The area around the Huahua Pai Lou of Zhonghua Gate was originally inhabited by residents, especially the people who have grown up in Nanjing for generations and the poor people who cannot afford to migrate, most of them live in this area. On the 12th, the devils stormed the Zhonghua Gate, and there were many shells and many houses in this area, which caused the residents in this area to panic and rush to safety.

After compensating part of the foreign money according to the requirements of the third battalion and expelling the remaining residents, the defenders of Zhonghua Gate also gave the little devils who entered the city a dismount, and the explosion and fire blocked the devils' attack at once. It didn't take long for the dilapidated houses in this slum to fall into flames. However, due to the demarcation of the safety quarantine zone in advance, and the weather tonight was not bad, there was no strong wind, but it did not spread again.

"Line up, come one by one!" The collapsed buildings had covered the passages, and the fire had burned all traces. The more than 4,000 officers and men who entered the tunnel were able to avoid the poison gas attack themselves.

Considering that the secret passage might be useful in the future, only the soldiers were evacuated this time, and the large number of refugees from Zhonghua Gate and some of the remaining defenders who were responsible for setting the fire to the end of the fire went straight to the river, where there were boats that left a place for them.

The secret passage was very wide, but two or three people walked side by side, and it was also very long, and thousands of people lined up in a long column without seeing the exit in front of them.

The ventilation environment in the secret passage has been tested to be fine, but it is still a little stuffy, and the oxygen cylinders brought out of the hospital carried by the third battalion are released at intervals, but this is still not enough for thousands of people to consume breathing. If it weren't for the vents in the secret passages, I'm afraid that people would have suffocated to death.

But none of this is anything compared to the threat of life and death.

"Deputy Commander, there's an exit ahead! The secret passage is still stretching forward. Fifty-six, the dog who was scouting the way ahead, ran back and reported.

"It's not there yet, is it? Who built this tunnel? Huang Huamin breathed a long sigh of relief and said. Instead of evacuating by boat with Niu Yi, he chose to break through from the tunnel with the third battalion.

"Well, it seems old, right? At least more than 100 years, right? Guo Huaiyu, the deputy head of the lieutenant colonel who accompanied him, guessed.

"Look at those notched patterns, they have the style of the Ming Dynasty!" Lu Shiming, a regimental staff officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, also replied.

"Commander Wang, Commander Guo, and Staff Officer Lu, shall we go up and have a look first?" Huang Huamin asked. Hu Yi and the others nodded together.

Since the commanders had all fled, the third battalion began to gather the stragglers inside and outside the city, and there were more than 4,000 people. Meng Xiang took into account the deterrence of the authority of the official university in the minds of the people, and just yesterday he quickly promoted Niu Yi, Rat Yi, and Hu Yi to the post of deputy regiment commander, and hung up the rank of lieutenant colonel in vain.

At this time, Hu Yi's rank among the five thousand people was also the largest, even if there were two of the same rank, under the strong organization of the third battalion, he could still obey orders.

The exit was in a mountainous area, and the stars in the sky were exceptionally bright. The fires of several city gates in the distance can also be seen clearly.

"Alas, this fire is also a little unbeneficial, the devils outside the city can't get in, and the soldiers in the positions outside the city will have to make some trouble!" Lu Shiming sighed and said.

"All the places outside the city have been sent to inform them one by one. But the officials ran away early, and who of those officers and soldiers would organize the retreat? Guo Huaiyu also sighed.

Huang Huamin was silent. No one expected that the gates would follow the example of burning the city and retreat, and the soldiers outside the city could only walk around the city if they wanted to retreat.

None of this is the main thing, the key is now the issue of personnel organization. It took a great deal of effort for the 3rd Battalion to gather the stragglers, but at this time the strength of the vanguard was limited to that. There were many soldiers who did not listen to these advice at all, and went straight to the lower pass where their superiors had gone.

Even with the addition of three large ships, how many people can be transported in one night? There are still a large number of defenders inside and outside the city waiting for the instructions of the superiors, and the messages of others can only be used as references, and the many mixed messages make the accurate orders of the superiors the only ones.

The night in the sound of gunfire also made a large number of people afraid to go out and miss a good opportunity to escape. But who would have thought that the devils would play a desperate plan after they occupied the city? Most people guess that even if there is a killing to vent their hatred, it will not necessarily fall on their own heads, right?

The night is darker.

With the support of the four torpedo boats of Wen Tianxiang's squadron that had retreated, the threat of the devil's patrol boats was much smaller. Coupled with the expulsion of the anti-aircraft machine guns, the three large ships could be transported with all their might with confidence.

"Such a great kindness, Wang will definitely repay it in the future!" Wang Yaowu said gratefully to Li Ting and the others, he didn't know that Yu Jishi had sent someone to come to pick him up, but at this time, Lu Zuofu's big ship had already reserved a place for him.

He firmly remembered the unique logo of the Vanguard Army. This time, the role of large ships and anti-aircraft machine guns made the logo of the Vanguard already known. Not only him, but more than 100,000 people have remembered this unique logo.

"The devil is coming!" At this time, someone shouted.

"There's no going to be anyone shouting nonsense, is it?" After the previous lie, although everyone was taken aback, they were not too panicked. Because the Central Army at the Shimonoseki Wharf had already arranged defensive positions in several sections. Even if the devil comes, it can be delayed for a while.

Wang Yaowu was also taken aback, and was thinking to himself in his heart, but the big ship had already set sail. He looked at a firefighting position over there from afar, and sighed in his heart, the devil really came up.

After suffering a loss at the city gate, the army was much more careful. Under the premise that Nanjing City is about to be securely obtained, I will not take too much risk to enter the city at night. It only accelerated the battle for positions outside the city, and the special focus was to rush to Xiaguan to block the Central Army that was evacuating.

The reconnaissance of the aircraft and the report of the patrol boat all indicated that the main force of the Central Army intended to withdraw from here.

Several teams that were originally attacking the city were also drawn out to go around the city and go straight to Xiaguan.

There wasn't much in the way. The people in the defensive positions outside the city knew the news of the evacuation, and most of the commanders ran away in advance, and their men scattered their sheep. There is more than enough to defend the position, and the attack is powerless to stop the enemy. Even if there was spontaneous and sporadic resistance, it could not stop the assault of his brigade. The Central Army's remark that "it is better to defend than to attack, and it is better to attack than to retreat" is not bad at all. Once they retreat, they will inevitably flee separately and be crushed for thousands of miles.

It wasn't until he approached the Shimonoseki pier that he encountered defensive resistance from the organization.

The Central Army had the hope of a safe evacuation, had organized arrangements, and the army was tired and did not carry a large number of artillery, so it was difficult to break through the defenders' defensive line for a while.

"Gotta speed up!" Xiao Shanling looked at the river anxiously, and said that once his ships rushed over, the large-caliber naval guns could not withstand the hastily constructed defensive positions. The central army withdrew in a hurry, and did not carry heavy weapons, and as soon as it was dark, it was only feared that under the threat of the army's planes and naval artillery, it would be difficult to defend.

"Don't bring unnecessary things!" He shouted, shouting as several soldiers dragged off the ship the large wooden crates that blocked the passage to the ship.

"My darling! Oh my darling! A man who looked like a fat rich man ran down crying, and hugged the big wooden box tightly, but he fell into the big wooden box together, and the big wooden box that fell out of the gangplank cracked, and a pile of copper circles rolled out.

"Take your baby here and wait for me!" A soldier who had spent a long time dragging a box shouted viciously.

The fat rich man was so frightened that he stopped crying and blinked, before he took out a key from his waist and opened the big box. When everyone watched, there were a lot of copper dollars. Someone couldn't help but laugh and said: "So much copper, it's not as good as a gold bar!" ”

"This is the money I saved for a cow!" The fat rich man ignored the laughter of the crowd and shouted loudly. "Copper for silver dollars, who will exchange copper! It's cheap! ”