Chapter 6: The Army Sets Out for Nanjing (Part 1)

  In late October 1937, the 53rd Army of the First War Zone was deployed to Zhengzhou, and Liu Zhenfu's 77th Army was inserted as a mobile force along the Yellow River. At this time, the strategic focus of the Japanese army was on the Shanghai battlefield and the Taiyuan battlefield, so the pressure in North China was not that great, but his heart was anxious. In another half month, the Battle of Shanghai would end with the defeat of the National Army, and then the Japanese army would advance to Nanjing. Thinking of the 300,000 soldiers and civilians who would be brutally slaughtered by the Japanese army, his heart was bleeding.

  "Xinghua (Liu Zhenfeng's courtesy name), now that the situation is relatively stable, what are you sighing about?" Zhang Zizhong walked up to Liu Zhenfeng and saw him looking at the battle map with a sigh.

  "Huang Zhong, do you think our army will win on the battlefield of Songhu?" Liu Zhenfeng turned his head and asked Zhang Zizhong.

  "It's hard to say, now our army has invested 600-700 thousand troops in the Songhu battle field, and the Japanese army has also invested 200 thousand elite troops in Shanghai. Both sides are fighting fiercely, and the Japanese army's equipment is far superior to ours. I heard that on the Songhu battlefield, our army suffered heavy casualties!"

  "If the Japanese army puts in three divisions with nearly 100,000 men on the Songhu battlefields, do you think our army will be defeated?" Liu Zhenfeng pointed to the map, saying along the northern coast of Hangzhou Bay and Jinshanwei: "Now the situation on the Songhu front line is critical. I think the Japanese commander-in-chief will definitely put the troops on the flanks into the front line, which will cause the flanks to be empty. If the Japanese combined fleet cooperates with the Japanese army to land here, it will pose a threat of encirclement to our 700,000 defenders, and then our 700,000-strong army will be in danger!"

  "Xinghua, according to what you said, if the Japanese army really does this, it would be a disaster! If Shanghai falls, Nanjing will be in danger. This time, the commander-in-chief has put all the country's elite troops into the Shanghai battlefield. Nanjing is not... Oh heaven!"

  "Don't worry about the safety of the Central Plains," Liu Zhenfeng said with a smile.

  "What! Not worried about the safety of the Central Plains? Why?" Zhang Zizhong asked incredulously.

  "Since September, the Generalissimo's headquarters has seen the danger of the Shanghai battlefield, so the central government has begun to relocate schools and factories to Wuhan and Sichuan. If Shanghai falls, I can say with certainty that the central government will immediately implement a plan to move the capital. What I'm worried about is the ordinary people, those tens of thousands of soldiers!" Liu Zhenfeng said.

  "What about the civilians?" Zhang Zizhong seemed to recall again that he had abandoned Beiping without a fight according to the order from above, and his mood suddenly became somewhat depressed.

  "Alas, Nanjing is not Beiping. Although Beiping was lost, the Japanese army did not suffer heavy casualties in its attack on Beiping. Moreover, the Japanese soldiers who attacked Beiping were regular troops who had just graduated from school and entered the military, they were student soldiers, relatively disciplined, and might not have committed atrocities. But Nanjing, after all, is the capital of China. For this Battle of Shanghai, Japan has already expanded its forces domestically and mobilized a large number of retired soldiers. These old soldiers have contracted many bad habits from society, with poor discipline. What do you think will happen to the military and civilians in Nanjing who cannot evacuate once the city falls?" Liu Zhenfeng asked Zhang Zizhong.

  "Massacre! Ruthless massacre!" Zhang Zizhong gritted his teeth and said.

  "Right! So I want to discuss with you. If we win the Battle of Shanghai, it's okay, but if we lose, the Japanese army will definitely march towards Nanjing. That's what I think. Since my 77th Army is a mobile force, at that time our entire army will make a thousand-mile journey to Nanjing, assist in the withdrawal of the main forces, and protect the evacuation of all citizens. After the evacuation of all military and civilians is complete, our army will then withdraw!"

  "Th...". Zhang Zizhong hesitated a little.

  "Brother Zhang, don't hesitate anymore. The troops are coming to fight, aren't they? Now the Japanese army is rampaging across China, and every place is a battleground. My 77th Army is the North China Brave Division, an iron army that pierces wherever it points its sword. Even if Nanjing falls, we must inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese and make Nanjing a nightmare that the Japanese will never forget in their history of invading China."

  "But after all, our 77th Army belongs to the First War Zone. Without any orders, we request to fight across war zones. Will the higher-ups agree?" Zhang Zizhong asked.

  "Who says I'm going to report?" Liu Zhenfeng smiled slyly, "When the time comes, our army will hide its tracks and make a whole army disappear, how about that?"

  "What! Xinghua you, are you going to act arbitrarily?" Zhang Zizhong was shocked.

  "We will be outside, the military order is not accepted, the opportunity for battle is fleeting, we want to fight and catch them off guard. In my 77th army, there isn't a single soldier who fears death, I think we can complete the task of covering the retreat of Nanjing's soldiers and civilians."

  "Nonsense!" Zhang Zizhong shouted angrily: "No way, I strongly object. What if we fail?"

  "Then the entire 77th Army will live and die with Nanjing!" Liu Zhenfeng's voice also rose.

  "That's your personal opinion, you're the commander-in-chief, can't be so impulsive! As the deputy commander of the 77th Army, I disagree!" Zhang Zizhong also roared angrily.

  Liu Zhenfeng and Zhang Zizhong parted ways on bad terms.

  On November 5, the 10th Army led by Ryokawa Sukenori with three divisions and 100,000 troops implemented a forced landing in the northern part of Hangzhou Bay from Gongtang to Jinshanwei, and implemented an encirclement policy against the Chinese army in Shanghai. After Chiang Kai-shek's troops held out for four days, he had no choice but to order a withdrawal. The 700,000-strong army received the withdrawal order, from an initial orderly retreat to a final chaotic rout. As a result, none of the defensive fortifications built before the war were used, and the 10th Army also disobeyed the Japanese General Headquarters' order: sweep away the enemy near Shanghai, and pursue the enemy east of Suzhou and Jiaxing. They crossed the pursuit location specified by the Japanese General Headquarters and began to frantically advance towards Nanjing, shouting "Nanjing! Nanjing!"

  On November 15, Liu Zhenfeng held an emergency meeting above the division level in Henan Huayuan Kou, and the main participants were Liu Zhenfeng, Zhang Zizhong, Xu Zhongqiang, He Jishen, Wang Zhibang, and Ji Xingwen.

  Liu Zhenfeng said bluntly at the meeting: "Everyone has seen that our army has already failed in the Battle of Shanghai, and now the Japanese army is madly advancing towards the capital. Although the Central Committee will organize troops to fight for the defense of the capital, judging from the current troops defending the capital, most of them are remnants who retreated from the battlefield of Shanghai, with low morale. It's easy to imagine that relying on such a troop to defend Nanjing is definitely not feasible. Defending Nanjing is very difficult, but the key is how to ensure the safe evacuation of military and civilians in Nanjing. My personal opinion is: Send troops out of Nanjing to cover the retreat of the main force, mainly to cover the retreat of the ordinary people!"

  "I still disagree, General!" Zhang Zizhong said uncooperatively. "Firstly, whether Nanjing will hold out or not, we are all unclear. Secondly, even if the Battle of Nanjing begins, the National Government will definitely mobilize tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of troops to fight back. It seems that this is not something for us to worry about. As for withdrawing troops or not, the General Headquarters will have its own decision. I think we don't need to worry about it."

  "I can tell you with certainty: relying on a dispirited army to defend Nanjing, even if it's called a million-strong force, is futile. We military men, in this great era of resistance, what are we here for? We're here to kill the devils! Where there are more devils, that's where we should rush to. The 77th Army isn't incompetent, we're good at killing devils, and the 77th Army is fighting against the devils' elite forces! I only hope that this time we can take a gamble, if we can ensure the safe evacuation of Nanjing's military and civilians and severely damage the devils' elite troops, then the national morale will be boosted. Even if I'm punished by military law, it'll be worth it!"

  At this time, all three superiors lowered their heads and remained silent, but Liu Zhenfeng could see that they were very excited.

  "It's a man's duty to kill the enemy and protect his family and country, even if it means dying in battle. I'm not talented, but I'm willing to offer my life to the Yellow Emperor, even if I die without regret. I couldn't bear to see the people of Nanjing slaughtered by Japanese beasts, or their women... Even though our country is weak, our guns are inferior, and we're outnumbered, how can we fall into the hands of a small island nation like Japan?!" Liu Zhenfeng's emotions became agitated as he spoke.

  "Have you all forgotten about the Lugou Bridge? Have you forgotten how we lost Beiping and Tianjin? Have you forgotten about Northeast China and Taiwan?" Liu Zhenfeng stared at everyone with wide eyes.

  "We can't forget!" The three instructors shouted emotionally.

  "General Zhang, Nanjing is not Beiping, Nanjing is the capital, losing the capital is no different from losing the country. If the Japanese continue to massacre in Nanjing, it's like stabbing a knife into the heart of our anti-Japanese soldiers! I, Liu Zhenfeng, swear to die rather than become a slave to a lost nation!"

  "We are too. Our 77th Army is an anti-Japanese iron army, and we have never yielded to anyone on the battlefield. I, He Jianguo, have made up my mind, and I am willing to follow the army into boiling water or raging fire, without hesitation!" He Jianguo said excitedly.

  "Good! And where are Wang Shizhang and Ji Shizhang?" I looked at Wang Zhibang and Ji Xingwen.

  "We swear to follow General Wang to death!" King Chee-bang and Kee Sing-woon declared their determination.

  "Zhang Zizhong, what about you?" Liu Zhenfeng asked, looking at Zhang.

  "Beiping is the eternal pain in my heart, Xinghua, I have also made up my mind, let's march to Nanjing! Moreover, if the superior wants to investigate responsibility, I am willing to be punished by military law together with you!" Zhang Zizhong said firmly.

  As for Chief of Staff Xu Zhongqiang, he had no opinion either. So, everyone's opinions were finally unified. Next, Liu Zhenfeng began to explain his plan for going south.

  Firstly, we must march in secret. We chose to take the mountain roads of northern Anhui for our march, and most of the marching was done at night. Then we secretly crossed the river near Tongling.

  Secondly, send out intelligence departments from the army to get familiar with the terrain in southern Anhui and Nanjing areas first, and then send back telegrams.

  Third, during the march, communication was interrupted, and all heavy weapons that could not be moved were left behind. At the Yellow River crossing, a battalion of troops was left to move these heavy weapons later, and the main force shifted its defense position to the north bank of the Yangtze River near Jiangbei Port.

  The departure time is after November 20th.

  After the military meeting was over, the three division commanders returned to their troops to start making arrangements. My 77th Division began its preparations.

  Liu Zhenfeng gazed southeast and said silently in his heart: "Nanjing, I'm here! You little Japanese bastards, your grandfather has come to slaughter you."

  November 20th was the day when the 101st Division set out as an advance unit, and Liu Zhenfeng delivered a swearing-in speech on the training platform in the military camp:

  Comrades:

  Since the 77th Division was established after the outbreak of the war, we have fought against the Japanese army whenever we encountered them. However, every time we went into battle, it was always a passive defense, waiting for the Japanese to attack us. This is not what hot-blooded men should do. Now that the Battle of Shanghai has ended, our 700,000-strong army has been defeated like a mountain collapse, and now the Japanese have assembled an army of 100,000 soldiers, directly targeting Nanjing, our capital is in great danger at this moment. Comrades, what do you think we should do?

  (All officers and men below)

  Into Nanjing, kill the devils! Into Nanjing, kill the devils!

  Liu Zhenfeng pressed his hands down slightly, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then he continued to say:

  What I want to tell you is: our 77th Army is not made of clay, our 77th Army is a wolf-like army, it's an army that can march thousands of miles and eat food from thousands of miles away, it's an army that will draw its sword whenever it encounters the enemy. Wherever the sword points, wherever it goes, that's the motto for all officers and soldiers in our 77th Army. Comrades, remember: when two armies meet on a narrow road, the bravest one wins. Our army needs the spirit of daring to fight and daring to sacrifice, we need this spirit of drawing swords!

  (Applause erupted from below the stage)

  I order as follows: The 101st Division will depart at 3 pm today, with Chief of Staff Xu Zhongqiang accompanying the troops to march towards Nanjing. You are all to set up camp in Huanghe Town east of Tongling and wait; The 102nd Division will depart on November 24th at 5 pm, with General Zhang Zizhong accompanying the troops to converge with the 101st Division in Huanghe Town; The 109th Division will depart on November 28th at 3 am, with myself and the military department following the 109th Division to also converge in Huanghe Town; The 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade of the 109th Division will depart on November 30th at 2 am to defend Pujiang.

  Before departure, I want to give you a military song, this song will be our 77th Army's exclusive military song - "Chinese Military Soul"

  "If the motherland is invaded"

  A hot-blooded man should strive for self-improvement

  Drink up this bowl of hometown wine

  A hero once gone will never return

  The surging Yellow River and the majestic Yangtze River

  Give me life, give me strength

  Let blood stain the most beautiful flower red

  Sprinkle on my chest

  The bugle sounds

  The sword has left its scabbard, thunder rumbles and lightning flashes.

  The brave win on narrow roads

  Move forward

  The bugle sounds

  The sword has left its scabbard, thunder rumbles and lightning flashes.

  The brave win on narrow roads

  Go forward go forward go forward

  "Chinese Military Soul"

  Remember, our 77th Army will either not draw its sword, or once the sharp sword is out of its scabbard, it must be a bloody fight to the end!

  Alright, let's go!