Rise From Eight Hundred

However, in four days, the 36th Infantry Brigade, which lost a total of one and a half infantry squadrons, was completely withered.

While their colleagues in Jinling City were still having a wild revelry, they were standing still like little darlings.

This also resulted in dozens of kilometers around Pukou becoming a relatively safe area. Most of the villagers who had not had time to escape were not in danger. Many troops who retreated from the front line were able to go south from this area smoothly. It was also considered a miserable Jinling. The last piece of pure land around the city.

However, everything is mutual, and the 36th Infantry Brigade's almost inactive approach actually reduced a lot of losses.

After a tough fight between the First Company and the Japanese infantry squadron, in order to prevent the Japanese from getting angry and entering the mountains with the main force, the First Company was ordered to pursue the main force with three student soldiers, Yue Yiman, mother and son, master and servant, leaving Lao Hei's guard behind. The platoon and cavalry platoon as well as Gu Xishui and his two special operations groups were still operating in this area.

However, the guard platoon and the cavalry platoon are mainly responsible for the response, and the two special operations teams are responsible for the attack and killing.

But what they all didn't expect was that the Japanese army retreated as if they had lost the battle. They would not come out if they could. Even if they were to come out, it would be at least a collective action of an infantry squadron, and it would never exceed 15 in the area where the main force was. kilometer.

A week later, Gu Xishui could only give up this meaningless waiting and returned to the mountains to head north with the guard platoon and cavalry platoon that had been waiting for them for a long time.

At this point, the independent battalion was completely separated from the main battlefield.

The tragedy that happened in Jinling was finally exposed by an American reporter named Deding half a month later.

On January 1, 1938, the traditional Chinese festival and the first day of the New Year for the whole world, the Niuyue Times used eight columns of prominent pages to reveal to the world the fragments of the Jinling Massacre by the Japanese invaders: "Any able-bodied man They were all suspected of being soldiers by the Japanese. The Japanese killed men, women, old and young. Anyone who showed fear or ran away after seeing the Japanese soldiers approaching was likely to be shot dead. The streets were littered with corpses, and sometimes they were not moved. Corpses are not even allowed to pass.”

But that was just a fragment seen by the American reporter who only stayed in Jinling City for less than five days. As he said at the end of the article: "I don't know what else those Japanese beasts did, because I I had never seen anything so cruel, so I was scared. I was afraid that I would be shot by animals as their prey, so I chose to leave.

When I stood on the riverside and looked back at the broken city walls of that beautiful oriental city, I seemed to hear the wailing of thousands of innocent souls. The place was originally full of aura, but now there is only killing, like hell!

However, I can leave hell, and those hundreds of thousands of Chinese people who have lived here for generations! I can only pray to God with a heavy heart, asking God to bless them!

The Japanese trampled with barbarity the civilization that took all mankind millions of years to build! "

As soon as the article came out, the whole world was shocked! There are endless accusations against the Japanese aggressors, but the Japanese completely deny this.

Compared with the indifferent verbal condemnation from all over the world, the still sleeping dragon of China is the real injured one.

When the big shot heard about this, he locked himself in his room all night and wrote a sentence in his diary: "The enemy army slaughtered me and all the strong men near Jinling were wiped out. It was extremely painful!"

In contrast to this man who could only write his anger on paper, in a cave in the north, a middle-aged man smashed the tea cup in his hand and immediately ordered a military meeting to be held and set the four rules of "blood debts must be paid with blood". policy, and published in newspapers the number of people who would not accept the surrender of the Japanese army.

Just as the originally honest commander of the 18th Army said to reporters with red eyes: "Besides resisting, what else can we Chinese do? If the Japanese invaders in the guerrilla zone massacred people because of resistance, then what else can we do? What about a city that has been occupied? Because there is no resistance, the killing becomes more cruel. This is the reason why we Chinese choose war. If there is no war, our parents and sisters will be slaughtered like animals by the Japanese. All gone!”

"war!"

"We must fight!"

"We can only fight!"

Generals stationed across the north took oaths at their stations one after another, vowing to fight the Japanese invaders to the end.

"Although our unit is disabled, we can still fight!" Commander Gu, who was retreating to Jiujiang, shed two lines of blood and tears and sent a telegram to the Ministry of Military Affairs.

"The Japanese invaders slaughtered our people, and all the men in our army are determined to die with the invaders!" The 67th Army, which was retreating to Xuzhou, also sent a message to the Ministry of Military Affairs and stopped marching.

From north to south, messages requesting war across thousands of mountains and rivers flew like snowflakes to the Ministry of Military Affairs.

At that moment, for the first time in history, China's two most powerful armies had only one voice.

"war!"

"war!"

The Japanese may not have expected that a massacre would lead to unprecedented unity in a weak China.

Among the people, public opinion is also turbulent. After the Battle of Sihang Warehouse, the recruitment offices of various provinces once again ushered in a wave of recruit registrations. Especially in Jiangxia, where the new government is located, people who signed up to join the army lined up from the gate to the end of the street. There is still one more corner to turn.

It is said that the three infantry divisions that were crippled in the Battle of Songhu were replenished with enough troops in just two days.

In the southern seaside city, the war was still thousands of kilometers away from them. In the hall of a well-to-do family, a young man in student uniform knelt in front of a graceful woman.

"Mom, this is a war for the nation and the country. Today the Japanese invaders slaughtered Nanjing, and they may destroy Guangzhou in the future. Studying alone cannot save China. With this in mind, I have decided to join the army. From now on, I can no longer be filial to you. Please forgive me!" The young man kowtowed three times to the woman with tears in his eyes.

The woman looked at her son kneeling on the ground with a sad face. After a long time, she whispered: "Son, your father is seriously ill and has been bedridden for more than a year. Your younger brother is still young at home. How can you bear to let me, as a mother, support such a large family alone?

And your joining the army this time is a matter of life and death. If something happens to you, your father and I will definitely not survive. At that time, the family business left by your ancestors for several generations will be ruined in your hands. How can you forgive it just like you said a few unfilial words? You are not only irresponsible to your parents and family, but also sorry for your ancestors of the Shen family. You will become a sinner of the Shen family."

The woman obviously didn't want her son, who she had carefully raised, to rush into the war like this, and she tried her best to stop him.

She is Chinese, but she is also a mother.

As long as she is a mother, no one is willing to send her son to a battlefield where he is almost certain to die.

In the northern battlefield, more than 100,000 Chinese soldiers were killed; in the Songhu battlefield, 300,000 were killed and wounded; in the Battle of Nanjing, more than 100,000 defenders, but less than one-tenth of them were able to escape alive;

Behind these numbers, there are a pair of mothers' eyes that have been blinded by tears.

What is more painful than this is not knowing.

The mother leaned against the entrance of the village, looking forward to her son's return day and night, even if he became disabled, without hands and legs, but as long as he came back and called her mother, it would be fine.

The mother raised him, can't she raise him for the rest of his life? It's nothing more than suffering more! As long as the son is alive, the mother will not die!

But, there is no news! She can only wait bitterly, waiting for that extremely ethereal news.

The woman with a very good family background and good upbringing did not use sticks or seek death to stop her son's unwise behavior, but just analyzed the interests and hoped that the son kneeling in the hall would turn back.

Obviously, she was destined to be disappointed.

The young man, who had made up his mind, did not argue and knelt for a long time, even if the woman left in anger, he knelt still.

He knelt for a whole day and night, his knees were swollen, but he ate all the food and water that the old servant quietly brought to him.

If you want to join the army, you must have enough strength, but the young man would not torment his body.

Finally, the middle-aged man who woke up from his coma again heard the woman say that her son was still kneeling in front of the hall. He was silent, waved his hand gently, closed his eyes and said nothing.

Tears finally flowed from the woman's eyes.

She knew that she could not keep her beloved son.

A cowhide box filled with 20 large yellow croakers was placed next to the kneeling young man. The old servant told the young man with reluctance that it was given by the master and his wife, and it was donated to the army to purchase weapons to fight against the Japanese pirates.

The young man was overjoyed, staggered to his feet, and walked out of the house with the cowhide box. Looking back at the gradually closing door, he could not see the figures of his parents and younger brother, and his heart was filled with sadness.

How could he not know his parents' thoughts?

The family business was a transportation business. Because of the war, the business had long been declining. At this time, they took out the family savings to give him, just so that he could buy a large amount of military equipment, and the military commanders would certainly take great care of him.

They hoped that their son could live, that's all.

They didn't come to see him off, but they were afraid of being moved by the scene.

"Father, mother, loyalty and filial piety have been difficult since ancient times. Please forgive my son's unfilial behavior." The young man shed tears, knelt down again in front of the door, and kowtowed three times.

Then, carrying the cowhide box, he resolutely turned around and left.

Little did he know that behind the door, the woman had already shed tears. She wanted not to look, but she was almost greedy and watched her son's back from the crack of the door. She stood there for a long time!

Neither the mother nor the son knew whether this farewell would be a reunion after many years or forever!

However, the Chinese Air Force welcomed one of their most outstanding pilots in the next few years...

In China, scenes like the young man surnamed Shen bidding farewell to his parents in tears are not isolated cases.

Farewell, not only in the distant south, but also in the Central Plains and the north.

There is a small Taoist temple in the mountains.

There are five rooms in total. The big house in the middle enshrines the solemn Daode Tianzun, and the side rooms on both sides enshrine two ferocious gods holding weapons. The other two rooms are a kitchen and a side room, which should be used by Taoists to live.

Although the Taoist temple is small, the incense burner in front of the main hall is full of long incense sticks that have been burned out. I think the incense is still prosperous.

There are only two Taoists.

And a young Taoist priest is already holding a long sword and carrying a bag to leave.

"Brother, before leaving, the master and the brothers repeatedly told me to take good care of you. You are talented and can inherit the master's mantle. But if you leave, if the master and the brothers come back, how can I explain to them? You can't leave!" The older Taoist priest held the hand of the young Taoist priest and begged bitterly.

"Brother, Master always said that we, as cultivators, should stick to our original intentions. I am going down the mountain this time just to follow my original intention. Please let me go." The young Taoist gently rubbed his brows, but could not get rid of the gloom between his brows.

It was not a decision he made in a hurry.

Originally, his dream was to stay here with the master who picked him up when he was a child, with the Three Pure Ones here, standing on this green mountain and looking up at the stars.

Focusing on the Tao, his heart was very peaceful.

However, the world is in chaos.

The believers who went up the mountain told about the war in the world outside the mountain. Sisters-in-law and aunts made wishes in front of Sanqing Daozu, hoping that their husbands and sons would return soon.

But, it was all in vain after all!

The Taoist Patriarch of the Sanqing Dynasty did not take pity on his followers. Seven or eight families in the village at the foot of the mountain hung white banners on the same day. The young men in the village who joined the army and went to the battlefield thousands of miles away were all remembered in the Battle of Jinling.

The Japanese army was like a monster, massacring all the troops defending the city and innocent people.

It is the duty of a Taoist to slay demons. Now that the chaos in China is caused by the invasion of demons from outside the region, he should stick to his true intention as a Taoist, kill all the demons, and return China to a peaceful world.

"Junior brother, you can tell me when you can pay me back. When the master comes back, I can answer him." The older Taoist priest said helplessly when he saw that the young Taoist priest had given up his intention to go down the mountain.

The little Taoist priest's face was calm and calm, he took a deep look at the mountains, held the three-foot green blade in his hand, turned around and left.

His steps seemed small, but they were extremely fast. Within ten seconds, his back became a little blurry.

A voice came from afar: "Once I leave, I won't return until I kill all the demons!"

The elderly Taoist priest opened his mouth and wanted to shout something more, but his throat was choked with sobs. He could only watch in silence as the familiar figure became smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared...

Perhaps the farewell is not just in China, which has been boiling like boiling water.

Thousands of miles away.

There are also a group of young people of the same age who say goodbye to their parents and relatives one after another, boarding ocean-going ships and sailing to the east thousands of miles away.

They have never lived in that land, and they only know how magnificent the mountains and rivers are from their grandparents' words.

But that did not hinder their determination to set foot on their homeland amid the war.

Because they know that it is the place where their grandfather and parents lived, and there are tens of millions of Chinese people like them with black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin.

The beautiful country they live in now, no matter how long they live, even if they are in this country from birth to death, this is still the world of blonds and blue eyes, not their home. Here, they will always be just outsiders.

They have understood this truth since they were in elementary school. The eyes of those blond and blue-eyed people looked at them, not only arrogantly, but also arrogant!

Now, they are willing to fight for the homeland that their grandfather and parents dreamed of...

This is the Chinese.

After a hundred years of incomparable darkness, which is also the most decadent hundred years in Chinese history, they are ignorant, they are poor, and they have even continued to sink into numbness in the darkness. They are called the sick men of East Asia by Westerners.

But what happens? When disaster strikes, the Chinese people, numb to internal strife, still choose to unite and roar at the arrogant enemy: "Fight!"

A brutal massacre did not break the will of the Chinese people as the Japanese prince who led the massacre imagined. Instead, it was like a shot in the arm, awakening the dragon that had been sleeping for more than a hundred years!

The Japanese made a big mistake again.

They did not see themselves clearly, nor did they see their enemies clearly.

But this was just the first big mistake they made in the long war, and they would make more mistakes later, which led to the exhaustion of all the national strength accumulated since the Meiji Restoration!

A nation without a long history is destined to be short-sighted. This is determined by the laws of nature.

Their current strength is like a highly venomous snake, forcing all beasts to avoid its edge temporarily, but when the venom is exhausted, it will be their demise.

Tang Dao knew this very well, and he believed that the teacher also knew this.

The fighting in the north became more intense, and the Japanese base camp did not quickly occupy Jin and then advance to the northwest as the Japanese base camp imagined.

Not to mention that their troops were blocked in the hinterland of Jin, even in the areas they had occupied, resistance broke out everywhere. The troops in gray military uniforms not only defeated the tyrannical Fifth Division in the mountains, but also put them in a dilemma. Attacks were also launched frequently in the plains, and the already weak logistics simply became their transportation team.

The fifth division, which was making great progress, could not suspend its offensive and focused on stabilizing the existing occupied area.

At this time, the independent battalion, which was advancing towards Xuzhou, also received an order from the Military and Political Department conveyed by the 43rd Army Headquarters.

The Independence Camp has been renamed again! …

ps: I’m too lazy to divide it into two chapters, so I’ll continue to combine the two chapters into one.