Editing Battle of Nanking (section)

== Battle for Nanjing's outer line of defense (December 5–9) ==
=== Battles of Chunhua and the Two Peaks ===
On December 5, Chiang Kai-shek paid a visit to a defensive encampment near [[Jurong, Jiangsu|Jurong]] to boost the morale of his men but was forced to leave when the Imperial Japanese Army began their attack on the battlefield.<ref name="kojima22">{{Cite book |last=Noboru Kojima |publisher=Bungei Shunju |year=1984 |location=Tokyo |pages=164, 166, 170–171, 173 |language=ja |script-title=ja:日中戦争(3)}}; Kojima relied heavily on field diaries for his research.</ref> On that day the rapidly moving forward contingents of the SEA occupied Jurong and then arrived near Chunhua(zhen), a town 15 miles southeast of Nanjing and a key point of the capital's outer line of defense which would put Japanese artillery in range of the city.<ref name="garrison22" /><ref name="TK22" /><ref name="kojima22" /> Chunhua was defended by China's 51st Division of the 74th Corps, veterans of the fighting from Shanghai. Despite facing difficulties in using the fortifications around the town due to a lack of keys, the 51st Division had managed to establish a three-line defense with pillboxes, hidden machine gun nests, two rows of barbed wire and an anti-tank ditch.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=163}}</ref>

Battle had already begun on 4 December, when 500 soldiers from the Japanese 9th division attacked Chinese forward positions in Shuhu, a small town several miles away from Chunhua. The Chinese company in Shuhu held out for two days, and at one point deployed a tank platoon against the Japanese infantry, losing 3 armored vehicles in exchange for 40 Japanese casualties. By 6 December, the defenders abandoned their positions, and some 30 survivors fought their way out of Shuhu.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=163–165}}</ref>

The Japanese pushed to Chunhua, but were faced with heavy resistance by the 51st Division, who inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese in preplanned [[Kill zone|kill zones]] with machine guns and artillery attacks. Nevertheless, Japanese artillery strikes enabled their infantry to capture the first defensive line, while a well-timed attack by six Japanese bombers enabled a deeper breakthrough. The Japanese left flank managed to penetrate behind Chunhua on December 7, but the final breakthrough came on December 8 when an entire regiment of the 9th Division that had lagged behind entered the fray.<ref name="kojima22" /> The Chinese defenders, who had endured incessant shelling for days and suffered more than 1,500 casualties, finally cracked under the renewed Japanese assault and withdrew.<ref name=":03" /> In the five-day battle at Chunhua Town, the 51st division suffered more than 2000 casualties including 2 regiment commanders and 4 battalion commanders.<ref>國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，王耀武電蔣中正自四日晚該師與兩倍的日軍在淳化鎮交戰五晝夜守著陣地另八日七八百日軍由左翼進攻該軍撤至鐵路之線布置等，典藏號：002-090200-00032-129 [https://ahonline.drnh.gov.tw/index.php?act=Display/image/5399988r=ZqB2I#91F]</ref>

The SEA also took the fortress at [[Zhenjiang]] and the spa town of Tangshuizhen the same day.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yoshiaki Itakura |publisher=Nihon Tosho Kankokai |year=1999 |location=Tokyo |pages=75, 79 |language=ja |script-title=ja:本当はこうだった南京事件}}</ref> Meanwhile, on the south side of the same defense line, armored vehicles of Japan's 10th Army charged the Chinese positions at [[Jiangjun Mountain|Jiangjunshan]] (General's Peak) and Niushoushan (Ox Head Peak) defended by China's 58th Division of the 74th Corps.<ref name="kojima22" /> The Chinese defenders had dug in on the high ground, and possessed [[Mountain gun|mountain guns]] powerful enough to destroy Japanese armor. Multiple Japanese [[Type 94 tankette|tanks]] were destroyed, and in some cases, valiant Chinese soldiers armed with hammers jumped onto the vehicles and banged repeatedly on their roofs shouting "Get out of there!" Gradually, through its coordinated use of armor, artillery and infantry, the Japanese managed to slowly dislodge the Chinese defenders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=170–171}}</ref> On December 9, after darkness fell on the battlefield, the 58th Division was finally overwhelmed and withdrew, having suffered, according to its own records, 800 casualties.<ref name="kojima22" /> By this point, the 58th division had suffered more than 1,700 casualties including 2 regimental adjutants and 5 battalion commanders.<ref>國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，俞濟時電蔣中正該軍占領觀山牛首山方山淳化鎮之線後於五日晨起日軍大部由溧水經小丹陽向秣陵關前進昨晚與五十八師於祿口鎮一帶交戰等情形，典藏號：002-090200-00032-130 [https://ahonline.drnh.gov.tw/index.php?act=Display/image/5399993g=fBQ3q#9dC]</ref>

=== Defensive stand of the 2nd Army and the Battle for Old Tiger's Cave ===
On December 6, the Japanese 16th Division attacked Chinese positions 14 miles east of Nanjing. The Chinese defenders were composed of fresh troops from the 2nd Army, and had dug in onto a ridgeline to meet the Japanese assault. Japanese aircraft and artillery shelled the Chinese defenses relentlessly, inflicting extensive damage and confusion. The Chinese defenders were also hampered by their own inexperience, with some soldiers forgetting to ignite the fuses of their hand grenades before throwing them. Only a cadre of experienced officers and NCO's prevented a total collapse, and enabled the 2nd Army to hold an organized defense for three days until December 9, when they were forced back to Qixia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jun |first=Guo |title=Nanjing Baoweizhan dangan |date=2018 |pages=367–368}}</ref> The fighting had resulted in 3,919 killed and 1,099 wounded for the two divisions of the 2nd Army, an almost four-to-one death-injury ratio.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yamamoto |first=Mashiro |title=Nanking: Anatomy of an Atrocity |date=2000 |publisher=Praeger |pages=89}}</ref> Additionally, the special service company of the 2nd Army suffered 47 killed and 13 wounded.<ref name="南京保卫战">{{cite book |title=南京保卫战| last1=Xianwen| first1=Zhang| last2=Zhendu| first2=Ma| publisher=江苏人民出版社| date=2005}}</ref>{{rp|61}}
[[File:Nanjing XuanWuLake Purple and Mountain.jpg|thumb|The peaks of Purple Mountain, where the Training Division made its stand]]
Meanwhile, the 16th division had also begun probing Chinese positions around [[Purple Mountain (Nanjing)|Purple Mountain]], which was manned by China's elite [[List of German-trained divisions of the National Revolutionary Army|Training Brigade]]. The Japanese first attacked the Old Tiger's Cave on a hill east of Purple Mountain, which was defended by the Training Brigade's 5th Regiment. After shelling the peak on December 8, Japanese infantry attacked up the hill's slopes, but were cut down by accurate and concentrated fire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhenqiang |first=Zhou |title=The Battle for Purple Mountain |pages=168}}</ref> On December 9, the Japanese attacked again using [[Smoke screen|smokescreens]] and air bombardment, but the assault was stopped again when a neighboring Chinese unit counterattacked on the Japanese right flank. However, the 5th Regiment had also suffered heavy casualties in the fighting, losing more than half their men including their commander. In addition, the hill was very exposed and hard to resupply, so the Training Brigade ultimately abandoned the Old Man's Cave and retreated to better positions on the Purple Mountain itself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=167–168}}</ref>

By December 9, Japan's forces had reached Nanjing's last line of defense, the daunting Fukuo Line.<ref name="fuk22">{{Cite book |last=Tokushi Kasahara |publisher=Iwanami Shoten |year=1997 |location=Tokyo |page=121 |language=ja |script-title=ja:南京事件}}</ref> The stage was set for the final stage of the campaign: the battle for Nanjing itself.