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

When Zhang Yinwu was brought in, he was soaked to the bone. The soldiers thought he smelled bad and poured buckets of water on him.

They poured over twenty buckets of water on him, and at least the stench wasn't so bad.

At this time, the people of Lingchuan City were also summoned.

These thousands of civilians didn't understand the Dragon Flame Legion, and they all showed great fear.

Xie Qiang stepped forward and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, don't be afraid. We are the Dragon Flame Legion, which specializes in fighting the Japanese devils."

"The reason we attacked Lingchuan was to capture this notorious traitor Zhang Yinwu."

"Today, we will hold a public trial to announce the various crimes committed by Zhang Yinwu, and then execute him on the spot."

"You can also report on such matters. If the report is true, we will give a generous reward. Each informant will receive a reward of ten silver dollars."

At this point, several thousand ordinary people began to stir, whispering and discussing among themselves.

At this point, the militia prisoners who had been brought to watch the public trial also began to stir.

"Sir, can we also report this? We don't want the reward, please let us go."

Xie Qiang responded coldly, "You can report it, but whether you are released depends on the severity of your previous crimes. Minor offenses can be offset by merits and you will be released."

Now, many prisoners and civilians raised their hands, demanding to report and expose the crimes.

"Sir, I'm reporting that Commander Zhang secretly contacted the Japanese in Changzhi and Jincheng, giving them a large amount of grain in hopes that the Japanese wouldn't attack Lingchuan. I was involved in transporting the grain."

“Sir, we are soldiers. We don’t really want to hurt the Eighth Route Army. The Eighth Route Army are all heroes. They are great at fighting the Japanese. But Commander Zhang forces us to go around causing trouble for the Eighth Route Army. Moreover, if we capture any Eighth Route Army soldiers, he will shoot them, bury them alive, or even burn them alive.”

"Sir, this Zhang Yinwu bullies men and women. He kidnapped my daughter and took her as his concubine. As a result, my daughter could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide by jumping into a well."

"Sir, this Zhang Yinwu is always plundering grain and money in Lingchuan City and the surrounding areas. He's even more hateful than the Japanese devils."

"Sir, my son joined the militia, but because he contradicted Commander Zhang, he was beaten to death by his men on his orders."

"Sir, this Zhang Yinwu forced me to buy and sell. He gave me two silver dollars and then seized ten acres of my land."

"..."

Just as the whistleblowing was in full swing, the soldiers responsible for searching Zhang Yinwu's residence arrived at the scene carrying several large boxes of silver dollars and gold jewelry.

After Chen Yiding stepped forward and inquired, he explained the situation to Xie Qiang.

Seeing the public outrage, the prisoners and civilians reported Zhang Yinwu's crimes, which were simply too numerous to count.

Xie Qiang then spoke up, saying, "Alright, the crimes you've reported are enough to have Zhang Yinwu executed ten times over."

"On behalf of the Dragon Flame Legion, I hereby announce that Zhang Yinwu is sentenced to death, to be carried out immediately."

After saying that, Xie Qiang waved his hand, and a squad of soldiers stepped forward, dragged Zhang Yinwu aside, and then shot him dead.

When everyone saw Zhang Yinwu being executed, they cheered in unison.

At this moment, Xie Qiang pointed to the money that had been taken from Zhang Yinwu and said loudly.

“I know that the people of Lingchuan are suffering terribly from the exploitation of this Zhang Yinwu.”

“This money was seized from Zhang Yinwu’s residence. It was all the wealth he plundered from the people. I hereby declare that it will all be returned to you.”

Xie Qiang's decision was met with enthusiastic support, and the scene was filled with cheers and thunderous applause.

Just then, Chen Yiding came up to Xie Qiang with a telegram and handed it to him.

Xie Qiang took the telegram and saw that it was from Long Fei. He was instructed to deal with the Japanese and the militia as soon as possible, leave appropriate troops to garrison, and then immediately lead his troops back for a major military operation.

Xie Qiang knew that Long Fei must be referring to something of great importance if he sent this telegram at this time.

So he ordered one regiment to stay behind to handle the aftermath, while the other troops immediately split into two groups and rushed to Changzhi and Jincheng to deal with the Japanese in the cities as quickly as possible.

As for Long Fei, he led his army to advance towards Lüliang in western Shanxi.

Long Fei had his reasons for choosing this direction.

In just two days, Long Fei successfully captured Lüliang. The Japanese troops in the city resisted for a little over an hour before being overrun.

More than a thousand Japanese soldiers and more than two thousand puppet troops were killed, and the rest surrendered.

After making the arrangements, Long Fei directly ordered the entire army to advance towards northwestern Shanxi.

During the march, Long Fei said something meaningful to the monk beside him.

"Monk, I'll take you somewhere this time."

Seeing Long Fei acting mysteriously, the monk asked curiously, "Commander, where are you taking me?"

Long Fei gritted his teeth and said each word heavily: "Black Cloud Stronghold."

"Black Cloud Stronghold? Sounds like a bandit's den." The monk scratched his head and asked stupidly.

Long Fei put his hand on the monk's shoulder and nodded. "That's right, it's a bandit's den. I'm going to wipe out Black Cloud Village and destroy this band of bandits. There are two bandits here; you'll have to kill them yourself."

Although the monk was somewhat confused about Long Fei's order, he still nodded decisively in agreement.

"No problem, Legion Commander, leave it to me. I'll obey."

When they were almost at Black Cloud Village, Long Fei only brought one battalion of soldiers.

Long Fei ordered the other troops to split into several groups and tasked them with recovering the entire northwestern Shanxi region in the shortest possible time.

Originally, Long Fei planned to meet the Jin-Northwest Iron Triangle after destroying Black Cloud Village, since they hadn't seen each other for a while.

Unexpectedly, before Long Fei and his troops even reached Heiyun Village, they first entered the defense zone of Kong Jiexin's Second Regiment.

Kong Jie was overjoyed to receive the report that Long Fei had actually appeared here.

Not only did he immediately notify Li Yunlong and Ding Wei to come over, but he also personally came to pick up Long Fei and bring him to his regimental headquarters.

Long Fei had no choice but to put aside the Black Cloud Stronghold matter for the time being and meet with them first.

Li Yunlong and Ding Wei lived some distance apart, so it would take them half a day to get there.

At noon, Kong Jie, as the host, first invited Long Fei to drink the wine.

After a few drinks, Kong Jie and Long Fei started chatting freely.

Kong Jie thanked Long Fei repeatedly, saying that it was entirely thanks to his help that the new Second Regiment was successfully established.

It is said that after the Second New Regiment arrived in northwestern Shanxi, it not only established a large base area, but also expanded its troops to five thousand men.

Looking at Kong Jie's simple-minded appearance, Long Fei thought to himself, "Five thousand people and you're this happy? If there were fifty thousand people, you'd be laughing your head off."

As they chatted, Kong Jie asked casually.

"Brother, I haven't asked yet, why did you suddenly appear in northwestern Shanxi? Did you come here to reclaim this place?"

Long Fei didn't hide anything and nodded directly.

"That's right, I want to recover the entire territory of Shanxi as soon as possible, and then launch the next strategic operation."

Kong Jie showed an admiring expression and gave a thumbs-up in praise.

"Brother, you're really amazing. I wish I could be as good as you someday."

Then, Kong Jie sighed and continued, "Right now, I'm focused on expanding our base and increasing our troops to prepare for future major battles."

"Just a couple of days ago, I made a deal with Xie Baoqing, the bandit leader of Black Cloud Village. Several hundred of them will come to join my New Second Regiment in a few days. Their unit will be the Independent Brigade of the New Second Regiment."

"what?"

Long Fei glared angrily, his expression changing drastically.

Kong Jie was taken aback by Long Fei's strong reaction and asked blankly.

"Brother, what's wrong? You just recruited a few hundred bandits. My Second Regiment has grown stronger, and there are fewer bandits harassing the people in Northwest Shanxi. This is a good thing."

"Good my ass! I'm telling you, Kong Erlengzi, you dare to accept any Tom, Dick, or Harry? Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

Kong Jie was genuinely taken aback when Long Fei called him Kong Er Lengzi.

"Brother, why are you so excited?"

At this point, Long Fei had to tell the truth.

"To tell you the truth, I'm going to wipe out Black Cloud Village."

Kong Jie jumped to his feet in fright: "Ah... you want to wipe out Black Cloud Stronghold? Why is that? Did those bandits offend you?"

Long Fei couldn't explain it to him in detail, so he could only make a firm statement.

"Commander Kong, of course I have my reasons. Anyway, you can't take in the bandits of Black Cloud Village. If you insist on doing things your way, I'll take care of your New Second Regiment as well."

Although Long Fei's words were spoken in anger, they were extremely imposing, and Kong Jie couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward and cold; neither of them spoke, and they each began to drink in silence.

Just then, Li Yunlong arrived at the Second New Regiment's headquarters first. He strode into Kong Jie's regimental headquarters and shouted before even entering the room.

"Kong Erlengzi, I'm here! Where are my brothers? Quickly prepare some wine and food, I'm going to drink with my brothers until we're completely drunk tonight..."

As Li Yunlong shouted, he pushed open the door and looked up to find that Kong Jie and Long Fei were both sitting there with dark faces and no words.

What's wrong with you all?