Mitty Diary Excerpt (7)

  November 8th, Friday, weather: *** (year of the Republic of China 26)

  These days, I have been traveling between various garrison troops in the city for interviews. My feeling is that everyone is very confident and determined to fight this battle, which has moved me deeply. It seems that the soldiers are willing to die with Nanjing. A few days ago, I interviewed General Tang Shengzhi, the commander of the Nanjing Garrison Command. General Tang said: "Nanjing is the capital of our Republic of China and the ancient city of six dynasties. The mausoleum of our national father is in Nanjing, at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. We cannot abandon our national father and allow the Japanese army to humiliate the people of Nanjing. We must defend Nanjing to the death." He has ordered the 36th Division to guard the Jiangdong Gate, and no unit can leave without his order. This is a heroic and stirring statement! I asked him what would happen if Nanjing falls. General Tang replied: "We will burn everything together with the enemy." If the city falls, we will fight street battles with the Japanese army. When our bullets are gone, we will use bayonets to fight them in close combat. If Nanjing is still not safe, as a soldier, I, Tang Shengzhi, will never leave Nanjing and will not live a life of shame. I will lead the garrison troops to die together with the enemy and ensure that all civilians can safely evacuate Nanjing. We will exchange our lives for those of the people of Nanjing. The Japanese army cannot take Nanjing without losing 700,000 to 800,000 soldiers; otherwise, they will not succeed.

  Tang Shengzhi's response made me feel relieved, it seems that the Garrison Command is determined to share the same fate as the city. General Tang told me that if I still don't believe him, I can ask other officers of the Nanjing Garrison Command. So, I interviewed Liu Jiangpeng, Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Garrison Command. Liu Jiangpeng told me that the Garrison Command has unanimously decided to defend Nanjing to the death. If the outer defenses fall, they will fight directly at the city gate; if the city gate falls, they will fight in the alleys. The lives of the civilians in the city will be protected by the garrison troops with all their might. I asked General Liu, what if Nanjing falls? Where will you go? General Liu told me that according to the decision of the Garrison Command, once Nanjing falls, we will do our best to escort the civilians out of the city and then fight to the death in Nanjing until the last soldier falls. Unless the highest command issues an order to retreat, we will not leave Nanjing, even if it means dying in battle.

  Seeing the two commanders of the Garrison Command making such a statement, I feel very relieved. I have always been worried that the garrison troops would abandon us ordinary civilians in the end and leave, but now it's okay, the commander has decided to stay, what else is there to be afraid of?

  Today, the Japanese army launched a general offensive against Nanjing City. The battle was extremely fierce. The Rain Flower Terrace outside Zhonghua Gate is the last stronghold outside Nanjing City. If Rain Flower Terrace falls, Zhonghua Gate will be in danger. Therefore, the National Army defending Rain Flower Terrace fought bloody battles there. The 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division, led by Brigade Commander Zhu Chu, defended Rain Flower Terrace to the death. Blood stained the entire Rain Flower Terrace stronghold. These are our great country's soldiers, these are our great country's generals. They defend the southern gate of the capital for the dignity of the nation and to avoid becoming slaves to a defeated country. Because they know that once Rain Flower Terrace falls, Zhonghua Gate will be easily breached by the Japanese army. I am proud of these heroes of the motherland, I am proud of them. Their blood will not flow in vain. As long as Nanjing is defended this time, we can retake Shanghai at any time. China must win, Japan must lose!

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  November 10th, Sunday, weather: *** (year of the Republic of China 26)

  All the positions outside the city have been lost, Guanghua Gate is in crisis, Zhonghua Gate is in crisis, and Zhongshan Gate is in crisis. I found that the people inside the city have already written panic on their faces, everyone doesn't know whether the defending army can withstand the Japanese army's next attack, what to do if the city is broken?

  Nowadays, it seems that only safe zones can provide us with a place to take refuge.

  Lin Wanjing rushed over, pulling me to the safety zone. To be honest, I didn't want to go to the safety zone. What I wanted was to join the troops and fight alongside the soldiers. I wanted to use my pen to record this intense battle for Nanjing's defense. I wanted to let all of China and the world know that our army in Nanjing wrote a heroic and tear-jerking song, how these great generals and soldiers used their flesh and blood to build a new Great Wall. But Lin Wanjing somehow had the strength to stop me from going to the troops this time. Thinking about it, since yesterday, reporters have not been allowed to conduct interviews in the troops. I also knew that the situation was critical, and all branches of the military were in their most urgent state, so it's understandable that they wouldn't allow interviews.

  When queuing at the entrance of the safety zone, a refugee actually laid hands on me. Fortunately, there were soldiers and police to maintain order, otherwise I don't know what would have happened. The sound of artillery fire kept ringing in the sky above Nanjing, planes flew over our heads, every time we saw such scenes, everyone's mood would tense up, afraid that Japanese planes would drop bombs or strafe the crowd, during those few hours of queuing, our hearts were always on edge.

  It was after 8 pm when we saw some scattered soldiers fleeing towards the direction of Zhongshan Gate. At first, I didn't know what was going on until we entered the safety zone and heard from people who came in later that a large number of troops were running towards Zhongshan Gate and clashed with the 36th Division guarding the gate. What's going on? According to them, the high-ranking officials of the Nanjing Garrison Command had secretly escaped by boat, causing these troops to become chaotic, and everyone was fleeing for their lives. Now, the defense of Nanjing has become a mess, it seems that after dawn, the Japanese army will enter the city, and Nanjing will fall. Is this what General Tang Shengzhi promised me, to share life and death with Nanjing? The tens of thousands of troops collapsed like this, whose fault is it?

  Alas, if only his troops were here, he would definitely protect us and ensure our safe departure from Nanjing. But now, where can we go? What will the future be like?

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