Since Zhengzhou was designated as the capital, the People's Party began the construction of the entire Henan province. Although there was some lack of understanding from the central to the local levels regarding the decision to make Henan the capital, and private discussions and even arguments occurred regarding the location, at this stage, the entire Henan province was accompanied by the sounds of construction: the striking of axes and chisels, the roar of machinery, and the shouts of engineers, local officials, cadres, workers, and even food vendors coming and going. These sounds mixed together to become the representative sound of Henan today.

Kaifeng was being built as an industrial center. The development in recent years had added many things to the ancient city of Kaifeng: railways, highways, various factory buildings, ugly-looking buses, traffic police on duty, and airplanes that appeared in the sky from time to time. Except for the elderly sitting at their doorsteps, busy people didn't have time to look up at what the flying objects in the sky looked like. But when children heard the familiar motor sound, they would look up at the sky in unison, searching along the flight path as if they wanted to grab the airplane.

120 kilometers away from Kaifeng, there sat a huge complex of buildings. High walls, specially designed barbed wire, concealed and open firepower points, and Ministry of Internal Affairs patrols walking along the perimeter in dark army green uniforms all told the outside world that this was an extremely important military base. The external name of this place was the People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation First Comprehensive Training Base and Aviation Range. However, the large factory-style buildings on one side of the area, the fully functional residential area with a distinctly non-Chinese architectural style, and the German "former" soldiers mixed among the Chinese soldiers all told people the true meaning of this area. In the center, this place was called Thunder Cloud Base, and its true face was the German Air Force Stationed in China Training Base.

After Lieutenant General Pu Guanshui established a relationship with the German Air Force, the Commander of the People's Air Force and high-level central officials secretly visited Germany several times to start negotiations with the German Air Force high command. After several twists and turns, they finally used heavy gold notes to smash open the minds of these Junker officers, which were harder than stones. Facing large sums of Francs and Pounds, the eyes of these German Black Eagles glowed green.

In fact, the high-level officials of the German Air Force could not be blamed for ruining their image like this. Since Germany's defeat and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, German armaments were basically no different from being abolished. Taking the Air Force as an example, only 140 fighter jets were allowed to be retained, and the manufacture of large aircraft was prohibited. The original aviation training and production systems were either dismembered or dismantled by the French and taken back to Paris. It could be said that the Treaty of Versailles had strangled the German Air Force to its last breath. But with the establishment of the Soviet Union and the success of the People's Party in China, the eyes of the Western world coincided on them. Because the China under the rule of the People's Party did not yet possess a strong naval force, and the army could not cross the Middle East to reach Europe, but the Soviet Union was on the edge of Europe. With the alliance and mutual cooperation between the Soviet Union and the People's Party, based on traditional views and ideological opposition, the Soviet Union became Britain's next target. However, the British did not relax their surveillance and control over German military power. But the German Air Force had to be rebuilt; this was an undisputed goal throughout the German Air Force. Thus, the Chinese and German sides, each with their own needs, hit it off immediately.

First, Fokker and a large number of WWI German military aircraft manufacturing enterprises invested heavily in China on the grounds of opening up the Chinese market. With the tacit approval of France, the People's Party bought a large amount of aviation manufacturing machinery and equipment from France (some of which were dismantled from Germany), and also negotiated a contract for the commercial purchase of three heavy cruisers, which blocked the French's mouths. Then, a large number of "former" German Air Force personnel, from commanders and staff officers to pilots and ground crew, secretly left Germany in batches under the cover of Chinese and Soviet institutions in Germany, heading for China and the Soviet Union to carry out restorative training for the German Air Force.

Since the Opium War, the image of the Chinese in Western eyes had always been cowardly, weak, despicable, and greedy. Furthermore, some people rumored that the blood vessels in the brains of Chinese people were too fragile to perform high-G flight maneuvers (later confirmed to be the work of the People's Party intelligence unit). In addition, British and French newspapers reported extensively on the crashes of the Chinese Air Force, so that the British Air Force Commander at the time contemptuously said in a report to Parliament that the formation of the Chinese Air Force was not something that could be completed within 20 years. Perhaps they could be fearless of artillery fire under the influence of drugs, but the Chinese could absolutely not defeat the powerful Royal Air Force. But in the eyes of German soldiers, the person who could say such things was simply an idiot who hadn't even attended kindergarten. Not to mention the huge advantage Germany gained in the mid-WWI period thanks to the stormtrooper tactics brought back by the captured personnel of the German Army in the Battle of Qingdao, the diligence, hard work, and dedicated study shown by the young Chinese Air Force cadets alone made the proud German Black Eagles admire them endlessly. In the teaching building of the base, the lights in the classrooms were never turned off before 11 pm. If the German instructors hadn't ordered that they must get enough sleep to ensure the next day's training, studying until the second half of the night would be a common occurrence. Generally, German Air Force instructors would gather at the pilots' club bar specifically set up at the airport on weekends to drink some beer, watch movies, and play billiards. But the Chinese cadets were either studying flight principles and mechanical knowledge hard in the classrooms, or walking on the playground while loudly reciting German textbooks. There was even an incident during pilot selection where a PLA sergeant who had won a Second Class Merit Medal committed suicide by shooting himself because he was deemed unsuitable for flying. This made the German soldiers thoroughly rejoice from the bottom of their hearts: "Fortunately, Wilhelm II was not brain-dead enough to want to conquer China."

As the leader, Chairman Chen also often took time to secretly visit the Kaifeng base to inspect the work there and communicate with the former soldiers of the German Air Force Command. Chairman Chen first proposed the importance of a huge reserve pilot team and the importance of national aviation education under the national system for air force construction. Then, his concepts of fighter development balancing heavy protection, strong firepower, speed, and maneuverability, as well as an independent air force, aviation forces suitable for the respective combat missions of the army and navy, long-range large-scale strategic bombing, flexible dual-plane formation air combat, and multi-aircraft large-scale cluster air offensive campaigns refreshed the German soldiers. Especially when Chairman Chen predicted to the German instructors that with the advancement of technology, the air force could even launch campaigns independently, all the German Air Force officers applauded enthusiastically with delight in their eyes. So much so that in private, the German instructors were asking the People's Party soldiers working with them if Chairman Chen had ever undergone advanced studies at some European military academy.

As the saying goes, one keeps soldiers for a thousand days to use them for one hour. When the report of Japanese disaster victims attacking China appeared in the newspapers, the Air Force began combat preparations almost at the same time. When the Central Military Commission issued the Air Force Campaign Operation Order No. 15, aviation troops in Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Inner Mongolia, and other places either transferred by air or were transported by train to gather in Liaoning.

The wind fills the tower before the mountain rain comes; this sentence was truly appropriate for Liaoning, which had already entered September. In less than 7 days, from Yingkou to Anshan to Dandong, 6 newly built military frontline airfields appeared in the war zone instantly like bamboo shoots popping up from the ground. Coupled with the intensive expansion of the existing 5 field airfields, the Japanese Army Ministry was solidly scared by this intelligence sent by the intelligence agency. Leaving aside the issue of quantity, the People's Army firmly controlled the initiative in land warfare. Although the Japanese army firmly controlled the Dalian and Lushun areas with the support of naval guns, they dared not go a step further. Once, a newly transferred staff officer did not believe in evil and wanted to expand the support points outward, forcing the stationed army to attack inland and requesting naval gun support. At this time, the Navy did not completely tear its face with the Army. Based on the principle that everyone was fighting for the Emperor, they agreed readily. The initial stage was surprisingly smooth. With the support of naval guns, they successfully took many forward positions. The PLA did not resist the Japanese naval guns head-on and retreated out of the range of the Japanese naval guns. But just as that staff officer was carefully drafting a victory telegram to the country, bad things came. Just as the Japanese army was building fortifications intending to consolidate their positions, dozens of PLA assault teams secretly infiltrated the front of the Japanese positions. Taking advantage of a burst of heavy fog that night, carrying submachine guns with suppressors, light machine guns, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, and grenade launchers, they cleanly tore open breaches of various sizes from the Japanese positions that had not yet been completed. Immediately afterwards, the main force, under the cover of artillery groups, performed a beautiful interspersing and division. The Japanese army was caught off guard, and many people were even killed or blown up in their sleep. Almost overnight, the forward positions that the Japanese army had fought for with naval gun support vanished instantly. Of the nearly 10,000 men in the one and a half brigades that moved forward, less than 1,000 ran back alive. Hearing this news, the Navy refused to waste any more shells to wipe the Army's ass, citing bad weather affecting shooting accuracy. As a result, while the fortress commander was still writing a report to the Army Ministry angrily reprimanding that staff officer, that unlucky staff officer had already cut open his own belly with his ancestral sword. The battle line on land thus stabilized in the Pulandian to Pikou area.

When the Army Ministry received this intelligence, besides being surprised at the speed of construction of these airfields, some people also doubted whether these airfields were real or fake, thinking that a large part of them were used for camouflage. Even if the PLA was strong, it couldn't be this fast. In fact, the Japanese couldn't be blamed for thinking so. Chairman Chen emphasized in many military meetings that new technologies and new equipment should be used to arm the troops. In terms of engineering, the PLA engineering troops had long popularized construction machinery, from road rollers to excavators to bulldozers. There were many places in the Northeast suitable for airfields. Mechanized construction was fast, coupled with the successful application of modular steel plate runways, for an airfield of the same scale, the Japanese army would need to mobilize thousands of people to work hard for 7 days, but the PLA only needed a construction team of less than 200 people to finish it completely in 3 days. In terms of construction methods and technology alone, Japan was already a whole generation behind.

With the air force units taking their positions one after another, the already tense atmosphere in the Liaodong Peninsula instantly became incomparably stagnant. On the People's Air Force side, in addition to the Air 2nd Division, Air 3rd Division, and Air 5th Division that stationed first, about 8 divisions of fighter aviation, 4 divisions of long-range bomber aviation, and 5 divisions of frontline bomber aviation arrived one after another. As this intelligence was sent back to Japan, the Army Ministry's head instantly swelled three times bigger. While trying to mobilize troops and generals, they also strictly ordered the intelligence department to ascertain the scale of the PLA Air Force frontline troops. The open and secret agents left by the Japanese intelligence department in the Northeast all took action. In less than 5 days after the Air Force stationed at the front line, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the General Staff Intelligence Bureau captured no less than 50 spies collecting air force intelligence around the airfield, and no less than a hundred were killed for resisting arrest. The airfield guard troops also thwarted several sabotage attempts targeting the airfield and logistics lines. It could be said that the secret battle had already begun before the regular battlefield started.

Compared with the sabotage actions of the Japanese intelligence personnel, which felt rather exasperated, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the General Staff Intelligence Bureau were solidly collecting intelligence. The investigation and intelligence groups in Japan established by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the General Staff Intelligence Bureau were carrying out work methodically at this time, and with the cooperation of the Soviet Cheka, they investigated the deployment of the Japanese Army Aviation and Naval Aviation in Korea and the Lushun area thoroughly. The Japanese air power abroad was the Second Aviation Group, officially formed in Pyongyang in 1923, commanding 5 bases in Pyongyang, Incheon, Jeju Island, Dapu, and Lushun. Currently deployed at the Lushun base were a flight command, 3 flight regiments, and 2 flight field regiments (the Japanese term for ground crew). Two Japanese flight regiments and 1 flight field regiment in Korea would be transferred by ship from Incheon, Korea to other places in the near future. According to aerial reconnaissance on the Lushun front line, apart from expanding the airfield at Shuishiying, the Japanese army was building a new airfield in the Zhoushuizi area. Based on comprehensive judgment, the Japanese intention to increase air power in Lushun was clearly revealed.

The Chinese and Japanese air forces were each preparing for war, and the smell of gunpowder that had never dissipated in the air became even stronger due to the addition of airplanes. The political and military circles in the West were not idle either. Journalists from different countries embarked on passenger ships to China with various purposes, and their final destination was the Lushun area, which might be no different from the Avici Hell by then.

In the early morning at the People's Liberation Army Army Airfield, with the shouts of mechanics and the noise of aircraft engines, in the dormitory of the temporary airfield, all pilots put on their flight caps and goggles, covered their faces with masks as usual. After washing up, everyone lined up neatly with the ground crew and walked to their planes as usual. This action had become a habit for the pilots. But what was different was that today, their mounts were armed to the teeth. All machine guns were wiped and calibrated again and again, engines and airframes were checked again and again, and the armorers busily but methodically loaded ammunition into the aircraft. Everyone's heart was nervous and a little excited; the final decisive battle was about to start today.

Six years had passed since the German Air Force entered China to begin training. It should be said that with the guidance and exercise of old German pilots who had experienced WWI, the Chinese Air Force had made considerable development from organization to campaign organization to system construction. Many German instructors said that except for actual combat experience, the current Chinese Air Force was definitely not inferior to the regular air force of any European power. At this moment, the sense of expectation and tension intertwined in everyone's heart, passing through their minds again and again. In the command room at this moment, Commander Liu Guange was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed to rest. Staff officers came and went, passing documents and contacting the front. German Air Force advisors were constantly whispering something. The Battle of Lushun was the first campaign the People's Air Force had participated in since its regularization. The painstaking efforts and even lives spent over the years, the huge financial investment every year, the arduous and dangerous training of the pilots, and the lessons learned time and again were all for this moment of testing.

On the airfield, the pilots were leaning somewhat lazily against the planes, joking and chatting with the ground crew. Since they joined the Air Force and participated in pilot training, the couplet inlaid in brass at the gate of the aviation school, "Do not take this road if you want promotion and wealth; go elsewhere if you are greedy for life and afraid of death," was engraved on the gatepost. The first sentence the instructors said was: "Welcome, you group of people who think your lives are too long, to join us." Stimulated by this environment, the Air Force gradually developed a calm, quick-witted, ruthless, and black-hearted style. Under the training of German instructors, this style did not converge but instead had the meaning of being carried forward even more. Upon hearing this, Chairman Chen not only did not criticize the Air Force but ordered these words to be carved in the combat room of the Air Force Headquarters, saying that the Chinese Air Force must have this strength of character to win battles. This sentence made the Air Force personnel walk with a bit of a swagger.

If a photographer came to take a picture of the airfield in the morning glow at this moment, the graceful lines of the fighter jets bathed in the morning light would be very pleasing to the eye. Since German aviation enterprises entered China, they had vigorously launched the restoration of production and quickly rebuilt the originally fragmented German aviation industry in China. As a quid pro quo, German aviation enterprises also had great enthusiasm for participating in the construction of the Chinese Air Force. After the Central Military Commission issued a tender for the procurement of Chinese Air Force fighter jets to them, the three companies in China, Henschel, Fokker, and Junkers, each submitted their own designs. After some competition, the Henschel HE51 fighter won the bid. Immediately, Henschel Company ran at full capacity to produce. According to the requirements in the tender focusing on protection and firepower, and reasonably balancing maneuverability and speed, the dogfight performance of this relatively simply designed biplane was slightly inferior to contemporary fighters, but it greatly exceeded them in speed and climb rate. Thanks to the Liberty L15 engine introduced from the United States, 450 horsepower gave this fighter a strong heart. Equipped with a new 3-blade propeller and 4 7.92mm aviation machine guns (250 rounds each), this aircraft obtained a firepower density and destructive power far exceeding other similar aircraft. Equipped with a radio, and to balance ground support, it could also carry one 100kg bomb or two 100mm rockets. According to the contract, Henschel Company first manufactured 150 aircraft, and then AVIC began mass production under license under the guidance of Henschel technicians. In just 2 years, all fighter aviation divisions were fully re-equipped with this fighter.

At this time, in the Frontline Aviation Command, Commander Liu Guange slowly stood up from his chair. Except for the ticking sound of the radio, everyone almost held their breath. Commander Liu grabbed the phone with an expressionless face: "I order, Combat Aviation 2nd Division, Air 3rd Division, Air 5th Division, Air 6th Division, Air 8th Division, Long-range Bomber Aviation 1st Division, 2nd Division, Frontline Bomber Aviation 1st Division, 2nd Division, to launch air raids on the Japanese positions from Pulandian to Pikou, cooperating with the Army's offensive operations. Air 4th Division, Air 7th Division, Air 9th Division, Long-range Bomber Aviation 3rd Division, 4th Division, 5th Division, Frontline Bomber 3rd Division, 4th Division execute assault operations, launching suppression attacks on the Japanese airfields at Zhoushuizi and Shuishiying. Ensure that the enemy's air power is suppressed in the first instance. It is now 7:20 am Zhengzhou time. I order, the general offensive begins."

As alarms rang out at various airfields, all aircraft began to slowly taxi from the parking spots to the runway. At this moment, large and small fighters and bombers roared into the dawn sky from various airfields. Over the airfields, under the ground guidance of their respective airfields, all aircraft completed a huge diamond formation and headed straight for Lushun in the south.

*After thinking about it, let's go with the heavy hammer flow. I'll save the bloodletting for the Korea and Taiwan campaigns.*

"In the dreams of countless nights, I can still dream of those comrades who fought to the death with the Japanese. Their appearances are still in my mind, still so vivid."

-------------------- Excerpt from the notes of a pilot who participated in the Lushun Air Battle.

In the deep autumn of the Northeast, there was a slight breath of winter in the wind. But the current Lushun area was already like a crater. From the sky to the land, the Chinese and Japanese armies tore and fought each other like two ferocious beasts. Signaling with the air offensive campaign, the People's Liberation Army launched an offensive like a tidal wave, constantly impacting the Japanese defense line. The smoke columns brought by artillery fire on the ground had never ceased, and in the sky, the collision of Chinese and Japanese air power made this air war, the largest scale since WWI, attract the attention of the world.

When the Air Force aviation cluster executing frontline support appeared in the sky in the shape of a huge pentagram, the gunfire on the ground immediately quieted down. Whether Chinese troops or Japanese troops, everyone was stunned by the appearance of such a huge cluster. But only a moment later, a huge cheer erupted from the positions of the People's Liberation Army. Since the founding of the People's Liberation Army, it was the first time that such a huge scale of air support was truly used. Before the cheers passed, this huge pentagram instantly shattered into fragments. The frontline bomber aviation, mainly light bombers, began to dive. On the ground, army liaison officers used white cloth to form arrows to indicate directions to the aircraft in the air, and frontline troops also began to use mortars to fire pink smoke bombs to mark the positions of Japanese fortifications. Monoplane bombers with strange W-shapes dived with piercing screams, and after a burst of machine gun strafing, dropped bombs accurately on the targets, and then pulled up proudly with loud explosions and soaring smoke columns. The fortifications built by the Japanese instantly turned into piles of ruins. The bombers that had dropped their bombs did not return but strafed the Japanese trenches again and again. Some bombers carrying rockets poured rockets into the Japanese trenches, blowing up sections of the trenches. The symphony composed of the huge screaming of bomber dives and the screeching of dense rockets tortured the Japanese nerves again and again. In a short while, Japanese soldiers huddled in the trenches jumped out like madmen, screaming and rushing towards the PLA with bared teeth and claws, either being sieved by dense bullets or beaten into fragments by 20mm cannons. In the end, some desperate Japanese soldiers even launched a collective charge that was no different from going mad, shouting "Banzai" and rushing out of the trenches like wild boars, but they were often knocked down before running far, either swept down in patches by dense rain of bullets or naturally decomposed by bombs, rockets, and artillery fire falling from the sky.

Just as the People's Air Force was bombing the Japanese positions indiscriminately, a large-scale aircraft cluster appeared in the south. The large red circles on the aircraft fuselages indicated their identity. Immediately afterwards, the fighter jets escorting the bombers dived from high altitude and killed their way towards the Japanese cluster.

The nearly 500 fighter jets of the People's Air Force formed a huge formation and instantly encountered the Japanese formation on the battlefield. The Japanese turned out in full force this time; the scale of 400 aircraft was almost half of Japan's overseas air power. The two sides clashed like two huge tidal waves. At the beginning, both sides fought each other with formations of different numbers as taught by their respective European instructors. To be fair, the technical and tactical level of Japanese pilots was also very good. Under the guidance and instruction of British instructors, they were at a very strong level from formation tactics to pilot skills. However, the extreme deterioration of the ground war situation forced the Japanese air power to rush towards the People's Air Force bomber group regardless of the danger of being shot down themselves. Some Japanese pilots even refused to parachute to escape after their planes were hit and caught fire, but simply drove their planes to perish together with the PLA bombers. Thus, the battle that was initially like knights instantly became a melee of beasts in a coliseum.

In the sky at this moment, fighters from both sides constantly dived, pulled up, circled, and opened fire. The fragments of aircraft in the air, the screams of their respective pilots on the radio, and the aircraft falling from the sky trailing smoke columns all stimulated the nerves of pilots on both sides. Both sides were already red-eyed with fighting, but at this moment, the performance of the aircraft itself became the key to victory. Due to the concept proposed by Chairman Chen that focused more on firepower and protection, the dogfight performance of the HE51 was somewhat inferior to other contemporary aircraft. However, indicators such as flight speed, vertical maneuverability, armor, and firepower far exceeded the Type Ko series currently available to Japan, which was derived from the French Nieuport. Japanese pilots were surprised to find that even if they fired for a long time, unless they hit a vital part, the Chinese planes would still fly back crookedly. But once they were caught by Chinese planes in a firing gap, the unexpectedly dense rain of bullets would send the Japanese pilots and their planes crashing towards the ground covered in bullet holes and fire. After just 1 hour of fighting, the Japanese cluster lost nearly 40%. At this time, the combat aviation of the Chinese Air Force was constantly reinforcing the front line, and the balance of victory gradually tilted towards the Chinese side as these weights were constantly added.

The avalanche-like losses on the front line and the point of no return for the pilots made the Japanese Army Aviation frontline commander break out in a cold sweat. The intention of the Chinese Air Force was obvious from the beginning: to use a huge numerical advantage to completely crush the Japanese air power in the early stages of the war. If the Japanese Air Force could still resist a bit with its own experience and technical and tactical advantages at the beginning, this cruel consumption beyond imagination, almost like hell, made everyone in the Japanese Army Aviation lose hope for victory. Just as the frontline commander was pacing back and forth anxiously in the headquarters, a 100kg aviation bomb relieved him of his troubles. Over the Japanese airfield, the Chinese Air Force heavy bomber formation suddenly appeared, breaking away from the cover of clouds. As the lead plane began to drop bombs, hundreds of large bombers opened their bomb bays, and nearly a thousand 100kg bombs rushed towards the Japanese airfield with terrifying whistles. Dense explosions instantly covered the entire airfield; hangars, living quarters, and supporting facilities all erupted in dense smoke columns. The bomber group turned around and returned immediately after dropping bombs. The remaining Japanese fighters on the airfield started urgently, wanting to avenge the airfield. But just then, the PLA fighter formation breaking through from low altitude arrived quietly. After a burst of dense strafing, those Japanese planes that had just thought of taking off to meet the enemy rolled painfully a few times with bodies full of bullet holes and flames, then exploded violently. Japanese ground crews tried to put out the fire but were cut down like wheat by the Chinese fighters in the sky. The airfield guard troops bravely organized anti-aircraft fire, but the fire points were often hit by 5 to 6 rockets with obvious incendiary warheads just after firing a magazine. The machine gunners were instantly burned to ashes by the raging fire. Later, a Swiss reporter wrote in his report: The Chinese Air Force's strike on the Japanese airfield had an absolute purpose, and its means and methods of attack thoroughly implemented cruelty, ferocity, and inhumanity.

Inside the Frontline Aviation Command, Commander Liu Guange, who had been expressionless, jumped up with a face full of joy after hearing the orderly read out: "Thunder Cloud telegram, the message is Storm, Volcano." He grabbed people in the headquarters, whether staff officers or German advisors, shaking hands or hugging them. Everyone understood that the airfield suppression operation was successful. The applause in the headquarters lasted for a long time.

As all the planes returned one after another, the airfield began to get busy. The aircraft group responsible for the frontline assault mission returned earlier. Very few planes were not hit; some even managed to fly back with fuselages and wings sieved with holes. Due to damage, some planes either flipped over upon landing, rushed out of the runway and collided with trees and airfield facilities, or collided with planes landing before or after them. Some pilots were laughing and joking with everyone after getting off the plane, but fell to the ground and stopped breathing after taking a few steps. Upon examination, it was found that there were several bullet holes in their bodies, and they died from excessive blood loss or injury to internal organs. The atmosphere at the airfield suddenly became heavy. Those pilots who walked off the planes alive brought out stools and folding chairs from the dormitory and sat silently by the airfield lawn, guarding the brothers lying on stretchers covered with white cloths.

After just 2 hours of fighting, the Japanese Army Aviation could not hold on and began to disengage from the battlefield. The Chinese aircraft group did not follow up to pursue and kill. After calling for follow-up troops to follow up on ground combat operations, the main force also returned one after another. By 8 pm, the combat and loss table was placed in front of Commander Liu: In this campaign, the frontline assault cluster dispatched more than 530 sorties, shot down 113 enemy planes, confirmed damaging 73, destroyed more than 200 enemy frontline fortifications, and killed countless enemies. Our side lost 105 planes in combat, 40 were damaged, 17 were lost during landing and return, 110 pilots were sacrificed, 20 seriously injured, and 73 lightly injured. The airfield suppression cluster dispatched 300 sorties, suppressing the two enemy airfields at Shuishiying and Zhoushuizi. 15 planes were shot down by enemy ground fire, and 15 pilots were sacrificed. Closing the report, Commander Liu's face became quite grave. In this major collision on the front line, the exchange ratio between the Japanese army and our army was basically close to 1:1. It could be seen that the construction of the Japanese aviation force was indeed not to be underestimated. Their pilot quality and technical and tactical levels were at a very high level. Their training degree and combat level made them opponents worthy of vigilance at present...

While Commander Liu was burying his head in writing the analysis report of the early stage of the campaign, the Japanese airfield was a scene of gloom and bleakness. When the surviving Japanese remnant aircraft group returned to the airfield, they saw an airfield that had become unrecognizable. There were burning flames and billowing thick smoke everywhere. All facilities protruding from the surface were being grilled by tongues of fire. The Flight Command located at Shuishiying was hit by several bombs. On the remaining ruins, there was still light smoke from the fire that had just been extinguished. Ground crews and conscripted Korean laborers were digging out the fragmented bodies of Aviation Command personnel from the ruins. At the anti-aircraft gun positions of the airfield, the charred bodies of soldiers and the machine guns and cannons that were burned to deformation and still glowing red told others what had happened here. occasionally, there were a few explosions, but people no longer bothered to distinguish whether it was their own aviation equipment exploding or Chinese duds going off. Everyone had no extra brain to think about this hellish scene. The pungent stench, the flickering firelight, and the bomb craters all over the ground bubbling like boiling water in a pot had completely broken the spines of these proud sons of the sky of the Great Japanese Imperial Army. After seeing this scene, some people squatted on the ground covering their faces and crying bitterly, disregarding their image. Before the war began, the pilots of the Japanese Army Aviation thought highly of themselves. Indeed, Japan had invested heavily in aviation development. In addition to its own unremitting efforts in the aviation industry and flight technology, the Japanese Army also hired British instructors to conduct hand-to-hand technical and tactical training for pilots. All pilots thought that with them there, the Lushun Fortress could hold out for at least a year. However, in just about 1 hour of fierce war of attrition, 40% of the frontline aviation force was lost. And the cost of such massive consumption could not widen the loss ratio between the two sides. This was a real pain for Japan. The strike of the Chinese Aviation Corps on Japanese airfields made it impossible for the Japanese frontline aviation force to restore normal combat duty in the short term. Everyone realized that victory was already a distant dream for Japan.

However, for the Japanese media, it was not the case. The very next day, under the instruction of the military, the newspapers published that our Japanese Army Aviation elite fought bravely and fearlessly in China. Although besieged by enemies several times their number and suffering hundreds of casualties themselves, they still shot down more than 600 enemy planes, creating a record of 6 to 1. They are truly the essence of the Imperial Army and the pride of the Empire. On the day the newspaper was published, Japanese people in Tokyo took to the streets to cheer for this "combat achievement" achieved by the Imperial Army, and held lantern parades to celebrate. They also made a big noise internationally. When foreign reporters asked Comrade Li Runshi of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with this Japanese report, he smiled slightly: "The battle is not over yet. Let him say whatever ratio he wants. After all, they just lost a battle and need to vent properly, otherwise, they will be suffocated to death."

International noise aside, the battlefield continued. Following the airfield suppression operation, the People's Air Force's heavy bomber units frequently visited Japanese airfields, dropping large numbers of white phosphorus bombs and high-explosive aerial bombs on construction areas where the Japanese army was repairing the airfields. Under the guidance of reconnaissance planes, they bombed material transfer and storage warehouses and warship berthing facilities. Frontline bomber units began suppression bombing of Japanese artillery positions and key fortified sections. Fighter units withdrew some forces to carry ground attack weapons such as bombs to cover the advance of ground troops. The Japanese ground troops frequently called for naval gun support to resist stubbornly, but even so, the positions the Japanese army desperately held often melted away like ice and snow under the interspersed assault of the PLA Army and the torture-like bombing of the Air Force. Everyone knew that it wouldn't take long for the PLA's spearhead to reach the Lushun Fortress directly.

"Comparing the fifty years of human life to heaven and earth, it is but a tiny thing. Looking at worldly affairs, they are dreamlike and illusionary. Once life is granted, death follows immediately. This is the seed of Bodhi. Regret fills my heart. You are now going up to Kyoto. If you see the head of Lord Atsumori... Looking at the world, within the seas and skies, is there anyone who lives forever and never dies?" —— Oda Nobunaga "Atsumori"

In early October, Lushun was already a world covered in white snow. Countless snowflakes fell on the land of the Northeast. But what was different was that on the battlefield, it was mixed with mud turned up by shells and the blood of soldiers from both China and Japan. Nearly a month of repeated contention made the Liaodong Peninsula almost become the Avici Hell mentioned in Buddhist scriptures. Incomplete limbs, weapons blown into parts, land soaked in blood to almost become a mud pond. The cannons, machine guns, and rifles of both sides constantly produced heat, which was instantly taken away by the cold sea wind. Also taken away were the lives of Chinese and Japanese soldiers.

With the fierce offensive of the PLA, the space for the Japanese positions was compressed day by day. By late September, the Japanese army finally retreated to the Jinzhou area and stopped, resisting stubbornly with the support of fortress artillery and solid fortifications. As the temperature dropped, the PLA also temporarily stopped its offensive and began large-scale re-equipment and replenishment. Since the strength of the Navy was really unable to confront the Japanese Navy, Japan's supply lines were safe and sound. The Air Force lacked the means and ability to attack ships sailing in the ocean. Although air supremacy was already in Chinese hands, it still could not affect Japan's maritime superiority. This made the Japanese Navy's life quite leisurely. However, for the Japanese Navy, although leisurely, the deterioration of the situation on land had exceeded the scope that the Navy could influence. Everyone knew that the Lushun Fortress had not fallen yet thanks to the fortifications built by Japan in large quantities during WWI and the large-caliber naval guns of the Navy. But the problem was that as the war progressed, the Japanese battleship group constantly provided artillery support, but the bunch of horse manure in the Army was still constantly losing positions. Material replenishment was easy to say; shells and other supplies could just be shipped from Japan. But work like barrel replacement could not be carried out under the conditions here in Lushun; they had to return to the home port in Sasebo first. Moreover, the price of a gun barrel was not cheap, and the production cycle was long. Since Japan lost the Northeast, its finances were already stretched, which was directly reflected in the Navy. To relieve financial pressure, the Navy Ministry had to withdraw the 4 Kongō-class ships deployed in Lushun, leaving behind several large cruisers like Asama and Izumo to continue staying in Lushun to maintain fire superiority.

Just as the Kongō-class returned, huge doubts arose within Japan regarding the value of the Lushun Fortress. The cabinet was instantly divided into the hold-out faction and the withdrawal faction. Those in favor of the Lushun Fortress continuing to hold out believed that this was Japan's last bridgehead on the Chinese mainland, a nail driven into China. Once Lushun was lost, the People's Party would inevitably free up its hands to concentrate forces to attack Korea. Once Korea was lost, Japan's strategic space and resource sources would be compressed by a large chunk like being cut in half at the waist. At this time, Lushun was the barrier of Korea and could not be abandoned. The opponents sneered and calculated the following data: to replenish soldiers and ammunition similarly, the People's Party only needed to mobilize Henan and Hebei, at most adding the newly recovered three Northeast provinces, which was enough to complete this task. But Japan had to use sea transport. The transport cost for the same quantity would be 2 times higher than that of the People's Party. Plus, the People's Party possessed absolute air superiority locally. The sky over the entire Lushun area already belonged to the People's Party Air Force with white-bordered black stars painted on them. Supplies just unloaded were blown up and burned by bombs, and replacement troops just off the ships being bombed were common occurrences in Lushun. Japan's economy could not persist under such bloodletting. Lushun itself was surrounded by the People's Party on three sides. Rather than a nail, it was more appropriate to describe it as an egg under a heavy hammer. At this time, the hold-out faction slammed the table and shouted: "Even if 80,000 Yamato men die, I don't believe Lushun can't persist!" The withdrawal faction was stunned, then also slammed the table: "Is a small place like Lushun important, or is Korea important?" "You Navy only know how to talk big! Isn't it us Army who are fighting desperately with the People's Party now!" "How can there be such idiots like you in the Army? Even if Army lives are cheap, they should be cheap in the right place, not consumed in a meaningless place like Lushun!" Just as the cabinet was about to stage an Army-Navy brawl, Hirohito appeared. He loudly scolded both sides of the quarrel, effectively punishing each side by 50 strokes, temporarily calming this farce. After listening to the opinions of both sides, he made a compromise plan: currently maintain the reinforcement posture, but if the war situation deteriorates sharply, all forces in Lushun must be withdrawn as soon as possible to strengthen the Korea side. A typical ambiguous method of the Japanese Imperial Family.

The Crown Prince made the final decision, and the cabinet unified its actions. The General Staff Intelligence Bureau and the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, based on relevant Japanese ship scheduling and transportation situations, coincidentally made the judgment that the Japanese army continued to reinforce Lushun. How to effectively stop the Japanese reinforcement actions and reduce the difficulty of future offensive operations became the top priority of the Frontline Command. As the Commander-in-Chief of the General Front, Mi Feng had thought about requesting the Navy to dispatch submarines for blockade operations. But the scale of the Navy submarine force was really insufficient; there were only 10 submarines still deployed in the southeast. Not to mention there was no time, even if all personnel were pressed into service, they could not completely effectively stop the work of the Japanese transport fleet. Joint meetings were held more than once, but a plan was still not produced, which racked Mi Feng's brains.

Just at this time, the German advisor who had been watching in the headquarters suddenly spoke: "General Mi, have you thought about laying mines?" The speaker was Doenitz, who was acting as an advisor to China. Mi Feng was thoughtful: "You mean laying mines in the area from Dalian Bay to Lushun Port? We haven't thought about it, but with our current strength, our minelayers are simply sending themselves into the tiger's mouth; they simply cannot meet the requirements for mine laying." "Why let the Navy do this job? Just leave it to our Air Force." The speaker was Liu Guange, Commander of the Frontline Air Command. "How do you want to do it?" "We will..."

In the winter Lushun Port, although it was not frozen, the biting sea wind made all the Japanese sailors standing on the deck shiver involuntarily. "Strange, why haven't the Chinese planes come to bomb for 3 consecutive days?" "Maybe it's too cold and windy for them to fly?" A sailor joked, trying to force some spirit. The sailors were joking, but the officers in the fortress didn't think so. In their view, even if the Chinese occasionally didn't come to bomb for a day, it simply couldn't shake the dominant position they held. The only possible explanation was that frequent bombing operations had made the Chinese Air Force very fatigued. They were likely taking a temporary rest to recharge their batteries, waiting for the weather to improve to start larger-scale operations. The Chinese Army stopping offensive operations on the front line and beginning large-scale construction of fortifications also corroborated their judgment from the side. Five days passed like this. Just when the officers and soldiers in the fortress began to come out to breathe fresh air, a rare sight, they heard the sound of motors from the clouds. So they rushed back into the fortifications very skillfully, waiting for the sound of bomb explosions. But strangely, the sound of motors in the clouds remained, but there was no sound of explosions. This caused various speculations among the Japanese who were used to bombing. What are the Chinese doing? Reconnaissance? Judging by the sound, this is not the scale of reconnaissance, and they have been circling for several laps. After a while, paper fell from the sky like snowflakes. The Japanese in the air defense observation post picked it up and saw that they were leaflets printed in large quantities by the PLA. The content was nothing more than persuading surrender, mixed with cartoons and the like to tell the Japanese in the fortress about their situation. Hearing the news, the fortress commander immediately ordered all leaflets to be collected and destroyed, and ordered that anyone hiding leaflets would be regarded as treasonous and handed over to the gendarmerie, which nipped this matter in the bud.

Two days passed like this. The Japanese supply fleet appeared on the horizon. A supply team consisting of 4 freighters, 2 passenger ships, and 5 destroyers slowly prepared to dock. At this time, everyone on the Japanese anti-aircraft gun positions stared nervously at the sky. Logic dictated that Chinese Air Force bombers would definitely appear at this time. Just as people on the pier were preparing to receive the ships, suddenly there was a loud noise. A huge water column rose into the sky from under the escort destroyer on the left side of the formation. The thinly built destroyer obviously could not withstand such an impact. After being washed up from the sea surface by the water column, it instantly broke into two sections and then quickly disappeared from the sea surface. The people on the pier were obviously scared out of their wits by this sudden change, and the other ships in the supply team hadn't woken up to the situation and continued to advance. At this time, another water column shot up under the leading destroyer. This ship also followed in the footsteps of the previous destroyer, instantly disappearing from the sea surface, leaving only a sea surface covered with debris and oil stains.

Inside Lushun Port, with shouts of orders, the stationed ships of the Japanese Navy began to leave the port quickly. Naval officers thought they were likely ambushed by Chinese submarines. The British explicitly pointed out after the war started to guard against Chinese Navy submarine sneak attacks. Unexpectedly, they encountered it today. Immediately, the 2 light cruisers and 3 destroyers that left the port deployed a search formation and started anti-submarine warfare. Just as the Japanese wanted to urgently find the Chinese submarine, an explosion suddenly occurred at the bow of the leading light cruiser. A huge water column immediately cracked open this light cruiser. Before other ships had time to lower life rafts, this light cruiser slowly sank into the water with the unwillingness of being ambushed. Seeing this scene, the supply fleet dared not continue to risk coming over and turned around to follow the original route. Everyone on the pier was stunned by these successive changes. In the distant sky, a reconnaissance plane painted with the PLA Air Force emblem circled twice after seeing this scene, and then left quietly without anyone noticing.

"The aerial mining operation was successful. As of 15:00 yesterday, aerial observation showed 13 Japanese ships hit mines, including 5 transport ships, 2 passenger ships, 6 warships, among which were 4 destroyers, 1 service ship, and 1 light cruiser; as of today, the Air Force has dropped more than 700 mines, all effectively laid. Report completed."

As the orderly finished reading the report, Commander-in-Chief Mi Feng felt a trace of relief in his heart. Due to the weakness of the naval force, the Army had to constantly attack against Japanese naval guns. Although the commanders and fighters on the front line fought fearlessly and showed the prestige of the People's Liberation Army, the huge casualties also made Mi Feng's heart ache. Just yesterday, he had just signed the casualty report submitted to the Central Military Commission. From the start of the battle in September until the Jinzhou Isthmus, the Army suffered a total of more than 16,000 casualties, two-thirds of which were caused by Japanese naval guns and other types of artillery. To cooperate with land operations, the Air Force also dispatched bombers to bomb Japanese naval vessels and fortress artillery positions in the outer sea, but the effect was not significant, and the battle fell into a stalemate for a time.

The Japanese side did not see the dawn of victory because of the immediate stalemate. Since the Chinese Air Force began mining operations, the Japanese logistical pressure increased steeply. The cost of sea transport itself made Japan internally bearish on the future of the Lushun Fortress. Coupled with the blockade of Japanese ports by the mine belt around the Lushun Peninsula, the Navy, which wanted to withdraw, jumped up and down in the cabinet. The Army was also arguing fiercely due to the struggle between the Korea faction and the hold-out faction. What was incredible was that the Army Ministry and the Navy Ministry, which were originally like mortal enemies, jumped into the same trench because of the Lushun Fortress, with the withdrawal faction in the Army siding with the Navy Ministry. The Navy did not fail to send minesweeping vessels, but the Japanese minesweeping progress was far behind the speed of Chinese Air Force mining. There were even several times when Chinese Air Force bombers casually threw mines into the sea in front of the Japanese minesweeping formation. This made the Japanese minesweeping troops both angry and helpless. After all, the Chinese Air Force was fighting on home soil and could throw as many mines as they wanted. Coupled with the People's Party's early development of mines and the addition of German experts, Chinese mines used pressure sensing and magnetic fuses earlier, becoming more difficult to sweep. The direct consequence of this action was to reduce the Japanese supply capacity to 30% of what it was at the start of the war. Among the remaining transport capacity, food and water had to be the primary replenishment, while ammunition and other supplies were compressed to a low level. The fortress commander had to issue orders to save supplies.

Even more uncomfortable was the Japanese Navy's bombardment formation. The reason why the Japanese army could sustain until now was entirely dependent on the Navy's naval gun firepower. The Chinese Air Force, lacking anti-ship means, could not effectively suppress Japanese ships. With the launch of mining operations, the Air Force assumed a posture of offensive mining. When reconnaissance planes discovered Japanese bombardment formations, standby heavy bomber units carrying mines would immediately rush to the sea area where the Japanese army was located, and then swaggeringly lower their altitude outside the range of Japanese machine cannons, dropping mines around the Japanese ship formation. Of course, the Japanese ships didn't want to be trapped there and wait for death, so they increased speed and shifted positions. As for bombardment, they couldn't care less. At this moment, up and down the Japanese Navy, besides cursing the Chinese Air Force for being shameless, the call to withdraw from Lushun became higher and higher.

Mi Feng paced non-stop in the frontline headquarters. The current stalemate was what the General Front Command least wanted to see. The Central Committee also sent a telegram requesting a speedy end to the battle in the Lushun area before December. But what the Army lacked most was the assault weapon of large-caliber artillery. Someone also suggested whether the 305mm artillery from the Qingdao Fortress could be transported over. But this idea, obviously done in desperation, did not ease the atmosphere in the headquarters besides causing a good laugh. Just as Mi Feng was constantly scratching his head, a new telegram from the Central Military Commission was transmitted. As soon as Mi Feng saw this telegram, a look of surprise appeared on his face. He pressed one hand on the guard's shoulder and laughed loudly: "It seems there's hope this time."

At night, the freight platform of the Wafangdian Railway Station was brightly lit. The platform was full of PLA soldiers with live ammunition. As the Frontline Commander, Mi Feng brought Air Force Frontline Commander Liu Guange to the platform to wait anxiously. With the sound of a train whistle in the distance, a freight train slowly pulled into the station. After the train stopped steadily, several PLA officers jumped down from the leading passenger carriage. After looking around, they saw Mi Feng waiting on the platform, so they ran over and saluted: "Hello, Commander Comrade. Zhu Rui of the Heavy Artillery 1st Division reporting to you. Ordered by the Military Commission, my division is now under the command of the Lushun Campaign Frontline Headquarters. Please give instructions." Mi Feng returned the salute and signed the document handed over by Zhu Rui. On the train, sheets of canvas covering the artillery were pulled down. Artillery painted with white camouflage paint looked heavy and dangerous under the illumination of the station lights. Slender 210mm caliber barrels, thick hydraulic mechanisms, sturdy gun carriages, and tracked carriage travel devices all demonstrated the strength and power of this artillery. Watching the artillery slowly walk down the flatbed cars driven by their own engines, Mi Feng unconsciously revealed a gratified smile.

After a week of silence on the battle line, it finally became noisy again. Under the Air Force's mine offensive, the Japanese Navy chose to preserve strength and withdrew all main ships to Japan and Korea. The firepower of Japanese destroyers was already a negligible existence for the Chinese army. Under the dense bombardment of the 105mm artillery group and bombing by Air Force bombers, the Chinese army began to assault the Jinzhou Isthmus. The Japanese resisted stubbornly relying on solid fortifications. The battle lasted for a whole day, and the PLA only attacked as far as the Qianguan area. This was exactly one of the sturdy fortresses built by the Japanese army. The battle went on for most of the day, and the PLA paid heavy casualties without removing this nail. The 105mm artillery group also carried out fire suppression, but the suppression effect was obviously not ideal. Often, seeing the fortifications in front being hit by 4 to 5 shells, they still spewed tongues of fire. Just then, a biplane reconnaissance plane flew over the battlefield in the sky, constantly circling the top of the bunker. The Japanese position suddenly erupted with a chain of fire straight towards the reconnaissance plane in the sky. The reconnaissance plane pulled up sharply, dodging the fire.

Just at this time, a loud noise that no one had ever heard before rang out in the PLA position. Immediately afterwards, with a terrifying explosion, stones and earth flew from the Japanese fortress. The bunker that had been constantly spewing tongues of fire fell silent immediately. Inside the reconnaissance plane at this moment, a soldier sitting in the back seat looked down at the explosion below through binoculars: "Eagle Eye reports, first shot at position 3 was a near miss, target not yet destroyed. Correcting parameters, angle minus 3, charge plus 1, wind deviation correction plus 1.5. Correction complete." Immediately afterwards, there was another loud noise, and the Japanese bunker that hadn't recovered yet collapsed with a bang. Before the PLA could launch an assault, another fortress spewed tongues of fire. "Eagle Eye reports, enemy heavy fortress found, angle turn right 8 degrees, distance plus 2, charge number 3, high-explosive warhead, over." With this loud noise, this fortress flew into the sky under the action of explosives. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the waiting infantry rushed into the fortress under the cover of the smoke of the explosion and engaged in fierce combat with the enemy. Assault teams, supported by direct artillery fire, used explosive charges, cluster grenades, flamethrowers, and even Molotov cocktails to clear the inside of the Japanese fortresses layer by layer. At the same time, under aerial guidance, the heavy artillery kept blocking Japanese follow-up movements with interdiction shelling. The loss of the Qianguan fortress group was only a matter of time for the Japanese army.

At this time, Mi Feng put down the binoculars in his hand and said with satisfaction to Commander Liu Guange: "I didn't expect this method of putting bayonets on cannons to be really effective."

"Countless Chinese planes circle over the fortress every day. We don't know when they will drop bombs. Only at night can we walk out of the air raid shelters to breathe fresh air. Those not taking turns to fight can only eat one meal a day. Every day, wounded are pulled down from the front line, but because of the lack of medicine in the fortress, we cannot treat them. They can only die quietly after being injected with morphine. Watching their peaceful release, we can't help but envy them in our hearts."

———— Excerpt from "The End of Lushun Fortress" by Japanese soldier Akagi Ken's looking at the Japanese Kwantung Governor's Office, which was still emitting green smoke, and the blood on the ground that had not yet completely dried up, Commander Liu Guange couldn't help but feel a burst of emotion in his heart. Since the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing court was tottering. Japan, relying on its national strength after the Meiji Restoration, had long made its ambition to covet Chinese territory known to all. The magnificence of this Kwantung Governor's Office verified the importance Japanese attached to Chinese territory. If Chairman Chen hadn't tidied up the mountains and rivers, if the Japanese had succeeded, no one could say clearly what China would have become. After sighing, Commander Liu gathered his mood: "Order the Frontline Air Command to move in quickly. I want this place to be usable within two days. Also, order the engineering troops to accelerate the reconstruction of the Zhoushuizi Airfield. Restore it to the capacity of stationing 2 aviation divisions as soon as possible. Order the frontline bomber units to carry out harassment bombing on Japanese ships docking at the port. Mine laying work must continue to reduce the Japanese supply capacity as much as possible." After recording, the communicator saluted Commander Liu and then turned and ran away.

At the same time, in the Ministry of National Defense building in Zhengzhou, Chairman Chen was holding an analysis and summary meeting with the Central Military Commission regarding the situation of the Battle of Lushun. Listening to the casualty summary report from the front line, Chairman Chen frowned very rarely: In less than 2 months, there were already more than 30,000 casualties. It seems we underestimated the difficulty of this campaign. But the German advisor on the side comforted him: "Chairman Chen, this casualty figure is acceptable in our view. After all, the Japanese army has the very favorable support of naval guns, and they also have a very complete defensive depth system. Even the German Army in its prime could only do this much. Please don't blame yourself too much, Chairman Chen."

The participating members of the Military Commission also nodded in agreement. Although the PLA had experienced hundreds of battles, it mostly focused on mobile warfare with division strikes and multi-point breakthroughs. Battles like Lushun, which completely relied on firepower and attrition to attack enemy key fortified areas, were still in the minority after all. Even British newspapers, which wore no less than 10 layers of colored glasses, had many words of praise for the combat capability of the Chinese army (although clearly hinting between the lines that this was under the premise of drug use). In the case of relatively insufficient artillery firepower, relying only on the mutual cooperation between ground infantry and the air force to break through enemy heavily defended areas with a relatively small price, this theory verified on the Lushun battlefield gave a shot of stimulant to all air force generals and supporters in the world. The British Air Force even advocated the theory of aircraft omnipotence on this basis, intending to compete with the Royal Navy for funding.

Regardless of the hype internationally, the battle continued. But recent aerial reconnaissance, interrogation of prisoners, and intelligence sent by the General Staff Intelligence Bureau and the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs all proved that the Japanese high command had tacitly accepted the loss of Lushun. From the intelligence analysis sent by Korean comrades, the Japanese army had already transferred part of the Lushun Fortress garrison that had withdrawn to Korea for rest and reorganization. The Kwantung Army Flight Group 1st Command and 3 flight regiments, which were destroyed in the early stage of the Lushun campaign, showed signs of reconstruction. They accelerated the construction of fortresses in the Yalu River border area. Their intention to reinforce Korea was self-evident. Accelerating the capture of the Lushun Fortress, detaining and annihilating the Japanese effective strength, making them unable to withdraw to Korea became the core content of the meeting. This meeting lasted for a whole day. After intense discussion, Chairman Chen, as the Chairman of the Military Commission, signed the combat order adopting Plan No. 5.

The camera turns to the Liaodong Peninsula. With the Military Commission issuing the Combat Order for Plan No. 5, a strange unit came to the Zhoushuizi Airfield under the cover of night. Everyone in this unit wore white chemical protective suits and light brown-green gas masks, looking a bit scary. When unloading, they were very careful, moving those boxes marked with skulls and crossbones as if they were moving babies. This strange phenomenon aroused the curiosity of many soldiers of the airfield guard troops. Watching this group of people working busily for nearly a day, a huge tent painted with camouflage colors was set up. Around the super-large tent were soldiers in full protective suits with live ammunition, a sentry every three steps, a post every five steps, guarded extremely strictly. Many soldiers were eager to go and find out, but the subsequent secrecy order issued by the Air Force Frontline Command cut off these soldiers' thoughts of "seeking knowledge".

When the moon climbed into the sky, Liu Guange, Commander of the Air Force Frontline Command, came to this tent wearing a full set of protective suits. In front of the tent, an officer who looked like the unit leader wearing a full set of protective suits ran over and saluted Liu Guange: "Hello, Commander Comrade. I am executing Plan No. 5 under the order of the Central Military Commission. I regret that due to disciplinary reasons, I cannot tell you my designation and name. This is due to confidentiality discipline, please understand." Liu Guange knew that the more such a unit was, the higher the confidentiality level. After putting on the gas mask and having his identity checked, Commander Liu passed through 5 curtains and came to the center of the tent.

Here, large wooden boxes painted with grass-green paint had yellow skull imprints on them, enough to explain the danger and lethality of this thing. Opening the box, two 50kg shaped bombs had warheads painted in black and yellow. Commander Liu nodded after seeing it, and then left this dangerous tent following the way he came.

(Writing and writing, I found that this went off track and became a side note on the Battle of Lushun. I will try to end the Battle of Lushun within 1 to 2 chapters.)

"The Chinese army finally advanced to the Lushun Fortress after paying relatively large casualties. This bloodiest conflict between Asian powers is about to end. In this most tragic battle since the end of WWI, we saw the obvious malice of a deliberately dormant great power. China used this conflict to send a clear signal to the Western world, indicating that its own strength is growing without restriction. What kind of damage a huge and malicious China will bring to the Asian situation and world peace is unpredictable for anyone."

--------- American "Time" Magazine

The Lushun Fortress in the dark night appeared so gloomy and terrifying in the night color, like a devil's lair in Western fairy tales. Since Japan occupied Lushun, Japan began to meticulously build this fortress, investing huge amounts of funds and countless manpower and material resources. Constant reinforcement and reconstruction were carried out on the basis of the original Russian fortifications. Countless concealed and open firepower points, dense communication trenches and tunnels, artillery fortresses thick as turtle shells, appeared murderous under the constantly rising flares. The PLA Army had organized 3 probing assaults under the cover of the Air Force and artillery, but each time they had to stop due to huge casualties. The Japanese army, already frightened like birds by the PLA's assault and interspersing tactics, fired flares almost every moment, illuminating the entire front line as bright as day. Commander Mi Feng constantly observed the distant fortress with binoculars: "The Japanese say Lushun Fortress is the number one fortress in Asia. From this angle, the Japanese really aren't bragging. It's really hard to crack this hard bone with old methods." "But Old Mi, I'm afraid this hard bone won't be hard anymore." "Are they here already?" "Yes, they arrived yesterday. Now they have started preparing to load onto the bombers." "What is the Chairman planning to use this time?" "Phosgene, said the people from the chemical unit." "Phosgene, how is this stuff?" "I heard them say this stuff is a raw material for chemical plants, but after purification, it is very volatile and highly toxic. Once inhaled, it causes pulmonary edema. It belongs to the choking type." "Choking type? Tell me what choking type means." "............."

Just as Commander Liu was patiently explaining the relevant knowledge learned from the chemical unit commander yesterday to Commander Mi, on the frontline position, trucks pulling frame-like things arrived at the designated area. After the trucks stopped steadily, the soldiers on the trucks quickly jumped off. With the combined efforts of the accompanying personnel, they lifted the frames off the trucks one by one, and then began to prepare the ground. After the ground was prepared, the frames were assembled one by one and supported on the ground with bipods. Seeing this scene, some new soldiers couldn't help but be filled with curiosity, pointing and whispering in groups of three or five. Some old soldiers said with slight surprise after seeing it: "Yo, finally called the Fire Dragon Cannon over?"

Since the Battle of Qingdao, the reputation of the People's Party had been greatly shaken, and rocket artillery played the most important role. After this battle, the People's Party's scientific research and military industry departments constantly invested considerable energy and resources into the research and development of military rockets. Due to its own limitations, the PLA did not have large-scale tube artillery groups, but the rocket artillery, originally an emergency weapon, shone brilliantly in this situation. In subsequent battles, big and small, rocket artillery wrapped the enemy in various fragments and fire again and again with dense rain of bullets. From big guys that required 3 people to carry to individual models launched with small steel pipes that a person could carry 5 to 6 rounds of, the roar of various large and small rocket artillery was almost like the PLA's business card. Among the people, the legend of "50 Fire Dragons Breaking Qingdao" had long existed. In the mouths of teahouse storytellers in early years, there were even laughable stories like Chairman Chen getting Zhuge Liang's secret manual and building "Fire Dragons Out of Water" to break the German bandits. However, taking advantage of this absurd story, the folk wrongly called the rocket artillery the Fire Dragon Cannon.

Just as the PLA was preparing Fire Dragon Cannons in full swing in the rear, the front was not idle either. The gunfire in the entire Lushun Fortress almost never stopped. Japanese Hotchkiss and Chinese Maxim machine guns kept shooting at each other non-stop. Since it was already mid-November, the cold winter wind cooled these heavy machine guns quickly. Soon, piles of shell casings almost covering people's feet piled up. At the beginning, the Japanese shot constantly with nervous spirits. But after a long period of fighting, fatigue began to constantly invade the tight nerves of the Japanese army. Seeming to see through the harassment purpose of the Chinese army, the Japanese commander issued an order to save bullets, forbidding firing unless a clear target appeared, and then began to rest in batches. The PLA very enthusiastically used Maxims to constantly strafe those solid bunkers and outer walls of fortifications, but the Japanese machine gunners ignored them after returning a few bursts.

The fierce exchange of fire lasted for most of the night. By 3 am, the machine guns of both sides stopped singing. Only occasionally a few cold shots came. After another hour, even the cold shots were gone. Only the flares of both sides were still constantly rising into the sky. The entire Lushun Fortress area instantly returned to silence. Except for the whistling cold wind, it seemed that the fierce gunfire just now had dissipated like a dream. Except for the cawing of a few awakened crows, there were no other sounds.

Inside the Lushun Frontline Headquarters, it was also silent at this moment. But everyone's eyes were focused on the two commanders, Mi Feng and Liu Guange. At this moment, the two commanders stared at the map with faces as calm as ancient wells. Everyone in the headquarters was waiting for the order to be issued.

"Dong, dong, dong..." The clock struck 7 times accurately. Mi Feng turned around: "I order, according to the plan, launch a general offensive on the Lushun Fortress. Based on the Combat Order for Plan No. 5 issued by the Military Commission, launch a poison gas attack on the Japanese troops in the Lushun Fortress. All units must strengthen gas defense work. Be sure to completely solve the Japanese troops stationed in the Lushun Fortress within 3 days."

On the Lushun Fortress front line, the sky had just revealed a trace of fish-belly white. The Japanese sentries were changing guards on time. Just as a sentry stretched and yawned, suddenly his movements stiffened instantly. His face suddenly convulsed as if he had seen a ghost. Japanese troops at other sentry posts also saw this strange scene. In the distance, hundreds of fire points flew towards the Lushun Fortress with strange roars. Just as the Japanese stared dumbfounded at this strange scene, the meteor shower smashed densely into the Lushun Fortress and Lushun Port. In an instant, countless shock waves and fragments mixed together and exploded densely in the Lushun Fortress. Many Japanese troops in the trenches didn't even have time to enter the bombproof shelters before they were sieved by shrapnel, or thrown high into the air by the storm stirred up by the shock waves and then smashed down violently. Some temporary fortifications on the surface position were basically reduced to floating soil mixed with blood, and then frozen into hard lumps by the cold wind. Inside Lushun Port, scattered steel balls and fragments hit the port and the ships docked in the port, making ding-dong sounds, as if it was raining heavily outside. Countless sailors busy on the decks were instantly knocked down by shrapnel. Immediately afterwards, violent fireballs exploded in the port and on the ships. A destroyer seemed to be hit by a torpedo; the violent explosion blew the thin-bodied destroyer into 3 sections which sank to the bottom, revealing only a corner of the mast. A traffic boat dodged left and right to avoid the dense artillery fire, but a heavy rocket accurately hit the cockpit, and then there was no trace of this small boat on the sea surface except for debris and oil stains.

On the Zhoushuizi Airfield, dozens of heavy bombers taxied from the apron to the runway under the guidance of ground crew. For this special combat mission, all planes underwent weight reduction modifications, removing armor plates in many places to increase the bomb load. The pilots also wore full protective suits. Under everyone's gaze, the bombers slowly accelerated, then clumsily lifted altitude and rushed into the sky. In the sky, all bombers formed a diamond formation and flew towards Lushun.

"This is 01, 05 report your situation."

"This is 051, altitude 2000, speed 130, heading unchanged, expected to arrive at Point 1 in 3 minutes, over."

"This is 01, original plan unchanged. After entering Point 1, ascend to 4500, formation change to Concrete 1."

"051 copies."

5 minutes later, "051 reports, passed Point 1, formation change complete, heading turn E31, arriving over target in 5 minutes."

"01 copies, wish you success. The Chairman awaits your good news in Zhengzhou."

The bomber formation at this moment had changed from a diamond shape to a single-line formation ("long snake array"). The planes also gradually climbed to an altitude of 4500 meters. Ahead, the traces of dense rockets streaking across the sky gave the bombers direction guidance. The lead plane broke radio silence: "This is 051, formation entering bombing run, heading unchanged, speed minus 10, open bomb bay doors, prepare to drop bombs." With the command of the lead plane, all bombers slowly opened the cabin doors in the belly, revealing gray bomb bodies with black and yellow warheads.

The planes slowly approached the sky over the Lushun Fortress. "Plane correct left 2 degrees, speed unchanged, steady, steady, drop bombs!" At the same moment, all bombs left the racks in the cabin and rushed towards the Lushun Fortress, which was already wrapped in fire, with terrifying whistles.

"051 calling, 051 calling, bombs away, bombs away, we are returning, starting return." Subsequently, the bombers flew towards Zhoushuizi Airfield with the happiness of being unburdened.

At this moment, the Lushun Fortress was full of traces blackened by fire and smoke. The hit fortifications were still emitting flames and light smoke. Weapons blown apart and human limbs were scattered everywhere. Many people seemed to have lost their souls from the bombing, looking woodenly at everything around them. The Japanese troops on the surface position were stunned by such fierce firepower at this moment, while the Japanese troops inside the fortress and fortifications hurriedly picked up their weapons, preparing for the large-scale offensive that the Chinese were extremely likely to launch.

Just then, countless bombs fell into the Lushun Fortress and Lushun Port. Some bombs exploded immediately, while others did not detonate. Just as the Japanese wanted to pull these unexploded duds to a safe place for disposal, these bombs suddenly made the sound of leaking gas canisters. The Japanese soldiers who were about to go forward to handle them suddenly smelled a strong smell of rotten hay. Then they felt chest tightness and shortness of breath, breathing difficulties, and slowly fell down. When the naval officers who had studied abroad saw this scene, they suddenly shouted: "Poison gas! The Chinese used poison gas!"