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withdraw. Tang was now in the very difficult position of trying to conduct a defense that he knew was futile would be abandoned in the near future. The tension was palpably obvious at a press conference Tang held to boost morale prior to the siege of
Nanjing. It was noted by reporters that Tang was extremely agitated and that he sweated so profusely that someone handed him a hot towel to dry his brow.
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had broken down to the point that units were refusing to obey any orders. In some cases, regimental commanders of units defending the capital were shot and killed by the company commanders of units in flight simply because the regimental commanders refused to move out of the way so that the fleeing units would have a more direct route to escape from the
Japanese.
446:, granted Tang the right to shoot anyone who disobeyed his order on the spot, but Tang could not carry out the order because there were hundreds of thousands of troops in open flight. To carry out Chiang's directive, Tang would have had to have the Nanjing Garrison wage battle against the fleeing Nationalist troops before facing the Japanese assault on the city.
341:. By 2 June 1926 his troops had reoccupied Changsha. On 11 March 1926 he became the military and civil governor of Hunan after the execution of the former provincial military commander, Li Youwen. While his military office ended 14 July 1926 once his province had been secured, he remained as civil governor until April 1927.
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was not at all according to the plan formulated by Chiang and Tang. The defense plan fell apart from the very beginning because the defenders were overwhelmed by
Chinese troops fleeing from battles in the area surrounding Nanjing. They wanted to retreat to safer ground and, in their panic, discipline
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in
December 1937 by the Japanese, and promised to fight the Japanese unto his death. There exists another claim. Some writers pointed out that it was Tang who volunteered to serve as the commander of the Nanjing garrison and promised to fight until his death without any pressure from Chiang Kai-Shek.
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By late evening, the unorganized retreat had become a complete rout. Many commanders simply abandoned their troops and fled on their own without giving any orders to retreat. Of the 100,000 defenders of the capital and thousands more
Chinese troops fleeing back to the capital from the battles in the
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At the same time, Chiang was also extremely grateful to Tang for assuming command of the
Nanjing Garrison and thus allowing Chiang to avoid the dilemma posed by the situation. He ordered Tang to continue the hopeless fight long enough to save face, and then he would have the prerogative to decide to
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As it became obvious that the plan was falling apart because of the total collapse of discipline among the troops in flight, Tang realized the city could not be defended. Given the grim circumstances, Chiang's staff and even Chiang himself had resigned themselves to this reality. However, Chiang was
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On 12 December, after two days of defending against an enemy with overwhelming numerical superiority, which was shelling the city with heavy artillery fire and aerial bombardment, and with many of his troops in open flight, Tang ordered a general retreat. That evening, he himself escaped from the
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Once the news reached Tang's headquarters that several units had abandoned their positions and fled against orders, it became obvious that a general retreat was inevitable. The problem was that whoever gave the order to retreat would be blamed for losing the capital and face a very angry
Chinese
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While the
Japanese army was dropping leaflets ordering the city to capitulate, Tang had publicly expressed his outrage. Privately, however, he negotiated for a truce. Despite his original promise to fight to the last man, he seemed eager to do anything to avoid a showdown in the city to save the
471:'s permission to retreat when needed, a decision to be made by Tang's headquarters. As Tang asked everyone's opinion and got the answer that he wanted, which was unanimously agreeing to retreat, he had everyone sign their names on Chiang's order before he gave out the general retreat order.
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asked Tang to go with him as the
Nationalist force withdrew further south. Tang refused to flee China, disguising himself and hiding in different places to avoid being captured by the Nationalist forces, breaking one of his legs in the process. He became a commander and governor in
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However, just as the defensive battle had not played out according to the plan, the general retreat was not conducted as planned. What ensued was nothing short of chaos, and what was supposed to be an organized retreat rapidly turned into a chaotic and panicked flight.
368:. Later Tang commanded armies to fight other warlords for Chiang Kai-shek with great success. However, after these potential rivals were defeated, Chiang enraged Tang when he attempted to remove him and as a result, Tang defected to warlords in
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areas around
Nanjing, only two regiments managed to successfully retreat according to the original plan, and both survived intact. Other units that did not retreat according to the original plan fell victim to the attacking Japanese forces.
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against the Japanese attack. In a press release to foreign reporters, he announced the city would not surrender and would fight to the death. He gathered about 100,000 soldiers, mostly untrained and including a few defeated troops from the
397:
Before 1937, Tang had served as a general under Chiang but without really much true power. It can be imagined that Chiang Kai-Shek appointed Tang as commander of the capital garrison only because there were not too many alternatives.
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began to nominally unite against the Japanese invaders and Tang became an important member of Chiang Kai-shek's national defense committee. After repeated pleas from Chiang, Tang finally accepted the command of the
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on the northern side of the city walls, the only gate still available as an escape route at the time, without officially announcing to the Japanese military authorities any intention of surrendering the city.
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public, Tang was very reluctant to take the responsibility and the consequent blame alone and so he called a meeting that included every divisional commander and those of higher rank and showed them
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wrote of the Chinese troops looting shops for food and removing their uniforms for civilian clothing, "Streets became covered with guns, grenades, swords, knapsacks, coats, shoes, and helmets."
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capital and its inhabitants. At the same time, he also had to carry on the hopeless symbolic fight to defend the capital for the Chinese government to face the Chinese public.
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battlefield, to defend the capital. He also placed the 35th and 72nd divisions at the port to prevent people from fleeing Nanjing, as instructed by
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extremely reluctant to give up the capital without a fight, and nobody else would dare to make such a decision and face the angry Chinese public.
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290:: Tang Sheng-chih; 12 October 1889 – 6 April 1970) was a Chinese warlord during the
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warlord who was in actual control of the region but ostensibly allied with
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By early December, Japanese troops had reached the outskirts of Nanjing.
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The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
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The Generals of WWII; Generals from China; Tang Shengzhi
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1937 General Officer Commanding Nanking Garrison Command
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1932–1934 President of the Military Advisory Council
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405:Gen. Tang Shengzhi was now in charge of defending
102:The Most Recent Biographies of Chinese Dignitaries
716:Recipients of the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun
686:People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan
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681:National Revolutionary Army generals from Hunan
572:1934–1937 Director–General of Military Training
578:1945 Member of the Military Affairs Commission
325:. He was defeated and forced to withdraw from
612:"Five Western Journalists in the Doomed City"
348:and helped him to secure control of northern
654:(Basic Books, 1997, ISBN 978-4-87187-218-8)
691:Chinese military personnel of World War II
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560:1926 Military–Governor of Hunan Province
538:he was not noticed until the fall of the
69:Learn how and when to remove this message
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566:1929 General Officer Commanding 5th Army
32:This article includes a list of general
726:19th-century Chinese military personnel
462:The decision to order a general retreat
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637:Durdin, Frank. "All Captives Slain".
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505:and Archibald Steele of the
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418:'s general headquarters at
392:Garrison during the city's
376:to help them fight Chiang.
339:National Revolutionary Army
331:Northern Expeditionary Army
305:After participating in the
16:Chinese warlord (1889–1970)
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315:National Protection War
298:and a politician after
53:more precise citations.
696:20th-century Buddhists
598:Memoirs of Li Zongren
184:Years of service
497:Frank Tillman Durdin
356:region by removing
228:Northern Expedition
741:Governors of Hunan
515:Life after Nanjing
508:Chicago Daily News
232:Central Plains War
701:Chinese Buddhists
475:city through the
426:Battle of Nanjing
383:most warlords in
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224:Xinhai Revolution
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143:6 April 1970
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379:During the
358:Bai Chongxi
335:Eighth Army
323:Zhao Hengti
292:Warlord Era
134:Qing Empire
110:Native name
51:introducing
675:Categories
667:with photo
583:References
540:Kuomintang
288:Wade-Giles
259:politician
164:Allegiance
34:references
374:Guangdong
187:1914–1949
622:19 April
529:Buddhism
519:Despite
412:Shanghai
352:and the
327:Changsha
317:and the
212:Commands
150:Changsha
499:of the
435:Nanjing
407:Nanjing
390:Nanjing
370:Guangxi
362:Guangxi
354:Tianjin
350:Beijing
337:of the
270:Chinese
196:General
47:improve
555:Career
534:After
280::
278:pinyin
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246:Awards
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36:, but
549:Hunan
444:Wuhan
420:Wuhan
394:siege
385:China
177:China
158:China
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130:Hunan
624:2006
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