The blood of the Anti-Japanese War stained the mountains and rivers

"Mr. Tang, why did you call us back in such a hurry?" Liu Xing was covered in blood. On the way back, he exchanged fire with the devil soldiers who broke into the city several times.

Tang Shengzhi said to the two of them with a serious face: "Mr. Liu, Mr. Luo, now Nanjing City has been breached by the Japanese army and cannot be defended. The chairman has ordered us to evacuate the camera. I am ready to retreat."

When Liu Xing heard this, he was a little annoyed and said: "Mr. Tang, although several city gates have been lost, our garrison troops are still strong. We can retreat into the city and fight in the streets. Pay a great price! Wouldn’t it be like giving Nanjing away if we retreat now.”

Luo Zhuoying, the deputy commander, also frowned and said, "There are still 40 or [-] soldiers and civilians in the city who haven't evacuated yet. If they retreat hastily now, what will they do? They can't be left to the enemy, can they?"

Tang Shengzhi was feeling irritable now, and he had no intention of defending the city. He asked, "What should we do then? We can't stay in a lonely city and wait to die, can we?"

Liu Xing suggested: "Even if you want to retreat, you must have a careful plan. How will the troops retreat? Where will the troops gather? And which troops will be responsible for the rear cover? We haven't prepared these yet."

Tang Shengzhi waved his hand and said: "I have considered these things, and asked the staff to formulate a breakout plan. You can take a look." He took a temporary draft plan from the table and showed it to the two deputy chiefs.

After reading it, the deputy commander, Luo Zhuoying, asked: "Although our troops have a plan to break out of the siege, what will the people in the city do?"

Tang Shengzhi replied: "Now that the situation is urgent, I don't care so much. War is a matter between two countries and has nothing to do with the people. Even if the Japanese army enters the city, I don't think it will do anything to the people. The troops will withdraw first."

Liu Xing, the deputy commander, came here from Jiangyin. He knew that the devils were vicious and cruel. They threw bombs at Nanjing indiscriminately and knew that they treated soldiers and civilians the same.

"I have already ordered the officers of the troops to go to the meeting room, let's go to the meeting." After Tang Shengzhi finished speaking, he went straight to the meeting room.

In the basement of the Nanjing Railway Ministry's Garrison Commander's Headquarters, all the armies and division commanders who were urgently called back from the front line have gathered here.

These military commanders were all dusty and embarrassed. The failure of the frontline battle made them frown, and they were all smoking in silence. The conference room was filled with smoke and was dull.

The arrival of Tang Shengzhi and the two deputy commanders made the commanders of the army hurriedly put out the cigarettes in their hands and stood up to salute.

Tang Shengzhi walked to the first seat, looked around the crowd, pressed his hands down and said, "Everyone sit down."

He ordered to the adjutant behind him: "Send everyone the retreat order and the breakout plan."

Hearing Tang Shengzhi's words, the army commanders and division commanders who came to the battle meeting looked at each other. Although the city was broken, it could still fight street fighting. Why was it suddenly about to withdraw? No news had been received in advance.

With a serious look on their faces, they hurriedly launched the retreat order and breakout plan issued to them, and suddenly understood a little bit, it turned out that the chairman of the committee sent the retreat order.

No one spoke in the conference room, and the unspeakable dullness oppressed everyone's nerves. After so many days of fighting and the death of so many officers and soldiers, it made them feel unwilling to withdraw as soon as they said they would withdraw.

"Mr. Tang, our teaching team is still fighting in Zijin Mountain. This breakout plan allows us to break out from the northern foot of Zijin Mountain to the south in the dark, and face the enemy's attack direction. Doesn't this make us die?" Yongqing stood up and said.

Tang Shengzhi said: "There are not many enemies in front of you. You just need to rush out from the gap in the encirclement. You can kill a bloody path. I will let the artillery cover you."

When Gui Yongqing heard this, he suddenly understood a little bit. This is clearly to let them teach the general team to be a target to attract the firepower of the devils.

When the army commanders and division commanders at the meeting got the breakout plan, they already knew that Nanjing was undefendable, and they sat there like a discouraged ball, so they were still thinking about the meeting, thinking about how to get out.

Tang Shengzhi stood up and said in a hoarse voice: "Everyone, the war does not end today, but continues tomorrow. The war does not end in the Nanjing Garrison War, but extends infinitely outside of Nanjing. Please bear in mind Humiliation today, shame in the future!"

Although Tang Shengzhi's words were impassioned, he still couldn't hide his greed for life, fear of death and desperate desire to survive. Some of the generals present sneered softly, but Tang Shengzhi didn't care.

He sighed and added: "We have done our best to defend Nanjing, and you don't have to blame yourself too much."

"When the troops retreat, they should point out the commanding officer. If the troops break up and cannot be controlled, they can cross the river with me. There are still boats for crossing the river in the commander's department in Xiaguan."

After Tang Shengzhi finished speaking, he waved his hand dejectedly and said, "Let's go." He strode out of the meeting room before the commander-in-chief could react.

Xiao Shanling, the mayor of Nanjing and commander of the gendarmerie, saw that Tang Shengzhi had left so silently. He hurriedly stood up and grabbed Liu Xing, the deputy commander who was about to leave, and said, "Mr. Liu, Mr. Liu, did you just break up like this?"

Liu Xing also shook his head helplessly and said, "Let's break up, everyone act according to the breakout plan." At this moment, Liu Xing was also disheartened and powerless.

Although the breakout plan stipulated that each unit would break out along its own breakout route after dark, but with the departure of Commander Tang Shengzhi, these army commanders still have the intention to go back to the army.

The commander-in-chief ran away, so why did they go back to die? After leaving the gate of the commander-in-chief, they all wanted to get away quickly.

Some officers went back to the headquarters to convey the order before leaving, some directly sent adjutants to convey the order, and their own troops did not return. Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 88th Division, slipped away after the meeting, and did not convey the retreat to break through. Order.

Text Chapter 3: Blood Stained City Gate

Xiao Shanling, the mayor of Nanjing and commander of the gendarmerie, strode out of the meeting room in the basement of the Ministry of Railways. The cold air outside made him shiver uncontrollably.

"Officer Xiao, let's go too." The adjutant rushed over from the car and handed the woolen military uniform to Xiao Shanling.

Tang Shengzhi hurriedly issued a retreat order and left, which made Xiao Shanling seem to lose his backbone, and ordered him and his military police to cross the river from Xiaguan.

But Xiao Shanling also knew that he was not only a general, but also the mayor of Nanjing. If he left, what would happen to the hundreds of thousands of residents in Nanjing? He couldn't bear it.

Xiao Shanling took a deep breath of cold air and said: "I am the mayor of Nanjing. Even if I have to leave, I must be the last one to go. You go and send an order to gather all the gendarmerie and police forces in Nanjing and let them maintain order. Cover the residents and evacuate down the gate."

The adjutant frowned and persuaded: "Mr. Xiao, there are still 40 to [-] residents in Nanjing City. How can we finish the evacuation in a short period of time. You should go first."

"You can leave if you want, I will never force you, as the mayor of Nanjing, I should evacuate together with the people in the city." Xiao Shanling was a little angry.

The adjutant sighed helplessly, knowing Xiao Shanling's stubborn temper, if the residents hadn't evacuated, he probably wouldn't have left, so he shook his head and went to convey Xiao Shanling's order.

The news of the army's withdrawal spread like a plague in Nanjing City. The rumbling sound of guns and guns in Nanjing City suddenly seemed like boiling water, causing indescribable panic and confusion.

A few days ago, Tang Shengzhi vowed to live and die with Nanjing. His words were published in newspapers everywhere. He inspired the residents of Nanjing. Many people hoped that he could turn the tide and keep their homeland.

Nanjing people spontaneously organized stretcher teams, medical teams, etc. to assist the army in defending the city, selflessly provided their own food, and donated money to contribute to the country.

Now that Tang Shengzhi was about to evacuate suddenly, the people panicked immediately. While yelling at Tang Shengzhi for being a liar, they hurriedly packed up their belongings and prepared to flee for their lives.

The streets were crowded with residents full of parcels, and they rushed towards Xiaguan, crying, cursing and scolding, and the whole city suddenly lost control and became incomparably chaotic.

The liaison officers who went from the garrison commander's department to the various units to convey orders were also carried away in chaos to the Yijiang Gate of Xiaguan. Many retreat orders were not conveyed to the troops that were still fighting in blood.

Guarding the Yijiang Gate was Song Xilian's 36th Division. They had not received an order to retreat at all. Tang Shengzhi's order to them was to block the ferry and kill anyone who crossed the river without authorization.

The road from Zhongshan Road to Yijiangmen was crowded with troops, and those troops who were ordered to retreat followed the original plan to break out of the siege at night.

But when the order was issued, people's hearts were scattered. Most of them were troops who had retreated from the Songhu battlefield.

All kinds of rumors were flying all over the sky. The chiefs of the various troops ran away first, and the troops were suddenly in chaos. On the Xiaguan side, they think it is still a way out.

The road boiled against the sky, crowded with soldiers and ordinary people from all walks of life scrambling to escape, vehicles, equipment and people trampled on each other, and the chaos was extremely chaotic.

The troops of the 36th Division stationed at Yijiangmen looked at the troops and civilians rushing over in a dark mass, and immediately ordered one after another, thinking that deserters were coming with the civilians, they hurriedly pulled the bolts, and dozens of machine guns pointed the black muzzles at the crowd. Those who came over were still enforcing Tang Shengzhi's ban on crossing the river.

"Da da da--"

A battalion commander of the 36th Division fired into the sky with his machine gun in his arms, and the bullets flew over the heads of the crowd.

The battalion commander shouted loudly: "Officer Tang has ordered that no one is allowed to retreat and cross the river without authorization! Go back to your positions and continue to resist!"

The officers of the defeated troops also ran to the front and explained loudly: "Brothers, the officers have already run away, and the order to retreat has been issued. Let's make way and let everyone pass!"

As the officer said, he was about to go there, but the battalion commander of the 36th Division pressed a machine gun to his chest.

"You cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death! Chief Tang said that we will live and die with the city. When did you give the order to retreat? You are afraid of death and want to be deserters. Now I order you to retreat and return to your position!"