The artillery battle on the outskirts of Nanjing lasted for more than an hour, and the density and firepower were rare in the Sino-Japanese war sites.

Over the course of an hour, the artillery of both sides poured tons of various types of ammunition on each other's positions. The roaring cannons continued to sound, and the exploding artillery fire stained half of the sky red. After the bombardment, almost all the buildings in Nanjing were spared, and the soil on the Japanese positions was also charred black.

After the artillery battle, officers and soldiers on both sides came out of the fortifications full of gunsmoke. A fateful battle began.

The Japanese attack was dealt an unprecedented blow, but they still attacked desperately, pushing the battle line forward step by step.

In the city of Nanjing, Huang Ke's exposure rate has become even higher, he often appears on the streets of Nanjing from time to time, and at the same time, he will use the radio to make daily greetings to the citizens of Nanjing every day. In order to make others think that this was not a recording, he would first talk about the weather of the day, then briefly describe the war situation, and finally encourage the determination of the military and civilians to resist the war. What he did was nothing else, just to let the soldiers and civilians go on a blind date, and Huang Ke was by their side and fought with them.

But wars cannot be won by these inspiring slogans alone, and cannot be won by tenacious willpower alone.

In the decisive battle after the artillery battle, the Chinese army lost nearly 10,000 people, and countless soldiers stained the battlefield with blood. Cui Wu, the commander of the city defense, said sadly to Huang Ke on the phone that he didn't know how long he could hold on, and he had written a blood letter to live and die with Nanjing City.

Huang Ke decided to send the First Army into Nanjing to fight.

Nanjing's dispatch was soon sent to Kunming. Xue Boling breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the order, and waited for a long time to finally wait for this day.

Although many new types of U.S. aid equipment have not yet been run-in, and many weapons are still being trained, time is running out. At the time of the war, the First Group Army was withdrawn from the front line to the hinterland of Yunnan for recuperation, and now after several months of rest, the First Group Army is strong and strong, not only with five brigades and 40,000 people, but also equipped with a large amount of American-style equipment.

The soldiers are strong and strong, waiting for the moment when the tiger will come down the mountain.

Xue Boling immediately conveyed the order after receiving it, and the troops began to make preparations for the march in turn. The First Group Army's garrisons are scattered throughout Yunnan and span several prefectures and cities, and there is no time to delay a minute or a second, and urgent allocation brooks no delay.

After receiving the order, the barracks in the garrisons were filled with the sound of tanks and car motors, the sound of officers' orders, and the sound of officers and men reporting numbers.

The officers and men wearing steel helmets, carrying backpacks and weapons, began to board the vehicles one by one and march towards the *.

* Enough special trains have been prepared to transport batches of officers and soldiers to Nanjing. Thanks to the rapid mobility of modern transport, they can reach their destination in three days.

Tens of thousands of soldiers went out to fight, and in order not to leak the news, the troops chose to travel at night. At this time, the * crowd was crowded, and the officers and soldiers began to enter the stuffy tank box after finishing the rectification.

The sound of the locomotive deflating the steam engine continued to be heard, and the trains began to whistle and drive out of the platform and headed north under the guidance of the railway safety officer's signal flares.

Xue Boling wore a hairy trench coat and white gloves in his hands and smoked leisurely in front of the platform. The weather in Nanjing is not as good as in Kunming, and now is not the time to wear thin clothes, so the old adjutant found his trench coat.

"Have all the winter clothes of the officers and soldiers been distributed?" Xue Boling asked Li Wanhe, the quartermaster next to him.

Li Wanhe stepped forward and said, "It's all sent down before leaving." Nanjing's day is no better than Kunming's, and if it is sent later, it will delay things. ”

Xue Boling nodded, and at this time, the staff officer on duty ran over and said, "Report to the sir, the special train is ready, please board the train." ”

"Okay, get on board!" Xue Boling waved his hand, and the senior officers began to enter their special train carriages. With the roar of the steam locomotive, the special train departed from Kunming Station.

……

After the special train departed, an emergency meeting was still going on in Nanjing. Most of the administrative apparatus of the central government has been moved to Wuhan and other areas, and the central government is now concentrated in Wuhan, but because Huang Ke and the central military apparatus are still in Nanjing, it is still the seat of the central government.

This military meeting is a celebration of the National Day of Double 10. Many people feel that under the current situation of the pressure of the soldiers, there is no need to carry out the National Day ceremony.

However, Huang Ke thinks the opposite. He knocked on the solid wood table and said, "We are not holding a celebration to celebrate, but to convey to the whole country and the world that we will fight the Japanese to the end!" We want people to see that our government, our nation, has the fighting spirit to fight the Japanese to the last man! ”

After speaking, he said to Chen Bui: "Inform the media of various countries in Nanjing to release the news that we are going to hold a celebration on the National Day." ”

Chen Bui took out a piece of paper and wrote it down, and then Huang Ke said: "In addition, I will send out a message in the "Central Daily" that I will personally attend the celebration and review the three armies. ”

"Military parade?" Everyone couldn't believe this unbelievable idea, and it was just a celebration to hold a military parade?

But Huang Ke said firmly: "There must be a military parade." We must use this military parade to unite the hearts of the military and the people. ”

"It's just ......" someone wants to object.

Huang Ke interrupted him: "The general steps are like this. The troops of the First Army had to get off the train station and march to the battlefield through the central square. We don't have the kind of military parade that we usually have, so we draw a small number of troops to march in formation, and the rest of the troops pass through the central square in the usual queue and then go to the battlefield. ”

"Commander-in-chief, such a military parade with such fanfare can certainly play a role in strengthening the morale of the people and the army, but if the news is released in advance that the Japanese army sends planes to bomb, isn't it difficult to control safety?" An official raised his own questions.

Huang Ke set his sights on Air Force Minister Xu Shaozhou. Xu Shaozhou, one of the few senior military and political officials who had not been transferred, said that there were still a large number of young men from the air force in Nanjing, and he was uneasy about leaving like this.

Xu Shaozhou put down the pen in his hand and said: "The air force can send a hundred fighters of various types to participate in the parade that day. At that time, these planes will be lifted into the air with live ammunition. Coupled with the anti-aircraft artillery fire laid out on the ground, the air defense aspect is not a problem. ”

Huang Ke nodded, and at this time, Xiao Shanling said slowly: "It's not a problem with the security of the celebration, we have experience in holding such a celebration." ”

Now, Xiao Shanling is not only the mayor of Nanjing, but also the commander of Nanjing's urban defense, commanding more than 10,000 gendarmes and tens of thousands of police and armed police forces in the city of Nanjing.

These units are mainly responsible for maintaining public order in the city and building fortifications, and assisting the officers and men of the defenders in the defense of the city, so these troops can be regarded as third-rate troops, and compared with the field units of the regular defense forces, there is too much difference in both their equipment training level and comprehensive combat effectiveness.

However, when the defense battle was at its most intense, Xiao Shanling personally led these policemen and ordinary officers and soldiers to fight to the death against the Japanese army, and they proved with practical actions that "third-rate troops can have first-class spirit!" ”

Of course, that's all for later. For now, the meeting to discuss the celebration continues.

Huang Ke did not express any democratic opinions this time, and more than half of the members of the Central Executive Committee had gone to Wuhan, so there was no point in voting again. What's more, how many of those who are willing to stay now are greedy for life and afraid of death?

The plan for the celebration was quickly finalized, and this time the celebration was dominated by a military parade. In order to save money, the troops participating in the parade in the celebration are all troops who are about to leave for the battlefield, that is, they just walk through the road from the central square and symbolically carry out a military parade.

But it is such a transition that must be carried out, Huang Ke said, sometimes the face project must not only be carried out, but also carried out with great fanfare.

The meeting was finalized, and Huang Ke designated the establishment of a "National Day Celebration Preparatory Group" on the spot. He himself served as the team leader, Xu Shaozhou, Xiao Shanling, Chen Bui and others were all team members, and the internal meeting of the organization began to discuss, and the general layout plan was also taken out on the same day.

Just as everyone was about to dismiss the meeting, at this time, the staff officer on duty sent an urgent piece of information that had just been deciphered by the intelligence department.

After the Reserve Cadres Department deciphered this piece of information, it reported directly to Yang Yibing's office. Yang Yibing was not idle, and immediately sent it to Huang Ke's office in person at the Ministry of National Defense.

The staff officer on duty immediately sent this telegram to Huang Ke, who was at the meeting.

The content of the newspaper is very short, only two lines, but Huang Ke is enough to inspire people after reading it.

After reading the telegram, he immediately stood up and said to the crowd: "You continue the meeting, and I will go out first." ”

With that, he walked straight to the door. After arriving at the door, he asked the staff officer on duty, "Where is Yang Yibing now?" ”

The staff officer on duty replied, "Director Yang is waiting for you in your office now. ”

"Okay, let's go to the office now." After Huang Ke finished speaking, he quickened his pace.

When he arrived at the office, the staff officer on duty helped him push open the door, and at this time, Yang Yibing, who was sitting on the sofa, immediately stood up reflexively.

He was about to raise his hand to salute, but was interrupted by Huang Ke: "No need, tell me what the situation is?" ”

Yang Yibing said with a happy face: "We have deciphered the latest information of the Japanese and learned from many aspects. The Japanese are ready to do their hand to the Americans! ”