Godzilla Earth: Origin - Book 1: Chapter 42: The Ultimate Battle in Hokkaido

Hokkaido, City Hall Plaza

At this moment, Akiyama Ryo was standing in the cold wind with a large group of people, listening to the final battle plan presented from the podium at the highest point of City Hall. It was delivered by General Hirozumi Sato, the Army’s commander-in-chief.

“After observing the battle footage against Godzilla, I have found that Godzilla is capable of…”

“In response to this, we have devised a completely new plan. We can lure Godzilla like this… and then…”

“By doing this… we can definitely trap Godzilla.”

“Then, through the combined efforts of…”

“We will achieve victory!”

“This is the overall plan. Godzilla is expected to arrive at the outskirts of Hokkaido City in 15 hours. We need to set up the battle lines against Godzilla in advance. Now, let’s disperse.”

“Everyone, time is running out. Hurry up and get to work!”

The speech about the plan was brief. In just ten minutes, the commander-in-chief explained his plan. It was concise, risky, and imaginative, but it could also be effective.

After listening to the entire plan at the plaza, Akiyama Ryo felt somewhat disappointed.

In his original imagination, the final battle that he would risk his life for should have been a hot-blooded, human-spirit-exemplifying battle of the utmost intensity.

But now, it turned out to be so imaginative.

Simply deducing from the sudden situation in one battle and directly concluding that “Godzilla has a method of detecting humans from super-long distances,” and then basing the entire plan on this vague assumption.

This was truly imaginative, indeed.

Moreover, Suzu felt that the plan itself seemed lacking and was merely based on imagination.

There were no backup plans, no confirmed methods of luring, and it relied solely on “possible” or “perhaps” with casual assumptions to proceed with such a high-risk operation…

Was this reasonable?

Of course, it wasn’t reasonable.

Akiyama Ryo really wanted to say that this completely unreliable plan was total nonsense. However, he hesitated when he thought about how the same unreliable plan devised by the commander-in-chief almost succeeded earlier.

“Do you think this plan is reliable, Mr. Akiyama?” Yang Qing, the head of the East Defense Wall Construction Branch, clearly had the same doubts.

He walked over from the other side of the plaza and sat next to Akiyama Ryo, asking him.

Yang Qing also felt that the plan was not very reliable.

But he also knew that the person in front of him was the overall commander of the East Defense Wall Operation this time, and his previous plan almost succeeded a few hours ago.

It was the closest humanity had come to victory in several battles. If Godzilla had been a bit dumber, they would have achieved complete victory.

“It should be, I guess,” Akiyama Ryo replied hesitantly. He struggled for a while but ultimately chose to believe in the plan.

But to be honest, what other choice did they have? Since they missed the opportunity to board the evacuation helicopter, they were left with only this path—to believe in the plan.

“It should be—what?” The responsible person repeated Akiyama’s words and then smacked his lips. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it for himself.

The two of them sat there, smoking in the cold, dark night, gazing at the pitch-black Hokkaido in silence.

Until the distant mobile base vehicles, resembling two dark giants, issued the call to assemble the personnel, they both stood up together, preparing to head over.

At that moment, both of them showed a surprised expression on their faces, staring at each other wide-eyed. The shock made the cigarettes in their mouths fall, and they both asked at the same time.

“Are you going too?” X2

Asking this question, Yang Qing already regretted it a little. He could understand why Akiyama Ryo wanted to go to the front lines.

After all, he lost his wife and child, and this was his hometown. His previous refusal to board the evacuation helicopter to East Asia and not entering the city hall made it evident that he wanted to confront Godzilla in battle.

But Akiyama Ryo couldn’t understand. As a high-ranking official from East Asia, why did he want to go to the front lines in this unfamiliar place?

He could have waited in the city hall until they either won or lost the battle and then flown back to East Asia.

Originally, Yang Qing thought that Akiyama stayed to build a good reputation here. After all, the reputation of fighting with Godzilla until the last moment before retreating was much more favorable than fleeing the moment Godzilla appeared. This would greatly benefit his future career.

But unexpectedly, this high-ranking official wasn’t here to command; he wanted to personally go to the front lines?

How could that be?!

“Mr. Yang, why is that?” Akiyama Ryo naturally asked this question, as he couldn’t understand why Yang Qing, who had only arrived at the East Defense Wall a few days ago, wanted to sacrifice himself here.

And Yang Qing’s answer was simple.

“Why? Mr. Akiyama, no, Brother Akiyama, look at them.”

As before, General Yang Qing gestured for Akiyama Ryo to look in a certain direction. Akiyama looked over and saw the same people as before.

“This time, apart from you in the East Defense Wall, the most remaining are us from East Asia. Because we know that if you’re gone, we will be in trouble.”

“For our homeland, for our native land. The people at the lowest level stayed behind, and besides me, the other generals have all gone back.”

“So, I thought, while others leave, I can’t. I can’t leave them here all alone. At least, there needs to be someone leading them, don’t you think?”

Saying this, Yang Qing did not continue speaking. He walked away from Akiyama Ryo and went behind a worker from East Asia. He patted the worker’s shoulder and headed towards the distant mobile base vehicle.

Akiyama hesitated for a moment and then caught up.

On March 31, 2208, at 19:13, upon learning that Godzilla was heading to Hokkaido, the remaining personnel in Hokkaido began to evacuate.

At the same time, at 22 minutes past 19:00, the Commander-in-Chief of the East Defense Wall, Hirozumi Sato, submitted the final battle plan for the East Defense Wall to the United Government in an attempt to make a last stand in Hokkaido.

At 25 minutes past 19:00, the United Government approved the plan. However, due to its high risk and low chance of success, participation in this operation was not mandatory, but voluntary. Those who chose to stay in Hokkaido would automatically be included in the battle.

At 21:09, the evacuation of 210,000 personnel in Hokkaido was completed, and the remaining 28,000 people chose to participate in the final battle.

At the same time, at 20 minutes past 21:00, the Commander-in-Chief, Hirozumi Sato, arrived in Hokkaido and began to explain the battle plan, and at 22:00, he started to gather the frontline personnel and boarded two mobile base vehicles heading to the front lines.

From 21:30 to 22:00, the final spare time for the frontline personnel.

At 22:30, the mobile base vehicles and the supply vehicles departed for the Hokkaido mountains. They would engage in the final battle against Godzilla in the East Defense Wall.