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

Because the Special Operations Division and reserves stationed at Maling Pass did not have enough trucks to transport the prisoners.

Therefore, after receiving Long Fei's orders, they had no choice but to escort the prisoners on foot to Taiyuan.

That means it will take at least several days to arrive.

Long Fei didn't want to wait that long, so he put Xie Qiang in charge of leading the team and driving all the trucks to escort the prisoners.

Before nightfall, the convoy returned safely, bringing back more than 30,000 Japanese prisoners in one trip.

Long Fei demanded that the remaining Japanese prisoners be transported over as quickly as possible.

This was a real hardship for Xie Qiang and his team. He led over a thousand drivers and, before dawn, transported all the Japanese prisoners captured at Junji Pass to the outskirts of Taiyuan City.

They also escorted back the newly captured prisoners and Japanese expatriates from various units along the way.

While Xie Qiang and his men were transporting prisoners non-stop, Long Fei, after dark, ordered the loudspeaker trucks set up outside the city gates to broadcast messages.

I turned the volume up and put the song on repeat all night long, playing the Japanese children's song "Red Dragonfly."

When Yoshio Shinotsuka went to war, he ordered the 80th Regiment of the 40th Brigade of the 20th Division and the 3rd Division of the Shanxi Imperial Army to stay behind and garrison Taiyuan.

Yoshio Shinotsuka believed that the walls of Taiyuan were tall and sturdy, and that even if besieged, a regiment plus a division of puppet troops could hold out for several days without any problem.

Unexpectedly, the First and Second Armies blew open the city gates with just a few shots, and it looked like dozens of tanks from the Dragon Flame Legion were about to rush into the city.

Zhu Youcai, the commander of the Third Division of the puppet army who was left behind, was scared half to death. In order to save his life, he hurriedly offered a vicious plan to the Japanese regimental commander, Katayama Riichiro.

"Sir, the enemy's artillery fire is too powerful, and they have so many tanks. I think the only way to stop them from attacking the city is to bring the civilians in the city up as hostages and shields, forcing them to stop their attack."

Riichiro Katayama had already prepared himself to die in battle.

He was about to give orders that once the city gates were breached, they should engage in street fighting, and that all his men should fight to the death and swear allegiance to His Majesty the Heavenly Locust.

As a result, Zhu Youcai came and offered a brilliant plan.

"Yoshi, Zhusang, your reward is excellent. I order you to immediately go and arrest all the people in the city and bring them here."

"Yes, sir, I'll go right away."

Overjoyed after receiving praise from Katayama Riichiro, Zhu Youcai eagerly led his more than 3,000 men from the Third Division into the city to carry out a large-scale arrest operation.

Soon, they brought more than 10,000 civilians to the city wall and took the initiative to shout to the Longyan troops outside the city.

As a result, Zhu Youcai's wicked plan temporarily succeeded. Chen Yiding and Zhu Ci, as the commanders of the two armies, discussed the matter and immediately ordered their troops to stop the attack and retreat.

Seeing that the Longyan troops were retreating on their own initiative, Zhu Youcai actually suggested to Katayama Riichiro that they should take the opportunity to open fire.

After the Dragon Flame troops ceased their attack, the two sides entered a stalemate.

Riichiro Katayama knew that this couldn't continue indefinitely.

He then hurriedly contacted Commander Yoshio Shinotsuka to report and suggested that his regiment continue to hold Taiyuan and draw the Longyan troops outside the city.

Hopefully, Yoshio Shinotsuka can send troops back to reinforce as soon as possible, and then work together from within and without to annihilate the Dragon Flame Army outside Taiyuan City.

As a result, Riichiro Katayama's telegrams went unanswered for a long time.

This inevitably made him panic. After calming down and thinking about it carefully, Katayama Riichiro suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

He suddenly realized that Yoshio Shinotsuka had led an army to besiege the Dragon Flame Legion.

Now, not only can he not contact the commander, but the Longyan troops have also surrounded Taiyuan City.

There are only two possibilities: either Yoshio Shinotsuka's encirclement and suppression efforts have failed, or a unit of the Dragon Flame Legion has broken out of the encirclement and is using a strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" to attack Taiyuan.

However, Katayama Riichiro never imagined that his commander, Yoshio Shinotsuka, had led an army of 300,000 men that had been completely wiped out.

Left with no other choice, Riichiro Katayama could only continue to hold out using these hostages, as he had no chance of breaking through.

After the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators sealed off the breached city gate, Katayama Riichiro finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After dark, Katayama Riichiro instructed his subordinates to remain vigilant and guard against a sneak attack.

Then, the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators took turns eating.

It's pitiful for these more than 10,000 civilians. In this sweltering heat, the Japanese not only refused to give them food, but also refused to give them a sip of water.

These ordinary people were already terrified, and now they dared not speak out against their anger.

When Zhu Youcai had eaten and drunk his fill, he went down the city wall to relieve himself.

A middle-aged man saw him pass by and couldn't help but plead.

"Sir, if you won't give us food, at least give us some water. We'll die of thirst in this heat."

Unexpectedly, Zhu Youcai kicked him directly in the stomach.

"Shut up, I don't care if you starve or die of thirst. Don't bother me, or I'll kill you all if you anger the Japanese commander."

Seeing Zhu Youcai's ferocious appearance, the surrounding people could only swallow their anger and stop begging this beast.

However, everyone was filled with hatred, and they all wished they could tear Zhu Youcai to pieces.

Not long after dark, loud singing suddenly came from outside the city.

After the Japanese soldiers had eaten and drunk their fill, except for those on guard duty, they all lay down to rest in the city walls or fortifications.

As a result, the Japanese soldiers all became excited after the song started playing.

This nursery rhyme is extremely familiar to them.

The Japanese soldiers not only hummed along, but also climbed onto the city wall, peering out and looking around, trying to find out who was playing their Japanese songs.

Upon hearing this, Katayama Riichiro immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Damn it, those Chinese are so cunning, they've actually started using psychological tactics."

But aside from hurling a few curses, he was helpless.

And so, the song played on repeat all night, its melody echoing throughout the entire city of Taiyuan.

At first, the Japanese soldiers just hummed along, but after a while, the song evoked their deep longing, and they all began to sob.

Riichiro Katayama knew that under these circumstances, no one could stop his subordinates from missing their families and hometowns.

The only thing that reassured Katayama Riichiro was that the Dragon Flame troops outside the city did not launch a sneak attack on them that night, nor did they spare them from sniper fire.

As dawn finally broke, the music outside the city abruptly stopped.

However, after the song ended, a Japanese broadcast came over the loudspeakers outside the city.

"Listen up, you little devils in the city! Your families are hoping for your safe return. They don't want you to die in a foreign land."

"So, as long as you release the hostages and surrender voluntarily, we can let you leave."

"You have one hour to consider. If you still refuse to surrender and resist to the end when the time is up, then you will only face death."

"Furthermore, it is necessary to remind you that you have hostages, and so do we, with as many as 100,000. If you dare to harm even one of our hostages, we will retaliate tenfold or a hundredfold."

"Alright, don't say you weren't warned. The one-hour countdown has begun. I hope you will consider this carefully."