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

Seeing this, Long Fei stepped forward and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Brothers of the National Army, I am Long Fei, the commander of the Longyan Legion. I warmly welcome you to join my army."

"However, I must say this upfront: after joining my Dragon Flame Legion, I guarantee to provide you with weapons and equipment that are even more advanced than those of the Japanese."

"You will receive ten silver dollars a month as military pay, twenty silver dollars during the period of injury, and one hundred silver dollars as a pension if you die heroically."

"In addition, my troops provide you with white rice, meat and vegetables, cigarettes, and occasionally alcohol."

"However, I also have requirements for you. My troops do not recruit cowards. You must train hard and kill the Japanese devils fiercely on the battlefield. You are not allowed to surrender or desert. Otherwise, you will be punished according to military law."

"There are two corpses hanging on the south gate of Chuxian County. They are Huang Xingnong, the police chief of Chuxian County, and Gong Xikui, the richest man in Chuxian County. I ordered them to be shot last night because they had secretly agreed to defect to the Japanese and become traitors."

"So, if you can do what I ask, come here and sign and put your fingerprints on it. If you can't, please leave."

The vast majority of these Nationalist officers and soldiers were excellent, but there were inevitably some who were afraid of death.

So after Long Fei finished his announcement, most of the five or six thousand Nationalist officers and soldiers, except for two or three hundred who hesitated for a while before turning away, signed the document and stayed behind.

It wasn't until the afternoon that all the officers and soldiers who had joined the Nationalist army, as well as many civilians who had enlisted, had completed their registration.

They received ten silver dollars on the spot, along with new military uniforms and weapons and ammunition.

To date, the Dragon Flame Legion has a total strength of 20,000 men.

Long Fei did not intend to increase the number of the five armies for the time being, but instead asked Xu Peng and others to disperse them into the existing five armies.

Currently, each army has more than 3,000 soldiers, but their combat effectiveness still needs to be improved.

However, Long Fei doesn't have time to train them slowly right now. He can only use the limited time available to get everyone familiar with their issued firearms and light and heavy machine guns in the shortest possible time.

Before nightfall, Yan Xijiu came to inform us that all of the more than 10,000 people in the county town had been evacuated and were heading to other counties and cities. In addition, the Nationalist troops that had been temporarily resting in the county town had also all left.

When the local tyrants and bullies saw Yan Xijiu arrive, they all came over. They reported to Long Fei that the silver dollars had been distributed to all soldiers and civilians at five dollars per person, and there were still more than 50,000 silver dollars left.

Long Fei's special forces members supervised the entire process, and they dared not conceal anything.

Of course, they didn't dare take the more than 50,000 silver dollars with them, but instead ordered them to be carried to Long Fei.

"Commander Long, we have completed all the tasks you assigned. We still have over 50,000 silver dollars left, and we have unanimously decided to donate them to your Dragon Flame Legion as military expenses."

Although these local tyrants and bullies plundered and extorted in Chuzhou County, strictly speaking, they did not deserve to die, since they did not intend to become traitors and had not taken any lives.

Therefore, Long Fei didn't intend to punish them severely. He thought that if they paid a little money and learned a lesson, that would be enough.

Besides, Long Fei doesn't have the time or energy to waste on them right now.

"Okay, thank you then. Go back and pack your things, and leave Chuxian County as soon as possible."

Upon hearing Long Fei's words, the group breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly bowed and scraped, and quickly turned to leave, fearing that if they hesitated even a moment, Long Fei might change his mind.

Yan Xijiu then asked, "Commander Long, may I now lead the county government and police personnel to evacuate?"

Long Fei nodded and said, "Okay, but I would like to ask County Chief Yan for a favor."

"Commander Long, please speak if you have anything to say. I will do my best to handle it."

Although Yan Xijiu spoke so decisively, he couldn't help but feel nervous inside. He didn't know what Long Fei wanted him to do and was very uneasy.

"Is Coffin Hollow under the jurisdiction of your Chuxian County?"

Yan Xijiu blurted out, "Yes, Guancaiwa is a village with more than 200 households and more than 700 people."

"County Chief Yan, I would like to ask you to detour through Guancaiwa during your evacuation and have all the villagers evacuate by tomorrow, because I need to fight the Japanese there."

Yan Xijiu thought he had misheard: "Commander Long, the Nationalist troops have already withdrawn. Are you still going to stay and fight the Japanese?"

Long Fei scoffed, "The Nationalist army's retreat is their business. My Longyan Legion is not the Nationalist army; we have our own plans."

After receiving confirmation, Yan Xijiu glanced at Long Fei suspiciously, but ultimately nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I promise you, I'll be at Coffin Hollow by tomorrow morning, and I'll make them leave immediately."

After seeing Yan Xijiu off, Long Fei asked Xu Peng, "Have you heard anything from the scouts we sent out?"

"Yes, they are keeping a close watch, but they haven't yet discovered the Japanese 13th Division or other units crossing the river."

Long Fei thought for a moment and said, "It's probably our shelling that disrupted the Japanese rhythm. It seems we can stay in Chuzhou County tonight without worry."

"Let's go back to our base. We'll treat the brothers tonight and also entertain the new Nationalist soldiers."

Next, Long Fei asked Xu Peng to take everyone back to the base, while he waited for everyone to leave, put everything into the system, and then returned to the base.

With the army now numbering nearly 20,000, Long Fei had no choice but to move all twelve cooking vehicles out.

Today, when Long Fei was recruiting soldiers in Chuxian County, there were agents from the National Revolutionary Army's Fuxing Society present. After they found out the situation, they immediately sent a telegram to the acting director.

The acting director believed that this matter was of great importance and hurriedly brought a telegram to report to the leaders of the National Government.

Upon seeing the telegram, the leaders of the Nationalist government were so enraged that they immediately began to curse.

"Damn it, the Dragon Flame Army is outrageous! They dare to openly undermine our National Army!"

“Look, Chen Yiding, Liu Yuqing, Zhu Ci, Yi Anhua, Ding Zhipan, Zhou Zhengqiang, even Liu Anqi of the 57th Army of the Northeast Army, and Zhou Weiguo who was sent to the Hans Military Academy for further study, all these elite generals of the National Revolutionary Army have joined the Longyan Army.”

"Now this Long Fei has actually expanded the Longyan Army into a legion. What is he trying to do? Is he openly opposing the National Government, or is he planning a rebellion?"

After finishing their tirade, the Nationalist government leaders gritted their teeth and prepared to mobilize troops to encircle and annihilate the Dragon Flame Legion.

He had just picked up the phone and said a few words when the acting director hurriedly tried to stop him.

"Sir, please wait a moment, I have something to say."

The Nationalist government leader hesitated for a moment, then put down the phone.

"Leader, this Dragon Flame Army has appeared out of nowhere, and we don't know where it came from. The key thing is that as soon as it appeared, it killed countless Japanese pirates."

"The Dragon Flame Troops are now renowned for their impressive achievements. If the National Army were to encircle and annihilate them at this time, it would likely incite public outrage and make the people feel that our actions would cause pain to our loved ones and joy to our enemies. In the end, the two sides would fight each other, and the Japanese would benefit."

The acting director's words clearly persuaded the leaders of the Nationalist government, but he still couldn't swallow his anger.

“Yu Nong, what you said makes a lot of sense, but if we just sit idly by, I’m afraid Long Fei will become more and more arrogant and outrageous. Moreover, so many Nationalist generals betraying the government will make us lose face.”

After thinking for a moment, the acting director suddenly had an idea.

"Sir, I have a suggestion. Since these Nationalist generals have already defected to the Dragon Flame Legion, why doesn't the Nationalist government issue an obituary stating that they died heroically in the Battle of Nanjing?"

"In this way, even if Long Fei wants to claim that these KMT generals are working for him, it will be difficult for people to distinguish between the truth and the falsehood, and we can turn the passive into the active."

After hearing this, the leaders of the Nationalist government smiled and praised him.

"Yu Nong, your idea is excellent. I'll entrust it to you to do immediately."