General Tang’s love affair with fire began in 1969, when he was merely Lieutenant Tang of the Chinese PLA. Operating as “observer and advisor” in North Vietnam, he was supervising the movement of a regiment of NVA, near the Cambodian border at Bu Prang. Without warning, a flight of F4 Phantoms swooped from the clouds, dropping cannisters of napalm. In moments, the forest below, from horizon to horizon and ground to sky, was a boiling inferno.

Tang disappeared. He was regarded as KIA at Bu Prang, and it might have been better for the world if he had. However, in fact, Tang survived, and came to prominence in Taipei. His time in Vietnam had brought him into contact with many opium producers, and his organisational skills were perfect for creating South-East Asia’s biggest drug-smuggling ring - the Dragon Lords. The success of his operation was one thing, but his real notoriety came from his method of dealing with his enemies. Tang would have them burnt at the stake, while he sat and watched and ate. He called himself The General.

In 1976, during the hottest, driest October on record, Taipei’s rival gangs united against the Dragon Lords’ dominance. Hundreds died in an orgy of violence that lasted weeks. Tang finally called for a truce. He invited all of the other crime lords to a surrender negotiation, held at his warehouse on the docks.

The rival crime lords arrived, and the negotiations began. Tang let them speak for a long time, and as the insults flew across the table, he simply sat and smiled and nodded.

“The Dragon Lords will never survive,” one of his rivals bragged.

Without a word, General Tang rose, went to an open crate, and pulled out a beautiful, ornately decorated flame-thrower.

“Dragon Lord is only survivor,” he said, and pulled the trigger.

In the dry, hot weather the flames quickly leapt from warehouse to warehouse, and in moments the docks were engulfed. It was two days before the fires were brought under control, and, right at the very heart of the gutted buildings and charred corpses, was this - a beautiful, pristine flamethrower.

As the General promised, the Dragon Lord was the sole survivor.