The bridge was blown up."

"Blasted? Did the Japanese fuck?"

"I don't know, we arrived at Xiaguan. The bridge was broken. I proudly brought my brothers here." The officer gasped.

"Where is the troops guarding the bridge?" Zhuang Jihua's face began to change.

“Not seen.”

"Have you notified the situation of this?" "I have sent three brothers to notify the teacher."

"Okay, you did the right thing, cross the river immediately." Zhuang Jihua's face was pale. Xiaguan Wharf was Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou Lan supervising the battle. Xiaguan was closer to the front line than Lijiangmen to the front line, so this old boy must have run away.

"Notify Hu Zongnan and arrest Zhou Lan immediately."

Without the Xiaguan floating bridge, the carrying capacity of the floating bridge here will double; this is not a problem of just walking thousands of people, but also weapons and equipment, so the time for crossing the bridge must be at least doubled.

"Notify all troops, it's really not possible. After the heavy weapon is shot, it's enough to blow it up. As long as people come."

The hero cut off his arm, and Zhuang Jihua can only do this now. After Zhenjiang fell, Japanese warships could sail to the city of Nanjing at any time, and the situation became even more dangerous.

Zhuang Jihua was getting more and more anxious, and reports from all over the place were also coming.

"The 3177th Brigade of the 1st Division came to Caochangmen to cross the river."

The 1st Brigade of the Division withdrew from the position.”

"Yuhuatai is still fighting fiercely, and the troops cannot retreat."

...

Qi Mingxing was flashing in the sky, and there were still four brigades in the city that had not withdrawn. Xiao Shanling and the military corps also crossed the river. The sky gradually turned white, and the gunshots all night did not weaken at all. Several trucks rushed over, dragged them into cannons behind the truck, and there were wounded people sitting in the carriage. Without any extra explanation, after meeting the command, the truck drove onto the pontoon bridge.

Suddenly, a fierce gunshot broke out in the Lijiangmen. Zhuang Jihua was shocked and quickly sent someone to check it out. It turned out that it was a Japanese army disguised as the 36th Division and wanted to sneak attack Lijiangmen, but was discovered by the guard group.

Zhuang Jihua was not worried at all. The direct regiments and guard regiments near Jiangmen were the most well-equipped troops. All soldiers were selected, and the individual tactics and squad-platoon tactics were the strongest. More than 100 small Japanese troops were not enough to fill their teeth.

A slight red light appeared in the sky, and the sound of gunfire was getting closer and closer. A group of soldiers rushed over. Song Xi led the last unit of the 36th Division to the riverside. Seeing Zhuang Jihua still by the river, he was shocked and moved.

"Cultural Revolution, why are you still here? It's almost dawn. The Japanese are about to blow up the bridge. Let's see how you cross the river."

"I can swim." Zhuang Jihua didn't care: "Come across the river quickly, otherwise you will have to be a prisoner. Brothers! Cross the river, cross the river quickly!"

Song Xi watched the brothers in the army step onto the floating bridge one by one, and finally said, "Cultural Revolution, hurry up, you are the commander, you have to cross the river to command the overall situation."

"When Guo Xun arrives, let's go together."

Just over ten minutes after Song Xi left, Guo Xun also arrived at the Rijiangmen Ferry. Zhuang Jihua finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yingzhi, you finally arrived."

What he was most worried about was Guo Xun. Taiping Gate was the farthest from Qingjiang Gate, and there were many empty places in the direction. If a Japanese army inserted it and cut off their retreat, it would be really troublesome.

"You should not stay here for the safety of the entire army. It's too dangerous." Guo Xun shook his head and sighed, but his eyes were full of gratitude. He also knew that the pontoon bridge at Xiaguan Wharf was bombed. Now Zhuang Jihua is guarding this pellet himself, which is not just to ensure the safety of the pontoon bridge.

"This time, the battle for Nanjing will be over. The Japanese will not cross the river for the time being. At most, they can only attack Pukou and give it to them. From now on, I don't know if I go there to work." Zhuang Jihua smiled and said, "Let's go and cross the river together."

"Nanjing was lost, and the Japanese army captured the empty city of Nanjing. The Chinese retreated calmly in front of the Japanese, and the entire army withdrew from Nanjing without leaving a single wounded Japanese army. The commander of Nanjing garrison General Zhuang Jihua ordered people to write a line of large characters outside his command wall: 'The Japanese entered Nanjing like a mouse entering a bellows, and it was not right to advance or retreat.' Looking at the entire battle situation, although the Japanese successfully occupied Nanjing, the Chinese took the initiative everywhere, and the Japanese danced with the Chinese baton.

This war will not end because of the fall of Nanjing. The Chinese proved their determination to war to the world in Nanjing.

In Nanjing, the Chinese won the first victory. They killed two Japanese generals and three colonels, almost wiped out two elite Japanese divisions, forcing the Japanese army to pay a price of 100,000 people and land, making the entire China cheer for victory.

The Battle of Nanjing made me meet a Chinese general for the first time, Zhuang Jihua, the commander of Nanjing garrison. In Nanjing, I witnessed his courage and wisdom with my own eyes. What shocked me the most was that when I retreated from Nanjing, he insisted on staying at the Lijiangmen floating bridge and evacuated with the last group of defending the city. I have interviewed many generals, in the east and west, and I have never seen the general who commanded hundreds of thousands of troops with such courage.

From his land, I saw the prospect of war, and Japan could not be the final winner.

China looks poor and humble; but the arrogance cultivated by thousands of years of civilization permeates their bones. When you think they are humble, they laugh at your shallowness in their hearts.

Japan is the temporary strong; China is the eternal winner.

...Excerpt from "Nanjing is not the end of war" by Weber, a reporter from the Washington Observer in the Far East
Chapter completed!