From noon to evening, Okazaki's squadron launched a total of more than a dozen strong attacks, all of which ended in defeat, and the Umegaka position remained unmoved, but Okazaki's squadron went from a reinforced squadron of 250 men to a missing squad of less than 50 men.

The captain of the 1st Brigade, Ito Yoshimitsu, was so angry that he wanted to cut off Ken Okazaki's head with a knife, considering that Ken Okazaki joined the army earlier than him, and his performance has been good after landing in Shanghai, Ito Yoshimitsu suppressed the anger in his heart, and Zuihou gave Ken Okazaki half a day to take Meigang before noon tomorrow.

Of course, it is unrealistic to expect Ken Okazaki to win Meigang with a squad of less than 50 people, but Ito Yoshimitsu still pinched his nose to replenish the 1st Squadron, and this time it is no longer a reserve soldier who has only received simple military training and has no actual combat experience, but a group of retired veterans who have participated in actual combat.

Okazaki Ken left in a gloomy manner, returned to the squadron headquarters and began to think about tomorrow's tactics, but the old devil did not know that his opponent had been replaced, at ten o'clock that night, Xu 19 received Feng Shengfa's order, and the 19th Brigade immediately went to Saihongqiao to join the main force of the division, and the Yuhuatai position was changed by the 88th Division.

It turned out that the battle situation had undergone major changes during the day, just when the battle broke out in Yuhuatai, Guanghua Xiaohuamen was also attacked by the Japanese army at the same time, and the Japanese 9th and 6th divisions mobilized hundreds of heavy artillery, coupled with the repeated dive bombing of dozens of bombers, in the afternoon, two gaps were blown up in the city wall.

The 9th Division of the Japanese Army first blew up a section of the city wall on the right side of Guanghua Gate, and the 1st Brigade of the 19th Infantry Wing of the infantry team swarmed along the gap formed by the collapse.

Soon after the gap in Guanghua Gate was blocked, the 6th Division of the Japanese Army blew up a section of the city wall between Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate, and the one who opened the gap was the 36th Infantry Brigade that captured the Shanghai Municipal Government.

Guanghua Xiaohuamen was in danger one after another, and Tang Shengzhi, commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Garrison Commander's Department, was still a good man, without the slightest sense of urgency that the battle situation was already collapsing, and he still did not specifically ask about the meaning of the battle command, but just took two guards to take a leisurely walk in the backyard of the Baiziting Mansion, smoking cigarettes while sipping fragrant tea.

Luo Zhuoying, deputy commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Garrison Commander's Department, Liu Xing, and Zhou Bin, chief of the general staff, were all panicked, and Liao Ken, chief of staff, took the initiative to ask for help, and went to plug the gap with the telephone, and also agreed with the headquarters to talk every ten minutes, if there was no phone for more than ten minutes, it meant that he had sacrificed his life for the country.

As a result, before Liao Ken arrived, an advance brigade of the 36th Infantry Brigade of the Japanese Army had already rushed into the city of Nanjing, and built fortifications with the help of streets and alleys.

Luo Zhuoying urgently ordered Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 72nd Army, to lead the 88th Division to counterattack, clear the Japanese troops who rushed into the city, and ordered to reach the military headquarters of the 72nd Army, but Sun Yuanliang was not there, and asked the chief of staff Zhang Baiting and the two brigade commanders, only saying that Sun Yuanliang went out in the morning and has not returned yet, and the current commander of the 72nd Army and the commander of the 88th Division of the great enemy is missing.

Where is Sun Yuanliang? In the morning, he took the guards to try to escape out of the Jiangmen, but was blocked by the commander of the 78th Army, Song Xilian, with a machine gun, Song Xilian did not report the matter to the garrison commander's department, and then Sun Yuanliang never returned to the military headquarters of the 72nd Army, and a few days later Nanjing was lost, but Sun Yuanliang appeared in Wuhan unscathed.

Sun Yuanliang evaporated, the heart of the 72nd Army fluctuated, and the combat effectiveness of the troops dropped sharply, Luo Zhuoying thought of Yu Jishi's 74th Army again, but when he called the military headquarters of the 74th Army in Saihongqiao, Yu Jishi was not there.

Where did Yu Jishi go? He is leading the 51st Brigade of the 151st Division to build a pontoon bridge at Sanhankou (the intersection of the Qinhuai River flowing into the Yangtze River). Of course, in order to cross the river, Yu Jishi saw that the Japanese army was attacking fiercely, and felt that the loss of Nanjing was a matter of three or two days, so he thought about retreating to Xiaguan Wharf as soon as possible, so as to cross the Yangtze River north first.

Not only Zhou Zhidao's 151st Brigade, but even the main force of the 58th Division was transferred to Shangxinhe (a small town close to the Yangtze River and close to Jiangxinzhou) by Yu Jishi, and the 74th Army was supposed to retreat to Saihongqiao and Yuhuatai to rely on the city walls to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army, but Zuihou only left Zhang Lingfu and Qiu Weida's two remnants and the 19th Brigade were still holding on to Yuhuatai.

At the end of the Battle of Nanjing, the command system of the Nationalist Army was in fact paralyzed.

Luo Zhuoying was furious when he learned the news, and immediately ordered Xiao Shanling to take the gendarmerie to Sanhankou to stop the 74th Army from erecting a pontoon bridge, and when he crossed Yu Ji, he directly gave Feng Shengfa an order, ordering the 58th Division to block the gap between Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate, and at the same time send effective troops to clear the Japanese army entrenched in the gap.

After receiving the order, Feng Shengfa hurriedly took the main force of the 58th Division to the direction of Saihongqiao, and at the same time sent several groups of heralds to Yuhuatai, ordering the 19th Brigade to go to Saihongqiao to join the main force of the 58th Division, but at this time, the 6th Division of the Japanese Army had already hit the city of Nanjing, and the national army and the Japanese front had formed a dog-tooth situation, and several groups of heralds sent by Feng Shengfa failed to cross the Japanese army's blockade line, and the order was not conveyed to the 19th Brigade in time.

It wasn't until after ten o'clock in the night that the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division came to Meigang to take over the defense, and Xu 19th heard the military order of the garrison commander's department from the mouth of Zhu Chi, the commander of the 262nd Brigade, when the position was handed over to the 262nd Brigade, and then rushed to Saihongqiao overnight with the troops.

As soon as they met, Feng Shengfa said, "Ah Jiu, tell me about the situation of the Nineteenth Brigade."

Xu 19 naturally did not hide it, and replied truthfully: "In terms of personnel, excluding the seriously wounded, there are more than 400 people left in the 19th Brigade, and in terms of weapons and equipment and ammunition, there are 2 82mm caliber mortars left, 20 shells, 4 heavy machine guns, 2 light machine guns, more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 20 boxes of grenades." ”

Feng Shengfa nodded, and then took Xu Shijiu to the defense map of Nanjing City pasted on the wall, pointed to a small piece of street and alley between Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate and said: "The Japanese army has opened a gap here, and about three hundred Japanese soldiers have entered the city through this gap to occupy this street and alley, Ah Jiu, do you have the confidence to kill this Japanese army?" ”

Xu Nineteen straightened his chest and said solemnly: "Rest assured, the Nineteenth Brigade will never let you down!" ”

"Good, good!" Feng Shengfa patted Xu Nineteen's shoulder with satisfaction, and said, "In this way, I will add two hundred veterans to your Nineteenth Brigade, 2 Makqin heavy machine guns, 6 Czech light machine guns, 20 flower machines plus 100,000 rounds of ammunition, but I will say ugly things ahead, if you can't kill this group of devils before dawn, you are the only one who asks." ”

Xu Shijiu stood up again and said loudly: "Yes!" ”

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When Xu 19 returned to the temporary residence of the 19th Brigade, it was already the early morning of December 10.

At this time, more than 400 officers and soldiers of the 19th Brigade and the 60th or 70th seriously wounded were all resting in the barracks south of Saihongqiao, and according to the scorched earth order issued by the Nanjing Garrison Commander's Department, all the buildings within 2,000 kilometers of the periphery of the city wall of Nanjing were burned or demolished.

In fact, this is by no means an isolated phenomenon, the scorched earth order of the Nanjing garrison headquarters has not been thoroughly implemented, and the reason why the Ushishima Brigade was able to break through the gap between the west gates of Zhonghua Xiaoshui so quickly was because there were two five-story western-style buildings outside the gap that were not blown up, thus providing the Japanese army with a condescending fire support point.

As soon as Xu 19 walked into the temporary brigade headquarters, Gu Wei, deputy captain, Lu Yong, commander of the 2nd company, one-eyed dragon, commander of the 3rd company, Hu Jie, commander of the artillery company, and Gao Shenxing, the commander of the guard platoon, surrounded him, and at this time, there were already rumors that Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 72nd Army, had left the army and absconded, and the military spirit of the 19th Brigade was also affected.

Xu Shijiu waved his hand to stop everyone from asking questions, and said to Gao Shenxing: "Shenxing, you immediately take the guard platoon to escort the seriously injured to the Confucius Temple." "The field hospital of the Nanjing Garrison Governor's Department is located in the Confucius Temple, which is also to take advantage of Xiao Ri's reverence for Buddhist temples and Confucian temples, and Xiao Ri's bombers really rarely bomb the temples and Confucian temples

"Yes!" Gao Shenxing stood upright, saluted Xu Shijiu, and then turned around.

As soon as Gao Shenxing left, Gu Wei greeted him and asked anxiously: "Captain, I heard that Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 72nd Army, has left the army and absconded, this can't be true, right?"

Xu 19 asked rhetorically, "What do you say?" ”

Gu Wei opened his mouth wide and said in a mouthful of words: "So you really ran away?" ”

Xu Jiujiu sank his face and said in a deep voice: "Just a few of you know about this matter, don't talk nonsense everywhere, Sun Yuanliang's escape is his business, as long as the garrison governor's department does not order a day to retreat, our nineteenth brigade will not be able to withdraw for a day, and besides, who dares to spread rumors, don't blame me for not being merciful." ”

Gu Wei, Lu Yong, Hu Jie and the one-eyed dragon were awe-inspiringly silent.

Xu Shijiu's cold eyes swept over the faces of the four people, and he said, "Now arrange the combat mission." ”

After Gu Wei and the four of them came over, Xu Shijiu pointed to the map on the table and said: "You see, this is a tofu factory, there are about more than 300 hours of people entrenched here, and the task of our 19th Brigade is to clear this group of little devils before dawn, and then cooperate with the main force of the division to clear the Japanese army on the city wall and outside the city, and re-plug the gap." ”