The dark green Dodge sedan with the license plate of the General Headquarters honked the horn and rushed into the landing area of Yanziji Pier. The car made a sharp braking sound and rushed forward a few meters to stop at the entrance. Two revolutionaries, one strong and one thin, were in the car.
The military general opened the car door and got out, and immediately rushed down to the dock. The troop truck full of guards behind him was still chasing after him at the entrance fifty meters away.
The two generals ran down the steps of the pier and saluted Mao Bingwen, commander of the third division of the 40th Army garrison, who came up. Mao Bingwen returned the salute and went up to shake hands. The short and thin general quickly glanced at the nearly a thousand officers and soldiers waiting on the pier, looking nervous.
He turned to Mao Bingwen and asked in a low voice: "Brother Ciheng, how is the situation?"
"Brother Cixiu, please don't worry. Brother Ji Chang (characterized by Gu Zhenglun) and Captain Li under Brother Cixiu have received General An Yi forty minutes ago. When the younger brother and his troops arrived, the ferry had already left Baguazhou and headed downstream. Listen.
The brothers who stayed here said that the fighting was very brutal. In the end, less than half of the people who got on the ship alive, the enemy at least
The five regiments boarded Baguazhou to encircle them. In order to prevent shelling and machine gun fire, they could only quickly retreat downstream and then come up along the south bank. It was estimated that they would drive back along the south bank in a short time. However, I heard that Brother An Yi's men suffered heavy losses.
I'm afraid there are less than a thousand people left!" Mao Bingwen sadly informed Chen Cheng.
The stocky general next to him took off his military cap and hit his right leg hard: "It's all my fault for being a drunkard. I was so drunk last night that I was bedridden. If I had known that Xiao Yi was on the other side, I would have ordered the artillery brigade under my command.
We're driving over for support, hi!"
Mao Bingwen explained: "Brother Chen, don't blame yourself. No one knows that General An can fight back. The process is unimaginable!
At dawn, we heard the sound of fierce fighting coming from the other side of the river. We immediately mobilized the observation posts along the river to be on tight alert. We found that the two warring parties were wearing the same military uniforms and fighting very fiercely. We thought it was an internal mutiny within the enemy army and the rebel troops were trying to escape.
After crossing the river, our military team went to lookout post No. 5 for a long time to observe. We thought they were really mutinous troops. Seeing that they withstood the fierce attack from three sides,
We all admired their fighting spirit, but under such conditions, we were beyond our reach to rescue them. In the end, the army could only sigh and leave. Who would have thought that it was the Anyi Independent Division? If we knew, our entire army would fight to the death.
Those who fought in the past ten days ago in Taierzhuang, our 40th Army and Division An Yi have lived together through life and death, and An Yi has a good relationship with our group of chief officers and our soldiers."
"Reporting to the division seat, the ferry went upstream and reached six hundred meters below." A colonel came to report to Mao Bingwen.
Mao Bingwen nodded: "Be on full alert, order the Second Battalion on the dock to clear out all idle personnel within a hundred meters, and be ready for all responses!"
"As you command!"
Chen Cheng took two steps to the edge of the pier and looked downstream. Cai Zhonghua also followed and watched. The ferry rumbled away with thick smoke. The large deck of the ferry was filled with densely packed wounded soldiers, which surprised the two of them.
Chen Cheng grabbed Cai Zhonghuan and said loudly: "Hurry up and make a call and ask your artillery brigade to drive all the trucks over. I will ask the adjutant to also drive over our division's trucks and immediately send Xiao Yi and the wounded soldiers to
In the Xiaguan instructor camp, only that camp is empty now."
Cai Zhonghuan turned around and ran up the steps, grabbed the adjutant Cai Peiyuan who was standing on the steps and looked into the distance, and ordered loudly: "Go and bring all the trucks, Xiaoyi has too many wounded soldiers!"
"yes!"
Cai Peiyuan quickly rushed to the dock.
The ferry slowly docked, and the boatman pulled up the fixed cable. Chen Cheng, Cai Zhonghu, Mao Bingwen and other generals strode aboard to welcome the ferry. Gu Zhenglun, who was sweating profusely, had no time to address him and shouted:
"Everyone, hurry up and arrange barracks and contact the hospital. Four generals and more than thirty captains are in danger! Find a way to provide first aid as quickly as possible..."
"The place has been arranged, Xiaguan camp!" Mao Bingwen said loudly.
Gu Zhenglun nodded: "Okay! Ciheng, please quickly lead your troops to clear the road. We will send these brothers to the camp immediately!"
"yes!"
Mao Bingwen turned around and ran off the boat.
Gu Zhenglun turned around and saw that Chen Cheng and Cai Zhonghuan were supporting An Yi, who was in ragged clothes and had dull eyes. He asked again and again. Li Xianzhou, whose face was filled with gunpowder smoke, reported a few words to Chen Cheng. He was so sad that he could not speak. Gu Zhenglun sighed. With a tone of voice, he stepped forward and pulled the three of them aside:
"Don't block the road...Brother Cixiu, Brother Huichen, don't ask. Xiaoyi can't speak even if he hears it. His voice is hoarse, his lips are all cracked, and there are many small wounds on his body. Please help him first." "
Before Chen Cheng and Cai Zhonghuan could react, Shen Fengdao and the guards had already set up An Yi and quickly landed ashore. The generals were extremely sad to see the soldiers of the Independent Division with their hands and feet broken and their bodies wrapped in broken military uniforms. The beach was a mess, covered with pools of blood. The more than 400 surviving soldiers who were able to walk alone pushed away the friendly troops who came to help, stubbornly lifted up the unconscious and seriously injured brothers, gritted their teeth and carefully stepped ashore step by step. Such a sad and tragic scene made the surrounding generals and thousands of officers and soldiers on the shore shake their minds and make their noses sore.
Half an hour later, seventeen artillery tractor trucks, escorted by a convoy of four cars and six personnel carriers, quickly passed through the streets under forty military officers and soldiers, and rushed towards Xianguan Camp. Wherever the convoy passed, they left behind The strong smell of gunpowder smoke and blood lingered for a long time.
The convoy drove through the stone bridge and entered the Xiaguan Camp. It slowly drove to the camp area and stopped. Fang Tian, the lieutenant colonel leader of the left-behind troops who had received the notice, led the remaining instructors and one battalion brother who had been deployed to quickly greet them. More than a hundred injured brothers were introduced into the barracks, then quickly heated water to cook meat porridge, and collected military uniforms and blankets. The whole camp was filled with people, roaring motors, and chaos.
At the door of the barracks, An Yi refused the service of the soldiers and took the wet towel to wipe his scarred face, which made the surrounding generals feel sad.
Division Chen Cheng and the brothers from the artillery headquarters who were sent to the city to contact hospitals to find doctors returned one after another. They all reported anxiously and helplessly:
The Military Medical Department of the General Headquarters had been disbanded two days before Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek resigned. Almost all the doctors in the city hospitals had been recruited by the 33rd Army, 27th Army, Zhenjiang, Changzhou and other garrisons that suffered heavy casualties a few days ago. After leaving, even the doctors who opened clinics and medicine shops on the street thought it was Sun Chuanfang's army crossing the river because of the sudden artillery fire this morning, so they all locked their doors and ran away to avoid danger.
The towel in An Yi's hand fell to the ground, and all thoughts in his heart were despaired. Cai Zhonghuan, who was usually carefree, suddenly loudly accused his adjutant Cai Peiyuan:
"Have you been to the foreigners' Keats Hospital? If they don't want to come, just kidnap me!"
"I've been there, Commander. My subordinates went there in person, and there were only a few old men and women left guarding the door. The foreign doctors and nurses were all so frightened that they hid. I don't know where to find them!" Cai Peiyuan shook his head sadly.
The generals were in mourning and helpless. An Yi suddenly rushed out of the barracks archway desperately, frightened a group of generals and chased them out. An Yi, covered in gunpowder smoke and in ragged clothes, ran to a military truck that was turning around and preparing to leave. He opened the car door and pulled the frightened driver out of the car. He quickly got into the front of the slowly moving car and suddenly closed the door. More than a dozen guards had already followed and climbed into the car easily like monkeys. An Yi's adjutant Shen Feng Dao jumped onto the front of the truck and disappeared in a flash. The truck roared out of the camp and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Dozens of generals and thousands of officers and soldiers on the playground were stunned to see it.
Chen Cheng was worried that something might happen, so he ran towards his car and shouted to give chase. Cai Zhonghu and Gu Zhenglun also rushed to their cars in a hurry. Before Gu Zhenglun got in the car, he loudly ordered his regimental commander and his brothers to follow him quickly.
Shen Fengdao, who was sitting in the passenger seat, saw An Yi's car driving so fast and quickly reminded him: "Slow down, Xiao Yi, don't be in a hurry no matter where you go, this is a busy street with pedestrians and vehicles. , it will hit someone to death at such a fast speed."
An Yi remained unmoved. He pressed the horn with one hand and turned the steering wheel quickly with the other. He narrowly avoided passing pedestrians and vehicles several times and continued to move forward rapidly. People on the street heard the continuous sound of horns and loud noises. With the roar of the motor, I saw a large truck speeding towards me from a distance, and I was already scared and ran away.
An Yi turned onto Hubu Street, walked more than 100 meters and quickly turned right into Taiping Road. He drove to the intersection in front of him and then slowed down. He suddenly turned right again and knocked open a large cast iron gate in the yard on the side of the road. The car was in Dozens of foreigners from various countries in the courtyard stopped at the door of St. Paul's Church amid screams and exclamations.
An Yi quickly opened the car door and jumped out of the car, rushed into the church filled with foreigners from all over the world, looked around anxiously, paused and strode to the central alms table, and begged loudly to the more than two hundred foreigners who had gathered in the church to escape the war:
"Gentlemen and ladies, I need a doctor, please, I need a doctor, I need countless doctors to save my soldiers!"
The church was quiet. The men and women in the church looked at the heavily armed and battered An Yi and the guards behind him in panic. No one could hear clearly what An Yi shouted in his hoarse voice.
Facing the horrified and surprised eyes, An Yi excitedly waved his black, sleeveless hands covered with bloodstains and scald blisters, and shouted again in English at the top of his lungs:
"Doctor... I need a doctor, gentlemen... I want a doctor, my brothers... are dying..."
The men and women in the hall finally understood what An Yi meant. Many people stood up in surprise. The forty-year-old presiding pastor Thomas Gale strode up to An Yi and explained politely in English. When he saw An Yi He looked confused and anxious, and repeated it in rather awkward Chinese with a slight Shanghainese accent:
"Dear Mr. Officer, I am the presiding pastor here, Thomas Gerr. You drove your car to break down the gate of the church yard and led your soldiers into this sacred place without permission. This behavior is very impolite. "Sir, please forgive us. This is a church, not a hospital. If you want to find a doctor, please go to the hospital."
"No, no! No! Pastor Geer, the best doctors in Nanjing are in your church. I know they are all among the gentlemen and ladies below. I know, I am sure!"
An Yi's eyes were red, and he clasped his hands together and begged: "Pastor, you are a kind person, right? God is fair to everyone, right? You can't not help me just because I am Chinese!"
Pastor, I know that we offended you when our revolutionary army occupied Nanjing in March. Those soldiers drove you away and occupied this place, but our central government corrected the mistake soon after, right, Pastor? At this moment, hundreds of my
The soldiers are struggling on the edge of hell,
Their last glimmer of hope rests on you... Pastor, you are missionaries. You have traveled thousands of miles to come to China. Isn't it just to make us Chinese people kinder and more philanthropic? Isn't it just to save the suffering? But why are you now?
Are you willing to die without saving me? Why?"
"Sir... don't get excited, please listen to my explanation."
Geer waved his hands in panic: "Sir, you are soldiers, not civilians. At this very special moment, I cannot let God's people in the hall risk their lives to go out. As you know, as soon as the gunfire stopped, Nanjing was full of people.
Full of danger, please forgive me, sir, I'm sorry!"
Several priests and a dozen tall foreigners were worried that An Yi would be too excited and hurt the pastor, so they all rushed to the pastor and looked at An Yi. An Yi restrained the angry Shen Fengdao and the guards behind him, tears bursting from his eyes, and his lips were bitten.
The pastor and the foreigners in the hall were extremely moved as they saw streams of blood shed.
Under the gaze of everyone, An Yi turned to the cross hanging high behind him, stared at the statue of the crucified Jesus for a long time, wiped away his tears, turned around and asked word by word:
"Pastor Geer, if the people who are dying outside are Christian brothers, will you not save them because of possible dangers?"
"No, no! Of course we will save, but this is different... You... Sir, you misunderstood, it's different..." The tall Pastor Geer explained anxiously, but the sadness in his eyes already made An Yi
Saw hope.
An extremely shocking scene appeared. An Yi smiled miserably, pointed at the cross on Geer's chest, suddenly turned around and knelt down heavily in front of the tall statue of Jesus, sighed, suddenly tore open his clothes and pulled out his clothes.
He pulled out the dagger from his waist and cried loudly with a hoarse voice:
"Almighty God, I am willing to convert to Christianity and be your people forever!"
After shouting, An Yi swung the tip of his sword and drew a deep cross on his bare left chest. He put away his dagger and walked to the sluggish Geer on his knees. He leaned down heavily and put his head on Geer's feet.
, Geer was at a loss with grief on his face, the whole hall was filled with exclamations and standing up, and many people unconsciously crowded the front desk.
An Yi slowly raised his head. Under the eyes of a pair of extremely shocked and pitiful eyes, and under the uncontrollable crying of the brothers behind him, he smiled slightly, raised his head and asked:
"Pastor, my cross is not hung on my chest, but engraved on my heart."
Geer quickly squatted down and hugged An Yi, whose chest was bleeding, and shouted "doctor". Priest Siege squatted down excitedly, held Geer's hand tightly and said quickly in English:
"Pastor, is your heart made of iron?"
Geer held back his tears and picked up An Yi. His robe was stained with An Yi's blood. Two doctors quickly came up to treat An Yi, but An Yi resolutely pushed the doctor away and stared sadly into Geer's eyes.
The blood flowed out from the cross-shaped wound on the chest. Geer couldn't stand An Yi's eyes and the blood flowing anymore, so he nodded and promised:
"You have moved God. My child, I promise you, promise you! But my child, after you recover from your injury, you will come to thank God for his kindness. I am willing to baptize you."
An Yi's body trembled and he thanked with a smile: "Thank you, pastor! I will, I am willing for you to baptize me. As long as my brother is saved, I am willing even if it costs my life... I mean... uh, wow...
"
A large mouthful of blood spurted out from An Yi's mouth, and the tall body of the young general who had achieved his wish fell heavily...