The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

On the evening of the 25th, 200th Division Commander Huang Wei and his men led a large force through the area east of Yingduo. Due to time constraints, they did not even have a chance to meet with Yang Hong and his men before hastily retreating northwestward. Each unit of the 200th Division subsequently reunited with division headquarters for a combined evacuation. However, surprisingly, the 200nd Battalion of the 600th Regiment and its subordinate artillery company were not among the retreating troops.

Qin Shi had decided to remain in eastern Burma and join the overseas Chinese guerrillas. Their goal was to reach a Japanese concentration camp south of Tounggu. According to intelligence provided by the overseas Chinese guerrillas, the camp held over 2,000 Expeditionary Force soldiers, overseas Chinese, and a small number of British prisoners of war. Qin Shi and his men were determined to rescue these captured comrades and reorganize them into a powerful anti-Japanese force behind enemy lines.

On the night of May 5th, the stars twinkled over an abandoned mine on the banks of the Sittang River south of Toungoo. Within this silent spot, a Japanese concentration camp quietly stood. The camp's commander, Major Kawasaki, stood in the attic of his headquarters, his gaze coldly fixed on the scattered lights of the concentration camp cells not far away. The cells were makeshift bamboo structures on stilts, their architectural style reminiscent of the shoddy bamboo huts common in Southeast Asia. These crude dwellings were forcibly constructed by captured Chinese soldiers, forced by the Japanese to build them themselves. During the construction process, Major Kawasaki personally executed several disobedient Chinese to ensure obedience.

Beyond the cellblocks, a spacious, flat area was covered with dozens of Chinese military officers tied to wooden stakes. Weak and exhausted, they were too weak to struggle, and their fate was unknown. Further away, on the banks of the Xitang River, lay a water dungeon, holding several British soldiers and dozens of Chinese soldiers and overseas Chinese. They had been submerged in the water for days, their bodies bleached white, resembling steamed buns. On the shore lay several chicken cages, filled with severed heads, emitting a sickening odor.

Major Kawasaki's Japanese forces were limited, with only a half-strength squadron tasked with guarding thousands of prisoners. Kawasaki employed brutal tactics to suppress unruly elements. In addition to Japanese soldiers, several Burmese and Chinese served as accomplices in the camp, assisting the Japanese in managing the prisoners. These individuals, known as "Burmese traitors" and "Han traitors," stirred up unrest within the camp and brutally persecuted their compatriots.

Today was the day the 15th Army celebrated its victory across the Burma front, and the garrison relaxed its discipline for a day. Kawasaki had specially invited a comfort unit from Tonggu City to reward his men. As for some soldiers taking advantage of the opportunity to humiliate and kill prisoners of war, Kawasaki turned a blind eye. In his heart, soldiers needed to be nourished by blood.

At that moment, accompanied by his guard captain, Captain Kenkuma Shizo, they each embraced a heavily powdered comfort woman and drank sake. For a moment, Kawasaki dropped his usual cold expression, his pig head nudging the comfort woman in his arms like a greedy pig.

Inside the Chinese prisoner-of-war camp, Li Huaixi, clutching an unknown grass root, tossed and turned, unable to sleep, listening to the clamor of the Japanese troops outside. This afternoon, the Japanese camp garrison hypocritically gave the prisoners an afternoon break and a special meal, unexpectedly rewarding each with a small piece of unknown meat. According to the traitors, today was a particularly memorable day for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, marking the complete victory of the Imperial Japanese Army in Southeast Asia and the rescue of Burma and other Southeast Asian regions from colonial powers like Britain and the United States. The traitors never failed to promote the Japanese army's so-called "Royal Way of Heaven," encouraging the prisoners to reform themselves and join the Greater East Asia peacebuilding movement as soon as possible.

Li Huaixi and other prisoners of war hated these traitors to their roots, secretly resolving to not let these vicious enemies go if given the chance. Li Huaixi, a sergeant squad leader in the 93rd Division, was surrounded by Japanese forces during a hasty retreat to reinforce Taunggyi. The commanding officer, a lieutenant colonel, ordered the surrender of resistance, and over 600 soldiers were captured without firing a shot. Now tied to a wooden stake outside, the lieutenant colonel, the deputy regimental commander, wondered if he regretted his rash decision.

At this moment, the comrade in the next bed took the opportunity to turn over and whispered quickly in his ear: "There will be an action tonight, be prepared!"

Li Huaixi and other aspiring prisoners of war secretly organized a rebellion. Unwilling to endure the humiliation, the prisoners, under the covert planning of a captured second lieutenant from the 200th Division, organized themselves into a riot squad, ready to seize the opportunity to launch a rebellion and break out of their captivity! They knew that remaining compliant would ultimately lead to being exploited by the Japanese and ultimately to a miserable death. Rather than this, they decided to resist, even if it meant dying in battle, and never becoming slaves of a conquered nation!

Li Huaixi awoke with a start. It was finally coming! Over the past few days of preparation, everyone had quietly gathered materials for the riot, such as broken knives, sharpened bamboo blades, bamboo blowguns, and so on. Meanwhile, some of the prison sheds had been intentionally or unintentionally left with passageways, even providing access to the outside world. According to news from the overseas Chinese guerrillas outside, tonight, a surviving unit would reunite with the guerrillas and, in conjunction with the insurgents in the concentration camp, launch an uprising!

Late at night, the Japanese army's clamor finally died down. The camp was completely dark, save for the regular sweeps of searchlights from a few stilt houses. Even the routine patrols were nowhere to be seen. The Japanese army's careless defense gave the Chinese soldiers more opportunities.

Outside the camp, a scattered crowd of people could be vaguely seen. Inside, from under several sheds, groups of dark figures quietly crawled out and began to move in all directions.

"Gugugugu——" A short man was calling to the grass by the Xitang River.

"Wa wah wah--", a few frogs responded, and then several men in black came in front of him.

If Li Huaixi were here, he would have recognized this short man as the traitor he'd been referring to—Liu Xiao. He was a major staff officer in the 200th Regiment of the 600th Division. He was knocked unconscious by a shell during the Battle of Taunggyi and tragically captured. The Japanese, seeing him as frail and indifferent, and his intelligence as a staff officer, transformed him into the chief traitor in the Japanese POW camp, mediating between the overseas Chinese guerrillas and the 200th Regiment of the 600th Division.

The leader of the men in black was Qin Shi. He and Liu Xiao were old acquaintances. When they met, they immediately shook each other's hands.

"Old Liu, I didn't expect it to be you!" Qin Shi whispered excitedly.