I own nothing from Hearts of Iron nor the Kaiserriech Mod.

Private Petros Sahakian

Journal Entry 18

June 23, 1932, Thursday

The party has been rescheduled for Friday instead. A bit disappointing but it does give me more time to prepare. Actually a raffle contest was set up amongst the regiment for who will be taking part in the event. Aside from certain members from different squads I won but it was Yi Shang handing out the raffle tickets with Gunny's supervision. By now I know Shang often works for Major Suvillian.

I suspect the contest was rigged by Suvillian so that I will be present at the Hotel and carry out his orders and ward off unwanted curiosity from the others. Our gunnery sergeant seems to be aware of what's going on but like me he said nothing but just gave a knowing nod. It was the look pretty much said to watch out for myself. Many of the guys were jealous of me going, especially Al. He kept complaining about the 'lost opportunity to find true love in this mad world'.

More like strike it rich if you ask me.

I'm rolling my eyes just remembering his stupid comment. Gad and Michail were relieved that they weren't picked. Powell doesn't really care for fancy parties while our Greek friend just plain hates anything to do with the Kings and Kaisers. His father was killed in combat with Austrian and Bulgarian troops at Thermopylae in 1919 before they captured Athens.

Robert and Hector congregated me though I can tell they wished the ones picked. Mordecai gave his advice about how to get through this kind of thing. Before joining the corps he often was dragged to many a formal dinner or gala by his parents back in Chicago. As for our squad leader Felton, he told me to stay out of trouble in a joking manner. Of course he did ask me to tell them all what the Hotel is like when I get back.

Sometime later Mr. Guo delivered my dress uniform that he took care of earlier and wished me luck. We talked about it a little bit, with him giving his own opinion about social gatherings. He prefers festivals over political rallies, stating that the food is better at the former than the latter and less hard feelings. You know what I find myself agreeing with him.

Then the old man, after making sure no one else was present, handed me a sealed letter before taking his leave. Opening it I discovered it was further instructions from Major Suvillian. I'm supposed to listen in to what the Japanese rear admiral says or at least those of his entourage tomorrow evening. The admiral in question is named Isoroku Yamamoto. He is a war hero of the Russo-Japanese war and is a chief advocate for air carriers and naval aviation in the Empire from what the letter stated.

Additionally he studied at Harvard for a time, fluent in English and something of an expert on American culture. The major wants me not to do anything that tips him and anyone else off that I know their language. I am supposed to stand guard, don't look in their direction and just listen for anything of interest. That's it, nothing more.

Feels like another test from the major if you ask me. Anyway I memorized the letter then burned it with a cigarette lighter. Also from now on I'm keeping my journal in a hidden location that only I know.

Later tonight I went to the Cathay Hotel at the waterfront with Major Suvillian and the rest of the marine guard that will be part of the festivities tomorrow. When we got there the adjacent streets were swarmed with Mupicial cops and security teams like ours. The Japanese Kempati, the German Abteilung III, British MI5, Russian mercenaries and even the Habsburg's counter-intelligence had a presence there.

By the time we got there was already a stir in the midst. Apparently four Chinese nationals posing electricians had been caught with explosive material in their truck near it. Each group wanted full custody of the would-be bombers and a free for all argument about it erupted especially between the Germans and Japanese. I watched Suvillian step into that storm. He managed to ascertain that it was the local police who caught the suspects in the act.

Informed of this he proceeded to propose a joint investigation with the Municipal police force will be leading the interrogation while a representative officer from each party will be present for each session. Neither the Kemptai officers nor the Crown Prince's security detail didn't seem thrilled about the idea, each one wanted the suspects for themselves. But they hated each other too much to let their imperial rivals look more reasonable than them in front of the rest of us. So in the end it was settled.

As I observed the suspects being taken away I could see it in their eyes. Some were filled with hatred spilling in our direction and shouting defiance. Others were stoic with conviction. Whatever their cause is, they believe in it. I don't envy their fate though. The local police here I learn don't play with kid gloves to put it mildly.

It was then I noticed the arresting officer was Zheng Lao. He nodded in my direction then got in the police truck. Afterwards Sullivan took our team into the hotel and it turns out it is quite spacious and glamorous. The hotel's owner, Sir Ellice Victor Sassoon is one of the richest men in the world or so I heard. Cathay Hotel is said to be the first modern skyscraper in East Asia but I don't know how true that is but it's definitely impressive.

Sir Sassoon spares no expense to impress any guests that comes.

We reached the dining hall and Suvillan showed us where each of us will be specifically posted. It was initially hard to focus because I was awed by the whole thing. Once we were done our team returned to base. Now it's time to get some sleep.

Still those bombers got me thinking. Did they act alone or had help? How many more in Shanghai are waiting for the opportunity to strike? In 1914 it took one gunman to shoot an empire's heir in Sarajevo to start a global war and our planet is still recovering from its scars. I shudder to think what if a bomb did go off in the hotel and the fallout that would've followed.

Need to remember my training and be vigilant.