Liao Lei was a member of the Guangxi clan and was ranked with Li Pinxian. During the Anti-Japanese War, he served as the commander-in-chief of the 21st Army and also as the chairman of Anhui Province. He participated in the Battle of Songhu and Xuzhou, established the Dabie Mountains anti-Japanese guerrilla base, and served as the commander-in-chief of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Border Region.

Compared with Li Pinxian, who has poor character, Liao Lei has a frugal lifestyle. He saved the military's surplus military pay and paid it to Guangxi to purchase more arms, never filling his own pockets. Moreover, he is diligent in training troops, is serious and has clear rewards and punishments. Because of his good governance of the army, Liao Lei served as company commander, battalion commander, regiment commander, division commander, army commander, etc., and was promoted to a general who got up from the grassroots.

Liao Lei's greatest achievement should be his hard work and management in the Dabie Mountains base. The result was that during the eight years of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Anhui, which was alone behind the enemy, could retain most of the people. According to incomplete statistics, in 1939, among the 62 counties in Anhui Province, 35 counties could retain completeness, 7 counties had enemy traces in the county, and only nineteen counties were occupied by the county town.

In September 1938, Liao Lei used the Seventh Army of the Guangxi and the Forty-Eighth Army as the main trunk, plus some local teams to form the guerrilla troops in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui border area. He relied on the Dabie Mountains to attack many times, cut off the Japanese army's transportation lines, and also gave major blows to the Japanese army in Huangmei and Guangji areas.

The name of a person, the shadow of a tree. Although Yang Tianfeng had never met Liao Lei, his impression of Liao Lei was mostly based on information and rumors in his mind. However, he had several counties in northern Anhui and had occasional telegram contact with Liao Lei, the chairman of Anhui Province, and also believed that Liao Lei was a man with great public opinion.

Not to mention anything else, relying on Liao Lei's last words, he was thinking about the War of Resistance until his death. Without an explanation to his wife, children and relatives, he actually said, "I can't do it anymore. I hope you work hard to fight against the war and don't let the Japanese invaders rush into the Dabie Mountains." What is this? This is the military integrity to resist foreign aggression, and this is patriotic loyalty that abandons personal feelings.

After almost the arrangement was completed, Yang Tianfeng got up and walked to another quieter room, sat on the sofa and started to think quietly.

Sucheng cannot be defended, nor can it be defended. Giving up the county town, occupying the countryside, and conducting long-term guerrilla wars with the enemy is a last resort. It is easy to persuade the people to avoid revenge. But for the people, it means leaving their hometowns, leaving their homes and rushing to an unknown life.

But what can I do if I don’t do this? Will there be people who blame me and my anti-Japanese team, who can’t defend the county town, and punish the culprits, and will they come again with even more vicious and cruel bad guys? Will they lead to another bloody revenge?

Yang Tianfeng's mind was rumbling, but when he thought of the "Imperial Hotel" specially set up by the Japanese in Sucheng, the poor women who were ravaged and even killed because of resistance, and the family of three who forgot to bow to the Japanese devils just because he was anxious to go to the city to see the children, and was beheaded for public display. Yang Tianfeng couldn't help but bit his teeth, and his contradictory or weak mood was instantly occupied by hatred.

Kill the Japanese, kill one more, and there will be less evil beasts in the world. I am not wrong. Is it wrong to liberate them from the cruel rule of the Japanese? No, it is definitely not!

In this great Patriotic War, in this national catastrophe, every Chinese with conscience must have the awareness of sacrificing material and even life.

I cannot defend the county to protect you, and I cannot put all the troops that lasted the war of resistance, but I can do my best to get you out of the slavery of the Japanese.

"Come." Yang Tianfeng suddenly opened his eyes and said to the guard who was entering in response: "Notify Wang Xiangpu that I will hold a public trial meeting in the city center and ask him to send someone to arrange the prisoners of Japanese and puppet troops."

After pausing, he said again: "Call Staff Officer Xu, I have orders to issue. And Officer Xu, come here too."

…………

"The chief wants to kill prisoners publicly?" Secretary Xu of the Political and Work Department was shocked when he heard Yang Tianfeng's words, with wide eyes behind the glasses.

"It's not killing prisoners, it's killing war criminals." Yang Tianfeng waved his hand and explained in detail: "I certainly know what the definition of prisoners of war is. But there must be a problem of different treatment, and it cannot be generalized. After World War I, the Paris "Non-War Convention" abolished the use of war as a means to implement national policies, thus expanding the scope of war crimes."

Looking at the confused Secretary Xu, Yang Tianfeng patiently explained: "War crime refers to the acts of war-related troops in belligerent countries that violate the law of war, including the use of poisonous or other forbidden weapons, killing or abuse of prisoners of war, attacking, plundering and massacre of civilians, etc. For prisoners of war, we can deal with them in accordance with international conventions; but for war criminals, they will not be regarded as prisoners of war, but will be judged against their crimes, and then-"

"Execution." Director Xu nodded, indicating that he understood Yang Tianfeng's meaning.

Yang Tianfeng attached great importance to political propaganda and specially recruited some pens to expose the cruel crimes of the Japanese, promote national heroes from ancient times to the present, and inspire the soldiers' hatred and desire to kill enemies. For this reason, he also bought several cameras and two cameras, equipped the troops with war correspondents, recorded the scenes of victory, and inspire the people's morale; also took pictures of the sufferings suffered by the people, accompanied by words, and spread them widely in the base areas, creating an atmosphere where the whole people are soldiers and share the same hatred of the enemy.

Secretary Xu just brought someone to record materials at the "Imperial Hotel" and saw the tragic situation of those ravaged women. No one was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

Now that he heard Yang Tianfeng say this, he naturally agreed with it, but he was afraid that he would have any bad effects on Yang Tianfeng.

"Do you understand what I mean?" After receiving a positive answer, Yang Tianfeng nodded slightly and said, "Remember all the crimes committed by the Japanese in Suzhou, and resort to the newspapers so that people all over the world can know. Moreover, they must be killed and have a reasonable and well-founded killing. Just follow our military law and the military judge will be judged and convicted. As for war crimes, they must be elaborated in detail and strive to make everyone agree. It is particularly important to emphasize that the official status of the defendant, regardless of the size of his official position, should not be regarded as a reason to exempt them from or reduce punishment; the government or superior orders should not be the basis for exempting the defendant from liability."

"I understand." Director Xu pondered for a moment and said, "In this way, I will first record the superior's words and publish them on the newspaper. As for the details, please give the superior Ba Ling to explain."
Chapter completed!