Chapter 18 5. Luojia Mountain Military Conference

The vigorous defense of Nanjing ended tragically in the chaos of a hasty retreat.Nanjing, which was originally estimated to be able to hold on for a month or two, actually only fought for 3 days to defend the city outline.Due to the haste and confusion during the retreat, many troops did not receive the retreat order, or did not follow the order to break through the encirclement. soldiers scattered in Nanjing.Later, most of these soldiers became victims of the Japanese massacre, which was unexpected by General Tang Shengzhi. There was an uproar in public opinion for a while, and accusations against General Tang Shengzhi poured in.

In January 1938, Chiang Kai-shek held a military meeting at Luojia Mountain in Wuchang to review the Nanjing Campaign.Attending the meeting were the military committee and relevant persons in charge of the war zone, as well as generals above the army and division commanders guarding Nanjing.Originally, Chiang Kai-shek was responsible for his indecision and hesitation in the defeat of the Nanjing Defense War. If he had decisively adopted Liu Fei's opinion at the beginning, there would never have been such a tragic result.But in China's affairs, the faults of the supreme ruler have always been kept secret. This remnant of feudal autocracy has continued to this day. Who would dare to stab the scar of Chairman Chiang in person?After Chiang Kai-shek spoke sullenly, the generals who escaped from Nanjing all vented their anger on Tang Shengzhi.

A general said: "Commander Tang's leadership was ineffective and his command was improper. As a result, Nanjing City, which was defended by 100,000 troops, was broken by the Japanese army after only three days." Another general pointed directly at Tang Shengzhi and said: "General Tang didn't give the order to retreat, but he abandoned the city and fled, causing a heavy sacrifice, and he should bear full responsibility for the consequences!" The atmosphere of the meeting became tense for a while, and Tang Shengzhi couldn't explain it. He was not in good health. After the fall of Nanjing, he was in a depressed mood.He also felt that the responsibility for the fall of Nanjing was heavy, so he did not argue for himself, but muttered: "All responsibility is mine, please punish the chairman!"

Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed when he heard the speeches of the generals, and even said that he would organize a military court for trial. Deng Longguang, the general of the Guangdong Army who participated in the meeting, and the commander of the 83rd Army, was really sorry. After Chiang Kai-shek was angry, he said: "The commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Garrison held a meeting of army and division commanders and issued an order to retreat. Our department is According to the order, he broke out from the encirclement and evacuated Nanjing from the front!" After speaking, Deng Longguang took out the retreat and breakout order that Tang Shengzhi had given him before leaving Nanjing from his arms, and put his hands up, and only then did he relieve Tang Shengzhi of the encirclement.

After Chiang Kai-shek read the retreat order, his anger calmed down a little, and the atmosphere of the meeting gradually eased.Since then, news of the bloody massacre by the Japanese army in Nanjing continued to spread, and newspapers from all over the country continued to disclose it.The atrocities of the Japanese army aroused great indignation from Chinese and foreign people, and became the focus of international and domestic public opinion. The merits and demerits of General Tang Shengzhi in defending Nanjing gradually ceased to be concerned and discussed by people.