In the winter of 1937, the Battle of Songhu ended in defeat on the Chinese side. The Japanese army followed the trend to the south and approached the capital Nanjing. The Nationalist government had moved its capital to Chongqing, and the Kuomintang members had their own views on the issue of keeping and abandoning Nanjing. Because of the loss of Shanghai, Nanjing became an isolated city with no advantage in its geographical location. Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Chen Cheng, and others advocated abandoning Nanjing, and in order to avoid civilians being slaughtered by the Japanese army, Li Zongren even suggested that the government declare Nanjing an "undefended city." Chiang Kai-shek struggled inwardly, unwilling to give up Nanjing, but he felt helpless. Tang Shengzhi, then director of the Military Commission's Guard Executive Department and director of military training at the base camp, stepped forward and declared that "the capital is the seat of the tomb of the Founding Father, and at the moment of this great enemy... I advocate sticking to Nanjing and fighting the enemy to the end! Chiang Kai-shek's blood boiled at the table, and he was appointed on the spot as the commander of the Nanjing garrison, commanding 11 divisions with a total of about 150,000 troops, displayed in the city of Nanjing, preparing for a decisive battle with the Japanese army.
Tang Shengzhi, also known as Mengde, was born in October 1890 in Dong'an County, Hunan Province, to a wealthy merchant. Tang Shengzhi, who has a good family, is smart from an early age and reads well. At the age of 21, Tang Shengzhi was admitted to the Baoding Military Academy and became Jiang Baili's proud protégé. After graduating from the military academy, Tang Shengzhi joined the Xiang Army. He had extraordinary military talent, and in less than ten years, he was promoted all the way to the commander of the Fourth Division, with more than 50,000 elite soldiers under him, and gradually became the leader of the Xiang Army. Tang Shengzhi was a firm believer in Buddhism, and once worshiped Gu Boxu as a teacher, converted to Buddhism, and liked to think of himself as a "Buddhist general".
Within the Kuomintang, Tang Shengzhi was not accustomed to Chiang Kai-shek's style of conduct and participated in anti-Chiang Kai-shek activities on many occasions. Chiang Kai-shek, however, valued his talent and repeatedly entrusted him with heavy responsibilities. In April 1935, Tang Shengzhi was awarded the rank of general of the army, which was unique among Chiang Kai-shek's subordinates. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Tang Shengzhi had been planning preparations for a war against Japan in the army.
Tang Shengzhi was deployed in Nanjing, and at that time, he was already seriously ill (stomach disease). However, he insisted on going to the front line every day to inspect the positions and encouraged the officers and men to actively prepare for war. Before the war, he swore to Chiang Kai-shek that he would "not be in danger and not scrupulous in the face of difficulties," and Chiang Kai-shek was greatly moved and assured that he would hand over the city of Nanjing to him. However, Tang Shengzhi only fulfilled the second half of this oath.
On December 4, the Japanese army began a frenzied attack on Nanjing. From the beginning, Tang Shengzhi made serious tactical mistakes. He did not fully recognize the geographical disadvantages of the isolated city of Nanjing, was unwilling to disperse the strength of the troops, and chose to abandon the surrounding townships and retreat to the suburbs to sit and wait for the Japanese army to come to the door. A large number of red-eyed Japanese troops, under the cover of powerful fighter artillery fire, almost effortlessly attacked the city of Nanjing, and exchanged fierce fire with the Chinese defenders.
Most of the Remnants of the Kuomintang army guarding Nanjing who had retired from the defeat at the Songhu Campaign were not only not well recuperated, but also had old and mutilated equipment. Before they fought with the Japanese army, many soldiers no longer had the courage to fight a battle, but only relied on the supervision of their commanders to barely cope. Because of the hasty response to the battle, the attitude of the military top brass was negative, the supply of troops was insufficient, and more than 60% of the soldiers had not touched a gun before the war, or had only a small amount of actual combat experience. On the battlefield, many commanders found that their soldiers did not even know how to build simple fortifications, which made them sad.
In the defense of Nanjing, Tang Shengzhi maintained his bravery as an anti-Japanese general. On December 7, on the outskirts of Nanjing, outside the Qilin Gate, the killing sound was tremendous. Regardless of his personal safety, Tang Shengzhi drove a tank and charged amid artillery fire. The soldiers he led, everyone fought in front, and for a moment, the blood flowed like a river. Tang Shengzhi's nickname of "Nanjing Madman" comes from this.
Stationed at Yuhuatai was Sun Yuanliang's 88th Division, where enemy planes and artillery poured in like a tidal wave, and the officers and men fought bloody battles and flew everywhere. Brigade commanders Zhu Chi and Gao Zhisong, regimental commanders Han Xianyuan and Hua Pinzhang, and a number of battalion commanders were either killed in battle or fought until the last moment, killing themselves and martyring the country, and the number of casualties in the whole division reached more than 5500 people. Matsui Ishigen, commander of the Japanese siege, wrote in his diary: "The fiercest battle took place outside the Zhonghua Gate, or the South Gate, and it is said that the Chinese army stubbornly held the fortress of Yuhuatai."
On the rain flower platform, the sky was full of blood and the remains of Chinese soldiers.
Beginning on December 10, the Japanese launched a general offensive against Nanjing. After several days of fighting, the national army with serious attrition has been unable to return to the sky. In order to preserve his living forces, Chiang Kai-shek sent an urgent telegram to Tang Shengzhi on the night of the 11th: "If the situation cannot last for a long time, he can retreat with his camera in an attempt to sort out and expect a counteroffensive." At 17:00 on the 12th, Tang Shengzhi announced that he had abandoned Nanjing and all his staff had retreated. In the process of retreating, Tang Shengzhi made a second mistake. Because of the rush of time, he did not formulate a detailed plan for the retreat, but only asked each to break through separately. At this time, the officers and men of the various departments had no morale to speak of, and under the unfavorable command, they were ramming around like headless flies. Except for the successful breakthrough of the 66th Army and the 83rd Army, most of the other Chinese defenders could not find a way out and were forced to stay in Nanjing. On December 13, the Japanese army occupied the city of Nanjing.
The fiasco of the Nanjing Defense War was due to the fact that the overall strength of the Nationalist army was inferior to that of the Japanese army, but the command was a mistake and an important reason. If Tang Shengzhi could fully consider the advantages and disadvantages of the enemy and us, give full play to their strong points, and attack the shortcomings of the Japanese army, even if they could not defend Nanjing, they would not have been defeated so badly.