Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

January 16, 1938, the darkest hour before dawn. A biting wind swept across the broken plains of the Yangtze River Delta, also blowing against several large armies that were moving silently and rapidly.

This is not reinforcement or troop rotation, but a military encirclement operation aimed directly at "our own people".

Six elite divisions from the Kwantung Army system and the mainland, like several cold, giant pythons, snaked their way towards Nanjing, which had just fallen and whose corpses were still warm, from different directions, intending to weave an unprecedented web of death.

To the northeast, along the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway and the south bank of the Yangtze River, billowing smoke and dust filled the air.

Under the overall coordination of provisional commander Matsui Nobuo, the main forces of the 4th, 2nd, and 12th Divisions of the Kwantung Army, along with the 101st Division, formed an unstoppable steel torrent.

They bypassed scattered defeated soldiers and terrified civilians, and with a clear objective, they marched straight into the strategic outskirts of Nanjing, including the eastern passageways such as Yaohuamen and Qilinmen, as well as the Mufushan and Wulongshan fort areas, which overlook the entire city to the north.

Their silence carried the arrogance unique to elite troops and a chilling resolve.

To the south, from the direction of Hangzhou Bay, another stream of iron is cutting northward at an even faster speed.

This was a unit under the command of Sakamoto Seiemon, commander of the 7th Division, and Tsukada Osamu, commander of the 8th Division. They had just carried out a bloody "purge" at Jinshanwei and Songjiang, and their morale was filled with a sense of ferocity.

The soldiers had fierce eyes, the officers had cold faces, and the ranks were also mixed with Yusuke Ichijo's military police battalion, who were eager for revenge after being rescued.

They quickly seized key outer positions south of Nanjing, such as Yuhuatai, Zhonghuamen, and Guanghuamen, constructed fortifications, and set up machine guns and mortars, forming a perfect pincer movement with the four divisions of the Kwantung Army advancing from the east.

By dusk on December 17, an impenetrable encirclement consisting of over 12 elite Japanese troops, hundreds of mountain and field guns, and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles had completely locked down Nanjing.

What's even more chilling is that as soon as these troops arrived at their designated positions, they immediately began to construct large-scale attack positions facing the city, digging a radial trench system, setting up layers of barbed wire and machine gun positions, and setting up artillery observation posts directly at the front line, with their firing range unequivocally pointed into Nanjing, and at those compatriots in the Central China Expeditionary Army who had just been "celebrating their victory" but were now completely bewildered!

Brand new Rising Sun flags were erected on these newly constructed positions, facing the flags of the Central China Expeditionary Army in the city, creating an extremely bizarre and terrifying scene in the history of warfare.

Those who conquered it were instantly trapped like turtles in a jar.

In this tense and imminent atmosphere of impending war, the 4th Division's defense zone unfolded in a self-contained and astonishingly absurd drama.

Unlike the soldiers of other divisions who were on high alert and frantically digging trenches, the soldiers of the 4th Division, after arriving at the defense zone around Xiaolingwei at the foot of Zijin Mountain, displayed astonishing "proactiveness" and "market pioneering spirit" with the tacit approval or even indulgence of their officers.

They first efficiently established basic outposts, and then began to "plan" logistics and "side businesses."

Instead of digging trenches, some soldiers began to "plan" the camp.

They cleared relatively flat land, and some engineers even used the planks and canvases they carried in their vehicles to quickly build some makeshift shacks.

Even more incredibly, some soldiers, who were clearly from Osaka merchant families, pulled out various goods from their backpacks or supply wagons.

There were compressed biscuits, canned goods, cigarettes, sake, and even some small packages of candy, needles and thread, soap, and some trinkets brought from Manchuria or Japan.

Soon, within the 4th Division's defense zone, especially at the junctions between regiments, several small "open-air markets" spontaneously formed!

The soldiers gathered in twos and threes, not to discuss tactics, but to engage in lively bartering or small cash transactions.

"Hey Yamada, do you have any Asahi cigarettes left? I'll trade you this can of beef!"

"Xiao Lin, your spare military boots look pretty good. Can you give them to me for a discount? You don't need them right now anyway."

"Does anyone need to write a letter home? I can write letters for you at reasonable prices, and I can even write the address in Chinese!"

These Osaka soldiers seemed to have completely forgotten that they were there to carry out a military deterrence mission that could potentially trigger a civil war. Instead, they treated this battlefield, which was now under siege, as a "new market" for expanding their business.

They even took the initiative to "connect" with the neighboring 101st and 2nd Divisions, exchanging their surplus food and goods for special items or cash carried by the other two divisions.

Some of the bolder ones even tried to get close to the Central China Expeditionary Army's cordon, gesturing and selling goods to the dumbfounded soldiers on the other side, shouting, "Hey! Brother, want some cigarettes?"

Would you like some alcohol?

The price is negotiable! We're all soldiers of the Empire, why fight like this?

Soon, several sizable "open-air trading markets" spontaneously formed at the junctions between regiments and even in safe corners near the front lines.

The sounds of bargaining and bartering replaced the pre-battle silence.

The Osaka soldiers traded their surplus grain for the high-quality sake carried by the Sendai soldiers, exchanged cigarettes for cash from the Tokyo soldiers, and even traded a few pieces of candy for some fresh vegetables or eggs from their allies.

This kind of battlefield economic activity, to some extent, alleviated the fatigue of long marches and the tension before battle.

However, even more astonishing adventures followed.

Some audacious and highly "business-minded" soldiers of the 4th Division took advantage of the fact that both sides were Japanese troops and that there were still loopholes in the initial security, and broke up into small groups to sneak into Nanjing, which was like a "treasure trove" to them!

Chaos was spreading throughout Nanjing at this time.

The Central China Expeditionary Army is carrying out a frenzied looting spree. Order has been completely destroyed in the city, food is extremely scarce, and the surviving Chinese people are struggling on the brink of death.

These Osaka soldiers, dressed in the same uniforms and speaking Japanese, moved about as if they were in an empty place.

They avoided the Japanese troops committing massacres and found some Chinese civilians who had hidden themselves. They communicated with them using broken Chinese or simple gestures: "Rice! Grain! We have... money, gold bars, antiques, trade!"

A box of compressed biscuits could be exchanged for a gold ring, a can of food for a jade bracelet, or even a few pieces of candy for a family heirloom hidden away by ordinary people.

They exploited the extreme panic and hunger of the people to conduct what they considered to be fair "trades".