Chapter 585: Thai Campaign (7)

The street fighting throughout Manggu gradually subsided, the smoke of gunpowder drifting away slowly, and the once bustling streets were left with only broken walls and ruins, with battle scars visible everywhere.

The Japanese Army 48th Division had stubbornly held out for a long time, but with the outer defensive line collapsed, aerial supplies cut off, and the city running out of ammunition and food, it had already disintegrated and could no longer resist the fierce assaults of the Expeditionary Force and the various units of Nanko.

This unit, formerly the Yizhou Mixed Brigade stained with the blood of the Nanjing Massacre, had traveled from Fukuoka and Nagasaki in Kyushu to extremist groups on colonized islands, committing atrocities southward across Southeast Asia, and finally became trapped and perished in the foreign capital Manggu.

Its soldiers either died in the streets or laid down their weapons and surrendered; the entire 48th Division was utterly wiped out, never to regain its former swagger.

Whether it was the Expeditionary Force, the Independent Regiment, or the Marine Infantry Division, they all dealt a lethal blow to this unit.

The unlucky ones were the Thai auxiliary troops, many of whom were killed for standing too close to the Japanese.

Mainly because their weapons and equipment were identical, and even the Thai uniforms resembled those of the Japanese.

And Division Commander Zhong Teng Qianqiu of the Japanese Army 48th Division, faced with the Huaxia Army's encirclement, realized that breaking out was impossible.

Unwilling to surrender calmly, he retreated with a small personal guard, eventually cowering deep within the Thai royal palace, hoping to use its complex architecture to hold out for a faint chance of reversal.

Independent Regiment commander Yao Quanyi swept through the remaining street‑fighting foes, advancing step by step, pursuing the leftover Japanese troops, and finally encircled the entire Thai royal palace.

After a brief but fierce assault and cleanup, the palace's last guard was completely annihilated, and the disheveled Zhong Teng Qianqiu was found by soldiers in a corner of the main hall.

At this moment he no longer possessed the cruelty of his days invading Huaxia; his clothes were smeared with dust and blood, his expression listless, his eyes filled only with fear and despair, and facing opponent Yao Quanyi he lacked even the courage to look him in the eye.

According to battlefield custom, a Japanese lieutenant general and division commander whose hands are soaked in Huaxia compatriots' blood and who has committed monstrous crimes deserves to be slain on the spot.

But Yao Quanyi, following Jiang Anguo's prior order, did not execute Zhong Teng Qianqiu on the spot; instead he ordered the soldiers to guard him tightly and forbade anyone from handling him privately.

He then secretly dispatched a military transport aircraft, evading Allied Forces' sight, and overnight sent Zhong Teng Qianqiu to the large Japanese POW camp at Lashu for solitary confinement, under strict guard and cut off from any outside contact.

Jiang Anguo's caution stemmed from a profound reason.

Earlier he had handed over the captured commander of the Japanese Army 39th Division to the Chongqing authorities for custody, intending to have him tried according to law, but due to lax supervision a Japanese infiltrating spy slipped in and assassinated him.

He died under mysterious circumstances, without even a chance for a public accounting of his crimes.

Jiang Anguo knew clearly that this was a spy sent by the Japanese Army; later he reviewed the Chongqing investigation report, which shockingly showed that some people from Chongqing were also involved.

In other words, the Japanese spy had been embedded in Chongqing for a long time, never having been discovered.

The Principal was also furious and scolded Dai Li.

He also demanded a higher security level to ensure the safety of Division Commander Nei Shan Yingtailang of the Japanese Army 13th Division.

Having learned from the previous incident, Jiang Anguo is extremely uneasy about any high‑ranking Japanese POWs, unwilling to repeat the mistake, and anyway Chongqing will not send them over.

With his current strength, Jiang Anguo no longer lacks the value of a division commander.

In these recent battles, countless Japanese lieutenant generals and major generals have been captured by Jiang Anguo; if it were only for system points, a kill on the spot would earn forty thousand war points, but with the massive points he has already amassed, he cares not at all about that number.

In his mind, shooting Zhong Teng Qianqiu dead with a single bullet would be far too cheap for these executioners.

The hundreds of thousands of wronged souls beneath Nanjing City are vivid in his memory; countless compatriots perished under their blades, and a simple death would never appease the dead nor soothe the nation's wounded hearts.

Jiang Anguo has already decided never to hastily execute this batch of Class A and Class B Japanese war criminals.

He intends to secretly imprison all high‑ranking Japanese officers whose hands are stained with Huaxia blood, under strict guard, until the entire Southeast Asian war fully ends and peace is restored.

He will then transfer these war masterminds to Nanjing for a public trial by the Nanjing citizens and the nation together.

Let them confess and be sentenced before countless wronged souls, receiving the punishment they deserve.

Thus the historical guilt will receive the most just reckoning.

On the other side, Thai Prime Minister Luan Piwen (and Song Kan) watched Manggu fall, the Japanese annihilated, and the Japanese support they had painstakingly relied on completely collapse, leaving them terrified, their spirit shattered, hiding anxiously in the Prime Minister's residence, helpless.

Outside the city, the encircling army advanced step by step; inside, the defenses crumbled, and he knew the situation was lost, powerless to turn the tide.

Soon after, Expeditionary Force units under Du Yuming entered Manggu's core, successfully surrounded the Thai Prime Minister's residence, and captured Luan Piwen (and Song Kan) along with all the Thai cabinet ministers.

Looking at these Thai leaders who had leaned on Japan and aided its tyranny, Du Yuming felt momentarily conflicted.

According to Allied Forces regulations, such foreign regime heads should be dealt with uniformly by the Allies, assigned to Stilwell for coordination.

But Du Yuming knew Stilwell acted in a Western manner; if handed over to the Allies, Luan Piwen's group would likely receive lenient treatment and easily evade responsibility.

"How should we deal with this Thai Prime Minister?" Du Yuming convened a small internal meeting, attended mainly by a few Expeditionary Force generals.

Sun Liren was blunt: "Kill him; keeping him alive serves no purpose!"

The others were at a loss for how to reply.

Liao Yaoxiang adjusted his gold‑rimmed glasses and said, "We can't kill him; what if it sparks an international dispute!"

Dai Anlan said, "What Jian Chu means is that, after all, he's the Thai Prime Minister; we're fighting in Thailand now, and if we provoke the Thai populace's resistance, that would be troublesome."

Dai Anlan paused, then said, "How about this: hand this Thai Prime Minister over to Nanko, which not only keeps us out of the matter but also earns us a favor with Nanko."

After much deliberation, Du Yuming was unwilling to let the culprit escape so easily.

"Fine, we'll do as Anlan suggested and hand the Thai Prime Minister over to Nanko for handling," Du Yuming made the final decision.

Taking advantage of the chaotic war situation and the complicated handover of city defenses, while Stilwell had not yet addressed the handling of Manggu POWs, he quietly ordered that Luan Piwen (and Song Kan) and the Thai ministers be secretly transferred, giving full authority to Zhou Haitong of the South China Army to take custody and deal with them.

With that, the Battle of Manggu was fully concluded.

The Japanese Army 48th Division was completely annihilated, and the chief culprit Zhong Teng Qianqiu was captured and secretly sealed away.

The Thai puppet regime's leader Luan Piwen (and Song Kan) and his ministers were all captured.

The Southeast Asian war situation was completely reversed; Nanko and the Expeditionary Force firmly controlled the entire Thai territory, their military might deterring the South Sea, laying an unshakable foundation for the subsequent purge of all Japanese forces in Southeast Asia.