I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 133

The station in Harbin, the center of Manchuria, was always bustling. 

Tens of thousands of people from various places got off and on the trains, coming and going.

In this process, no one could notice that dozens of ‘suspicious’ people had sneaked in. 

Neither Manchukuo, which ruled this region, nor their master Japan had any way of finding out. 

The people who had scattered and entered individually from Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, and other places gathered one by one at the appointed places.

“Is that true? I know the Japanese are beastly, but…”

“Probably. The secretary-general vouched for it, so it must be true.”

The young Koreans who had gathered together fell into a heavy silence.

The orders they had received before joining this operation contained the atrocities of the Japanese invaders that were unimaginable.

Of course, it was not a recent thing that the Japanese treated human lives like flies and killed them. 

The Koreans who had fled to the Soviet Union knew very well what the Japanese had done in Manchuria and China.

“Well, isn’t that why we came all the way here?”

At the quarantine and water supply unit of the Kwantung Army on the outskirts of Harbin, codenamed Unit 731, atrocities that were worthy of a thousand deaths were taking place. 

The Soviet Union, which had obtained this information, immediately informed the Korean unit that had fled to the Soviet Union what the Japanese were doing in Manchuria.

The Korean Volunteer Army agreed to participate in the operation to rescue the suffering compatriots and prisoners. 

The Soviet Union promised full cooperation in stopping the atrocities committed by the Japanese fascists, although it could not yet join the war against Japan due to the inevitable situation on the European front.

The Korean special forces, trained by the Soviet Army and equipped with Soviet weapons and equipment, infiltrated Harbin across the Soviet-Japanese border, which was still open due to the non-aggression pact.

Now, they were fully prepared to raid the place where the Japanese atrocities were taking place.

“The Soviet collaborator, Mr. Ramsey, has prepared about ten sets of Manchukuo army uniforms. The infiltration team will be formed mainly of those who fit the uniforms. The rest will dedicate themselves to the escape operation after the infiltration. I hope you think carefully.”

The special forces commander, Yun Se-ju, looked at everyone with a serious expression. The special forces members became solemn.

“The important thing in this operation is… not that we get out alive. The goal is to expose the atrocities of those worse than dogs, the Japanese, to the whole world. The success or failure of the operation depends on how the escape operation team does, so please think carefully!”

“Yes!”

It was impossible to suppress this place with regular troops without breaking the non-aggression pact, as there were more than 5,000 troops stationed at the quarantine and water supply unit of the Kwantung Army. 

Even if the Soviet side tried to deploy the Spetsnaz special forces, the war could erupt at any time if the corpses of the Soviet troops were left behind.

So the Soviet Union and the Korean Volunteer Army decided to deploy the Korean special forces, who looked similar to the Japanese. 

Even if someone was killed or captured, they would insist that it was the act of the Korean independence army.

They knew they could be cut off, but the special forces did not care.

Wasn’t it because they couldn’t stand the hardships of their compatriots that they joined the anti-Japanese struggle in the first place?

“Did you all understand the operation?”

“Yes! We did.”

“Then from now on, speak in Japanese. You never know if you’ll get caught by speaking Korean.”

The infiltration team of about 60 people split into two trucks and headed for Unit 731. Some of them wore the uniforms of the Manchukuo army’s special intelligence unit and pretended to be Japanese officers, while the rest rode in the back of the truck and acted as prisoners they had captured.

The ten or so who were disguised as Manchukuo army would pretend to have a meeting with the high-ranking officials of Unit 731 and take them hostage. 

The rest of the infiltrators would enter the ‘experimental facility’ and secure the data. It looked simple, but it could go wrong at any moment.

The special forces members prayed in their hearts. 

Some to God, some to Buddha or Guanyin, and some to the secretary-general who helped the Koreans, since they did not believe in any god.

***

“Stop! Stop!”

The quarantine and water supply unit was, as the name suggested, a unit that was responsible for preventing infectious diseases in the army, especially for water supply. 

The Japanese army, which had suffered from waterborne diseases in the previous Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War, had set up a water supply unit in the Kwantung Army to prevent epidemics.

But this unit, which had grown to the point where thousands of people were stationed for a mere support unit, emanated a sinister aura from afar.

Excessively strict security. The sentries stopped the truck and pointed their guns at the driver’s seat.

“Identify yourself!”

“Huh, why is the security so tight these days?”

Yun Se-ju, who had lowered the window because of the checkpoint, started acting calmly. 

He avoided the sentry’s question and made small talk, wearing the rank insignia of a colonel of the Manchukuo army.

The Japanese sentries saluted him when they saw his rank insignia, but they did not lower their guard. His behavior, which was acting according to FM, made them more uncomfortable.

“Identify yourself, please!”

“I’m Colonel Kimura Taro of the Manchukuo army. You’ll probably know if I tell the commander.”

“Yes! I understand. I’ll report it right away. But what about this truck…?”

Even though he said he was acquainted with the commander, the sentries only lowered their guns, but they were still on guard. Yun Se-ju felt sweat on his palm, but he maintained a calm attitude and continued.

“Um, these are the bastards we captured as prisoners from the Manchukuo army. We’re here to hand over the prisoners to the Kwantung Army’s quarantine and water supply unit, and I came to see Mr. Ishii for the first time in a long time.”

“Is that so! Thank you!”

The sergeant, who seemed to have received some radio communication from above, let the truck pass. He said someone would come to take over the prisoners.

“Phew…”

This was the real operation. As cheeky as possible, as natural as possible.

The secretary-general had said that it was okay to fail at the meeting with the Korean special forces. But he also said something else.

“That Ishii Shiro is a devil. Even if we win, he might be able to escape to another country with the data he made. Either drag him as a prisoner and bring justice in front of history, or… just kill him. That’s my honest opinion.”

The horrific experiments that he had ordered. 

The contents in the documents came to his mind, and his heart thumped and then calmed down again. If nothing else worked, he could just shoot a bullet in his head.

“Colonel? The commander wants to see you.”

“Ah, thank you.”

A young military police captain greeted him. The military police were heavily armed, unlike the rear units. Of course, the special forces who had hidden rocket launchers, grenades, and machine guns under the truck floor would not be outdone.

The Japanese truck they had captured for the operation had been modified. 

It looked like an ordinary truck, but it had bulletproofing inside that could withstand most rifle shots. 

They had also made a double floor and hidden all kinds of Soviet weapons underneath.

“We’ll take over those prisoners.”

“Wait a minute.”

While Yoon Se-ju and a few special forces members held Ishii hostage, they had to break into the facility. But if they got off the truck and were dragged into the facility now, they would have to fight the Japanese without weapons.

So Yoon Se-ju started his prepared lie. He had to take a deep breath, but…

“There’s a big-shot Korean prisoner and a few important ones in there, and I really want to show them to the commander. Is that okay?”

“Excuse me?”

The lieutenant seemed puzzled by his sudden proposal. 

The Manchukuo army had captured a big-shot prisoner? 

It was possible. 

Seeing how the Korean and Chinese guerrillas were running wild, there must have been some battles, and they might have caught one big-shot in the process.

“Um… I think it would be better to talk to the commander in person.”

“Really? Thank you. Then I’ll leave these ‘marutas’ here for a while. Hahaha!”

Yoon Se-ju acted like a fawning Japanese officer with all his strength. The lieutenant seemed to be somewhat convinced by his word ‘maruta’.

What was happening in the quarantine supply department was one of the top secrets of the Kwantung Army. But if he had already been here and acted like he knew, and even knew the word maruta? He might be an important collaborator of the Manchukuo army.

The name Kimura Taro was so common that he felt like he had heard it somewhere, but he wasn’t sure. Ishii also agreed to meet him because he was curious who he was after hearing his name.

In the commander’s office, where there were fancy ornaments, Ishii Shiro, who was sitting face to face with ‘Lieutenant Colonel Kimura’, tilted his head.

“Hmm… You don’t look like someone I know.”

“I greet the army general Ishii Shiro! I am Lieutenant Colonel Kimura Taro of the Manchukuo army. I have heard of your command and wanted to meet you, so I claimed to be your acquaintance. I apologize!”

Ishii Shiro looked at the big man he had never seen before and tried to remember who he was, but he couldn’t. At that moment, Yoon Se-ju saluted Ishii with disgust.

“Hahaha, I see. You have a great physique, like few of the people I know. By the way, how did you know about this place?”

Yoon Se-ju was over 180cm tall and had a dignified physique even at the age of forty. He acted like a lieutenant colonel in the operation and smiled flatteringly at Ishii with both hands.

“Well, we received a cooperation request from the Kwantung Army…”

“Cooperation request?”

They never did that. Ishii frowned. What they were doing here was a top secret, how could they casually ask for cooperation from others? Did they do it from the Kwantung Army headquarters? As he was wondering, he saw sweat on the forehead of the man who called himself Lieutenant Colonel Kimura.

“You…”

“Damn it, shoot!”

Seeing the suspicion on Ishii’s face, Yoon Se-ju ordered his two subordinates in Korean. 

The two special forces members who were wearing Manchukuo army uniforms pulled out their pistols and subdued the nearby Japanese soldiers in an instant.

Bang, bang, bang! 

The soldiers guarding the office were shocked by the gunshots and rushed in, but they also fell down with bullets in their foreheads.

“What the hell! Who are you!”

“What do you mean, we’re the angels of heaven who came to punish the devil bastards.”

The special forces members who were in the truck heard the gunshots and ran out fully armed. 

The Japanese soldiers who had glanced at them and thought they were all tied up with ropes or handcuffs were caught off guard by the gunshots and the raid of the special forces.

“Hahahaha! This is a machine gun! You bastards!”

“Come on, the assault team goes to that facility!”

The layout of the 731 unit’s facility had already been informed by the Soviet intelligence before the operation.

Yoon Se-ju, who had met the commander in person, would take the documents in the commander’s office, and the rest of the special forces would go into the experimental facility and secure the samples.

The operation seemed to be going well so far.

“Your commander is taken prisoner! If you shoot, I’ll kill him first!”

“Save… save me! Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”

Yoon Se-ju choked Ishii Shiro’s neck with his strong arm and pointed a pistol at his side. 

He threatened the Japanese military police. Ishii Shiro was so desperate to live that he panicked and begged not to shoot.

“Hurry up! Hurry!”

The special forces members didn’t have time to look at the files written in Japanese one by one. 

They stuffed all the documents into their bags and pockets. No matter how armed they were, this was a rear unit. There seemed to be no real machine guns or heavy weapons in the security unit.

While they had taken the commander prisoner, the rest of the special forces broke into the facility.

“Ugh… What the hell…”

“Really… really…”

When they opened the laboratory door, there were a bunch of scientists in white coats. 

They were so absorbed in their grotesque experiments that they hid when they saw the fully armed soldiers suddenly burst in.

“Shoot! Kill them!”

Tutatatata!! 

There was no value in living for those who cooperated with the inhuman experiments. 

The special forces indiscriminately sprayed machine guns at them. 

They took what looked like their experiment notes and ran to the next room. There they saw a shocking thing.

“Crazy…”

There were several specimens of pregnant women whose bellies were cut open and fetuses were taken out and put in formalin. 

They were disgusting things even for those who had been through bloody battles.

“We have to take pictures of them all. That’s too big to take…”

“Got it!”

Clang, clang. 

They took pictures of the cruel specimens with a camera, and one of the special forces threw a grenade into the room. It would be better to dispose of them than to leave them as specimens. 

Rest in peace.

When they closed the iron door, the grenade exploded inside. Did it all explode? They didn’t have time to think about that.

“Don’t we have to get out of here now?”

“That’s right…”

The special forces who had scooped up a lot of data from the facility looked for a way to escape. They had to let the world know about the atrocities that these traitors had made, even if they died.

As they looked around, they heard a loud noise from far away.

“Ah! There it is!”

They saw several heavy-looking armored vehicles entering the hole in the outer wall of the unit. They had blown up the wall with some bomb, and the outer wall was torn apart. The machine gun fire from the gun port of the armored vehicle poured out at the Japanese.

“Quick! This way!”

“Where’s the captain?”

Damn it. 

They threw the data into the armored vehicle first and looked for Yoon Se-ju while shooting at the gathering Japanese. But he seemed to be still near the commander’s office.

“Damn it… what are we going to do?”

“We can’t leave the captain behind!”