"Sir, where are we going? The brothers have been out of water and rice for a day. If we can't find a place to rest, I'm afraid the brothers won't be able to bear it!"
Wang Dezi, who was still carrying his old muff, had a grass root he got from nowhere in his mouth, dragging his pair of straw sandals that were about to wear out his heels and followed Suri feebly, talking incessantly.
Bulging.
The last ray of sunlight reluctantly left Su Rui's sight, and the scenery in the distance slowly melted into the night. Su Rui led more than 30 soldiers in ragged clothes and struggled to carry various weapons covered with dust.
On a street full of rubble.
At this time, Su Rui was in embarrassment because he was lost. It stands to reason that as a veteran who has lived in Nanjing for nearly seven years, it stands to reason that he would not go wrong in Nanjing even with his eyes closed.
Such a shameful thing as getting lost would never happen to him.
But in fact it did happen. After walking for nearly three hours, although he was a little reluctant, Su Rui had to admit that for Nanjing in the 1930s, he was not the same person who had a childish look on his face seven years ago.
, after getting off the train and looking at the crowds of people everywhere, I felt like a strange place.
Although he was extremely embarrassed inside, Su Rui couldn't express this emotion yet, so he forced himself to reprimand: "What do you know? The situation is unknown now. We have to find a place where we can be safe, have food and drink, and have a peaceful sleep."
You have to live somewhere else, otherwise you think it’s fun for me to lead you away for so long!”
"Is that so?"
Wang Dezi was stunned for a moment, reached out and touched his head and smiled sheepishly.
At the same time, Su Rui secretly wiped away the cold sweat and thought: "Good thing, I finally got over it."
But he looked up at the sky again, stretched out his left hand without thinking, and looked at the watch on his wrist. It was 5:15 in the afternoon, and it was getting dark. He looked at the soldiers behind him who were still wearing single clothes.
, I thought: It will definitely get colder when it gets dark. If they don't find food and clothes, half of these cold and hungry soldiers will probably collapse tomorrow.
"Ah Qiu!"
One of the soldiers in the team sneezed, and sharp-eyed Suri noticed a flash of anxiety in Lin Shiqian's eyes. Apparently he was aware of the same problem.
Just when Suri was worried, a pointed roof appeared in his sight, and there was a huge cross under the roof.
"That is......"
Su Rui's eyes narrowed, and there was a confused look at first, and then they lit up. That was a church, it must be. In Nanjing in the 1930s, no other building had such a strange shape except the church.
.
"Yes, church. As long as you get to the church, there will be food, and those ghost guys must still have clothes and other things."
The more Su Rui thought about it, the more it made sense. He immediately turned around and said, "Brothers, if you all work harder, we will have food when we get to the church ahead!"
Lin Shiqian on the side also encouraged the soldiers, "This officer is right, there will be something to eat when we get to the church, brothers, hurry up and leave!"
Encouraged by Su Rui and Lin Shiqian, the tired and hungry soldiers gathered their last energy and walked towards the church in front...
December 9, the twenty-sixth year of the Republic of China
Tang Shengzhi, a first-level general of the National Revolutionary Army and commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Garrison, walked into his temporary headquarters with a green face. He ignored the salutes of dozens of staff officers in the headquarters.
The situation outside is really bad now. Nanjing is already within the range of Japanese artillery fire. Almost every artillery shell falling will explode into flames, and this situation will continue to happen.
As the intensity of the Japanese attack increases, the situation in Nanjing will become even worse. Now the Japanese have begun to concentrate their efforts on attacking the front line of Guanghuamen. Just this morning, the 154th Division of the 83rd Army stationed at Guanghuamen
Having been beaten back, the Eighty-seventh Division that took over Guanghuamen lost more than 2,000 people after holding on for only half a day.
Just now, division commander Wang Jingjiu called, saying that the Japanese troops had rushed to the front line of Guanghuamen. With two infantry regiments and more than ten tanks as the lead, they had already occupied the Tongguang barracks in various fields. The situation was extremely critical.
Because everyone knew that once Guanghua Gate fell, the Japanese army could attack the city directly. Therefore, Liao Ken, the director of the Staff Division of the Nanjing Garrison Commander's Headquarters at that time, immediately ordered the newly arrived 87th Division to defend Guanghua Gate at all costs.
However, the development of the battle did not go as expected by the staff of the garrison commander's headquarters. The 87th Division launched several counterattacks but failed to drive the Japanese troops out of Guanghuamen and suffered heavy losses as a result.
In desperation, Liao Ken took a squad of soldiers from the left-behind headquarters and rushed to Guanghua Gate. Before leaving, he specifically asked Tan Daoping, the chief of the first section of the Operations Department, to say: "I brought a telephone to Guanghua Gate to see.
Look, we talk on the phone every ten minutes. If there is no phone call at any time, Guanghuamen will be finished." A dignified major general said such desperate words, which shows the crisis of the war.
Tang Shengzhi stood with his hands behind his back in the staff headquarters converted from a temporary residence without saying a word. The busy staff members became even more nervous when they saw him.
"Ring ring ring..."
The phone rang. Section Chief Tan Daoping quickly picked up the phone. He mumbled a few words and then covered the phone and whispered to Tang Shengzhi: "Sir, the Eighty-seventh Division is calling. The Japanese army is attacking fiercely. They have suffered heavy casualties. They are almost here."
I can’t stand it anymore.”
Tang Shengzhi couldn't help but grabbed the phone and roared at the officers of the Eighty-seventh Division on the other end of the phone: "I don't care what you do, even if you all go to the battlefield to plug the holes of the gun, I
All I need is that you must guard the Guanghua Gate for me and not take even a step back, otherwise you will all wait for the military law to be enacted..."
Hanging up the phone sadly, Tang Shengzhi sat on a stool made of shell boxes and panted for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said to the staff beside him: "Immediately give the order, no one is allowed to take a step back, otherwise military law
Engage!”
After saying that, Tang Shengzhi seemed to be in disarray. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.
At this time, Su Rui naturally did not know what was happening in the garrison headquarters in the center of Nanjing. He was leading a group of defeated soldiers who had retreated from the battlefield and ran towards the church with a steeple in front. In the distance was the Guanghua Gate.
Outside, flames were constantly billowing, smoke columns towered high in the sky, and gunshots rang out.
As the sky gradually darkened, Su Rui finally led them to their destination, and the church appeared in front of them.
This is a very majestic church, covering an area of about one thousand square meters. The church is surrounded by tall and solid stones. Two buildings, one tall and one short, stand within the wall. In the center is a tall spire.
On the south side of the wall is a gate wrapped in iron.
Su Rui took the lead and stopped in front of the gate. He looked at the front and found that there were two bronze rings with lion heads hanging on the gate. Su Rui was a little happy when he saw it. After the emotional foreigners came to China, they would also be with the times.
Jujin, even the gate is made with Chinese characteristics.
Suri grabbed the copper ring and struck it hard.
"Dong dong dong..."
The sound of metal clashing spread far through the darkening night.
"Dong dong dong..."
Four or five minutes have passed, and the sound of the door knocker hitting the lion's head continues, but the door remains motionless.
The big soldier carrying the Finnish M26 light machine gun seemed to be impatient. He put the machine gun on his shoulder on the ground, spit into the palm of his hand, and said to Suri in an angry voice: "Sir, let me
Come on, I promise, I can kick open this stupid door with just two feet!"
Su Rui glared at him angrily, "Come on, these two doors weigh a full four to five hundred pounds and are wrapped in iron sheets. Do you think you are the reincarnation of Guijiaoqi?"
The big man didn't get angry after being scolded by Su Rui. He just touched his big head in embarrassment and laughed.
Lin Shiqian raised his head, looked around, and whispered to Su Rui: "Sir, it's going to be completely dark today, and we can't go on like this."
"I know!"
Suri nodded, and then looked at the surrounding stone walls. These stone walls were three meters high, and were covered with sharp glass. It seemed that the people in the church did not intend to give people a chance to climb.
"Damn, it seems you are trying to force me to do something cruel!"
Su Rui rolled his eyes and said loudly to Lin Shiqian: "Platoon leader Lin, go find some grenades. If you dare not open the door, let's blow him up! I don't believe it. This door
No matter how tough you are, you can still win against dynamite!"
Unexpectedly, Lin Shiqian hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Sir, this... this is not good, this is a place for foreigners!"
"Foreigners...what's wrong with foreigners!"
Su Rui got angry when he heard this. I was starving to death. Not to mention foreigners, even foreigners have to explode. He said angrily: "Don't talk nonsense. If I ask you to explode, you will explode."
If anything happens, I can handle it all by myself!"
Hearing Su Rui's anger, Lin Shiqian whispered: "Yes!"
After a while, five or six Gong grenades were tied up with a rag and placed under the gate. The caps of all the grenades were unscrewed and the fuses were pulled out.
Su Rui stood at the door, his right hand holding the fuse was shaking a little. This job of pulling the grenade was his own request. Every boy has the gene of violence in his body. From childhood to adulthood, Su Rui has never been exposed to real people.
Rui is naturally eager to personally carry out this "honorable" task.