Chapter 2: The Chaotic Wusong Gate

  Apart from the crackling of gunfire, Lin Xiaotang's ears were left with only his own heavy breathing and the sound of military boots getting closer and closer. His lungs kept shrinking, his heart pounding as if it was going to burst out of his chest. He clearly felt that he was scared and wanted to cry.

  A figure swiftly leaped over Lin Xiaotang's head, followed by a second and third one. Lin Xiaotang didn't dare to be careless, quickly stretching out her head to look back, the other pursuers in her field of vision were far behind.

  Lin Xiaotang suddenly found the strength from somewhere and jumped out of the deep ditch, quickly catching up with the Japanese officer who had fallen behind.

  The Japanese officer seemed to have heard the footsteps behind him, and his hand quickly grasped the hilt of the samurai sword at his waist. Just as he was about to turn around, a hard object heavily hit the back of his head, and he let out a muffled groan. Stars danced before his eyes, and his body stumbled. Before he could even react, his neck was tightly constricted by an arm that felt like an iron hoop.

  Lin Xiaotang swiftly subdued the lagging officer, and the sound had already startled the people running ahead. The two Japanese soldiers immediately turned back, Lin Xiaotang's one hand holding down the dazed Japanese officer, while the other hand holding the Nambu pistol suddenly fired, and blood burst forth from the chests of the two soldiers.

  Next, he twisted the officer's body around and pointed the muzzle at the pursuing soldiers who were gradually closing in.

  Before he could fire his gun, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from the direction of the department store behind him, and in an instant, all the pursuing soldiers were knocked to the ground.

  Lin Xiaotang finally loosened his grip, and the officer's corpse, which had been strangled to death, collapsed like a heap of rotten mud.

  Lin Xiaotang's eyes were bloodshot, covering her chest, panting heavily, barely suppressing the urge to vomit that had risen from between her chest and abdomen. Cold sweat seeped out of her forehead, and when the cold wind blew, she couldn't help but shiver.

  "Suddenly a loud shout came from the department store: 'Brother, good kung fu!'"

  Lin Xiaotang looked up to see that out of the ruins of the department store, dozens of figures wearing black German steel helmets had emerged at some point.

  Lin Xiaotang didn't respond, furrowing her brow. She picked up a discolored rag and wiped down her left arm, then crouched down to collect the dried-up Japanese soldiers' weapons and ammunition, slinging them over her back.

  A few pieces of paper were sticking out of the pocket on the officer's corpse, Lin Xiaotang pulled them out and took a quick glance, but his face suddenly changed. He stood up and ran quickly into the department store.

  The building was a defensive position for the National Army soldiers, with only about 40 people. The leader was a colonel in his 40s, tall and imposing.

  It was said that Lin Xiaotang was a student of Nanjing University, and the officer couldn't help but show a look of surprise, clearly he hadn't expected that an ordinary university student could have such good martial arts skills. Lin Xiaotang mumbled a few words, saying that she had practiced martial arts since childhood, and glossed over it.

  Colonel Lei Zhen, deputy commander of the 3rd Division of the National Revolutionary Army's Training Corps, was ordered to garrison Wulongsan. However, it wasn't until early this morning that he discovered the troops guarding Guanghua Gate, the 66th Army, had quietly withdrawn overnight. After making contact, he learned that Tang Shengzhi, commander of the Nanjing Garrison, had secretly ordered all units to withdraw from Nanjing last night and prepare to break out in all directions.

  After receiving the order, some officers even abandoned their troops and fled first, which also led to the collapse of the Nanjing garrison. The troops could not find their officers and retreated on their own. This was also the main reason why the Japanese army quickly broke through the city defense and entered the city, and inside the city, even street fighting had not been prepared.

  As it was learned that there were still ships at the Yangtze River dock to transport personnel from the headquarters and the 36th Division, who were directing the battle, troops from various units rushed towards the Yangtze River dock, adding to the tens of thousands of Nanjing citizens who had not yet been evacuated, causing the dock to be in a state of extreme chaos. Lei Zheng led his remaining troops to retreat there as well.

  After listening, Lin Xiaotang's heart was gloomy, and he handed the paper scraps searched from the Japanese soldier to Lei Zhen, translating the text on it word by word and sentence by sentence for Lei Zhen to hear.

  Lei Zhen was shocked by the content. After a while, he came back to his senses and patted Lin Xiaotang's shoulder heavily: "The younger generation is terrible, my brother, I thank you on behalf of Guo Jun and his brothers."

  Two dogs and Fang Rou, were in the department store. As soon as they entered the building, they found National Army soldiers, but before they could ask for help, Lin Xiaotang had already engaged with the pursuing troops behind him.

  This gave Er Gou something to brag about in front of everyone, and he kept boasting to the National Army soldiers about Lin Xiaotang's skills. Fang Rou seemed to be still in shock, her small face was still pale, until she saw Lin Xiaotang safe and sound with her own eyes, only then did she let out a sigh of relief.

  Then Lei Zhen and others quickly rushed to the Yangjiang Gate Wharf with Lin Xiaotang and three people, and collected some soldiers and civilians along the way. By the time they arrived at the wharf, their team had about 200 people.

  Jiangmen, originally named Hailing Gate, was renamed in 1931 and changed to a three-arched gate. Located between Tuhuang Mountain and Bazi Mountain in Xiaguan, it is the only way to reach the ferry terminal and the only passage. ?? Counterattack of the Republic's Special Forces 2

  Now the road is packed with people, everywhere are National Army soldiers retreating from various fronts and civilians carrying their families, Lin Xiaotang roughly estimated that there were at least over 700,000 people.

  Lei Zheng's military status played a certain role, and Lin Xiaotang followed closely behind him, finally arriving at the Kuijiang Gate tunnel entrance with difficulty, occasionally stepping on people who had been squeezed to the ground, some of whom had stopped breathing, while others were still wailing in agony but unable to get up.

  Three tunnels were guarded by soldiers of the 36th Division with loaded rifles, cutting off the only road leading to the dock. The fleeing soldiers held their guns and stood in tense confrontation with the officers and men of the 36th Division.

  Lei Zhen suddenly turned his head, and his face changed color. Several soldiers by the side of the road were carrying a stretcher, on which lay an officer, covered in mud, with a waxen complexion, eyes tightly closed, clearly having died long ago. He rushed over, shouting loudly: "Commander Xie! Commander Xie!"

  The soldiers next to him all lowered their heads.

  Lei Zhen tightly hugged the corpse and turned his head to ask fiercely: "Commander Xie was fine when he retreated, how did he die?"

  An officer from the 36th Division ran out from behind the fortifications, rushed to Lei Zheng and stood at attention, saluting: "Sir, just now there was a stampede at the Yangtze River Gate, and Commander Xie was trampled by the crowd..."

  Lei Zhenmo silently put down the body of Commander Xie, stood up, and with his eyes wide open, pointed at the 36th Division and the soldiers behind him: "You're done, you really have the appearance of a soldier. Commander Xie Chengrui led his troops to defend the Engineering School for three days, and then fought a bloody battle against the Japanese at Guanghua Gate for a day and night, what was it all for? It was to protect Nanjing and cover your retreat, he didn't die under the guns of the Japanese, but now? He's been trampled to death by you bunch of bastards!"

  The crowd fell silent, and the muzzles of the soldiers' guns also drooped down.

  Lei Zhen took two quick steps forward, standing in front of the officer: "Remove the roadblock, organize all departments to retreat as soon as possible, especially the civilians in Nanjing, give them priority to board the ship!"

  The officer looked embarrassed, leaned his head close to Lei Zheng's face and whispered: "Commander, if it were you who wanted to go through, I would send someone to escort you to the dock. But with so many people, I really can't make a decision. Our division commander has already given orders that only personnel from the Garrison Command Department and our 36th Division are allowed to retreat from the Jiangmen Dock, other troops can only think of their own way!"

  Lei Zheng's face suddenly turned iron-green, a crisp slap landed on the officer's face. "The little devils have entered the city, it won't take a few hours to get here, you let us think of a way, it's just letting our brothers go to their deaths. Even if we don't let the soldiers board the ship, what about these civilians? I'm telling you, if you don't withdraw, don't blame us for being impolite!"

  The soldiers behind Lei also shouted loudly, and the guns that had just been put down were suddenly raised again, quickly closing in on the roadblock. The soldiers from both sides began to push and shove each other across the roadblock, even using their rifle butts to strike at each other.

  The situation is becoming increasingly out of control and on the verge of getting completely out of hand.

  Lin Xiaotang felt a suffocating air in his chest that he couldn't vent. The enemy was approaching step by step from behind, while here, the National Army was still engaged in meaningless internal strife. He looked at the refugees fleeing behind him, and everyone's expression was either helpless or infinitely desperate. Some people hugged their young children and burst into tears. The sound of crying, shouting, and wailing was like a flame that constantly stirred Lin Xiaotang's heart.

  Lin Xiaotang pushed Er Gou and Fang Rou to Lei Zheng's side, shouting loudly in Er Gou's ear, "Closely follow Officer Lei and take good care of Fang Rou!"

  After finishing, he turned around and used all his strength to push through the crowd, snatching the iron-made simple loudspeaker from the military officer who was talking to Lei Zhen. He quickly ran to a military truck parked at the entrance of the tunnel and climbed onto the top of the driver's cab.

  Lin Xiaotang took down the 92-style light machine gun that had just been captured from behind her back, skillfully replaced a magazine, pointed the muzzle at the sky, and pulled the trigger, sweeping away a burst of bullets.

  The sudden gunshot silenced the tens of thousands of people on site, and everyone stared blankly at this young man wearing a student uniform with a slender figure.

  Lin Xiaotang faced the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes, and his only nervousness was immediately blown away. He put the machine gun back on his back, held up the loudspeaker and shouted loudly: "Brothers and fellow villagers, we can't mess around anymore! The Japanese devils are right behind us, and they can hit here just by talking. The top priority is to organize people to block the attack immediately, cover the troops and civilians on the dock to retreat in an orderly manner. Only in this way can most of the people present keep their lives!"

  Lin Xiaotang pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and waved it in the air: "This is what my comrades and I just found on the body of the Japanese soldier we killed! Do you know what this is? This is an order received by the Japanese army to kill all Chinese soldiers within Nanjing, including prisoners and those who have surrendered!"

  A voice emerged from the crowd: "Don't listen to his nonsense, since our superiors don't care about us, let's abandon our guns and surrender. Since ancient times, it has been a bad omen to kill those who surrender. If we put down our guns, we'll just be ordinary people, can the Japanese possibly kill all of us?" Immediately, some voices echoed in agreement.

  "Never believe the Japanese devils! This document says it clearly. Why didn't they accept prisoners of war? The reason is that the Japanese army's strength in this attack on Nanjing was only 50,000 men, which couldn't control the entire city of Nanjing at all. The only way out is to kill all Chinese soldiers, first lure us into surrender and then concentrate on slaughtering us. In this way, they can quickly occupy Nanjing and also save food. Do you understand?"

  Lin Xiaotang rushed towards the crowd, opening the paper in his hand: "If you don't believe it, among so many people here, there must be someone who understands Japanese. You can come and identify whether it's true or false. There are stamps of the Sixth Division of the devils and the vanguard regimental commander Tanigawa, as well as the signature of a devil officer!"

  Lei Zheng also climbed up the car: "I can prove that this student brother's words are all true, it is him, just killed three Japanese devils, my brothers under me can also prove!"

  Lei Zheng's subordinates immediately raised their guns in response.

  People in the crowd were talking about it.

  At this time, the crowd parted, and a military officer in his 40s, wearing a green uniform with lieutenant general insignia, walked to the entrance of the tunnel under the guard of about ten soldiers: "I am Xiao Shanling, Mayor of Nanjing and Deputy Commander of the Garrison Command (note 3). Are there any other officers at the scene?"

  "Reporting to General Xiao, there are only regimental officers on site, high-ranking officers have already..." Lei Zhen saluted and replied.

  Xiaoshan Commander looked at the 36th division officers guarding the Kuijiang Gate and said, "Where is your superior? Call them out to see me!"

  The officer stammered in reply: "Report, our superior has already crossed the river and is currently out of contact!"

  The crowd suddenly burst into an uproar.

  The face of Xiaoshan's commander twisted in anger: "Soldiers value speed, and your department head is indeed well-versed in the essence of military strategy!"

  The guns in the hands of the soldiers of the 36th Division had unknowingly drooped down.

  Xiao Shanling strode to the truck, climbed onto the carriage, and nodded in approval at Lin Xiaotang and Lei Zhen: "Since there are no higher-ranking officers on the scene, I, Xiao Shanling, will take unified command of the withdrawal of all units!"