Since 1848, China has been under the iron heel of the great powers. However, during the Republican period under the rule of the Nationalist government, there was such a honeymoon period between China and Germany. At this time, German Chancellor Hitler made a treaty with Chiang Kai-shek: Germany imported a large amount of industrial raw materials from China at a low price, in return, it would provide China with German-style weapons, and planned to train two million troops for China.
However, due to the tensions between Western countries, it is clearly impractical to train two million troops. However, in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chiang Kai-shek did have a considerable number of German mechanics under his command. The most elite of these is the Teaching Corps.
In its heyday, the teaching corps had about 30,000 people and was equipped with a full set of German-style equipment. This unit was actually a teaching unit subordinate to the Central Military Academy and was deeply favored by Chiang Kai-shek. Whenever new equipment is acquired, priority is given to this unit. However, this unit was short-lived on the anti-Japanese battlefield and participated in several very fierce battles in the early days of the War of Resistance.
In August 1937, Japan launched the "August 13 Incident" and brazenly sent troops to Shanghai. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek did not want the teaching corps to move, and allocated an artillery regiment and an anti-aircraft artillery regiment to the Ninth Army and marched to the Songhu front.
Two months after the start of the war, Gui Yongqing, commander of the Teaching Corps, returned to China, took the initiative to ask Chiang Kai-shek for help, and led the Teaching Corps to the front. In November 1937, two regiments of the Teaching Corps were stationed at the Bazi bridge and garrisoned here. After the Songhu War, the teaching corps lost as many as 4,000 people and then went to Nanjing for rest and replenishment.
After the defeat at the Battle of Songhu, the Kuomintang army retreated in its entirety. At this time, the Top Kuomintang was discussing whether it should stick to Nanjing. The vast majority of generals believed that Nanjing had no danger to defend and should give up and shift the main force to the west. However, Admiral Tang Shengzhi took the initiative to ask Miao to garrison Nanjing.
This point actually involves political issues, because there are many factions within Chiang Kai-shek's government, and Chiang Kai-shek himself is also very partial to the generals of the concubines. Tang Shengzhi was not a general from the Whampoa Military Academy, so Chiang Kai-shek pushed a boat along the water to let him defend Nanjing, which is likely just a "show" to show the attitude of the government to the chinese people.
As a result, most of the government withdrew, and Tang Shengzhi led 200,000 people to guard Nanjing, including the Teaching Corps. Tang Shengzhi assigned the task of the Teaching Corps to guard the purple mountain area, and the commander was Gui Yongqing.
The commander of the 1st Brigade of the Teaching Corps was Zhou Zhenqiang, and his troops were placed in the Tiger Cave position at the forefront. After the war, it was also because of his diaries and dictations that he basically restored the teaching corps in the Nanjing defense war.
In the early morning of December 8, Japanese aircraft began to bombard the Purple Mountain position, and the Japanese artillery on the ground began to cover the Japanese charge.
Subsequently, the Japanese armored troops moved out and advanced all the way to the vicinity of Hongmao Mountain outside the Tongji Gate of Nanjing City. However, due to the failure of the fraternal 87th Division to resist the Japanese for a long enough time, the Japanese directly broke through the Hongmaoshan position. The 1st Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the Teaching Corps stationed here lost more than half of its losses and was forced to abandon its position.
On the second day, the Japanese launched a general attack on the Tiger Cave position. Although the defenders stubbornly resisted, due to the delay in reinforcements, the defenders gradually lost strength and had to withdraw to the second-line positions.
Immediately afterwards, the Japanese attacked the second-line positions. This battle was the most tragic battle on the Purple Mountain Battlefield. The Japanese army mobilized more than 4,000 people to besiege and lost more than ten small and medium-sized captains and more than 1,000 soldiers. This shows that the general staff of the general corps is taught to use their lives and are well trained.
However, by December 12, the brother force 88th Division could not hold out first, and lost the Yuhuatai position. This led to more troops coming to besiege Zhou Zhenqiang's brigade. Zhou Zhenqiang's department and the general headquarters had been unable to contact each other, and he did not know that Tang Shengzhi and others had evacuated Nanjing at this time.
By the time he learned of this news, the Nanjing defense line had been fully breached, and his stubborn resistance had lost its meaning. Therefore, Zhou Zhenqiang immediately began to plan to break through to the river, and then find a way to cross the river to escape. A day later, most of the men managed to break through to the river, but due to the shortage of ferries, the troops had to huddle around the river and wait.
This gave the Japanese an opportunity, and the Japanese immediately sent aircraft and artillery to bomb the river in turn. There were more than 3,000 soldiers who died at the hands of the Japanese army, and after crossing the river, Zhou Zhenqiang counted only 4,000 of his troops. The fate of the soldiers who remained in the city and failed to break through would be even more miserable. They either resisted to the point of death or were searched out by the Japanese. In the end, the soldiers and civilians who were searched were slaughtered en masse, and the bodies were thrown into the Yangtze River.
Summary: Looking at the several battles in which the Teaching Corps participated, it was brave and fierce, but it was obvious that the Teaching Corps blindly fought position warfare. Such tactics resulted in the teaching corps not being able to play to the advantages of their equipment and being in a passive situation.
What is even more regrettable is that a large number of elite troops were bombed by the Japanese army while waiting for retreat by the river, and suffered heavy losses. After the defense of Nanjing, the Teaching Corps survived in name only, and its remnants were incorporated into fraternal units. It can be considered that the Teaching Corps has been destroyed.