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

After returning, Deputy Brigade Commander Guan reported the facts to Bao Gang.

"Is this Dragon Legion commander so certain? What makes him so confident?"

Puzzled, Bao Gang dialed Commander Shang's number again.

Commander Shang was equally puzzled: "What? He's so confident? I really want to see where his confidence comes from?"

Less than two hours later, Commander Shang received the report.

"Reporting to the commander, Zhengzhou is surrounded, but it's not the Japanese."

"What? Go and check if it's the Dragon Flame Force?"

"Yes!"

Not long after the reporting officer left, Commander Shang received a phone call from Jiang Zaizhen, the commander of the newly formed 8th Division.

"Reporting to the commander, our unit is stationed in Huayuankou Jingshui Town, which is surrounded by tens of thousands of unidentified troops, but they are definitely not Japanese."

Commander Shang suddenly realized why Long Fei was so certain that he would keep the appointment.

Commander Shang then fell into deep thought. He had only recently dispatched the newly formed Eighth Division to Jingshui Town.

The main purpose was to prepare to breach the Yellow River dike near Huayuankou.

Previously, under duress from the Nationalist government, Commander Shang had sent a regiment of the 53rd Army to breach the Yellow River dike at Zhaokou in Zhongmu County.

However, due to the rapid defeat in the Battle of Lanfeng and the slow progress in breaching the dike, it was pointless to breach the dike here.

Therefore, under the instruction of the Nationalist government leaders, he chose the new location for the breach to be west of the Guandi Temple at Huayuankou, which is near Jingshui Town.

Now Long Fei has not only sent troops to surround Kaifeng and Zhengzhou, but also Jingshui Town. Could it be that the enemy knows about his plan to breach the dike?

Commander Shang's head throbbed with worry. The breach of the dike was a top secret, and even among the highest levels of the Nationalist government, only a very limited number of people knew about it.

After much deliberation, Commander Shang decided to meet with Long Fei to find out his true intentions.

Immediately, Commander Shang dialed Baogang's number.

“Brigade Commander Bao, immediately send someone to tell this Commander Long that I am setting off from Zhengzhou to attend the banquet.”

"Ah...yes, Commander."

The commander who led the siege of Zhengzhou was Chief of Staff Gao Hong. He received a report that a convoy had left the city and asked whether to allow it to pass.

Gao Hong guessed that Commander Shang was getting impatient and must be going to see the legion commander, so he went to confirm it himself.

Commander Shang was both highly skilled and daring, traveling light with only an adjutant and a guard platoon.

Commander Shang didn't bring too many troops; that was a smart move of his.

Because if the Dragon Flame Army is hostile, it would be useless for him to lead an entire division.

Bringing a platoon of guards was merely for the sake of appearances and to project an image of status.

Gao Hong drove a Willys Jeep at breakneck speed, then slammed on the brakes and stopped right in front of Commander Shang's convoy with an incredibly dashing air.

After getting out of the car and closing the door, Gao Hong strode forward.

"Please state your identity, you who are here."

When Commander Shang's adjutant saw that Commander Shang nodded slightly with a stern face, he opened the door, got out of the car, and went to negotiate.

"The person sitting in the car is the commander of our 20th Army Group's business division. Didn't your corps commander invite him to a banquet? Get out of the way now."

The adjutant spoke in a very arrogant tone, which displeased Gao Hong.

He cursed inwardly, thinking, "Even an adjutant is so arrogant. He's no good at fighting the Japanese, but he's really good at talking big."

He immediately retorted, "I am Lieutenant General Gao Hong, Chief of Staff of the Dragon Flame Legion. You are not speaking to me on equal footing. Go and invite your Commander Shang to speak to me."

The adjutant was speechless after being confronted by Gao Hong, and could only turn around and go back to the car to report.

Upon hearing this, Shang Zhen's face grew even more gloomy. Helpless, he could only get out of the car and approach Gao Hong.

Since Commander Shang held the rank of general, Gao Hong politely saluted him.

"Commander Shang, hello."

Shang Zhen simply nodded casually, without returning the salute.

"Your Dragon Legion Commander is really something. He made such a big fuss over a simple meal for me. Now that you've confirmed my identity, can you let me through?"

Gao Hong sneered, "Commander Shang, you're mistaken. Our corps commander didn't go to all this trouble to invite you to this banquet. You can eat it or not, it's just a precaution. Please..."

Gao Hong's words startled Commander Shang, further confirming his suspicions that the other party had indeed come for the matter of breaching the dike.

The distance from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou is only seventy or eighty kilometers. A little over an hour later, when Commander Shang arrived at Long Fei's residence.

Bao Gang and Deputy Brigade Commander Guan had been waiting for a long time.

Upon receiving Commander Shang's call, Bao Gang did not dare to delay for a moment. He immediately led Deputy Brigade Commander Guan out of the city to inform Long Fei.

Then, the two decided to stay and wait, and did not go back.

Upon seeing Commander Shang's car arrive, the two hurriedly stepped forward and opened the door.

Commander Shang got out of the car, straightened his uniform, and then strode confidently, letting Bao Gang lead the way.

When they arrived at Long Fei's tent, Bao Gang and Deputy Brigade Commander Guan were stopped.

"Officers, I'm sorry, but our corps commander has important matters to discuss with Commander Shang. You need to leave."

"Commander, this..."

Bao Gang looked at Commander Shang, clearly worried about his safety.

"You all stay here, I'll go see Commander Long."

Commander Shang dared to enter alone because he knew that the Longyan Army was a real army that fought against the Japanese.

He is neither an enemy nor a traitor, so the other party will not indiscriminately harm him.

Inside the tent, Long Fei sat alone, a cigarette between his fingers, watching Commander Shang walk up to him with a blank expression.

Then he pointed to the stool across the table: "Commander Shang, please sit down."

Long Fei was not only unenthusiastic, but he even skipped the salute.

Commander Shang frowned, somewhat displeased, but still slowly sat down.

There were only a few cans of food on the table, plus a bottle of liquor with a white label.

Commander Shang glanced at it and teased, "Commander Long, you went to all this trouble to invite me to this banquet, and you're just going to feed me canned food?"

Long Fei picked up the wine bottle, poured wine for Commander Shang, and said coldly.

"Commander Shang, it's already very good that we have canned food. I'm afraid it won't be long before tens of thousands of people are displaced, naked, and starving."

"What you said..."

Commander Shang didn't know how to respond to Long Fei's words. He was now 100% certain that Long Fei had come for the matter of breaching the dike.

What puzzled Commander Shang the most was how Long Fei knew about such a highly confidential plan of the National Government.

Long Fei looked at Commander Shang and said seriously.

"Now that it's just the two of us, I don't think there's any need to hide anything. We can all be open and honest with each other."

Commander Shang continued, feigning ignorance, "Commander Long, what do you mean by that?"

Long Fei snorted coldly, picked up his wine glass and downed it in one gulp, then lit a cigarette and asked while exhaling smoke.

"I would like to ask Commander Shang, what is the purpose of our war of resistance?"

Without a second thought, Commander Shang immediately replied with righteous indignation.

"Is there even a question? Of course, it's to safeguard national sovereignty and ethnic independence."