Purple Mountain burns, Nanjing falls, is an old proverb.

Since the Battle of Nanjing entered the battle for the fortified position, the Purple Mountain has been attacked by the Japanese army, most of the senior generals of the small Japanese have no strategic vision, but the tactical literacy is still good, they all know what the gains and losses of the Purple Mountain mean for the entire defense of Nanjing.

The first to attack Purple Mountain was the Japanese 16th Division.

The infamous "100 Beheading" competition took place in the 16th Division, and when it reached the foot of the Purple Mountain, Noda Takeshi, the second lieutenant adjutant of the 3rd Brigade of the 9th Infantry Wing of the division, had already killed 105 people, while the second lieutenant Toshiaki Mukai, who also belonged to the artillery squad of the 3rd Brigade, had killed 106 people, most of whom were unarmed innocent civilians.

The first to be attacked by the Japanese L8th Division was the Tiger Cave position on the third peak of the Purple Mountain.

The Tiger Cave position is the core position of the third peak of the Purple Mountain, and a large number of permanent fortifications have been built on the position, but like all national defense fortifications, the permanent fortifications of the Tiger Cave position also have very serious defects, both lack of side firing firepower, and lack of defensive depth, all the fortifications are distributed in a chain manner, and the Japanese army only needs to break through one point before the whole line collapses.

Guarding the position of the Tiger Cave was the Luo Yufeng battalion of the 3rd Brigade and the 5th Regiment of the Teaching Corps of the Central Military Academy, and the battle lasted until noon on the 10th, and more than 600 people under the battalion commander Luo Yufeng were all killed, and none of them withdrew from the battle! At the Zuihou moment, the battalion commander Luo Yufeng pulled the two remaining grenades of Zuihou and died with the Japanese invaders.

The position of the Tiger Cave was lost, and the Japanese army immediately launched a fierce attack on the second peak.

The second peak of the Purple Mountain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Japanese army has failed several attacks, the commander of the 18th Division, Nakajima Imasago was annoyed and ashamed, so he mobilized hundreds of heavy artillery, and sent more than 30 Type 94 bombers from the commander of the Shanghai Command Army, Hatohiko Asakanomiya, to bombard the second peak indiscriminately, and the Purple Mountain fell into a raging fire.

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The sky-high fire ignited on the Purple Mountain was clearly visible in the entire city of Nanjing, and Feng Shengfa, the commander of the 58th Division, had just stepped on the Zhonghua Gate Tower and saw this heavy scene.

At this time, the gap in Zhonghua Gate was finally blocked.

"The Purple Mountain burns, and Nanjing falls." Xu Shijiu let out a long sigh.

Feng Shengfa frowned, he didn't say anything, he didn't believe much in this old proverb, after all, it was not the era of cold weapons, although the Purple Mountain was the barrier outside the Taiping Gate, but even if he lost the Purple Mountain, even if he lost the entire Fukuo position, he could still retreat into the city to fight street battles, and the battle for the defense of Nanjing was far from over.

"Master, don't waste that strength." Xu Shijiu looked at the officers and soldiers of the 58th Division who were building barricades in the city, and sighed, "There is no longer a chance for street fighting, hurry up and let the brothers collect wooden basins and barrels, and prepare to cross the river to break through." ”

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Feng Shengfa glared at Xu Shijiu coldly, but his heart was a little empty, just now he did receive a telegram from Yu Jishi, ordering him to collect wooden basins and barrels, after thinking about it, Feng Shengfa shouted in a low voice, "Ah Jiu, you'd better shut your mouth for the old man, otherwise don't blame the old man for the crime of disturbing the army's heart, hum."

Xu Shijiu sighed and said: "Master, accept your fate, paper can't contain fire after all."

Feng Shengfa said in a deep voice: "Never, as long as the garrison commander's department has not given an order, our 58th Division would rather fight until Zuihou is a pawn than leave Nanjing for half a step." ”

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The high-ranking officials of the Nanjing Garrison Commander's Department also saw the fire on the Purple Mountain.

"The Purple Mountain burns, and Nanjing falls." Liu Xing, deputy commander-in-chief, sighed, "Nanjing can't hold it." ”

Luo Zhuoying, another deputy commander-in-chief, turned his head to look at Tang Shengzhi and said: "General, Nanjing is absolutely unfortunate, why don't you order a breakthrough, instead of consuming the defending troops in Nanjing in vain, it is better to let all parts of the head break through, leave a useful body, and continue to resist the Japanese ...... in the future."

Tang Shengzhi did not respond to Luo Zhuoying, and after being silent for a moment, he suddenly turned his head and instructed Liao Ken, the chief of staff: "Staff Officer Liao, immediately send a report to all the troops that can be contacted, and all corps, corps, divisions, and corps will resist to the death according to the demarcated defense area, until Zuihou is killed, and those who dare to lead the troops to retreat without authorization will be punished for treason!" ”

Luo Zhuoying and Liu Xing's faces suddenly changed greatly, Lao Tang really plans to fight hard with Xiao Ri Ben?!

"Boss, think twice!" Chief of Staff Zhou Wei also advised, "There is a huge disparity in the strength of the Chinese and Japanese armies, and the top priority at the moment should be to preserve the survival of Liliang." ”

"You don't have to be persuaded." Tang Shengzhi waved his hand and said lightly, "I made a military order to the commission, and if I don't succeed in defending Nanjing this time, I will become a benevolent." After that, Tang Shengzhi walked slowly towards the gate of the mansion, and when he was about to leave the gate, he stopped and looked back and smiled, "Besides, the party-state should also die one or two generals." ”

Tang Shengzhi turned around and walked away with his two guards.

Luo Zhuoying was completely panicked, Tang Shengzhi had already lost his mind, and he was determined to die with Xiao Ri Ben, he was unwilling to give Lao Tang and Xiao Ri Ben a funeral, and said to Liu Xing and Zhou Wei at the moment: "Brother Tiefu, Brother Shu Qi, we will immediately call the commission, report the situation in Nanjing truthfully, and ask the commission to decide." ”

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Chairman Chiang's first reaction after receiving the telegram jointly signed by Luo Zhuoying, Liu Xing, and Zhou Wei in Wuhan was, why is it so fast?

For the defense of Nanjing, Chairman Chiang never had any extravagant hopes.

When giving a lecture to Tang Shengzhi and the commanders of the troops who stayed in Nanjing, although Chairman Chiang had said that he would lead the troops of the whole country to launch a large-scale counteroffensive and join up with the troops defending the city to fight a beautiful victory in Nanjing, Chairman Chiang also really transferred more than 40,000 elites of Wang Longyun's 60th Army in Yunnan to march in the direction of Nanjing at night.

However, Chairman Chiang was obviously not psychologically prepared for the fact that the Nanjing Battle would soon enter a "perilous" endgame, and Chairman Chiang's psychological expectation for the Battle of Nanjing was two months, and he originally thought that the Battle of Songhu had been fought for three months under the premise of strategic mistakes, so how could the Battle of Nanjing last for two months?

However, the cruel reality gave Chairman Jiang a blow to the head, he left Nanjing only three days ago, the situation in Nanjing has taken a sharp turn, at this moment, not only the outer defense line that has been operating for many years has collapsed, but even the complex position is already in danger, and the Purple Mountain has already ignited a sky-high fire!

Two months and three days, this gap is a bit big, no wonder Chairman Jiang lost his soul.

On the one hand, of course he hoped that the battle to defend Nanjing would continue, and although the outer defense line had been lost and the reconstructed position was already precarious, the dozen or so divisions ordered to defend the city still had the strength to fight, and if they retreated to the city to fight street battles, it would be difficult for the Japanese army to quickly capture Nanjing, and they would inevitably pay a heavy price.

On the other hand, however, Chairman Chiang was reluctant to burn all the jade and stones, and he did not want Nanjing, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, to be reduced to rubble in the flames of war, still less did he want the dozen or so divisions that remained in Nanjing to die together with the Japanese invaders

Xu Yuanquan's 2nd Army Corps and the 66th Army and 83rd Army of the Guangdong Army, the 71st Army, the 72nd Army, the 74th Army, the 78th Army and the Teaching Corps of the Central Military Academy are all his descendants of Jiang Someone, and they are descendants!

Chairman Chiang was embarrassed by this hesitation, but the battle situation in Nanjing no longer allowed him to hesitate.

The next day, on the afternoon of December l1, Chairman Chiang finally made up his mind that Nanjing would not be defended, and more than a dozen divisions remaining in Nanjing would immediately break through separately.

The situation that Xu Shixianjiu was most worried about finally inevitably happened, Chairman Chiang mobilized heavy troops to defend Nanjing when he should not have ordered him to stay behind, and then ordered the troops defending the city to break through separately when he should not have ordered a retreat.

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Chairman Chiang's telegram was sent to Nanjing, and Tang Shengzhi's anger was immediately discharged

Tang Shengzhi smiled bitterly and said to his staff member Ouyang Qixin: "I'm afraid I won't be able to be a mule." ”

It turned out that when Tang Shengzhi took the initiative to ask Ying to take up the important task of staying in Nanjing, Ouyang Qixin once laughed and said that Tang Shengzhi was a Hunan mule, and the north said that others were mules and cursed, but in the land of Hunan and Chu, mules were given a special meaning.

Tang Shengzhi's stubbornness did not bring the result of haode, and he also thought about disobedience, but it was useless.

Although Lao Jiang had summoned the commanders of the troops who stayed in Nanjing to give a lecture before leaving, asking them to obey Tang Shengzhi's orders like serving Lao Jiang, in fact, whether it was Luo Zhuoying and Liu Xing, the two deputy commanders-in-chief, or the army commanders and division commanders below, they did not take Tang Shengzhi very seriously.

As long as Luo Zhuoying and Liu Xing are willing, they can stand up to Tang Shengzhi at any time.

Tang Shengzhi's only hope now is to postpone Chairman Chiang's order for two days as much as possible, because the breakthrough and transfer of more than 100,000 troops defending the city is not a joke, how to arrange the retreat sequence, how to determine the retreat route, how to solve the means of crossing the river, and where to assemble the troops after the breakthrough, all these will take time to arrange.

However, the reality is cruel, and Tang Shengzhi's wish has not been realized

Luo Zhuoying did not listen to persuasion at all, and as soon as he received Lao Jiang's telegram order, he summoned all the troop commanders who could be summoned to the Tang Mansion in Baiziting for a meeting, and agreed on the retreat sequence and route.