The streets near Yijiangmen were already piled with corpses, and the air was filled with a strong and pungent smell of blood. The military police and police commanded by Xiao Shanling once again repelled the Japanese attack here.
These Japanese troops were like wolves smelling something fishy. When they saw the Chinese army retreating, they hurriedly chased after them.
Faced with thousands of residents who had not yet crossed the river, Nanjing Mayor Xiao Shanling had to organize troops to block the Japanese army along the streets and fight in street battles, buying time for the soldiers and civilians gathered on the Xiaguan River Beach to retreat.
"Collect ammunition! Rescue the wounded!"
Xiao Shanling's exquisite Browning pistol was empty of bullets and was thrown away. He was now carrying a 79 rifle, stepping on the sticky blood, and commanding on the battlefield.
Both the military police and the police ignored their exhaustion and rummaged through the dead bodies to collect weapons and ammunition in preparation for the next battle.
Looking at the beaten corpses on the ground, Xiao Shanling secretly wiped away tears. Many of these were military police brothers who had followed him for many years, but now they were lying in the freezing cold night, never to wake up again.
He is now not only the deputy commander-in-chief of the military police, but also the commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Police Force, the commander-in-chief of the Capital Guard Army, and the mayor of Nanjing.
He had never held so many titles at the same time. With the escape of the garrison commander Tang Shengzhi and others, he became the highest officer in Nanjing.
Tang Shengzhi and others could escape, but he couldn't. He couldn't forget that his hundreds of thousands of residents would be stabbed in the back if they fled for their lives. Those seemingly shining titles were weighing heavily on his shoulders at this moment.
When all the senior generals fled, Xiao Shanling knew in his heart that someone had to stay and take charge of the overall situation, and now all the burdens were on him alone.
Fortunately, there were troops from the 74th Army and the battalion commander named Yang Ling organizing the retreat on the Xiaguan River Beach, which made him very happy. He thought that he must thank them for saving countless Nanjing people.
"Ask the commanders of the second and tenth regiments to come and see me."
The cold wind mixed with the smell of blood made Xiao Shan feel chilly. He wrapped himself in a bloody military uniform and gave orders to the ordering soldiers.
Although the Japanese army was repelled by them again, Xiao Shanling knew that the Japanese army would definitely attack again, and he wanted to rearrange his defenses.
Soon, several dusty officers stepped on the corpse and ran to Ling Xiaoshan and saluted.
Xiao Shanling frowned: "I asked your regiment leader to come over, what are you doing here?"
A military police captain and company commander replied: "Sir Xiao, our regiment commander was killed in action an hour ago."
"What about your battalion commander and staff officer?"
The military police captain and company commander replied in a low voice: "They were all killed in action, and now I am commanding the troops."
Seeing the other lieutenants and captains rushing around, Xiao Shanling felt heartbroken. These military police units were the ones he had built up over the years. He didn't expect that they would be wiped out in one battle. He was heartbroken.
"Sir Xiao, we are almost exhausted. If we continue to fight, we will become extinct. I beg you, withdraw -" Someone looked at the silent Xiao Shanling and plucked up the courage to speak.
Someone echoed and said, "Yes, Commander Xiao, all the troops have been withdrawn. If we continue to fight like this, no one will remember us."
Xiao Shanling took a deep breath, pointed in the direction of Xiaguan where there was a huge crowd of people, and said: "If we withdraw, what will happen to those people? Will you have the heart to leave them unarmed to the Japanese?!"
"Sir Xiao, why don't we block it first and you have to evacuate? It's too dangerous here!" an officer suggested.
Xiao Shan ordered him to shake his head: "We are the last line of defense against the Japanese army. Behind us are countless people. How could I abandon and evacuate alone? What is the difference between that and deserting? Don't say this again."
"How many more people do we have?" Xiao Shanling asked.
"We still have more than 300 people in the Second Military Police Regiment."
"We have more than 400 left in the Fifth Military Police Regiment."
…
"There are still more than 200 policemen."
Three military police regiments and more than a thousand brothers from the police department had been fighting for two hours. Only so few people were left. Xiao Shanling's eyes turned red.
He held back his tears and ordered the surviving company commanders: "Reorganize our remaining brothers and let's continue fighting!
"Yes!" Several company commanders saluted and left.
When Xiao Shanling waited until they left, he felt as if all his strength had been drained from his body and sat down against the wall.
Looking at the mountains of dead bodies, I couldn't help but cry. These were his brothers in life and death. They were gone, but they had to stop the enemy.
"Sir Xiao, the Japanese are here again!" Soon, the observation post on the roof shouted again.
Xiao Shanling wiped his tears, stood up again, and restored his image of an iron-blooded soldier. He loudly ordered: "Get to your positions! Prepare to fight!"
The Japanese army that attacked this time brought in several tanks as the vanguard, and drove over with a rumble along the street. The obstacles and debris on the street could not stop this steel monster at all.
The Japanese tanks roared and rushed over, crushing and beating corpses all over the ground. The chains were soon covered with minced meat and began to drip blood.
"The demolition team goes up and blows it up!" Xiao Shanling hid behind the sandbags and ordered loudly.
The demolition teams composed of military police death squads immediately climbed out of the parapet with explosive packets in their hands, and strode towards the Japanese tanks.
The machine gunner loaded in the Japanese tank immediately pulled the trigger: "Click, click, click -"
The machine gun spit out tongues of fire, and the bullets that tore through the air crashed into the chests of the soldiers of the demolition team, causing blood to rain all over the sky. Their bodies were shattered, and they were all lost before they could even reach the front.
Seeing the military police who rushed out fall to the muzzles of the Japanese army one by one, Xiao Shanling's eyes turned red and he punched the sandbag in anger, causing holes in the sandbag.
"Second group! Enter!"
The second group of military police holding explosives rushed out again without looking back. They also suffered heavy losses, but the last person lit the explosives and jumped on the tank.
Boom!
The flames of the explosion swallowed up the military police brother and the Japanese tank. The ground shook. The air wave of the explosion caused the rubble on the houses on both sides to fall down. One Japanese tank was destroyed.
"Bagaya road!" Seeing the tanks being blown up, the Japanese commander shouted angrily and immediately ordered the tanks behind him to rush forward.
The tank vehicle behind fired and rolled forward while firing. The bloody chain spun very fast. It blasted past with a bang, destroying a military police machine gun position. Several machine gunners and their machine guns were blown to pieces, and their stumps were broken off.
The bodies are everywhere.
"Pour the gasoline!"
"Throw the grenade!"
There were roars in the darkness, and someone waved his arms vigorously and threw a grenade at the tank. He was quickly shot and killed by Japanese riflemen hiding behind the tank.
The gendarmes hiding on the roof poured a can of gasoline down, threw down the torch, and a huge wave of fire broke out, lighting up the street.
In the scorching sea of fire, the Japanese tank soldiers scrambled to crawl out, but they were quickly beaten to pieces by bullets.
"The devils are coming from the flank!"
When Xiao Shan ordered them to attack the Japanese tanks head-on, little did they know that a large number of Japanese troops wearing helmets had already surrounded them from the ruins on the flanks.
Before many of the military police soldiers lying on the ground could react, sharp bayonets had already been thrust out, and screams could be heard one after another.
The military police and the police hurriedly opened fire, and a scuffle broke out between the two sides relying on the building. There were shouts, screams and gunshots everywhere, and the smell of blood in the air became stronger and stronger.
"Sir, we have no ammunition." Soon, the military policemen ran out of ammunition.
Xiaoshan Ling mounted his bayonet with a click and shouted: "Today is the day to kill one's own body to make a benevolent man! Kill the enemy!"
He shouted and rushed out first. The inspired gendarme brothers and police officers fixed their bayonets one after another, and the two sides started a hand-to-hand battle on the street.
The fire was dazzling, and several policemen were blocked in a yard by more than a dozen Japanese soldiers. The two sides collided fiercely, stabbing each other through each other almost at the same time, kicking their eyes, but no one refused to fall first.
, until he was knocked away by someone behind him.
A burly military policeman wielded a machete and fought with three Japanese soldiers. Although his body was full of blood holes and blood was constantly flowing, his momentum remained unabated. He just cut down the three Japanese soldiers and then collapsed against the wall.
On the ground, looking at the brothers fighting in the firelight, he no longer had the strength to stand up, and soon lost his breath.
The two sides fought desperately in this narrow alley, slashing with machetes, stabbing with bayonets, and smashing with rifle butts. There were collisions and roars everywhere, and blood spurted out. The gendarmes and police used their flesh and blood to protect this city.