"I ask you, if Zhu Yourong... dares to stay in Nanjing even that little girl, why can't I go to Pukou? Well? My dear friends, please give me a reason."
In the Imperial City of Beijing, in the hall of the Military Aircraft Department, several military ministers and generals stood underground, staring at the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, sweating profusely.
Emperor Guangwu was sitting on a drum stool, with his legs crossed and twirling on his toes. The hem of his mandarin jacket was placed on his legs, and he was shaking his folding fan. His face was full of kindness.
But the more he behaved like this, the more the ministers in front of him broke into cold sweat.
"Bah!"
Guangwu stepped on a broken piece of porcelain and broke it in half.
Poof, a military minister knelt down. Then several others hesitated and knelt down too.
Emperor Guangwu looked at his ministers who were kneeling on the ground, and looked up to the sky and laughed. Kneeling has been abolished for many years since the late emperor's dynasty, but recently, it has become more and more common for ministers to kneel, and it has become less and less serious.
...More than a dozen divisions reached the other side, but they couldn't get in and suffered heavy losses...My beloved elite Sixth Division of the Eight Banners was completely wiped out, and thousands of prisoners were paraded in the streets...The divisional staff was also tricked by others.
Go to court, be tried and sentenced in front of so many foreign reporters, and finally hang...
If these slaves had used half of their skills as slaves to do things for me, the Qing Dynasty would not be like this!
"Pa", a drop of sweat fell on the square tile in front of the Minister of War Burca Limin. The old man in marshal uniform had trembling lips, hesitated again and again, and boldly played:
"Your Majesty, the reason why Zhu Yourong of the Southern Ming Dynasty dared to stay in Nanjing was because of the strength of the Purple Mountain Fortress. In fact, under the artillery fire of the Qing Dynasty, he did not dare to step out of the fortress... Moreover, the underground tunnels extend in all directions, and when the puppet emperor Zhu Yourong lived in
, I was already thinking about how to escape... How can the bravery of that yellow-haired girl Zhu Yourong compare to my long live emperor? The emperor is so wise and powerful that he is really not worth comparing with that girl..."
Burca-Limin was both the Minister of Army and the Minister of Military Aircraft. The Military Aircraft Department of the Qing Dynasty was nominally a temporary organization, so the Military Aircraft Department was concurrently held by the cabinet ministers. However, the Military Aircraft Department was actually founded by Yongzheng and has continued to this day. The Military Aircraft Department is actually a temporary agency.
He was the emperor's personal assistant. The real Qing cabinet was completely for show.
Guangwu stood up and sneered:
"I said that I would go to the Zhu Family Palace in Nanjing to celebrate New Year's Eve. This year's New Year's Eve is on the 23rd, and today is already the 22nd. Counting the days, I should leave today. Li Min, yours
Does that mean that I can’t enter the Zhu family’s palace tomorrow, so I don’t have to go today? Huh?”
Li Min was sweating profusely and did not dare to reply. He just threw himself on the ground and kowtowed. Several other ministers even fell to the ground and no longer dared to say a word.
Guangwu threw down his fan and clapped his hands, took off his sword from the wall, took out a section, looked at the cold light, and said with a smile:
"I also said that with such a superior force and such good weather, if Nanjing cannot be defeated, someone should commit suicide..."
He inserted it back with a bang and yelled:
"...Am I just joking?!"
…
At dusk on the 22nd, twelve fighter jets escorted three Junkers-52s, which hovered over the Bengbu Military Airport and landed one after another.
Half an hour later, a long convoy drove out of the airport. In front were armored vehicles driving the way, behind were military trucks carrying guards, in the middle was an eight-tael black car, and behind was another long queue of military vehicles...
The motorcade did not stop and drove directly to Bengbu Railway Station. Such a grand motorcade ceremony had never been seen in Bengbu. When passing through the city, guards were standing on both sides of the road, which attracted people to watch and speculate.
When it was almost dark, several armored trains from the Pukou shunting yard arrived. After the assembly was completed at the Bengbu shunting yard, a whistle blew, and the long military train slowly drove out, panting heavily, along the Jinpu
The line goes south, heading straight towards Pukou.
There are several luxury armored trains sandwiched between the military columns, and two 47mm cannons are pointed at both sides of the railway...
"Your Majesty," a general bowed, took the soup cup from the hand of the palace maid, held it in Guangwu's hand flatteringly, and said with a smile, "It doesn't matter if there is a little fog ahead, we can take this train.
It’s pretty fast, we’ll arrive at Pukou tomorrow morning.”
Guangwu drank the ginseng soup from the cup and said calmly:
"Yonggui, it doesn't matter if you arrive tomorrow morning. I don't have anything here. It's just you. You can help me cross the Yangtze River in broad daylight. You are my favorite general, and you will soon serve as the commander of the Eighth Army to attack Nanjing.
When the time comes, it won’t be successful, and everyone will look bad.”
Fucha-Yonggui, commander of the 6th Army, knelt on the ground and expressed his determination:
"Your Majesty, my servant Yonggui has been promoted and used by the Emperor. It is hard to repay this favor! Tomorrow I vow to lead the army across the Yangtze River, capture Nanjing in one fell swoop, and hand over the wonderful Forbidden City to the Emperor! Otherwise, my servant will die on the battlefield.
Serve the Emperor with death!"
Guangwu put down the soup cup, wiped his mouth with a hot towel, kicked his shoulder, and said with a smile:
"Okay, get up!"
…
January 23, 1936, the morning of New Year’s Eve.
On both sides of the railway from Pukou Railway Station to Pukou Pier, there were loud cheers, one wave after another.
The long military train moved slowly on the railway track. Several armored trains were moved to the front. At the front was a flatbed truck piled with sandbags, and two 40mm anti-aircraft guns pointed at the sky.
Emperor Guangwu was dressed in military uniform, wearing a steel helmet on his head and a sword on his waist. He held his white gloves on the sandbag and held a cigarette in his mouth. From time to time he raised his right arm and waved to the thousands of Qing soldiers on both sides.
Every time he raised his arms to recruit, it would trigger a fanatical cheer.
Behind the tightly guarded military police, the wounded soldiers with their faces and legs wrapped in gauze supported each other, raised their crutches and waved them crazily in the air. Their blood-stained mouths let out fanatical cheers. Even the wounded soldiers lying on the stretchers
They all stood up, with tears streaming down their burnt faces.
When all the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty saw the imperial commander marching in person, the sense of defeat and decadence they had felt for several days was forgotten. Everyone shouted crazily, and only the enthusiasm for victory and the desire for revenge were left in their hearts.
"Click!" The train arrived at Pukou Pier and stopped.
Wave after wave of overwhelming cheers came from all sides. Emperor Guangwu raised his hands with a smile several times, but to no avail. In the end, the high morale completely infected him.
He climbed onto the pile of sandbags, holding a cigarette in one hand and a loudspeaker in the other, and said only one sentence:
"Brothers, I am here and I will lead you to fight!!!"
The cheers increased tenfold, and every Qing soldier had red eyes, jumping feet, and tears in his eyes.
…
Amidst the cheers, several military policemen escorted a man bundled into a rice dumpling. The man was wearing a general's uniform, without his hat, and his shoulder and collar insignias had also been torn off.
Guang Wu held a loudspeaker and smiled:
"Brothers all know this man, he is the commander of the Eighth Army, Guo Luoluo Fengdong! His Eighth Army mainly attacked Nanjing, with twice the strength and ten times more artillery fire than the Nanjing defenders! There were several consecutive
The sky is full of fog! What's the result? He led you to throw away your armor, causing you to lose so many brothers, and you were beaten back like cowards!"
Roaring from all sides:
"Kill him! Kill him!..."
The military policemen on both sides untied the ropes, and Guo Luoluo collapsed at Guangwu's feet, his face turned earth-colored, and he screamed:
"emperor!"
Guang Wu stretched out his hand and held a sword beside him. Guang Wu held the sword, lowered his head and smiled:
"I said that with such a superior force and such foggy weather, if Nanjing cannot be conquered, someone will have to commit suicide. Fengdong, I remember that you were also present at that time, right?"
"Your Majesty... this servant is here..."
"Very good," Guangwu nodded. "Your Eighth Army is in charge of Nanjing. Its troops and firepower are far superior to the Ming army. Now that the armor has been removed and the troops have been lost, who do you think should be the one who commits suicide? Huh?"
"
"Your Majesty..." Guo Luoluo's face turned pale and he kowtowed as if he was pounding garlic, "Have mercy..."
Emperor Guangwu raised his eyebrows and said angrily:
"The war situation has deteriorated to this point. If you don't commit suicide, who will you ask to commit suicide? Hmm? Let the army group commander? Let the army commanders and division commanders below? Hmm? Do you want these brothers to commit suicide for you?"
The roaring around him became even louder, and everyone wanted to execute him.
Guangwu suddenly pulled out his sword, but it was still in front of Guo Luoluo. The guards on both sides turned pale with fright, and hurriedly stood in front of them, shouting:
"Your Majesty, no!"
The guard officer glanced, and the military police on both sides understood, rushed over to grab Guo Luoluo, pushed him to the open space under the flatbed truck, picked up the sword, and swung it suddenly, three feet of blood spurted out, and Guo Luoluo's head was already high.
High mention.
There were thunderous cheers everywhere, and the Qing soldiers seemed to have avenged a great revenge, and the cheers were loud.
Emperor Guangwu stared at the bloody human head with murderous intent in his eyes, licked his lips, gritted his teeth and shouted into the loudspeaker:
"Capture Nanjing and let the brothers be happy for ten days!... I only want the Forbidden City, and the entire Nanjing outside is yours!!!"
This promise almost caused the Pukou Pier to erupt. All the Qing soldiers roared like beasts. The hundreds of thousands of Qing soldiers in Pukou have become beast soldiers.
…
Eight o'clock in the morning.
At this time, the fog on the Yangtze River has faded, and visibility has reached a few hundred meters. The width of the Nanjing section of the river is only about a thousand meters. That is, if you sail three to five hundred meters by boat, you can clearly see the other side. Two days ago
The situation where everything was completely white more than ten meters away will never be seen again.
On both sides of the Yangtze River, the ground was shaking. All the artillery on both sides were frantically pouring shells onto the other side. The northern part of Nanjing and the southern part of Pukou had been completely engulfed by gunpowder smoke and dust.
Since the early morning of January 20, the Qing army once again relied on its superior strength to attack across the Nanjing section. From Qixia in the north to Zimuzhou in the south, assault boats and steamers were densely packed on the river for more than 30 kilometers, slowly pressing down.
Toward the south bank.
In the river embankment observation fort outside Dinghuai Gate of Nanjing, Major General Sun Baoguo, commander of the Nanjing Section Defense Line fort, held up the gun scope, looked at the river through the narrow observation opening, and murmured:
"Qinglu worked hard this time..."
A cannonball landed nearby, causing the fort to tremble, and a large amount of dust fell from the low concrete roof.
Sun Baoguo squatted down for a moment, stood up again, held his hat in his hand, held the gun scope and said:
"Their ship is approaching... almost reaching the shore... Damn it, why doesn't the artillery fire stop?... They are really crazy, the infantry ship is so close, and the fire preparation does not stop... Okay, order
Across the board—"
The adjutant took the phone and shouted:
"Command all lines——"
"Rapid-firing cannons in position!"
The adjutant was stunned for a moment, then picked up the phone and shouted:
"Rapid-firing cannons in position!"
Hundreds of small-caliber machine guns have been pushed out of the bunker by the artillerymen and entered the open-air gun mount. The artillery crew quickly removed the wheels, fixed the machine gun on the cement gun mount, and quickly shook the handle. Hundreds of 20 mm and 37 mm guns were launched.
, the 30mm cannon lowered its muzzle at the same time, and the two-, three-, and four-gun barrels were aimed at the river in the distance.
At this time, the entire Nanjing section of the defense line was still shaken by explosions. Occasionally, a machine gun was blown into a fireball and flew into the sky. Broken parts and bloody limbs were scattered everywhere. The artillerymen wore steel helmets and squatted for dear life.
They kept their bodies low and no one turned around to escape. They were all carrying the shells desperately and planning to shoot at Zhu Yuan. From time to time, one or two artillerymen were hit by shrapnel and fell down.
Within a few minutes, there had been more than 300 casualties, and almost no artillery crew was full.
Major General Sun Baoguo was in the observation fort, holding a gun scope and staring at the river. It was close, it was already very close.
At this time, the adjutant turned around and reported:
"Reporting to your lord, all artillery crews are ready!"
"Rapid fire!"
The adjutant immediately issued an order:
"Rapid fire!"
In an instant, lines of fire were densely covered on the river for tens of kilometers. Black smoke rose from the river, and countless assault boats were caught in the flames and sank quickly. For a while, the Qing soldiers who fell into the water were like ants, struggling to call for help, and a layer of red floating on the water.
Blood soup.
The fog was not thick enough, and the Qing army's smoke bombs kept coming. Soon, the Ming army's artillery batteries and machine gun forts were surrounded by white smoke on the river.
There are more and more assault boats, almost crowding the entire river, and the machine guns on the south bank can't fire at them. Those 20 mm machine guns use drums to feed ammunition. There are fifty rounds of shells in each drum, and they have continuous shooting capabilities.
It's better. Those 37mm and 40mm machine guns are not good. Although they are powerful, they are fed by magazines. Each barrel has to be replaced after a few rounds.
The surrounding Qing army artillery shells continued to explode, and the crew members of each gun continued to die. The original three people carrying ammunition were quickly reduced to two people, and soon to one person... Before long, almost all the gun mounts were
The surrounding area was littered with empty bullet casings, empty magazines, and the corpses of artillerymen.
The leading Qing soldiers braved the artillery fire of the Ming army as well as their own artillery fire, advancing one after another and moving forward indomitably. The Qing soldiers in the assault boat lowered their heads, and the water splashed by the shells kept hitting their helmets. The engine of the assault boat was too slow.
, all the Qing soldiers on the boat put their rifle butts into the water and paddled desperately.
Although there were heavy casualties, 20 to 30% of the assault boats still managed to reach the south bank. The Qing soldiers on the boat jumped off with cheers, raised their guns, and paddled up to their waists in the water to struggle desperately into the reeds on the muddy beach.
But behind the reeds in front, several small steel castles rose up faintly. With the roar of "whoosh", there was a strong smell of gasoline, and several fire dragons more than ten meters long rushed towards them. In an instant, the dry
The reeds turned into a sea of fire. In the sea of fire, hundreds of burning people were flailing and struggling. They fell on the muddy beach and turned into charcoal.
Then, a small black hole appeared every ten meters on the river embankment, and people quickly pushed out the sand from it, forming a 15 cm high and 20 cm wide shooting port. Immediately afterwards, these shooting ports spit out tongues of fire, and the chase
With the Qing soldiers who were not burned.
The appearance of these machine gun bunkers immediately left corpses strewn on the muddy beach.
However, denser heavy artillery shells came from the north bank, and these exposed firepower points were quickly destroyed. At the same time, the Qing soldiers who had come over were also wounded by their own artillery fire.
In the Dinghuaimen Observation Fort, Sun Baoguo's adjutant put down the phone and reported in a trembling voice:
"Sir... only one-third of the rapid-fire artillery pieces on the Nanjing section of the defense line are still firing..."
"Why?!" Sun Baoguo threw down the gun scope and roared, "Why didn't the artillery stop even though their infantry came over? Why did they bomb their own people? Why were they willing to be bombed to death by their own people? Don't they rebel?"
He rushed to the observation port again, his lips trembled, cold sweat rolled down from the ground, and he murmured:
"When they fight like this... we have to be exposed to artillery fire... We can't withstand this! They can afford to die, but we can't afford to die!... This kind of fighting... this is not a war, this is a gangster."
!”
…
At this time, on the Pukou Pier, a young man covered in dirt, wearing a steel helmet, stood in the trench, holding a telescope and looking towards the river.
The shells from the south bank kept falling, and the mud kept hitting his helmet. He shook his head, grabbed the binoculars, and laughed:
"Okay! Very good! Very good!!!... Let's fight like this, and we will enter Nanjing at noon!"
Several senior officers next to him, their faces pale, rushed to catch him and begged:
"Your Majesty! Go to the bunker at least!"
"Your Majesty, you are the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. If you have any shortcomings, what will the Qing Dynasty do?"
Emperor Guangwu threw down the telescope, turned his face, gritted his teeth and said:
"Okay, I'm going to the bunker!"
"Your Majesty is so wise!"
"But you have to issue a military order to me and attack Nanjing before noon, otherwise your entire clan will be overthrown!...How about that?"
The generals around him were stunned. They all swallowed their saliva and their faces were as white as paper. No one dared to persuade him any more.
At this time, a lieutenant ran over with a field telephone and a coil. He stood at attention with a snap, and then said excitedly:
"Your Majesty, I have already taken it!"
Guangwu patted the lieutenant on the shoulder and said with a smile:
"Good boy, you've worked hard, go take a rest!"
The lieutenant was so excited that he almost cried. He stood up straight and shouted:
"Report to your Majesty that I am not tired!"
Emperor Guangwu smiled slightly, jumped out of the trench, took the phone, stood up straight and said into the microphone:
"Brothers, listen up!"
His voice echoed throughout Pukou Pier:
"...Brothers, if you brave the artillery fire, I will accompany you to brave the artillery fire!..."
Amid the explosions, cheers rang out again. The Qing soldiers who were still lying on the ground were like crazy at this moment, scrambling to get on the assault boat and rushing towards the south bank one after another. No one cared about their own artillery fire.
…
The Dinghuai Gate Observation Fort was full of dead bodies. Sun Baoguo held the phone and struggled to say the last words:
"The line of defense... has been broken. I serve my country... and die to serve my country!"
Several Qing troops rushed in and shouted:
"Surrender quickly!"
Sun Baoguo smiled slightly, pulled out his gun, inserted it into his mouth, and shot himself.