What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
Sun Tzu's Art of War, which is regarded as a work of classical Chinese military culture, mentions the "five things and seven plans" at the beginning, which shows that whether from the perspective of the basic factors to be considered in war planning, or from the perspective of the overall situation to judge which side of the enemy and us can achieve victory, the first and most important point is the general who commands the whole army.
The Battle of Nanking, a bloody battle to defend the then capital, Nanjing, with the Japanese invading army, ended in a disastrous defeat with countless casualties.
More than 400,000 soldiers and civilians were slaughtered, and the Nanjing Massacre, which shocked the world and devastated people, occurred.
From ancient times to the present, the loss and loss of every battle have traces and reasons. Why did the defense of Nanjing lose so badly?
This is inseparable from the commander of this defensive war, Tang Shengzhi, the initiative to defend the war, the contrast between "vowing to coexist and die with Nanjing" and the soldiers and civilians who abandoned the front line when they knew that they could not resist the Japanese army and the people who had slipped away in spite of it, all made posterity remember him - Tang Shengzhi.
Objections that are not based on military considerations
In December 1937, the Japanese army ordered the "capture of Nanjing, the capital of the enemy country."
Prior to this, at the end of the Battle of Songhu, Shanghai was gradually lost under the flank of the Japanese army, and the morale of the Japanese army at this time was high and high, and they were no longer willing to abide by the operational territorial restriction line stipulated by the General Staff Headquarters, and resolutely pursued Nanjing, strongly demanding "capturing Nanjing."
In the face of such a state of agitation from the enemy, Chiang Kai-shek was hesitant to hold or abandon Nanjing; for him, the operational elements of the enemy and us needed to be considered, and the political factors related to international public opinion were even more important reasons for his consideration.
Nanjing, as the capital of the nationalist army at that time, if it is abandoned, where should his face be put? For the arrogant Chiang Kai-shek, this is undoubtedly an act of picking up his tail and fleeing into the wilderness, and his heart has always been difficult to accept.
Unexpectedly, however, at the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek asked the generals for their views on the defense of Nanjing, and all they got was suggestions on not advocating sticking to Nanjing.
For a general who is truly considered from a military point of view, no decision on the matter of war can be made easily, because there are too many factors to consider, and a little carelessness is the price of the blood of countless compatriots.
However, just when the generals did not agree to stick to Nanjing, one person raised an objection with his fierce posture, and he was Tang Shengzhi.
He put forward different opinions from the generals, he believed that Nanjing was not only the capital, but also the place where the tomb of the father of the nation was located, and if he did not defend Nanjing, he would be sorry for the spirit of the prime minister in heaven, and he advocated staying in Nanjing.
As soon as these words were uttered, Li Zongren, who had proposed not to stick to Nanjing at that time, gave Tang a sarcastic thumbs up and said, "Meng Xiao, you are really remarkable." Unexpectedly, Tang sneered back: "At this point in the evolution of the war, we are still unwilling to do it, and we are too sorry for the country."
Tang Shengzhi did not say from the military point of view the merits of sticking to Nanjing bit by bit, but only did his best to express his enthusiasm and bold words.
I don't know if these words were his intentions, or whether he saw Chiang Kai-shek's hesitation and said them to his liking.
And Tang Shengzhi's awe-inspiring words of righteousness did indeed speak to Chiang Kai-shek's heart, and he immediately appointed Tang Shengzhi as the commander of the city defense of Nanjing, and Tang Shengzhi even vowed to "coexist and die with Nanjing" and "never retreat without the commander-in-chief's order."
So what kind of person is this Tang Shengzhi?
The army and the people stubbornly defended the capital and the general fled
Tang Shengzhi was born into a wealthy family of eunuchs and merchants, and from an early age he read ancient books in a private school.
Although he had excellent grades in military school, he was a flexible and naughty person.
When he was 18 years old, the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi died, and when the mourning ceremony was performed at the Army Elementary School, Tang Shengzhi did not care and was punished for laughing at the bottom.
In his 20s, Tang Shengzhi participated in the revolution with his classmates, participated in many battles such as the Xinhai Revolution and the Northern Expedition, and defected many times between 1926 and 1929, three times against Chiang Kai-shek, which shows that in the political revolution, he did not have a firm proposition and was a capricious person.
In 1931, he had retired to the second line and held a fictitious position in the army, and he was not familiar with and good at war and battlefield.
However, such a person, but 6 years later, in 1937, took the initiative to ask Miao to stick to Nanjing, which was really a dare to please, a dare to allow!
After the battle for the defense of Nanjing began, Tang Shengzhi did not take the lead like the generals in many battles, and his physical condition was also worrying.
According to Bai Chongxi's recollection, during the period when he accompanied Tang to investigate the terrain inside and outside Nanjing, it was snow flying, and when they reached the flat land, Tang could get out of the car to see, but once it was time to climb the mountain, Tang entrusted Bai Chongxi to go and check it out, which showed that Tang's body was weak.
Just when the artillery fire in Nanjing was incessant and the warriors and the Japanese were fighting to the death, Tang Shengzhi always stayed in his acre and three quarters of land, strolling idly, drinking tea and smoking, and the attendants followed him with warm water bottles, small teapots, and hot towels, serving him.
The war raging outside seemed to have nothing to do with him at all.
I wonder if this is the consistent style of Tang Shengzhi, as the first commander of the war?
At that time, the city of Nanjing was already wailing in the rain of bullets and bullets, the liver marrow was flowing wildly, corpses were everywhere, and the streets were full of wounded and sick and disabled people, some limping, some crawling on the ground, blood and flesh blurred, begging for medical treatment.
This scene is a real purgatory on earth!
On December 9, the Japanese army persuaded Tang Shengzhi to surrender and surrender Nanjing, but Tang Shengzhi did not agree and made a surprising decision.
He ordered that all the ships along the Yangtze River be confiscated, and the soldiers who could not retreat could only fight on their backs, while as a general, he hid a small freighter on the Yangtze River in Nanjing as a way for him to escape.
At this moment, he still remembered the vow of "coexisting and dying with Nanjing" that he said many days ago?
On the evening of December 11, Chiang Kai-shek called Tang Shengzhi to find a suitable opportunity to retreat, and after discussion, Tang Shengzhi decided to retreat on the 12th.
However, this order to retreat did not let the combat troops in the city who were fighting with the Japanese army stubbornly resisted.
Some troops outside the city fought fiercely until the 13th without receiving orders to retreat.
At the same time, Tang Shengzhi and those high-ranking generals had already fled with their own gold and silver, and they were afraid of the Japanese pursuit and ordered to burn the ships after crossing the river.
After hearing this news, the morale of hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Kuomintang defenders suddenly collapsed, and the soldiers and the people poured into the lower passes, and there was a fierce infighting with the Nationalist troops guarding Jiangmen.
Some survivors recalled that "everyone scrambled to cross the river and fired guns at will", others destroyed boats in the chaos, and some people jumped into the river in the cold winter because they were anxious to cross the river and fled.
These warriors who defended the city for the country and fought for their lives defended Nanjing, while their generals abandoned them in a critical moment and let the innocent people and soldiers bleed into rivers.
Military mistakes and general inaction caused human tragedies
The heavy casualties in the defense of Nanjing were due to the inaction of Tang Shengzhi and his generals on the one hand, and on the other hand, it had an important relationship with the Nationalist government's negligence in prevention and poor deployment.
Since the beginning of the Songhu War in August 1937, Nanjing has become an important target of Japanese air raids, although the Nationalist government has carried out propaganda and education on air defense and resistance against japanese aggression for the people, but due to limited preparations, such propaganda and education are not in place, and the military retreat is chaotic, and there is no good evacuation of the people, which led to the tragic war that followed.
Coupled with the huge disparity in the number of fighters between the Nationalist army and the Japanese army at that time, and the Nationalist army was composed of defeated generals and new armies, and the Japanese army, which had a high morale of soldiers through the SonghuHui, there was an immediate judgment.
Major mistakes in strategic deployment and the inaction of the military generals cost the innocent people stranded in Nanjing and the soldiers who defended it dearly. If it were not for the erroneous decision of Chiang Kai-shek and Tang Shengzhi not to take the military perspective as a starting point, perhaps this terrible tragedy could have been avoided.
After realizing that he had made a wrong decision, Tang Shengzhi not only did not have any remorse and make amends, but also abandoned the soldiers and civilians to flee, this time he was really unworthy of being a general of the First Army, and he had an unshirkable responsibility for the nanjing defense war and the subsequent Nanjing massacre.
This is a history of blood and tears that is deeply rooted in the hearts of every Chinese, and the tragic price it has paid makes us remember it, let us remember the lessons, remember the half a million soldiers and civilians who sacrificed in vain, and remind us at any time to never repeat the same mistakes.