Chapter 11 4. Bloody Battle Rain Flower Terrace

The Japanese troops attacking Nanjing included Hisao Tani's Sixth Division, Suematsu Moji's 114th Division, Yoshizumi Ryosuke's Ninth Division, Nakajima Kongo's Sixteenth Division, and Ushishima Sadao's Tenth Division. Eighth Division, Dizhou Libing's Thirteenth Division, etc. Among them, Tani Hisao's Sixth Division is the most sturdy and brutal. Hisao Tani, a native of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, was born in 1882 and graduated from the Japanese Army University in 1912.Served as military attache of the Japanese embassy in India, instructor of the Army University, member and deputy of the staff headquarters, commander of the Second Infantry Brigade, and commander of the Tokyo Bay Fortress Area.Because he led troops to China twice and made great contributions in massacring the Chinese people, and the soldiers were all from Kumamoto and Oita prefectures in Kyushu Island.

Upon receiving the order to attack Nanjing, Hisao Tani immediately ordered the commander of the 11th Brigade, Commander Ji Taro, and the commander of the 36th Brigade, Nakatakaman, to lead their troops to launch fierce attacks on Zhonghuamen and Yuhuatai respectively.At one o'clock in the afternoon, the shells rushed towards Zhonghuamen and Yuhuatai like hungry locusts. The area around Zhonghuamen and Yuhuatai was full of gunpowder and flames. On Yuhuatai, the headquarters of the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division of the Chinese garrison. The brigade commander Zhu Chi is calmly commanding the troops to fight against the crazy Japanese attack.The 262nd Brigade withdrew from the Songhu battlefield, and the troops suffered heavy casualties during the battle. Although they replenished several times after arriving in Nanjing, they lacked rest and training, and their combat effectiveness was greatly affected.Even so, Zhu Chi accepted the important task of defending Yuhuatai without hesitation.He ordered two regiments to guard the outer positions of Yuhuatai, one regiment to guard Yuhuatai, and the brigade headquarters was also set up on Yuhuatai. On the afternoon of the 10th, Japanese planes and artillery bombarded Yuhuatai fiercely in turn. After the bombardment, Japanese soldiers from Tani Hisao's army rushed over with bayonets and bowed bodies.Zhu Chi commanded the soldiers to climb out of the dilapidated fortifications, and when the enemy rushed to the mountainside, he slammed the enemy with machine guns, rifles, and grenades.The group charges of the Japanese army started with ferocious madness again and again, and ended in helpless defeat again and again.The corpses of the invaders were left everywhere on the slopes and fields under the Yuhuatai.

Gu Hisao was furious. He didn't believe that the remnants of a brigade of the Chinese army could block the successive attacks of his division's superior forces.He ordered Zhonggaoman to send a brigade to go around behind Yuhuatai in the early morning of the 11th, launch a surprise attack from the rear, and attack front and back to destroy the Yuhuatai defenders. On the 11th, Yuhuatai must be captured in order to concentrate the strength of the whole division and break through the Zhonghua Gate as soon as possible. In the early morning of the 11th, on Yuhuatai, a sentry suddenly discovered that the Japanese army was moving covertly to the back of Yuhuatai in the faint morning fog. He immediately reported the situation to the commander.After Zhu Chi saw through the enemy's plot, he immediately ordered a battalion to lie in ambush on the hillside behind Yuhuatai.A brigade of sneak attacking Japanese soldiers quietly climbed up from the back of Yuhuatai under the cover of morning fog.When they climbed halfway up the hillside, the Chinese defenders who were in ambush suddenly opened fire. The Japanese army was caught off guard, leaving a large body of corpses and fled in embarrassment.

Before the frontal attack of the Japanese army started, there was news that the sneak attack behind the mountain had failed. The "Kyushu Tiger" was furious, and walked back and forth in the headquarters, roaring and screaming, scolded Zhong Gaoman, and then ordered him to immediately call out a dozen tanks, drive to the slope of Yuhuatai, and attack the Chinese defenders. Perform heavy close-range bombardment.After the bombardment, the Japanese soldiers once again launched a fierce attack on the mountain.The Chinese soldiers hiding in the dilapidated fortifications held their breath. When the Japanese army approached, all kinds of weapons fired at once, until the Japanese soldiers left a large body of corpses again and fled in embarrassment.Afterwards, the Japanese planes and artillery began to bombard violently again. On the Yuhuatai, blood and fire flew everywhere, and gunpowder smoke filled the air. The fierce battle continued like this for a whole day.The red-eyed Chinese soldiers, forgetting their hunger, thirst, and fatigue, used guns, knives, grenades, even sticks, and stones to fight and wrestle with the rushing Japanese soldiers.Until the invaders are wiped out in front of the positions one after another.

In the evening, when the gunshots subsided, Zhu Chi walked out of the bunker of the brigade headquarters, but saw that the soil and stones on the Yuhuatai had been completely turned over by the artillery fire, and the corpses of his subordinates and Japanese soldiers were everywhere on the hillside. Branches and broken boards were burning on the positions after the fierce battle, and there was a faint smell of blood and burnt in the air.He asked the brigade officers to gather and count the remaining troops, and there was only one special agent company left.The road leading to the Zhonghua Gate has been cut off by the enemy, and the telephone line connecting the division headquarters has long since failed. Outside the Zhonghua Gate, there are only him and the Gaozhihao Brigade fighting hard on the left wing. After two days of fierce fighting, the situation of the 264th Brigade I'm afraid it's the same, he knows that the time has come for him to sacrifice his life for the country.

Back at the brigade headquarters, Zhu Chi asked the cooking squad leader to boil two buckets of boiling water and soak them in the tea brought by his mother from his hometown. When the meal was ready, he came among the soldiers. "Brothers! I have led the army for more than ten years, and I never thought that the army would become like it is today—" His voice was a little desolate, but then he tried his best to control his emotions, and said passionately and solemnly: "We are worth it. Our army has made sacrifices for the nation! Tonight, I specially brewed two barrels of tea for the brothers. This is the tea brought by my mother from the hometown of Xiushui, Jiangxi. The famous Ning black tea. My mother told me the story of my mother-in-law’s tattooing, and wanted me to serve the country as loyally as Yue Fei when I grew up. Brothers! Now is the time for us to serve the country loyally! There is no wine on the battlefield, we use tea as wine, For the sake of thousands of Chinese mothers, and for the sake of thousands of Chinese brothers and sisters, we will do it!" After speaking, Zhu Chi raised his teacup and drank it down.In the dilapidated trenches, the officers and soldiers raised their rice bowls, tea mugs, and cups one by one, looking at their brigade commander with thin, haggard, and resolute faces, as if they wanted to say something.

"brigadier……" Several officers and soldiers choked up as soon as they opened their mouths. Zhu Chi waved his hand and said, "Needless to say, I know what's on your mind. Tomorrow may be the day when we sacrifice our lives for our country. We must walk with integrity, like an upright Chinese boy!" A sad and tragic atmosphere filled the entire battlefield, and the bleak moonlight shone on the battlefield, making the scene extraordinarily tragic and desolate.A gust of cold wind blew across the battlefield, as if it wanted to bring this tragic voice to the rear, to the whole of China, and tell thousands of Chinese mothers and compatriots.

Back at the brigade headquarters, the phone rang suddenly, and Zhu Chi quickly picked up the receiver. It turned out that it was the brigade commander Gao Zhihao from the left wing.Gao Zhihao's 264th Brigade had been fighting bloody battles with the attacking Japanese army's 114th Division of Sue Matsumoji for two days.Zhu Chi hurriedly asked him how the situation was, and Gao Zhihao said sadly: "It's over...my troops are all wiped out...there is less than a company of troops left..." Zhu Chi asked, "Brigade Commander Gao, what are you going to do?" Gao Zhihao resolutely said: "The country is already in ruins, so why should I do it!...The Japanese devils are bullying people too much, and every bloody Chinese is unwilling to be a subjugated slave!...I am determined to die with the battlefield!" After a pause, Gao Zhihao asked again: "Brigade Commander Zhu, you still have a chance to break through the encirclement. If you see Commander Sun, please tell us the final resolution of the entire brigade!"

Zhu Chi hurriedly said: "No, no, Brigadier Gao, you'd better send someone to break through to deliver the letter. My situation here is the same as yours. I am determined to fight to the last man!" Putting down the phone, Zhu Chi sat on the straw wooden bed, and by the dim candlelight, wrote two letters to Mr. Sun Yuanliang and his mother respectively.When I wrote "When my mother received this letter, my son may have already slept under the Yuhuatai..." Unknowingly tears came out, and then dripped on the letter paper.He hurriedly took out his handkerchief, wiped away the tears gently, and wiped away the tears on his own face, then called the adjutant in, and said: "You take a guard to break out tonight, and you must find Master Sun to hand over the letter. And help me post the letter to my mother."

The adjutant quickly said: "Brigade Commander, you should break out! I am willing to stay and defend the position!" Zhu Chi said sharply: "This is an order, you must carry it out!" The adjutant muttered for a while, and wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything, so he took the letter, carefully put it in his pocket, stood at attention, and gave the last military salute to the brigade commander.Seeing that the adjutant's eyes were full of tears, Zhu Chi waved his hand quickly: "Hurry up and leave!" December 12, morning. The Japanese army launched a fierce attack on Yuhuatai with redoubled madness, and the left-wing position was finally lost. Gao Zhihao and all officers and soldiers of the 264th Brigade died heroically on the battlefield.The Japanese troops of the two divisions began to encircle the main position of Yuhuatai. Zhu Chi knew that the last moment had come.He ordered the soldiers to carry dozens of boxes of hand grenades around the main position, unscrew the cover, and string the fuses together. When the Japanese army rushed to the main position, the soldiers pulled the ropes, and hundreds of hand grenades flew around at the same time. When the explosion exploded, the Japanese army was flying with blood and flesh, but the Japanese army behind them rushed forward again.Zhu Chi picked up his rifle and shouted: "Brothers! Let's fight the Japanese devils!..."

The tragic shouts, the sound of bayonets, and the sound of fighting echoed on the Yuhuatai for a long time...