A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

The cold wind of early winter swept across the land, and the Yangtze River flowed eastward, its waves crashing against the exposed mountainside and rock walls of Yanziji in Zhidu Mountain.

Yanziji is located in the northeast corner of Zhidu Mountain. It is named after the rocky peak that rises abruptly over the river and is surrounded by air on three sides, resembling a swallow spreading its wings as if about to take flight. It is known as the first rocky outcrop on the Yangtze River. "Yanziji Sunset" has been one of the scenic spots of Nanjing since ancient times.

Looking out into the distance, one can see the vast river and sky, its powerful currents surging and thousands of sails racing, creating a magnificent spectacle.

This location is strategically important and has been a vital military stronghold for river defense since ancient times. Below Yanziji, there is the dock camp of the Nationalist Navy's "Wen Tianxiang" torpedo squadron.

On Yanziji, there is a river defense fort, which echoes the Wulongshan fort five kilometers away, forming a strategic triangle that controls the north and south river outlets of Baguazhou.

Near Yanziji, along the riverbank at the foot of Mufu Mountain, there are several bodies of water, including Wenchuan Lake, Hualong Lake, Yinma Lake, Guanyin Pond, and Hupao Spring. During the voyages to the Western Ocean, it served as a shipyard and a place for ship inspection and testing. Now it is the Yanziji training ground of the Training Corps.

The Vickers amphibious assault vehicles of the armored cavalry battalion conducted waterborne training here, and six infantry regiments of the training brigade took turns to conduct realistic tactical training, as well as some infantry-tank coordination and infantry-artillery coordination training.

Standing at the Yanziji Observation Post, Song Hongfei saw through his binoculars the figures of soldiers busily building fortifications on the Guanyinmen mountain of Mufu Mountain. Pickaxes and shovels flew about, and the dust was mixed with the clanging of engineers chiseling at the rock with steel chisels, which could be faintly heard on the gusts of cold mountain wind.

"Brigade Commander Song!" Ye Zaiqing, the battalion commander of the engineering corps, came in covered in sand and spread out the work plan on the table. "The Guanyinmen reverse slope tunnel has three longitudinal passages, and the transverse communication trenches connect four company and platoon-level troop shelters. All the firing ports of the gun emplacements and bunkers have adopted an inverted V-shaped opening..."

Song Hongfei's finger slid along the map: "The anti-tank trenches on the flanks of Hill 2 are not deep enough." He took out a red and blue pencil and drew a circle on the map. "This section must be deepened to 2.5 meters before sunset today. The trench walls must be neat and vertical, so that if a person falls in, they cannot climb out."

Such busy figures constructing fortifications can be seen not only at Yanziji and Laohushan at the east and west ends of Mufu Mountain, but also at various prepared defense positions such as Sanchakou, Yangfangshan, Yinkongshan, Qilinmen, Laohudong, Xishan, Lingyuan Xincun, and Meihuashan at the foot of Zijin Mountain.

This is the Nanjing Garrison Command and other troops involved in the construction of reverse slope defensive positions, while also conducting tactical training and carrying out live-fire exercises based on the progress of each position.

Back in September, when troops from various regions were reinforcing Shanghai and training in Nanjing, each participating unit, under the requirements and guidance of Song Hongfei, had to conduct on-site drills on how to construct flexible defensive tiered positions and corresponding tactical training.

The participating troops were training at various key locations on the outskirts of Nanjing, while simultaneously constructing numerous fortifications, forming a multi-layered defense system with in-depth tiered deployment.

After the Battle of Shanghai, as the flames of war approached Nanjing, the Nationalist army was astonished to discover that a series of layered, ring-shaped defensive systems had taken shape in the outskirts of Nanjing. Whether Song Hongfei's actions were intentional or not, everyone admired him even more.

After being tested in large-scale combat at the Battle of Shanghai, the troops defending Nanjing reinforced their positions by constructing various shelters, anti-artillery bunkers, and tunnel fortifications on the flanks and reverse slopes.

Originally, Song Hongfei's idea was to turn all the key support points of the outer defense line of Nanjing into permanent fortresses. However, after receiving the report, the garrison command informed them that they were short of funds, steel bars and cement, and time was tight. Turning so many positions into fortresses was no easy task.

Finally, reinforced concrete bunkers were constructed only in the core highlands of the inner city, such as Zijin Mountain, Mufu Mountain, and Yuhuatai, as well as some key transportation hubs.

Helpless, Song Hongfei could only sigh to Gui Shuaizhen: "Such defensive fortifications are naturally no problem to deal with the backward firepower of our army. We can't even bite through them if we break our teeth. But for the Japanese army, it's just a matter of consuming more ammunition. The Nanjing city wall may look tall and sturdy, but it's just a matter of firing a few more 240mm siege cannons."

“There’s nothing we can do, we’ve done our best,” Gui Shuaizhen sighed. “Our report was met with noncommittal from Commander Tang, who also stopped allocating supplies and manpower. Alas, this is not something that can be resolved at our level.”

Song Hongfei understood that although they had submitted several reports, listing all the shortcomings and deficiencies and proposing improvement suggestions, very few of them had been implemented. For their level, they had already done their best; going any further would be seen as disobeying orders and questioning their superiors.

Song Hongfei sighed inwardly, "Alas, Commander Tang Mengxiao, if this battle is not fought well, it could cost hundreds of thousands of lives."

He sighed and said, "We've done our best and left the rest to fate. We can only follow the old methods from the Songhu Campaign and keep digging! We'll keep digging big, deep, and wide. Fortunately, everyone knows that more sweat in peacetime means less blood in wartime, so no one is slacking off. But even with this kind of continuous construction for so long, the soldiers' physical strength can't keep up."

Gui Shuaizhen nodded and said, "I will further improve the food for each unit, distribute staple and non-staple foods freely, and increase welfare subsidies. I will instruct the Quartermaster Department to implement this effectively."

During this period, all regiments of the Training Corps have been carrying out intensive position construction and combat training. As the flames of war approach, the soldiers know that this is to protect their lives, and no one complains about the hardship or fatigue.

Accompanied by Ye Zaiqing, the battalion commander of the engineering corps, Song Hongfei inspected the construction progress of the fortifications near Guanyin Gate in Yanziji. The fully covered "Z"-shaped communication trenches, the cluster of bunkers combined with hidden bunkers and concealed firing points, and the two-tiered three-dimensional ring-shaped defensive fortifications have all taken initial shape.

Without reinforced concrete, the engineers and soldiers from various units used stones, sand, and logs to construct the structure, which was then camouflaged to blend into the mountainside and could not be detected unless approached closely.

"Add another layer of logs to the roof, and dig the anti-artillery bunkers and tunnels deeper, as deep as possible! Make sure the ventilation holes in the tunnels are concealed, and also, pay attention to setting up entrances and exits to prevent sneak attacks and shock waves!"

Song Hongfei was strict and meticulous in his inspections. In a battle between two armies, a matter of life and death, he absolutely could not tolerate any carelessness.

"I've emphasized this repeatedly!" Song Hongfei said sternly to the soldiers, "Don't treat this as training or an exercise; this is the battlefield! Think about it: if the Japanese army attacks now, can the fortifications you've dug withstand a 150mm howitzer?! Remember, these are things that can save your life! Do you all understand?!"

"Understood!" the soldiers shouted.

"Reporting, Brigade Commander!" A messenger ran up and said, "Sentry post number 1 at the training ground reports that two people claiming to be Miss Liang and Miss Lin have arrived by car. They say they are your friends, but they have been stopped at post number 1."

Song Hongfei was very excited and said, "That's right, he's my friend! Tell the two ladies at post number one to wait there for a while."

"Yes, sir!" The messenger quickly ran back to make the call.

Song Hongfei turned to Gao Muyu, the newly appointed company commander of the special operations company, and said, "Go and lead the men to Yanziji Park. Remember the secrecy requirements, and bypass the training ground! Quickly, use my car!"

"Yes!" Gao Muyu ran quickly towards Song Hongfei's command vehicle.

"You've worked hard. The engineering battalion will continue to guide the construction of fortifications." Song Hongfei then instructed Ye Zaiqing, "Also, pass the word that the commander-in-chief will give everyone an extra meal today—two meat dishes!"

"Yes!" Ye Zaiqing replied, watching with some curiosity as Song Hongfei excitedly walked briskly towards Yanziji.

"Hey, look! A luxury car!"

"Hey, who is it?"

"They're said to be two great beauties, and they said they're looking for the brigade commander."

"Of course we're looking for the brigade commander. Isn't that the brigade commander's command vehicle up ahead?"

The soldiers of the Training Corps watched from afar as a fancy car followed Song Hongfei's command vehicle toward Yanziji. Their curious eyes couldn't help but follow it, and they whispered among themselves.

This provoked a chorus of curses from the officers: "What are you doing? What are you all doing looking around like that! Trying to run 3 kilometers of armed cross-country?"

In fact, the officers couldn't resist their curiosity and quietly peeked out; many had already taken out their binoculars.