Stationed on the front line of the Purple Mountain is the Third Regiment of the Second Brigade of the Teaching Corps, the regiment commander is called Li Xikai, and the regiment deputies Peng Yuexiang and Zhu Daoyuan. In addition to the three infantry battalions, the regiment had a machine gun company, an 82 mortar platoon, a howitzer company, a tank defense artillery company, a communications company, and a transport company, a total of 16 companies.

After accepting the task of holding the Purple Mountain position and blocking the delayed enemy, Li Xikai changed the line of defensive position arrangement in the past in accordance with Zhang Zhizhong's deployment, and instead placed the howitzer company in Fugui Mountain, and the 82nd mortar platoon was deployed with Lu Yuding's third battalion on the front line of the commanding heights of the Tiger Cave in the Purple Mountain, and the rest of the troops were concentrated on the second peak of the Purple Mountain, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, and the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, echoing the three battalions of the Tiger Cave.

At one o'clock at noon, the 33rd Division, the vanguard of the 16th Division of the Chinese Army, arrived at the front line of Purple Mountain and engaged the 3rd Battalion.

The battle heats up as soon as it starts. The 16th Division came prepared, with field artillery, chariots, cavalry, and infantry all in battle; The 2nd Brigade and 3rd Regiment were prepared for work at ease, with excellent weapons, and with the help of fortifications, the two sides immediately fought inseparably. Later, the army raised a hot air balloon, in which sat observers, commanding and guiding the artillery to fight, and the three battalions suffered more than half of the casualties and withdrew to the second peak of the Purple Mountain. The army came one after another, and the two sides fought fiercely at the second peak.

Seeing that the planes, tanks, and field artillery of the army were coordinated in an orderly manner and that the offensive was continuous, Li Xikai knew that the battle was very dangerous today, and strictly ordered the howitzer company to provide fire support for the main force of the regiment, regardless of casualties.

The teaching corps has been stationed in the Purple Mountain for four years, and the soldiers are very familiar with the terrain here, and the fortifications are strong, so the army cannot be defeated for a while.

But the balance between the two sides did not last long, and when the position of the howitzer company was destroyed by the Japanese aircraft, the position of the mortar platoon was then destroyed. Without heavy fire support and suppression, the attack of the Yue army was even more ferocious. Later, the surname of the army Suo used poison gas bombs in an attempt to succeed in one blow.

Li Xikai knew that sooner or later the army would release poison gas, and he had already taken precautions, but seeing that the troops had suffered too many casualties and had lost the strength to hold their positions and contend with the enemy, he decided to retreat, preserve their vital forces, and return to the city to fight again.

As soon as I contacted the street fighting troops in the city, I got the news that the 9th Division of the Army had entered the city, and the 103rd and 112th Divisions were fighting fiercely with the enemy, and asked the 3rd Regiment to hold its position no matter what, and the 16th Division must not be allowed to enter the city at this time.

Li Xikai had no choice but to adjust the deployment, and let Peng Yuexiang lead the first battalion, the chariot defense artillery company, the communication company, the transportation company and the artillery who lost their artillery to withdraw to the city, stick to the city wall, and himself and Zhu Daoyuan led the second battalion to cover behind the palace, resist step by step, and gradually withdraw to the city.

Seeing that the defenders' front was loose, the 16th Division immediately pursued all the way, forcing the 2nd Battalion to retreat and retreat directly into Taipingmen.

At this time, it was already 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the 103rd and 112th Divisions fought very hard in the street battles in the city, with the 103rd losing a regiment commander and the 112th Division also suffering heavy losses. No, the fight was very hard, but in order to ensure the completion of the battle plan for the 87th and 88th Divisions to attack the vanguard of the enemy's Sixth Division, Huo Shouyi commanded the troops to still struggle with the enemy. Seeing that the 2nd Brigade and 3rd Regiment of the Teaching Corps had retreated into the city, Huo Shouyi knew that his side was too weak, and it was simply impossible to hold the enemy in the city for how long. Even if you sacrifice everything, you can't play the mission that lasts until the night. There is no way, the firepower of the army and the defenders are not at the same level at all, they are three-dimensional operations in the air and ground, and relying on their own broken and incomplete troops, only the courage to sacrifice, there is really no possibility of completing the task.

Huo Shouyi immediately contacted Wang Jingjiu to inform him of the street fighting and the situation that the troops holding the Purple Mountain had retreated to the city, and asked when the 87th and 88th Divisions could launch a surprise attack on the enemy.

Wang Jingjiu and Sun Yuanliang were also anxious at this time, and after the Sixth Division of the Army arrived, they immediately divided their ways to attack the positions defended by the three military police regiments of Xiaoshan Order. It may be that it felt that the number of defenders was limited, and the 6th Division concentrated its firepower and strength for a surprise attack as soon as it came up, and there were planes to assist in the battle, so the 88th and 87th Divisions had no chance to surprise the enemy at all. If you attack at this time, there is only one result, and that is that the whole army will be annihilated under enemy fire.

It seems that the only way to carry out a surprise attack is to wait for the enemy to stop attacking after dark.

After receiving Huo Shouyi's phone call, Wang Jingjiu and Sun Yuanliang knew that it was difficult to realize the plan of raiding the enemy, because after all, the 103rd Division was adapted from a miscellaneous unit, and the 112th Division was simply the Northeast Army.

Wang Jingjiu had no choice but to send a telegram to Zhang Zhizhong asking for instructions, reporting the situation in the city in detail, and requesting that the original battle plan be abandoned and the whole army retreat in the direction of Pukou.

Zhang Zhizhong considered that it would soon be dark, and as long as he held on until dark, the troops could retreat safely. Therefore, Huo Shouyi was strictly ordered to command the 103rd Division, the 112th Division, and the 2nd Brigade and 3rd Regiment of the Teaching Corps to fight with the enemy in the streets, and Xiao Yueling was strictly ordered to resolutely hold the first-line position at Zhonghua Gate, and if necessary, the 87th Division was asked to send troops to reinforce. After dark, the 88th and 87th Divisions concentrated their forces to counterattack the enemy, and then the whole army withdrew from Nanjing.

Wang Jingjiu knew that Zhang Zhizhong meant that he was afraid that it would be easy for the whole army to collapse when he retreated at this time, so he ordered the 87th Division to send a main force regiment to reinforce Xiaoshan Ling, and the main force and the main force of the 88th Division did not move, only waiting for the counterattack on the enemy after dark, causing confusion to the enemy, and then retreating calmly.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, commander of the 9th Division of the Chinese Army, had already entered Nanjing City at this time, and the division headquarters was located near Tongji Gate. In view of the heavy losses suffered by the 7th Wing of the 9th Division and the 35th Wing when it broke through the city gates, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke ordered to kill all the Shina people he encountered who tried to resist. It's a pity that the soldiers of the Ninth Division greeted not a single ordinary person in this huge city of Nanjing, except for the bullets and grenades of revenge.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke sensed that something was wrong, so he contacted several other divisions that were besieging the city to inquire about the situation. After this understanding, it was discovered that in addition to the 9th Division entering the city, the 6th Division was still storming the front line of Yuhuatai, and the 16th Division had just arrived at the city wall and was organizing the siege.

Yoshizumi Ryosuke immediately reported that he had entered the city, and asked the 16th Division to quickly divide its troops, bypass the squadron, and enter the city from the direction of Guanghua Gate and Tongji Gate.

As soon as Lieutenant General Nakajima heard that the Ninth Division had entered the city, he was afraid that the credit would be taken up by Yoshizumi Ryosuke, so he immediately ordered the first division to turn to Guanghua Gate and enter the city, and he supervised the main force and concentrated firepower to break through the defensive line of the defenders in front of him.

Unfortunately, the story of the explosion of explosives at Tongji Gate occurred again at the city gate, and more than 1,000 devils who rushed into the city either flew into the sky or were buried under the bricks and rubble, becoming a pile of stinky meat.

Taking advantage of the moment when Lieutenant General Nakajima lost his mind, the troops of the 112th Division on the defense quickly moved with Li Xikai and them.

Although the 103rd Division, the 112th Division, and the Third Regiment suffered heavy losses, the Yue Army did not fall into any good, and could be attacked anytime and anywhere. However, the troops attacking Nanjing City were all elite troops, and they had received strict training in urban street fighting, and they steadily attacked and made relatively rapid progress.

Seeing that it was dark, the army entered the city with torches and flashlights and began to advance towards the center of the division. Wang Jingjiu and Sun Yuanliang saw that the time was almost up, so they ordered the military police unit under the command of Xiao Shanling to withdraw and let the Sixth Division of the Army enter the Zhonghua Gate.

At this time, the military police unit commanded by Xiao Shanling had reached a critical moment of life and death. At the beginning, due to the late arrival of the Sixth Division, there was no fighting on the first line of Yuhuatai. After the vanguard of the 6th Division arrived, there were planes in the sky, and the 87th and 88th Divisions could not go out to surprise the enemy, so they had to rely on the military police units to rely on their positions to block the attack. After the main force of the Sixth Division arrived, the position could not be supported, and under the pressure of the Japanese army, the casualties became heavier and heavier, and the defense line continued to shrink, and finally it could only defend a few key points.

When he received the order to retreat, Xiao Shanling's troops were almost exhausted, and only one regiment of the 87th Division, which came to support later, was still relatively complete. Xiao Shanling looked at Zhonghua Gate, wiped a handful of tears, and said, "Brothers, as long as I don't die, I will definitely come back to see you", and ordered a retreat.

As soon as this side withdrew, the army immediately entered the Zhonghua Gate. With a series of loud noises, the first brigade of the army repeated the story of several city gates. Without waiting for the army to come to their senses, the 87th and 88th divisions, which had been holding back for a long time, launched a counterattack, and as soon as Wang Jingjiu waved his hand, all the concentrated artillery fire of the two divisions began to speak. Wang Jingjiu's order was very simple, shoot up all the shells and stun the Yue army. Immediately afterwards, the main forces of the two divisions did not wait for the artillery fire to stop, and they killed from both sides. For a moment, the sound of charging trumpets, shell explosions, light and heavy machine gun and rifle fire rang out like a raging storm.

When Lieutenant General Tani Toshio, commander of the 6th Division, saw the Chinese [***] team attacking, he thought that the Chinese defenders had deliberately let the 9th and 16th Divisions into the city, concentrated the main forces to pack up themselves, and hurriedly ordered the artillery to block the shelling.

The withdrawal of the army was tantamount to selling its back to the 87th and 88th divisions, and it was a long time to cover up and kill, only to kill the cannibal demon Gu Shoufu and cry bitterly. Unfortunately, the artillery fire of the army was too fierce, and Wang Jingjiu and Sun Yuanliang had to accept it as soon as they saw it, and ordered to stop the pursuit, and the whole army retreated. Huo Shouyi was also informed that the 87th and 88th Divisions had completed their tasks and could order the street fighting troops to quickly disengage from the enemy, and the whole army would withdraw from Nanjing and retreat to Pukou.

Only then did Huo Shouyi be completely relieved, and ordered to gather his troops and take advantage of the night and terrain to withdraw from Nanjing.

(To be continued)