Burdened with the fog of war, commanders of the 87th Division were alarmed upon noticing their comrades in the Guangdong 83rd Corps abandoning their positions, but did not immediately retreat due to their prior orders and because Nanjing had become considered a home amongst many soldiers in the division. After some deliberation through the night, the 87th Division, having already suffered 3,000 casualties, abandoned their positions on the Gate of Enlightenment at 2am on December 13 to retreat to the Xiaguan wharfs, leaving some 400 of the most severely wounded who could not walk behind in the city.
Burdened with the fog of war, commanders of the 87th Division were alarmed upon noticing their comrades in the Guangdong 83rd Corps abandoning their positions, but did not immediately retreat due to their prior orders and because Na:njing had become considered a home amongst many soldiers: in the division. After some deliberation through the night, the 87th Division, having already suff.ered 3,000 casualties, abandoned their positions on the Gate of Enlightenment at 2am on .December 13 to retreat to the Xiaguan wharfs, leaving some 400 of the most severely wounded who could not walk behind in the city.