It was late at night, and the fierce sound of gunfire that had been going off all day gradually subsided. Strings of red and green signal flares flashed from time to time in the dark night sky, and the city of Nanjing was also burning with raging fires.
The battle at Guanghua Gate was fierce. The Japs' mountain artillery brigade once again bombarded the gap that had been opened previously, causing the gap in the city wall to further expand.
The infantry of the 36th Regiment organized several desperate charges along the gaps opened by the blast, but they were all repelled by intensive bullets. There were numerous dead bodies inside and outside the city wall, and rivers of blood flowed.
"Damn it, I'm so exhausted."
Company Commander Qin Shou threw the sandbag filled with soil at the gap, panted and sat on the ground, unscrewed the kettle and poured water into his throat.
It was a bitterly cold night and the wind was biting, but the brothers who were carrying sandbags to block the gap were all exhausted and sweating profusely. If the gap was not blocked, if the Japanese invaded in the middle of the night, they would all be doomed.
Wang Huzi returned from the Guanghuamen frontline headquarters and brought new orders, stipulating that Yang Ling and his guerrilla battalion should hold on to Guanghuamen for at least one more day, waiting for new reinforcements to take over the defense.
"Again, it's a fucking rule. Let those staff officers come and guard it for a day. Isn't my life not life?!"
Liu Yidao took off his armed belt and threw it on the ground, grumbling dissatisfiedly. Those staff officers at the headquarters knew how to talk about high-definition bombs, but they didn't know that they were risking human lives in the front.
Wang Huzi didn't talk to Liu Yidao, who was complaining about haircuts. He knelt down and sat on the sandbag, and spoke in a heavy voice.
"Our Guanghua Gate is pretty good. I heard from the staff that the fight at Tongji Gate was even worse. The 259th Brigade and the 261st Brigade were completely wiped out, and Brigadier Yi Anhua was also killed..."
After hearing what Wang Huzi said, the brothers who were resting all understood in their hearts that the city of Nanjing might not be able to be defended soon, and the atmosphere was a little solemn.
Yang Ling opened his mouth to ease the atmosphere: "We soldiers fighting in the war should not think blindly and do the things at hand well. Even if we cannot hold Nanjing by then, we must have a clear conscience."
Liu Yidao spoke to support Yang Ling: "Batalion Commander, if it weren't for you, my life would have been lost in Shanghai long ago. I will risk my life. I will fight whatever you say. I, Liu Yidao, am unambiguous. Even if I die here in Nanjing
I admit it too."
"Don't say it's unlucky to die." Yang Ling turned his gaze to the brothers around him and said, "Brothers, no matter how big the storms come in our camp, the more difficult the time, the more we must stick together as a team, so that we can
Please find a way to survive."
The blacksmith and others also expressed their opinions: "Batalion Commander, don't worry, we will always follow you."
Yang Ling nodded. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the city of Nanjing was destroyed. By then, if the troops were in chaos and dispersed, they would truly be the enemy's prey and ready to be slaughtered.
"Sir Liu, do you have anything else to explain?" Yang Ling pulled aside Wang Huzi, who was going to the frontline headquarters to report the situation, and asked.
Wang Beard replied: "Sir Liu has returned to the garrison headquarters, and the order was given by Staff Officer Wang."
"Advisor Liu Ming asked me to give you a message. He said that if you really can't hold it, don't force it. You can retreat to the city and fight in the streets."
"Okay, I understand." Yang Ling knew that Liu Ming might have heard some news, and this was to remind him.
"The food is here, hurry up and eat."
While everyone was talking, shouts came from below the city wall, and civilians from the field service group took advantage of the night to deliver meals to the position.
The hungry brothers had been working hard on the battlefield all day. When they heard that food was coming, they immediately rushed to the city like swarms of swarms.
They were so hungry that they held the bowl and plowed the rice into their mouths with dirty and bloody hands, stuffing all the sweet, salty, and sour food into their stomachs without caring about the taste.
After dinner, the brothers regained some strength and slumped in the bomb-proof cave under the city. Although they were exhausted, no one could sleep. In the face of life and death, who would have the heart to sleep.
Yang Ling leaned against the cold wall and wrapped the ragged military blanket around himself. He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to rest for a while, but as soon as he closed his eyes, he saw the burning battlefield. One nightmare after another, he opened his eyes.
I found it was already midnight.
He tiptoed out of the artillery cave and followed the horse road to the ancient Nanjing City Wall. There was a heavy smell when stepping on these Ming Dynasty city walls, but they still couldn't stop the Japanese's modern artillery attacks. He shook his head helplessly.
The cold wind was howling on the city wall, and the sentries at night kept their eyes wide open and did not dare to relax. Who knew whether the Japanese would come up at night.
"Password!" The sentry shouted in the darkness, and there was the sound of pulling the bolt of a gun.
"Nanjing! Return the order!"
"Guanghuamen!"
The sentry hidden in the darkness came out and recognized Yang Ling.
"What's going on?"
Yang Ling observed the quiet outside the city, guessing that the Japanese were also seizing the time to rest and prepare to launch a fierce attack at dawn.
"It's not a serious situation. It's just that sometimes there is movement down there. I don't know if it's a wild dog or a rat." The sentry pointed at the dark city gate, but because of the perspective, he couldn't see it clearly.
Yang Ling looked down at the city gate. He couldn't see anything in the pitch black, but there was a faint sound in the cold wind. There should be something down there.
"Give me your gun-" Yang Ling pointed to the sentry's gun.
The sentry hurriedly took it off and handed it to Yang Ling. Yang Ling found a better angle, pulled the bolt of the gun, loaded the gun, and fired a shot at the city gate. Suddenly, a scream came from below.
The crisp sound of gunfire rang out, and it hit the sandbags at the gap in the city wall. They were all shot from the city gate hole.
Wang Huzi and the others were awakened by the gunshots and hurried to the city wall: "Batalion Commander, what's going on?"
Yang Ling pointed to the city gate cave where there was no movement again and said: "It should be that the Japanese who attacked in the afternoon did not completely retreat. Some of them hid in the city gate cave and we didn't find it."
The gate of Guanghuamen has been blocked by sandbags. Those Japanese who have not retreated are hiding out of reach in the city, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to make a surprise attack.
"I hit them with cluster grenades!" Wang Hu said viciously.
Yang Ling shook his head: "We don't have many grenades, so use them sparingly. There are still a few barrels of gasoline under the city. Bring them up for me!"
Wang Beard went quickly after hearing the order. He carried several barrels of gasoline to the city wall and poured it down along the city gate.
The pervasive smell of gasoline made the Japanese soldiers hiding in the city gate feel something bad. Several of them tried to rush out under the cover of darkness, but they were all knocked to the ground.
Wang Beard lit the torch and threw it down. Flames more than ten meters high burst into flames. The fire wave followed the gasoline whistle and entered the city gate. The screaming firemen rushed out one by one.
"Damn it, there are so many ghosts hiding down there!"
Seeing the Japs rushing out of the city gate, Wang Huzi cursed and picked up a Czech light machine gun, and swept the burning men to the ground. The air was soon filled with the smell of barbecue.
smell.
None of the hiding Japanese escaped, and they were all burned to coke by gasoline. The Japanese mountain artillery brigade on the other side of the moat launched a retaliatory bombardment of the city wall, but in the end it ended without any success.