One general is incompetent, exhausting the three armies!

Tang Shengzhi, who swore that he could hold out in Nanjing for at least half a year, stayed in his reinforced headquarters, and the only order he could give was:

"Resist, you must resist me!"

How to top? It is not known which troops will defend the front, which troops will cover the flanks, and which troops will serve as reserves.

The only thing that can be relied on is the decision of the front-line commanders themselves.

The Japanese artillery fire was already close to madness.

The entire city of Nanjing was baptized by artillery fire.

And the soldiers on the front line are still fighting bloody battles there!

The extremely tragic and bloody white-knuckle battle has already broken out many times.

There is no doubt that in this defensive battle, it was the 51st Division commanded by Wang Yaowu that was always on the front line, and suffered the greatest casualties.

Saihongqiao, Huayan Temple, and Zhonghua Gate are all positions they are responsible for guarding.

"Order the troops to continue to advance, and I must drive out the Japanese troops on the front line of the Zhonghua Gate." In order to boost morale, Wang Yaowu, who was commanding the troops on the front line at this time, ordered Li Tianxia, the commander of the 153rd Brigade, to use the "method of revolutionary soldiers sitting together" to order the troops to hold their positions on all fronts:

"You immediately personally lead the special service company of the division headquarters to supervise the battle, and if there are any troops who retreat without authorization, no matter what part they are, they will be dealt with by military law!"

"And what if it's something else? Like the 88th Division or the 58th Division?" Li Tianxia asked cautiously.

The almost cold words of the division commander made him feel a palpitation involuntarily.

Wang Yaowu didn't hesitate at all: "What are the retreating defeated soldiers still doing?" All were executed. We must not let the rout of our army disturb our army. ”

Li Tianxia nodded silently, he knew that once the rout was formed, the entire defense line was likely to collapse because of this, a rout could sweep away the defeat of a group of people, and the defeat of a group of people would make the entire defense line collapse.

"Order a battalion of the 88th Division here to immediately attack the Japanese army, and if anyone disobeys the dispatch or retreats, all will be killed!"

Wang Yaowu's almost cold words made Li Tianxia's heart rise again, he is from the 51st Division, and the other party is from the 88th Division, and the division commander will kill if he says to kill?

But an order is an order!

According to the orders of the brigade commanders of Wang Yaowu and Li Tianxia, the 51st Division, with Zhang Lingfu's 305th Regiment as the main force, immediately launched a comprehensive counterattack on the front line of Huayan Temple.

However, the counterattack did not go very smoothly, in the successive Japanese artillery bombardment, their counterattack suffered heavy casualties, the shell explosion was full of billowing smoke, and the counterattacking Chinese soldiers were exposed to the street with heavy casualties, so that the corpses of Chinese soldiers were lying outside the Zhonghua Gate. In the midst of the rain of bullets, the 51st Division and the 88th Division still stubbornly advanced, although they suffered heavy casualties.

The command of the entire battalion was in disarray, and the operational companies could only fight on their own, desperately organizing the attack.

From time to time, the flares that rose and blew off, like the sunlight in the night, brought the light of day to the killing battlefield.

It's just that every time the flare is raised, people are deeply shocked by the corpses that poured into their sight.

In addition to the 51st Division's frontal attack, the 88th Division organized a group of brave troops to make a big detour from the flank, using the cover of the front to advance forward.

Columns of smoke rose from the ruins and rose into the clouds one after another, hanging high in the night.

The cold wind of the winter night makes people feel very uncomfortable, cold and biting, and it is like a knife scraping on the face.

At this time, Li Tianxia was alone and quietly looking at the gray night, watching the Japanese army launch wave after wave of large-scale artillery bombardment of a ruin-like position.

The earth under the feet shook slightly in the dull sound of the explosion, and the fireworks swirled over the battlefield.

"I'm from the 88th Division, damn, you don't have the right to arrest me!"

The scolding of an officer who had retreated from the front line attracted Li Tianxia's attention, and in the end, there was still a rout.

The officer was soon struck on the cheek by a soldier from a divisional special service company: "You shameless deserter, and you have a face!" ”

Li Tianxia walked in front of the retreating officer, squatted down, and forced to look at the officer who was being escorted and trembled: "The commander's department has an order, and anyone who retreats will be severely punished by military law." ”

After saying that, he got up and said to a group of ragged soldiers:

"Behind us is Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, and no one can retreat without an order from the Governor's Department. Kill one and make an example, whether you die bravely on your own position, or die at the guns of your own people, watch it yourself! ”

Then, Li Tianxia took off her gloves and slapped them hard on the blood-stained face of the trembling officer: "It's a man, don't fucking be a deserter in your next life, as a commander, you actually abandon your brothers, and you are still an official."

Ignoring the resentful gaze, Li Tianxia turned around and glanced at the retreating deserters: "Are you willing to die like this, or go back to the position to fight to the death with the devil?" ”

"Damn, brothers, this is also death, that is also death, and the little devil of the dog day fights."

The officer also reluctantly got up, saluted Li Tianxia, and led a group of routs who had retreated in a mess to turn around and rush to the position of a sea of fire.

The athletes on the front line fought repeatedly hand-to-hand with the Japanese in the sacrifice of their lives, braving three-dimensional artillery fire from the air and the ground, and did not retreat.

But they probably didn't expect that just as each of them was about to drop their lives in the capital, the command had already considered retreating from noon on the 11th.

On the 12th, the chairman of the committee sent a telegram to Tang Shengzhi, asking him to stay in Nanjing for one more day, and if he could hold out for more than half a month, a large number of reinforcements would arrive.

But what people never expected was that when this telegram arrived in Tang Shengzhi's hand, the commander, who had sworn that he would be able to defend Nanjing, had already hastily issued an order to retreat.

Fall back? How to retreat? Who withdraws first, and who is responsible for sniper cover?

Both the eight points of the "No. 1 Special Order for the Garrison's Operational Order" formulated at 3 p.m. on the 12th and the six points of the "Nanjing Garrison Breakthrough Plan" formulated in accordance with this order were all very vague and general.

Among the eight articles and six points, there are a large number of words such as "self-destruction, coordinated destruction, and crossing the river as a last resort."

The 36th Division, which was covering the crossing of the river, should fight, the specific holding time, when it could be withdrawn, and so on, did not say anything.

The basic core of this hastily drawn up retreat plan was that most of the troops would forcibly break through from the front, and a small number would follow the garrison headquarters to cross the river from Xiaguan.

However, as soon as the written order was issued, Tang Shengzhi suddenly changed his mind and ordered the 87th Division, the 88th Division, the 74th Army, and the Central Teaching Corps, which are subordinate units of the Central Army, to cross the river first and assemble in the direction of Chuzhou when there is a ferry.

The most taboo thing for a commander is to be caught off guard and go back on his word.

But this Commander Tang has touched everything!

What's even more ridiculous?

The wharf along the river outside the Rujiang Gate is crowded with people and chaotic.

There are thousands of people who want to cross the river, but there are only two or three ferries.

Finally, the seriously overloaded ferry arrived in the center of the river, and the first army of Hu Zongnan in Pukou on the other side actually opened fire, prohibiting the ferry withdrawn from the south from docking.

Because Commander Tang was famous, no one was allowed to evacuate Nanjing.

Then, when his commander fled in a hurry, the order to retreat did not have time to inform the defenders of the north bank.

A dignified commander is so stupid, it can be regarded as rare in ancient and modern times.

Xiao Shanling, commander of the Nanjing Military Police, could go, but he did not.

"The gendarmes of the gendarmerie regiment will stay for me, resist the attack of the devils, and cover the retreat of the friendly troops!"

This is an order issued by Xiao Shanling.

"Commander Xiao, our Regiment Leader Qiu is injured in the leg, what should I do, what should I do?"

Several soldiers of the 306th Regiment, who had retreated from the front line, carried their regiment commander Qiu Weida in a panic.

"Quick, Wang Yaowu knows that you haven't crossed the river, and I've worked hard to find a boat to pick you up, let's go!" Xiao Shanling didn't have time to think: "It's right there in the coal port!" ”

"Commander Xiao, come with us!" Qiu Weida hurriedly said.

"If I don't leave, the capital will fall, and it will be a shame for me and other revolutionary soldiers! I'm ready to die for my country. Xiao Shanling smiled miserably: "Qiu Weida, what do you know with that Meng Shaoyuan?" ”

"Yes, we fought together in Qingpu."

Xiao Shanling took a deep breath: "I have the opportunity to meet that little scoundrel and tell him that what my brother promised him can't do, and I, Xiao Shanling, will do what I say for the rest of my life, but this time I will break my promise!" ”

"What I want Commander Xiao to do is that no matter what happens in the Battle of Nanjing, I want to ask Commander Xiao to live well. A living commander can bring far more to the country than a dead commander. Please promise me! ”

That day, Meng Shaoyuan pleaded with him like this.

Xiao Shanling broke his promise.

The country was ruined, the capital fell, and Xiao Shanling, who was the commander of the Nanjing garrison, had no face to live anymore.

There will always be soldiers, and there will be a high-ranking officer to shed blood on the city.

That person is his Xiao Shan Ling!

Not everyone is like Tang Shengzhi.

On December 12, 1937, Nanjing retreated.

That night, Qiu Weida, the commander of the 51st Regiment of the 306th Division, was pulled from the water to the boat with a rope tied around his waist.

The next day, Xiao Shanling, deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Police, commander of the Nanjing garrison, and commander of the air defense, led the soldiers to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army in Xiaguan, which lasted for five hours.

Those soldiers who were still alive and unwilling to be slaves of the country put their guns in their mouths at the last moment and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Xiao Shanling committed suicide with a gun, and fulfilled his promise to live and die with Nanjing. When he died, half of his body stood in the river and did not fall.

It is said that Xiao Shanling's last words before he was killed and martyred were:

"Little scoundrel, we'll see you in the next life!"

December 13, 1937, Nanjing, the city broke ......