Deep in a birch forest on the outskirts of Changchun, inside an underground hangar concealed by the Japanese Army with thick snow, twelve modified Zero fighters were undergoing fanatical reconstruction. Mechanics had removed the cockpit ejection systems, replacing them with one-ton Type 97 armor-piercing bombs. The fuel tanks were expanded to their absolute limits, and the wings were adorned with cherry blossom flags bearing the slogan, "May our martial fortune last forever." This was the Kanto Army’s newly formed "Kamikaze Sakura-Kai" special attack unit; every aircraft was effectively a piloted human missile.
"Gentlemen, you are the final hope of the Empire." Captain Aoki, the squadron leader, caressed the portrait of the Emperor inside his cockpit, his voice thick with a morbid fervor. "The Ghost Fighter may be adept at electronic warfare, but faced with the suicidal soul of a warrior, its radar and missiles will fail!" The twelve pilots saluted in unison. Hidden inside their flight suits were potassium cyanide capsules, and sewn over their left chests were blood-written oaths to "give seven lives for the country."
At 3:20 AM, the hangar doors slowly rose. Moonlight struck the wings of the fighters, reflecting a cold, metallic sheen. Aoki performed one final check of the bomb fuses before looking up at the night sky. Based on coordinate intelligence transmitted by the "Frost Falcon One" radar unit before it vanished five minutes earlier, the Ghost Fighter’s next target w…
Chapter 485