Surrender is Death! An Alt WW2 Sino Japanese War TL

Title and Author's Note
Surrender Is Death!
投降就是死亡!
Tóuxiáng jiùshì sǐwáng!
An Alternate WW2 Sino Japanese War TL

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Flag of the Republic of China

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Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek

Author's Note: Surrender is Death is an alternate history scenario that primarily takes place in an alternate version of the Second Sino Japanese War during World War II. The Point of Divergence here is the Japanese victory at the Second Expedition of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma , where the Chinese lost. This follows the accounts and stories of a retired Chinese Kuomintang/ Guomindang soldier named Zhang Feng (not to be confused with the Fengtian warlord leader Zhang Zuolin), telling his story to a journalist in his late 80s.

The story begins with a prelude, about Feng's own experience during the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the incident that would be the spark of the Second Sino Japanese War. It then jumps into the introduction during the Battle of Shanghai to give a bit of knowledge on Feng's experience during the first major battle of the War. I hope you all enjoy!



Note: The Contents table will be constantly updated as more parts come.
 
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Prelude: Marco Polo Bridge
Prelude: Marco Polo Bridge
July 7 1937



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An Aerial View of the Marco Polo Bridge

Some relaxing Chinese Music while reading.​

We were stationed in the town of Wanping, a small little settlement 16.4 Kilometers or 10.2 miles southwest of Beijing. We were an entire group of soldiers. My group were outside the walled city when we encountered the Japanese from their garrison in Fengtai. They were there because they wanted to do some military exercises. We didn't accept them fruitfully and peacefully. We still think of the Japanese, even during the reign of peace before the war, as a major threat to the sovereignty of China as a nation in the world. Their ambitions for their so called "Asia for the Asians" and their plans to "drive out the cruel Western colonizers and establish a free Asia" under their wing disgusted us at whole. We knew they only wanted domination over the continent. We opened fire on them at about 23:00 military time or 11 PM that evening. To this day, I cannot remember the reason why we opened up our guns. It was all too complicated to process in the modern mind.

Now, one of their men, a private name Shimura Kikiguro, failed to return to his post. When their officer found out that he was missing, the Japanese sent a letter to Ji Xingwen (219th Regiment), our leader, demanding that they be granted entry into the town to find their missing man. Ji and the rest of us flatly refused their request. Private Kikiguro eventually returned to his post, but it was too late for that. Our side and the Japanese were already mobilizing our forces when he returned. The Japanese also called in reinforcements. They deployed out and encircled the town of Wanping. We prepared to defend our ground once fired upon. Little did we know, it was the beginning of the most deadliest war China would have ever known throughout its history. Later that evening, a Japanese infantry unit attempted to breach the walls of Wanping but failed. The Japanese sent in their ultimatum 2 hours later. Qin Dechun, the executive officer and the acting commander of the Chinese 29th Route Army, contacted the commander of the 37th Division, Feng Zhiang, to put his troops onto heightened alert. I was a proud member of the 37th and we were mobilized and put into maximum (not really total but heightened) readiness conditions.

The next part here I only knew from our officer when I woke up an hour after it happened. At 2:00 AM, Dechun sent the mayor of Wanping, Wang Lengzhai, alone to the Japanese camp at Fengtai to convince them to begin negotiations. This diplomatic attempt was hopeless, as the Japanese bluntly refused to negotiate. They still however requested permission to head into the town to investigate the cause of the incident. At 4:00, reinforcements for both sides had arrived, and the Command has pushed an extra division of soldiers into the field. I was a part of this group. An hour later, we opened fire on the Japanese and attacked them at the Bridge. Simultaneously, another attack happened at a modern rail yard bridge. By 4:45, Wang Lengzhai had returned to his town. However, on the way he claimed he saw the Japanese gathering amd amassing their forces around the town. Within 5 minutes after his return, we have fired shots.

Those shots marked the beginning of the Battle of Beiping Tianjin, and the Second Sino Japanese War.

That was the moment I thought it was the beginning of the Rapture.

I remember a good quote from the Tao Te Ching, the legendary book of Taoism written by Lao Tzu. It was:

"A man with outward courage dares to die. A man with inner courage dares to live."
 
Very interesting and I am intrigued to what will come next and play out.

Watched and waiting on the next update. :cool:
 
Book One Part 1
Book One Part 1:
Stalingrad on the Yangtze

August 13 - 22 1937
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NRA Machine Gun Position during the Battle
I remember the Journalist who was interviewing me for their newspaper say:

"You were in Shanghai in 1937? And you served under General Sun Yuanliang?"

Trust me. It was more complicated than that.

After the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge, I requested a transfer from the 37th to the 88th Division. The 88th was one of the few National Revolutionary Army divisions that was trained, organized and supervised by the Germans. There was this program where Germany agreed to retrain the entire NRA, starting out with 80 professional divisions, which uses German weapons and equipment. In the blink of an eye, a Chinese soldier suddenly became German. There was a Kar 98 for the trooper and a Luger or Mauser for the officer. They also proudly called themselves the "Tiger Division" and was under the prestigious command of General Sun Yuanliang, a no nonsense and down to buisness kind of guy. I was discharged from the 37th by my disgruntled officer, who just shrugged off and said that the Division was crowded and too many to command anyway. I reported to the 88th 2 days later. I would later serve the Battle of Shanghai in this division.

My only notable action during the Battle was on the first phase of the engagement, from August 13 to 22. The Battle officially began on 9AM when the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps had engaged the Japanese forces at the Zhabei, Wusong and Jiangwan districts of Shanghai. By 3 PM, the Japanese began their ground push by crossing the Bazi Bridge in Zhabei and started to attack the different centers of the city. The 88th retaliated with mortar fire. The usual sporadic firing would last until 4 PM, when the Japanese decided to use their ships of the Third Fleet stationed on the Yangtze and Huangpu Rivers to bombard the Chinese positions from afar and out of range of any artillery batteries set up by the NRA. Later that evening, the Generalissimo himself ordered General Zhang Zhizhong to commence Chinese offensives preparations for the next day. By morning, elements of the glorious and great Republic of China Air Force started to attack various Japanese positions to soften the defences. The ground forces attacked by 3PM. On that day, the Chinese Government officially issued the "Proclamation of Self Defence and War Resistance", explaining their resolution and strategy of war against Japanese aggression. The Battle had begun.

Zhang Zhizhong had forged a somewhat good plan, but failed to actually materialize due to miscalculated coordination and the quick countermeasures enforced by the Japanese forces. His plan involved the numerically superior Chinese forces to attack the Japanese by surprise and push them into the Huangpu River. They will then blockade the coast to deny the Japanese of reinforcing their soldiers through the wharves of the coast. The most vital wharves was between Yangshupu and Hongkou, because these were places where they would be protected by the Battleships on the river. The 88th, aka my home division, would attack the Japanese army headquarters near Zhabei. The 87th, our somewhat sister division, was to attack the reinforced Kung-ta Textile Mill, where the naval headquarters for the Battleships was located. Zhang himself estimated that it will take a week to execute his plan, quite ambitious for an operation this large.

Unfortunately for him, he was way off the mark.

When the plan was officially put into action on the battlefield, the operation ran into a standstill as the troops were slowed down by the Japanese forces just outside the limits of the Shanghai International Settlement. There was also the fact that Japanese fortifications were made of very thick layers of concrete, which were un-penetrable and resistant to the 150 mm heavy howitzers, which was the only heavy guns the NRA had at their disposal. The only way to actually get close enough was under the cover of machine gun fire, where we would go close enough to silent the positions with grenades. Chinese advance was severely hampered and the element of surprise was lost.

Maybe it's worth telling a story of me doing this Operation myself.

I was with my platoon, designated as "Platoon No. 5", on a mission to destroy a Japanese bunker that was holding an area near the Japanese Army Headquarters at Zhabei district. Destroying this place was crucial, as it will open the way for us to fully enter the HQ. We were over 40 men up against a stronghold manned by at least 20 enemies. But they were armed to the teeth. They had over 5 machine guns placed in a strange "U" formation, along with the bunker in front of us with an additional MG on it. The rest of the troops were shooters and snipers.

I motioned to our spotter, Xi Xishan, to look through his binoculars and tell us of the defence composition. Xi was a childhood friend of mine and we enlisted in the National Revolutionary Army together. I ended up in the 37th while he enlisted directly for the 88th Division. I was relieved to see him when I transferred over after the Bridge incident. He was a normal sized man, a former employee of a consumer goods factory in Beijing before moving down to Wuhan with his family. His family was reported to be in Chongqing, and he was always there to protect them.

"Alright." He said "we have 5 Machine guns behind sandbag covers, plus one more in the bunker. I recommend caution if we want to capture it." Xi explained.

Our NCO, Zhang Huangpu, took this information in carefully. He was a big man, probably the biggest officer I have ever seen and served under. He was from Hong Kong, and moved to Hefei before the war broke out. He was another masculine figure, with large muscles and arms that can pretty much crush a person's face when punched. Due to him being named after the Huangpu River, we sometimes call him "NCO Water".

"Alright, here is the plan. Everyone, gather round here." He commanded us.

Zhang's plan was simple: we are to be divided into 2 groups, bearing 20 men each. He would lead the first group while the second was led by a man named Lao Chuanfang, a no nonsense kind of guy. I never see him eye to eye, but he fights like a lion on the battlefield. Xi's group would flank beside the bunker, and when the signal is given, they open fire. When all enemies are focused on them, our group attacks head on, catching the enemies in a deadly crossfire firefight. We all nodded in agreement, and we formed up into our assigned groups.

We watched as Lao's group slowly sneaked beside the bunker and it's defences. They stopped inside a ruined building located to the right of the stronghold. Suddenly, Zhang suddenly shouted the signal:

"Fire!" He exclaimed.

Lao's group suddenly emerged out of the ruined building, guns blazing. Some shooters were even on the second floor, raining fire down into the enemies. The Japanese were caught by surprise, and moved to intercept the attack. In a nod, our group emerged from our hiding place and charged towards the defences. I could here the Type 92 heavy machine gun starting to open up on our position, and bullet holes riddled the ground. I ducked behind a destroyed cart as the Battle ensued.

Xi then came beside me and ducked as a flurry of bullets struck the wall behind us. NCO Water also came after him.

"Quite a storm out there!" Zhang said. "See if you can shoot their machine Gunner!"

I placed a clip into my Type 24 Chiang Kai Shek bolt action rifle and aimed towards the Type 92's Position. I waited for him to get off and grab the ammo for reloading. When he got into the position I wanted, I opened fire.

The bullet struck the Japanese soldier in the head, climaxing in an agonizing cry as he dropped dead.

Our boys charged over the sandbags, bayonets first, stabbing the Japanese soldiers to death. While normally the enemy had the better strategy when it comes to charging suicidally, we also were ruthless enough for them to be capable fighters.

Suddenly, after the last of the enemy soldiers were killed in the bunker, 2 Japanese Type 92 "Jyu Sokosha" armored cars appeared in the street in front of the bunker. It unleased its machine gun fire, shooting and cutting down our soldiers as we struggled to get to cover. A few brave men manned the Type 92 machine guns and returned fire, to now avail.

Our numbers dwindled, until we were only 12 men strong. NCO Water decided for a last ditch escape: we would run for it into the next street and make our way back to the lines. It was a fight or flight process. It's a do or die mission decision.

5 of us chose to remain in the bunker to distract the cars while the rest of us run for it. We executed our plan carefully. The 5 brave souls opened fire on the armored cars while we ran to the next street. As we reached the corner of the street where we were unable to be spotted by the cars, all 5 men in the bunker were now dead, face splattered in blood as their uniforms riddled with bullet holes.

"Such brave men." NCO Water said. "May the heavens welcome then for their bravery."

Out of the 40 men of Platoon No. 5, only 7 would make it out alive.

Out of this predicament, this comes to show that the National Revolutionary Army was ineffective against the Japanese forces. We do outnumber them, but we are inexperienced, untrained and outgunned. War in China was hell.
I envied the Chinese Red Army, for they are better motivated and led. Our leadership was irrelevant for most of the time.
 
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Book One Part 2
Book One Part 2:
The Capital
November 26 - December 9 1937

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Officer Corps members planning their attack
What remained of Platoon No. 5 fled southwards in a local guerilla and partisan sort of style. Our 7 man group would be joined by more scattered units and platoons that were seperated from their main command during the retreat from Shanghai. According to NCO Water, the appointed leader of the group, our objective was to keep heading south until we reach Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China. Since the retreat, Command was mostly shattered and nobody had a leader to take orders from, apart from their officers. Our group would later be christened as the Blue Tigers, quite sick of a name coined by Xi and myself. We were a sort of resistance group that was meant to slow the Japanese from advancing onto the capital, which was soon to be bombarded and assaulted upon. We just arrived at Nanjing after 5 days of intense travelling, and we are more than happy it was now over. For that journey, we got to experience the exclusive life of being a guerilla fighter, located behind enemy lines (or should I say, fleeing enemy lines) and have no way of communicating with the 88th Division. We had an intense time to know certain stuff. We would have to know on how to use enemy weapons and equipment because Chinese arms and ammo would be scarce in these parts. We sometimes took part in raids against camps and convoys for food and water. We would also sometimes pass small settlements and receive quite the staggering amount of supplies for our trips. Some men from those settlements even joined us in our journey to Nanjing. We also occasionally ran into communist partisans and worked with them for a few missions, usually sabotage and raids for supplies. But now we are in Nanjing, life has just gotten easier.

We were merged with elements of the Nanjing Garrison Force, a hastily assembled group of conscripts, militia and whatever forces that remained after the Battle of Shanghai. As expected, Zhang Huangpu/NCO Water was appointed the NCO of the new platoon created that was now designated as "Platoon No. 24". We were 44 men, supplemented by new recruits, usually militiamen and conscripts. We also had elite people join us, elements from our alma mater, the 88th, and guys of our sister division, the 87th. We had to give additional training to the conscripts and militia so they at least can pack a punch in the incoming battle with the Japanese. As for operational standards, we were capable and had operational senses: Zhang was our leader; Xi was our lead spotter: Sun Liang was our radio operator; and the rest were decent shooters and snipers who at least know how to load, shoot and reload a rifle. They knew how to kill.

Sun Liang was also a childhood friend of mine along with Xi. Unlike me and our spotter, Sun wouldn't enlist in the NRA until much later when the war broke out. He was known that he volunteered to replace his sick father who was unable to enlist properly due to his sickness at the age of 24. He joined the 87th and was present at Shanghai along with us, although we couldn't really get in touch due to operations and missions. When the retreat began, he got lost but eventually linked up with a group of division mates. They arrived 3 days before we did, so they got to know what's going on and who's who in the capital. Sun was a standard man, too standard for a radio operator. Even though his role in the platoon kept him on the radio or phone for most of the time, he was known to come with us in engagements and action. He was a beast of a man in the battlefield.


While I was cleaning my rifle one time, Xi shouted at me from the top of a barricade and said; "NCO Water wants to see you!"

I waltzed down to the NCO Office and reported to Zhang. It looked like he had something important up in mind.

"Alright." Zhang said "I'm gonna be placing Squads 4, 5 and 6 under you. I'll try you out as a "platoon element commander." Tell your guys."

I wasn't really expecting this promotion all too much. Zhang already knew that I can lead already, but I still went and told the guys of the reorganization of command. Coincidence or not, I was paired with the remnants of Platoon No 5 and the elite guys, which was the group that I was hoping to lead to victory. Guess I was correct this time with my guessing. I suddenly noticed a swift changed in the command: our element had more German than Chinese; more Kar 98s than Type 24s; more Stahlhelms than Chinese helmets; and especially, more German looking than Chinese. The German Crew were born. I lead this element for over 9 years, from 1937 to 1946, under 3 different NCOs, and served with the Germans until the day I retired from the service.

Although I had settled down immediately with the Germans, it took a while before I felt I was actually a part of the team. Even though I was the element commander, I still felt that I was still different from everyone else in the group.

The incoming Battle would later prove I was some mantle to the team, a leader of the group.

The task of occupying Nanjing was assigned by the Japanese to General Iwane Matsui, the commander of Japan's Central China Area Army. High Command believed that with capturing Nanjing would force a surrender and thus ending the war quickly. To prevent a forced surrender, the Generalissimo decided that they must defend the city at all costs. Command of the Nanjing Garrison Force was given to General Tang Shengzi. As stated above, the NGF was just a hastily assembled group of conscripts, militias and the remnants of the Chinese forces that fought in Shanghai, with the majority of which is untrained and inexperienced in combat. From Shanghai, the Japanese army marched in a breakneck pace, in a piercer move (reminiscent of the German Blitzkrieg tactics) southwest towards the capital, destroying and crushing any sort of resistance, usually in pockets or partisan groups. By December 9, they had reached the last line of defence, the Fukou Line, just outside Nanjing. Behind the Line was the city's fortified walls, including the Zhongshan Gate and other major entryways into the city. On December 10, Matsui ordered a full on attack on the city and capture it.

Thus began the Battle of Nanjing, or should I say, the Fall of the Capital.
 
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I'm really liking the storytelling and the perspective of a low grade NCO. Please keep up the good work and post an update when your able.
 
Book One Part 3
Book One Part 3
Failure and Capture
December 12 - 13 1937

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Japanese troops stand victorious over the ruins of the Zhongshan Gate in Nanjing

Some sad music..... :(

"No one retreats! Not a one step backwards!!"

This was the strict order of the Chinese command. Anyone caught out of place, deserting or fleeing their post will be shot dead. I estimate that about 1,000 of us were shot by our own comrades and officers for deserting. We had to keep fighting, and since this was the capital that we were defending, we had to give our 100% courage and strength. But personally, to this day, I still don't think it was worth it in the end, since we still lost the Battle to the Japanese. Some Japanese soldiers also reported that they saw Chinese pillboxes chained up from the outside, so the occupants can't flee them. Tang Shengzi even reported that the casualties were so heavy that he began to weep, but still had the fuel and silver of hope left. No one steps backwards, no one retreats, everyone stays and fights for China and Nanjing. I would even experience this myself. We would be stuck in our pillbox for hours. The only time we are allowed out was when Command themselves gives the order to retreat.

By December 12, the Japanese had capture Peak #2 on Mt. Zijinshan. From this vantage point, the enemy unleased a withering artillery barrage on the Zhongshan Gate. Due to the torrential fire of the artillery, a huge part of the wall suddenly collapsed on itself. That evening, the fires on Zijinshan were visible from the gate, which was fully captured by the Japanese 10th Army on the night of December 12 to 13. But, unknown to the Japanese and even his own troops, Chiang Kai Shek had ordered General Tang Shengzi, the leader of the Nanjing Garrison Force, to abandon his position. Tang had tried pleading to Chiang against this, stating he wants to stay and protect the capital, but was denied. In a last minute attempt, Tang organized a plan to call a ceasefire through 2 German citizens: John Rabe and Eduard Sperling. However, realizing that the negotiations won't finish in time, he forged a new plan that will involve all of his units in an attempt to break out of the encirclement in the cover of night. We were to commence the breakout at 2300 (11 PM) hours under the shadows of the night, where the Japanese would be resting their troops. Our objective was to break out and muster our forces at Anhui. Tang made it out; he crossed the Yangtze and escaped through the town of Pukou on the other side. Tang also made sure that the message to retreat was to be transmitted to all the remaining fighting units still deployed, and be made to retreat intact and at least operational capable.

The message however wasn't relayed to everyone, as several units already lost contact with the main structure of command, and thus didn't receive the message. They continued to hold as ordered. The entire Nanjing Garrison Force was dwindling in numbers as the moments passed. Those who did receive the word to retreat found it difficult to break through the Japanese lines. 2 Chinese Army Corps, the 66th and 83rd Corps, made a bold attempt to flee the city through a gap in the Japanese forces to the east of Nanjing, but they ran into their own minefield that was undisturbed since the beginning of the battle. Then, the Japanese units attacked them on flight, inflicting the loss of 2 divisional chiefs of staff in the process. Both corps started with 11,000 men, but only 600 would manage to flee Nanjing safely. By dawn of the 13th, a portion of the 74th Corps was also completely annihilated in an attempt to flee the city across the Yangtze River.

However, the no retreat order was still firm, even if it involved the deaths of civilians.

On the same night, a mob of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were stopped by Chinese barrier troops in an attempt to reach the harbor at Xiaguan to escape the advance of the Japanese 10th Army. Due to them having no "permission" to retreat, they were fired upon by the guards. A fleeing tank unit rammed through the barrier guards and managed to enter the harbor, but the civilians and soldiers found that hardly any boats remained available to them. They started to pile on whatever boats were available, but due to overweighting of the crafts, some sank midway or even failed to launch. The fleeing soldiers and civilians then found themselves being fired upon from both sides of the river; by their own soldiers who were responding to the no retreat order, and the Japanese trailing behind them. The rest either braved the waves of the Yangtze by swimming or by grabbing to pieces of scrap on the river. It was a bloodbath.

Unfortunately for me and the rest of the Platoon, we weren't one of the lucky units to escape.

NCO Water did receive the order to retreat from a courier. We started our organized escape in a not so much great way. Then, we found ourselves to be encircled by Japanese troops on the road to the harbor on the river. Since we had no ammo remaining and we were too exhausted, we had no choice but to surrender to the Japanese. I was then knocked out by one of them and felt being loaded onto a wagon and be brought back to the captured city.

Thus began our short career as captives. It was short, but painful.
 
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A bloodbath and possibly leading to another Rape of Nanking. I feel for those soldiers and civilians caught up in the vice of no hope while trying to flee.

Our storyteller alludes to not being a prisoner for long, but is it only him or will more of his platoon escape the slaughter?

How many men, in TTL and ours, have been needlessly lost to no retreat/no surrender orders?

Too many.
 
A bloodbath and possibly leading to another Rape of Nanking. I feel for those soldiers and civilians caught up in the vice of no hope while trying to flee.

Our storyteller alludes to not being a prisoner for long, but is it only him or will more of his platoon escape the slaughter?

How many men, in TTL and ours, have been needlessly lost to no retreat/no surrender orders?

Too many.

Reminiscent of Stalingrad 4 years later. And yes, the Nanjing Massacre still happens.
 
Book One Part 4
Book One Part 4
My Short Time as a Captive

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NRA Soldiers surrendering to Japanese Forces

I awoke in a stank prison cell about 7 hours later.

I say "stank" because the cell was, well.. stank. It was uncomfortable as hell. Dirt and bugs everywhere. Xi Xishan was on one of the bunks, probably waiting for hours for me to wake up. Your patience have paid off, my friend.

"Geez, Feng. You were trashing about. Bad dream?" He said as I stood up from the floor.

I felt a stinging sensation in my back as I touched it. It was not as painful, but strong enough to make a a child cry in place. Sure enough, it was a wound from what looks to be a blowgun. Maybe they wanted to knock me out for a while.

"Where's NCO?" I asked.

"I don't know man. Last time I saw him, he was being forced to his knees by the Japanese soldiers. He was then hit by the butt of a gun. He went clean dead to the ground. I was next after him, and I never saw him since. Lao Chuanfang however is in the Cell Block B, along with a few of his mates." Xi explained. My mouth was open. NCO Water was nowhere to be found? My God.

"It will only be a matter of time." Xi said.

"What do you mean 'it will only be a matter of time'?" I asked, frustrated.

"Our cell block is next in the "Death Row", aka the group chosen to be slaughtered for fun." He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"When is our turn?" I asked. I wanted to organize an escape before it's our time in the Death Row.

"Around 9 PM. The Guards and the Executioners took 2 hours to sleep."

"What time is it now?" I asked.

He looked at the wall clock that was hung limply in front of our cell. It stood next to a Japanese army flag hung limply and tattered with bullet holes. He then looked back at me.

"8:30" He said. "It's almost time. It's almost over."

When I was just about to lose hope, a Japanese guard suddenly sprinted in front of us.

"Keihō! Keihō!" He shouted. It meant "Alarm! Alarm!". Something was wrong.

The Japanese guard suddenly cried an agonizing pain after a bullet shot through his nape. He dropped dead with eyes open. I suddenly had blood on my boot.

A man in a prisoner's uniform ran up to our cell. It was NCO Water. He was carrying a Nambu pistol that he apparently had stolen from a dead guard. He smiled as he stared at us.

"Hey! The Uprising is starting! What ya doing in there?" He said. He pulled out a makeshift picklock and unlocked the door.

"NCO!" I said. We hugged each other. "Ahh.. trooper." He said, laughing.

"What's this Uprising?" Xi asked "We have never been informed about it."

"The entire prison is rising up. A genius guy in Block C planned this out for a whole 2 months since he came here. We're now armed. I suggest you grab weapons." He explained.

"Guess we're back in buisness!" I exclaimed.

"Yes we are. Arm yourself now." NCO said. He ran back down the hall. While running, I heard him faintly say "follow me!".

We ran down the hall and got to the Block's armory. There was a dead officer on the chair with a pipe on his chest, bleeding fresh. We grabbed some rifles and we were ready to go.

We arrived in what looks like the cafeteria. It was chaos. Hell.

Tables were turned over. Chinese prisoners with guns were shooting at the counter. A light machine gun was set up on one of the tables out front. We ducked out of the way once we busted in the room.

Lao was there too. He was wearing an officer's hat and was armed with an Arisaka. He simply nodded once he saw me.

"Sup." He said. "time to make yourself useful. Go talk to the boss over there by the storage unit."

The leader of this whole Uprising was a tank commander named Chiang Johnson. He was a tall man, but not as tall as NCO. Surprisingly, he was a half American, so he was a fluent guy in English and wields the voice of authority over the other people. He turned around towards us after raining an entire rifle clip on the Japanese soldiers.

"Good." He said. "we got more people. Listen up. See if you can sneak up on that LMG position by the counter. There's that line of tables over there. Sneak through while we rain cover fire." He explained.

We got into position. What he meant was that we can use a set of tables turned over on the side of the cafeteria to get through. We had to be fast, as that LMG can focus on us immediately.

We ran for dear life. We barely managed to get to the counter in front of us, as the LMG was now against me, NCO and Xi. We shot every God damn soldier in front of us, and they all dropped dead. The LMG guy dropped dead last, shot in the head by NCO.

The rest of the prisoners came forward. Chiang just smiled at us. No compliments. That's all.

We came all the way to liberating the entire prison. The Japanese were making their last stand at their radio station. Taking that was crucial, as we can contact the Command, telling them that there were us present.

A HMG was positioned in the window of the station. It was a 2 floor building draped with Japanese flags and posters. A bulletin board was on the entrance way. On signal, we were to run again (yes, again.) to the nearest window, jump in and neutralize the post. After that, we are the proud occupiers of a prison.

"What is Step 7?!" Chiang shouted.

"Breach the Station!" The other prisoners shouted.

They had developed a neat plan of action for this Uprising.

Step 1: Get the Keys
Step 2: Liberate the Block
Step 3: Liberate the Others
Step 4: Breach the Armory
Step 5: Secure Food
Step 6: Liberate the Cafeteria
Step 7: Breach the Station
Step 8: Freedom!!

That last one had a cool name.

Once again, we prepared our charge. I was to go first, and I was to shatter the window when I jump in. NCO and Xi came behind. Lao provided covering fire.

Chiang shouted "Go!", And we began our mad rush to the window. I jumped in. As I landed on the floor, the Japanese soldiers just looked at me as I land. I capped their faces off of them.

I looked to the staircase. At the top of the staircase was a sandbag barricade, covering upstairs from down here.

I saw a stash of grenades. I knew what to do.

I grabbed one grenade. Just one. Then I began to slowly climb up the stairs, my 2 buddies moving behind me. When at the barricade, I chucked the grenade over.

"Shuryūdan!" I heard a Japanese soldiers say. It meant "Grenade!".

The grenade blew. By then everyone was already downstairs, and I remained on the third to last step on the staircase. The grenade blew so strong that I tumbled down the staircase. The guys began to climb up the stairs.

Chiang came by my side.

"You did well." He said, laughing while he helped me get up. "This is only the beginning! We shall defeat the Japanese!"

He then shouted one last time.

"Step 8?!" He shouted, in waiting for a response.

"Freedom!!" The prisoners shouted. I shouted along.

We happily raised the only Chinese NRA flag we could find over this prison. It was now ours.
 
How far into Japanese territory is the prision camp since I keep thinking of the movie the great escape that ended with most of the prisioner captured and killed and others returned to prision?
 
How far into Japanese territory is the prision camp since I keep thinking of the movie the great escape that ended with most of the prisioner captured and killed and others returned to prision?

It's a little north of Nanjing, now fallen to the Japanese.

Great Escape was an excellent movie, probably the best in terms of portraying how POWs are treated and the suffering they go through. The characters were geniuses.
 
Great action and could make for a wonderful scene for a movie. I look forward to how our friends make it back to Chinese controlled territory and carry Operation Freedom against the Japanese.
 
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