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

A few minutes before 1 a.m., Xie Qiang led six carefully selected special forces members to the north bank after warming up, ready to swim across the river.

Although it was winter, for special forces soldiers, swimming across the Yangtze River, which was about a thousand meters wide, was just a routine winter swimming training exercise.

Before going into the water, Long Fei gave him some final instructions.

"There are many uncertainties in this mission. Your reconnaissance team must prioritize your own safety and do your best in this mission."

"Also, you must remember that it is now 1 a.m. on the 16th. By 1 a.m. on the 17th, regardless of whether the mission is completed or not, you must return to the north bank. I don't want our shells to hit our own people."

The seven stood like javelins and responded in hushed tones.

"Commander, don't worry, we guarantee to complete the mission."

Immediately, everyone jumped into the water and began swimming towards the opposite bank.

The Japanese did not deploy any troops on the opposite bank of the river. After all, the National Revolutionary Army had already taken the initiative to retreat. Would they really launch a counterattack?

Therefore, the Japanese set up some observation posts on the opposite bank of the river.

It was already past midnight. The Japanese sentries were cold and tired, and they were all hugging their guns and huddled in sheltered spots, dozing off.

Therefore, Xie Qiang and his six companions swam to the other side without any trouble.

After getting ashore, Xie Qiang and his men immediately took out Japanese military uniforms from their waterproof backpacks and put them on.

Then, armed with weapons and a radio, they quietly entered the city.

But Xie Qiang and his group had just entered the city when they encountered a group of Japanese military police.

These Japanese military police are really dedicated; they're still patrolling outside at this hour.

Upon spotting Xie Qiang and his six companions, the Japanese military police immediately charged forward with their guns raised.

"Which unit are you from, and why are you still wandering around the city at this hour?"

Xie Qiang remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic.

"We are from the 16th Division. We're supposed to have a celebration tomorrow, but our division commander has ordered the entire division to have a holiday and free time."

Xie Qiang made this up entirely, but it turned out to be a lucky coincidence.

Because General Matsui ordered the entire army to have two days of free movement in order to reward the attacking troops.

The military police officer leading the team was a second lieutenant, while Xie Qiang was impersonating a Japanese major.

Seeing that Xie Qiang's words had no loopholes, the military police lieutenant did not question him further, but instead asked a question that was understood.

"I know you're looking for pretty girls, but this is a ghost town, so don't waste your time."

Xie Qiang chuckled lewdly, "Sigh, it's just so disappointing. We've been searching for hours and haven't even seen a single pretty girl."

The military police lieutenant gave a mysterious smile and said in a low voice.

"After the celebration tomorrow, I heard that General Matsui will transport a large number of comfort women from other places and set up comfort stations. Don't worry, just be patient for now. Now please return to your camp immediately."

After hearing this, Xie Qiang pretended to be very happy and took out a pack of "Asahi" brand cigarettes, which he had specially prepared, from his pocket.

Xie Qiang took out a cigarette and handed one to each of the four military police officers, including the lieutenant.

Although the other party was a military policeman feared by all soldiers, Xie Qiang's rank was major after all, so the military police lieutenant accepted the cigarette out of politeness.

Seeing this, Xie Qiang put a cigarette in his mouth as well, then took out a match and lit it for the military police lieutenant.

Xie Qiang, smoking a cigarette, said sullenly, "Looks like we're going to be disappointed today. Fine, let's go back to camp after we finish our cigarettes."

The military police lieutenant, smoking a cigarette, nodded and was about to lead his team away.

But his eyes inadvertently caught sight of a radio carried on the back of one of the team members.

This immediately aroused suspicion in the military police lieutenant.

"You guys came out looking for fun, why did you bring a radio with you?"

Xie Qiang's heart tightened suddenly; he knew that this would be difficult to explain.

In an instant, several excuses popped into Xie Qiang's mind, such as the radio being broken and sent for repair, the radio being delivered to another brigade, or carrying the radio to facilitate communication with the regimental commander...

But these excuses were too far-fetched and unreasonable; even Xie Qiang himself didn't believe them, let alone the Japanese military police who were shrewd and vigilant.

Xie Qiang quickly rejected the strategy of fabricating lies and instead made a decisive decision to kill the Japanese military police.

Xie Qiang deliberately turned around, glanced at the team member carrying the radio, and then pointed at him to explain.

"Lieutenant, the reason we brought the radio is actually..."

Xie Qiang deliberately spoke very softly, and the military police lieutenant took two steps to come to his side so that he could hear him clearly.

Little did the military police lieutenant know that Xie Qiang had already decided to kill him.

As Xie Qiang was speaking, he suddenly made a move, striking the military police lieutenant in the neck with a palm strike, causing the lieutenant's vision to go black on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Qiang grabbed his head and jaw with his hands and snapped the man's neck with a "crack".

Because Xie Qiang launched his attack suddenly and at an extremely fast speed, it happened almost in an instant.

By the time the other four Japanese military police officers reacted, the other six team members, working in perfect harmony, followed Xie Qiang and took action.

"Puff puff... Crack..."

The four Japanese soldiers were first punched in the temple, followed by four sharp cracks as their necks were snapped on the spot, and their bodies collapsed limply to the ground.

"Drag the Japanese soldiers' corpses into that house over there."

Xie Qiang pointed to a small courtyard with its gate wide open and gave orders to his team members.

After dragging the five Japanese soldiers' corpses into the courtyard, Xie Qiang immediately closed the gate.

Next, Xie Qiang quickly searched the yard and found a well in the backyard.

"Strip the Japanese soldiers of their clothes and throw their bodies into the well."

The team members immediately sprang into action, quickly stripping the Japanese military police of their uniforms, and then each of them carried a Japanese soldier and threw them one by one into the well.

Having done all this, Xie Qiang has a new plan based on the current situation.

“Carrying a radio is too conspicuous and will easily arouse the suspicion of the Japanese, so I have decided that the two of you should stay here and hide with the radio.”

"The five of us will impersonate Japanese military police to gather information. Alright, let's begin."

After Xie Qiang finished speaking, he immediately took the lead in changing into the Japanese military police uniform.

The Japanese military police were all so-called elites selected from various units, so in terms of physique, they were not short and stocky.

In addition, since it was winter military uniforms, which are usually looser, Xie Qiang and his four companions were still able to wear them reasonably well.

Now, with the cover of being a military policeman, Xie Qiang led four team members to patrol the city openly.

When they arrived at Guanghua Gate, Xie Qiang walked up to the sentries guarding the gate and deliberately gave them a serious reminder.

"A celebration is about to be held. To ensure the safety of the city, you must be on high alert and arrest any suspicious persons you encounter."

"Yes, Lieutenant, we understand."

At this moment, Xie Qiang deliberately pounded his thigh: "Hey, I've been walking all night, my legs are so sore."

One of the Japanese sentries was very sensible and quickly took out a bench from the sentry post.

"Lieutenant, why don't you sit down and rest for a while?"

Xie Qiang smiled and nodded: "Okay, thank you."

Then, Xie Qiang started chatting idly with the sentry.

Unexpectedly, this Japanese sentry was a chatterbox. When Xie Qiang started talking to him, he went on and on.

The Japanese sentry said his cousin was a war correspondent and was scheduled to take photos at the celebration tomorrow.

Moreover, Xie Qiang received much-needed intelligence: tomorrow's celebration will be held at Xinjiekou Square.

After chatting for a while, Xie Qiang got up and left. He decided to go to Xinjiekou Square to investigate the situation and calculate the exact coordinates.