Mark Gagnon

Everyone inside Nanjing basically understood the same thing, that the end was basically here.

The walls of the city built by the Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming Dynasty that had protected Nanjing for centuries, had now become a prison, basically.

And by December, Japanese forces surrounded the entire city on three sides, leaving just the Yangtze River, China's longest river,

basically forming the city's northern edge as the last possible escape route.

So Chinese General Tang Shengzi had promised to fight to the end, but inside the city, the army was already falling apart.

Communication was broken down, supply lines were gone, and entire units were just cut off, basically fighting alone with no orders, no food, and no hope.

And by December 12th, panic took over.

Tang finally ordered an official retreat, but the command came way too late and it just spread too slowly.

Some troops never even heard it or got mixed messages, and confusion quickly turned into chaos.

Soldiers just abandoned their positions and rushed toward the river, desperate to escape before the Japanese forces closed in.

And at the city gates, the retreat...

turned into a massacre.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians jammed into the narrow exits while artillery just pounded from behind.

People pushed and they screamed and men were trampled as they were trying to get out.

Families were crushed.

It was just absolute chaos.

And those who made it through reached the riverbank, only to find that it was already overflowing with tens of thousands of people waiting for boats that were never going to come.

So some soldiers tore off their uniforms and just tried to blend in.

Others jumped into the freezing river and drowned.

And a few managed to force their way onto boats, basically leaving everyone else behind.