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

At the Japanese headquarters in Tianjin, Terauchi Hisaichi anxiously awaited the outcome of the negotiations with these foreigners.

But what he received was extremely disappointing news.

"Commander, according to reliable sources, Long Fei, the commander of the Longyan Legion, is in Tanggu Port. He has personally negotiated with these foreigners in the concession."

"However, Long Fei not only shot the four leaders of the Green Gang on the spot, but also rejected the protests of these foreigners."

"Not only that, Long Fei also announced that he would not accept any treaties signed by the Qing government of China, and ordered all foreigners in the concession to pay five thousand silver dollars each and leave before eight o'clock the next morning."

“Those who do not pay rent will all be detained,” Long Fei said in an extremely firm tone. “These foreigners have all returned to the concession.”

Upon hearing this, Terauchi Hisaichi asked incredulously.

"What?! This Long Fei is too arrogant! He actually dares to offend so many countries at the same time."

"He only has one legion, yet he dares to be an enemy of the whole world. Doesn't he know what death means?"

The Japanese officer who reported ignored Terauchi Hisaichi's questions and continued his report.

"Commander, we may only be able to retreat to the area beyond the Great Wall by land now; the sea route is probably not feasible."

"Damn it, that Long Fei is too despicable. We can't take the land route. The Dragon Flame Legion must have set up an ambush."

"Commander, what should we do? With our current forces, even with the two regiments that withdrew from Tangshan, we are no match for the Dragon Flame Legion."

At this point, Terauchi Hisaichi became even more hysterical.

"What's there to be afraid of? Even if our entire army is wiped out, I will burn Yanjing City into a living hell."

"Connect me to the troops stationed in Yanjing."

Terauchi Hisashi saw no possibility of capturing Tanggu Port, so he decided to carry out his evil plan to burn down Yanjing City.

Just as I was about to dial the number in Yanjing, the other party called first.

"Hello, I am Kita Seiichi, the temporary commander of the troops stationed in Yanjing. I have an emergency to report to Commander Terauchi."

Terauchi Hisaichi rushed over to answer the phone.

"Kita-kun, what happened?"

"Reporting to the Commander, the Dragon Flame Legion is broadcasting loudly from a broadcasting vehicle outside the city."

"They said that if we dared to set fire to the city, they would immediately kill all of the hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war in their hands."

"Furthermore, they also said that they would burn down our entire capital city."

"Finally, the Dragon Flame Legion also threatened that if we did not stop and surrender, they would land in our Japan."

"Then officers of the rank of major and above in the Imperial Army of Yanjing and Tianjin will be punished by having their entire families executed."

"Nani... Baka... This Long Fei is a complete bastard, utterly inhuman."

At that moment, Terauchi Hisaichi truly felt what fear was.

He was willing to be loyal to Tianhuang without fear of death, and his troops were willing to die for Tianhuang.

But Long Fei not only wanted to kill hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war, but also to burn down Kyoto, and even to carry out the cruel practice of exterminating ten generations of their families against officers of the rank of major and above.

Terauchi Hisaichi stood there blankly for several minutes, while Kita Seiichi on the other end of the phone could only wait patiently.

After much internal struggle and deliberation, Terauchi Hisaichi asked the question in a powerless manner.

"I only know about the extermination of nine generations, but what about the extermination of ten generations? Which generation is extra? Does anyone know?"

Kita Seiichi is quite knowledgeable about Chinese culture, especially its history.

He hurriedly replied on the phone, "Commander, in the history of China, these emperors, in order to eliminate any potential threats and prevent any remnants from seeking revenge or rebelling, established the crime of exterminating nine generations of one's family."

"Nine clans refer to: four generations of the father's clan, three generations of the mother's clan, and two generations of the wife's clan. As for the extermination of ten clans, as far as I know, it has only happened once in the history of China."

"That was when Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, ascended the throne as Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty. Fang Xiaoru, a loyal minister of Emperor Jianwen, was executed along with his entire clan for refusing to draft the edict of accession for Zhu Di. A total of 873 of his relatives, friends, and students were executed."

Kita Seiichi's explanation sent chills down Terauchi Hisaichi's spine, and he couldn't help but gasp.

"Kita-kun, this Ryūfū is too ruthless! Is he really that confident that he can land in our Japan?"

Kita Seiichi said noncommittally, "Commander, if others said this, I might think it was just boasting, empty talk, or nothing more than empty words and threats."

"But coming from Long Fei, I think we have to be careful. Long Fei is always a man of his word and ruthless. The Dragon Flame Legion has already killed hundreds of thousands of our Empire's elite troops."

Kita Seiichi's reminder forced Terauchi Hisaichi to become more cautious.

Setting fire to the city is easy, but what if it leads to Long Fei's furious retaliation in the future?

That would plunge Japan into an abyss of no return, and he would naturally become a sinner who would be infamous for all eternity.

"Kita-kun, please don't make a move yet, let me think about it."

After saying that, Terauchi Hisaichi put down the phone and sat down in a chair.

He pressed hard on his temples, which were throbbing with pain, and was extremely depressed.

It is clearly unlikely that a safe retreat is possible now, and the Air Force has also mentioned that there are no aircraft available.

Is surrender the only option left?

Terauchi Hisaichi was not afraid of death; he preferred to die quickly rather than live in humiliation.

Terauchi Hisaichi's father, Terauchi Masatake, was the Prime Minister of Japan during World War I and also enjoyed the rank of Marshal.

The Terauchi family was an extremely prestigious and powerful hereditary noble family in Japan.

With such a family background and the education he received from childhood, it was destined that Terauchi Hisaichi could not surrender to the Dragon Flame Legion.

Ultimately, Terauchi Hisaichi decided to die in loyalty to the Heavenly Locust.

"I'm going inside to rest for a bit. Don't disturb me. I won't come out in an hour, so you can decide for yourselves whether to stay or leave."

After giving orders to Chen Yiding, Long Fei thought that since the Japanese had already decided to fight to the death, the escape gap deliberately left in the Tangshan direction was meaningless.

Therefore, the remaining personnel of the Third Army and the First Special Operations Division, who were lying in ambush nearby, were ordered to occupy Tangshan and Qinhuangdao respectively.

This thwarted the Japanese troops' plans in Yanjing and Tianjin.

The Japanese troops in Tangshan had already withdrawn to Tianjin, and the Third Army easily occupied Tangshan.

Meanwhile, the Japanese regiment in Qinhuangdao received orders from Terauchi Hisaichi to retreat through Shanhaiguan to the area outside the Great Wall.

Due to their slow movement, they were surrounded by the 1st Special Operations Division before they could even leave the city.

Although the Japanese regiment fought back fiercely, it was quickly overrun and annihilated by the formidable 1st Special Operations Division.

Apart from the more than 300 wounded and the more than 200 who surrendered, the entire regiment was killed.

Meanwhile, the Japanese soldiers at the Tianjin Command waited patiently for an hour, but Terauchi Hisaichi did not come out.

So he went up and knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.

Left with no other option, the Japanese soldiers forced their way in, only to find that Terauchi Hisaichi had already committed seppuku.

Now the Japanese soldiers started to panic, and Terauchi Hisaichi gave them a final instruction: if he didn't come out, they could decide for themselves whether to stay or leave.

In other words, until the very last moment, Hisaichi Souchi did not issue the order to surrender, but instead delegated the decision-making power.

The highest-ranking military commander in Yanjing and Tianjin is Kita Seiichi, who is still waiting for orders in Yanjing.

After receiving a phone call from Terauchi Hisaichi announcing his suicide, he decided to abandon his plan to burn the city.

He wasn't as reckless as Terauchi Hisaichi, and he saw things very clearly. He didn't want to act unilaterally and end up suffering a vicious reprisal from the Dragon Flame Legion.

After Kita Seiichi led his troops to Tianjin, he immediately convened a meeting and decided to send representatives to negotiate with Ryufei.

Although most Japanese soldiers agreed to surrender, it was a matter of military honor and everyone's future, so they had to fight for better terms.