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

After entering the inner courtyard, Long Fei decided to climb to the second floor by hand first, and then quietly search for Commander Tang's location.

For Long Fei now, he can only adapt to the situation, since he doesn't know much about the internal workings of the Tang Mansion. He can only take it one step at a time.

For specially trained special forces elites, climbing with bare hands is a basic skill, so Long Fei easily reached the second floor.

Upon reaching the second floor, Long Fei entered the Tang Mansion through the window of a room that was not lit.

Upon entering the room, Long Fei observed that it was a bedroom, and the blankets on the bed were not folded.

Long Fei walked behind the door, gently opened it a crack, and then peered through the crack to observe the situation outside.

Outside the door was a corridor with wall lamps on the walls, and you could hear people talking downstairs.

Long Fei thought for a moment, opened the door and came out, then walked to the door of the room next door, put his ear to the door and listened, but found no movement inside.

So Long Fei pressed the doorknob and slowly opened the door.

The room was lit up, and judging from the decorations and furnishings, it was a study.

Long Fei then decided to go into the study to wait for Commander Tang's arrival.

About ten minutes later, Long Fei heard footsteps going upstairs, followed by a voice saying something.

"Lieutenant Wang, have everyone maintain contact with the various units. I'm going to rest in my study for a while. Report any developments immediately."

"Yes, Commander Tang."

As soon as he finished speaking, Commander Tang opened the door and walked in.

He walked directly to the chair in front of the desk and sat down, leaning back in his chair. He looked somewhat haggard and closed his eyes while rubbing his temples with both hands.

Feeling a bit better, Commander Tang opened his eyes to have a sip of tea, only to suddenly find Long Fei standing by the door.

Commander Tang immediately panicked and hurriedly opened the drawer to get the pistol inside.

"Commander Tang, don't move. It would be bad if the gun accidentally went off and hit you."

Although Long Fei spoke very softly, Commander Tang stopped abruptly when he saw the dark muzzle of the gun in Long Fei's hand, and dared not move.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Long Fei took two steps forward and came to the desk.

"Commander Tang, my name is Long Fei, and I am the commander of the Longyan Force. Please forgive my intrusion."

"You're from the Dragon Flame Squad?"

"What, Commander Tang knows about us?"

Commander Tang nodded: "I've heard of you. The National Government has been looking for you and wants to recognize your merits and award you prizes."

At this point, Commander Tang suddenly smelled a foul odor and couldn't help but frown.

Long Fei chuckled and explained, "Commander Tang, your headquarters is heavily guarded. The only way I can see you is by climbing over a drainage ditch."

Commander Tang then noticed that Long Fei's military uniform was not only covered in dirt, but also emitted a pungent and unpleasant odor.

"What brings you to see me?"

Long Fei slowly sat down in front of Commander Tang and gently placed his pistol on the desk.

"Commander Tang, as the garrison commander of Nanjing, do you think you can defend the capital city of Nanjing?"

Commander Tang looked at Long Fei but did not answer easily.

Long Fei continued, "Commander Tang understands that Jinling City is now an isolated city, and defending it is only for the sake of saving face."

"You were not so much appointed in a time of crisis as you were taking the blame for someone else."

Long Fei's words struck a chord with Commander Tang, prompting him to nod in response.

“You’re right. Given the current situation, how could a mere hundred thousand or so defeated soldiers possibly hold Nanjing?”

"However, it is the capital after all. In order to save face, the National Government cannot retreat without a fight. After all, the people and foreign countries are watching, so they have to put on a show."

Long Fei said angrily, "Commander Tang is indeed frank, but with your vain behavior, aren't you afraid of harming hundreds of thousands of people in Jinling City, as well as the officers and soldiers who participated in the defense?"

Commander Tang sighed: "This is not something I can consider or take into account. In fact, I am no different from the people in the city and the troops. They are the discarded pawns, and I am just a pawn to be manipulated by others."

Long Fei could only shake his head helplessly at Commander Tang's heartfelt remark.

"Commander Tang, since you knew all along that Nanjing could not be defended, why did you still withdraw the ferries on the Yangtze River, making a do-or-die gesture, and even stating that you would live and die with Nanjing?"

“You should know that what you are doing will completely mislead the soldiers and civilians in the city.”

Commander Tang shook his head helplessly and said, "This is a request from the high-ranking officials of the National Government, and I simply cannot refuse."

Now that things have come to this point, there's no point in continuing to dwell on this topic.

Long Fei then got straight to the point: "Commander Tang, the reason I'm meeting you in this way is to ask for your consent to two things."

"What is it? Tell me."

"First, immediately mobilize the engineering battalion to build a pontoon bridge across the Yangtze River."

"Second, find some ships to sink in the Yangtze River to close the waterway and prevent the Japanese warships from blockading the river."

After hearing this, Commander Tang smiled wryly and said, "It's no problem to close the waterway by sinking the ship. My staff has already made this suggestion, and it will be implemented tomorrow."

"We could build a pontoon bridge, but even if we had the materials, it wouldn't withstand the bombing by Japanese planes. Wouldn't that be a waste of effort?"

"More importantly, once the news of building the pontoon bridge reaches the top levels of the Nationalist government, they will definitely hold me accountable, saying that I have undermined the morale of the army."

Long Fei then spoke in an extremely serious tone.

"Commander Tang, I have the materials. You only need to send an engineering battalion to set it up."

“You’re afraid of Japanese planes bombing? You don’t need to worry about that at all. My Longyan troops have special weapons to fight Japanese planes. I will send people to guard the pontoon bridge and the dock. I will shoot down every Japanese plane that comes.”

"Oh...is it that amazing?" Commander Tang was somewhat skeptical.

Long Fei was too lazy to explain and went straight to his biggest concern.

"As for what you said about the Nationalist government holding people accountable after they found out, I would like to ask Commander Tang, are you aware of the Japanese soldiers' brutality and inhumanity?"

Commander Tang nodded hurriedly and affirmed, "Of course I know. Those Japanese devils are worse than animals. They are as brutal and inhuman as can be."

Long Fei nodded and continued, "Since Commander Tang knows the Japanese so well, do you really intend to abandon hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians when the city falls, leaving them to be slaughtered by the Japanese?"

"Aren't you afraid of bearing a lifetime of infamy, and your descendants suffering the scorn of the people?"

"This……"

Long Fei's words were undeniably harsh, causing Commander Tang's face to turn pale and beads of sweat to appear on his forehead.

Seeing that his words had an effect, Long Fei continued to build the railway while the momentum was high.

“If you’re afraid the government’s higher-ups will find out, you can completely block the news. And I don’t mind if you pin the blame for building the pontoon bridge on my Dragon Flame Army.”

"If the government high command holds you accountable afterward, just say that my Dragon Flame troops controlled the ferry crossing and forcibly built the pontoon bridge. You acquiesced to our actions because you didn't want to fight us and wanted to consider the overall situation."