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

Upon hearing this, Xie Qiang immediately exclaimed with delight, "Sinking the ship to block navigation... Commander, you mean to sink the ship into the river to block the waterway, so that the Japanese warships cannot pass for a short period of time?"

Long Fei nodded and said, "That's right. We don't need to waste our time dealing with the Japanese warships right now. We just need to stop them from coming over."

Long Fei's idea was clearly the most effective, so everyone agreed with it.

Now the most pressing issue remains: how to get Commander Tang to agree to give the order.

Long Fei didn't want to waste any more time and explained his plan.

"There's no time to lose. Tonight I'll lead men to sneak into the Tang mansion, find a way to meet General Tang, and then reason with him and appeal to his emotions, hoping he'll agree."

Liu Wei asked with concern, "Commander, what if you try to persuade him kindly, but General Tang is simply out of his mind and refuses to agree?"

Long Fei's face immediately darkened, and he said heavily.

"If that's the case, then if the soft approach doesn't work, we'll have to use the hard approach."

Liu Yuqing then said worriedly, "Commander, it's too dangerous for you to go in person or to trespass on the garrison headquarters. Why don't you send someone else?"

"Deputy Commander Liu, thank you for your concern, but this is a matter that I have to handle personally. Don't worry, I will be careful."

Knowing she couldn't persuade him otherwise, Liu Yuqing suggested, "Then, Commander, you should take more men with you. That way, if something happens, you'll be able to find a way to escape."

Long Fei thought for a moment: "Too many people won't do, they'll be too conspicuous. Jinling City has already temporarily imposed a curfew, so I'll just lead a squad, enter the city after dark, and then secretly lie in wait until late at night to take action."

In the afternoon, Long Fei and Xie Qiang slept soundly for a few hours, then ate dinner early and set off for Jinling City at six o'clock.

The garrison command issued a curfew order from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following morning.

At 7:30, Long Fei and Xie Qiang led a squad of soldiers to a place about 500 to 600 meters away from Tang Mansion.

From here on, checkpoints have been set up, and Long Fei discovered that without a pass, no one is allowed to pass.

Even in the dead of night, it's impossible to pass through those few hundred meters silently.

Long Fei led everyone into a secluded alley.

"It seems I was too optimistic. I didn't expect General Tang to be so cautious, with such tight security around the headquarters."

"Commander, what should we do?" Xie Qiang was also a little confused.

Long Fei lowered his head and remained silent, lighting a cigarette and pondering quietly.

No one else dared to make a sound; they all crouched quietly around Long Fei. Two soldiers were at the alley entrance, closely watching the commotion outside.

Although Long Fei is the battalion commander of the special operations battalion, the soldiers under his command are all highly skilled special operations members.

However, this does not mean that they are superhuman or omnipotent.

Left with no other choice, Long Fei had to make the best decision on the spot.

“We have fourteen people now, divided into seven groups of two. There are still many pedestrians on the street. After the curfew, we will climb the walls and trees in groups and try to get over from the rooftops next to the sentry post.”

"Xie Qiang and I are in the third group. The groups in front of and behind you are responsible for covering us."

"Commander, we understand," everyone replied in hushed tones.

Finally, Long Fei instructed, "If you are discovered, do not resist, surrender voluntarily, and I will find a way to rescue you afterwards."

At nine o'clock at night, the first group began their operation, but they were climbing and advancing to within two or three hundred meters of the Tang Mansion.

One of the team members accidentally stepped on and broke a roof tile, which immediately alerted the surrounding security personnel.

A dozen beams of flashlight light shone on the two team members, and at least thirty Nationalist soldiers pointed their guns at the team members on the roof.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot. Get down here right now."

The leading Nationalist officer shouted loudly.

Following Long Fei's instructions, the two team members obediently raised their hands, jumped off the roof, and surrendered.

"Which unit the hell are you from, and what are you doing on the roof?"

“We are from the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division. We are hungry and want to find something to eat.”

One of the team members started talking nonsense and spouting rubbish.

The Nationalist army officers certainly wouldn't believe this explanation.

"Heh heh, looking for food, stop talking nonsense, take them to the military police station for a proper interrogation."

Soon, as the two team members were taken away, the scene returned to calm.

All of this was clearly seen by Long Fei and the others who were lying on the roof. Just as the second group was about to continue their operation, Long Fei immediately called a halt.

"Wait, change the plan. Let's all go into the underground drainage ditch."

It turned out that when the guards' flashlights were shining in all directions, Long Fei had inadvertently discovered the underground drainage ditch by the roadside.

After the Nationalist government established its capital in Nanjing, it spent considerable manpower and resources to repair and renovate the city's underground drainage system, as the city was prone to flooding due to heavy rains every year.

After the renovation, the drainage ditch was at least twice as big as before, and people could crawl through it without any problem.

After Long Fei finished speaking, he immediately told everyone to pry open the covers of the underground drainage ditch along the alley.

Then Long Fei carefully determined the direction, and with a "whoosh," he slid inside.

Seeing that their commander was leading by example, what else could they say? So they all followed suit and crawled inside.

Although the drain was so spacious, the smell inside was absolutely suffocating.

Long Fei held his breath and, relying on his memory and sense of direction, began to carefully crawl forward inside.

Fortunately, it hasn't rained recently, so there's not much standing water in the drainage ditches.

And so, they endured the pungent stench and struggled forward in the drainage ditch.

After climbing for more than twenty minutes, Long Fei felt that he should not be far from Tang Mansion, so he listened carefully to the sounds on the road.

Several minutes passed and Long Fei did not hear any sound from above, so he forcefully pushed open the drainage ditch cover on the top of his head.

Long Fei peeked out to check, and after confirming that no one was around, he slowly crawled out of the drainage ditch and climbed onto a wall to look around.

He then realized that the Tang Mansion was only forty or fifty meters away at the two o'clock position.

He was currently at the boundary between the two courtyards.

By the dim light of the street lamps, Long Fei was pleasantly surprised to find that the drainage ditch actually led to the backyard of the Tang Mansion.

In the backyard, apart from four soldiers standing guard at the back gate, everyone else was gathered at the front gate.

Long Fei secretly rejoiced that he had managed to bypass the dense outer sentry posts quite smoothly by using this drainage pipe.

After memorizing the direction, Long Fei crawled back into the drainage ditch and continued forward, secretly estimating the distance in his mind.

Once he reached a secluded spot in the backyard, Long Fei carefully pried open the cover, not daring to make a sound.

Fortunately, he succeeded; the four soldiers on guard in the backyard did not notice anything amiss.

Once everyone had crawled out of the drainage ditch, Long Fei gave them orders using sign language.

The team members understood immediately. Xie Qiang and two other team members followed Long Fei, climbed the wall, and then sneaked into the inner courtyard of Tang Mansion.

The other team members remained in place to keep watch.