"Why are you here?" This was the first thing Zhang Tianhai asked after opening the door.

"Come to see you. After arranging our work responsibilities, you locked yourself in the room alone. I'm not worried, so I came over to have a look." Zheng Man was not polite to Zhang Tianhai and directly

Entered the latter's room.

Zhang Tianhai smiled bitterly and said: "I have nothing to worry about. The Japs' machine guns and aerial bombs couldn't kill me, so there is nothing to worry about."

"I'm afraid you think I just applied for transfer without saying hello to you." Zheng Man sat on Zhang Tianhai's bed, his long legs stretched out, and then his small feet kept shaking.

She moved and lowered her head, like a little girl who had done something wrong.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Tianhai's heart suddenly softened. He walked over and sat next to her and said, "Actually, it's good for you to come over here and stay together. At least I can take care of you. If the situation is really critical,

Yes, I can still send a special agent company to send you away."

This sentence is indeed Zhang Tianhai's innermost thoughts. If Zheng Man had any problems during the battle to defend Nanjing, he would be ashamed for the rest of his life - from the beginning to now, he has not given her the protection she deserves, and has not given her the protection she deserves.

Give her the romance she deserves.

"That's good." Zheng Man raised his head and smiled softly. His beautiful eyes had turned into two bright crescent moons, as if he wanted to illuminate someone's life.

…

In the days that followed, as the Japanese troops pressed closer, the atmosphere in Nanjing became increasingly tense.

On November 27, the day after Zheng Man was transferred to the First Regiment directly under his control, Commander Tang Shengzhi held a press conference in Nanjing City. At the meeting, he repeatedly expressed his determination to "live or die with Nanjing."

"I am ordered to defend Nanjing, and I am certain of at least two things: first, that my unit is sworn to live and die with Nanjing, and will not hesitate to sacrifice in the battle to defend Nanjing; second, such sacrifices will definitely make the enemy pay a huge price."

Tang Shengzhi made an impassioned speech at the meeting, with a very solemn expression.

In this meeting, Tang Shengzhi not only expressed his fighting spirit, but also expressed his views on defending to the death. He said that Nanjing is the capital of the Republic of China and the site of the former Prime Minister's tomb. If the Japanese army wants to capture Nanjing, it must do so.

Paying the price with blood.

But for some unknown reason, Tang Shengzhi did not mention to the outside world that he had evacuated the ships along the Yangtze River.

This day was the second day after the Japanese army crossed the Xicheng Line and continued to advance westward.

After taking over Wuxi, the Japanese army only stopped for a while, and then attacked Nanjing in three directions: on the right, the main force of the Japanese army marched westward along Huning Road; in the middle, it attacked Nanjing via Yixing via Liyang and Jurong; on the left, it attacked Nanjing from the south of Taihu Lake.

Advance westward, first attack Guangde and Xuancheng, and move towards Wuhu, hoping to cut off the retreat route of the Nanjing defenders, and then encircle Nanjing.

In fact, as early as the afternoon of the 23rd, one of the leading troops of the enemy's 18th Division (Niu Dao Division) had taken more than a hundred steamers and rubber boats from Taihu Lake to Yixing and Changxing areas. At the same time, along Taihu Lake,

The main force of the enemy advancing westward from the south bank divided its forces and invaded Si'an and Guangde counties.

In the afternoon of that day, the 144th Division of the Sichuan Army first fought a fierce battle with the Japanese army at a place called Jincun on the south bank of Taihu Lake. Division Commander Guo Xunqi came to the battlefield to command in person, and his morale was very high. In addition, the officers and soldiers witnessed the enemy's attack on the country.

Planes bombed, thousands of families fled for their lives, houses were burned down, and people were ravaged, which immediately aroused extreme resentment against the Japanese invaders. They were not afraid of sacrifice and bravery in battle, and repelled many enemy attacks.

Compared to the 144th Division, which was also part of the Sichuan Army, the 145th Division, which was alone in Si'an Town, was not so lucky.

The enemy who invaded Si'an initially had only one brigade, with a total of more than 5,000 infantry and cavalry, but soon increased to 10,000, coupled with about 30 tanks and armored vehicles, and more than 20 aircraft.

Under the cover of aircraft, tanks, and artillery, they launched a fierce attack on Si'an County.

This day is November 24, 1937.

After three days and two nights of fierce fighting, the 145th Division of the Sichuan Army suffered heavy casualties. Division Commander Rao Guohua personally led the 433rd Brigade to defend Si'an. Unexpectedly, Sichuan Army Commander Liu Ruzhai was frightened when he saw corpses littering the front line and the grass and trees were red.

He led his troops to retreat without authorization, and then Si'an fell. Division commander Rao Guohua led his troops to hold on to the position until the last moment, and finally ran out of ammunition and reinforcements. At the end of the day, he felt sorry for the country, the people, and even more sorry for Liu Xiang, who had been supporting him, so he committed suicide.

Death.

Before he committed suicide, General Rao Guohua left a suicide note, which probably read: Liu Ruzhai did not obey the command, which resulted in the defeat of the army, so he had no choice but to die in order to repay his father (referring to Liu Xiang, Liu Xiang was named Fucheng).

) An acquaintance and the love between elders in Sichuan.

This day is the same day after Tang Shengzhi held a press conference.

The Sichuan army will not fail the country, and the people of Sichuan will not fail the country!

After the Japanese army captured Si'an, the Japanese army immediately led its main force and the Jing'an Army of the Puppet Manchukuo to continue marching westward to attack Guangde.

At this point, including the fighting in Chunhua Town, Jurong and other positions, the fighting outside Nanjing can be said to be a lively one...

However, the Japanese army gradually gained the upper hand in this battle, and the desperate efforts of the Chinese soldiers could not withstand their iron hoofs, aircraft and artillery.

Naturally, the various ministries in Nanjing City also have a rough idea of ​​the situation in the outer positions. They are almost all busy reorganizing and training, if not for other reasons, just to kill a few more little devils. Even the Tang commander has to live and die with Nanjing.

Who dares to think of escaping? It would be better to die on the anti-Japanese battlefield than to die at the gunpoint of the military police law enforcement team.

Zhang Tianhai is no exception. He is also busy training his Zhiyi Regiment. Due to time constraints, he can only teach these soldiers how to improve their shooting accuracy. After all, these soldiers are veterans who have been on the battlefield, so they cannot say

I don't even know how to build fortifications.

Of course, in terms of fortification construction, Zhang Tianhai also "invited" fortification experts to teach in each battalion and company. Of course, these so-called experts are two of the newly assigned officers to the engineering company.

In addition, several graduates from Huangpu finally "graduated" after Comrade Zhang Yulin provided them with careful training in fortification construction.

In fact, it's not that Zhang Tianhai doesn't attach importance to the role of engineers, but in his opinion, whether the Nanjing battle can survive is another question. Most of the time, what engineers have to do is just blasting and anti-landmines and other aspects. Now.

What is the situation? The Japanese army is about to attack the city. What we need to do more is to build a good position and practice marksmanship.

As for physical training, strength training, etc., forget it, time is tight and you can only choose the most important one or two items.

Around November 27, the main force of the 74th Army entered Chunhua Town, Tongjimen.

At this time, Yu Jishi, the commander of the 74th Army, heard that Chiang Kai-shek was in Nanjing and immediately went to Nanjing to meet with Chiang Kai-shek and reported that the army was broken and needed to be retrained.

Chiang Kai-shek directly denied Yu Jishi's request, and directly told Yu Jisheng that if he wanted to supplement, he could give it, but he could not take a break. He wanted to join the battle sequence of the Nanjing Defense War, and had already dispatched a supplementary regiment in the fifth theater to supplement the 74th Army.

Yu Jishi had nothing to do about this. Before he came to Nanjing, the Chairman of the Standing Committee decided to allocate supplementary regiments. It seemed that he already knew the situation of Yu Jishi's army - the army had two divisions, each with two brigades and four regiments. They retreated to Nanjing.

At that time, there were only about 17,000 soldiers left in the entire army, and they were fully equipped with light and heavy machine guns and mortars.

After Yu Jishi returned to the military headquarters, he helplessly said to Wang Yaowu, commander of the 51st Division: "The troops stationed in Nanjing did not include the 74th Army in their plan at first. The southern part of the First Army Hu Zong had already crossed the Yangtze River.

Now they are stationed in the Pukou area. Instead of leaving them in Nanjing, they have left the 74th Army behind. Depending on the situation, Nanjing cannot hold it."

In fact, all senior generals were not optimistic about this battle to defend Nanjing, including Chiang Zhongzheng himself. If he had the confidence to defend, it would be impossible not to leave the First Army in Nanjing.

Everyone knows that the First Army is the starting unit of the Central Army. From the beginning of the Northern Expedition in Guangzhou to the present, it is an old-fashioned army. As long as the First Army is still there, the "roots" of the Central Army will be

Still there.

The Battle of Nanjing was a losing battle, but no one said anything at this time. They must fight this battle to die for their country!

Even if I use my own life to write this tragic page, my head may be cut off and my blood may be shed, but the integrity of the Chinese nation will not be lost!

…

PS: Updates are coming!
Chapter completed!