Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

"What the commander means is..."

"Notify the air regiment of tonight's operation. Targets: all Japanese military targets in Liaoning Province: airfields, train stations, barracks, armories, hospitals, and headquarters."

"Any place with Japanese troops stationed there must be bombed. The secret base of Unit 731 might be hidden there; leave no one alive."

"yes!"

Brigade Commander Chen turned around to relay the order.

Night falls.

One hundred J-20 fighter jets took off again.

They were laden with bombs, and their fuel tanks were full.

Tonight's mission is heavy; there are many targets to destroy, and the pilots are prepared.

"Red Star 1, tower calling, the weather in the target area is clear and visibility is good. Good luck."

The tower's signal came through my headset.

"Red Star One received. All units, take note. Destination: Liaoning Province. Proceed!"

The roar of the engine pierced the night sky.

One hundred J-20 fighter jets flew in neat formation toward the northeast.

Ground-based radar cannot detect them, anti-aircraft guns cannot aim at them, and old-fashioned fighter jets cannot intercept them.

They are the ghosts of the night, the scythe of death.

The headquarters of the Kwantung Army in Liaoning Province was brightly lit.

Okamura Neiji was still looking at maps in his office, his brow furrowed.

The ashtray on the table was piled high with cigarette butts, and the room was filled with smoke.

He had a feeling that something would happen tonight, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Suddenly, the alarm sounded, sharp and piercing, cutting through the night sky.

Okamura suddenly stood up, opened the window, and saw flames shooting into the sky in the distance.

The airport was bombed.

On the tarmac, the old-fashioned fighter jets were blown to pieces like toys, and the runway was blasted into large craters.

The maintenance personnel scrambled to take cover behind the bunkers, some of whom were blown away by the blast wave.

The train station was bombed.

The railway tracks were blown up, the trains were destroyed, and the supplies were set on fire.

The firelight illuminated half the sky, and thick smoke billowed upwards.

The barracks were bombed; entire buildings collapsed in the explosion.

The soldiers were killed in their sleep, their bodies buried under the rubble.

The survivors screamed and ran outside, only to be overtaken by a second wave of bombs.

The armory was bombed, the ammunition exploded, and the shockwave overturned the surrounding houses.

The hospital was also bombed.

The hospital was treating wounded soldiers evacuated from Heilongjiang and Kyrgyz provinces. Bombs fell, wards collapsed, medicines were burned, and doctors, nurses, and wounded soldiers were buried under the rubble.

A nurse ran out carrying a baby, her head and face covered in blood. She slipped and fell to the ground, and the baby rolled out of her arms.

She crawled over to pick up the child, and then the second bomb fell.

The headquarters was also bombed.

Okamura looked out the window at the distant flames soaring into the sky, grabbed the phone to give orders, but there was no sound from the receiver.

The telephone line was blown up.

The telegraph machine stopped working, and all communication with the outside world was cut off.

"Baka yarou!"

Okamura slammed his fist on the table in a fit of impotent rage.

Unit 731's secret base was hidden deep in the mountains and forests of Liaoning Province, in a secluded location and under heavy security.

Barbed wire, searchlights, patrol teams, and guard dogs—layers of protection—but even the most stringent defenses pose no problem for the J-20.

The navigator locked onto the base's location on the radar, which was clearly marked on the map.

It was a complex of buildings, including laboratories, dormitories, crematoriums, and even a small airport.

"Red Star-1 has spotted the target."

"Red Star 2 has spotted the target."

"Red Star 3 has spotted the target."

"emission!"

The precision-guided bomb detached from its rack, leaving a white trail, and headed straight for Base 731.

The laboratory was destroyed; reagent bottles were shattered all over the floor, and petri dishes were blown to pieces.

Those germs that cultivated plague, cholera, and anthrax turned to ashes in the high temperature.

The dormitory was destroyed, and those devilish military doctors and researchers were killed in their sleep. Some managed to escape, only to be caught by a second round of bombs.

The crematorium collapsed, scattering the unburnt corpses all over the ground.

Those were the people they had harmed, the victims used for live experiments; their wronged souls find peace in the flames.

A young military medic crawled out of the rubble, half his face covered in blood, and staggered as he ran. He hadn't gone far when a bomb landed beside him, the blast wave sending him flying and killing him instantly.

His hands were stained with the blood of Chinese people; he deserved to die.

The bombing lasted all night.

At daybreak, the J-20 returned to base.

One hundred fighter jets, none lost.

The Japanese forces on the ground suffered heavy losses. The airfields were unusable, the train stations were unusable, the barracks were unusable, the armory was blown up, the headquarters was destroyed, and the base of Unit 731 was razed to the ground.

When the news reached Tokyo, the military headquarters fell into a deathly silence.

Hideki Tojo slumped in his chair, his face ashen, his eyes bloodshot, and his eye bags puffy, making him look ten years older.

Overnight, all military facilities in Liaoning Province were destroyed.

The army of 300,000 had no planes, no artillery, no ammunition, and was almost out of food.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the situation in Liaoning Province is extremely dire. Troop morale is low, supplies are cut off, and I fear they will not be able to hold out for much longer."

Hideki Tojo raised his head, his voice hoarse.

"Even if we can't hold on, we must. Tell Okamura that we must defend Liaoning Province no matter what. The Empire cannot lose Manchuria."

After a pause, he lowered his voice again, "If we really can't hold out, we should retreat gracefully and not make unnecessary sacrifices."

The news spread throughout the world.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, with a cigar in his mouth, remained silent for a long time. "The Chinese technology is too advanced. We must find a way to get some of it, otherwise the world will belong to them for the next few decades."

Roosevelt frowned in the White House and asked his staff, "What is the origin of this force? Their technology is decades ahead of ours. This doesn't make sense."

The leader of the Kremlin stubbed out his cigarette sharply: "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly. If the Soviets could also possess such weapons..."

When Chiang Kai-shek received the telegram in Nanjing, his hands trembled slightly. The Huaxia Independent Brigade had won again. One hundred warplanes had destroyed all of the Japanese military facilities in Liaoning Province overnight.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

If this were the enemy, could I defend myself?

He lit a cigarette and stood by the window.

The sky outside the window was gray, and so was his heart. The stronger the army was, the more uneasy he felt.

"Send a telegram to Dai Li, ordering him to send more men and to thoroughly investigate the details of the Chinese Independent Brigade, at any cost."

The commander chuckled, pipe in mouth. "Those little devils really got what they deserved this time, didn't they? A hundred planes wiped out their base overnight. That was satisfying!"

The chief of staff nodded and handed over a telegram.

The boss took it, looked at it, and smiled again.

"Commander Lin is still young, but he is very methodical in his work. We agreed to all the conditions he proposed. When it comes to resisting Japan, unity is strength."

"Tell Commander Lin that Yan'an welcomes him. No matter what his background is, as long as he is sincere in resisting Japan, he is our friend."

Inside the Liaoning Provincial Command Center, Okamura Yasuji stood before the ruins, his face ashen.

The airport is gone, the train station is gone, the barracks are gone, the armory is gone, and even Unit 731 is gone.

What does he have left?

Less than half of the 300,000-strong army remained. They had no planes, no artillery, no ammunition, and their rations were almost gone.

The adjutant rushed over, panting. "Sir," he said, "a telegram from Tokyo instructs us to hold Liaoning Province at all costs."

Okamura angrily said, "Damn it, tell Tokyo that without air support, artillery cover, and ammunition supplies, this battle is unwinnable. Request a retreat."

The adjutant paused for a moment, then turned and left.

Okamura stood there alone, the wind blowing his military overcoat, his back view appearing particularly desolate.

The empire's decades-long efforts in Northeast China have come to naught.

He hated it!

……