Jiangyin fortress is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, is the north-south traffic artery, since then to the east of the Yangtze River river open, Jiangyin fortress is in the position of the horn mouth, since ancient times is the place where soldiers must fight.

Jiangyin is an ancient city of Jiangfang, and Huangshan belongs to the crown of mountains. During the Warring States Period, Jiangyin belonged to the fiefdom of Chunshenjun Huangxie, so it was named "Yellow Mountain". The mountain is 2.5 kilometers away from the city by the Yangtze River, is the narrow place of the Yangtze River, known as the "gateway of the river and sea", "lock the fortress".

Later, after repeated transformations, two forts were built on the top of Huangshan, on which eight imported German guns were installed to block Japanese naval warships and bombers.

Nanjing is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, that is, behind the Jiangyin Fortress, and if the Japanese army wants to attack Nanjing by land, air and sea, the Jiangyin Fortress is an important checkpoint.

Now the Songhu battlefield has been lost, on the land, Nanjing is directly exposed, and now as long as the Japanese army can break the Jiangyin fortress and knock out the Jiangyin city, then from the sea and air, Nanjing is also close at hand, and when the land, sea and air forces are integrated, Nanjing will be defeated.

Therefore, the Japanese army decided to attack the Jiangyin fortress first, and this resulted in the largest naval battle since the First Sino-Japanese War.

The main participants in this naval battle were the first and second fleets of the Chinese Navy, totaling more than 25,000 people, while the Japanese dispatched three fleets and two aircraft carriers to attack about 120,000 people.

As early as the beginning of the Battle of Songhu, the first and second fleets of the Chinese Navy fought fiercely with the Japanese navy in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

And this time, this is the second battle between the Chinese and Japanese navies, and the navy is ready to sacrifice in this battle, because they can't retreat, and behind them is Nanjing, which is the motherland, where can they retreat?

On the morning of 26 November, at about 6:30 a.m., the warships of the 11th Squadron of the Japanese Army, which was responsible for guarding and breaking diplomatic relations in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, went up the river for the first time, approached the Jiangyin Fortress, and attacked the Chinese warships.

The "Pinghai" of the Chinese Navy immediately ordered the whole army to fight, and after receiving the order, the First and Second Fleets of the Chinese Navy immediately deployed their defenses and went into battle.

The first survey ship to engage the Japanese army was the "Dawn", which was a 500-ton battleship captained by Major Xie Liang.

When the battleship was patrolling the waters of Tongzhou, it happened to encounter a Japanese cruiser and two destroyers preparing to attack the Jiangyin fortress, and then Xie Liang immediately ordered the whole army to be on alert and prepare to meet the enemy.

After the two sides came into contact, they immediately launched a fierce battle on the sea, with torpedoes, cannons, and other heavy weapons firing in full force, and then Xie Liang's full command, he fought alone against the three Japanese warships, which dragged on for five hours, but in the end they could not withstand the Japanese firepower, and at about 11:30 a.m., the 'Yuri' was sunk, and most of the officers on the battleship were killed, and Senior Colonel Xie Liang was not spared.

At the same time, other warships of the Japanese army also approached the Jiangyin fortress from all directions, and on top of the Japanese aircraft carriers, bombers also started one after another to go to the Jiangyin fortress.

The Chinese navy then fought back, retreating from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to the Jiangyin fortress until there was no way to retreat, and then fought to the death with the Japanese navy at the Jiangyin fortress.

Relying on the advance defense of Jiangyin Fortress and the tenacious and unyielding will of our army, with several times the strength of the Japanese army, the Japanese army fought fiercely at the Jiangyin Fortress for four days and four nights.

Until, on December 1, the Jiangyin fortress was declared broken, and the Chinese navy was completely destroyed.

In this battle, the Chinese navy shot down 12 Japanese bombers and sank nearly 10 Japanese cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats.

In this battle, no one in our navy retreated, and all the soldiers fought until the last moment, until all the warships were sunk, and from beginning to end, no one was afraid, and no one was afraid of battle.

Despite this, the battle was lost, and the Jiangyin fortress was eventually lost.

After the fall of the Jiangyin fortress, Nanjing was completely exposed to the threat of Japanese warships.

On the same day, Japanese General Matsui ordered the Japanese Tenth Army to deploy the 114th Division to attack and advance in the direction of southern Nanjing along the Liyang and Lishui highways.

The 6th Division also attacked and advanced in the direction of Nanjing along the Guangde and Honglanbu roads, and after the 114th Division.

The fifth detachment marched along the Guangde and Langxi highways to occupy Taiping (Dangtu), and then crossed the river to the vicinity of Pukou in a roundabout way, cutting off the northward retreat of the Nanjing defenders.

The 18th Division attacked Wuhu through Xuancheng and cut off the westward retreat of the Nanjing defenders.

Matsui's control of the battlefield was extremely comprehensive, and if all the troops sent by Matsui broke through the defenses of the locality, Nanjing would become an isolated city.

The chairman of the committee was keenly aware of this, so he sent troops to the direction of the Japanese attack.

From December 1 to December 6, in these six days, the 18th Division and the 9th Division of the Japanese army broke through the alert and advance positions of the defending 83rd Army and the 66th Army, occupied Jurong, and advanced to the area of Huangmei, Tuqiao and Hushu Town west of Jurong, and a part of the army penetrated deep into the vicinity of Mengtang and Dahu Mountain from the right flank.

The 114th Division broke through the alert and advance positions of the defending 72nd Army and the 74th Army, occupied Lishui, and advanced to the area of Moling Pass, Lulang Town and Jiangning Town north of Lishui.

At this time, the Tiangu Detachment and the 13th Division on the right flank of the Japanese army were attacking Zhenjiang and Jingjiang, the 6th Division on the left flank was advancing towards Moling Pass, and the 5th Detachment and the 18th Division were attacking Dangtu and Xuancheng.

On the afternoon of 6 December, the Nanjing Garrison Commander's Headquarters discovered that the Japanese army was approaching the first line of positions, and immediately made relative arrangements.

The 16th Division was ordered to infiltrate into the vicinity of Hutang and Dahu Mountain behind the left side of Tangshan Town.

ordered the 36th Division to quickly send 1 infantry regiment to occupy the position near the Qilin Gate to cover the flank of the 66th Army and prevent the enemy from continuing to infiltrate;

ordered the 71st Army in Zhenjiang and the 83rd Army in the vicinity of Zhenjiang and Dongchang Street to move quickly to Nanjing, so as to strengthen Nanjing's defensive forces;

After the transfer of the 71st Army, the Zhenjiang Fortress was commanded by the acting commander of the 103rd Division;

At the same time, the 10th Army of the 2nd Army Corps, which had just arrived near Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, was ordered to advance to the Longtan and Crow Mountain areas to cover the transfer of the 71st Army and the 83rd Army and maintain contact with Zhenjiang.

As a result, the national army put on a posture outside the city of Nanjing, officially facing the Japanese army, preparing to win or lose with the Japanese army.

On the same night, Zheng Long gathered the whole army and prepared to go to Nanjing!