Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

Chapter 985 Notice

There were Japanese soldiers in khaki uniforms, but there were many more Chinese men, women, and children dressed in ordinary civilian clothes.

Some of the corpses were highly decomposed, unrecognizable, and emitted a nauseating stench.

Some were relatively "fresh," with the bloodstains at the wound not yet completely dried, congealing on the cold ground to form dark red ice crystals.

A complex and deadly mixture of smells filled the air.

The pungent smell of gunpowder, the sweet and fishy smell of blood, the stench of rotting corpses, and the burnt smell of charred buildings clung thickly to everyone's nasal cavity and throat, lingering for a long time.

The entire city was deathly silent, except for the occasional cawing of crows and the sound of the wind, resembling a gigantic open-air tomb.

Yusuke Ichijo remained unmoved by this hellish scene.

Time is of the essence, and the task is arduous.

He immediately issued a series of concise and ruthless orders.

The military police brigade sprang into action like a sophisticated machine.

Several elite detachments were dispatched to transportation hubs and strategic locations such as Xinjiekou, Gulou Square, Confucius Temple, and Xiaguan Wharf.

They quickly set up more than a dozen checkpoints using sandbags, barbed wire, and abandoned vehicles.

Each checkpoint is equipped with one light machine gun and more than ten riflemen, and is managed by a sergeant or sergeant.

Anyone attempting to pass through, whether a routed Japanese soldier, a panicked Chinese civilian, or a refugee trying to sneak back into the city to find relatives, had to undergo rigorous inspection.

The military police showed no mercy to the discovered defeated soldiers of the Central China Expeditionary Army, immediately confiscating their weapons and forcibly concentrating them in a temporarily designated area for guarding. Any resistance was met with beatings with rifle butts or even direct shooting.

Meanwhile, another team of military police, armed with buckets of glue and large rolls of printed materials, began posting public notices in Japanese and Chinese, signed by the "Tianjin Military Police Command," on the remaining walls, telephone poles, and even beside piles of corpses.

The notice was strongly worded:

"Proclamation: Effective immediately, the defense and security of Nanjing shall be fully taken over by the Military Police Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army."

In order to restore order, the following decree is hereby promulgated:

First, a strict curfew will be implemented, prohibiting all personnel from leaving their homes from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM the following morning.

Second, all illegal acts, including robbery, theft, arson, and damage to public or private property, are strictly prohibited.

Third, all stragglers must immediately report to the military police and surrender their weapons.

Fourth, anyone who disobeys this order will be executed without exception upon discovery.

This cloth. January 31, Showa 13.

The Nanjing Military Police Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army.

These notices, written in black and white, were posted on the devastated ruins, creating a highly ironic contrast and announcing the imminent arrival of a "order" based on violence.

However, rebuilding order was by no means easy. The greatest challenge did not come from the Chinese resistance forces, but from "their own people," the soldiers of the Kwantung Army and the North China Area Army who considered themselves "victors."

Shortly after entering the city, conflict broke out.

In the vicinity of Taiping South Road, a group of about seven or eight soldiers belonging to the 14th Division of the North China Area Army broke down the door of a half-collapsed shop, attempting to rob the valuables that might be hidden inside.

Just then, a military police patrol passed by. Sergeant Nishimura, who was leading the patrol, stepped forward to stop them and shouted sternly, "Stop! By order of the Military Police Headquarters, robbery is strictly prohibited!"

The soldiers reeked of alcohol, clearly having come from a looted winery.

The sergeant in the lead, his face full of disdain and reeking of alcohol, said, "Baka! We are heroes who captured Nanjing! What's wrong with taking a few things? Who do you military police think you are, daring to interfere with our soldiers who are risking their lives on the front lines?"

Sergeant Nishimura stood firm, raising his pistol: "Put down your valuables immediately and surrender! Otherwise, you will be punished for disobeying military law!"

Taking advantage of his superior numbers, the sergeant even picked up his rifle with bayonets fixed and shouted, "Brothers, these military police are just showing off from behind! Let's teach them a lesson!"

A conflict was imminent. Although the military police patrol was small in number, they were well-trained and immediately spread out using the barricades, raising their guns and aiming.

Sergeant Nishimura fired a warning shot.

The gunfire attracted reinforcements from military police at a nearby checkpoint.

Soon, more than 20 military police surrounded the seven or eight rioting soldiers.

The news was quickly reported to Yusuke.

He is currently in the temporary command post set up in the former Ministry of Finance building of the Nationalist Government.

Upon hearing the report, his face remained expressionless; he coldly uttered only a few words: "Arrest them all. Execute the ringleader in public; accomplices be whipped!"

Half an hour later, in the relatively intact Xinjiekou Square, a public punishment began.

The rioting soldiers were stripped of their shirts and tied to makeshift wooden stakes.

A burly military police officer, wielding a specially made cowhide whip dipped in salt water, lashed the backs of several soldiers in front of hundreds of people, including a few Chinese civilians who had been driven there and other Japanese soldiers.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

The sound of whips tearing through the air and the dull thuds of whipping flesh, mixed with the agonizing screams of the tortured, echoed over the desolate ruins.

Each lash tore open the skin and flesh, leaving it bleeding profusely.

The soldiers were whipped fifty times, several times until they fainted, only to be revived by being splashed with cold water. After the execution, they were dragged away like dead dogs, their fate uncertain.

The sergeant who led the disobedience was designated the "ringleader" and was riddled with bullets by the military police in front of hundreds of onlookers. He was then hung on a flagpole and displayed to the public!

This was not an isolated incident; in a single day, military police publicly executed over ten soldiers and flogged over a hundred others.

The wailing and screams echoed throughout Nanjing for an entire day.

Yusuke Ichijo earned the nickname "King of Hell" while serving as a captain in Harbin. It's unclear which talkative military policeman let it slip, but it quickly spread throughout the Japanese army.

These public executions by firing squad and caning were brutal and had an immediate deterrent effect; the military police, the "Kings of Hell," were truly terrifying.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the Japanese army, and all the officers seemed deaf to it, continuing with their daily tasks as if nothing had happened.

Those "victors" who were originally eager to make their move immediately became much more restrained.

They realized that these military police were a truly ruthless "supervisory force" that held the power of life and death.

Yusuke Ichijo used the most primitive and bloody methods to initially establish discipline and restraint over the Japanese troops in the occupied areas.

Some Japanese soldiers who were planning to do something against the rules would often feel nervous when they thought of Ichijo Yusuke's reputation.

While maintaining basic order, Yusuke Ichijo personally led a team of capable men to inspect several of the most strategically and symbolically significant locations within Nanjing:

Although the Jinling Arsenal had been bombed and looted multiple times, the remaining factory buildings and equipment still had value.

He dispatched a small squad to guard the area closely, prohibiting any unauthorized personnel from approaching, in order to prevent further damage to the equipment or the dispersal of weapons.

The Central Bank building, whose vaults have been moved and subsequently looted, remains a symbol of the financial center.

He ordered the building sealed off and guards left behind, foreshadowing future regulation of the financial order.

The former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building of the Nationalist Government, this building has important political significance.

Yusuke Ichijo deployed his troops here and raised a brand-new Rising Sun Flag, symbolizing the transfer of power.