely had a taste for slaughter; it wasn't as though he worshipped Satan. What was so wrong with that?
"For His Majesty the Emperor—*banzai!*"
Hysterical screams erupted as Japanese soldiers charged wildly forward, desperate to use raw fanatical courage against the storm of fire.
Yet before they could advance more than a few paces, the sweeping metal storm shredded right through them.
Watching the Japanese collapse in pools of blood, their faces twisted in despair, Liu Ren lowered his binoculars and sneered. "Fools. What era do you think this is? You still believe courage wins wars?"
Remembering his fellow countrymen back in the homeland who had faced advanced Japanese weaponry with nothing but old Hanyang rifles and battered arms, Liu Ren gritted his teeth. "Now, you bastards had better show that same iron will!"
With that, Liu Ren picked up the walkie-talkie. "Recalibrate bearings. Maintain rapid fire—creeping barrage!"
As soon as the command left his mouth, the torrential downpour in the sky, which had barely paused, resumed with a deafening roar.
Watching the Japanese get torn to pieces amid the exploding shells, Liu Ren's expression remained utterly stone-cold.
Just as he had always said, he came here for one reason: to wipe them all out.
A few days later in Rabaul, when Harukichi Hyakutake learned that the navy had managed to evacuate fewer than two thousand soldiers, he nearly spat blood in rage.
They had deployed forty thousand men to reinforce Guadalcanal, yet fewer than two thousand had returned alive...
And even those two thousand were maimed and broken, completely unfit for future combat.
"Damn it, what rotten luck. How did those bastards manage to slip away?"
Gazing out over the ocean, Liu Ren's expression darkened.
Yet just as he was fuming, the field telephone buzzed.
"What? Call off the attack on Rabaul?"
Hearing the news from Alexander, Liu Ren frowned deeply.
Although he had known all along that Allied high command would choose to bypass the hard nut of Rabaul, anger still flared within him.
A hundred thousand Japanese troops were garrisoned on that island. Who knew how many of them had the blood of his countrymen on their hands?
"Yes, this is the decision reached after headquarters reviewed the situation," Alexander explained. He knew Liu Ren wielded tremendous influence not only within theater command, but even back in the Pentagon and the White House. "A protracted campaign on Rabaul would be unwise."
Listening to the explanation, Liu Ren kept his brows furrowed. "An island-hopping strategy is fine. But I need two bombers to drop Silver Rock Arms' latest weapon on that island!"
"No, Liu! Doing that violates international conventions!"
Alexander tensed instantly at his request. No one knew better than they did what Silver Rock Arms was secretly developing: terrifying, experimental agents.
"To hell with conventions! Alexander, carry out my request right this second! Do as I say, and I guarantee that by the end of this damn war, you'll be a four-star general and Commandant of the Marine Corps!"
Speaking to Alexander, Liu Ren showed not the slightest hint of compromise in his eyes.
Across the ocean, preaching high-minded principles accomplished nothing. You had to bring raw interest and political leverage to the table.
The Silver Rock Group possessed more than enough clout to fulfill Alexander's ambitions, and Alexander had to deliver his side of the bargain in return.
"You said it—to hell with conventions! I'll have them prepped for you immediately!"
Alexander hung up the phone and buried his face in his hands. This was nothing short of making a pact with the devil. But the chips Liu Ren put on the table were an offer he simply couldn't refuse.
A few days later, the island-hopping campaign got underway, effectively isolating the Japanese forces on Rabaul. Cut off from all supply lines, they were encircled from every direction.
In history, these Japanese troops had managed to survive through sheer tenacity, growing their own crops and vegetables on the island to become self-sufficient until the end of the war, after which they were repatriated.
Did Liu Ren intend to stand by and watch them survive? Not a chance.
*Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!*
The heavy thrum of bombers echoed across the skies over Rabaul as an overwhelming carpet-bombing began.
And this was not the end, only the beginning. From now until the war's conclusion, unless they burrowed deep into the earth, this entire island would be scorched down to absolute barren ground.
Chapter 65