City of Life and Death

[HC8604]

Among all these units, the 36th D was the luckiest as it had some small steamers under its disposal and it was able to escape largely intact. The other three units were not as lucky and were mostly left behind in the city and annihilated (or massacred).
The commanders of these units, like most senior commanders, fared much better and were able to escape; basically what many of them did was to tell their subordinates that a withdrawal was in effect and then took off right away. The conduct of the Chinese senior officers in Nanking was, to me, downright shameful .

The training brigade ceased to exist after the battle and its remnants were incorporated into the 138th Brigade in the new 46th division. The 138th Brigade suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Lanfung in May 1938 without distinguishing itself; after the battle the 46th division only numbered about 3000 and the training brigade for all practical purpose had ceased to exist.

The 36th D went on to make a name for itself in pitched battles against the Japanese 13D during the Battle for Wuhan; it held its ground for more than 9 days along an important ridge but in the process was almost completely destroyed - with less than a thousand remaining from the once proud division. Its stand did buy valuable time for the rest of the Chinese troops to escape from the Japanese forces, and it was praised by Chiang Kai Shek nationally on Sep 14 , 1938.

The 88th D did not do so well; its commander abandoned Lanfung in May 1938 without a fight leaving a gaping hole in the ring of Chinese forces encircling the Japanese 14D; its commanding officer was court-martialed and shot - the first commander of Chiang's elite divisions to face this fate.

The three divisions were reunited in the 71st Army (Corps) and this force played a major role in blunting Japanese incursion into Western Yunnan in 1942 after the collapse in Burma. In 1944 they took part in the vicous fighting to recapture Western Yunnan and eventually advanced into Burma; the 88th D was subsequently airlifted back after the campaign to block Japanese advance during the last stage of Ichigo .

The 87th D and 88th D were to be destoryed and rebuilt more than once in the civil war. All three divisons were ultimately crushed in late 1949 as the PLA swept over China.

Thanks for the information!

[Peter H]

Another press photo of Mukai and Noda,"the beheading competition"

[Peter H]

Artillery fire hits the Guanghua Gate

[Caesar95]

Was the chinese tank in the movie a Vickers 6-Ton?

[Karl]

The general consensus then is that (taking into account that this is more drama than anything else...) historically, it is 'superficially accurate' except for the portrayals of the foreigners, the function and actual safety of the 'safety zone' and especially the role of Rabe. Is that a fair assessment?

Personally, I almost finished it and was very impressed with the beginning. Unfortunately, this left me expecting more of the same and thus was left wanting and now am gradually drawing more and more disappointed.[finally finished and amending: overall a good film]

[Leonard]

Just in: The movie will represent China to compete in the Best Foreign Film in the Golden Globe.

[Peter H]

Photos here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nanking

A shell which was shot from the top of the Guanghua Gate of Nanking to the inside of castle by Japanese troops explodes in the position of Chinese troops.（December 13, 1937）

[Peter H]

Japanese soldiers attends Nanking Entry ceremony with the tablet and the cremains of fellow soldiers killed in action.(December 17, 1937)

[Peter H]

Japanese memorial service at Nanking（December 18, 1937）

[David Thompson]

More photos of Shanghai under siege here:

Shanghai under fire (1938)
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023227824

[lele0124]

yes ,it is a great movie,It has witnessed the history of China.

[Peter H]

Guanghua Gate again

From ebay,seller dixie_auctions

[Peter H]

From ebay,seller dixie_auctions

Japanese entering Nanking from Gate

[Peter H]

More of walls etc

[Peter H]

From ebay,seller dixie_auctions