Aloft the gate tower of Yongdingmen, medics frantically tended to the wounded. The pavilion had already become a makeshift field hospital, where student soldiers and battle-hardened veterans lay side by side, receiving basic wound care.
Fortunately, the aerial bombardment had not brought down the gate tower, and with night having fallen, the advantage held by the Japanese air corps had vanished.
When the telephone call arrived from the Security Regiment command post, Zhu Shiqing was overseeing the construction of fortifications along the ramparts.
"Has it fallen after all?"
Standing on the ramp leaning against the rear flank of the tower, Zhu Shiqing took the receiver from the set strapped to the signalman's back. The very worry that had weighed on his mind before the battle was now a harsh reality.
"A Japanese squad has penetrated the perimeter," came Sun Yi's voice from the other end, lacking its customary fire. "Officer Wang has ordered a battalion detached to head for Zuo'anmen and drive the Japanese out."
"Commander, understood! I will personally lead the men to retake Zuo'anmen. Please tell Officer Wang that Zhu Shiqing guarantees the mission's completion. Furthermore, to keep the breach from widening, urge Officer Wang to dispatch reinforcements immediately and establish defensive positions at the main intersections behind Zuo'anmen."
Zhu Shiqing's voice rang out with great clarity. Standing right beside Sun Yi, Wang Bing heard every resolute word.
"Splendid! A true paragon of our army."
After the call ended, Wang Bing praised the young officer named Zhu Shiqing at Yongdingmen. Then, recalling something, he turned to Sun Yi. "Commander Sun, could this be the staff officer Nanjing sent over last month?"
"The very one."
"Then we have made a laughingstock of our 29th Army in front of Nanjing," Wang Bing said with a soft sigh. He idly tapped the sketch map on his desk and muttered, "Commander Sun, I am assigning my directly attached guard company and pistol company to you. Take your men to Zuo'anmen to reinforce them. The Japanese did not break open this breach just to give it up easily."
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing Wang Bing demonstrate such loyalty and camaraderie, Sun Yi cast his prior gloom to the wind. As long as he had troops at his back, he had a chance to pull those boys out of the line of fire!
***
Zhang Boting had led his men in a military jeep, pursuing Ruan Xuanwu across several streets, only for their quarry to vanish into the cloak of night. Along the way, however, they ran into several soldiers from the Independent Brigade, and after pressing them for answers, they pieced together what had happened.
Believing Beiping could no longer be held, Ruan Xuanwu had negotiated with the Japanese under the pretext of "preserving the lives of the entire brigade." The Independent Brigade would throw open the city gates, provided the Japanese promised not to fire on them.
Zhang Boting's blood boiled with fury. An entire, perfectly intact Independent Brigade had simply been disarmed and absorbed by the Japanese. And Ruan Xuanwu himself was cleverer still—having ordered his men to disarm, he had fled on his own!
(Brigade Commander Ruan later began a life in exile, first reaching Hong Kong and eventually returning to Chongqing, where he became an official once more.)
***
If it were truly only a squad, taking a battalion would be more than enough. But once the Japanese carved open a breach, there was no reason they would not pour in reinforcements. Even if they committed only a company, a single battalion could never hold them off alone. Leaning against the edge of the angled stairway, Zhu Shiqing fell into hesitation. A moment later, he summoned Gu Chuanning.
"Company Commander Gu, I am entrusting Yongdingmen to you. Zuo'anmen has fallen, and the Japanese have breached the city. I can only leave you one company; the rest must come with me."
"Say no more, Staff Officer Zhu. As long as I draw breath, the gate stands." Gu Chuanning's eyes were resolute. Across the broad face of the dadao strapped to his back, old dried blood from Japanese soldiers still clung fast.
"I leave it in your hands."
The crisis admitted no delay; Zhu Shiqing knew every second meant lives. An assembly call was immediately sounded atop the Yongdingmen tower. In the end, it was decided that Xiang Chengyu, Tan Hai, and Zhu Shiqing would each lead a detachment toward Zuo'anmen.
One column would advance via the Temple of Heaven and emerge past Sanyimiao to strike the Japanese flank and rear.
Another would move through Yuqing Guan, following the railway line to sever the Japanese route of advance.
The final column would advance along Dashi Bridge to construct a defense line at Fangsheng Pool, preventing the Japanese from driving deeper into the city.
Zhu Shiqing pointed at the map, laying out every detail of the disposition. When the orders were given, he looked around at the officers. "Commander Tan, Commander Xiang, we have fought shoulder to shoulder for over a month. If this is to be our final battle, I, Zhu Shiqing, have no regrets facing this national calamity here alongside you brothers!"
Since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the 219th Regiment had stood constantly at the front line of slaughtering invaders and defending the soil. Over the past fortnight, save for two days at Wanping, they had not rested from the fight; every minute and every second, they had gripped their steel rifles and grasped their dadao, prepared to fight the Japanese invaders to the death.
If life was destined to meet its end, it should be like that of General Tong Linge—shedding blood on the battlefield, wrapped only in a horsehide shroud!
"Never return without victory!" As the battalion commander with the longest service present, Tan Hai took the lead in shouting the bold cry.
Under cover of night, the relief force—its core comprised of student soldiers—descended from the gate tower of Yongdingmen to set up defenses at Zuo'anmen. Leading his men down the steps, Zhu Shiqing discovered numerous long tables arrayed along the roadside beneath the sprawling darkness. Lit by flickering torches, the men saw clearly what lay upon them.
It was food.
When the thunder of guns and artillery truly fell upon the ramparts of Beiping, the restless populace fell instantly silent. Seeing the boy soldiers fall before their very eyes, the quiet citizens of Beiping could express their modest support for this defensive struggle only in this manner.
Behind tightly shuttered doors, the citizens listened as the hurried footsteps outside receded into the distance.
***
Having taken Zuo'anmen without shedding a drop of blood, the Japanese regimental headquarters stationed in Fengtai was already holding what amounted to a victory banquet. The primary credit for seizing the ancient capital of Beiping was about to be claimed by the 20th Division far away in Korea, and the entire army was relishing the flattering illusion of being "saviors."
This made them all the more impatient for quick success. If they could be the first to march into Zhongnanhai and step into the Forbidden City, their names would become glorious legends within the military for years to come.
As the central gate of the Outer City, Yongdingmen lay only four kilometers from Zuo'anmen. Zhu Shiqing led his detachment along the bypass near the Temple of Heaven, heading past Sanyimiao directly toward Zuo'anmen's flank. Pressing forward on a forced march, they covered the distance in less than half an hour, bringing Zuo'anmen into view.
Sanyimiao was already occupied by Japanese troops. Flames flickered inside and outside the temple courtyard, and a Japanese squad was patrolling the perimeter of the buildings.
"The devils move fast!"
Acting as the scout for the entire company, Fang Wenjian dashed back after taking in the scene. "Shiqing, it's definitely more than one squad. There's a whole squad just around the temple!"
Crouching behind a cluster of structures, Zhu Shiqing unrolled his map and had Liang Xiyun hold up a torch to illuminate it. "Where are we right now?"
Liang Xiyun pointed to the map. "Caojiayuan. Sanyimiao is right ahead."
Zhu Shiqing recalled that during their rapid advance from the Temple of Heaven, they had crossed a railway bridge, beneath which ran the moat of the Inner City. If the Japanese intended to envelop Yongdingmen's rear, seizing the outpost at Sanyimiao was essential.
"It seems the devils still have their eyes fixed on Yongdingmen," Zhu Shiqing muttered thoughtfully. "The quickest way to penetrate the Inner City is to take Zhengyangmen, which would split Beiping in two."
"They haven't secured their footing yet," Fang Wenjian said, glancing toward both sides of Sanyimiao. "Let's take Sanyimiao first! We hold the high ground and can catch them off guard! If we advance along the gentle slopes on both flanks, even if there are Japanese beneath the gate tower, we can use the advantageous terrain to fight them!"
"Then we strike," Zhu Shiqing said, folding up the map and gritting his teeth. "Pass the order: no one saves ammunition tonight. Give the Japanese devils everything we've got!"
"Everything we've got!"
Chapter 79