During the fourteen years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese army suffered huge casualties, more than one million soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country, and hundreds of anti-Japanese generals spilled blood on the battlefield. Among them, there are many senior generals such as Zhang Zizhong, who, although they are in high positions, can still lead the way and run to the front line of the anti-Japanese resistance.
Lieutenant General Xiao Shan, although the rank is not very prominent, during the Period of the National Government, the status of a special general was the most respected; during the period when the National Government ruled the mainland, the special general was only awarded to Chiang Kai-shek, while the next ones were the first- and second-class generals, and among the personnel awarded by the National Government to the first- and second-level generals, there were generally only the commander-in-chief of the Nationalist army, the chief of the general staff, How Yingqin, Gu Zhutong, Qian Dajun, and so on.
There were also the strength factions of various local factions, such as Xiao Liuzi of the Northeast Army, Feng Yuxiang of the Northwest Army, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the New Gui Clan, and others.
However, the Control and Management of ranks below the rank of General by the Nationalist Government was not very strict, and even in the later stages of the Liberation War, there were many major generals and lieutenant generals flying all over the sky. However, during the period of the All-out War of Resistance, the rank of lieutenant general of the Nationalist government was still very gold-bearing.
For example, after the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, when our army was reorganized into the National Government, the Nationalist Government, in order to strictly restrict the development of our army, only granted the rank of lieutenant general at the highest level, such as Commander-in-Chief Zhu, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng, and the division commanders of the main divisions of the Eighth Route Army at that time were only lieutenant generals.
Therefore, the rank of lieutenant general of General Xiaoshan Ling was also very valuable in the early stage of the all-out War of Resistance, and Lieutenant General Xiaoshan Ling also held six positions in the defense of Nanjing, namely, deputy commander of the gendarmerie unit of the National Government, director of the Nanjing Police Department, commander of the Nanjing Garrison, commander of the Nanjing Air Defense Force, and mayor of Nanjing, and also concurrently served as the commander-in-chief of the crossing river in the later stages of the Nanjing Defense War.
Judging from the positions concurrently held by General Xiaoshan Ling, General Xiaoshan Ling can be said to have controlled most of the key departments in the defense of Nanjing at that time, not only mastered the three systems of military, police and constitution, but also served as the mayor of Nanjing, responsible for the unified deployment of manpower and material resources in Nanjing to support the army's combat.
Even more so, in the later stages of the Nanjing Defense War, he assumed the important post of commander-in-chief of the river crossing, which had a bearing on whether the whole army could safely transfer and retreat. Why was General Xiao Shanling, who only had the rank of lieutenant general, given such a heavy responsibility, and how heroic did General Xiaoshan Ling perform in the defense of Nanjing?
I. Prelude to the Defense of Nanjing
In 1937, after the Outbreak of the Lugou Bridge Incident, Japanese imperialism began to launch an all-out offensive against China. Because the Song Zheyuan department of the Twenty-ninth Army stationed in Beiping had illusions about the Japanese army and its selfish desire to preserve its strength, the strategic advantage of the North China Battlefield was gradually lost, and the Japanese army's progress in North China was very rapid and rapid.
Because the Japanese army achieved great results in the battlefield of North China, which further stimulated the war ambitions of Japanese militarism, at that time, the Japanese army chief of staff Sugiyama Moto repeatedly declared in public: "Within three months, China can be conquered." ''
The Nationalist government in Nanjing had to respond to the deteriorating war situation in North China. At that time, some members of the Nationalist government advocated immediately sending troops north to support the North China Battlefield. Others argue for a new battlefield in East China to attract the attention of the Japanese army and ease the pressure on the North China Theater.
At that time, the claims of both factions had a certain degree of legitimacy. Immediately sending troops to support the North China battlefield is undoubtedly the most direct and secure way. However, at that time, due to the lack of sufficient transport capacity of the Chinese army, it was difficult to send a large number of troops to the front line in a short period of time, and at the same time, on the North China battlefield, the Chinese army as a whole was at a disadvantage, and even if there were enough reinforcements, it was difficult to regain the initiative on the battlefield in the short term.
In addition, north China is close to the northeast region and the Japanese mainland, and the Japanese army can send enough support troops to the North China Theater through land and sea transportation, and the logistics transportation is also more convenient. Therefore, the proposal to send troops to support North China generally did more harm than good.
The launch of a new battlefield in East China is quite beneficial to the Chinese army. At that time, the main forces of the Nationalist government were basically gathered in the Yangtze River Delta region, and the transportation conditions in the Yangtze River Delta region were relatively good, at the same time, the Yangtze River Delta region was far from the Japanese mainland, and the logistics and transportation of the Japanese army were relatively difficult, while the transportation and supply of the Chinese army was relatively convenient.
Eventually, Chiang ordered an offensive against the Japanese in East China. The direction of the attack was mainly the Japanese Marines in Shanghai. Later, due to the continuous expansion of the war, both China and Japan continued to increase their troops, and finally evolved into the Second Battle of Songhu, which was also the prelude to the beginning of the Nanjing Defense War.
Due to the huge gap in national strength and military strength between China and Japan, the Battle of Songhu ended with the withdrawal of Chinese troops from the Songhu area, and the Nationalist government declared the fall of Shanghai as the end. Although the Chinese army was defeated at the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Songhu was of great positive and great significance.
First of all, it dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Japanese aggressors and thwarted the aggressive ambitions of the Japanese militarists in their attempt to destroy China in three months.
Second, it consumed a large amount of human, material, and financial resources of the Japanese army. Japan's domestic war materiel reserves were half depleted, and it had to order the conscription of reservists to replenish the active troops, and at the same time increased the number of industrial raw materials imported from abroad to make up for the lack of domestic production capacity.
After the Battle of Songhu, after the Japanese army occupied Shanghai, it began to brew a military attack on Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government. The Nationalist government also engaged in a fierce debate over the war and defense of Nanjing.
Ii. The Question of War and Defense in Nanjing
Geographically, Shanghai and Nanjing are adjacent to each other and are not far from each other. Therefore, after the fall of Shanghai, Nanjing became a siege city, and the Japanese army could launch an attack on Nanjing at any time. For this reason, how to deal with nanjing's war and defense became very important.
At that time, the opinions within the Nationalist government on the defense of Nanjing were actually not uniform. The local faction, led by Li Zongren Bai Chongxi and others, believed that the city of Nanjing should not be held rigidly, but should take the city of Nanjing as the center, attract the Japanese army, launch an attack on the Japanese army on the outskirts of Nanjing, and consume the Japanese army in the movement, so as to save the troops and cause casualties to the Japanese army, so as to achieve the purpose of killing two birds with one stone.
Others believe that Nanjing should be held to the death, on the grounds that Nanjing is the capital of the Nationalist government, and if there is no deathly resistance in the capital, it will attract ridicule from the international community and lose the support of the international community, thus making Japan more and more arrogant. At the same time, it will also dampen the people's self-confidence and determination to resist, which is not conducive to the protracted war of resistance.
In addition, at that time, there were still a large number of materials and personnel in Nanjing that had not been transferred, and once they were easily abandoned, the materials in Nanjing would not be able to be preserved, and it would also cause panic among the people.
As the core of the leadership of the National Government at that time, Jiang also had some considerations and plans in his heart. As the core of Jiang's rule, Nanjing was unwilling to give up easily in his heart, but in the face of the situation in which the enemy was strong and we were weak, the chances of Nanjing defending it could be said to be minimal.
At this moment, Tang Shengzhi, who had been in the wilderness for a long time, took the initiative to ask Jiang to die in Nanjing, and Tang Shengzhi assured: "I will fight the Japanese to the end in blood, and I will coexist and die with Nanjing." At the same time, he also issued a writ to Jiang Lijun to prove his military spirit and courage.
Jiang immediately appointed Tang Shengzhi as the commander-in-chief of the Nanjing garrison, presided over the defense of Nanjing, and commanded all the troops inside and outside the city of Nanjing. As soon as the defense of Nanjing broke out, Lieutenant General Xiaoshan Ling would also usher in a highlight moment in his life.
Third, Xiao Shan ordered the death to fight and not retreat
During the defense of Nanjing, the task of commanding the Nanjing gendarmerie unit was originally given to the commander of the gendarmerie, Gu Zhenglun, but Gu Zhenglun 'happened to be ill' and made a request to go to the rear to recuperate, and the command of the Nanjing gendarmerie unit was given to General Xiaoshan Ling. Xiao Shan ordered the general to be in danger and chose to coexist and die with Nanjing.
Later, because the officials of many major departments in Nanjing chose to leave Nanjing City for various reasons, many major departments in Nanjing City were in a state of chaos without a leader, and at this time, Lieutenant General Xiaoshan Ling, who had to hold several positions at the same time, took the initiative to take on the task of maintaining public order in Nanjing City and in the pursuit of criminals and arrests.
In addition to maintaining law and order in the city and ensuring the daily production and safety of the people in the city, General Xiao Shan Ling also had to undertake the task of assisting the field troops in combat. At that time, among the troops commanded by General Xiao Shanling, the more effective ones were the original gendarmerie units. Therefore, General Xiaoshan ordered the gendarmerie troops to distribute the gendarmerie troops to various important locations in Nanjing according to the terrain and construction of Nanjing.
During the defense of Nanjing, most of the Chinese troops participating in the war were troops who had just retreated from the Songhu front, and not only had serious losses of personnel, but had not yet been able to obtain sufficient supplies and timely rest, and their combat effectiveness had declined very seriously. Therefore, although the Chinese army tried its best to resist the Japanese army, it was unable to stop the Japanese army outside the city of Nanjing.
On December 4, 1937, with the stubborn defense of the outer positions of Nanjing, the Japanese army completed the encirclement of Nanjing. At this time, many of Xiao Shanling's friends and subordinates advised Xiao Shanling to take advantage of the fact that the Japanese army had just completed the encirclement of Nanjing, find a weak place to break out in time, save his life, and do not have to die in Nanjing.
Xiao Shanling said: As a soldier of the country, I naturally have the responsibility to defend my family and defend the country, and the blood spilled on the battlefield is the glory of the revolutionary soldiers of my generation. If I choose to escape from the city today and save my life, I will have the face to see my father and elder in my hometown, and what face I will see the soldiers, brothers and people who are left in Nanjing. In the face of the Japanese butcher's knife, can they be saved?
Escaping from the city, although it is possible to save one's life, but I have lost the backbone that I should have as a soldier, and it is my duty to defend the land and defend the country, and the soldiers of my generation have all been loyal to the country and spilled blood on the battlefield because of this fine loyalty, and I am determined to defend Nanjing, and this intention has been decided.
Xiao Shanling's friends and subordinates saw that the persuasion was ineffective, so they no longer persuaded, but followed Xiao Shanling to throw everything into the fierce and cruel defense of Nanjing.
On December 9, 1937, the Japanese army launched an attack on many key points in Nanjing. Xiao Shan Ling then organized a counterattack while mobilizing reinforcements of armed gendarmes guarding the Qingliangshan Gendarmerie Headquarters. At that time, the armed gendarmes commanded by Xiao Shan ling were very strong in combat, especially in the Battle of Yuhuatai, they repelled the Japanese army many times and stubbornly defended the Yuhuatai position.
The reason why the combat effectiveness of xiaoshan ling's gendarmerie units was so strong was mainly that the gendarmerie units in Nanjing were originally directly subordinate units of the gendarmerie command, which were not only well-equipped but also well-trained, and many of the gendarmerie units guarding the city at that time were equipped with weapons and equipment imported from Germany, and had earlier been intensively trained by German instructors, and their combat effectiveness was very strong.
In addition, Xiao Shan Ling had repeatedly given lectures to the military police units defending the city. Xiao Shanling said: Our gendarmerie units as the last barrier to defend Nanjing, if we can't hold the position, the city of Nanjing may be breached by the Japanese army at any time, then our parents, brothers, wives, children and sisters stranded in the city of Nanjing will have to face the butcher's knife of the Japanese.
Despite the heroic battles of Chinese soldiers such as Xiao Shanling, the situation of the defense of Nanjing was still continuous.
Fourth, Xiao Shan Ling killed Chengren
On December 11, 1937, Tang Shengzhi urgently summoned the chief officers of the defending troops to hold an emergency military meeting, at which Tang Shengzhi resolutely demanded that the troops defending the city fight to the death and never retreat, and that the people in the city should also coexist and die with the city of Nanjing. But privately, Tang Shengzhi had already prepared a small boat, and moved all the gold and silver he had looted in the city to the small boat, ready to flee the city of Nanjing at any time. Not only Tang Shengzhi, but also many other chief officers of the defending troops were also making small calculations and preparing to flee the city of Nanjing at any time.
At this time, someone persuaded Xiao Shanling to immediately follow the people of the garrison headquarters to be ready to evacuate the city of Nanjing at any time, and not to hold the city of Nanjing any longer, which was of no value. Xiao Shanling said: If I want to evacuate, I have already evacuated, and since I have chosen to stay, I have already decided to coexist and die with Nanjing, and I have made up my mind and will never change it.
Shortly after the end of the military conference, Tang Shengzhi changed his mind again, ordering that after completing the defense of Nanjing, the troops could choose to break through to the north of the river according to the situation, and appointed Xiao Shanling as the commander-in-chief of the river crossing, and then fled the city of Nanjing.
When the defending troops broke through, due to the lack of unified and efficient retreat command, the withdrawal of various units fell into a disorderly state, as the commander-in-chief of the river crossing, Xiao Shan ling, after learning that there were still a large number of troops stranded in the city, quickly took the remaining gendarmerie troops to the Sheshan area to block the Japanese army and cover most of the retreat, but in the end because of the disparity in strength, he failed to successfully resist the Japanese attack.
Later, a large Japanese army followed Xiao Shan Ling's troops, and eventually defended General Xiao Shan Ling's troops. General Xiaoshan Ling led the remnants of the troops to resist desperately, and after 5 hours of bloody battle with the Japanese, because of his serious injuries, he fell to the ground, in order not to be captured alive by the Japanese army, General Xiaoshan Ling raised his gun and committed suicide, fulfilling his promise made before the war and coexisting with Nanjing.
Tang Shengzhi, who also made a vow of coexistence and death with Nanjing before the war, chose to flee the city of Nanjing at the most intense time of the war, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of Nanjing soldiers and civilians who fought in bloody battles in the city. After the war, Tang Shengzhi was only dismissed from his post, but not severely punished. In the face of external accountability, Tang Shengzhi only responded: This is my dereliction of duty, and I am sorry for the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, brothers and people who were abandoned in Nanjing.
After the fall of Nanjing, more than 300,000 innocent people and disarmed Chinese soldiers were massacred by the Japanese army, resulting in the sensational Nanjing Massacre.
In the defense of Nanjing, although there were Chinese soldiers like General Xiao Shanling who regarded death as a homecoming, there were also people like Tang Shengzhi who saved their lives in battle. However, this could not bury the heroic performance of General Xiao Shanling and other Chinese soldiers in the defense of Nanjing, and in the face of strong enemies, they did not choose to flee in one fell swoop, but stayed behind, coexisted and died with the city of Nanjing, and finally killed themselves to serve the country and the people.
More than 80 years have passed since the Nanjing Defense War, but this history is still worth remembering for our posterity. Remember that 83 years ago, a group of Chinese heroes and sons and daughters who had been put on the line of death fought to the death of foreign enemies under the city of Nanjing for the survival of the country and the nation.