June 25, 1935, Nanjing, Purple Mountain

Amid the shouts of the mountains and the tsunami, the brave Red Army soldiers rushed through the enemy line like a tidal wave, and the blue sky and white sun flags that had long been blackened by the smoke of gunpowder fell one after another, while the bright red flags painted with sickles and hammers were raised in the wind on the hills everywhere.

The Battle of Nanjing, which had just begun less than 48 hours ago, was completely out of suspense at this point.

“…… At present, the Kuomintang army's Purple Mountain defense line has completely collapsed, and the two strongholds of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Ming Xiaoling have fallen one after another without a fight, but at the Purple Mountain Observatory, there is still about a regiment of stubborn enemy who is holding on to resistance, and our army has to use heavy weapons to destroy it......

In addition, there are now a small number of stragglers of the Kuomintang army, scattered in the suburbs and countryside to resist persistently. Comrade Su Yu was going to rest in the Purple Mountain for two to three days and completely clean up these remnants of the enemy before launching a general attack on the urban area of Nanjing...... Prior to this, the cruiser Pinghai had already shelled the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing, in order to cut off the retreat route of the remnants of the enemy in the city to escape from the Yangtze River to the north, and to reduce the pressure for the next operation to cross the Yangtze River......"

Set up in the headquarters of the Red Fifth Front Army in Pudong, Shanghai, Fang Zhimin briefed the latest battle report to the traversers, and at the same time moved several small red flags and small blue flags one by one on the sand table of the Nanjing battlefield newly typed with a 3D printer.

On this sand table, the entire land south of the Yangtze River is already red, and the area east of the canal in the north of the Yangtze River has also been planted with red flags.

In addition, in this place where the battlefield sand table is not shown, the banner of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is also soaring at an alarming speed.

- When the calendar of the year is flipped to June. The "Shanghai encirclement network" orchestrated by the imperialist powers has shown a tendency to collapse.

Although the Japanese Empire, which greatly despised the "inferior people of China", still did not take the catastrophe of the nuclear explosion on its own soil. It is linked to the "secret weapon" declared by the Shanghai Red Army, but the heavy blow it dealt to the invading Japanese army has gradually been revealed on the battlefield - the "South China Dispatch Army", which has been moldy for eight lifetimes, first suffered a blow to the head on the Taihu battlefield, and then stepped into the meat grinder on Chongming Island, was knocked out of three entire divisions, and was forced to dry its blood. Today, although it still maintains the structure of an army. However, less than half of the division's strength remained, and heavy artillery, tanks, planes and other Jishu equipment were lost, and even ammunition was consumed.

Faced with such a dilemma. The South China Army, which refused to admit defeat, first tried to drag people into the water, and used the Japanese army's unique "belly art" to ask the General Staff Headquarters for "operational guidance" -- that is, an obscure way of asking for help. It is a pity that the general staff headquarters of the Tokyo Imperial Army has been destroyed by nuclear explosions and fires, and the staff officers are either killed or injured. External communications were completely cut off. The South China dispatch army just broke its throat and no one cared.

In this ominous silence, the Japanese Fifth Division, which was trapped on Chongming Island, ran out of ammunition and food, and the division commander, Lieutenant General Koiso Kuniaki, committed suicide after "burning" the military flag, and the remnants of the Japanese army launched a suicidal charge, and then "shattered the jade into a god" at full speed.

After another two days, contact was finally restored, but the military department was helpless at the moment about the predicament of the Jiangnan battlefield - Tokyo at the eastern tip of Japan and Kyushu Island at the western end were reduced to purgatory. Military production, material transportation, military service conscription, and other affairs have all become a mess, and even the land minister, the chief of staff, and the deputy chief of staff, who hold great power, are high-ranking officials and dignitaries. They were also either killed or seriously wounded, and the upper echelons of the army had long been completely paralyzed, and they could no longer command all kinds of soldiers and horses, and could no longer coordinate and direct the war in Chinese mainland.

Even among the survivors of the staff headquarters, there are still a few madmen who want to grit their teeth and fight the war of aggression against China to the end, but standing in such a scorched earth, it is also a useless place for heroes - to increase troops on the battlefield in Chinese mainland? Where are the soldiers? Where is the ammunition? Where is the logistical baggage? And where is the transport fleet? Even if they were able to make up these things, why would they be thrown across the sea instead of being used for disaster relief in Tokyo?

Therefore, after listening to the bad news that the "Communist Army of China" was advancing step by step along the Yangtze River, and after waiting for a long time with extreme anxiety, the headquarters of the "South China Dispatch Army" in Nanjing received such a heart-warming reply: "...... Since the Great Eruption of Mt. Fuji, the prefectures of Kanto have become purgatory, and the Emperor's holy car has also been disturbed. In view of the predicament of the battlefield in the Yangtze River Valley, the military headquarters was also powerless for a while, not only did it have nowhere to raise reinforcements, it was impossible to maintain the supply of ammunition, and there was no fleet to transport......

In the same way, the Ministry of the Navy unceremoniously rejected the request of the "South China Dispatch Army" to provide fire assistance from the Navy.

As a result, the command of the "South China Dispatch Army," which was completely desperate, had no choice but to ignore Wang Jingwei's repeated pleas, and on June 5, 1935, nearly four months after the "bloodless opening of Nanjing," it ordered to abandon its stronghold in the south of the Yangtze River, cross the river from Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Wuhu and other places again, and retreat to the areas around Xuzhou and Lianyungang to carry out a large-scale all-round strategic contraction. Although the unfortunate Wang Jingwei saw that the situation was not good, he could not get off the thief ship, so he had to go all the way to the black, and led a group of henchmen to withdraw from Nanjing with the Japanese army and go to the Japanese-occupied areas in the north to form a "government in exile".

In this way, when the Red Fifth Front Army in Shanghai ended the bloody battle on Chongming Island and began to launch a large-scale counterattack, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the enemy in front had shown a tendency to collapse - the remnants of the Japanese army had retreated, and the abandoned Kuomintang army in Nanjing had fallen into internal collapse: they all knew that when the British, French, American, and Japanese allied forces were completely unable to defeat the Red Bandits, they would simply wait for death to stay in Jiangnan.

Therefore, some of the hardcore traitors in the Kuomintang reactionary army chose to follow the Japanese master across the river to the north. Another part of the die-hard elements betrayed He Yingqin and Wang Jingwei again, and went up the Yangtze River to Wuhan to join Chiang Kai-shek, an old master who seemed to have a more promising future. On the one hand, some officers and men with patriotic sentiments in their hearts were shocked by the great prestige of the Red Army's great destruction of the allied forces of the imperialist powers, and on the other hand, they were fascinated by the hope of China's rise. Therefore, under the infiltration and work of the underground party, they simply defected and hung up the red flag.

All in all, when Su Yu led the Red Thirteenth Army. When Hu Tiantao led the Red Eleventh Army Corps, totaling about 60,000 fresh troops, to launch a counterattack on the western front from the Jiangyin and Yixing fronts, the Kuomintang troops on the opposite side of the position fled and surrendered, and almost failed to organize any effective resistance - from Wuxi, Changzhou, Danyang, Liyang, all the way to Lishui and Zhenjiang. The entire counterattack can only be described as a breakthrough along the way, and the pot pulp along the way.

It was only when the Red Thirteenth Army advanced to the outskirts of Nanjing that it encountered fierce resistance from the Kuomintang diehards. However, with the backbone of the Nanjing defense forces. At least half of the officers and men of the 87th and 88th Divisions of the Kuomintang Central Army defected, the crucial Yuhuatai defense line collapsed in an instant, and the stubborn enemy holding the Purple Mountain position also fell into a flank attack, and collapsed after less than 24 hours of resistance.

At this moment. Nanjing, the capital, is already like a beautiful woman stripped naked. Completely exposed to the Red Army.

“…… In my opinion, the current situation is that the soldiers are fast and fast, so let Comrade Su Yu work hard, increase his strength, and take advantage of the chaos of the enemy army to immediately launch an attack on the urban area of Nanjing! Don't worry about the back road at all! Comrade Mao Zetan's Red Twelfth Army Corps has already caught up. ”

After discussing with Lin Shenhe and other PLA representatives for a while, Wang Qiu turned around and said their suggestions to Fang Zhimin, "...... Although the Red Twelfth Army suffered heavy losses on Chongming Island. At present, there are less than 10,000 soldiers left to fight, but only if they clear the remnants of the enemy behind the battle line. It should be enough!

It is a pity that the political significance of this conquest of Nanjing may not be as great as originally imagined - Wang Jingwei had fled to Beiping the day before yesterday, announcing that Beiping would be renamed Beijing and that the Beijing Nationalist Government would be established. Therefore, the confrontation between the two Nationalist governments and the puppet Manchukuo government and the Soviet government will probably continue for some time in China, and most of the foreign diplomats will withdraw along with the opposition.

Under these circumstances, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army could not wait for the withdrawal of Nanjing before attacking it! Because we need to find some useful Western journalists to witness the launch of the next nuclear bomb! If you rely only on the reports of Soviet journalists, I am afraid that it will not be convincing enough......"

- In fact, what neither the traversers nor the leaders of the Red Army expected was that the foreigners who did not choose to retreat at this time, but stayed in Nanjing and waited for contact with them, were much more "big-name" than they imagined.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Nanjing, Sanpailou Louzi Lane, German Legation

A black and red "swastika flag" flutters high on the flagpole in front of the embassy, coupled with white soldiers standing on both sides of the gate, leading big wolf dogs with loaded guns, making this building stand in the chaos of Nanjing, looking particularly quiet.

Hans, General Adviser of the German Military Mission to China, former Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht, known as the "Father of the Wehrmacht", is known as the "Father of the Wehrmacht"? Feng? Admiral Seckert was standing in front of a window on the third floor of the embassy, listening to the distant roar of artillery and overlooking the chaotic traffic and crowds of people on the street.

At this moment, the city of Nanjing, which was abandoned by the Japanese and pro-Japanese factions at the same time, is like an ant's nest that has been poured into a flood, as if everyone is busy pouring out. The streets are full of trucks full of luggage, moving all kinds of furniture accumulated by the rich and wealthy people in the city. Many citizens who were afraid of the Red Army also carried their bags with sticks and fled out of the city with the old and the young.

Screaming, shouting, crying, and other noisy sounds mingle together to form a kind of discouraged and desperate apocalyptic atmosphere.

The sharp-eyed Admiral Seckert even saw a truck parked outside the compound of a government department in terrible confusion as it loaded its luggage, as each of the servants tried to put their master's luggage first, so much so that they scuffled with each other. There were also thieves who tried to take advantage of the chaos to rob, but were shot dead by the guards on the spot, and their brains and blood were splashed on the telephone poles.

Of course, in the face of such chaos, there are also people who are making a fortune by legal means - the rent of every carriage in the city has risen to ten silver dollars, and if the car has no connections, even if it is not rented, even if it is not rented. In addition to this, rickshaws, trolleys, suitcases, rattan baskets, and even flat poles have been sold for sky-high prices. Even the most crappy camphor wood chest can sell for two silver dollars.

In addition, the rout of the troops who escaped from the various city defense lines was also shocking: most of the soldiers lost their uniforms. Dressed in tattered civilian clothes, carrying a duffel roll, and carrying a rusty antique musket on his arm, it seems to be a product of the last century...... My God! Where did He Yingqin come from to loot these vulnerable troops and drive them to the outskirts of the city to fight?

While the war refugees and outskirts were huddled in the streets, scrambling for their lives, a Red Army plane with sickles and hammers on its wings suddenly flew in and whizzed over their heads. Although it did not drop bombs or machine gun fire at pedestrians. But the mere drop of snowflakes of leaflets was enough to cause a new round of terrible commotion among those who had long been reduced to frightened birds.

Admiral Seckert held up the telescope hanging from his chest. Gazing at the never-before-seen plane for a long time, until it disappeared from the end of view.

“…… Good afternoon, Your Excellency. I would venture to ask, what were you looking at? ”

The German Minister to China, Mr. Todmann, suddenly pushed the door open and walked in. He greeted Admiral Seckert, who was standing alone in front of the window.

“…… I'm watching the destruction of a nation. And sigh the end of his mission. Mr. Minister. Admiral Seckert replied succinctly.

Ever since the first German military advisers arrived in Nanjing in 1928, the German military mission to China has been working to help Chiang Kai-shek's regime build a German-style, Asian-style modern army, the so-called "German Armament Brigade" and "German Armament Division". At the same time, a set of the most basic national defense industries was initially established in the Yangtze River valley in China, so that China's military strength could meet the "minimum standard" of resisting Japanese aggression.

Admiral Seckert was the oldest, most prestigious, and most knowledgeable of the German advisers hired by Chiang Kai-shek, and he was also the one most trusted and relied upon by Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek not only granted Seckert the post of general adviser and allowed him to represent the chairman in the "chairman's residence" in the name of "the chairman's principal," but also stipulated. Whenever Seckert convenes a meeting at the Chairman's residence, the General Staff Headquarters, the Training Directorate Department, the Minister or Deputy Minister of Military Affairs, the Directors of the Departments of the Military Commission, and the Chiefs of Ordnance and Quartermaster Departments shall attend the meeting.

Furthermore. Chiang Kai-shek also set up a "General Adviser's Office" in Nanjing, with Falkenhausen, Admiral Seckert's right-hand man, as the "chief of staff of the General Adviser," and issued orders to various departments in the name of "the chairman's agent." Just like the emperor of the Nanjing Nationalist Government -- every Tuesday and Friday at 10 a.m. was the time for the ministers of military affairs and military academy officials of the Nationalist Government to make an appointment to register for a meeting with Sickert.

In return for the attention and courtesy of Chairman Chiang, Seckert submitted to Chiang Kai-shek a "Proposal for Army Reform," which synthesizes, supplements, and gives play to the practices of the previous advisers in the areas of army training, officer training, the purchase of weapons and equipment, the rectification of military organs, and the building of special forces, and also proposes some ways to improve the cooperative relationship between Chinese officials and German advisers. Chiang Kai-shek was full of praise after reading the proposal.

The three major ideas he put forward for Chiang Kai-shek to build the army influenced Chiang's life. These three articles are: 1. The army is the basis of the right to rule; 2. The power of the army lies in the quality of the army; 3. The combat potential of the army lies in the training of the officer corps, which Chiang Kai-shek has done almost all along.

Subsequently, at Seckert's suggestion, the Kuomintang drew up a "precise logistical supply schedule" according to the actual monthly needs of the army, according to which the necessary arms and equipment and related equipment were ordered from German companies, thus strengthening Sino-German trade and facilitating the signing of the "Agreement on the Trade of Chinese Raw Materials and Products to German Industrial Products" between China and Germany -- through this contract, on the one hand, the Nationalist Government's needs for German arms and industrial equipment were met. On the other hand, it also solves the need for strategic raw materials such as tungsten sand for Nazi Germany's armament and warfare work.

On the whole, from all points of view, they were much better than the German adviser sent by the Comintern to the Chinese Red Army, that is, Comrade Li De. However, with the sudden rise of the Red Army in Shanghai, the split and collapse of the Nationalist government, and the defection of He Yingqin to the enemy, the "bloodless opening of Nanjing" by the Japanese Imperial Army ...... All these "Eastern causes" for which the German military delegation was fighting came to an abrupt end.

-- After Wang Jingwei came to power and formed a cabinet, his first task was to dismiss German military advisers in order to make room for Japanese advisers......

As a result, the General Adviser's Office was dissolved, and Admiral Seckert and his German advisers and officers took refuge in the German Legation, sending a telegram requesting instructions from home for the next step, while planning a way back to China - unfortunately, Shanghai at this time had become a war zone, and the passenger route along the Yangtze River to overseas was cut off by the war, and it was impossible to buy a ticket to the sea. The Jinpu railway to the north was also broken. There were still boats heading west to Wuhan, but Admiral Seckert didn't know how to deal with Chiang Kai-shek there...... Therefore, this group of "unemployed Germans" was stranded.

“…… Your mission was over back in February when Imperial Japanese troops moved into the city, didn't it? Checkmate. ”

As he said this, Todman gathered up a few documents in his desk drawer and prepared to throw them in the furnace to be destroyed—although Nazi Germany did not participate in the European and American coalition forces that intervened in the Chinese revolution and encircled the Chinese Bolsheviks, it was uncertain what attitude the Chinese Red Army would have towards these "bourgeois enemies...... Especially after learning about the bad fate of the consulates of the United States, Britain and France in Shanghai.

Just in case, the German legation was not prepared to immediately retreat from the falling capital, in accordance with the domestic instruction to "make tentative contacts with the Chinese Red elements," and on the other hand, it was also racing against time to destroy all kinds of secret documents to prevent possible leaks.

“…… No, no, you got me wrong, Mr. Minister. Admiral Seckert waved his hand, "...... Our immediate mission in the East was to help Mr. Chiang Kai-shek build a modern army and a supporting defense industrial system. Fundamentally, it was to enable China to resist the Japanese military invasion – and now that Mr. Chiang Kai-shek had been driven out of the capital, his mission to bring me to China, which was to thwart the attack of the Japanese Empire, was quite perfectly fulfilled by his enemies...... Isn't it ironic, you say? ”

He pursed his lips a little flirtatiously, "...... Although the Japanese army still occupies a large part of Chinese territory, I do not think that the Japanese Empire had the courage to fight this war after losing its entire navy and even the capital Tokyo was covered in volcanic ash......" (To be continued......