One: General Tang stepped forward

The high-ranking generals who participated in the conference on the defense of Nanjing were very appreciative of the opinions of the German military advisers. They also had a basis for Nanjing not to fight.

There are a whole host of reasons why they disagree with the defense of Nanjing. In the final analysis, it is to retreat without a fight and give up Nanjing.

After the 77 Incident, the base camp was ready to mobilize hundreds of divisions to fight the Japanese army in North China, but this decision was opposed by these young senior generals.

They believed that it would be easy to win the war, and once defeated, the Japanese army would move south along the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway to divide China into east and west, and China's war of resistance would be even more difficult.

They advocated attracting Japanese troops to the Yangtze River Delta. It's the richest place in China, and it's where there is a fight. Completely defeat the arrogance of the Japanese army. Now their strategic purpose has been achieved.

Shanghai had fallen, and the capital, Nanjing, was attracting Japanese troops to the west. Not only did they not organize a battle in the area, but even the retreating troops lost contact with each other.

Do not defend Nanjing. The army retreated directly from Nanjing, and the Chinese army had to retreat to where and where it would stop.

The land is falling day by day, and even the capital of China is gone, and the people of Nanjing do not understand, because if the battle of Nanjing is not fought, and the army crosses the river, it is to escape.

The Chinese people, who are gearing up to share the same hatred, do not understand it even more. It was a great shame for the capital to surrender not a single shot to the Japanese army. It was a heavy blow to the spirit of the Chinese people's war of resistance.

In the long and narrow conference room of the official residence of Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, the defense of Nanjing was discussed again and again, and the pessimism of the senior generals became stronger and stronger.

Before the Battle of Songhu, their fighting enthusiasm was very high, and after the Battle of Songhu began, their fighting spirit was high. They kept the Japanese troops out for three months.

After the defeat of the Battle of Songhu, their enthusiasm for the war of resistance plummeted. They knew that it was impossible to win the battle for the defense of Nanking in the face of the powerful Japanese imperial army.

They sat in the conference room with their heads bowed and did not dare to speak. They were not afraid of the leader in front of them, but they were afraid that the burden of defending Nanjing would fall on their heads.

If we take up the burden of defending Nanjing, there will definitely be two results.

First, the battle defeated the person alive, and ended up in the name of a defeated general, and as a result, he could not raise his head for the rest of his life. These high-ranking generals can't afford to lose this face.

The second is to die for the country and win the glory of a national hero, but lose his life. They are even more reluctant to lose their lives.

They sat there in fear, no longer having the courage of soldiers. Forgot the duty of the military to defend the country.

Some people even suggested that the betrayal of Nanjing should be used as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations with Japan. They were like frightened politicians in the face of the Japanese attack.

The people who defended Nanjing also knew the truth. Hundreds of thousands of troops do not let go of a single shot, abandoning the capital is not a retreat, it is not a protracted war. It is to flee, and to flee when the army hears the wind is to surrender.

There is no contradiction between the protracted war and the Battle of Songhu. There is no contradiction with the Battle of Nanjing. If you should fight, you have to fight, like a flat Guan Dajie. What should be blocked, it has to be blocked. It's like the Battle of Songhu in Shanghai.

The defense of Nanjing was also blocked, how could the Japanese army not be blocked, and they could not blindly retreat. We cannot give up our territory to the Japanese army.

In the face of the Japanese army's three-dimensional war, the Chinese army will not be able to defeat the Japanese army, and it will also have to peel off the skin of the Japanese army.

In the conference room of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, only the ticking of clocks and watches was silent, and the senior generals with military power lowered their eyelids and did not say a word. These high-ranking generals were probably right not to defend Nanjing.

They knew that the defense of Nanking was a battle against the Japanese army. None of them wanted to command a defence that was bound to fail.

The Battle of Nanking was lost without a battle.

But give up Nanjing today, give up Hefei tomorrow, and Wuhan the day after tomorrow. The Japanese army drove straight in, and the national army retreated wherever it hit, and China still had it.

You can't retreat the army into the desert.

Nanjing is the gateway to Chinese mainland. The abandonment of Nanjing opened the door to the Japanese army. It fueled the aggressive arrogance of the Japanese army.

The defense of Nanjing was an important part of the long-term war of resistance. It is a strategic need for protracted warfare. Take the initiative to abandon the capital, and run away without fighting, what is there to talk about anti-Japanese resistance.

In the pessimistic atmosphere of these high-ranking generals, in the cold meeting of the base camp, there was a general who did not look amazing, and the three stars on his collar badge shone in the light.

Although he was a general, he did not have a single soldier. He has no military powers. He could only break the dull atmosphere in the conference room very low-key.

He briefly expounded the significance of defending Nanjing, and expressed his willingness to stand up to defend Nanjing and use practical actions to stop the Japanese attack.

He asked the headquarters to take command of this battle of defense, which could not be won.

He pointed out that since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, all the generals have sacrificed, and none of the senior generals have been sacrificed. He was determined to live and die with Nanjing.

As soon as the general's words fell, he was met with the eyes and dissatisfaction of his colleagues, some people praised him clearly but actually ridiculed him, and some even whispered sarcastic about him.

His great ambition to defend Nanjing has been decided, and everything is up to the base camp to decide.

His position in the Nationalist Government and the work he presided over were all related to the anti-Japanese resistance. Nature is related to the meeting to defend Nanjing.

He was determined to go to the front line of resistance against Japan and fight the Japanese army face to face. Defend the motherland and Nanjing with full blood.

The bespectacled and bearded general was called Tang Shengzhi, and he graduated from the Baoding Army Military Academy when he was young. After he entered the army, he started as a trainee officer.

He participated in the Xinhai Revolution, the Yuan War, the Northern Expedition and other wars. The war trained him, and he grew into a general in the flames of war.

He, a general who is not amazing-looking, is a fighter.

After the September 18 Incident, he came to Nanjing and resolutely advocated resistance against Japan. His job was to plan for the anti-Japanese struggle.

In April 1935 he was awarded the rank of general. He served as President of the Military Senate of the National Government. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War on July 7, he also served as the director of the Security Enforcement Department of the Military Council.

On 8 September, the Nationalist Government ordered Tang Shengzhi to concurrently serve as the Executive Director of Military Justice. At the beginning of the Shanghai War, he also served as the director of the Department of Military Justice.

Although General Tang was a general, the position he held was an idle position. He does his part in obscurity.

He can comment on the defense of Nanjing, express his opinions, criticize others or turn a blind eye. He did not take on the burden of defending Nanjing, and no one would accuse him.

Regardless of whether the battle for the defense of Nanjing was a big or small fight, or a symbolic resistance, it was fought and left, in short, it was a fight, and since it was a fight, there must be generals who came out to command.

At the time of the national crisis, General Tang could no longer sit still in the face of the Japanese army's crazy attack. For the sake of the country and the Chinese nation, he stood up.

The country needs such anti-Japanese generals. The common people support such generals. The officers and men obeyed such a general, were willing to fight the Japanese army under his command, and vowed to live and die with Nanjing.

On December 20, the base camp appointed him to guard Nanjing, and handed over 100,000 troops to him. The defense of Nanjing is a certainty.

The people of Nanjing breathed a sigh of relief and pinned their hopes on him. I believe that he will be able to block the Japanese army outside Nanjing. Blocking a day is better for blocking a month.

At a press conference of the Central Cultural Association, Commander Tang expressed to the world his determination to defend the city to the death.

"Tang Shengzhi Vows to Defend the City" is his determination and confidence to resist the war to the end. In the battle to defend Nanjing, he was determined to live and die with Nanjing.

When Shanghai fell and the Japanese army attacked Nanjing, the defense lines of the Nationalist army were destroyed by the Japanese army one after another.

General Tang stood up to defend Nanjing, he was not here to show off, not to create miracles, and not to seek benefits for him personally. He is here to fulfill the historical mission of repaying the country with death.

When the Japanese army broke through Suzhou and quickly advanced to Nanjing, when the common people facing the war needed the army to defend it.

"Tang Shengzhi Vows to Defend the City" brings hope to people. It was as if I saw a glimmer of light in the darkness and felt the true meaning of the text of defending the city. I felt the greatness of the anti-Japanese generals even more.