In those turbulent years, the January 28 Incident broke out, the smell of gunpowder was permeated, and the land of China ushered in a life-and-death struggle. In this historical chapter intertwined with glory and sacrifice, the 19th Route Army stationed in Beijing and Shanghai became the mainstay and wrote an eternal heroic legend.
After the September 18 Incident, Chiang Kai-shek engaged in a historic negotiation with the Cantonese side, and the Cantonese proposal made Chen Mingshu the commander of the Beijing-Shanghai garrison. On September 30, 1931, Chiang Kai-shek agreed by telegram that the 19th Route Army would be transferred from Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province to the Beijing-Shanghai area and deployed along the line. Jiang Guangnai was the commander-in-chief, Cai Tingkai was the commander, and Dai Ji was the commander of the Beijing-Shanghai garrison, and the brave soldiers gathered together, and more than 33,000 people guarded this sacred land.
The cities garrisoned by the 19th Route Army flashed on the map like beads: Suzhou, Changzhou, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Shanghai, Wusong, Kunshan, and Jiading, each of which became an impregnable resistance position. Even before the outbreak of the 28 January Incident, this army had already sensed the shadow of war. On January 15, 1932, the 19th Route Army relied on intelligence to judge that the Japanese invasion was inevitable, so it began emergency military deployment, less than two weeks before the outbreak of war.
On January 19, Jiang Guangnai convened a meeting of officers, and the 19th Route Army unanimously decided: to be on guard virtually, to hold on for at least five days, to strengthen the construction of fortifications, to pre-select the line of resistance, and that reinforcements must arrive within five days, and to determine the attitude towards the Shanghai concession. The Nineteenth Route Army entered a state of emergency readiness, and they were ready to give everything to defend themselves against the coming fire.
On January 23, Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and others issued the "Letter to All Officers and Soldiers of the 19th Route Army", vowing to defeat everything. On the same day, the 19th Route Army issued a secret order on operational deployment, requiring that if the Japanese army attacked our army, it would make every effort to extinguish the Japanese army. This army, with its indomitable faith, declares to the world that they will not give in.
However, the harsh reality forced them to face the order to retreat. Although Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and others held a meeting in Suzhou unanimously supported it, the order of the Nationalists to try to avoid war finally made the 19th Route Army agree to follow the order and evacuate Shanghai. However, under the pressure of the situation, they ordered the defenders to be on strict alert, remain vigilant, continue to fight, and determined to defend every inch of the motherland to the death.
On that night of Songhu, the flames soared into the sky, and the oath of the 19th Route Army echoed loudly in the beacon fire. No matter what the situation of the war is, this heroic army has become the pride of the Chinese nation and composed an eternal hymn. Their deeds are forever engraved in the pages of history and become immortal heroic legends.