Agents of the Republic of China

In addition to the sound of gunfire like fried beans, only his own heavy breathing and the sound of approaching military boots stomping on the ground remained in Lin Xiaotang's ears. His lungs kept shrinking, and his heart was beating like he was going As if jumping out of his chest, he clearly felt that he was so scared that he wanted to cry.

A figure quickly jumped over Lin Xiaotang's head, followed by the second and the third.Lin Xiaotang didn't dare to be careless, and quickly stretched out his head to look back. The other pursuers in his field of vision were far behind.

Lin Xiaotang didn't know where the strength came from, jumped out of the deep ditch, and quickly caught up with the Japanese officer who fell behind.

The Japanese officer seemed to have heard the footsteps behind him, and quickly put his hand on the handle 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. As soon as he stagnated, his neck was tightly strangled by an arm like an iron hoop.

Lin Xiaotang subdued the lagging officer in one fell swoop, the sound had already alarmed the people running ahead.The two Japanese soldiers immediately turned around, Lin Xiaotang hugged the Japanese officer who was knocked unconscious with one hand, and the Nanbu pistol in the other hand suddenly fired, bleeding sprang from the chests of the two soldiers.

When he came down again, he turned the officer around and pointed his gun at the approaching pursuers.

But before he could shoot, there was a sudden burst of gunfire from the direction of the department store behind him, and within a short while, all the pursuers were knocked down to the ground.

Only then did Lin Xiaotang 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, panting heavily, and suppressed the urge to vomit in his chest and abdomen with difficulty, the cold sweat oozed from his forehead, and he couldn't help but slapped when he was blown by the cold wind trembling.

Suddenly a shout came from the department store, "Brother, good skill!"

Lin Xiaotang looked up, and at some point in the ruins of the department store, dozens of figures wearing black German steel helmets appeared.

Lin Xiaotang didn't answer, frowned, picked up a rag that had changed color and wiped it on his left arm, knelt down, collected the weapons and ammunition of the three Japanese killed, and carried them on his back.

A few pieces of paper were exposed from the pocket on the officer's body, Lin Xiaotang took them out, took a quick look, but his expression changed drastically.He stood up and quickly ran into the department store.

The building is a defensive position of Japanese soldiers, there are not many people, only about forty people.The leader was a colonel officer of about 40 years old and tall.

Hearing that Lin Xiaotang was a student of Nanjing University, the officer couldn't help showing a look of surprise, obviously he didn't expect that an ordinary college student could have such good skills.Lin Xiaotang faltered a few words, presuming that he practiced martial arts since he was a child, so he was perfunctory.

The colonel's officer is Lei Zhen (Note 60). He is the colonel and deputy brigade commander of the third brigade of the National Revolutionary Army's teaching corps. He was ordered to garrison Wulong Mountain. Noisily retreated secretly.After contacting, I learned that Tang Shengzhi, the commander of the Nanjing Garrison, had ordered all departments to withdraw from Nanjing in batches last night, waiting for an opportunity to break out of the siege in all directions.

After receiving the order, some officers actually left the troops and fled early, which also caused a major collapse of the Nanjing guards. The troops could not find the officers and retreated on their own.This is also the main reason why the Japanese army quickly broke through the city defenses and entered the city. In the city, even the street fighting was not prepared in time.

Knowing that there are still ships at Yijiangmen Wharf to meet the personnel of the headquarters and the No.30 Sixth Division who supervised the battle across the river, the defeated troops of various ministries flocked to Yijiangmen, and with the tens of thousands of Nanjing citizens who have not yet been evacuated, the Yijiangmen Wharf in Xiaguan has already into utter chaos.And Lei Zhen led the remnant to also plan to retreat there.

After listening to it, Lin Xiaotang felt sad. He handed Lei Zhen the piece of paper he found from the Japanese soldiers, and translated the words on it to Lei Zhen word by word.

Lei Zhen was shocked by the content.After a while, he came back to his senses, and patted Lin Xiaotang's shoulder vigorously, "Young people are awesome, brother, I thank you on behalf of brother **."

Ergou and Fangrou are in the department store.As soon as they entered the building, they found Japanese soldiers, but before they could ask for help, Lin Xiaotang had already fought the pursuers behind him.

This gave Ergou the capital to show off in front of everyone, and kept bragging about Lin Xiaotang's abilities to the Japanese soldiers.But Fang Rou seemed to be in shock, her small face was still pale, and she was relieved until she saw that Lin Xiaotang was safe and sound.

So Lei Zhen and the others hurried to Yijiangmen Wharf with Lin Xiaotang and the others. Along the way, they gathered some soldiers and civilians. When they arrived at the wharf, their team had about 200 people.

Yijiangmen, formerly known as Hailingmen, was renamed in the 20th year of the Republic of China and changed to Three Kongdao.Located between Tuhuang Mountain and Bazi Mountain in Xiaguan, it is the only way and the only passage leading to the ferry terminal.

But now, the road was already full of people, everywhere were Japanese soldiers who had retreated from various positions and civilians with their families. Lin Xiaotang roughly estimated the number of people, at least 7 people.

Lei Zhen's status as an officer played a role. Lin Xiaotang and the three followed closely behind him. They finally came to the tunnel of Yijiangmen with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Already out of breath, some people are still screaming, but they just can'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 pier.The rout soldiers are holding up their guns and are confronting the officers and soldiers of the 36th Division tensely

Lei Zhen turned his head inadvertently, and his face immediately changed color. Several soldiers on the side of the road were carrying a stretcher, and an officer was lying on the stretcher. His body was covered with mud, his face was sallow, and his eyes were closed.He strode over and shouted, "Thank you, Commander! Thank you, Commander!"

The soldiers nearby all lowered their heads.

Lei Zhen hugged the corpse tightly, turned his head and asked viciously: "Headman Xie was fine when he retreated, how did he die?"

An officer of the 36th Division ran out from behind the fortifications, stood at attention to Lei Zhen, and saluted Lei Zhen, "Sir, just now there was crowding and stampede in Yijiangmen, and that's when Commander Xie was caught by the crowd...!"

Lei Zhen put down the body of Commander Xie silently, stood up, opened his eyes wide, and pointed at the 36th Division and the soldiers behind him, "You can do it, you really look like a soldier. Commander Xie Chengrui ( Note [-]) He led his troops to stand firm in the engineering school for three days, and later fought a bloody day and night with the Japanese army at Guanghuamen. For what reason, it was to defend Nanjing and cover your retreat. He did not die under the guns of the Japanese, but now, he did. I will be trampled to death by you bastards!"

The crowd fell silent, and the muzzles of the soldiers' guns dropped.

Lei Zhen took two steps and stood in front of the officer, "Remove the roadblocks and organize the retreat of all ministries as soon as possible, especially the people in Nanjing, let them board 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 pier. But there are so many people, I really can't make the decision. We The division commander has issued an order that only the personnel of the Garrison Command and our 36th Division are allowed to retreat at the Yijiangmen Wharf, and the rest of the troops can only figure out their own way!"

Lei Zhen's face suddenly turned livid, and he slapped the officer's face crisply. "The little devil has already entered the city, and it will take a few hours to fight here. You let us figure out a way, that is, let the brothers go to death. Even if the soldiers are not allowed to 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 the guns that had just been put down were raised again in unison, and quickly approached the roadblock.

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 are gradually approaching from behind, and here, the Communist Party is still engaged in meaningless internal fighting.He looked at the fleeing people behind him. Apart from helplessness, everyone's expression was boundless despair. Some people hugged their young children and couldn't help crying loudly.The cries, shouts, and screams were like a ball of flames, constantly stirring Lin Xiaotang's heart.

Lin Xiaotang pushed Ergou and Fang Rou beside him to push Lei Zhen, and shouted loudly in Ergou's ear, "Follow Mr. Lei, take care of Fang Rou!"

After finishing speaking, he turned around, used all his strength to push through the crowd, snatched a simple loudspeaker made of iron from the officer who was talking to Lei Zhen, and walked a few steps to a military truck parked by the hole in Yijiang Gate. side, quickly climbed up to the roof of the pilot building.

Lin Xiaotang took off a [-]-type light machine gun that was just seized on his back, skillfully replaced it with a magazine, the muzzle of the gun was facing the sky, and with a single pull of the trigger, a burst of bullets was swept away.

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

Facing the gazes of tens of thousands of people, Lin Xiaotang's only apprehension was blown away immediately, he put the machine gun back on his back, raised the loudspeaker and shouted: "Brothers, folks, we can't continue to mess up Yes. The Japanese devils are right behind us, and they can reach here as soon as we talk. The most urgent thing is to immediately organize manpower to block and cover the orderly retreat of the troops and ordinary people on the pier. 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, "My brother and I just found this on the dead devil soldier! Do you know what it is? This is an order received by the Japanese army , to kill all Chinese soldiers in Nanjing City! Including captives and those who abandoned their weapons and surrendered!"

A voice came out from the crowd, "Don't listen to his nonsense, since the commander doesn't care about us, we threw down our guns and surrendered. Since ancient times, killing and surrendering has been inauspicious. If we put down our guns, we are ordinary people. The Japanese can kill us all! "Then there were some voices echoing.

Lin Xiaotang shouted hoarsely: "You must not trust the Japanese devils! This document is very clear. The reason why they don't accept prisoners of war is that the devils have only 5 troops to attack Nanjing this time, and they can't control the entire Nanjing city at all. The only way is to kill all the Chinese Communists, coax us to surrender first, 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 to the crowd, "If you don't believe me, there must be someone who knows Japanese among so many people here, you can come over and tell the truth from the fake. There is the Devil's Sixth Division and their leader The seal of the Tanigawa Regiment and the signature of the Japanese officer!" (Note [-])

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

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

There was a lot of discussion in the crowd.

At this time, the crowd parted, and an officer in his 40s, wearing a green tweed uniform and the rank of major general, walked to the entrance of the tunnel under the escort of a dozen soldiers, "I am the mayor of Nanjing and deputy commander of the Gendarmerie Command Xiao Shanling." (Note [-]), are there any other officers at the scene?"

"Report to Chief Xiao, there are only regiment-level officers at the scene, and all high-ranking officers have already...".Lei Zhen replied with a salute.

Xiao Shanling looked at the officers of the 36th Division guarding the tunnel at the Yijiang Gate, "Where are your officers, tell them to come out and see me!"

The officer murmured and replied: "Report, our chief has already crossed the river, and we cannot be contacted at present!"

The crowd burst into an uproar.

Xiao Shanling's face became a little distorted because of anger, "Soldiers are expensive, and your minister has the essence of the art of war!"

The guns in the hands of the soldiers of the 36th Division hung down unknowingly.

Xiao Shanling strode to the truck, climbed into the truck compartment, and nodded approvingly at Lin Xiaotang and Lei Zhen, "Since there is no officer with a higher rank at the scene, then I, Xiao Shanling, will command all the units to retreat!"