The battle continued until noon, when the Nationalist government's base camp in Wuhan sent the latest order to Gu Zhutong, the supreme commander stationed in Nanjing's Jiangbei defensive line, and asked him to convey the order to Tang Shengzhi, the commander of the Nanjing garrison. The drafter of the order was none other than Chiang Kai-shek, then chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government and supreme leader of the country, ———. In his telegram, Chiang Kai-shek made the latest disposition of the defenders of Nanjing very clear: In order to prevent the defenders in the city from being surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese army, Tang Shengzhi should lead the garrison headquarters to cross the river and go north by tonight, and the defenders should also wait for an opportunity to find a good way to break through the encirclement.

Tang Shengzhi, commander of the garrison, was in a cocoon, and since he strongly advocated holding Nanjing at a high-level meeting held on the 18th of last month, he has become a national hero of unprecedented prestige, and while he is favored by the supreme leader Chiang Kai-shek, he has also suffered from the eyes and ridicule of many colleagues. For this battle to defend the capital, most of the senior generals of the national army are pessimistic about the development of the war situation. Among them, Li Zongren, who was then the commander of the Fifth Theater, and Bai Chongxi, who was then the head of the Military Training Department, were the loudest opponents.

Li Zongren believes that in terms of tactics and terrain, Nanjing is surrounded by plains, which is conducive to the large-scale advance of the Japanese mechanized troops, and once it is surrounded, Nanjing will become an isolated city. The enemy could use roundabout tactics to encircle Nanking like an iron bucket. Moreover, there is the Yangtze River in the north of the city, so the end cannot be taken care of, and the north and south cannot be connected. In addition, almost all of the troops defending the city were remnants of the army that had just been withdrawn from the Songhu battlefield, and their morale and combat effectiveness had suffered a serious setback. Such an army is trapped in a lonely city, and the result of defending the city can be imagined.

In the analysis of this battle situation, Bai Chongxi, who was also from the "Gui Army", raised his hands in agreement. Even the military and political officials present at the time, such as Chen Cheng, Liu Zhi, Gu Zhu and others, had no choice but to go with the flow and move closer to Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi in a one-sided manner. This disappointed Chiang Kai-shek, who had always been strong.

At this time, Tang Shengzhi stood up and took the initiative to ask for help, and his generous speech could be said to have moved Chiang Kai-shek for a while. Chiang Kai-shek immediately appointed Tang Shengzhi as the commander of the Nanjing garrison to make active preparations for the next battle to defend the capital. Tang Shengzhi was ordered to be in danger, so he naturally wanted to make some merits. But the heavens did not fulfill people's wishes, where would Tang Shengzhi, who could be described as a mediocre talent in military command, think that the positions on the outskirts of Nanjing City, which he had carefully planned and constructed, would all be lost in just three days, and the current reconstructing positions would be in danger.

The Japanese Central China Front almost went out in spite of it, and its motive seemed to be to come specifically at him, the supreme commander of the Nanjing garrison. He is a first-class general of the National Revolutionary Army, and if he is captured alive by the Japanese army like a rabbit here, he will really become a big laughing stock in the international military circles. Thinking of this, Tang Shengzhi couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat behind his back.

At this time, Tang Shengzhi suddenly felt that his personality and thoughts had become a little divided, and he wanted to do his best to hold on to Nanjing City, but on the other hand, he was afraid of being captured alive by the powerful Japanese army. The so-called fish and bear's paw are incompatible, and in the current situation, these two ideas are simply not the same. At present, the Wuhan base camp has not directly issued a retreat message to the garrison headquarters, but has only conveyed it through the Jiangbei Gu Zhu Tong Department. Tang Shengzhi, who has always been stubborn and self-serving, decided to go his own way again, turning a blind eye to the "northward plan" submitted by Gu Zhu's subordinates, unless he received a military order directly from the Wuhan base camp, he would rather die than withdraw until the last moment.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Yang Longfei and Tie Haichuan had withdrawn to the area of Xinjiekou, which was the most prosperous commercial area in the urban area of Nanjing, but at this time it had become a bloody battlefield of arms and arms between the two arms.

Completed in 1930, important buildings such as the National Bank, the Central Shopping Mall, the Xindu Grand Theater, and the Fuchang Hotel also fell into the hands of the enemy and suffered serious damage, especially the Central Shopping Mall.

The Central Shopping Mall was built by 32 people, including Zhang Jingjiang and Zeng Yangfu, members of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, with the purpose of resisting foreign goods, promoting domestic products, and promoting the development and progress of national industry and commerce. The venue rental and other business models launched by the central shopping mall have attracted a number of time-honored state-owned brands to join and settle in, such as Jingdezhen porcelain, Hengdeli jewelry, Zhang Xiaoquan scissors, Wu Liangcai glasses, etc.

When their follow-up troops rushed into the mall building, they found several banners with red letters on a white background hanging on the walls, which read: Boycott Japanese products, support domestic products, and the slogan "Down with Japanese imperialism", which made the Japanese troops present angry. Annoyed and angry, the Japanese soldiers first angrily tore down the slogans on the wall and burned them together, and then looted all the goods on the containers and shelves in front of the mall staff, and stuffed small objects such as compasses, scissors, and pens into their pockets.

When the Japanese military heard that the chairman and general manager of the bank, Kong Xiangxi and Song Ziliang, were respectively, they immediately ordered it to be closed down and not allowed to open to the public without the permission of the military.

You know, who are these Kong Xiangxi and Song Ziliang? They are relatives of Chiang Kai-shek, the supreme leader of the Kuomintang, and in other words, as the Chinese call them, one is a brother-in-law, the other is a brother-in-law, and who is Mr. Chiang? He is a sworn enemy of the Japanese government!

The reasons of the Japanese military are very good, and it is not too much for the banks owned by Chiang Kai-shek's relatives to be closed down, even if they are set on fire. The commander of the Central China Front, Matsui Ishone, thought about it and finally decided to restructure the National Bank into a branch of the Central Bank of Manchuria, and after the battle, the latest banking system and the Manchurian National Dollar would be promulgated.

……

After the Japanese army occupied the central shopping mall, its vanguard did not give Yang Longfei and Tie Haichuan a chance to breathe, and they bit each other's tails and did not let go. Yang Longfei was in a hurry, he couldn't stand this kind of aggrieved feeling of being chased behind and beaten, so he gave an order, and the whole regiment turned around and launched a counterattack! Damn, even if I die today, I, Yang Longfei, will never take half a step back!

When the 25th and 89th regiments launched a fierce counterattack against the Japanese army, the attack momentum of the Japanese vanguard that had been enjoying all the way was obviously frustrated, and they were stunned by the counterattack carried out by the Chinese defenders in front of them. originally thought that the Chinese defenders who were driven in front like rabbits by themselves had become a rabble, but what they didn't expect was that this rabble still had the ability to fight back!

Yang Longfei was really anxious this time, he was personally holding a Czech light machine gun and sweeping the Japanese position. Taking advantage of the gap between the opponent's replacement*, the Japanese machine gunners also launched a fierce offensive against the opposite Nationalist position. If it weren't for the first battalion commander Xie Dacheng and Tie Haichuan and others desperately pushing Yang Longfei behind a bunker, I was afraid that Yang Longfei would be hit by the devil's machine gun.

The bunker in front of Yang Longfei and them was not a private house, not a wall, but a very artistic, huge cannonball diorama. This model of the artillery shell was made in June 1935 after the establishment of the Air Defense Committee of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government for the purpose of holding an air defense exhibition. It is said that the unveiling ceremony of this "cannonball" was presided over by He Yingqin, who was the acting chairman of the North China Military Branch at the time, and Zhou Zhirou, who was also the principal of the Central Aviation School.

It is estimated that even these two heavyweight military and political figures themselves did not expect that in just over two years, this model of a cannonball with a certain warning significance would be turned into a bunker used by his officers and soldiers to hide. What they didn't expect was that because the shell model was hollowed out and there was no filling stored in the projectile body, it was still unable to avoid deformation under the enemy's strong firepower, and there were countless depressions on the surface of the shell.

"Brother Long Fei, it is not advisable to stay here for a long time, there is no space here, and the warriors can't let go of their hands and feet at all, and if they are not careful, they will become a live target for the enemy! You see, less than 200 meters north of this square, there are still patches of private houses, and the terrain there is complicated, which is conducive to street fighting between us and the devils! Tie Haichuan leaned up to Yang Longfei's side and shouted while raising his gun and pulling the trigger.

Yang Longfei sneered and rejected Tie Haichuan's proposal: "If you want to withdraw, you will also withdraw with your 89th regiment, Lao Tzu will definitely not leave!" Damn, let the little devil be like a rabbit, I, Yang Longfei, am almost faceless! If you retreat further, the brand of the entire 18th Army must be smashed in my hands! People want faces, trees and bark, even if they die today, I can't make the little devils laugh at us and dare not play with our lives! ”

"Brother Long Fei, now is not the time to be rash, you can fight with the Japanese as well as retreating into the alley, and we can only suffer from fighting devils here! Brother Long Fei, listen to me, we can't retreat far, and when we enter the alley, let's clean up the devils! Tie Haichuan persuaded bitterly.

Yang Longfei decisively rejected Tie Haichuan's dissuasion: "Don't talk nonsense, I just said it, now I'll repeat it one last time, I won't stop you if you want to withdraw, but don't take me Yang Longfei up!" I can tell you now that if I don't kill those bitches on the other side, I, Yang Longfei, will not be a man! Attention to all the 25 regiments, listen to my orders, all bayonets! Trumpeter, blow the trumpet ———"

After receiving the order, the trumpeter stood up, ignored the enemy's bullets, took a deep breath, and then picked up the trumpet and blew it.

"Boy, learn a little, let you see what it means to see what a bayonet is......" Yang Longfei whispered to Tie Haichuan in a contemptuous tone, and immediately changed his tone after speaking, and shouted at the soldiers on both wings, "Brothers, rush up and chop him up little devil, rush to ———."

———When the officers and soldiers of the 25th Regiment heard Yang Longfei's roar, their tired body and mind suddenly became full of passion and strength, perhaps this is the charm of the soul of a unit. With the order of the regiment commander, the soldiers also jumped out of the fortifications, grabbed the machetes, ghost head knives, and rifles equipped with bayonets in their hands and rushed to the Japanese troops on the opposite side. The soldiers who did not have sharp weapons in their hands simply took materials from the spot, and the burning sticks, broken bricks, and even the flat poles left on the ground by the citizens became weapons in the hands of the soldiers, and they rushed to the enemy's position with the roar of courage.

The Japanese also seemed to be well-behaved, and they had always been fond of hand-to-hand combat, which in their opinion was the best moment to show the ability and courage of a samurai. The Japanese soldiers, who admired the spirit of bushido, unloaded their equipment and packages, picked up their rifles with bayonets, and roared towards the Chinese defenders who were approaching them......

The two troops were soon intertwined, and from a distance, the two troops were wearing khaki uniforms, and the enemy and us were moving too fast in the process of fighting, Rao is a person with good eyesight was afraid that he would be dazzled by the scene in front of him, and the essence of white-knuckle combat, its bloodiness and cruelty could only be felt after the enemy and us really integrated in.

Xie Dacheng, the commander of the first battalion, was armed with a sharp ghost-headed knife, and he had already cut off the heads of three Japanese soldiers in succession, and he himself was stabbed in the shoulder blade, and blood trickled out of the wound like a stream. Xie Dacheng looked down at his injuries and couldn't help but be angry. He has been in the army for almost ten years, and he has never shed so much blood in a battle. According to Yang Longfei, this kid is a typical master who can only take advantage and cannot suffer. In Xie Dacheng's opinion, he deserves to cut off the brains of many enemies, but others can't let him hang a little color.

At this time, a Japanese soldier Cao Chang appeared in front of Xie Dacheng with a Type 38 rifle equipped with a bayonet. Xie Dacheng's eyes were glowing with cold, and without saying a word, he slashed at the Japanese Cao Chang in front of him with the ghost head knife in his hand. Obviously, this Japanese Cao Chang's stabbing skills are not bad, he found that although Xie Dacheng is desperate, the gap in his lower body is not well protected, but any mid-level samurai can knock the thorn to the ground. With nearly three years of experience in white-knuckle fighting, the Japanese Cho Chang decided to give it a try...... Xie Dacheng expressed great dissatisfaction with this Japanese Cao Chang's avoidance of war, damn, shouldn't this little devil be afraid of death? Do you understand the rules?

Xie Dacheng made a provocative gesture at the enemy: "Dog, come, come!" ”

The enraged Japanese soldier Cao Chang roared, and stabbed Xie Dacheng in the chest with his rifle, which was actually a false move, and after Xie Dacheng subconsciously avoided this blow, he immediately stabbed the bayonet into Xie Dacheng's thigh again...... Xie Dacheng was stunned, although he dodged in time, his pants were still cut by the enemy's bayonet, and Xie Dacheng obviously felt a warm liquid gushing out of his thighs, accompanied by a burst of irritating pain. Needless to say, this dog-day little devil made another cut at the base of his thigh......

Xie Dacheng was furious, he picked up the ghost head knife and slashed at the proud Japanese soldier Cao Chang, which caught the little devil off guard for a while. After he reacted, he was about to find an opportunity to stab Xie Dacheng in the abdomen with a bayonet, but before he could make a move, he accidentally tripped on a step in the process of retreating, and the whole person fell to the ground on his back with a "boom".

Not only Xie Dacheng, but Yang Longfei himself also added new injuries after the old injuries were not healed, but this time it was not a stabbing wound, but a smashing injury. During the battle, Yang Longfei was smashed on the right cheek by a Japanese soldier with *, and he was bruised at that time, and his mind became a little dazed, but fortunately, his soldiers used knives to block the enemy's assassination for him. Yang Longfei slowed down for less than half a minute, and with a loud roar, he fell into a scuffle again......

The sound of roars, the clanging of knives and guns, the sound of bone cracking, and screams were mixed together, and the follow-up troops of the Japanese army found this scene when they arrived, and hurriedly picked up the rifles in their hands and joined the battle one after another......

Just listen to "Boom! Rumble! With a few loud ......bangs, the Japanese follow-up troops were bombarded by unexplained shelling, and the road to the charge was suddenly plunged into a sea of fire, and the Japanese officers and men who had not yet fallen into the melee were almost completely annihilated. The shelling continued, and even Yang Longfei himself wondered where these rounds of shelling came from. It wasn't until after the battle that I learned that it was Tie Haichuan who used the radio station to get in touch with the headquarters, and reported their location and coordinates to the artillery regiment directly under the headquarters through the microphone, so that there was the scene of the accurate artillery bombardment just now.

Not only that, Major General Qiu Qingquan, chief of staff of the Central Education Corps, also specially transferred a reinforced battalion to assist Yang Longfei's troops in the operation. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Japanese army had to withdraw from the battle first, and according to the intention of its headquarters, the battle line was withdrawn to the area of Bailuzhou Park to garrison.

The battalion commander who was in charge of coming over for reinforcements saluted Yang Longfei Lizheng and said, "Report to the commander, Wang Zhengsheng, the commander of the new 1st Battalion, led all of our troops to reinforce the officers and men of the 25th and 89th regiments on the order of Chief of Staff Qiu of the new battalion, and brought some medicines and treatment equipment for your regiment. ”

"Anything else?" Yang Longfei covered his injured right cheek and asked with some deliberate evasion.

"Yes! After assisting your regiment to successfully defeat the main force of the Japanese army, Commander Tang ordered our troops to personally escort Chief Yang to the garrison headquarters to stand by, and the 25th and 89th regiments withdrew to the area of Purple Mountain to rest and recuperate! ”

"Is there anything Chief Tang is looking for me? You won't ask me for tea, will you? ”

"I'm sorry, Chief Yang, Chief Tang is looking for you as a military secret, and Wang has no way of knowing."

Yang Longfei nodded in understanding, and after straightening the hat on his head, he looked at Zhang Shan, the deputy head of the regiment on the side, and solemnly instructed: "When I am not there, you are the backbone of the regiment, and in case of an emergency, you will have full command." But there is one point, Lao Tzu is just such a little belongings, if you can die one less, you will die one less, don't wait for me to come back, the whole group will not see a living person, you have to remember my words in the bottom of your heart, do you hear? ”

"Understood!" In the face of Yang Longfei's entrustment, Zhang Shan immediately replied with a resolute look and silently said to him that as long as he was alive, he would definitely reserve the seeds for the 25th regiment in the future......