The fierce battle between the Chinese and Japanese armies on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Besides, after Tang Shengzhi and his entourage crossed the river, they arrived at Pukou at about ten o'clock, and planned to go north along the railway to Chuxian (Chuzhou), but before they had gone far, they were ambushed at Citicamp. This unit of Japanese troops was the Japanese army Kunisaki detachment that crossed the river from near Beicihu in Dangtu County, Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province, and was outflanked by Ma'anshan City and County. Tang Shengzhi and his entourage only had four or five hundred people, and they were already frightened birds, and they did not dare to fight, so they had to go east to Yangzhou to escape for their lives. Arriving in Yangzhou at 7 a.m. on the 13th, Gu Zhutong had been transferred to Linhuai Pass in Fengyang, Anhui Province. Before leaving, 6 military vehicles were left, and the defenders sent Tang Shengzhi and his party to Chuxian (Chuzhou) in Anhui Province. On the night of the 13th, I took a car to Linhuai Pass. On the 14th, in accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's instructions, Tang Shengzhi announced at Linhuai Pass that the Nanjing Garrison Commander's Headquarters would be abolished, and the garrison troops withdrawn to Jiangbei would be transferred to the Third Theater of Operations. At this point, the defense of Nanjing has ended with the complete defeat of the first team.
In Jiangbei, on December 8, the Numata Detachment of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, which was the first to cross the river, defeated the headquarters of the 111th Division of Chang Enduo of the **57th Army, occupied Jingjiang, and cut off the road from Nantong to Taixing City. The Japanese Kunisaki detachment passed through Wujiang Town, Qiaolin Town, and Gaowang Town in Jiangpu County, and in the early morning of the 12th, it encountered slight resistance from Hu Zongnan's 17th Army near Jiangpu County, and after occupying Jiangpu, it occupied Pukou at 4 pm on the 13th. In the early morning of December 13, when the Japanese army invaded Nanjing, the Tiangu detachment that occupied Zhenjiang crossed the Yangtze River with a number of ** ships and landed on the north bank of the Yangtze River at the ferry ports of Dutianmiao and Liuwei Village. Due to the desperate resistance of Chang Enduo's troops, Miao Chengliu of the 57th Army was able to lead the army to withdraw to Baoying County, Yangzhou. At noon on the 14th, he was defeated and took the town of Fairy Temple in Jiangdu District, and occupied Yangzhou in the evening of the same day. On the 15th, the Japanese army, who were in hot pursuit, occupied the Fairy Temple again. On the 17th, Chang'en Duobu used the firepower of laying mines and pillboxes at Zhaoguanba in Jiangdu District to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese troops advancing northward, frustrating the Japanese army's plan to advance north into Gaoyou County, but the Jiangbei Canal was cut off by the Japanese army.
The main force of the 13th Division crossed the river on the 15th and attacked westward through Yizheng in Yangzhou, Liuhe in Nanjing, Daying Town and Shuikou Town in Lai'an County, Chuzhou. After Hu Zongnan's 17th Army Corps evacuated to the north, Chuxian County withdrew to Xianzong Town, Hanshan County, Ma'anshan City in the southwest, and the residents of the county also fled to the mountainous areas one after another. On December 18, the vanguard of the 13th Division occupied Wuyi Town and Chuxian County, and on the 20th, Shahe Town was occupied.
The Shanghai Dispatch Army had planned to march north with two divisions to fight on the Longhai Railway, but because the strategy of the Japanese base camp was to reorganize and enrich the combat strength and not expand the battle line for the time being, the plan of the Shanghai Dispatch Army was shelved. After that, the two troops built blockhouses along the Jinpu Railway to ensure the stability of the first-line occupation area connecting Donggou Town, Liuhe District, Nanjing, to Xuyi County, Huai'an City, Jiangsu. ** Establish a defensive position on the line of Chihe, a tributary of the Huai River in Dingyuan County, Chuzhou, and deploy the main force in Bengbu City, Linhuaiguan Town, Fengyang County, Fengyang Fu Town, and Dingyuan County, Chuzhou City, forming a confrontation with the Japanese army.