Zhao Yiyue, Chen Jiehua’s fellow Jiangsu native and close friend who had entered the infantry course in the same cohort as him, came looking for him!
The soul of the Chen Jiehua from 2024 who had transmigrated here had actually only gained control of this body after the soul of the Chen Jiehua from 1924 had left it. So the current Chen Jiehua did not, in fact, know Zhao Yiyue!
Because the 2024 Chen Jiehua did not have the memories of the 1924 Chen Jiehua!
Fortunately, the system gave him a prompt.
What a headache! A fellow townsman and childhood friend, admitted into the preparatory class in the same cohort—the two of them knew each other far too well! How was he supposed to resolve this crisis?
“The system recommends that the host ignore him and avoid him as much as possible. In any case, you must not kill him.”
“Mighty System, are you implying that I would consider killing him? If you hadn’t prompted me, I wouldn’t even have thought of it, all right!”
At the same time, Zhao Yiyue, standing opposite him, was extremely puzzled. The person before him felt very familiar. He should be Chen Jiehua! But the look in his eyes was obvious—he didn’t know me! That sense of distance wasn’t something he was putting on!
Chen Jiehua, who had been almost inseparable from Zhao Yiyue, had already been missing for two days. The school’s explanation was that he had left the campus on his own!
Zhao Yiyue knew they were trying to fool ghosts! They might be able to fool others, but they couldn’t fool me, Zhao Yiyue! If Chen Jiehua wanted to leave campus, he would tell me even if he were only going out to buy something!
The day before yesterday was the last time he had seen Chen Jiehua. At the time, he had only said one thing: he was going to talk with Aoki Seigen! After that, he had never appeared again!
If this person really wasn’t Chen Jiehua, then he was Aoki Seigen! In any case, no matter who he was, finding him should lead to answers!
As for who he really was, there was only one way to test it! Fight him!
Chen Jiehua and I are about the same level. He’s ranked twenty-third, I’m ranked twenty-first—we’re evenly matched. We’ve sparred countless times, and neither of us has had the upper hand!
But if the person opposite me is Aoki Seigen, then he’s ranked third overall, first in kendo. The gap in strength would be obvious!
Zhao Yiyue, decisive in action and never one to drag his feet, made up his mind and was about to step forward to attack when Chen Jiehua (Aoki Seigen) shouted him down!
“Private fighting is forbidden. Do you want to be thrown into confinement?” (Japanese) After Chen Jiehua finished speaking, he did not linger at all. He turned and quickly left!
He had no choice but to leave! It was obvious that the clever Zhao Yiyue had already thought of using combat to distinguish truth from falsehood! Though simple and crude, it was very effective!
The key point was that Chen Jiehua had already seen other students in the dormitory area getting up and coming out one after another, and some people were already casting puzzled looks in their direction!
If he didn’t run, they really might end up fighting! And once they fought, things would become even more impossible to salvage. His cover would be completely blown—the kind that couldn’t be stitched back together no matter how hard one tried!
He had to find a way to communicate with Zhao Yiyue and explain things as soon as possible, or at least appease him! Otherwise, Zhao Yiyue would remain a time bomb sooner or later!
Zhao Yiyue was stunned by Chen Jiehua’s fluent Japanese!
First, indeed, at the Army Academy, if cadets engaged in private fights early in the morning, the punishment would be severe. Moreover, the military law office had all sorts of methods; confinement was merely one of the least impressive tricks!
Second, this man spoke such fluent Japanese! That basically confirmed he was not Chen Jiehua!
But why was he in such a hurry to run? A guilty conscience? It seemed there was something hidden here! Could he have killed Chen Jiehua?! I need to find an opportunity to make contact with him in private and ask. I have to get to the bottom of this!
Next was the routine morning drill for everyone. Only after drill was over could they eat.
Chen Jiehua continued to follow Aoki Seigen’s memories. After taking breakfast, he went alone to the corner where “he” usually sat to eat.
This was also very important. A change in habits could easily become a flaw, so he had to minimize flaws as much as possible.
Zhao Yiyue was relatively far back in the food line. After getting his meal, he prepared to go find Aoki Seigen (Chen Jiehua), but when he saw that other people were already eating around him, he knew this was not a good time to go over. He could only look for another opportunity!
The morning class was tactics. A short teacher walked in, but Chen Jiehua’s whole body jolted!
In the upper left corner of his vision: Itagaki Seishiro. Simple and clear!
I know this guy. A war criminal!
Chen Jiehua’s eyes were filled with fervor. “System, can I kill this one?”
“The system recommends that the host first train yourself properly and develop yourself into a qualified agent before considering that.”
In Itagaki Seishiro’s eyes, the fervor in Chen Jiehua’s gaze was fervor directed at me! I swept my eyes around and saw fervor in the eyes of only this one student!
Yoshi! I’ll remember this one!
Putting that person aside for the moment, Itagaki Seishiro’s tactics class made use of many actual tactical cases from the recently concluded Russo-Japanese War. It had to be admitted that his tactics class was unconventional, bold in its variations, and because the cases came from real warfare, it was highly practical!
This was also an important reason why the Army Academy was esteemed by various countries and warlord armies in that era. Even the Whampoa Military Academy modeled its curriculum design after the Army Academy.
In class, Itagaki Seishiro interacted extensively with the students and called on four people—Aoki Seigen, Isomura Takeaki, Doi Akio, and Miyazaki Shuichi—to answer questions.
(Isomura Takeaki, Doi Akio, Miyazaki Shuichi—these people were all students of the Imperial Japanese Army War College in the original timeline at the time. Since I couldn’t find relevant names of Army Academy students, this book has made slight modifications for the needs of the plot. Readers, please don’t get hung up on it.)
After the day’s classes ended, neither Chen Jiehua nor Zhao Yiyue found a suitable opportunity to communicate. After Chen Jiehua calmed down, he still adopted the system’s suggestion: handle it coldly for the time being and avoid contact as much as possible!
In the following days, Zhao Yiyue also kept his patience and went through everything step by step—dormitory, drill ground, classroom, a three-point routine—studying and training seriously without making trouble for Chen Jiehua.
Every day, Chen Jiehua discreetly and cautiously increased his training volume. Using the more advanced training methods he knew from later generations, he quietly trained on his own. Only kendo was truly impossible; he really didn’t understand it! He could only refer to Aoki Seigen’s memories, imitate the form like drawing a gourd from a ladle, and practice blindly.
Finally, on the seventh day, November 6, the tactics instructor arranged a field combat exercise. Zhao Yiyue and Aoki Seigen were assigned to the same group. While they were on the way to the designated observation point in the field with two other teammates, Chen Jiehua deliberately fell down a dirt slope, and Zhao Yiyue seized the opportunity!
Zhao Yiyue very naturally asked the other two classmates to go ahead to the observation point and set things up, while he went down to help Aoki Seigen!
“Why have you been staring at me all this time?” Chen Jiehua asked in Japanese.
“I just want to know where you people took Chen Jiehua!”
“How would I know where he went! That day, after we fought, he stormed out in a huff, and I haven’t seen him since.”
“Don’t keep following me from now on!”
After Chen Jiehua finished speaking, he quickly got up, shook off Zhao Yiyue’s hand, and sprinted toward the destination!
Zhao Yiyue quickly followed behind him!
In Chen Jiehua’s mind, Nagatomo Tsugio was far too sinister! Even beneath the dirt slope, he could not let his guard down. What if a teacher or someone from the military law office was observing them with binoculars from somewhere out of sight?
I’m not that easy to fool. You think a few casual sentences are enough to send me away! Following behind, Zhao Yiyue’s suspicion of Aoki Seigen deepened even further!
Cautious, prudent, and diligently studying, Chen Jiehua did not know that his explanation had not only failed to dispel Zhao Yiyue’s doubts, but had instead deepened his suspicion!
Some plots, historical materials, characters, and so on in this novel refer to or may refer to the following books. They are only references, not plagiarism (3/3):
(19) The Longest Resistance, by Sa Su, Xiyuan Publishing House, 1st edition, June 2013;
(20) Collection of Materials on Modern Chinese History, Continued Series: The Sino-Japanese War 12, chief editor Qi Qizhang, Zhonghua Book Company, 1st edition, October 1996;
(21) Details of the War of Resistance Against Japan, by Wei Fenghua, Phoenix Publishing & Media Group, Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House, 1st edition, September 2012;
(22) Kazoku: The Rise and Fall of Japan’s Modern Nobility, by Yuji Odabe, translated by Huo Dongkun, Social Sciences Academic Press, 1st edition, January 2022;
(23) A Complete History of World War II, China Railway Publishing House Co., Ltd., 1st edition, April 2021;
Thanks are hereby given to all of them. If there is anything inappropriate, please contact me for deletion or revision.
Due to length, this was divided into three sections. The books and historical materials referenced by the author are all listed above, and they are all legitimate physical books.
Readers who have reached this point, please don’t overthink it. The author simply believes that publishing a book is not easy, and one should read and cherish it. Having drawn on other people’s books and cited the fruits of other people’s labor, recording, marking, and expressing thanks is the most basic courtesy.