Dragon's Grip
AN: This could be my longest chapter in this story yet. This chapter is based on the Battle of Hong Kong during WW2.
The human name Ka Lung/ Leon Kirkland were inspired by Kitaklaw.
December 19th, 1941
Hong Kong was a weird colony. He was quiet like Japan, but whereas Japan's facial emotions were easy to read for Matthew, Ka Lung was more difficult to understand physically. To Canada, he was the other end of the sociability spectrum of the Asian nations, with China being the most outgoing. Perhaps all the time being raised by England changed him from being a lot like China, to even making his eyebrows much like Arthur's. Thank God that Arthur did not make him grow his own like that. Canada shuddered at the thought. But whatever had made Ka Lung so odd to the Canadian, it made it an obstacle to communicating with him.
Perhaps he was shy; after all he had been only a couple of centuries old. But whatever Hong Kong was thinking, it was likely he was worried about his life. England was very busy in London trying to get anything from his Intelligence agency to use against Germany. With so many of his colonies under attack, he gave Matthew the order to protect Leon, as he had valuable ports that brought a lot of resources in the British Pacific. The other major colony that was in the area was Singapore and she was even closer to the Japanese islands, which worried Matthew.
Matthew was sent with two Canadian battalions who were obviously rookies. One was from Quebec, and the other was from Manitoba.
When they arrived, he found that the defenses on Hong Kong were meager. It would only delay the invaders for a short while, and nothing more. Worse yet, the garrison, even with fresh reinforcements, they could not survive for long. On the terrain of the battlefield, there was an area of Hong Kong that was part of the mainland. The colony also had large island that had was completely separate, which would cause trouble for the British and Canadian troops.
Kowloon, the city that was part of the mainland was lost after several colonial defenses were breached. Now all was left was Hong Kong Island.
Japan had attempted to force the Allied troops to surrender, but to no avail. His officers ordered artillery to bombard the island. Leon felt shocks of pain every time a shell hit a building. His skin was covered in bruises for each building.
"太…冷！" Hong Kong shivered. He tried to get his darkly bruised leg out of the tub, but Canada did not let him.
"Hold still Leon; just let the water relax your leg."
"I don't care if it helps me, I rather not walk than suffer the cold of that water!"
"Damn it Hong, you will not lose your leg, can you just listen to me?"
"你是不是英國或我的大哥, 加拿大!"
Canada gave the colony a confused look.
"What did you say?"
Hong Kong sighed at Matthew's question.
"I said you're not the boss of me." He explained.
Canada furrowed his brow.
"England may not be here, but I am your guardian until further notice."
Matthew gestured at Hong Kong's leg.
"For now, my order is that you will keep your leg in the bathtub, until the darkness of those bruises is mostly gone. Do you understand me?"
Hong Kong nodded slowly. "明白,"
Canada left the governor's house to get to an officers meeting.
"Welcome Canada." Major General Maltby saluted the nation.
"Hello Maltby. What have you gentlemen decided on?"
"Sir, we have decided on a division of a military force to cover the west and the east of the island." The officer pointed to the map of Hong Kong Island in the middle of the table.
"The Brigadiers will be mobilized in the West, and the Royals will be in the east. Now we need your final decision on where you will participate in combat."
"I will be in the West, while Hong Kong will be in the East."
December 20
West Brigade: A Company
"Those Japs are all over the place Sarge! They never stop coming! Bayonet or shoot one, ten more pop out like weasels!"
"Quiet it down, private and put out that cigar. You are just begging to lose your head to a sniper round, aren't you?"
Canada trudged along with the men. It was a very hot environment for him, but it was certainly not like South Africa. That time he went to there was his first overseas battle. He had gone to assist England to fight the Boers in the early 20th century. He had learned much about that experience in a foreign land. For one thing, Matthew had to get his hair cut before going to a humid battlefield, lest he would suffer experiencing a sticky swamp mess on his long hair.
Canada stopped for a moment to wipe his exhausted face. After he removed his fogged glasses, he felt the hot streams of sweat rub against the back of his hand. When the majority of the sweat disappeared, the blond felt especially cooler. He wiped his spectacles with his handkerchief and put them back on.
So far, the group that Matthew was in was successful. They had just regained Jardine's Lookout from the Japanese. At the moment, they were advancing to another defensive position. Slowly, the sergeant of the company signaled for the men to get low to the ground. The grass flattened against Canada's body. The soldiers crawled against the ground until they were close enough. After a minute, the Winnipeg Grenadiers charged, only to be met with a large group of the Japanese coming out of the hill position.
"Shit! Retreat men! Get back to the Lookout!" Sergeant Osborn cried out. The Canadians ran back to Jardine's Lookout. Due the mountainous area, the Canadians were scattered out. Some of the Canadians gave suppressing fire to the pursing Japanese troops, managing to wound several of the enemies recklessly charging. Some of the Japanese were able to catch up with Matthew who was with a group of three men. They fired three shots, one of the bullets struck down an unaware soldier in the back of the head. Canada turned around to fight back. He fired at point blank with his shotgun at a Japanese soldier. The slugs ripped blew large bits out of the man's chest, and he collapsed dead. Two more enemy soldiers rushed towards Canada, with their shots slamming into his chest.
The first soldier was formally acquainted with the nation's butt stock and the Canada pulled the trigger to the second's head. Matthew fell back with the rest of Grenadiers, but they were surrounded by the Japanese.
One of the officers of the Japanese troops came out of the crowd of soldiers. He spoke in rough English. "Your strong resistance ends now. Surrender your arms peacefully, or we will take them from you by force."
In response, Sergeant Osborn shot the officer with his pistol. Some of the Grenadiers gasped out in shock at what their officer did.
"Holy Crap, Sarge, you're crazy!" One of them said as they began to fire at the enemy.
The Canadians began to retreat as the Japanese began to throw grenades at the outnumbered company. One of the bombs landed near one of the slower men.
"Private, run faster!" Matthew was right behind the endangered man. But before the grenade exploded, Sergeant Osborn leaped onto the explosive. The man exploded into bloody bits, pushing both Canada and the grenade's original target back. Canada got back up on his feet and continued running.
They had to get to HQ, Wong Nai Chung Gap, to hold out against the Japanese army. Canada rested against a tree and set his gun down. Canada took out his metal canteen, raising it to his lips.
'It's bone dry, crap.' The Canadian thought. He had no way to contact the scattered troops that he was with. The best thing that he could do was to hope that they were still alive.
Using his compass, he began to walk towards the west. The time that it would take to get the Gap, if he was fast, were three days. He had to warn them of the incoming attack and the loss of Osborne.
West Brigade Headquarters: Wong Nai Chung Gap
"Why is A Company not sending any news yet?" Brigadier Lawson wondered.
"Sir, it is possible they are still facing heavy resistance on the Lookout."
"Bullshit, Captain. Those boys may be rookies, but I doubt that they would have that much trouble."
Suddenly, they heard guns firing onto the fort. The Japanese had reached the Gap!
"We are under attack! Get to the machine guns!" Lawson ordered.
The soldiers quickly got to the bulky guns and began to fire rounds onto the intruders. Screams of death and rapid fire met the ears of both sides as the battle raged on. The Canadians shredded the advancing Japanese with the guns, knocking them like bowling pins. The enemy soldiers began to chuck grenades at the fortifications, which blasted chunks of stone from the walls.
Three Days Later
Canada ran to the Grenadier HQ. He was almost there! He arrived atop a hill, just half a mile from the Gap. He looked down his position to the HQ. His eyes widened with shock.
The Gap's fortress was … devastated. He walked down the hill, looking at the bodies that covered the ground all around the Gap. A lot of them were Japanese soldiers, but piled around the entrance of the building were Lawson and the rest of the Grenadiers.
Matthew heard a sharp cry behind him. It did not sound like English or French. Although he barely understood Cantonese, he was able to distinguish the language from Mandarin.
The language sounded a lot like- Matthew ducked as he heard a gun fire in his direction.
'Sneaky bastards,' Canada swore mentally. The men closed in on him before he could aim his shotgun. His hands were bound with rope. He got dragged by a group of five to the top of a cliff. One of the Japanese pushed Canada off, sending the nation down the mountain to the rocky bottom.
December 25, 1941
Eastern Brigade
Fort Stanley
Hong Kong was in a fierce firefight. It was the first time that he had been in combat for several years. Since 英國 has protected him, Hong Kong had never needed to feel worried or scared. But Hong Kong knew that he would not be safe for long. 日本 was moving his troops fast, pushing the defenders into desperation. However, he would not wait idly for Japan to enslave him. For now, Hong Kong was getting lessons on French vocabulary. It was doing wonders for his foreign knowledge.
"P'tite queues, that's what you Japanese have!" One of the Royal Rifles taunted.
"Manges d'la marde!" Some of them tossed their grenades to disperse the Japanese army from the buildings.
Hong Kong fired his Springfield gun, pulling his bolt back each time he fired. Suddenly, he heard something whistling through the air. 'Not again!' He thought in an instant.
"Enfant d'chienne! Run!" The Eastern Brigade soldiers scattered as a mortar shell was descending down.
He ran from his prone position, leaving his gun in the road. Leon cried out in pain as bits of metal sliced into his body like paper. Hong Kong collapsed onto the ground on his side. He slowly got back up, heading for an alleyway to recover. The dominion painstakingly pulled the varied sized shrapnel from his ribcage and legs. Within three minutes, the damaged tissue on his body healed. He briskly walked out of the narrow passage.
A voice reached his earshot. The accent of the speaker was stiff, as if the person was inexperienced with Cantonese. "你好，我親愛的弟弟,"
"三哥." Hong Kong slowly turned, facing Japan.
Hong Kong drew his Dao blade from belt and his sibling did the same with his katana. Kiku held his blade with both hands, while Leon gripped his weapon with his left.
The nation closed in first, bringing the force of the sword directly, but the colony countered, stepping to the right to swing his broadsword.
The blade smacked into the Japanese man's shoulder blades. Japan reacted by stabbing into Hong Kong's abdomen. Ka Lung growled in rage and both began to clash blades.
"You have such as sloppy technique and no sense of control. I would expect that Igirisu would have trained you to fight properly like a European 'gentlemen'. Apparently he has not even spared a minute to teach you. Instead, you draw your swordsmanship from a pitiable elder."
Hong Kong began to drive more power into his strikes, in attempt to overwhelm his opponent with brute power.
"你怎麼敢! You dare insult 我的老師!" Japan blocked another swing and sliced Hong Kong's right foot.
"Ka Lung, I envy you to be honest. You did not have to grow up with an annoying, immature idiot who is overly controlling."
Kiku dodged a blow.
"大哥 may be eccentric, but he is caring. You do not respect him because you are a 忘恩負義, 被寵壞的孩子!"
Leon's Dao sliced vertically towards Japan.
"Really, so he does not sound in anyway irritating aru? He sounds like a sparrow with the song of a drunkard aru. He calls himself the eldest of all the Pacific, yet he looks and dresses himself what you Chinese call 雞 aru."
"你該死日本犬！" Hong Kong screamed out. He broke through Japan's block and stabbed him in the chest and wrenched the blade out. Japan fell to his knees, dropping his katana. Leon raised his Dao to decapitate Japan. In one heavy swing, the blade went down… and stopped completely.
"What the- what is going on?" He kept trying to slice Japan's head off, but it was like the sword was dull. Japan stood back up, unfazed by Ka Lung's attempts to kill him.
"Apparently your gods are on my side, Hong Kong. You should have known that a nation in full strength cannot be killed by another."
Japan grabbed his sword off the ground, quickly disarming Ka Lung. The Chinese man deflected Kiku's sword, kicking into Japan's gut. Before he could recover from the attack, Leon swiftly maneuvered around to punch the nation in the back. Japan stumbled across the street where they were fighting, turning to counterattack, but Hong Kong kept around, making it more difficult for Japan to fight. Changing his tactics, Japan crouched to sweep his leg to force Leon to jump. When he leapt to avoid the sweep, Kiku quickly swung his left arm in an uppercut, while punching with his right in a quick jab, with two seconds between both attacks. Hong Kong was knocked down.
Japan walked over to his foe, picking him up and slammed him onto a wall. Just before Leon could struggle, Japan chopped on his throat with his hand.
Hong Kong limply fell to the ground. Japan chained the colony's hands together and awaited his soldiers who were running towards him. The officer of the group bowed before he delivered his message.
"General Honda-ue, we have the enemy force on retreat."
"Excellent work Lieutenant. Get a squad of twenty men to transport this prisoner to my personal ship."
"It will be done Sir." The officer called for volunteers in his detachment. Two of the volunteering men carried the dominion, while the last eighteen escorted them.
Japan turned his attention to a hospital atop a hill from the city that they were in. He had some troops moving towards the building.
Kiku had attended the Geneva Convention, but it didn't matter. Since he had won this battle, he would not raise a finger to stop his men from attacking the facility.
Historical Facts:
Hong Kong was a section of China taken by England after the Opium War. The place would prosper due to opium imports.
Winston Churchill had considered not sending any more garrison troops to defend Hong Kong. Singapore was more important for the British Empire due to the fact that it had major ports and was also the Empire's foothold close to the Japanese islands.
After the Japanese took Kowloon, the mainland chunk of Hong Kong, the outnumbered garrison of Hong Kong Island was divided in two, West and East.
The Manitoba Grenadiers were with the West and the Quebec Royal Rifles were with the East.
Sergeant Osborne of the Grenadiers was the leader of West Brigade. When he was killed by a grenade, the next officer in line was Brigade Lawson. However, he would never receive the news.
Lawson and the last of the West Brigade at Wong Nai Chung Gap made their last stand by running out to face the Japanese.
Wong Nai Chun Gap was a crucial position that was the quickest way into the rest of the island, as the terrain was mountainous, slowing movement.
After the West Brigade was eliminated by the Japanese, the Island was divided in two, Stanley Peninsula and the east which was controlled by the East Brigade.
After the Japanese wiped out most of the East Brigade, some of the troops went to St Stephen's Hospital. They caused a massacre in the building, killing and maiming hospital staff and patients.
The governor of Hong Kong surrendered on December 25th, 1941.
Translations:
Cantonese Chinese:
太…冷 – Tai... Dong- Too… cold
你是不是英國或我的大哥, 加拿大- lei si but si ying gok huo ao dik dai gho, ka la dai- You are not England or my big brother, Canada
明白- Ming bot- Understood
你好，我親愛的弟弟- ni hao, ao chun ouh dik die die- Hello my dear brother
三哥- Summ gho- Third brother
忘恩負義, 被寵壞的孩子- wang en bui chu, fu chung high dik hi gi- Ungrateful, spoiled child
我的老師- Ao dik lo see- My teacher
雞- Gui- Chicken [In the Chinese language, being told to work as a chicken is slang for being told to be a prostitute.]
你該死日本犬- lei guy sia yut boon quan- You damn Japanese dog
你怎麼敢- lei sum won guan- How dare you
Quebecois French:
P'tite queues- Small dicks
Manges d'la marde- Eat shit
Enfant d'chienne- Son of a bitch