On the eve of the fall of Liaodong, he led his troops in a remonstrance against the young marshal.

North of Andong, south of Fengcheng, lies Baoshan Town.

This small town is located on the southeastern edge of the Liaodong Plain, geographically situated in the transitional zone between the Liaodong Hills and the Liaohe Plain.

The terrain surrounding Baoshan Town is a huge, gentle slope that tilts slightly from southeast to northwest, like a slab of clay smeared by a giant's palm.

To the north of the town is a low earthen mound, no more than ten meters high, covered with withered yellow grass and low shrubs, shivering in the winter wind.

To the south and east are flat farmlands. In October in Northeast China, the crops have long been harvested, and the exposed black soil is frozen hard, so hard that it hurts your feet when you step on it, but it can easily withstand the speed of a truck.

The terrain here is flat, making it easy to attack but difficult to defend, making it a strategic location that military strategists would fight over.

This is because Baoshan Town is one of the most important transportation hubs along the entire Anfeng Railway line.

The Anfeng Railway, which runs through the Liaodong Peninsula, cuts straight through the middle of the town, dividing it in two.

Starting from Baoshan Town, it connects to Fengcheng to the north, a distance of only 20 kilometers. Following the Anfeng Railway line northward, you will pass through the Jiguanshan Pass, which is the last natural barrier to enter Fengcheng.

It connects to Dandong in the east, about 60 kilometers away. The railway and highway run parallel, passing through several low hilly areas before reaching the plains along the Yalu River.

The Anfeng Railway connects with the South Manchurian Railway north of Fengcheng, running westward directly to the city of Fengtian.

These three roads converge in Baoshan Town, turning this inconspicuous little town into a strategically vital transportation hub.

Whoever controls Baoshan Town controls the lifeline of the Anfeng Railway, and can then freely attack Fengcheng to the north or retreat to Dandong to the south.

At this moment, the stronghold had already been captured by the Japanese half a day earlier.

At four o'clock in the morning, the Japanese 19th Division launched an attack on Baoshan Town under cover of night.

The town was originally garrisoned by a battalion of the Northeast Army, about 500 men, belonging to the First Provincial Defense Brigade of Yu Zhishan. Their mission was to hold Baoshan Railway Station and buy time for the main defense of Fengcheng to be deployed.

The equipment of this battalion was considered below average in the Northeast Army.

The rifle was a copy of the Liaoning Type 13 manufactured by the Fengtian Arsenal. The rifling inside the barrel was almost worn down, and the bullets started to drift away from 200 meters away.

There were fewer than ten light and heavy machine guns in total, two of which were Maxim guns copied in the early years of the Republic of China. The paint on the water-cooling sleeves had all peeled off, and when the gun barrels overheated during firing, they could boil the cooling water.

The entire battalion had only two mortars, with fewer than forty shells in total. The gunners were three greenhorns fresh out of basic training who couldn't even read the markings on the scope.

In comparison, Mori Hisashi committed more than ten times the number of troops to the attack.

He committed two battalions of the 73rd Infantry Regiment, plus a mountain artillery battalion with twelve Type 92 infantry guns, and three thousand soldiers drawn from the Korean Servants to lead the charge.

In the early hours of the morning, while the sentries of the Northeast Army were still dozing off, artillery shells exploded.

The first round of shelling sent the machine gun emplacement at the east end of the town flying into the air, with bricks, stones, and human fragments flying together.

The shelling lasted for ten minutes, after which the infantry of the Pu Cong Army launched a simultaneous attack from two directions.

The Northeast Army battalion didn't even have time to resist before it fled directly from Baoshan Town.

By daybreak, only a little over 300 of the original 500 men remained alive. They retreated from the town and headed north along the railway line towards Fengcheng, leaving behind a small town covered with Japanese flags.

On the same day, Mori Hisashi, commander of the 19th Division, led the 19th Division to stay in Baoshan Town.

He set up his headquarters at the train station and was about to rest for a while when he received a telegram from headquarters.

Mori Hisashi read the telegram twice from beginning to end.

"By order of Army Minister General Minami Jiro: the Manchurian campaign must be accelerated."

"Capture Fengcheng within three days and Fengtian within seven days. Failure to do so within the stipulated time will result in military law."

"Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army, Shigeru Honjo."

"Law-abiding,"

Mori Hisashi muttered those four words to himself, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "That old bastard Honjo-kun has learned to make a big deal out of nothing."

The station door was pushed open, and a gust of cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed in, causing the map on the table to flip violently. Mori Hisashi reached out to hold the map down and looked up.

The one who came in was Chief of Staff Mikawa.

Sanchuan is a typical staff officer, meticulous in his work and thorough in his consideration of all aspects of a problem. However, it is precisely because he is too thorough that he sometimes appears indecisive.

He was also holding the same telegram in his hand.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander,"

Sanchuan placed the telegram on the table, his voice low, "The order from headquarters is too urgent."

"Taking Fengcheng in three days and Fengtian in seven days, they pushed the time limit to the limit, leaving no room for maneuver."

"Our supply lines are not fully deployed yet, and the artillery regiments only have 70% of their normal ammunition reserves."

"Moreover, the 20th Division is still stuck on the Yalu River and will not be able to reach Baoshan Town and join us for at least another day."

"My suggestion is that we rest in Baoshan Town for a day and wait for the 20th Division to arrive before we join forces to besiege Fengcheng. This way, we will have a better chance of success."

"Mikawa-kun,"

Mori Hisashi asked calmly:

"Do you know what happened in Lushunkou a couple of days ago?"

Sanchuan paused for a moment, then shook his head.

He was busy with combat deployments at the front and had no time to pay attention to what was happening in Lushun.

"The navy suffered a crushing defeat at Lushun, with three aircraft carriers sunk in the Yellow Sea and 180 aircraft riddled with holes by the Northeast Army's air force."

Mori Hisashi's face showed a mocking expression, and he said:

"That old bastard Anpo Kiyotane has lost all face this time, and the Navy can no longer be arrogant."

"Mikawa-kun, do you understand what this means?"

Sanchuan's brows furrowed even more.

He certainly understood Mori Hisashi's meaning: the navy's defeat gave the army an opportunity.

Throughout the decades-long history of infighting between the army and navy of the imperial forces, whoever won a battle could stand tall, while whoever lost a battle had to keep a low profile.

This is an ironclad rule, more binding than any military regulation.

But what he didn't understand was what this had to do with their eagerness to attack Fengcheng.

Senju noticed Mikawa's confusion, smiled, stood up from his chair, and walked to the Anfeng Railway route map on the wall.

He extended his index finger and pointed at Fengcheng.

"Naval garbage,"

Mori Hisashi's voice was excited, "Now the entire Empire is watching our army."

"His Highness the Prince is watching us, the Cabinet is watching us, and even His Majesty the Emperor is watching us."

"What would it mean if the army could conquer Manchuria on its own after the navy's defeat?"

Without waiting for Sanchuan's reply, he gave the answer himself:

"This means that from now on, the Navy's budget will be cut by at least 30% and given to the Army."

"This means that the army's position in the empire will forever surpass that of the navy, and that those idiots, Kiyotane Anpo, will never be able to hold their heads high in front of us again."

He turned around and looked at Sanchuan.

"Therefore, we cannot wait; speed is of the essence in war."

"The Northeast Army garrison in Fengcheng consisted only of Yu Zhishan's lousy brigade, which was poorly trained, outdated, and unable to even construct a decent artillery position."

"Our scouts reached the outskirts of Fengcheng this morning. There are only a few scattered firing positions on the city walls, and the number of defenders cannot exceed eight thousand."

"Sanchuan Jun, think about it yourself. Fengcheng is only about three miles in circumference. The city wall is an old one from the Ming Dynasty. It has been in disrepair for many years. Half of the eastern section of the city wall collapsed the summer before last and has not been repaired yet."

"Eight thousand men guarding this dilapidated city is a godsend for our 19th Division."

"But if we wait for the 20th Division to arrive, with 100,000 troops surrounding a small county town with only 8,000 defenders, wouldn't the navy laugh their heads off?"

Mikawa's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but Mori Hisashi raised his hand to interrupt him.

"One more thing,"

Mori Hisashi tapped his finger on the location of Fengcheng, then moved west to Fengtian.

"The main force of the entire Northeast Army is now around Fengtian, and only Yu Zhishan's First Border Defense Brigade is in Fengcheng."

"If we take Fengcheng swiftly before the Northeast Army can react, the eastern gate of Fengtian will be open to us."

"At that time, the 19th and 20th Divisions will join forces and push westward along the Anfeng Railway line, and Fengtian City will be within easy reach."

"But if we wait here for another day, the Northeast Army will have another day to transfer troops to Fengcheng. At that time, the garrison in Fengcheng may not be 8,000, but 20,000 or 30,000."

"Mikawa-kun, missing a good opportunity will be punished, do you understand?"

He walked back to the table, picked up the telegram, and waved it in front of Sanchuan.

Sanchuan sighed helplessly and could only say:

"In that case, Division Commander, give the order!"

Mori Hisashi slammed the telegram on the table, picked up the pen on the table, and unscrewed the cap.

The pen nib slid across the telegram as he wrote and issued commands.

"Order: The 37th Infantry Brigade, with the support of the 39th and 42nd Korean Servants' Brigades and the Independent Mountain Artillery Battalion, totaling 40,000 men, shall depart immediately and advance northward along the Anfeng Railway Line, directly targeting Fengcheng."

"The marching speed must not be less than six kilometers per hour, and an offensive position must be established five kilometers south of Fengcheng before dawn tomorrow."

Upon hearing Mori Hisashi's order, Mikawa suddenly realized something, and his expression changed drastically.