During the extremely arduous War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, countless Chinese servicemen paid a terrible price in order to resist the aggression of Japanese imperialism. General Xiao Shanling was a typical representative of the Chinese military at that time, he was not only a general in the Kuomintang army, but also the mayor of Nanjing at that time, who committed suicide after the destruction of Nanjing City.
Xiao shanling is located in a small mountain village in Yiyang, Hunan, his father is a xiucai in the late Qing Dynasty, under the influence of the family environment, Xiao Shanling has loved to learn to read since he was a child. In the late Qing Dynasty, the great powers invaded China one after another, causing the entire land of China to be torn apart, and countless ordinary people were displaced and miserable. Xiao Shan Ling resolutely chose to throw pen from Rong, and successively studied at hunan army primary school, Wuchang Second Preparatory School, Baoding Military School, and he and later the Kuomintang general, General Zhang Zhizhong, were still classmates.
Because of his talent, Xiao Shanling was appreciated by the Hunan warlord Tang Shengzhi, became a famous general in the Xiang Army, and also participated in the later Northern Expedition. In 1929, Xiao Shanling served as a lieutenant colonel staff officer in the Staff Office of the Capital Garrison Headquarters and began to participate in the construction of the Chinese gendarmerie. In 1936, Xiao Shan Ling was promoted to deputy commander of the National Gendarmerie and concurrently served as chief of staff, and was awarded the rank of major general. At the end of the Battle of Songhu, Gu Zhenglun, commander of the National Gendarmerie, ran to Wuhan to recuperate on the grounds that he was seriously ill, and his duties were replaced by Xiao Shanling.
After the Battle of Songhu in 1937, the Japanese army of 200,000 troops, with the cooperation of the navy and air force, launched an attack on Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, in three ways. Chiang Kai-shek appointed Tang Shengzhi as the commander of the Nanjing Garrison District and sent 150,000 troops from all over the country to come to support, but most of these troops had just come down from the Songhu battlefield, the losses were serious, the weapons were not replenished in time, and more than 30,000 people were still new soldiers, and it was difficult to block the Japanese attack. At this time, many people were looking for opportunities to escape, but Tang Shengzhi was unwilling and had to stay.
At the moment of crisis, Xiao Shanling was appointed mayor of Nanjing, deputy commander of the Capital Garrison District (Commander Tang Shengzhi), commander of the Nanjing Garrison District, commander of the Capital Air Defense Department, director of the Capital Police Department, deputy commander of the National Gendarmerie, holding six positions, becoming the number one leading figure in the Nanjing police and constitution at that time. This is indeed a high power in peacetime, but at that time, it was a hot potato that many people wanted to get rid of.
Before the destruction of Nanjing, Xiao Shanling's friend Chen Jichuan found him twice and told him that Nanjing could not be defended under any circumstances and should not make fearless sacrifices. But Xiao Shanling's attitude was very resolute, that is, to coexist and die with Nanjing, which was said by many senior generals at that time, but only Xiao Shanling really did it. On December 12, 1937, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order: "The Nanjing garrison immediately broke through. "Because of the death order issued before the war to coexist and die with Nanjing, not only did the breakthrough plan not be formulated before the war, but even the ships at various crossings were burned, at this time Xiao ShanLing was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the river crossing to coordinate the retreat of the troops.
When Xiao Shan Ling led the gendarmes to the Xiaguan Ferry, tens of thousands of troops of the 71st Army, 72nd Army, 74th Army, 87th Division, 88th Division and other troops had already arrived at the Xiaguan Ferry, trampling on each other and making a mess. On the evening of the 12th, Xiao Shanling's men pushed him onto the raft several times and asked him to leave, but Xiao Shanling climbed back and continued to command the troops to retreat. In the early morning of the 13th, there were still many troops that had not been withdrawn, at this time the Japanese army had reached the Shimonoseki ferry, XiaoShan Ling led the soldiers to carry out a fierce hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army at Xiaguan, and finally the whole army was destroyed, Xiao Shan Ling was wounded in many places, and finally shot himself, spilling blood on Jinling.