Shanghai regained its independence, in a sense. Because the city was neither in the hands of the Japanese army nor the Chinese army. The independence came from the city itself.

A fact that sounded like a joke turned out to be true with the drastic changes happening in the morning in this city. The number of patrolling cops multiplied. Police shut down Japanese owned businesses. And more shockingly, squads and squads of captured Japanese soldiers with expressions of fear were being escorted outside the city.

Shanghai was borderline bursting into a chaos since the night before. Explosions and gun shots echoed throughout the city. Even greater explosions came from just beyond the city area as though countless...