In just four days, the 36th Infantry Brigade, which lost a total of one and a half infantry squadrons, was completely withered.
While their colleagues in Jinling City were still having a wild revelry, they were standing still like little darlings.
This also resulted in dozens of kilometers around Pukou becoming a relatively safe area. Most of the villagers who had not had time to escape were not in danger. Many troops who retreated from the front line were able to go south from this area smoothly. It was also considered a miserable Jinling.
The last piece of pure land around the city.
However, everything is mutual, and the 36th Infantry Brigade's almost inaction approach actually reduced a lot of losses.
After a tough fight between the First Company and the Japanese infantry squadron, in order to prevent the Japanese from getting angry and entering the mountains with the main force, the First Company was ordered to pursue the main force with three student soldiers, Yue Yiman, mother and son, master and servant, leaving Lao Hei's guard behind.
The platoon and cavalry platoon as well as Gu Xishui and his two special operations groups are still operating in this area.
However, the guard platoon and the cavalry platoon are mainly responsible for the response, and the two special operations teams are responsible for the attack and killing.
But what they all didn't expect was that the Japanese army retreated as if they had lost a battle. They would not come out if they could. Even if they were to come out, it would be at least a collective action of an infantry squadron, and it would never exceed 15 in the area where the main force was.
kilometer.
A week later, Gu Xishui could only give up this meaningless waiting and returned to the mountains to head north with the guard platoon and cavalry platoon that had been waiting for them for a long time.
At this point, the independent battalion was completely separated from the main battlefield.
The tragedy that happened in Jinling was finally exposed by an American reporter named Dedin half a month later.
On January 1, 1938, the traditional Chinese festival and the first day of the New Year for the whole world, the Niuyue Times used eight columns of prominent pages to reveal to the world the fragments of the Jinling Massacre by the Japanese invaders: "Any able-bodied man
They were all suspected of being soldiers by the Japanese. The Japanese killed men, women, old and young. Anyone who showed fear or ran away after seeing the Japanese soldiers approaching was likely to be shot dead. The streets were littered with corpses, and sometimes they were not moved.
Corpses are not even allowed to pass.”
But that was just a fragment seen by the American reporter who only stayed in Jinling City for less than five days. As he said at the end of the article: "I don't know what else those Japanese beasts did, because I
I have never seen anything so cruel, so I was scared. I was afraid that I would be shot by animals as their prey, so I chose to leave.
When I stood on the riverside and looked back at the broken city walls of that beautiful oriental city, I seemed to hear the wailing of thousands of innocent souls. The place was originally full of aura, but now there is only killing, like hell!
However, if I can leave hell, what about the hundreds of thousands of Chinese people who have lived here for generations? I can only pray to God with a heavy heart, asking God to bless them!
The Japanese have trampled with barbarity the civilization that took all mankind millions of years to build!"
As soon as the article came out, the whole world was shocked! Words of condemnation against the Japanese invaders continued to be heard, but the Japanese completely denied this.
Compared with the indifferent verbal condemnation from all over the world, the still sleeping dragon of China is the real injured one.
When the big shot heard about this, he locked himself in his room all night and wrote a sentence in his diary: "The enemy army slaughtered me and all the strong men near Jinling were exhausted. It was extremely painful!"
In contrast to this man who could only write his anger on paper, in a cave in the north, a middle-aged man smashed the tea cup in his hand and immediately ordered a military meeting to convene and set the four rules of "blood debts must be paid with blood".
policy, and published in newspapers the number of people who would not accept the Japanese surrender.
Just as the originally honest commander of the 18th Group Army said to reporters with red eyes: "Besides resisting, what else can we Chinese do? If the Japanese invaders in the guerrilla zone massacred people because of resistance, then
What about a city? A city that has been occupied, because there is no resistance, the killing becomes more cruel. This is the reason why we Chinese choose war. If there is no war, our parents and sisters will be slaughtered like animals by the Japanese
Almost exhausted!"
"war!"
"We must fight!"
"We can only fight!"
Generals stationed across the north took oaths at their stations one after another, vowing to fight the Japanese invaders to the end.
"Although our unit is disabled, we can still fight!" Commander Gu, who was retreating to Jiujiang, shed two lines of blood and tears and sent a telegram to the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs.
"The Japanese invaders slaughtered our people, and all the men in our army are determined to die with the invaders!" The 67th Army, which was retreating to Xuzhou, also sent a message to the Ministry of Military Affairs and stopped marching.
From north to south, across thousands of mountains and rivers, messages requesting war flew like snowflakes to the Ministry of Military Affairs.
At that moment, for the first time in history, China's two most powerful armies had only one voice.
"war!"
"war!"
The Japanese may not have expected that a massacre would lead to unprecedented unity in a weak China.
Among the people, public opinion is also turbulent. After the Battle of Sihang Warehouse, the recruitment offices of various provinces once again ushered in a wave of recruit registrations. Especially in Jiangxia, where the new government is located, people who signed up to join the army lined up from the gate to the end of the street.
There is still one more corner to turn.
It is said that three infantry divisions that were crippled in the Battle of Songhu were replenished with enough troops in just two days.
In the southern seaside city, the war was still thousands of kilometers away from them. In the hall of a well-to-do family, a young man in student uniform knelt in front of a graceful and luxurious woman.
"Mom, this is a war between the country and the nation. Today the Japanese invaders slaughter our Jinling, and they may overthrow our Yangcheng tomorrow. Just studying cannot save China. Thinking of this, my son has decided to join the army, and he will never be in front of you again.
As a filial piety, please forgive my son's sin!" The young man kowtowed to the woman three times with tears in his eyes.
The woman looked at her son kneeling on the ground, with a look of sadness on her face. After a long time, she whispered softly: "Son, your father is seriously ill and has been on the sickbed for more than a year. Your younger brother is still young at home. How can you bear to let me, a mother,
One person can support such a large family?
And if you go to join the army, your life or death is even more uncertain. If you have three advantages and two disadvantages, your father and I will definitely not survive. At that time, the family fortune that has been left by generations of your Shen family will be completely destroyed by your hands.
, how can I be forgiven for the mere unfilial words you said? Not only are you irresponsible to your parents and family, but you are also sorry to the ancestors of your Shen family, and you will become the sinner of the Shen family."
The woman obviously didn't want her son, whom she had carefully raised, to rush into the flames of war, so she tried her best to stop him.
She is Chinese, but she is also a mother.
But no mother is willing to send her son to a battlefield where he is almost certain to die.
In the northern battlefield, the Chinese army suffered more than 100,000 casualties; in the Songhu battlefield, there were 300,000 casualties; in the Jinling garrison battle, more than 100,000 defenders were killed, but less than one tenth of them managed to leave the battlefield alive;
Behind these numbers, there is a pair of eyes that have been blinded by tears.
What is more painful than this is not knowing.
The mother-in-law was leaning at the entrance of the village, looking forward day and night, hoping that her son would come back. Even if he became disabled, lost his arms and legs, all he had to do was call him mother when he came back.
The mother can raise him, but can’t she support him for the rest of his life? All she needs to do is endure more hardships! The mother will not die until the son dies!
But, there is no message! I can only wait patiently, waiting for that extremely elusive news.
A woman with a good family background and good education did not use sticks or seek death to stop her son's unwise behavior. She just analyzed the stakes and hoped that her son, who was kneeling in the hall, would turn around.
Obviously, she was destined to be disappointed.
The young man who had made up his mind no longer made any distinction and could not kneel down for a long time. Even if the woman left in anger, she would not move on her knees.
For a whole day and night, he knelt until his knees were swollen, but he ate all the food and water quietly brought by the old servant at home.
If you want to join the army, you must have enough strength, but young people don't want to torment their bodies.
Finally, the middle-aged man, who woke up from his drowsiness again, heard from the woman that his son was still kneeling in front of the hall, silently waving his hands, closing his eyes and saying nothing.
Tears finally fell from the woman's eyes.
She knew that she could not keep her beloved son.
A cowhide box containing twenty large yellow croakers was placed next to the kneeling young man. The old servant at home reluctantly told the young man that it was given by the master and his wife as a donation to the army to purchase ordnance to fight against the Japanese pirates.
The young man was overjoyed, stood up staggeringly, carried the cowhide suitcase and walked out of the house. He looked back at the door of his house that was gradually closing, but his parents and younger brother were nowhere to be seen, and he felt sad in his heart.
How could he not know what his parents were thinking?
The family's business is transportation. Due to the war, the business has long been declining. At this time, I gave him my family's savings to buy a large amount of ordnance. The military commander will definitely take good care of him.
They hope their son can live, that's all.
I didn't come to see you off, just because I was afraid of touching the scene.
"Father, mother, since ancient times it has been difficult to have both loyalty and filial piety. Please forgive your son for his unfilial piety." The young man shed tears and knelt down again in front of the door, kowtowing three times.
Then, carrying the cowhide suitcase, he turned around and left resolutely.
As everyone knows, behind the door, the woman has already shed tears. She doesn't want to look, but after all, she looks at her son's leaving figure through the crack in the door, almost greedily, and stands there for a long time!
Neither mother nor son knew whether this separation would last for many years or forever!
However, the Chinese Air Force has welcomed one of their best pilots in the next few years...
In China, scenes like that of a young man surnamed Shen who tearfully bid farewell to their parents are not just isolated cases.
Farewell, not only in the far south, but also in the Central Plains, and also in the north.
There is a small Taoist temple among the high mountains.
There are five rooms in total. The big house in the middle is dedicated to the solemn-looking Daode Tianzun, and the side rooms on both sides are dedicated to two ferocious-looking gods holding weapons. The other two rooms are a kitchen and a side room, which should be Taoist priests. For residential use.
Although the Taoist temple is small, the incense burner in front of the main hall is filled with long burned incense, so the incense is still quite prosperous.
There are only two Taoist priests.
Moreover, a young Taoist priest was already carrying a long sword and carrying a bag to leave.
"Junior brother, before they leave, they can tell me again and again that I will take good care of you. You are talented and smart and can best inherit the mantle of master. But now that you are gone, if the master comes back, what will I tell them? You can't Let’s go!” The older Taoist priest held the little Taoist priest’s hand and begged.
"Brother, Master often says that as a Taoist, I should stick to my true heart, and when I go down the mountain this time, I am just following my true heart. Please let go, Senior Brother." The little Taoist priest gently rubbed his eyebrows, but he couldn't. The trace of gloom between his eyebrows disappeared.
It wasn't a decision he made in haste.
Originally, his dream was to be here with the master who picked him up since he was a child, and with the Sanqing Taoist here, standing on this green mountain and looking up at the stars.
Focusing on the Tao, his heart is very peaceful.
However, the world is in chaos.
The believers who went up the mountain told about the war in the world outside the mountain. Sisters-in-law and aunts made wishes in front of Sanqing Daozu, hoping that their husbands and sons would return soon.
But, it was all in vain after all!
The Taoist Patriarch of the Sanqing Dynasty did not take pity on his followers. Seven or eight families in the village at the foot of the mountain hung white banners on the same day. The young men in the village joined the army and went to the battlefield thousands of miles away, all remembered in the Battle of Jinling.
The Japanese army was like a monster, slaughtering all the troops defending the city and innocent people.
It is the duty of a Taoist to slay demons. Now that the chaos in China is caused by the invasion of demons from outside the region, he should stick to his true intention as a Taoist, kill all the demons, and return China to a peaceful world.
"Junior brother, you can tell me when you can pay me back. When the master comes back, I can answer him." The older Taoist priest said helplessly when he saw that the younger Taoist priest had given up his intention to go down the mountain.
The little Taoist priest's face was light and cloudy, he took a deep look at the mountains, held the three-foot green blade in his hand, turned around and left.
His steps seemed small, but they were extremely fast. Within ten seconds, his back became a little blurry.
A voice came from afar: "Once I leave, I won't return until I kill all the demons!"
The elderly Taoist priest opened his mouth and wanted to shout something more, but his throat was choked with sobs. He could only watch in silence as the familiar figure became smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared...
Perhaps the farewell is not limited to China, which has been boiling like boiling water.
Thousands of miles away.
There are also a group of young people of the same age who say goodbye to their parents and relatives one after another and board ocean-going ships to sail to the east thousands of miles away.
They have never lived in that land, and they only know how magnificent the mountains and rivers are from their grandparents' words.
But that did not hinder their determination to set foot on their homeland amid the war.
Because they know that this is where their grandfather and parents lived, and there are tens of millions of Chinese people like them with black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin.
The beautiful country they live in now, no matter how long they live, even if they are in this country from birth to death, this is still the world of blonds and blue eyes, not their home. They will always be just outsiders here.
They have understood this truth since they were in primary school. The eyes of those blond and blue-eyed people looked at them, not only arrogantly, but also arrogant!
Now, they are willing to fight for the homeland that their grandfather and parents dreamed of...
This is the Chinese.
After a hundred years of incomparable darkness, which is also the most decadent hundred years in Chinese history, they are ignorant, they are poor, and they have even continued to sink into numbness in the darkness. They are called the sick men of East Asia by Westerners.
But what then? When disaster strikes, the Chinese people, numb to internal strife, still choose to unite and roar at the arrogant enemy: "Fight!"
A brutal massacre did not break the will of the Chinese people as the Japanese prince who led the massacre imagined. Instead, it was like a shot in the arm, awakening the dragon that had been sleeping for more than a hundred years!
The Japanese made a big mistake again.
They did not see themselves clearly, nor did they see their enemies clearly.
But this was just the first big mistake they made in a long war, and they would make more mistakes later, which led to the exhaustion of all the national strength accumulated since the Meiji Restoration!
A nation without a long history is destined to be short-sighted. This is determined by the laws of nature.
Their current strength is like a poisonous snake, forcing all beasts to avoid its attack temporarily, but when the venom is exhausted, it will be destroyed.
Tang Dao knew this very well, and he believed that the teacher also knew it very well.
The fighting in the north became more and more intense, and the Japanese base camp did not quickly occupy Jin and then advance to the northwest as the Japanese base camp imagined.
Not to mention that their troops were blocked in the hinterland of Jin, even in the areas they had occupied, resistance broke out everywhere. The troops in gray military uniforms not only defeated the tyrannical Fifth Division in the mountains, but also put them in a dilemma.
Attacks were also launched frequently in the plains, and the already weak logistics simply became their transport team.
The fifth division, which was making great progress, could not suspend its offensive and focused on stabilizing the existing occupied area.
At this time, the independent battalion, which was advancing towards Xuzhou, also received an order from the Military and Political Department conveyed by the 43rd Army Headquarters.
The Independence Camp has been renamed again!...
ps: I’m too lazy to divide it into two chapters, so I’ll continue to combine the two chapters into one.
