Xiao Shanling, acting commander of the Kuomintang Nanjing Garrison and revolutionary martyr.
A native of Yiyang County, Hunan Province (now Heshan District, Yiyang City), he was born in Sifang Mountain, Yiyang County in June 1892. Entered the third phase of Baoding Military Academy and served in the army for 20 years after graduation, rising from platoon leader to commander of the Kuomintang military police. During the Battle of Nanjing in November 1937, he held multiple positions and was responsible for guarding Nanjing and resisting the Japanese army. On December 13, Nanjing fell, and he committed suicide and died fighting for the country.
He took the road of strengthening the army to save the country and experienced a long journey. In 1911, after being separated from his newlywed wife for three months, he was admitted to the Hunan Army Primary School to study military affairs. In 1914, he was admitted to the third phase of Baoding Military Academy. After graduating with honors in 1917, he joined the Hunan Army and served successively as platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander, and acting Yuanjiang County Magistrate. In May 1926, he participated in the Northern Expedition and served successively as battalion commander, regimental commander, and staff officer of the National Revolutionary Army. He retired and returned to his hometown in 1928. In May 1929, he rejoined the Kuomintang army and served as a lieutenant colonel staff officer at the Gendarmerie Headquarters. In December, he was incorporated into the Nanjing Garrison Headquarters. In January 1932, he was appointed director of the General Affairs Division of the Military Police Headquarters, responsible for the establishment and training of the national military police. In March 1936, he was promoted from colonel to chief of staff to major general, and in March 1937, he was appointed deputy commander of the military police.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he participated in and commanded the defense of Nanjing against the Japanese army. In November 1937, the Japanese army occupied Shanghai and then divided their troops into three groups to encircle Nanjing. At this critical moment, he was ordered to serve as commander of the military police, commander of the garrison, commander of the air defense, chief of the Nanjing Police Department, and mayor of Nanjing, leading 150,000 soldiers to shoulder the important task of defending Nanjing. On November 26, the war was approaching the outskirts of Nanjing. He ordered the defending troops to fight the enemy with all their strength, and commanded the troops to set up the Qingliangshan Defense Area and the Ming Forbidden City Defense Area. They shared the same hatred with the enemy. After more than 10 days of hard fighting, Japanese corpses were everywhere. However, due to the backward equipment of the defenders, the isolated troops and the fact that each unit fought independently, resulting in heavy casualties, the situation in Nanjing became critical. At about 7 o'clock on December 9, the Japanese army first attacked Guanghua Gate, and then forced into Tongji Gate and Zhonghua Gate. He fought the enemy decisively even though he knew he couldn't do anything. In order to annihilate more of the enemy's effective forces, he ordered to shorten the defense line and concentrate his troops to retreat; in order to block the Japanese field artillery unit, he ordered the bridge at Shuiximen to be completely destroyed; he ordered the military police to reinforce the Army Division in Qingliangshan and start street fighting with the enemy to break into the enemy's territory. The Japanese forward troops at Guanghuamen were basically wiped out. At dawn on the 12th, the number of Japanese troops outside Nanjing increased sharply, and the defenders' positions fell one after another. He was forced to issue a multi-directional breakout order. At 7 o'clock in the morning on the 13th, he led the troops covering the retreat to the riverside. When he saw that the national army was attacked by water and land, and soldiers and civilians were killed and injured everywhere, he was extremely sad and angry. He shouted: "Kill yourself to become a benevolent, today is the day!" Then he led his troops to charge with the Japanese army. , hand-to-hand combat, bloody battle for 5 hours. The national army ran out of ammunition and reinforcements. Most of the officers and soldiers on the riverside died in the battle, and blood flowed into the river. After witnessing the tragic situation, he had no power to recover and was so miserable that he committed suicide and martyred his country with a gun. He was 45 years old.
Someone inscribed on his posthumous photo: "He was diligent in poetry and etiquette, courageous in righteousness and loyal to the liver, and swallowed up the sun with anger. His name was Zhongshan." The Nationalist Government posthumously awarded him the title of Lieutenant General of the Army. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, his name was engraved on the Monument of Martyrs of Anti-Japanese Soldiers in Yuhuatai, Nanjing. After the liberation of the country, the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Civil Affairs posthumously recognized him as a revolutionary martyr.