After listening to the telegram from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 1st Division of the 33rd Army, Hu Xiushan immediately pointed to the location of Songgu Peak and asked the air force liaison officer, "Can the Air Force provide support here?"

The air force liaison officer was slightly surprised. Songgu Peak was not a famous location; on a map densely packed with place names, it was just an ordinary one. Yet, Commander Hu Xiushan of the 2nd Army Group could pinpoint its location immediately upon hearing the name. It was evident that this reticent commander held the entire map of Korea in his mind.

The liaison officer measured the distance with a ruler and immediately replied, "Reporting to the Commander, it is just within the Air Force's range. I do not know if this unit carried signal panels when they set out?"

Hu Xiushan remained silent, but the Chief of Staff immediately answered, "According to the report, they did. I will confirm it again."

The air force liaison officer continued, "If they have them, judging by the range, the Air Force cannot maintain a presence over the battlefield for long."

"If the Air Force has guidance along the entire route, can they bomb the attacking Japanese troops?" Hu Xiushan asked.

Hearing this question, the air force liaison officer understood immediately. From the map, Songgu Peak blocked the Japanese retreat route; it was the key to wiping them out. However, on the map, more troops were executing encirclement maneuvers, so cutting off the Japanese retreat was only a matter of time. Since the goal was to block the Japanese retreat at Songgu Peak, the intention was clearly to completely annihilate the Japanese forces on the Western Front.

Having grasped the strategic thinking, the air force liaison officer immediately replied, "I will relay the order to the Air Force immediately."

After arranging the air support, Hu Xiushan fell silent again, quietly watching the staff officers move the markers for various units based on incoming telegrams.

In the air, telegrams were being transmitted across different frequencies. Colonel Shimizu had already received a query from the 19th Division headquarters: "Shimizu-kun, why has your unit, with the strength of a regiment, failed to capture a small height defended by 300 enemy troops?"

Regiment Commander Shimizu did not know how to answer. He had organized two attacks, both repelled by the Northeast Army. Through his binoculars, he could see the Northeast Army troops rapidly digging trenches on their positions, and many Japanese corpses lay on the slopes leading to the hilltop.

Shimizu could only order the communications soldier to send a reply: "To Division Headquarters: The enemy is well-trained and carried a large number of machine guns during their march, especially six mortars. They have also rapidly constructed positions. Our infantry moved at full speed and became separated from the rear artillery. The artillery is catching up quickly and will soon be able to begin shelling the enemy positions."

When the telegram reached the 19th Division headquarters, the Division Commander's brow furrowed tightly. After the Northeast Army's first wave of probing attacks ended, they had quickly adjusted their deployment and were now shelling the 19th Division's positions.

The shelling range clearly incorporated intelligence gathered from the first probing wave, and the Japanese front-line trenches were severely damaged. The Japanese counter-attack capability against the Northeast Army's second offensive would be significantly weakened.

The Division Commander immediately ordered, "Tell the Shimizu Regiment that they must break through the Northeast Army's blockade as soon as possible, at any cost!"

In this order, the Division Commander did not mention retreat, nor did anyone in the division headquarters. But every officer understood that if the Shimizu Regiment could not secure a retreat route, the division would have no way to withdraw. Yet now, the division had to consider a full retreat.

Regiment Commander Shimizu, receiving the order, also read the Division Commander's intent between the lines. Disregarding whether the artillery had caught up, he immediately ordered, "Sakamoto Battalion, organize an attack immediately!"

A fully equipped Japanese battalion had 1,200 men, twice the size of a Northeast Army battalion and four times the number of the 300 troops currently interdicting them.

Battalion Commander Sakamoto immediately commanded the Japanese troops, splitting them into several columns to attack the heights.

Battalion Commander Li Hongxin looked at the circular fortifications taking shape and felt much more settled. Northeast Army circular fortifications generally consisted of three lines of trenches. The center of the fortification was the mortar position. From the inside out, the first and second lines each had a mortar, forming a 360-degree dead-zone-free shelling range.

Machine gunners were distributed in echelons; attacking troops approaching from any angle would be caught in crossfire. Moreover, the troops occupied two heights that could support each other, reducing the exposed area under attack.

Seeing the Japanese battalion crouching and approaching the unit, the commander of the 2nd Company, assigned to hold the height with Li Hongxin, asked, "Battalion Commander, should we fire a few shots?"

Li Hongxin shook his head. "No, let them get close."

At this moment, neither the Northeast Army nor the Japanese had any clever tricks left. What each side could do was clear to themselves and equally clear to their opponents. In the silent atmosphere, the distance between the two forces shrank continuously as the Japanese approached.

Finally, the Japanese machine guns began to roar, bullets kicking up dust and gravel on the position. Seizing this moment, Japanese squads lunged from their jump-off points straight toward the Northeast Army position.

The Japanese machine guns did not stop until their own troops were about to block their line of fire. A few seconds later, the Northeast Army's defensive troops began to fire. The attacking Japanese also began to fire while advancing, and the sound of gunfire erupted at the foot of Songgu Peak.

Fifteen minutes later, both the 19th Division on the Western Front and the 20th Division on the Eastern Front sent telegrams to the Japanese Korea Army Headquarters within the stipulated communication window. The content was strikingly similar: "To Korea Army Headquarters: The enemy offensive is beyond imagination. My division has shifted from an offensive posture to defense. Furthermore, rear logistics units have been ordered to form combat units and come as reinforcements. We hope the Headquarters can give instructions for the battle."

This time, no boastful pleasantries were added to the end of the telegrams. Upon receiving the telegrams, the Korea Army Headquarters understood that these were pleas for help; both divisions could no longer hold.

The Japanese Korea Army had deployed everything. Whether in Pyongyang or Seoul, what remained were administrative departments, guard units, and logistics departments. There was no way to cobble together a unit capable of reinforcement. Moreover, it was 260 kilometers from Seoul to Pyongyang, and 400 kilometers from Pyongyang to the relatively closer 20th Division on the Eastern Front. Even if a unit were organized, equipped, and formed, it would take at least two days to reach the front. It was meaningless.

The remaining option was to order the two divisions to withdraw. But withdrawing while engaged at the front meant abandoning all supplies and artillery. The retreating troops would be pursued by the Northeast Army, and they would likely abandon even their personal weapons. The number of troops that could be extracted would likely be less than half.

Thinking of this, Commander Oba Jirō of the Korea Army ordered the communications department to send orders to the two divisions: "...The Headquarters fully agrees with your division defending in place. Gentlemen, Imperial troops are gathering toward Korea. In just three days, several divisions will arrive in Seoul to reinforce you. At that time, the Imperial Army will strike from inside and outside to deal the enemy a fatal blow! Your unit must display the fortitude of Imperial soldiers and hold out until reinforcements arrive."

After issuing this order, Oba Jirō immediately had the communications department wire the General Staff Headquarters, asking when the reinforcements would arrive.

The telegrams from the two divisions of the Korea Army were not only sent to the Korea Army Headquarters; Tokyo was also monitoring this frequency and receiving the telegram content. General Uehara Yusaku, Chief of the General Staff, looked surprisingly calm upon seeing the telegrams. He summoned the Vice Chief of Staff and trusted officers to the conference room. Once the door was closed, General Uehara Yusaku stood up and said somewhat painfully, "Gentlemen, according to current intelligence, we misjudged the Northeast Army's war-making capability. The two divisions of the Korea Army will suffer heavy losses."

The generals remained composed, but the field-grade officers were somewhat bewildered by this statement.

Before the young officers could speak, General Uehara Yusaku continued, "I have already spoken by phone with Minister of War Tanaka. He indicated that the responsibility for the defeat will be borne by myself, as well as the Commander and Chief of Staff of the Korea Army, and the intelligence department. Minister Tanaka will certainly do his utmost to allow you all to serve the country in the Empire's future war of revenge."

The officers who did not like General Uehara Yusaku remained silent, while Colonel Ishida of the Operations Section 1 stood up and said loudly, "Your Excellency, perhaps there is still a chance to salvage the situation. The troops stationed at the ports have already begun preparing to board ships. In particular, the vanguard units from Kyushu can arrive in Busan today."

Although General Uehara Yusaku was strategically radical, he was quite accomplished in tactics. He gestured for Colonel Ishida to sit down before continuing, "Gentlemen, the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army is beyond our imagination. After the next Chief of General Staff takes office, I ask you to discard your previous evaluations of the Chinese military and regard them as an army capable of rivaling the Imperial Army. I certainly hope the Korea Army can withstand the Northeast Army's attack, but judging from their telegrams, these two divisions were not ambushed but were suppressed frontally by the enemy. If these two divisions are unfortunately defeated, I ask you to raise your evaluation of the enemy once again."

The officers did not speak this time; it was clear they were all thinking. This gave General Uehara Yusaku a sliver of comfort. The General Staff Headquarters gathered the elite of the Japanese military, and those called to the meeting were the elite of the elite. They might differ on whether to be radical or conservative in strategy, but as elites, they had to acknowledge facts. Even if the facts vastly exceeded previously held intelligence, facts were facts.

In all fairness, General Uehara Yusaku was not unconvinced in his heart. But he knew his time as Chief of the General Staff was running out. In his earlier conversation with Army Minister Tanaka Giichi, the two had reached a tacit consensus. Now that the situation was developing in the worst possible direction, once the main force of the Korea Army was annihilated, General Uehara Yusaku would have to take responsibility and be transferred to the reserves. As for whether Tanaka Giichi could be saved, it depended on whether the current Prime Minister, Katō Tomosaburō, wanted to force Tanaka Giichi to resign.

From the Prime Minister's perspective, Katō Tomosaburō should not do this. According to Japanese political custom, if the Army Minister resigned due to defeat, the cabinet would fall, and Katō Tomosaburō would also have to resign, with the Emperor appointing a new Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, Katō Tomosaburō certainly did not want to do this.

However, as the concurrent Navy Minister, looking at it from the perspective of the Army-Navy rivalry, Katō Tomosaburō could certainly demand Tanaka's resignation. Pushing most of the blame onto the Army would deal a heavy blow to the Army's reputation.

If it were the past, adhering to the tradition of Army-Navy rivalry, General Uehara Yusaku would certainly consider this. However, at this moment, Katō Tomosaburō truly hoped things would not reach that stage.

With a heavy heart, General Uehara Yusaku said to the officers of the General Staff, "Gentlemen. He Rui is a talent cultivated by the Empire, possessing an intellect not inferior to any of the Empire's elites. China has vast land, a large population, and abundant resources. With a brilliant mind combined with such national endowments, the Empire is encountering an unprecedented challenge. If we cannot eliminate He Rui's Manchurian-Mongolian power and allow him to grow strong, the Empire's decades of painstaking efforts will all be washed away. At this moment, I implore you all to do your utmost for the Empire in the days to come!"

The officers stood up and bowed one after another, but remained silent. They had also seen the situation from the telegrams sent by the two divisions of the Korea Army, only some still held onto a last shred of hope, hoping their judgment was wrong. Hoping the Northeast Army did not have such powerful strength.

But General Uehara Yusaku's premature farewell speech had already dashed their last shred of hope. Although the intelligence gathered by the Army intelligence department proved to be ridiculously wrong, the troop numbers of the Northeast Army should still be credible.

Currently, the Northeast Army has about 300,000 elite troops, and the number of reserve troops that can be conscripted is between 500,000 and 700,000. Troops of such numbers are fully capable of fighting a decisive battle with Japan in Korea. As for the current 290,000 active-duty Japanese troops, after two major defeats, only 200,000 remain. To replenish to the 500,000 needed to launch a counter-offensive would take at least a month and a half, and deploying these troops to Korea would take another half month. In other words, the earliest full-scale counter-offensive would be in two months.

No officer believed that the current troops could fight immediately upon arrival. Just familiarizing themselves with the map would take the staff department a day or two. Even if Amaterasu Omikami blessed them and about three divisions could be transported to Seoul within three days, with unit organization, replenishment, and staff preparation, the two divisions going to aid the Korea Army would still take five days to arrive.

This was already high efficiency beyond the current limits of the Japanese Army. The Korea Army, however, had shifted to full defense after only two hours of fighting. From a cold military perspective, these two divisions were already beyond saving.

General Uehara Yusaku had already made this judgment. In this final time, he began to arrange for the General Staff to operate the troop transport work at full capacity.

The destruction of the two divisions of the Korea Army did not mean the end of the war. Korea, with no available troops left, was a fruit in the Northeast Army's hand; the Northeast Army could take it just by closing its fingers. Considering the worst-case scenario, the area centered on Busan had to be held at all costs to prepare for the Empire's counter-offensive.

Just then, Regiment Commander Shimizu received another telegram from the 19th Division: "Shimizu-kun, why have you not reported the battle situation to the Division Headquarters? Has the unfavorable situation deprived you of even the courage to send a telegram!"

Looking at the piles of Japanese corpses on the periphery of the height, Regiment Commander Shimizu didn't know how to report for a moment. But the mockery in the telegram made him feel intense shame. He summoned his courage and said to the communications officer, "The enemy is extremely proficient in positional warfare. After occupying advantageous terrain, their position layout exceeds imagination. Our forces have besieged them several times but have been unable to find a blind spot in their defense. The officers and men of the Empire fought bravely; the Sakamoto Battalion has already changed battalion commanders three times, and casualties are over half. This subordinate is incompetent, but the artillery has arrived. In the next attack, this subordinate will personally lead the team to launch the assault and vow to capture the height."

Having the communications officer send the telegram to the Division Headquarters, Regiment Commander Shimizu held his military sword and shouted, "Begin shelling!"

Moments later, clouds of fire and smoke from exploding shells rose from the Northeast Army positions on Songgu Peak. The two not-so-large heights were quickly covered by smoke, their shapes no longer visible.

The Japanese infantry had already launched five attacks before the artillery arrived, and every one had failed. The Northeast Army's positions were constructed very sturdily. The strongpoints seemed few, but were extremely effective. No matter how many Japanese troops there were, they could not break through. The unit's casualties had already exceeded 600; let alone breaking through the position, they couldn't even break into the first trench line. They only left the ground covered with Japanese corpses.

So the Japanese artillerymen desperately vented the Japanese Army's rage, the shelling continuing uninterrupted for a full ten minutes.

Regiment Commander Shimizu felt that these two damnable heights were likely destroyed under such shelling. He called over the three battalion commanders. The commander of the Sakamoto Battalion had personally led a charge after seeing the unit's attack falter in the previous offensive and had been killed in action. The current battalion commander was named Kishida.

"You will immediately lead the troops to attack and take the height!" Regiment Commander Shimizu issued a brief, vicious order.

The three battalion commanders stood at attention and saluted, "Yes!"

Crawling out of a simple foxhole, Battalion Commander Li Hongxin coughed a few times, choked by the dust and smell of gunpowder in the air. In the trench next to him, layers of soil churned as officers and soldiers who had drilled into foxholes during the shelling crawled out. Everyone took off the gas masks from their dusty heads. Some soldiers prepared for battle, while others hurriedly dug people out of the dirt.

As for poison gas, everyone had only heard of it. The Northeast Army only used colored smoke and chili smoke to simulate poison gas. Although they were choked half to death in exercises, at least they wouldn't really be poisoned.

At this moment, no one expected that the Battalion Commander's order to put on gas masks would actually serve to keep out the dust. With heads and bodies buried in the dirt, there was air in the space of the cat-ear holes (foxholes), and the intake of the gas mask was in those spaces, so there was always a breath of air. Without the gas masks, many soldiers, even if not blown up, would likely have suffocated.

The artillerymen also quickly dug out the mortars and set them up. Facing the Japanese troops rushing up like a tide, Li Hongxin couldn't help but laugh aloud, "Haha, cough cough... cough cough... These Japanese are in such a rush to reincarnate. Let them get close before firing!"

Hearing the Battalion Commander say this, some laughter broke out among the soldiers on the position. But most couldn't laugh. The Japanese had attacked several times; casualties on the position were significant, and ammunition consumption was even greater. Everyone didn't have much confidence in whether they could withstand this attack.

Even thinking so, the soldiers still entered their combat positions, gripping their weapons tightly in the ruined trenches, preparing for the coming battle.

Regiment Commander Shimizu raised his binoculars to look at the two heights controlled by the Northeast Army. He certainly hoped to wipe out the enemy completely with artillery. However, Shimizu dared not be so optimistic; there should still be some Northeast Army survivors on the position who could resist a bit. The reason for sending out so many troops was to use the massive disparity in troop strength to completely overwhelm the enemy and capture the height in one fell swoop.

So when gunshots rang out from the Northeast Army's high ground, Regiment Commander Shimizu was not particularly surprised. But the gunfire became increasingly dense, and mortars soon joined the firing. The Northeast Army had not only not been crushed but could even organize a forceful counter-attack.

The attacking Japanese troops were not immediately repelled. They also split into squads, using the terrain to return fire desperately. The two sides began to shoot at each other, and some Japanese even dragged machine guns up, setting them up at close range to strafe. After strafing for less than two minutes, a few mortar shells flew over and directly blew the Japanese machine gun away.

Regiment Commander Shimizu knew that the artillery had very few shells left and could no longer complete saturation fire. But with the battle at this point, he had no choice. Shimizu shouted, "Fire all the shells!"

Although the Japanese artillerymen were somewhat surprised, they knew the situation was urgent and accidental injury didn't matter anymore. Soon, the Japanese artillery fired all their shells at the Northeast Army position.

Although he heard the sound of shells, Li Hongxin immediately ordered the troops to take cover. But without the cat-ear holes, and with the position already ruined, many soldiers were immediately killed or wounded by the shells. 2nd Company Commander waited for the shelling to end. He raised his head and found a Japanese unit charging up fearlessly. Rallying his troops, he saw that a shell had hit the 1st Platoon's position. The 1st Platoon had already suffered heavy casualties, with only a squad's worth of strength left. Now the entire position was destroyed. The 2nd Company Commander hurriedly ordered the 2nd Platoon to detach a squad to defend it. He ran toward the command post. As soon as he arrived, he saw a medic trying to save someone. The man's face was covered in mud mixed with blood, unrecognizable. Only the rank insignia showed that this person was Li Hongxin.

The 2nd Company Commander threw himself over and shouted hurriedly, "Battalion Commander! Battalion Commander!"

Li Hongxin had been hit in the neck by shrapnel. He tried hard to speak, but blood bubbles gurgled from the wound in his trachea. Li Hongxin blocked the wound with his hand, pulled the 2nd Company Commander close, and used all his strength to say, "Let... the Party branch... command... the battle..."

Having said this, Li Hongxin's body began to convulse, and the medic hurried to perform first aid. At this moment, the howling of the Japanese charge outside the position had already reached the command post. The 2nd Company Commander felt his chest and eyes burning. He stood up and began to run rapidly along the trench, relaying the Battalion Commander's order as he ran, "The Party branch commands the battle, hold the position!"

"The Party branch commands the battle, hold the position!"

Hearing this, the expressions of the officers and soldiers already engaged in combat turned resolute. There were two situations in which the Party branch would command the battle. The first was facing a dangerous battle, almost a point of no return. Party branch members would lead Party members to form a dare-to-die corps to complete the arduous task.

The second was when the military commander was killed in action and a command structure could no longer be formed. The Party committee would automatically form a new command structure to organize the battle.

On the current position, everyone was a dare-to-die corps. The remaining reason was simply that the Battalion Commander had been killed.

The political instructor in the company immediately formed a command unit with the company commander. If the company commander and political instructor were gone, Party members would automatically fill the vacancies according to rank order.

In the fierce battle, the remaining troops once again had a command structure and continued their tenacious defense.

Just then, a strange whistling sound came from the sky. Before the Northeast Army soldiers could rejoice, explosions erupted violently on the enemy's rear positions. Explosions rang out one after another. The Japanese artillery was set up by the roadside, and the Northeast Army bomber formation dropped bombs all along the road. A bomb exploded right next to the Japanese artillery position, blowing the artillery pieces near the road, along with their crews, directly into the air.

The Northeast Army's air support had finally arrived.