On March 31, 1936, Tokyo City Councilor Kita Ikki was just three days shy of his 53rd birthday. After the Control Faction arrested Kita Ikki, they were actually quite "polite." There was no torture to extract a confession, nor were there intimidation or threats. They simply wanted Kita Ikki to admit that he had masterminded the "petition incident." Kita Ikki reckoned that after so many years of effort, the Control Faction was finally closing the net.

"If things go on like this, my time to die has probably come," Kita Ikki thought silently, indifferent to the interrogator's attitude.

The interrogator asked questions for a long time, but seeing Kita Ikki's absent-minded appearance, he also grew somewhat weary. Slamming the table fiercely, the interrogator raised his voice. Even though his gaze was scattered through the astigmatic lenses of his glasses, the interrogator's look was still very sharp. "Kita Ikki, do you admit your guilt?"

Being constantly pestered like a fly affecting his train of thought, Kita Ikki also got a bit annoyed. He replied with an unhappy tone, "Whether one is guilty or not, everyone has a different view. As a councilor, to interrogate me, you must first obtain the approval of the Diet and strip me of my councilor status. Otherwise, I am not subject to your control."

"Ha, haha." The interrogator sneered. "You are so disrespectful to the Emperor, inciting people with intentions detrimental to the Emperor. Why would we need the Diet's approval? Anyone can interrogate you."

This aggressive attitude made Kita Ikki even more certain of his judgment. He once again returned to an expression of undisturbed calm. Tactically, even if he couldn't counterattack, he at least had to disrupt the enemy's steps. If Kita Ikki showed the slightest sign of pleading guilty now, it would be giving the green light to the Control Faction.

Just as Kita Ikki had thought, after he was arrested and interrogated for two days, the news spread. As the ideological leader of the grassroots Imperial Way Faction, being taken away on trumped-up charges directly triggered the anger and unease of the Imperial Way Faction. After the Imperial Way Faction launched the action to petition the Emperor, they were also somewhat apprehensive inside. Not because they felt they had broken the law, or because they had any disrespectful thoughts towards the Emperor. In Japanese tradition, making a superior feel unhappy is a crime in itself. A phrase like "Where are your manners?!" is reason enough to kill someone.

However, the Emperor's unhappiness is not equivalent to the unhappiness of the high officials. The Imperial Way Faction realized what was happening at this time. The collusion between the Control Faction, the bureaucrats, and the financial magnates was becoming more and more obvious. The young Imperial Way Faction officers in the Imperial Guard Division were already completely clear about it. The military dictatorship that the Imperial Way Faction wanted to establish was a genuine military dictatorship.

Because the Control Faction was strictly investigating the soldiers who participated in the petition incident, the places where the Imperial Way Faction used to gather had been sealed off by people sent by the military headquarters. Therefore, the young Imperial Way Faction soldiers could only organize even more secret meetings. The young people at the meeting were all filled with rage. "We will absolutely never collude with the financial magnates! Those people in the Control Faction are the shame of soldiers!"

"They drove away the First Division and arrested Mr. Kita. What are they going to do next?"

"If only Mr. Kita had let us directly carry out 'Heaven's Punishment' on those traitors back then! If we had gotten rid of those people, how could we be in this passive situation today?"

The young people were filled with righteous indignation. However, the First Division had already been transferred north, and the Imperial Guard Division could not clap with one hand. Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki, Second Lieutenant Imaizumi Yoshimichi, and their comrades in the Imperial Guard Division were indignant, but their ranks were low, and they couldn't stir up anything major.

Amidst the bitter cursing, a person dressed as an ordinary soldier came in from outside. Even knowing that those guarding the outside were members of the Imperial Way Faction, given the tense situation in Tokyo now, the young soldiers in the room were all startled. Looking closely at the newcomer, everyone was even more surprised. The person was actually Captain Kono Hisashi of the First Division. He shouldn't be in Tokyo right now; he should be on his way north.

"Kono-kun! You..." The young man in the room stuttered a bit. The question in his heart had already turned into a guess, and the result of this guess was naturally, "The situation is about to change drastically!" Openly disobeying military orders was destined to face a severe court-martial. Captain Kono Hisashi's appearance was unlikely to be a personal decision.

Captain Kono Hisashi looked resolute. After scanning this group of young comrades, he slowly said, "In three days, at most three days, the situation will change. I came back this time just to ask you gentlemen, does the wish to save the Imperial State still exist?"

Hearing this, all the young officers of the Imperial Guard Division present felt their breathing and heartbeats accelerate simultaneously. Everyone's gaze fell on Captain Kono Hisashi's face. No superfluous words were needed; the young soldiers knew what choice they had to face.

***

On April 1st, Okamura Yasuji sat in his office, feeling somewhat restless. Logically speaking, the Control Faction had already seized the initiative in the situation. Now, all they had to do was remove the last few stumbling blocks, using the military headquarters and the assassinations by right-wing elements to get rid of a few people.

All these years, the Control Faction had been pretending to be polite with the Imperial Way Faction. It wasn't that the Control Faction genuinely wanted to form any alliance, but rather to use the assassinations by those hotheaded youths to intimidate the guys in the political circles. Who the Control Faction really wanted to unite with and tame were the big financial magnates; they had no intention of overthrowing the financial magnates like the Imperial Way Faction did. So, the Imperial Way Faction could act recklessly with passionate blood, but the Control Faction had no such plans.

The current situation seemed not bad. Chaos had begun, and the action of petitioning the Emperor had also been labeled as "plotting treason." Okawa Shumei, Mikami Taku, and others had also been incited. As long as the Imperial Way Faction carried out another radical action, everything could enter the final moment expected by the Control Faction. As one of the representative figures of the "Showa Warlords," Okamura Yasuji knew the Emperor's thoughts very well. The Emperor had long been extremely weary of the Imperial Way Faction's unauthorized actions.

Last year, when the Imperial Way Faction's figurehead Masaki Jinzaburo was removed from the post of Inspector General of Military Education, Emperor Showa had given great support in secret. He had long been dissatisfied with Masaki's dangerous influence on the young officers and had privately stated, "I have always hoped he would resign, but he wouldn't," and "He lacks even common sense." Ridiculously, the Imperial Way Faction hadn't figured out what was actually going on at all. They even shouted slogans like "The People's Emperor," not knowing that what the Emperor loathed most was this group of people from the Imperial Way Faction.

But Okamura Yasuji felt very uneasy in his heart. He pondered quietly for a good while before finding an answer that he couldn't say was correct or not. Kita Ikki had once preached the "Communist Manifesto" to the Control Faction. There was a sentence in it: "They accuse the bourgeoisie not so much because it has produced a proletariat, as because it has produced a revolutionary proletariat."

This sentence was like a curse to Okamura Yasuji. The Control Faction also didn't like the financial magnates, not just because the financial magnates held power, but because the financial magnates had caused complaints to fill the streets of Japan. Japan looked down on the lower classes because the lower classes had no power. But if the numerous lower classes really rose up in resistance, that was also something all the upper classes feared. If Kita Ikki only propagated his ideas among the upper classes, Okamura Yasuji and Nagata Tetsuzan could still tolerate him. But Kita Ikki strove to incite the people to fight for their own rights. Even if Kita Ikki restrained the Imperial Way Faction from taking radical actions, the Control Faction still had to arrest Kita Ikki when the time was not yet ripe.

Kita Ikki was the Control Faction's greatest enemy.

Just as Okamura Yasuji was feeling restless, an orderly came to report from outside, "The troops of the Ninth Division have arrived near Tokyo."

"Let them stand by there. I will go there to arrange their stationing," Okamura Yasuji replied. Sending away the orderly, Okamura Yasuji exhaled deeply. Things just kept coming one after another, but this was good too. Having work to do was always more relaxing than thinking about those troublesome matters.

Early in the morning on April 2nd, Okamura Yasuji took his guards to the advance troops of the Ninth Division. This major transfer was the biggest task for the Control Faction to complete their control over the military. According to the plan, the officers of the Imperial Way Faction would undergo a major transfer; those who should be transferred away would be transferred, and those who should be put into the reserves would be put into the reserves. This was Takahashi Korekiyo's order, and the Control Faction could push all the responsibility onto Prime Minister Takahashi Korekiyo.

Calculating future plans in his mind, Okamura Yasuji met Colonel Atobe, the person in charge of the Ninth Division's advance troops. Colonel Atobe very politely invited Okamura Yasuji to the command post. As soon as he entered the command post, Okamura Yasuji saw a person already waiting inside. It was Lieutenant Colonel Ando Teruzo, the Regimental Commander of the First Division who, according to the plan, should be in the Hokuriku region at this time.

Okamura Yasuji's reaction was quite sharp. He turned his head and wanted to rush out, but a person was already blocking the doorway. It was one of the capable generals of the Imperial Way Faction, Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa Saburo. Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa Saburo, who had served as a kendo instructor and was proficient in swordsmanship, held the hilt of his military sword, looking at Okamura Yasuji calmly. Okamura Yasuji's hand pressed on the handle of the pistol at his waist. Theoretically, if it came down to speed, he still had a chance to compete with Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa Saburo.

However, Okamura Yasuji was a soldier after all. A soldier's intuition reminded Okamura Yasuji that in the time it took to open the pistol holster and draw the gun, he would likely have already been cut down by Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa Saburo. In that split second of thought, Okamura Yasuji made the most rational choice. He let go of his hand on the holster.

A hint of a smile appeared on Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa Saburo's face. That was the smile unique to those who had absolute confidence in their own strength.

A burst of shouting and the sound of a brief scuffle came from outside. Moments later, only the muffled whimpering sounds characteristic of humans being gagged remained outside. Okamura Yasuji's guards had already been subdued.

Lieutenant Colonel Ando Teruzo took a few steps forward. "Okamura-kun, you'd better surrender."

Showing no reaction to the persuasion to surrender, Okamura Yasuji urgently calculated in his mind what exactly the Imperial Way Faction wanted to do. After a moment of silence, he asked calmly, "Lieutenant Colonel Ando, do you want to become a traitor to the country?"

Ando Teruzo replied in the same calm voice, "If Okamura-kun thinks that letting His Majesty the Emperor listen to the voices of the common people is treason, then I can only say that you are the traitor."

Okamura Yasuji was smart enough. He quickly understood Ando Teruzo's meaning. Now, even the usually calm Okamura Yasuji's voice began to tremble. "You want to kidnap the Emperor?"

"We just want to lift your imprisonment of the Emperor!" Lieutenant Colonel Ando Teruzo corrected Okamura Yasuji's words.

Okamura Yasuji looked seriously into Ando Teruzo's eyes. In that calm gaze, Okamura Yasuji saw great determination. There was no need to ask more. The First Division had been transferred away, but the radicals within the First Division and the Imperial Way Faction within the Ninth Division had already joined forces. Currently, the only defense force remaining in Tokyo was the Imperial Guard Division. And judging by the recent performance of the Imperial Guard Division, there were quite a few unreliable people inside as well.

As the person in charge of intelligence work, Okamura Yasuji knew that the shooting and suppression of the petitioning common people on February 26th had given many people in the Imperial Guard Division a huge shock. If it had been suppressing Rice Riots, these soldiers probably wouldn't have blamed themselves too much. But those shot were all unarmed common people. No matter how the military headquarters claimed those people intended to harm the Emperor, the soldiers knew that in the subsequent search, nothing that could be called a "weapon" other than small flags was found. The questioning voices within the Imperial Guard Division were not small, and the scope was extremely large.

If the First Division, the Ninth Division, and the Imperial Guard Division coordinated from inside and outside... Okamura Yasuji simply didn't believe that these desperadoes of the Imperial Way Faction would let the people of the Control Faction off the hook.

Thinking of this, Okamura Yasuji finally made a move. Okamura Yasuji suddenly reached out to touch his gun, not to shoot these people, but to fire a warning shot. As long as a gunshot was heard, it could at least trigger some alarm.

In the instant he just opened the holster, Okamura Yasuji only felt a cold sensation thrust straight into his heart from his back. Looking down, Okamura Yasuji saw a section of a military sword protruding from his chest, a faint layer of red on the snow-bright blade. Then, black clouds appeared at the edge of Okamura Yasuji's vision, and the black clouds moved from the outside in, rapidly obscuring his entire field of view.

In the last moment before his consciousness vanished, Okamura Yasuji heard voices conversing as if from a very distant place. "Prepare to move out! Rescue the Emperor!"

***

The crimson stain was expanding. Nagata Tetsuzan watched the red ink from the bottle he had accidentally knocked over expanding constantly on the paper. He hurriedly pulled out the list he had already written. Fifteen years ago, Nagata Tetsuzan, Okamura Yasuji, and Obata Toshishiro had an audience with the current Emperor Hirohito in Baden-Baden, Germany. The "Three Crows of Baden-Baden" immediately formed an alliance, swearing to overthrow the power of the Choshu clique elders like Tanaka Giichi, the backbone of the army, and support the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne.

After fifteen years, the Three Crows of Baden-Baden had split among themselves. Obata Toshishiro was excluded because he held the ideals of the Imperial Way Faction. Nagata Tetsuzan and Okamura Yasuji continued to advance, only one step away from final success. Once everyone on this Imperial Way Faction list in front of Nagata Tetsuzan was cleared out of the military headquarters, Japan would finally enter the era where the military controlled Japan, as expected by Nagata Tetsuzan.

It wasn't that Nagata Tetsuzan didn't know about the problems existing in the military. Since the Control Faction had reached an alliance with the big financial magnates, many policies certainly had major issues. However, Nagata Tetsuzan was very confident that as long as he held great power, these problems could definitely be solved one by one.

He set the tipped-over ink bottle upright and tore off a piece of newspaper to soak up the red ink on the desktop. Just as he wanted to continue cleaning the desktop, the telephone rang. Nagata Tetsuzan picked up the phone and heard an anxious voice coming from inside. "Lieutenant General Nagata, this is Doihara from the Military Affairs Section. The troops of the Ninth Division have begun to enter Tokyo. They say there are emergency orders."

"What?" Nagata Tetsuzan was stunned. He was now the Director of the Military Affairs Bureau, a position of real power second only to the Army Minister and Vice Minister. Nagata Tetsuzan had no knowledge of any order regarding the Ninth Division entering Tokyo.

Before Nagata Tetsuzan could ask further, a burst of shouting came from outside the Military Affairs Bureau, followed by the sound of gunfire. Nagata Tetsuzan dropped the phone on the desk, stood up abruptly, and strode to the window to look out. He saw a group of soldiers carrying guns rushing in through the main gate. Anyone blocking their path was shot dead at close range by the leading officers with pistols. Although the guards of the Military Affairs Bureau also had weapons, this unit was not a combat department to begin with, and they never expected anyone to attack in broad daylight. Coming under fierce attack, the first reaction of these guards was not to return fire, but to scatter and flee.

The two young officers in the lead were murderous. The soldiers attacking the Military Affairs Bureau behind them all had white cloths tied around their military caps. Nagata Tetsuzan recognized them; the two in the lead were the die-hard Imperial Way Faction soldiers of the Imperial Guard Division, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki and Second Lieutenant Imaizumi Yoshimichi.

Nagata Tetsuzan's mind went blank with a buzz, as if a thunderclap had exploded by his ear. He had made all sorts of preparations, planned numerous conspiracies and stratagems, and seeing that the Imperial Way Faction was about to be finished, he never expected these people would dare to attack the Military Affairs Bureau in broad daylight.

However, during this moment of distraction, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki, who had fought his way into the Military Affairs Bureau, saw a person standing in front of the window of the Military Affairs Bureau Director's office. Regardless of who that person was, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki pointed his pistol straight at the window of the Military Affairs Bureau Director's office and shouted to the machine gunner behind him, "Fire!"

First pistols, then machine guns, bullets whistled and shot towards the window. The shattered window glass danced in the air like snowflakes.

In the Japanese Army, soldiers who were not top graduates of the Army War College could only stay in the troops continuously, sweating profusely in summer and having ice form on their mustaches in winter, training soldiers with ceaseless toil. Such officers were called "Unit Attached Officers." Their path to promotion was difficult, but their military skills were quite formidable. On the other hand, a soldier with a boundless future like Nagata Tetsuzan was actually relatively poor in military skills. Nagata Tetsuzan undertook the liaison work between the Control Faction and other factions. Wine and women were indispensable. Over the years, this had somewhat hollowed out Nagata Tetsuzan's body. Although he saw the enemy's gun muzzle pointed at him, Nagata Tetsuzan's reaction was actually slower than those people aiming and firing. Several bullets hit Nagata Tetsuzan's chest and abdomen, knocking him directly to the ground.

The Military Affairs Bureau was in chaos at this time. Most of the soldiers in this powerful department were officers, with field-grade officers making up a small half. Faced with a sudden attack, these people cared more about their own lives. The clever guys had already fled their offices, running towards the back door.

The few who resisted stubbornly didn't have rifles in their hands either and could only shoot with pistols. They were no match for these grassroots officers and soldiers equipped with light machine guns and rifles at all. Suppressing and eliminating the firepower of the resisters, this attacking force fought its way all the way to the entrance of the Military Affairs Bureau Director's office.

After kicking the door open, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki did not enter but retreated. Sure enough, as he expected, a bullet was fired from inside. That was Nagata Tetsuzan's guard putting up the final resistance. A burst of light machine gun bullets swept in, and the guard was immediately mowed down. The soldiers outside the door rushed all the way into the Military Affairs Bureau Director's office.

At this time, Nagata Tetsuzan's efforts to get up had all failed. A large pool of blood flowed on the floor. Nagata Tetsuzan used all his strength to sit up against the sofa with the help of the guard. Watching the rebel soldiers rushing in from outside, Nagata Tetsuzan gave a bitter smile. His hand pressed on his military uniform, but blood gushed out from where the bullets had hit. The front of his military tunic had been dyed into a muddy red patch.

Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki strode up to Nagata Tetsuzan. First, he stood at attention and saluted Nagata Tetsuzan. Then, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki said loudly, "Your Excellency, do you have any last words?"

"Cough, cough..." As soon as Nagata Tetsuzan opened his mouth, he couldn't help but cough. Blood flowed down the corner of his mouth. After gasping for a moment, Nagata Tetsuzan said, "Do you think you can save Japan?"

"Yes, we can definitely save Japan!" Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki answered loudly. "Please sacrifice yourself bravely for Japan, Your Excellency!"

After speaking, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki raised his pistol and fired several shots in succession at Nagata Tetsuzan's chest. A few seconds later, the leading boss of the Control Faction died in his own office.

Seeing Nagata Tetsuzan was bareheaded, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki took off his own military cap and covered Nagata Tetsuzan's face with it. Then he ordered his subordinates, "Salute Lieutenant General Nagata Tetsuzan!"

After the subordinates finished saluting, Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki shouted loudly, "Gentlemen, we will now go to rescue the imprisoned Emperor. And those traitors of Japan are also there! Only by killing them all can Japan be saved! Target! The Imperial Palace!"