On the morning of the 12th, the Yuhuatai position, which was bombarded by dozens of heavy artillery and mortars by the Japanese army, finally fell into the hands of the Japanese army. A hole was opened in Nanjing's peripheral defense line. The remaining 800 people of the 264th Brigade of the 88th Division of the defenders, led by the brigade commander, They fought hard to break through and blew up the Zhonghua Gate, preventing most of the Japanese troops from attacking the city directly. The 264th Brigade withdrew while fighting, and broke through to the Xiaguan River. Only more than 100 people remained, and they evacuated to Pukou on wooden boats controlled by the 88th Division. .
After the Japanese army occupied Yuhuatai, they relied on the commanding heights to shoot at the defenders of Zhonghua Gate. The regiments of the 262nd Brigade braved enemy bullets and stubbornly repelled three Japanese attacks.
"Commander Sun, our brigade has basically been depleted of personnel. I have even sent guards and cooking squads to the front. If you don't give me reinforcements, I think we will have no chance to meet. I will send myself up. "Gu Jinxing, commander of the 262 Brigade, was so anxious that he called the division commander Sun Yuanliang for the fourth time.
"Brigadier Gu, you need to be calm. What you need most at this time is not reinforcements, but calmness. If you are calm, the troops will be calm. Only by holding the position can there be hope. I don't have reinforcements. Do you want me to fill them for you?" position?"
Brigadier Gu dropped the phone: "I'll tell you, your ancestors will be honest." He pulled out his pistol and said, "Guard class." The adjutant walked in quickly, "Yes." Brigadier Gu smiled, "I forgot, the guard class has been here for a long time." We are in position, Adjutant Li, you have been with me for 6 years, right." Adjutant Li: "Yes, Brigadier, it will be 6 years tomorrow." Brigadier Gu patted Adjutant Li on the shoulder vigorously: "Good boy, it's a pity that we all have You won't survive tomorrow. Today is the day when you and I will die. Tell me the truth and don't regret it after following me. It's been 6 years and you haven't been promoted to a noble rank?" Adjutant Li handed a submachine gun to Brigadier Gu, " What do I regret? I don’t regret following you. It’s just a pity that I didn’t kill a few more Japs.” Brigadier Gu had tears in his eyes: “Let’s go, Xiao Li, let’s go kill the Japs right now. You are from the Northeast, sing for me.” Let’s listen to the song.” Adjutant Li also burst into tears: “Commander, let’s go, I will accompany you through the last part of the journey.”
"My home is on the Songhua River in the Northeast, where there are forests, coal mines, and soybeans and sorghum all over the mountains and fields. My home is on the Songhua River in the Northeast, where my compatriots and my aging parents are. ..." When Gu The brigade commander and Lieutenant Li walked hand in hand and sang this tragic song while walking on the rubble. When they arrived at the 262nd Brigade position at Zhonghua Gate, the Chinese defenders on the position knew that the last moment of the 262nd Brigade had arrived, and they also sang loudly. Playing this song, they hit the Japanese army hard with bullets. Finally, when the bullets were gone, they used stones to hit the Japanese army attacking the city. When Brigadier Gu looked around and he was the only one left, Brigadier Gu discovered Not far away from him, Adjutant Li was already lying peacefully among a group of comrades. Brigadier Gu opened his mouth full of blood and laughed. He fired a grenade and jumped into the Japanese troops under the city gate. There was a loud noise. Finally, the general turned into a golden dragon and flew into the sky. All officers and soldiers of the 262nd Brigade fulfilled their promise and vowed not to give up an inch of their country.
At the headquarters of the 88th Division, the division commander Sun Yuanliang thought over and over again and called the guard company commander: "Assemble the troops, we will move to Xiaguan and cross the river." The guard company commander was puzzled: "Crossing the river, division commander, our The troops are all in Jiangnan." "I am the division commander, or you are the division commander, carry out my orders immediately, assemble the troops, and move immediately." The deputy division commander and the staff still had to pack up the map, but Sun Yuanliang waved his hand: "It's too late, hurry up , don’t clean up, and leave quickly.” At this critical moment, Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 88th Division, actually led the division personnel and the direct guard company to evacuate to Xianguan without authorization, intending to cross the river in a wooden boat. When they reached Yijiangmen , they met head-on Lieutenant General Song Xilian, the commander of the 36th Division who came to inspect the defense situation of the troops. Song Xilian was also the commander of the 72nd Army and Sun Yuanliang's immediate boss. He was suddenly surprised to meet his subordinate division commander at Yijiangmen.
"Mr. Sun, why are you here? I don't remember giving an order to transfer the 88th Division here."
"Commander Song," Sun Yuanliang suddenly met his immediate superior and looked very flustered. "This, yes, that's it. The Japanese army is about to break through the Zhonghua Gate. I plan to mobilize the 264th Brigade back."
"I understand, you dare to leave your troops and positions without authorization. I don't see you now. If you return to the command post, I will not report this matter to my superiors, but if you insist on leaving, I will not stop you. , you think about it yourself.”
Sun Yuanliang led the troops back to the command post near Zhonghua Gate. A small number of Japanese troops had entered Zhonghua Gate and were eliminated by the 156th Division. Sun Yuanliang blocked the guard company at the Zhonghua Gate position. But at noon, the Japanese army concentrated dozens of direct-fire artillery to bombard the city wall near Zhonghua Gate. The city wall collapsed, and the Japanese troops immediately swarmed in. Sun Yuanliang once again led the division personnel to withdraw into the city, and the residents near Zhonghua Gate also tried to Refugees and defeated troops rushed into the city to avoid artillery fire. The refugees and defeated troops fought for the road. Order was in chaos. The final moment of the Battle of Nanjing arrived.
The 36th Division is the reserve team of the Nanjing Garrison Headquarters. Song Xilian received a call from Tang Shengzhi: "Commander Song? I am Tang Shengzhi. I order your troops to immediately block the area from Yijiang Gate to Xiaguan. Troops are strictly prohibited from crossing the river without authorization. All ships are It is under the control of your department. No one or any unit is allowed to cross the river without the order of the garrison headquarters. Do you understand?" "Yes, Commander Tang, the 36th Division will resolutely implement your order."
Zhonghua Gate has completely fallen into the hands of the Japanese army. A squadron of the Japanese 6th Division penetrated into the city from China Gate and was stopped by the defenders. However, more and more Japanese troops entered Zhonghua Gate, and the defenders gradually became overwhelmed. The Japanese 3rd Division also pushed into Zhongshan Gate. The defending Chinese troops had withdrawn to the Wulong Mountain and Zijin Mountain lines. The 74th Army prepared to build a pontoon bridge along the Sancha River, but was blocked by the 36th Division. The 74th Army For this reason, the troops shot at the officers and soldiers of the 36th Division, killing 26 people of the 36th Division and wounding more than 30 people. The officer of the 74th Army who caused the accident was executed by Song Xilian. However, all the Nanjing defenders were already upset. Since ancient times, all fortresses have been It started to collapse from within.
At 17 o'clock, Tang Shengzhi convened a military meeting attended by all military division commanders and Navy Vice Admiral Ouyang Ge.
"The war situation in Nanjing has deteriorated very much. I was ordered by the Chairman to deploy a retreat. I ordered all ministries to break out from the front. The guard troops and the 2nd Gendarmerie Regiment of the Garrison Headquarters crossed the river from Xiaguan. The Navy's torpedo boats were responsible for covering the crossing. The safety of the ships in this breakout operation is related to the life and death of hundreds of thousands of troops. I hope that all ministries will carry forward the spirit of fearless sacrifice, bravely fight the enemy, break through the encirclement, and preserve the fire of resistance against Japan for the country and the nation." The division commanders of each army expressed their determination to follow the orders. Tang Shengzhi announced the adjournment of the meeting worriedly. He left Lieutenant General Ouyang Ge alone.
"Commander Ouyang, your torpedo boats are the key to the success of the operation. Your troops must not retreat until the last moment."
"Don't worry, Commander Tang. I can assure you that our torpedo boat force will never abandon the army and escape on its own."
"Then I'll rest assured. We'll see you later. Take care."
"Commander Tang, take care along the way."
After Lieutenant General Ouyang Ge left the garrison headquarters and returned to Xiaguan to deploy the torpedo boat troops to cover the retreat, Tang Shengzhi issued verbal orders to the 87th Division, 88th Division, 74th Army and the Teaching Corps respectively: "If your troops cannot all break through, , you can use the ferry to cross the river and gather at Chuzhou." This order caused great chaos in Nanjing's retreat. With this stupid order, all the ministries would not break out from the front at all, but chose to cross the river from Xiaguan, where there was no enemy situation for the time being. , but the neighboring troops did not know what was going on and actually retreated together. What is even more despicable is that some troops did not retreat according to the prescribed time and sequence at all. Although the 66th Army and the 83rd Army were not direct troops, they resolutely carried out the orders of the garrison headquarters and used their own flesh and blood to open a passage from the Japanese position and highlight the encirclement. Except for these two armies, most of the remaining armies have lost strict military discipline. Wang Jingjiu, commander of the 71st Army, and Shen Fazao, commander of the 87th Division, actually went straight to Xiaguan after the meeting and did not return to the army commander at all. After returning to the headquarters, Gui Yongqing, captain of the teaching corps, confessed to Chief of Staff Qiu Qingquan that he left the army and rushed to Xiaguan in a command vehicle. What was even more shameful was that Hu Qiru, commander of the 2nd brigade of the teaching corps, could not wait for the meeting to end. He left early under the pretext of contacting the 36th Division about the retreat, and fled to Xiaguan without notifying his troops.
"Follow up quickly." After holding the position for 3 hours, the 3rd Battalion of the 154th Division received the order from the brigade commander and moved to Jiangbei for rest. The battalion commander Fang Ling led the remaining 100 people to withdraw from the position and walked along the Zhongshan Road went straight to Xiaguan Pier. Faang Ling looked back from time to time to see if any soldiers were left behind. Many wounded soldiers supported each other and worked hard to follow the transfer of the troops. A veteran was supported by a 12- or 3-year-old child soldier. The veteran was still smoking a hookah: "Baby, don't look at the heavy casualties of our troops. When we defeat Jiangbei, recruit new soldiers, and then fight the Japanese, how dare you Don't you dare? Have you been frightened by the Japanese these days? I see you are no longer active." The child soldier wiped his tears: "Veteran, I am not afraid, but several older brothers I know have died. They are usually very They took care of me, and they didn’t even have a cave to bury themselves in when they died. I feel sad when I think about it.” The veteran was silent for a long time: “Yes, people can’t be buried after they die. When we come back in the future, we must bury them. Their remains." The child soldier suddenly pointed to the pier with joy, "Soldier, look, the pier is here, we can cross the river."
The soldiers of the 36th Division did not receive the retreat order from their superiors but still carried out the previous order to block the river bank and prevent the defeated troops from crossing the river. They did not allow Fangling and his troops to enter the dock.
"Damn it," a soldier with a lot of gauze wrapped around his head and body grabbed the collar of the captain of the 36th Division, "We are working hard in the front, and you are enjoying peace and quiet in the back. Now we want to cross the river, and you still refuse to let us go." The captain said expressionlessly: "No one is allowed to retreat without permission from the headquarters. If you don't leave immediately, you will be responsible for the consequences." Faang Ling was also anxious: "I have a verbal order from the commander of the 154th Division Huang Boqian. You can Contact Commander Huang immediately. We must cross the river to rest immediately." The captain said unwaveringly: "No, there must be an order from the garrison headquarters. Your Commander Huang cannot control our 36th Division." The soldiers gathered around and tried to force their way through the 36th Division. Veterans and child soldiers also surrounded the division's cordon, and they pushed and pushed the soldiers of the 36th Division. The captain pulled out his pistol and fired into the air: "If you hit the cordon again, we'll shoot." The wounded soldiers removed the gauze, revealing bloody wounds, "If you want to shoot, shoot here." The eyes of the soldiers of the 36th Division were moist and they lowered their heads.
A shell suddenly flew over, and the normal order at the dock was completely disrupted. In order to avoid the shell, many scattered soldiers and wounded soldiers from the 154th Division hid towards the dock, but the officers and soldiers of the 36th Division still refused to let them Entering, I don’t know who fired the first shot in the chaos. Fang Ling was shocked. He hurriedly stopped the troops from fighting back, but the random gun also hit his chest. Battalion Commander Fang opened his eyes wide, covered his chest and fell to the ground. On a soldier's body. The child soldier was so frightened by the chaos that he cried. He lowered his body and looked for the veteran. Finally, he found the veteran in a corner of the pier. The veteran was still holding his pipe, but blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth. His body was already stiff. The child soldier shouted loudly. Crying, there are many soldiers dodging bullets and shells around. They are running around without even guns in their hands. They have completely lost their due military discipline.
