Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

The word "abandon" was like a needle, piercing Tani Hisao's frenzied bubble.

He looked around and saw the desperate and fearful eyes of his staff officers, and heard the roar of tanks and shouts of battle getting closer and closer to the front of the position.

He realized that his illustrious achievements were meaningless without the protection and logistical support of his superiors.

A profound sense of emptiness, of being abandoned by fate, gripped him.

He slumped to the ground, the military knife in his hand falling to the ground with a clang.

This tyrannical division commander, faced with absolute defeat, finally bowed his head in madness.

He waved his hand weakly, squeezing out a few words from his throat: "...Whatever...do whatever you want..."

The gunfire from the direction of Yuhuatai gradually subsided, eventually fading into silence.

The flag of the 6th Division hung low amidst the smoke of battle.

What truly and thoroughly undermined the Central China Expeditionary Army's will to resist from within was the collective betrayal and self-preservation of its top leadership.

In fact, after Makarov breached the command post, Chief of Staff Major General Iinuma Mamoru, Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel Uemura Toshimichi, and other key high-ranking officers realized that the situation was hopeless and escaped through a secret passage.

They knew better than anyone that once Matsui Iwane fell from power, they, as key advisors, would face dire consequences.

Therefore, during their escape or after reaching a safe zone, in order to clear their names, show their loyalty to their new masters, and also to end the chaos as soon as possible and reduce their own guilt, they all used the remaining, secretive communication channels to send "suggestions" or "instructions" to the division and regimental commanders who were still fighting hard on the Nanjing front.

These telegrams or messages were carefully worded and hypocritical, but their core meaning was clear:

"The situation is beyond saving, and the headquarters' functions are paralyzed."

"In order to preserve the Empire's living strength in China and avoid greater losses, we should assess the situation and suspend futile resistance."

"We can contact the commanders of the current warring parties to discuss a ceasefire, with the priority being the safety of our soldiers."

"This is a reluctant choice made for the long-term interests of the empire. I hope you will understand."

These betrayals from former superiors and colleagues became the final straw that broke the psychological defenses of the division and regimental commanders.

It means that not only is the supreme commander gone, but the entire command system's top brass has also abandoned them, even using them as bargaining chips to secure their own safety.

Continuing to fight has lost all political and military significance; it only leads to certain death.

By the afternoon of the 29th, the gunfire and artillery fire inside and outside Nanjing had basically ceased.

The once invincible Central China Expeditionary Army completely lost its will to fight after losing the orders of Matsui Iwane and being abandoned by its core high-ranking officers, including Chief of Staff Major General Iinuma Mori and Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel Uemura Toshimichi.

On each position, the remaining Japanese soldiers numbly raised their hands as they emerged from the trenches and bunkers, heading towards the designated prisoner-of-war gathering points under the indifferent gaze of the "rebel" soldiers.

The military flags of the various divisions and regiments of the Central China Expeditionary Army, which had been flying for just over ten days, were successively lowered and confiscated.

A new flag, representing the alliance of the military police, the Kwantung Army, and the North China Area Army, slowly rose over Nanjing.

The tree has fallen, the monkeys have scattered, but the dark clouds hanging over Nanjing have not yet dissipated.

This ravaged city, after suffering massacres by foreign enemies and bloody infighting due to internal divisions, fell into an eerie and heavy silence.

This large-scale infighting within the Japanese army that took place in Nanjing and its surrounding areas, though short in duration, was far more brutal, absurd, and destructive than the worst could have been imagined.

For this ancient city, this was the third catastrophe that followed the heroic resistance of the Chinese defenders and the Japanese army's rampant looting after entering the city.

As the loser in the internal power struggle and the target of the reckoning, the Central China Expeditionary Army suffered a devastating blow.

Its main force, exhausted after the Battle of Nanjing, suffered a rapid collapse of its command structure under the sudden attack from both inside and outside, resulting in extremely heavy casualties. Its destruction was no less than that of a large-scale annihilation battle.

Among them was the 6th Division and the Kumamoto Division.

Before the war, the force numbered approximately 2.5 at full strength and was known for its ferocity, tenacity, cruelty, and belligerence.

It belonged to the 10th Army and landed at Jinshanwei.

Although they did not experience the "meat grinder" of the Shanghai-Nanjing battle, they still suffered heavy casualties on the Wufu defense line, the Xicheng defense line, and in the subsequent Battle of Nanjing.

However, it remains the most combat-effective standing division in the Central China Expeditionary Army, with approximately 20,000 personnel.

However, after the battle, only 1.1 people remained, including the wounded. After several battles, the number of casualties had reached 56%, or about 1.4.

During this battle, Yuhuatai was repeatedly contested. The 13th Infantry Regiment and the 47th Regiment of the division encountered a crushing attack from the tank company of the 7th Division.

Lacking anti-tank weapons, Japanese infantry launched suicide charges as "human bombs," falling in droves to the ground under tank tracks and machine guns.

In the Battle of Yuhuatai alone, these two regiments lost more than two-thirds of their forces. The battlefield was littered with corpses, many of which were crushed by tanks and could not be identified.

The street fighting at Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate involved a house-to-house battle with the 2nd Division of the Kwantung Army.

The battle was extremely brutal, with both sides using grenades, bayonets, and even entrenching tools to fight among the ruins.

A battalion of the 23rd Regiment of the 6th Division was attacked by flamethrowers while defending a bank building, and all of its members were burned to a crisp.

Throughout the urban warfare, the division's mid-level officers, including battalion commanders and company commanders, suffered over 70% casualties.

After learning that their headquarters had been destroyed and their retreat route had been cut off, military discipline completely collapsed.

Many soldiers deserted in despair; some jumped into the Yangtze River and drowned, some were executed on the spot by their own troops for "desertion," and some even committed suicide out of fear of retaliation after being captured.

In the final stages, internal fighting broke out due to running out of ammunition and food, and the struggle for food and water also caused considerable casualties.

Furthermore, due to the division's notorious reputation, the attacking side was particularly ruthless towards it, resulting in a very low proportion of captured mid- to high-ranking officers. Many regimental commanders and battalion commanders were specifically "targeted" and shot during the "chaos of battle."

During the post-war cleanup of the battlefield, numerous bodies of soldiers from the 6th Division were found to have gunshot wounds.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

9th Division, Kanazawa Division.

Pre-war status: Approximately 2.4 men, all of whom were Class A standing divisions, well-equipped, and mostly from Ishikawa Prefecture, earning them the nickname "Honorary Division".

They landed between Yangshupu and Wusong in early September and participated in the Battle of Shanghai, including several days of fierce fighting at Wenzaobang.

They then pursued the Chinese army all the way to Nanjing.

Until the civil war, the division had 1.5 men.

However, after the war, including the wounded, there were still 6 casualties, and the total number of casualties was about 1.8.

In this battle, the Kwantung Army concentrated the field artillery regiments of the 2nd and 12th Divisions and carried out devastating bombardment of the Shanmen and Guanghuamen defense lines.

The civil engineering works were razed to the ground, and the pre-planned machine gun positions and mortar emplacements were eliminated one by one.

The positions of the 9th Field Artillery Regiment of the division were suppressed by counter-battery fire in the early stages of the battle, with more than 80% of the artillery pieces destroyed and the gunners suffering heavy casualties.

The officer corps suffered heavy losses. The officers of the 9th Division were mostly elites from the Army War College. After the defensive line was breached, they still tried to organize a counterattack and an orderly retreat, which resulted in junior officers, lieutenants, and captains leading the charge. Their casualty rate was far higher than that of the soldiers.

The main force of the division was divided into several parts during the retreat, each fighting its own battle.

The 36th Infantry Regiment was surrounded near the Ming Palace Airport. After refusing to surrender, it was attacked by Kwantung Army tanks and infantry and was almost completely annihilated.