The War of Resistance Against Japan: Special Operations Battalion Traverses Shanghai and Slaughters

Long Fei didn't want to get entangled with Commander Tang on this issue, so he raised his hand to stop him.

"Alright, Commander Tang, I've made my decision. Now, please notify the generals of all units to come to the meeting."

"I need you to tell me the latest battle situation so I can make arrangements."

Commander Tang thought for a moment, then called in his adjutant, Wang, without saying anything more.

"Lieutenant Wang, immediately give Commander Long a summary of the latest battle situation."

After saying that, Commander Tang picked up the phone and called Liu Anqi, the commander of the 57th Army.

"Commander Liu, this is Tang Shengzhi."

"Commander Tang, what are your instructions?"

"Commander Liu, based on the battlefield situation, the National Government has decided that the entire Nanjing garrison will retreat to the north of the Yangtze River."

"What? The entire army is retreating..."

Faced with Liu Anqi's shock, Commander Tang did not offer much explanation, but instead issued the order directly.

"Commander Liu, the Nationalist government's intention is for your 57th Army to cover the entire army's retreat."

Liu Anqi was clearly very unhappy and gave a cold laugh over the phone.

"The Nationalist government really thinks highly of my 57th Army. We have been reduced from four divisions to two."

"Now my 112th Division has been wiped out, and the 111th Division has also lost more than half of its strength. The Nationalist government is now sending my remaining three or four thousand men to cover the retreat of tens of thousands of people. Isn't this just making us cannon fodder?"

Commander Tang coughed and advised, "Commander Liu, soldiers should obey orders unconditionally. In addition, I will have the Longyan Division join you in the cover mission."

"Dragon Flame Force?"

Liu Anqi had heard of the Longyan troops and knew of their remarkable achievements.

“That’s right. Commander Long Fei, the commander of the Longyan Force, is at my headquarters. He made the request himself, so I hope you can cooperate with him.”

The idea of ​​a corps commander voluntarily cooperating with a regimental commander in combat was simply a joke.

However, Liu Anqi knew how powerful the Dragon Flame Army was, so he did not have such an idea.

"Alright, I obey orders. I am currently fighting the Japanese at the Guanghua Gate front. Please have Commander Long lead his troops to join me."

Commander Tang hung up the phone and told Long Fei to lead his troops to Guanghua Gate to meet up with the 57th Army.

At this moment, Lieutenant Wang also brought the latest battle report.

After quickly flipping through the documents, Long Fei had a thorough understanding of the current situation on each battlefield.

"Commander Tang, I only hope that all units will retreat without turning into a rout and fleeing, so as not to give the Japanese an opportunity to take advantage."

After saying that, Long Fei left the headquarters and quickly got into the car to send Xie Qiang back to the dock.

Along the way, Xie Qiang noticed Long Fei's serious expression and couldn't help but ask cautiously.

"Captain, what's wrong?"

"It's alright. The National Government has already decided to abandon Nanjing. Commander Tang will hold an emergency meeting this afternoon to announce the decision and order all troops to withdraw to the north bank of the Yangtze River."

"Oh, so should we go back and notify the troops to cross the river?"

Long Fei shook his head: "No, we will be providing cover for the 57th Army before crossing the river."

"What? We're on a cover mission? This...this isn't..."

Xie Qiang's first reaction was that this cover mission was no different from suicide, which is why he reacted so strongly.

"Xie Qiang, don't worry, I won't let the brothers be in danger."

Xie Qiang believed Long Fei's words, but he still felt uncertain.

"Commander, there are hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers outside the city. Once the Nationalist army retreats, we can't hold them off with our small force."

Why use people to block it?

"Hiss..." Xie Qiang turned his head and glanced at Long Fei.

"Commander, you mean..."

Long Fei didn't keep them in suspense and told them directly.

“We still had quite a few Hans’ landmines left, and we only used two thousand M14 anti-personnel mines, so we still have twenty-eight thousand left.”

Xie Qiang immediately burst into laughter.

"Commander, so that's what you were planning. Hehe, that's fun. When the Japanese devils enter the city, these landmines will definitely give them a hard time."

"One pot isn't enough. I'm going to make the Japanese devils drink themselves to death in Nanjing."

Upon arriving at Xiaguan Wharf, Long Fei briefed everyone on the situation and then began assigning tasks.

"Have all the team members from the air defense points withdraw to the dock and establish new air defense points here."

"The new battalion and company will remain at the dock to be responsible for the safety of the pontoon bridge and ferry."

"The remaining four companies, along with the reconnaissance platoon, the engineer platoon, and others, will come with me to Guanghua Gate to meet up with the 57th Army."

When Long Fei's convoy reached the vicinity of Guanghua Gate, a group of Nationalist soldiers stopped them.

After negotiations, the other party learned that it was the Longyan troops who had come to reinforce them and immediately reported to Liu Anqi.

Long Fei was then taken to Liu Anqi's military headquarters.

After the two met, they looked each other over and then Liu Anqi sighed.

"Commander Long, you are truly a man of great talent and heroic spirit, but I can't understand why you would volunteer to be cannon fodder."

Long Fei replied in a deep voice, "Commander Liu, for many troops, this mission is indeed to be cannon fodder, but for my Longyan troops, it is a good opportunity to kill the Japanese devils."

"Oh, is it so?"

Seeing Liu Anqi's disbelieving expression, Long Fei walked to the battle map.

"Commander Liu, the defending troops have now retreated to the various gates of Nanjing. All the fighting is concentrated at Shuixi Gate, Zhonghua Gate, Yuhuatai, Guanghua Gate, Zhongshan Gate, Tongji Gate, Zijin Mountain, Heping Gate, Zhongyang Gate, and Mufu Mountain."

"After Commander Tang announces the retreat order at the meeting this afternoon, all units will begin their operations after dark."

"Because the Japanese do not like night fighting and are afraid of being ambushed, we must destroy as many of their tanks and armored vehicles as possible before dark."

At this point, Liu Anqi asked, "Commander Long, why do we need to destroy the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles? With our current weapons and equipment, it would be very difficult to destroy the Japanese tanks."

Long Fei countered, "Commander Liu, with your current force of a few thousand men, can you really stop the Japanese?"

Liu Anqi shook his head painfully and said tragically.

"We definitely can't stop them. We'll hold them off for as long as we can. Anyway, the 57th Army is prepared for the entire force to sacrifice itself."

Long Fei then said with a playful tone, "Commander Liu, I admire your bravery and courage, but my Longyan troops and I do not want to sacrifice ourselves here in vain."

"Hiss... Commander Long, you might as well speak plainly." Liu Anqi sensed that there was something more to Long Fei's words.

"Hehe, alright, Commander Liu, I have about 30,000 landmines here. I want to plant them at the entrances of various city gates in Jinling City."

"However, these landmines are designed to deal with infantry. In order to prevent the Japanese from using tanks and armored vehicles to clear the mines, we must find a way to get rid of them first."

Liu Anqi did some mental calculations: 30,000 landmines, even if distributed across ten city gate entrances, would amount to 3,000 mines per location. This density would definitely make it difficult for the Japanese to advance.

Crucially, this was far more effective and convenient than having the soldiers use their flesh and blood to block the Japanese invaders, and it also prevented the entire 57th Army from sacrificing themselves and becoming cannon fodder.

"Alright, Commander Long, tell me how to proceed, and I'll cooperate fully."

Long Fei smiled and nodded, saying, "I have ten heavy tanks here. Although we've run out of high-explosive shells, we still have plenty of armor-piercing shells that we can use to destroy Japanese tanks and armored vehicles."

"Before the Japanese infantry attack, they usually bombard the area with artillery first, and then use tanks and armored vehicles to clear the way. So, my idea is that we should just let the Japanese in and then trap them."