Editing Nanjing Massacre (section)

=== Final assault and capture of Nanjing ===
[[File:Iwane Matsui rides into Nanjing.jpg|thumb|[[Iwane Matsui]] enters Nanjing.]]

Despite resisting the assault fiercely, the Chinese defenders were hampered by rising casualties and Japanese strengths in firepower and numbers. Combined with fatigue and a breakdown in communications, the garrison was gradually overwhelmed in the four day battle for the city, and finally collapsed on the night of December 12.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |publisher=Casemate |year=2015}}</ref>
[[File:Nanjinggatebattle.jpg|thumb|Japanese soldiers attack one of Nanjing's gates in the final assault]]
On December 12, under heavy artillery fire and aerial bombardment, General Tang Sheng-chi ordered his men to retreat. Conflicting orders and a breakdown in discipline turned the events that followed into a disaster. While some Chinese units managed to escape across the river, many more were caught up in the general chaos erupting across the city. Some Chinese soldiers stripped civilians of their clothing in a desperate attempt to blend in, and many others were shot by the Chinese supervisory unit as they tried to flee.<ref name="doomed" />

Other Chinese units , dissipating into the countryside and oftentimes colliding with Japanese units.

On December 13, the 6th and the 114th Divisions of the Japanese Army were the first to enter the city. Simultaneously, the 9th Division entered nearby Guanghua Gate, and the 16th Division entered the Zhongshan and Taiping gates. That same afternoon, two small [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese Navy]] fleets arrived on both sides of the Yangtze River.