Chapter 9: The Battle of Xia Guan

  "Run quickly, don't look back! Our troops should have already engaged the enemy. Don't mind what's happening on the battlefield, just keep running towards the safe zone!" Little Yang shouted loudly.

  Three girls screamed and ran towards the safety zone, finally entering the international safety zone safely. The three girls, still in a state of shock, turned their heads to look at the battlefield outside the wooden fence, where many Chinese soldiers were wielding rifles and engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat with Japanese troops. Meanwhile, Little Yang, who had led them safely to the safety zone, saluted the three girls from outside the fence before charging into the bloody battlefield without hesitation, rifle in hand.

  "Xiao Yang, don't go over there, quickly enter the safety zone!" Mei En shouted loudly, but Xiao Yang seemed to have not heard her and resolutely entered the battlefield.

  At this time, the scene presented before the eyes of the three girls was quite tragic. Chinese soldiers (to be exact, it should be the 77th Army) were entangled with Japanese soldiers, one of whom had already lost an arm. Fresh blood flowed from the wound, but the soldier did not fall down and continued to hold a rifle in his other hand, fighting bravely against the enemy. Finally, with multiple injuries all over his body and exhausted, he detonated a grenade on himself and threw himself at several Japanese soldiers, perishing together with the enemy.

  More warriors, relying on their passion and hatred for the Japanese invaders, repeatedly raised their rifles with bayonets, pulling them out of the chests of the enemy soldiers one by one. They didn't know how many enemy soldiers they had killed; all they knew was that if they fell, the safe zone behind them would be in danger. The military department issued a death order to defend the safe zone at all costs, so even though they were exhausted, they still had to hold on and must hold on!

  "Kill them all~~" A Japanese lieutenant colonel held up his command sword, shouting hysterically. The heavy machine gunner beside him was pouring bullets into the Chinese soldiers guarding the entrance of the safe zone. Many soldiers fell down, but they still threw the hand grenades that had already been pulled out to the enemy's position until their death. With a series of explosions, the Japanese lieutenant colonel who was shouting hysterically was blown to pieces, leaving only his shining command sword lying quietly on the ground...

  "Commander Wang, look! The little devils are advancing towards the armory, and there's a large number of them, probably an entire battalion. Commander Wang, I order you to seize the armory before the little devils do, defend it at all costs, even if it means sacrificing your life. If we lose the armory, don't bother coming back to see me!"

  "Don't worry, sir! We guarantee to complete the task!" After saluting Commander Wang, Wang Zhibang led his entire battalion in a bayonet charge towards the armory. A fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued with the Japanese troops in front of the armory. The Chinese soldiers shouted slogans like "Long live China!" and "Kill the little Japanese devils!" As both sides clashed in the bloody melee, the Chinese soldiers, disregarding their own lives, fought ferociously like wolves and tigers, stabbing the enemy soldiers to death. Some soldiers' bayonets broke off, and their rifles were smashed by the Japanese, so they used their rifle butts to bludgeon the enemy. When the butts could no longer be used, they pounced on the enemy, using their hands, feet, and teeth to attack. One soldier even bit two Japanese soldiers to death before being surrounded and stabbed to death by three or four Japanese soldiers.

  "Little Japanese devils, go to hell!" Wang Zhibang roared with rage, wielding a large chopping knife and charging towards the nearby Japanese soldiers like a madman, hacking down with each stroke. The warriors following behind him all aimed their rifles with bayonets at the Japanese troops in front of them, roaring as they pulled the trigger, directly annihilating the enemy with bullets. (Good grief, if it can be solved with bullets, of course use bullets, why bother using a knife to hack them down one by one.)

  In the city, such bloody battles were common, and on the major streets of Nanjing, soldiers from the 102nd and 101st divisions were fighting against the Japanese army. The battle had already begun in the city, and at this time, the 103rd division led by General Zhang Zizhong had arrived at Xiaguan. Seeing the refugees and retreating National Army soldiers outside Chaotiangmen, as well as their panicked appearance, Zhang Zizhong was somewhat angry and disappointed, especially with those so-called elite National Army troops who were now fleeing in disarray, not even qualified to be called scattered soldiers. As a soldier, a gun is a soldier's second life, but these soldiers had abandoned their guns, taken off their uniforms, and were looting the clothes of ordinary people, only thinking of escaping across the Yangtze River to save their lives. However, they didn't think that when Tang Shengzhi ordered the defense of Nanjing, he had destroyed all the ferries, leaving only a small motorboat for high-ranking officers and the 36th division who were allowed to retreat across the river. Other troops were originally supposed to break through from the front line. Moreover, in December's Nanjing, it was freezing cold, and without ships, it would be extremely difficult to cross the Yangtze River. Not to mention that there were Japanese warships on the river at the time, even if they wanted to swim across the icy waters, it would be very challenging.

  "Order the troops to advance to the area of Mufu Mountain and Yanzi Rock, and when they encounter the enemy, be sure to hold them back for me, so that the military and civilians here have ample time to evacuate. Do you understand?" Zhang Zizhong commanded.

  Kijō Bun sent two regiments to the front line, blocking the enemy's 13th Division's Yamada detachment from the Mufu Mountain area and Nakajima Ichiro's 16th Division, which was responsible for attacking Zhongshan Gate, Xiaguan and Coal Harbour. Fortunately, at this time, most of the Japanese 13th and 16th Divisions had not yet arrived in Xiaguan, otherwise all the troops and civilians who were stuck here would have been finished off.

  Zhang Zizhong ordered the 1st Brigade of the 109th Division to maintain order among civilians and soldiers in Xiaguan, requiring ordinary people to evacuate immediately and National Army soldiers to regroup and accept reorganization by the 77th Army.

  "Why should we listen to you? What are you, the 77th Army, even worth? How dare you interfere with our 87th Division's affairs! We are a central army unit, an elite division. What are you? You're just a local motley crew!" A officer from the 87th Division shouted proudly with his head held high.

  "Elite troops? Crack troops? Look at yourselves now, do you still look like soldiers? You are completely a mob! What have you done to the people of Nanjing? You are simply disgracing us Chinese soldiers!" Zhang Zizhong thundered.

  "Who are you? What makes you yell at us like that? You'd better be careful, or we'll wipe you out!" The officer was still shouting loudly.

  "Go and bring that guy over, I want to see what he's made of? A defeated general dares to speak of bravery!" Zhang Zizhong called over a guard and had him take a few men to go fetch the young whippersnapper who dared to challenge him.

  "What are you doing?! Let me go! Brothers, the 77th Army's bullying has reached our heads, what are you waiting for? Take up arms and fight back!" The officer, being held by several guards, hoped his subordinates would rise up, but then Ji Xingwen ordered: "Who dares to resist! AK squad, move out!"

  At this time, the 77th Army's most elite AK-47 infantry regiment was fully deployed, surrounding those mutinous soldiers who were about to riot. Seeing the well-equipped AK-47 infantry regiment soldiers, these mutinous soldiers immediately dared not make a sound.

  The guard brought the officer of the 87th Division who had led the disturbance before Zhang Zizhong, who glared and asked: "Tell me, what is your name? What is your position? I'd like to see just how big an official you are."

  "Hmph, I am Lieutenant Colonel Zhu Xingguo, the battalion commander of a certain battalion in a certain regiment of the 260th Brigade of the 87th Division. And you are?" As he reported his own name and title, this officer also felt somewhat guilty.

  "I am Lieutenant General Zhang Zizhong, Deputy Commander of the 77th Corps of the First Army Group of the National Revolutionary Army."

  "Deputy Military Commander ~~" Zhu Xingguo was a bit dizzy, he himself was just a small lieutenant colonel, and he actually dared to offend a majestic major general, this, this, this isn't a joke, is it?

  Zhang Zizhong didn't look at him anymore, turned around and loudly said to the crowd: "Fellow villagers, everyone calm down, you can rest assured that our 77th Army has come to Nanjing to rescue you all. The Japanese planes may bomb here at any time, and their warships will arrive soon. Everyone should go back to the city or hide in the mountains first, evacuate immediately, and wait for us to open up the road to the west before evacuating again. I hope everyone listens to the command and doesn't panic, otherwise no one can escape! Commander Ji, arrange a regiment to help the civilians evacuate, and let these soldiers all stay behind!"

  "Yes!" Ji Xingwen received the order and went to arrange the work. At this time, the two regiments sent to Mufu Mountain were in a precarious situation, after all, it was not easy for two regiments to block two enemy divisions. Their communication soldiers ran over to request support, and Ji Xingwen immediately led a division of troops into battle.

  "Brothers, I know you are all brave and good men. This time the whole city has fallen, but it's not your fault. You wanted to defend Nanjing with your lives. The responsibility lies with your superiors, especially your regimental and brigade commanders. Except for those who died in battle, most of them abandoned you and escaped on their own! How shameful is that?

  You throwing down your weapons and taking off your uniforms may be a way of expressing your dissatisfaction with your superiors. But have you thought about how, as soldiers, abandoning your guns and looting civilians is despicable behavior? Now the enemy is at our doorstep, and we only have two options: defend Nanjing to the death or cover the retreat of the civilians and then break through!

  Our 77th Army came to Nanjing not for anything else but to protect the citizens from massacre and cover their retreat. After they retreat, we will break through. I don't want to say any more stirring words; I'm sure you all understand that defending Nanjing is impossible - our equipment is far inferior to theirs. But breaking through, we can still do it!

  We are men, so let's not take the so-called road of escape in a state of panic. Even if we die, we will die on the battlefield of a frontal breakthrough! Brothers, you all have parents, brothers, and sisters at home. The Japanese are now killing their way to our capital; shall we put down our guns and allow them to slaughter us and our families? Shall we let them plunder and do as they please without being heard or asked? We are men of honor; can we bear such humiliation?"

  "No way!" The soldier below shouted excitedly.

  "What should we do then?" Zhang Zizhong roared again.

  "Take up arms and fight against the little devils!"

  "Sir, we are not cowards, those who fear death would not have joined the army, we followed the 77th Army to do this!"

  "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

  A burst of thunderous roar rose on the banks of the Yangtze River in the severe winter, these Chinese soldiers were filled with boundless hatred for the Japanese invaders in their hearts, and it burst out in an instant. This anger eventually broke out thoroughly in the subsequent Nanjing Massacre.

  "Alright! I, Zhang Zizhong, hereby declare that the upcoming battle will be extremely brutal. Since we still need to cover the retreat of civilians, our casualties may be heavy. If anyone is unwilling to stay, you can immediately take off your uniform, lay down your arms, and wait for relocation with the city's civilians. Those who are willing to stay will accept the reorganization of the 77th Army and enter the combat sequence."

  "General, don't say any more! We are willing to follow the 77th Army to fight to the end. Those who fear death are cowards!" A soldier shouted loudly, and immediately there were voices of approval. Zhang Zizhong's face broke into a smile, because he knew that these tens of thousands of soldiers had already agreed to go to war.

  "Alright, Deputy Zhou, immediately assemble these soldiers and hand them over to you for training. Let them return to the battlefield in the shortest time possible and in their best state!" Zhang Zizhong commanded.

  "Yes." After receiving the order, Deputy Commander Zhou began to assemble these soldiers. After counting, there were approximately 450,000 people, mostly from the 87th Division, 88th Division, and the Instructional Corps. Ah, those were all German-equipped divisions, Chiang Kai-shek's most treasured troops! If it weren't for the 77th Army reinforcing Nanjing, these elite forces would have been annihilated.

  Zhou Deputy Commander selected about 10,000 soldiers with strong morale from these troops based on the current situation and supplemented them to various units of the 77th Army. The remaining 35,000 people were divided into two reserve divisions for rest and reorganization. General Zhang Zizhong also stayed in Xiaguan to reorganize these soldiers, letting them recover as soon as possible and return to the battlefield to fight again.

  Zhang Zizhong looked at these soldiers who had regained their morale, and his heart was filled with emotion. It was unclear how many civilians were still in the Nanjing area, but one thing was certain: the 77th Army would have to fight for at least a month in Nanjing. In this month, if they relied solely on the original troops of the 77th Army, it would be absolutely impossible to hold out. Only by absorbing these soldiers who could still fight could they persevere in the Battle of Nanjing until the day when all civilians had been evacuated.

  Zhang Zizhong adjusted two deputy corps commanders, letting them take charge of the reserve division to prepare for battle. Zhang Zizhong said to the more than 30,000 soldiers: "Everyone rest well, adjust your mentality, and then fight the devils! Deputy Corps Commander Zhou, teach them to sing military songs, let their voices encourage the officers and men in the city, at the same time, quickly relocate, so many people gathered here will soon attract the attention of the Japanese army, when the bombers and fighter planes come over and sweep us away, we'll all be done for!"

  "Yes, Qin, arrange for a few good singers to teach songs to the brothers of the preparatory detachment. Make sure they learn them well." Deputy Regimental Commander Zhou called over a regimental commander and had him make arrangements.

  By then, the crisis at Xiaoguan had been basically lifted. On the second day at noon, Ji Xingwen ordered all soldiers on Mufu Mountain to retreat into the city and prepare for a step-by-step resistance. The 10,000 troops selected by Zhang Zizhong were immediately replenished to Ji Xingwen. Suddenly, due to sufficient personnel, Ji Xingwen immediately launched a series of counterattacks against the enemy. The enemy's 13th Division and 16th Division were unable to advance and were blocked at Mufu Mountain.

  The battle at Yuhuatai was exceptionally fierce, with Liu Zhenfeng personally leading a division plus a military guard regiment in a nearly frantic struggle for the position...