The Japanese Kwantung Leased Territory in China, located at the southernmost tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, includes Jinzhou, Port Arthur (Lüshun), and Dairen (Dalian). It is an extremely critical location.

A map was laid out on the operations table, but no officer was looking at it. When officers first arrived to serve in the Kwantung Leased Territory, they would be led by senior officers to tour the not-so-large territory and familiarize themselves with their jurisdiction.

The Kwantung Leased Territory has an area of 3,500 square kilometers, with terrain roughly shaped like a chicken leg. The thick 'thigh' is the administrative area of the Jinzhou Civil Administration Office. The thicker 'drumstick' (lower leg) is the administrative area of the Port Arthur and Dairen Civil Administration Offices.

The thinner joint between the thigh and the drumstick is the Jinzhou Isthmus. To the east of the Jinzhou Isthmus lies Dalian Bay in the Yellow Sea, and to the west lies Jinzhou Bay in the Bohai Sea. The isthmus is 5 kilometers wide and is the true gateway to Port Arthur and Dairen that cannot be lost.

In the Russo-Japanese War, the Jinzhou Isthmus successfully blocked the Japanese army. The critical position of the Port Arthur Fortress forced the Japanese army attacking Port Arthur to launch human wave attacks ('meat bullet' charges), resulting in over ten thousand casualties.

After the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army reinforced the Port Arthur Fortress. Facing the fierce attack of the Northeast Army, choosing to concentrate forces on the Jinzhou Isthmus and Port Arthur Fortress for defense was indeed a very feasible option.

However, doing so meant that the Kwantung Army had to give up the outer defenses. The Kwantung Army was divided into two types of troops: one part was the garrison force, responsible for guarding various fortress batteries. When the Northeast Army began attacking the Kwantung Leased Territory, this part of the force either quickly reinforced the frontline fortresses or was already on duty inside them.

The two brigades were mobile forces, which could leave the fortresses to conduct operations or enter the fortresses to conduct fortress defense operations together with the garrison forces.

Lieutenant Colonel Ushijima Mitsuru, Commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the Kwantung Army, stood up and said, "Report to the Commander. I am willing to lead my troops to launch an attack on the enemy's siege artillery units."

Japanese people speak with a lot of 'ventriloquism' (tatemae/indirectness), especially to sound high-sounding. Generally speaking, a so-called 'counterattack' refers to troops helping the forces north of Jinzhou to defend. But this time was different. Lieutenant Colonel Ushijima Mitsuru knew very well that as long as He Rui broke through the border line north of the Jinzhou Civil Administration Office, he could move the siege artillery units to the Jinzhou Isthmus defense line and continue the attack.

The Jinzhou Isthmus is indeed narrow, only 5 kilometers wide, which is very conducive to defense. This also meant that the attacking side could equally easily defend against a surprise attack by the Kwantung Army. Using siege artillery to continue the attack, once the Jinzhou Isthmus was breached, the Kwantung Army could only rely on the Port Arthur Fortress for defense.

If He Rui's siege artillery units were destroyed, the Northeast Army, lacking a navy, would have to go through the Jinzhou Isthmus. Even if He Rui had a hundred thousand troops, he could not break through. The Kwantung Army could then wait until reinforcements arrived in the Kwantung Leased Territory.

Defending meant passively taking a beating; taking the initiative to counterattack meant inevitably facing a counterstrike from He Rui's forces, which were waiting at their ease. If the counterattack failed and the Northeast Army's siege artillery was not destroyed, the defensive power of the Port Arthur Fortress would also be weakened, greatly increasing the Northeast Army's chances of winning.

This was a dilemma. Lieutenant Colonel Ushijima Mitsuru had already made his decision. Even if standing up to request battle at this time did undermine the Brigade Commander's face, once the Kwantung Leased Territory was conquered by the Northeast Army, what the Brigade Commander would lose would not only be face but also the heads of all officers and soldiers in the entire brigade.

Ushijima Mitsuru was not the only one with this idea. Several other young regiment commanders stood up one after another, expressing their willingness to sortie.

The Brigade Commanders knew there was really no way to delay any longer. The war had only been going on for an hour, and the Northeast Army had already destroyed an outer fortress of the Kwantung Leased Territory. The Northeast Army would never be satisfied with this; perhaps the next outer fortress was already crumbling, or even already breached.

The two Brigade Commanders couldn't care about face anymore. They stood up and said, "I am willing to lead my unit to counterattack."

If possible, Lieutenant General Kawai Misao did not want to make such a decision. After all, the opponent was He Rui, the smartest and most capable student he had seen in his many years in the army. He Rui would never let the Kwantung Army succeed so easily; he might even have set an ambush, preparing to deal a head-on blow to the sorting Kwantung Army.

But Lieutenant General Kawai Misao nodded, stood up, and ordered, "Then, the 1st Brigade will sortie."

Brigade Commander Saito of the 1st Brigade received the order, stood at attention and saluted, then led his subordinates and strode out of the operations command room.

Lieutenant General Kawai Misao ordered Brigade Commander Kamijo of the 2nd Brigade, who had also stood up, "You proceed to the Jinzhou Isthmus. If the 1st Brigade makes progress, follow up with the attack. If they encounter setbacks, go to rescue them and help them withdraw."

Brigade Commander Kamijo of the 2nd Brigade immediately saluted and led his subordinates away. In the blink of an eye, the operations room went from crowded to empty. Just as Lieutenant General Kawai Misao checked his pocket watch, Chief of Staff Major General Fukuhara Yoshiya asked, "Commander, is this approach too rash?"

"Sending only one regiment would undoubtedly be sending them to their deaths," Lieutenant General Kawai Misao replied.

"The enemy... the Chinese army is definitely not a match for the Imperial Japanese Army!" Major General Fukuhara Yoshiya stated his judgment.

Lieutenant General Kawai Misao did not answer. As the principal of the Army War College, he had warned his students in class never to underestimate any enemy. If the Kwantung Army, already at a disadvantage, still held the view of underestimating the enemy, it would undoubtedly be foolish. The Lieutenant General actually tacitly accepted that the border defense line of the Kwantung Leased Territory probably could not be held. Although the Kwantung Leased Territory was only 3,500 square kilometers, the distance from Port Arthur to the border was dozens of kilometers. It would take more than an hour for a train to travel at full speed.

The troops must board the trains urgently now, and boarding also took time. It would take at least two and a half hours for the 1st Brigade to reach the front line.

Lieutenant General Kawai Misao knew very well that the few bombs carried by planes could not stop an army's advance at all. Could it be that He Rui didn't know this? Knowing that planes were useless, He Rui still sent planes to bomb just to delay the reinforcement of troops from Port Arthur. Perhaps in four hours, when the 1st Brigade arrived at the northern defense line of Jinzhou, the defense line would have already been breached by He Rui.

Brigade Commander Saito headed straight for the train station. At the station entrance, he turned to his adjutant and ordered, "Set up the Brigade's temporary headquarters right here."

After speaking, Brigade Commander Saito strode into the station. The moment he saw the platform, Brigade Commander Saito was stunned. The platform and its vicinity were already neatly packed with officers and soldiers. Seeing the Brigade Commander arrive, the officers came forward to salute one after another. Some impatient ones asked, "Brigade Commander, are we going to fight?"

Brigade Commander Saito did not answer immediately but turned to look at Regiment Commander Ushijima. Ushijima Mitsuru immediately replied, "Report. The personnel of this regiment received an assembly order asking where to assemble. I told them to assemble at the station."

Since the troops had already assembled, Brigade Commander Saito didn't plan to say anything more. He would note this matter down and settle accounts after the battle ended.

Turning to the officers and soldiers, Brigade Commander Saito asked loudly, "Gentlemen, do you know where we are going?"

"To fight the Chinese!" the officers answered loudly.

Brigade Commander Saito's gaze swept over his subordinates. In their expressions, he saw the enthusiasm for battle. No officer showed fear; instead, because of the sneak attack by the Northeast Army, the officers' faces were full of indignation.

"Gentlemen, board the train!" Brigade Commander Saito ordered loudly, "Annihilate those Northeast Army troops!"

The Japanese troops had already lined up, and the train was slowly approaching. The Japanese army quickly boarded the train by unit. Saving soldiers is like saving a fire; some train cars were open-top freight cars. Regiment Commander Ushijima Mitsuru directed soldiers to load the mountain guns, mortars, machine guns, shells, and bullets of the regimental artillery squadron that had already arrived into the open-top freight cars.

Brigade Commander Saito had to command the brigade's direct units and prepare to wait for the next train. He called Ushijima Mitsuru to him, "Ushijima-kun, no matter what, you must hold on until the Brigade arrives!"

"Yes!" Ushijima Mitsuru's tone was full of determination.

"May your military fortunes be long-lasting!" Even though Brigade Commander Saito was angry inside, he still blessed his subordinate who was brave enough to go forward.

"I wish the Brigade Commander long-lasting military fortunes!" Ushijima Mitsuru replied immediately.

Brigade Commander Saito patted Ushijima Mitsuru's shoulder, "Board the train quickly."

The telephone rang. Lieutenant General Kawai Misao's adjutant picked up the phone, listened for a few words, then turned his head, covered the microphone, and said joyfully, "Excellency, the entire 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade has already departed!"

Lieutenant General Kawai Misao opened his pocket watch again; it was 11:05 AM. More than half an hour after the officers of the 1st Brigade left here, a regiment had already departed. This speed gave Lieutenant General Kawai Misao a glimmer of expectation. Maybe the 2nd Regiment could really make it to the battle? As long as a regiment arrived, it would be helpful to the war situation.

If there were still Northeast Army planes in the sky over Port Arthur at this time, even random bombing could achieve significant results. However, things were just as Lieutenant General Kawai Misao had said; the Northeast Army's bombing was only to delay the movement speed of the Kwantung Army. Since the aircraft's range was only over 400 kilometers, flying from northern Jinzhou to Port Arthur left very little loiter time; the planes could only drop bombs and leave.

The bravery of the Japanese army allowed them to seize the gap in the Northeast Air Force's bombing and board the train straight to the front line.

He Rui naturally knew that the bombing effect would definitely not be good. When the General Staff Headquarters formulated the plan, they just treated it as 'beating the rabbit while cutting the grass' (a bonus opportunity)—it didn't matter much either way. At this time, the main force of the Northeast Army's 13th Army did not use trickery at all, but adopted extremely orthodox tactics: concentrating firepower to take out the Japanese fortresses one by one.

The second fortress was hit by four 255mm armor-piercing shells in succession. The armor-piercing shells were loaded with over a hundred kilograms of high explosives. Even the thick reinforced concrete building was blown to pieces from the inside in the fierce explosions one after another.

In fact, when the third armor-piercing shell exploded, the soldiers inside the fortress were stunned even if they weren't killed. Just like the previous destroyed fortress, when the Northeast Army rushed into the fortress ruins, they faced absolutely no obstruction from inside. However, the Japanese troops deployed on the positions outside the fortress recovered from the huge shock and immediately charged into the fortress ruins.

The Northeast Army, which had occupied the fortress ruins first, waited at their ease, fully utilizing the terrain to counterattack. Those brave counterattacking Japanese troops were directly knocked down in the trenches leading to the fortress by the unseen Northeast Army.

The 1st Group Army attacking the Port Arthur Fortress had two corps under its command and an artillery brigade missing three artillery batteries. The artillery batteries went to participate in the operation to annihilate the Japanese garrison in the Northeast, taking away the 100mm mortars. The 100mm mortars were completely useless against fortresses anyway.

The Division Commander of the 4th Division of the 13th Army had pushed his command post almost to the front line. Having occupied the ruins of two fortresses, they needed to clear out the Japanese garrison forces located between them as soon as possible.

At 11:19 AM on October 7th, the infantry of the Chinese and Japanese armies finally began to engage head-on.