There are no longs "with large positions in this stock right now". No long has ever claimed to own even 100 million shares, and even that many shares is only worth $10,000 today, and in 2 weeks, it will be worth $500 .
How could a company figure out that the best way to scare shorts away, is to drive the price immediately to 0.0001 , where shorts love to cover.
Unless, the company is covering its own shorts.