During the Nanjing Massacre, two officers got into a contest to see who could kill more people with just their swords. They went on a rampage against captured civilians, executing them by sword in a bid to see who would reach a higher body count. This was reported upon in dispatches with all the glee of a sporting match.
What was the "real point" that this cruelty was the means to reaching?
I can find hundreds or thousands of things like this in reading history. Can you find the "real point" behind all of them? Really?