The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

The Taizhou City Wall was first built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It has been demolished, rebuilt and repaired many times in history. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Taizhou City Wall was spared demolition due to its important function of preventing floods. In the 51st year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1712), a barbican was built. It is a city wall with dual functions of military defense and flood control.

Starting from the Song Dynasty, the "Nine Gates" system gradually took shape, including the seven gates of the outer city (Zhenning, Xingshan, Fengtai, Kuocang, Chonghe, Jingyue, and Chaotian) and the two gates of the inner city (Shunzheng and Yanqing).

The outer city wall of Taizhou Prefecture originally had seven gates: Chonghe Gate on the east; Xingshan Gate and Zhenning Gate on the south; Jingyue Gate on the southeast; Fengtai Gate on the southwest; and Kuocang Gate and Chaotian Gate on the west. Among them, Jingyue, Xingshan, Zhenning, and Chaotian Gates on the southwest were the main city gates facing the river. Before the construction of the riverside barbican in 1712 (the 5.1st year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign), the gates not only needed to defend against enemy fire attacks and siege weapons, but also against floods, water, and moisture. Therefore, the gates not only adopted arched doorways, but also featured gate panels that were higher than the top of the doorway. Furthermore, the inner walls on both sides of the gates expanded outwards from the archway to 2.2 meters and deepened by 0.4 meters on each side, facilitating transportation and creating a rectangular "skylight" space at the top. These skylights were approximately 4.3 to 7 meters long and 2.2 to 2.65 meters wide, quite unique.

All the city gates were barbicans, and the city walls were seven or eight meters high, topped with crenellations for concealed firing. A watchtower was positioned every few hundred meters around the city walls. The Xiaoshui River flowed around the city walls, and a wooden bridge connected the river to the city gate was tightly sealed off by enemy machine guns. Some time ago, due to the White Army's defense against the Red Army, all the other city gates were closed, and only the Kuocang Gate was allowed to pass through each day.

The scouts from the Special Service Regiment's reconnaissance battalion and the 57th Regiment's reconnaissance company, who were lying in wait in the city to prepare for an inside operation, knew that the troops were ambushing the supply train and would arrive soon after hearing the gunfire outside the city. They immediately put on Hunan Army uniforms and split into two groups according to the pre-arranged battle plan. One group went to monitor the vicinity of the enemy's regular army camp, while the other group advanced towards Kuocang Gate.

The guard on duty at the bridgehead was a platoon from the security regiment. The platoon leader was named Ma Yun, and he was leaning against the guard tower, deep in thought. He used to come from a well-off family and had even attended middle school, which would have made him an intellectual in the 1930s. Unfortunately, a few years ago, he had lost everything in a lawsuit with a major landlord in the village, and his parents had died of illness due to the stress. With no other choice, he brought his newlywed wife and sister to Taizhou Prefecture to seek refuge with his uncle.

As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly. Before he could have had a peaceful six months, his uncle-in-law also passed away. To make a living, he had no choice but to join the security regiment. Because he was somewhat educated, he stayed at the regiment headquarters as a clerk. He thought being a clerk was not bad, even though the pay was low, because there was no danger.

A month ago, good fortune suddenly befell him. The regimental commander promoted him to platoon leader and promised that if he was obedient and worked hard, he would be promoted to company commander. He was so grateful that he cried tears of joy. But soon he realized that something was wrong. He heard from some of his close comrades that the regimental commander was frequently visiting his house while he was on duty. When he got home and asked, he found out that the regimental commander was having ulterior motives towards his wife. At first, he made dirty jokes and flirted with his wife, but in the past few days, he had started to touch her inappropriately.

In a fit of rage, he drew his gun, ready to fight the regimental commander to the death, but his wife stopped him, worried that he was no match for him. He regretted his actions. Some time ago, he saw the Central Army move into Taizhou Prefecture, supposedly to defend against the Red Army. He had read some books and knew that the Red Army was an army of the poor. He had planned to kill the regimental commander and join the Red Army. But before he could prepare, he heard from people entering the city that the Central Army and the Red Army were fighting a bloody battle in southern Anhui, with many people dying. The Red Army had been defeated and retreated. He had to think of another place to go.

Several militiamen, carrying guns, lazily checked pedestrians crossing the bridge into the city at the bridgehead. Squad leader Sun Datou noticed his platoon leader was lost in thought again, nudged his comrade beside him, and whispered:

“Look, Platoon Leader Ma is worried again today. Why don’t you go and help him cheer up?”

"Screw your problem! It's just a small matter. If you ask me, let's just go all the way and kill that bastard!"

"You're talking without thinking. Platoon Leader Ma has a wife and sister, unlike us two bachelors with no ties."

"If a thin arm can't twist a thick thigh, should one just compromise?"

Sun Datou kicked his companion, laughing and cursing:

"Your grandson might as well have let Platoon Leader Ma die!"

After pondering for a while, his companion opened his mouth and uttered a sentence:

"This won't work, that won't work, what do you suggest we do?"

Just as Sun Daye was about to reply, he heard the sound of gunfire in the distance, and he hurriedly shouted:

"Platoon leader, there's artillery fire outside the city!"

The sentry's shout startled Ma Yun, who was struggling with his thoughts. He listened carefully and realized that there were indeed gunshots, not far away.

"Set up the roadblocks and machine guns. We'll assess the situation later. If things don't look good, everyone retreat back into the city immediately!"

Jack Ma quickly issued the order.

Just then, a commotion broke out at the city gate. Ma Yun sent Sun Datou to check it out. Soon after, Sun Datou returned, followed by a group of more than a dozen Zhejiang soldiers.

The two sentries let Sun Datou go and then, in a serious manner, shouted to the group of people behind them:

"Stop, which unit are you from?"

"Brother, we're from the supply convoy escort battalion!"

The company commander of the reconnaissance company of the 57th Regiment walked over and said with a smile:

“Last night our platoon got food poisoning and spent the whole night squatting in the outhouse. When the troops were setting off this morning, the battalion commander made us stay behind.”

Jack Ma looked at the investigators with suspicion and asked:

"Why are you out at the city gate and bridge if you have an upset stomach instead of staying in the barracks?"

"Platoon leader, that group of guys insists on climbing up the city wall to listen for gunfire from the south!"

Sun Datou pointed towards the city gate from the side and said.

Wang Jinning hurriedly explained:

"We heard the gunshots earlier and were worried that it was our own troops fighting, so we came to check."

Jack Ma also wondered what kind of troops were fighting outside. Besides, the ones coming out of the city were regular troops, who were never easy to mess with. Thinking it was better to avoid trouble, he tacitly allowed them to stay.

The scouts quietly took their positions and silently surrounded the security regiment's soldiers.

As the rising dust drew closer, Wang Jinning knew it was time to act. He drew his pistol and brandished it, and the soldiers immediately raised their guns and surrounded the security regiment at the bridgehead.

"What are you doing?"

Jack Ma was taken aback and reached out to touch the gun.

Wang Jinning pointed the gun at his head and said:

"Brother, I'm sorry, but the ones coming back from outside must be from our battalion. In order to hold off the pursuers, we have to borrow your machine gun!"

"Brothers, have the security guards gather and stand in a line by the bridge."

Company Commander Wang Jinning reached out and took Ma Yun's pistol, saying menacingly:

"If they don't move, don't make things difficult for them. But if anyone is ungrateful, then don't hold back and kill them without mercy!"

The scouts responded in unison, "Yes, sir!"

As the Zhejiang army's supply convoy, which had been charging forward like wolves, approached the bridge, a soldier immediately raised his rifle and shouted:

"Stop, what do you do?"