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

After confirming that the rewards would be stored in the system warehouse, Long Fei led the special operations battalion forward.

Soon after, they arrived at a village, which was deserted. The villagers must have fled their homes in fear of war.

Upon discovering two wells in the village, Long Fei ordered the special operations battalion to take a temporary rest.

They also brought out compressed biscuits and canned food, and told everyone to fill their water bottles and eat something to replenish their energy.

While eating, Long Fei convened a meeting of officers of company rank and above.

"We traveled through these three days and sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and three destroyers, and wiped out almost five Japanese regiments."

"With our 800 men, plus the assistance of the 37th Brigade and the 261st Brigade, we eliminated nearly 20,000 Japanese soldiers in total."

"Although we still have more than a dozen casualties, this casualty ratio can be described as an incredible feat."

As Long Fei finished speaking, all the attendees looked proud and applauded.

Long Fei smiled and continued, "But reality is cruel. We couldn't change the outcome of the Battle of Shanghai. The National Revolutionary Army has already begun its massive retreat."

The group, who had been in a cheerful mood, immediately became serious.

"However, we have done our best. We only have eight hundred men. Although we have the system's support, we are ultimately unable to defeat hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers."

Instructor Liu Wei, being a political officer, quickly offered words of comfort.

Long Fei nodded firmly: "The instructor is right, so we now have two tasks, one is a long-term task and the other is a short-term task."

Everyone immediately turned to look at Long Fei, waiting for him to continue.

Long Fei looked around at everyone and solemnly announced: "Our long-term mission is that our special operations battalion must continue to grow and expand so that we have enough troops to defeat the Japanese devils and drive them out of China completely."

"The short-term task is very difficult. As everyone knows, after Shanghai falls, the Japanese will target Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government."

"We must do everything in our power to prevent the horrific tragedy that is about to unfold."

"So we called a meeting, where we brainstormed, shared our opinions, and worked together to find a solution."

After speaking, Long Fei took out some cigarettes and distributed them to everyone, waiting for them to speak.

As the instructor, Liu Wei had to express his support for Long Fei's decision at this point.

“I completely agree with what the battalion commander said. Since we have traveled to this place, it must be fate. Preventing this tragedy from happening is our sacred and inescapable mission.”

"Clap clap clap..."

Liu Wei's words immediately ignited everyone's passion and fighting spirit, winning enthusiastic applause.

Liu Wei raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and continued speaking.

"I believe that the only way to prevent this tragedy from happening is to look at it from two directions."

"The first aspect is to stop the Japanese invaders and prevent them from occupying Nanjing."

"Secondly, we should evacuate the civilians and troops who will not be able to retreat in time, leaving an empty city for the Japanese."

Liu Wei's analysis hit the nail on the head and hit the nail on the head.

However, both of these aspects are hellish tasks, almost impossible to complete, no matter which one you approach them from.

Deputy Battalion Commander Xu Peng thought for a moment, then spoke.

"The instructor's analysis was very accurate and to the point, so we followed that line of thought to find a solution."

"Let's first look at whether the first aspect is possible."

As chief of staff, Gao Hong certainly had absolute authority to make military recommendations.

"As everyone knows, after the Japanese won the Battle of Shanghai, they sent 200,000 troops to attack Nanjing in three routes."

"From a military perspective, the National Revolutionary Army's defeat in the Battle of Shanghai made defending Nanjing strategically meaningless and unlikely to be successful."

"But from a political point of view, Nanjing is the capital after all. If we retreat without a fight, we will not be able to explain ourselves to the 400 million Chinese people, and we will be ridiculed and criticized internationally."

"That's why Commander Tang of the defending troops made the gesture of fighting the Japanese to the death and sharing the fate of Nanjing."

"But in reality, he knew he couldn't hold the city, so at the critical moment he abandoned the city and fled, which ultimately led to the fall of Nanjing, and then the entire city's soldiers and civilians suffered a bloody massacre by the Japanese for more than forty days."

"So even if our special operations battalion, equipped with the advanced weapons and equipment rewarded by the system, were to be deployed to this defensive battle, it would not change the final outcome; at most, it would only delay the fall of the enemy."

Long Fei completely agreed with Gao Hong's objective analysis, and he had already been preparing according to this line of thinking.

That's why they requested a ferry as a reward from the system. However, getting hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians across the Yangtze River before the Japanese occupied Nanjing was no easier than defending Nanjing.

"Gao Hong, so you mean you agree to try to find a solution from the second approach?"

Gao Hong nodded firmly in response to Long Fei's question.

Long Fei then asked, "But there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city. How can we guarantee that they can be safely crossed across the Yangtze River in a short period of time?"

Gao Hongyao said he already had a preliminary idea, and since Long Fei asked, he might as well bring it up.

"My idea is that we should get to Jinling City as soon as possible, and then find a way to tell the people in the city the truth so that they can leave Jinling City ahead of time."

However, Gao Hong's suggestion was immediately opposed by most people.

Deputy Battalion Commander Xu Peng shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that won't work. Under what circumstances would we release the truth?"

Company Commander Xie Qiang also expressed his doubts: "We only have a few hundred people. Let alone the fact that the people won't believe us, even if they do, how many can we persuade to leave?"

Liu Wei, as an instructor, is certainly very politically sensitive, and he also denied it.

“The Nationalist government would definitely not do that. They would openly say that they would abandon Nanjing, the capital city. If we go around spreading this, we will definitely be accused of sabotaging the war effort, spreading rumors, and undermining morale.”

Upon hearing this, Gao Hong immediately lowered his head and fell into deep thought, unable to answer the questions raised by everyone.

At this point, Company Commander Xu Ke suggested, "Could we ask the two Brigade Commanders Chen to help us and persuade the high-ranking officers of the National Revolutionary Army?"

"They released a message saying that for the safety of the general public, they should leave Nanjing to avoid the war and return after the Japanese were defeated."

Xu Ke's suggestion was quite good and feasible, so many people nodded in agreement.

However, Long Fei shook his head and rejected the idea.

"Company Commander Xu's suggestion seems feasible, but I don't think it will succeed."

"Commander, why?" everyone asked in unison.

Long Fei took a drag of his cigarette and slowly began to explain to everyone.

"The reason is simple: Chen Defa and Chen Yiding are just minor brigade commanders. As the saying goes, their words carry little weight and will not attract the attention of the high command of the National Army."

"Furthermore, since the National Army has decided to defend the capital, how could they possibly evacuate the city's residents in advance?"

"No matter what reason you give, it will lead outsiders to misunderstand and think that the National Army has no confidence in defending Nanjing, or that they have not made up their minds to defend it at all."

Now everyone fell silent again, thinking about new feasible solutions.