In addition to the sound of gunfire like fried beans, Lin Xiaotang's ears were filled with the sound of his own heavy breathing and the sound of approaching military boots on the ground. His lungs kept contracting and his heart was beating thumpingly, as if he was about to

As if his chest had burst open and jumped out, he clearly felt that he was so scared that he wanted to cry.

A figure quickly jumped over Lin Xiaotang's head, followed by a second and third one. Lin Xiaotang did not dare to be careless and quickly stretched out his head to look back. The other pursuers in his field of vision were far away.

behind.

Lin Xiaotang didn't know where he got the strength to jump out of the ditch and quickly caught up with the Japanese officer who was at the back.

The Japanese officer seemed to hear the footsteps behind him. He quickly put his hand on the hilt of the samurai sword at his waist. Just as he was about to turn around, a hard object hit the back of his head heavily. He groaned, and stars appeared in front of his eyes.

As soon as his body froze, his neck was tightly strangled by an iron hoop-like arm.

Lin Xiaotang subdued the officer who was behind him in one fell swoop. The noise had already alerted the people running in front. The two Japanese soldiers immediately turned around. Lin Xiaotang held the knocked unconscious Japanese officer with one hand, and suddenly fired the Nanbu pistol in his other hand.

Blood spurted from the chest of a soldier.

When he got down again, he twisted the officer's body and pointed his gun at the approaching pursuers.

But before he could fire, a burst of gunfire like fried beans suddenly rang out from the direction of the department store behind him. Within a moment, all the pursuers were knocked to the ground.

Lin Xiaotang then let go of his hand, and the body of the strangled officer collapsed like a pile of mud.

Lin Xiaotang's eyes were red. He clutched his chest and breathed heavily. Then he suppressed the urge to vomit in his chest and abdomen with difficulty. Cold sweat seeped out from his forehead. He was blown by the cold wind and couldn't help but shiver.

Shivering.

Suddenly a cry came from the department store, "Brother, what a skill!"

Lin Xiaotang looked up and saw dozens of figures wearing black German helmets emerging from the ruins of the department store.

Lin Xiaotang did not answer, frowned, picked up a changed color rag and wiped it on his left arm, squatted down, collected the weapons and ammunition of the three Japanese killed, and carried them on his back.

A few pieces of paper were revealed in the pocket on the officer's body. Lin Xiaotang took them out and glanced at them briefly, but his expression changed drastically. He stood up and ran into the department store quickly.

The building is a defensive position for the national army soldiers. There are not many people, only about forty people. The leader is a tall colonel officer who is about forty years old.

Hearing that Lin Xiaotang was a student of Nanjing University, the officer couldn't help but look surprised. Apparently he didn't expect that an ordinary college student could have such good skills. Lin Xiaotang hesitated a few words, saying that he had been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and was perfunctory.

past.

The colonel officer is called Lei Zhen (Note 1), and he is the colonel deputy brigade commander of the Third Brigade of the National Revolutionary Army Teaching Corps. He was ordered to garrison Wulong Mountain. However, he discovered early this morning that the 66th Army of the Guanghuamen garrison behind him was silent.

After making contact, we learned that Tang Shengzhi, commander of the Nanjing Garrison Region, had ordered all departments to withdraw from Nanjing in batches last night, waiting for opportunities to break out from all directions.

After receiving the order, some officers actually abandoned their troops and fled early, which also caused a huge collapse of the Nanjing garrison. The troops could not find their officers and retreated on their own. This was also the main reason why the Japanese army quickly broke through the city defenses and entered the city.

In the city, there was not even time to prepare for street fighting.

Knowing that there were ships at Yijiangmen Pier to assist the headquarters personnel and the 36th Division supervising the operations to cross the river, the defeated troops from all departments rushed to Yijiangmen. In addition to the tens of thousands of Nanjing citizens who had not yet been evacuated, the Yijiangmen Pier in Xiaguan was already

They fell into extreme chaos. Lei Zhen and his remaining troops also planned to retreat there.

After listening, Lin Xiaotang felt sad. He handed the piece of paper he collected from the Japanese soldier to Lei Zhen and translated the text on it word for word for Lei Zhen.

Lei Zhen was shocked by the content. After a while, he came back to his senses and patted Lin Xiaotang's shoulder hard, "Young people are scary, brother. I want to thank you on behalf of our brothers in the national army."

Ergou and Fang Rou were in the department store. As soon as they entered the building, they spotted the National Army soldiers, but before they could ask for help, Lin Xiaotang had already engaged the pursuers behind him.

This gave Ergou something to show off in front of everyone, and kept bragging about Lin Xiaotang's abilities to the soldiers. Fang Rou seemed to be in shock, and her face was still pale. It was not until she saw Lin Xiaotang safe and sound with her own eyes that she relaxed.

tone.

So Lei Zhen and others quickly rushed to Yijiangmen Pier with Lin Xiaotang and the others, gathering some soldiers and civilians along the way. When they arrived at the pier, their team already numbered about two hundred people.

Yijiang Gate, formerly known as Hailing Gate, was renamed in the 20th year of the Republic of China and renamed Sankong Road. Located between Tuhuang Mountain and Bazi Mountain in Xiaguan, it is the only way and the only passage leading to the dock across the river.

Now, the roads were already crowded with people, including Nationalist soldiers who had retreated from various positions and ordinary people with their families. Lin Xiaotang made a rough estimate of the number of people, and found that there must be at least more than 70,000 people.

Lei Zhen's status as an officer played a certain role. Lin Xiaotang and the other three followed closely behind him. They finally arrived at the tunnel of Yijiang Gate. From time to time, they would step on people who were pushed down. Some people

They had already died, and some people were still screaming, but they just couldn't stand up.

The three tunnels were guarded by soldiers of the 36th Division with live ammunition, cutting off the only road leading to the dock. The defeated soldiers held up their guns and were tensely confronting the officers and soldiers of the 36th Division.

Lei Zhen turned his head inadvertently, and his face suddenly changed color. Several soldiers on the roadside were carrying a stretcher. On the stretcher lay an officer. His body was covered with mud, his face was sallow, and his eyes were closed. He had obviously died long ago.

He strode over and shouted, "Thank you, Commander! Thank you, Commander!"

The soldiers nearby lowered their heads.

Lei Zhen hugged the body tightly, turned around and asked fiercely: "Captain Xie was fine when he retreated, how did he die?"

An officer of the Thirty-sixth Division ran out from behind the fortifications, stood at attention towards Lei Zhen, and saluted a military salute, "Sir, there was a crowding and stampede at Yijiang Gate just now, and that's when Captain Xie was killed by the crowd...!"

Lei Zhen silently put down the body of Commander Xie, stood up, eyes wide open, pointed at the 36th Division and the soldiers behind him, "You guys can do it, you really look like a soldier. Regiment Xie Chengrui

The commander (Note 2) led his troops to stand firm at the Engineer School for three days, and then fought bloody battles with the Japanese troops at Guanghua Gate for a day and a night. Why? It was to defend Nanjing and cover your retreat. He was not killed by the Japanese gun, but what about now?

, but I was trampled to death by you bastards!"

The crowd fell silent, and the soldiers lowered their guns.

Lei Zhen took two steps and stood in front of the officer, "Remove the roadblocks and organize all ministries to retreat as soon as possible, especially the people of Nanjing, let them get on the ship first!"

The officer looked embarrassed, put his head in front of Lei Zhen, and said softly: "Sir, if you want to pass, I will send someone to take you to the dock. But with so many people, I really can't make the decision. We

The division commander has issued an order that only the garrison headquarters personnel and our Thirty-sixth Division can use the Yijiangmen Pier for retreat. Other troops can only find their own solutions!"

Lei Zhen's face suddenly turned livid, and he slapped the officer in the face. "The little devil has entered the city. He will be here in a few hours. You let us think of a way. That's the damn thing.

Let the brothers die. Even if you don’t let the soldiers board the ship, what about these ordinary people? Let me tell you, if you don’t withdraw, don’t blame us for being rude!”

The soldiers behind Lei Zhen also shouted loudly, and the muzzles of their guns that had just been put down were immediately raised again, and they quickly approached the roadblock. The soldiers on both sides began to push each other through the roadblock, and even hit each other with their rifle butts.

The situation has become out of control and is about to get out of control.

Lin Xiaotang felt that there was nowhere to vent the suffocation in his chest. The Japanese invaders were gradually approaching behind him, and here, the national army was still engaged in meaningless internal fighting. He looked at the fleeing people behind him, and everyone's expressions were filled with helplessness.

In despair, some people hugged their young children and couldn't help crying loudly. The cries, shouts, and screams were like a ball of flame, constantly flaming Lin Xiaotang's heart.

Lin Xiaotang pushed Ergou and Fang Rou beside Lei Zhen and shouted loudly in Ergou's ear, "Follow Chief Lei and take care of Fang Rou!"

After saying that, he turned around, used all his strength to push through the crowd, grabbed the simple loudspeaker made of iron from the hand of the officer who was talking to Lei Zhen, and took a few steps to a military truck parked next to the Yijiang Gate hole.

He quickly climbed up to the roof of the driving building.

Lin Xiaotang took off the Type 92 light machine gun he had just captured from his back, skillfully replaced it with a magazine, pointed the muzzle upward, and pulled the trigger, clearing out a bunch of bullets.

The sudden gunshots silenced tens of thousands of people at the scene, and everyone stared blankly at this thin young man wearing a student uniform.

Facing the gazes of tens of thousands of eyes, Lin Xiaotang's only anxiety was immediately dissipated by the blowing smoke. He put the machine gun on his back again, raised the loudspeaker and shouted loudly: "Brothers, folks, we can't continue to cause chaos.

The Japanese are right behind us and can hit us here in a moment. The top priority is to immediately organize manpower to block the attack and cover the orderly retreat of the troops and people on the dock. Only in this way can most of the people present save their lives!"

Lin Xiaotang took out the piece of paper from his pocket and waved it in the air, "This is what my brothers from the teaching corps and I just found on the dead Japanese soldiers! Do you know what this is? This is the order the Japanese army received.

, all Chinese soldiers in Nanjing City must be killed! Including prisoners and those who abandoned their weapons and surrendered!"

A voice came from the crowd, "Don't listen to his nonsense. Since the commander doesn't care about us, we should throw down our guns and surrender. Since ancient times, it is ominous to kill and surrender. If we put down our guns, we are ordinary people. How can the Japanese kill us all!"

"Suddenly some voices echoed.

Lin Xiaotang shouted at the top of his lungs: "You must never trust the Japanese devils! This document says it very clearly. The reason why they do not accept prisoners of war is that the Japanese army only has 50,000 troops to attack Nanjing this time, and they cannot control the entire city of Nanjing.

The only way is to kill all the Chinese soldiers, first coax us to surrender, and then massacre them, so that they can quickly occupy Nanjing and save food at the same time, do you understand?"

Lin Xiaotang opened the piece of paper in his hand to the crowd, "If you don't believe that among all the people here, there must be some who understand Japanese, you can come and tell the truth from the false. Here are the Japanese Sixth Division and their vanguard leader.

The seal of the Tanichuan Regiment and the signature of the Japanese officer!" (Note 4)

Lei Zhen also climbed into the car, "I can prove that what this student brother said is true. He just killed three Japanese devils, and my brothers can also prove it!"

Lei Zhen's men immediately raised their guns in response.

There was a lot of discussion among the crowd.

At this time, the crowd separated, and an officer in his forties, wearing a green military uniform with the rank of major general, walked to the entrance of the tunnel escorted by about a dozen soldiers and said, "I am Xiao Shan, mayor of Nanjing and deputy commander of the Military Police Headquarters.

Order (Note 3), are there any other officers at the scene?"

"Report to Commander Xiao, there are only regiment-level officers on site, and all high-ranking officers have already..." Lei Zhen saluted and replied.

Xiao Shanling looked at the officers of the Thirty-sixth Division guarding the Yijiang Gate tunnel, "Where are your officers? Tell them to come out to see me!"

The officer murmured in reply: "Report, our commander has crossed the river and cannot be contacted at the moment!"

The crowd was immediately in an uproar.

Xiao Shanling's face became a little distorted because of anger, "Soldiers are valuable and quick, but your minister is very knowledgeable in the art of war!"

The guns in the hands of the soldiers of the 36th Division dropped unconsciously.
Chapter completed!