Inside the observation post, covered with hand-painted camouflage cloth, Hu Xiushan carefully observed the heavily fortified Japanese high ground through high-powered binoculars. On the first line of defense below the heights, the Japanese fortifications were conspicuous. The gray-white concrete outer walls seemed out of place with everything around them.

The artillery bombarding the Japanese positions consisted of captured Japanese 150mm howitzers, which packed a punch far superior to the Northeast Army's 120mm guns. Perhaps because of the overly conspicuous concrete walls, those positions received special attention.

Since receiving the reply from General Headquarters, Hu Xiushan hadn't said another word. After observing the Japanese defensive layout and the effects of the shelling, Hu Xiushan ordered, "After the probing attack, take some photos of the Japanese concrete fortifications and bring back some debris samples."

Staff officers immediately conveyed this order, which, while strange, was not excessive. After all, this was a battlefield; before the Japanese on the high ground were dealt with, it was indeed inappropriate for Group Army Commander Hu Xiushan to go up to the front lines himself.

It was now 8:45 AM on October 22nd. At the designated attack time, the Northeast Army's probing attack began.

Lt. Colonel Isogai Rensuke, responsible for commanding this critical high ground, heard the report that "the enemy has started attacking" and immediately threw himself in front of the high-powered binoculars, which had been knocked askew by the shelling. The more he looked, the more astonished he became. Frontline battle reports had repeatedly mentioned that the Northeast Army's attack formations were extremely sparse, but only after seeing it with his own eyes did Isogai Rensuke understand what that felt like.

The Northeast Army's assault troops did not charge in a straight line. Instead, they adopted different movement patterns according to the terrain. Some quickly vaulted over obstacles, diving behind the next cover. Others crawled forward, hiding themselves as much as possible within the dead angles of Japanese fire. Still others rolled sideways or moved horizontally to enter routes that offered better concealment. Even from a high vantage point looking down, the Northeast Army's sparse attack formation appeared intermittent and elusive.

With the attacking troops so dispersed, using 70mm artillery to bombard them might fail to cause casualties if luck wasn't on one's side. 100mm and larger caliber shells would have sufficient power, but on the position Isogai Rensuke held, there were only 700 such shells. They were reserved for dealing with enemy massed charges and artillery; how could they be used against ordinary enemy infantry?

Just as he thought this, gunshots rang out. These sparse Northeast Army units, having approached the Japanese positions, initiated the attack. The Japanese defending the position immediately returned fire. Less than a minute into the engagement, the Northeast Army's 60mm mortars began pounding exposed Japanese firing points.

Isogai Rensuke felt a chill rush up his spine to his brain. Even though Ishiwara Kanji and Okamura Yasuji's battle reports had repeatedly described this, and the military conference held after they woke up in the early hours of the 22nd had focused on the Northeast Army's tactics and their countermeasures...

Even with preparation, personally facing the Northeast Army's attack made Isogai Rensuke feel that these tactics were completely alien, exceeding all his imagination. But there was no time for Isogai to lament or reflect.

That madman Ishiwara Kanji had used large-caliber artillery to block the Northeast Army's attack corridors in Pyongyang and sent out massive numbers of troops for counterattacks, yet only achieved a result of killing or capturing 200 Northeast Army soldiers. Isogai Rensuke decided to hold out a bit longer. However, just in case, he ordered the 100mm cannon battery to prepare to fire. At the same time, he ordered the second line to be ready to support the first line trenches at any moment.

No sooner had the order been given than new artillery groups joined the Northeast Army's bombardment. Judging by the explosions, they were likely 100mm caliber guns. These shells exploded on the Japanese second-line positions, striking precisely at the passage openings leading from the second line to the first line of defense.

"Bakayaro!" Isogai Rensuke cursed aloud. The machine gun positions set up on the hilltops were strafing the barely visible silhouettes of the Northeast Army's aerial reconnaissance planes, but to absolutely no effect.

At this moment, a call came up from the frontline commander. "Report, Lt. Colonel Isogai, the enemy has breached our position!"

"How many men?" Isogai asked furiously. The Northeast Army clearly had so few men; how could they make the Japanese frontline defense officer this anxious?

"There's gunfire in four or five places! Lt. Colonel, we don't know how many enemies have rushed in!" the frontline commander shouted anxiously.

This was also mentioned in the battle reports. The Northeast Army's squad-level combat was simply pervasive; any tiny gap would be exploited. A three-man combat team didn't need a massive opening to break into a Japanese position.

To counterattack immediately, the Japanese had to redeploy troops and tighten their defense. This gave the Northeast Army squads more gaps, and more fearless Northeast Army soldiers killed their way into the Japanese positions through these openings, causing even greater chaos for the Japanese.

The Northeast Army used submachine guns and grenades, and the squads were spaced relatively far apart. This actually allowed them to fire and throw grenades unscrupulously, maximizing their combat effectiveness.

Even though the number of Japanese troops on the position far exceeded that of the Northeast Army, they were at a loss amidst the gunshots and grenade explosions ringing out everywhere. In the end, the defense line was thoroughly pierced by a very small number of Northeast Army soldiers, falling into defeat.

Seeing that the commander of the first line was useless, Isogai Rensuke immediately shouted, "Retreat immediately! Retreat to the second line of defense! Retreat at once!"

Under such decisive and stern orders, the Japanese troops on the first line, regardless of whether they were engaged with the Northeast Army, began to retreat. By the time the Japanese from the first line had withdrawn to the second line and conducted a headcount, they found that after a brief engagement, they had lost over eighty men, yet they hadn't captured a single Northeast Army soldier during the retreat.

Isogai Rensuke didn't care how the Japanese commanders reported the figures of "suspected enemy casualties." Based on his observation, the casualties of the Northeast Army's attacking force were likely in the single digits.

Facing a group of uneasy commanders, Isogai Rensuke's face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water. He shouted, "Gentlemen, according to the pre-war arrangement, hold the second line of defense fast! Inside the second line, defend the junctions between positions tightly. Once the enemy breaches the position, each unit is to counterattack on the spot. Reserve units are ready behind you; frontline troops advance, never retreat!"

At this time, while clearing the occupied Japanese first-line positions, the Northeast Army did not forget Hu Xiushan's request. Soldiers smashed the concrete outer walls of the Japanese first-line positions with pickaxes. They expected the pickaxes to bounce off the hard concrete walls, but unexpectedly, a single strike punched right through, and the surrounding concrete shattered and slid to the ground.

This reaction greatly puzzled the engineers. Examining it carefully, they found that these so-called "concrete fortifications" were merely ordinary fortifications plastered with a layer of concrete. They looked like concrete fortifications, but that thin layer of concrete on the outside was useless.

The officer in charge of this matter was just completing the task assigned from above, but discovering this oddity, he hurriedly arranged for photos and ordered the engineers to check multiple spots. At the same time, he quickly had people send the concrete samples back to the rear.

Tang Yanming, Commander of the 5th Army, initially couldn't understand why Commander Hu Xiushan cared so much. After hearing the report, he put down his command work and personally rushed to Hu Xiushan. An engineer who had participated in the sampling was just giving an introduction. After introducing the concrete situation, the engineer added something he had only noticed when close to the Japanese positions. The Japanese had written many slogans in Japanese on the concrete coatings: "Live and die with the position!", "Fight to the last man!", "Perish together, at any cost!"

Tang Yanming didn't know how to react. Some officers suddenly laughed out loud, and Tang Yanming laughed along with them.

Were these slogans meant to be a joke? The Japanese collapsed at the first touch; before the melee had even properly begun, they quickly retreated to the second line of defense. "Live and die with the position!", "Fight to the last man!"—who were they trying to fool?

Hu Xiushan picked up a piece of concrete, looked at it, gave a light chuckle, and ordered the comrades to return to their units.

After the comrades left, Tang Yanming asked, "Commander, how did you discover the Japanese were bluffing us?"

Hu Xiushan didn't want to answer at first, but after a moment of silence, he decided to answer Commander Tang Yanming's question. "The Japanese commander, Nagata Tetsuzan, isn't bluffing us. However, I think Nagata Tetsuzan has likely realized that my determination to fight is not firm."

Tang Yanming's mind had been on organizing the battle. Hearing an answer at this level, he couldn't immediately understand what Hu Xiushan was saying and could only quickly search his mind for knowledge corresponding to Hu Xiushan's words. Soon, Tang Yanming thought of a passage from the Han Dynasty text *Huainanzi: Military Strategy* and asked, "Commander, 'The way of employing the military is to show them softness but meet them with hardness, show them weakness but take advantage of them with strength.' Is it that?"

Tang Yanming felt this could indeed explain what was happening before them. The strength of the Japanese defenders wasn't great, so they had to pretend to be powerful to shake the Northeast Army's determination to attack.

Hu Xiushan shook his head. "Not entirely. Nagata Tetsuzan is using such an exaggerated method to convey his confidence that he will fight to the death. It's just that he tried too hard, and it only invites ridicule."

Tang Yanming looked at his immediate superior, who was a year younger than himself, completely unable to understand how Hu Xiushan came up with these things. In the confusion of not knowing what line of thinking to use to understand this, Hu Xiushan issued a clear order. "Commander Tang, organize two battalion-scale probing attacks in the direction of the enemy positions where our artillery and reconnaissance are most dominant. Other troops are to conduct preliminary attacks. Tell the two battalion commanders that these are probing attacks."

Tang Yanming hurriedly made the arrangements. After finishing the deployment, he quickly asked, "Commander, can you explain it clearly to me?"

Hu Xiushan turned and pointed to the sand table. "Commander Tang, if it were you, and I gave you ten thousand troops equipped with sufficient artillery and reconnaissance units to defend a fully prepared mountain defense line against the Japanese at their current level, how many troops' attacks could you withstand?"

Tang Yanming's brows furrowed. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Roughly what kind of terrain?"

Hu Xiushan searched the map for a moment and pulled out a map of a mountainous area south of Pyongyang. A staff officer immediately brought over a blackboard and fixed the map to it with magnets.

Tang Yanming looked at it for a while and answered with some hesitation, "I could probably hold off fifty thousand Japanese troops."

Hu Xiushan posed a new question. "If it were the Japanese at their average level, but having undergone two months of our tactical training, how many could you hold off?"

Tang Yanming thought for a very short time this time and answered, "Thirty thousand... thirty-five thousand."

Hu Xiushan knew that Tang Yanming was very talented in troop training and had an extremely thorough understanding of Northeast Army tactics. The figure of thirty-five thousand was about what Hu Xiushan had in mind, though Hu Xiushan thought it would be around thirty thousand, no more.

Since their understanding of the prerequisites was similar, Hu Xiushan answered Tang Yanming's question. "Commander Tang, we have all tallied the Japanese troops in Korea. Without rear reinforcements, the number of true Japanese regulars among the troops defending Seoul won't exceed seven thousand. And at this stage, the number of Japanese regulars in the Seoul defense forces won't exceed fifteen thousand."

Tang Yanming completely understood this. If it was just about rushing Japanese army infantry carrying rifles, heavy machine guns, and a few base loads of ammunition to Seoul by train, let alone eight thousand, even twenty thousand could be done. But facing artillery bombardment, these infantrymen could only serve as cannon fodder. To make these infantrymen combat-effective, one artillery piece had to be equipped with the relevant troops prescribed in Japanese military regulations, according to the ratio of Japanese army equipment.

Given the current number of artillery pieces in Seoul, the Japanese could at most equip fifteen thousand regulars. The other soldiers were cannon fodder to begin with, so there was naturally no need to use regulars to fill those roles.

But what did this have to do with Hu Xiushan's determination to fight? Tang Yanming didn't believe the Japanese before them could hold Seoul.

Hu Xiushan intended to explain clearly to Tang Yanming, so he continued, "After we occupy Seoul, we will absolutely not defend Seoul to the death. Do you understand the reason why?"

Tang Yanming had only considered taking Seoul, not whether to hold it or how to hold it. Hearing the commander's decision, he was stunned. Considering Seoul's terrain and the logistics factors for both the Northeast Army and the Japanese, a chain of thought began to form.

Hu Xiushan didn't want Tang Yanming to speculate too much, so he stated the core reason.

"This war might last for two years. Our strategic objective is not to defeat Japan, but to thoroughly consume Japan and weaken Japan. During the stage where our army liberates the entirety of China, Japan must be completely unable to intervene militarily. Capturing Seoul is not a goal that must be achieved to complete this strategy; even capturing Pyongyang was just 'catching a rabbit while cutting grass'—something done in passing. Our army's campaign objective for this stage is to control the vast mountainous regions of northern Korea, construct defense lines, and fully consume Japan in the next phase of the campaign. Commander Tang, from a strategic perspective, south of the Yalu River, there is nothing we *must* have, and nothing we cannot give up."

Tang Yanming could already understand that minimizing losses and using the officers and men in the northern Korean mountains, where the Northeast Army had a huge natural advantage, was a choice that fit strategic needs.

However, hearing Hu Xiushan's comments on the northern Korean regions the Northeast Army had already occupied, Tang Yanming was dumbfounded. Adopting Hu Xiushan's perspective—"south of the Yalu River, there is nothing we must have, and nothing we cannot give up"—Tang Yanming suddenly felt as if he had been forcibly dragged into the sky by Hu Xiushan, looking down on the entire war from above. Hu Xiushan's tone was flat, as if he were just explaining how to cross the street when going out: watch the traffic lights, pay attention to traffic rules. Yet Tang Yanming felt his entire realm of understanding had been elevated. If one viewed the war from such a perspective, the important city of Seoul was actually insignificant.

Tang Yanming wasn't used to such a perspective, nor did he like it. To pull himself back to the ground as quickly as possible, he asked a very down-to-earth question. "Commander, why did you say Nagata Tetsuzan guessed that your determination to fight isn't firm?"

Hu Xiushan answered indifferently, "Commander Tang, no matter how the Japanese put up a desperate fight, you can take Seoul. In this process, our casualties will exceed ten thousand. This turns into the Japanese consuming our army. Moreover, in Pyongyang, and on the road from Pyongyang to Seoul, Ishiwara Kanji and Okamura Yasuji have already learned too much about our army's tactical characteristics. I don't want Nagata Tetsuzan to know even more."

This Q&A pulled Tang Yanming back to the reality of the ground. Tang Yanming was now able to consider problems on the same level as Hu Xiushan, and several thoughts immediately popped up. Tang Yanming pressed, "Is the Commander sending preliminary attacks to see if the Japanese have made effective adjustments against our tactics?"

Speaking to this point, Tang Yanming suddenly realized. For a moment, he simply couldn't believe his own judgment. The flashy but impractical cement coating on the Japanese frontline, those ludicrously exaggerated slogans, and the decisive Japanese retreat without any hesitation—in Tang Yanming's eyes, it was the Japanese bluffing; in Hu Xiushan's eyes, it was a different judgment.

Of course, Hu Xiushan didn't make a decision just because of his own judgment; instead, he decisively sent probing attack units to verify his line of thinking. When Hu Xiushan looked at strategy, he seemed to be flying in the sky, but he was actually down-to-earth, taking extremely keen countermeasures.

Just then, the telephone bells in the staff department rang one after another, and combat reports began to stream in. Tang Yanming immediately focused his attention on the battle itself. And he made up his mind. Before the battle, the 5th Army Headquarters had already decided to accept the cost of 3,000 to 5,000 casualties.

Taking Pyongyang was a bonus; taking Seoul was also entirely possible. If Nagata Tetsuzan was just bluffing and hadn't come up with an effective plan to counter the Northeast Army's tactics, the 5th Army would wipe out the Seoul defenders along with Nagata Tetsuzan.

At this time, Lt. Colonel Isogai Rensuke on the high ground didn't know that the opposing 5th Army Commander was judging whether the high ground defended by Isogai was a rabbit covered in soft fur that could be kneaded at will, or some other animal that wasn't easy to deal with. The battle around the second line of defense had already begun.

According to the temporary regulations formulated by Nagata Tetsuzan and others, the Japanese defense system was absolutely not allowed to attack proactively, assuming a posture of passively taking a beating. The other contents of the temporary regulations were no longer about passively taking a beating, but about making various preparations by all possible means for the Japanese troops garrisoning the high ground to endure a severe beating.

A tight layout, continuous positions with no gaps. Units did not rescue laterally but were supported by specialized subsequent second-line troops.

The Northeast Army's attacks were extremely cunning. Even with such defenses, they still found opportunities through infantry-artillery coordination and breached several Japanese positions in succession. In the end, these troops were driven out of the positions with the support of reinforcements rushing from the rear.

Isogai Rensuke became more anxious the more he fought. He already felt that passively taking a beating like this was no solution. If they couldn't counterattack, the enemy would constantly launch attacks. At this moment, Isogai Rensuke finally made a decision. If a full-scale counterattack wasn't possible, then sending small units to sortie and change the battlefield situation should be acceptable, right?

Before the battle, Isogai Rensuke had his eye on a shallow ravine. This ravine was very suitable for troops to move down from above, and the position this ravine led to happened to be on the flank of the Northeast Army troops at this time. As long as the Japanese held both ends of the ravine, they could attack the Northeast Army from the side. So Isogai Rensuke dispatched a unit of soldiers who were all quite good at throwing grenades. Such soldiers could be titled "Grenadiers" in Europe; they were all elite troops.

From his high position, Isogai Rensuke watched the troops set off quickly and soon maneuver to the flank of the Northeast Army position. There were many places here convenient for concealment, and there were also many natural crevices between chaotic rocks on the ground. Even if the Northeast Army stood above and strafed with machine guns or threw large numbers of grenades, the Japanese in the ditch could find sufficient cover and wouldn't suffer any losses.

Just as Isogai Rensuke was waiting for these Imperial Grenadiers to launch their attack, dragons of fire spewed from the Northeast Army's position into the ravine. Although bullets couldn't turn corners and grenade fragments couldn't shatter rocks, flamethrowers could sweep across everything indiscriminately. Splashing fuel continued to burn, igniting the large amount of withered branches and leaves on the ground. The ravine turned into a fiery cave in moments.

Although the distance was great and Isogai Rensuke couldn't hear any sound, the sight of those burning men running in the ravine, painfully scratching and slapping their bodies and faces, allowed Isogai Rensuke to fully appreciate the agony of those Japanese grenadiers at this moment.

Some Japanese soldiers had already hidden in the crevices between the rocks, but now they were burned into crawling out. The Northeast Army then threw a round of grenades down into the ravine. Those Japanese soldiers were completely exposed and fell amidst the violent explosions.

When the smoke cleared slightly, Lt. Colonel Isogai Rensuke saw some Japanese soldiers lying on the ground, obviously dead, yet flames were still burning on their corpses. It was as if they were in the fiery hell described in Buddhist scriptures.

For a moment, anger drove Lt. Colonel Isogai Rensuke into a rage. He drew his military sword and roared, "Immediately transfer a company from the reserve forces; I will lead them in a counterattack!"

"Lt. Colonel!" The deputy commander, Major Takeshita, immediately blocked Isogai Rensuke's path.

Isogai Rensuke roared, "Takeshita, are you going to stop me?"

For Japanese field officers, calling someone directly by their name was already extremely impolite. Takeshita didn't care about Isogai Rensuke's reaction because he had participated in the Battle of Pyongyang and had felt too many similar emotions. Major Takeshita answered loudly, "I have orders from Colonel Nagata: Isogai-kun is absolutely not permitted to leave the command post. Since a counterattack is required, please let this subordinate lead the team personally."

Hearing Takeshita mention Nagata Tetsuzan, Isogai Rensuke finally calmed down a bit. When Nagata Tetsuzan sent Isogai Rensuke to this high ground, he had already asked Ishiwara Kanji to explain in detail the situations that might occur. Up to now, these situations had not exceeded Ishiwara Kanji's description. It was just that Isogai Rensuke had received continuous shocks one after another during the battle, and adding the disastrous failure of the counterattack he had been warned never to execute, he temporarily lost his reason.

As a respected member of the Futaba-kai, an elite officer group, Isogai Rensuke hurriedly calmed his emotions and then bowed to apologize to Major Takeshita. "Takeshita-kun, thank you for your reminder. Please do not take the words I said before to heart."

Major Takeshita smiled bitterly. "Isogai-kun, if there is a chance to die for the country, please make sure to let me go first."

Isogai Rensuke knew that Major Takeshita had been Colonel Takeshita just a few days ago. In a situation where he hadn't personally done anything wrong, he had been demoted two ranks to Major. According to the Japanese military system, if an officer died in battle while personally fighting on the front lines in a victorious campaign, contributing to the victory, he would be promoted two ranks posthumously. It seemed Colonel Takeshita had long been prepared to die to wash away his shame.

At this time, new battle reports arrived; the Northeast Army's attacks had intensified. Isogai Rensuke and Major Takeshita hurriedly resumed command to meet the enemy. The nerves of the two men were subjected to continuous torment, as if being repeatedly sawed by a blunt blade. Time slowly lost its meaning for them. After an unknown amount of time, the Northeast Army finally stopped attacking and withdrew to the first line of defense.

When they withdrew, the Northeast Army not only took their wounded but also the bodies of the dead.

Even facing such an opening, Isogai Rensuke ordered his subordinates that they were absolutely not allowed to pursue.

Not long after the battle ended, Nagata Tetsuzan's call came in. On the phone, Nagata Tetsuzan's first sentence was, "Isogai-kun, you've worked hard. Please maintain this method of response and continue fighting."

Only then did Isogai Rensuke recount the course of the battle. Nagata Tetsuzan listened quietly, finally comforted Isogai Rensuke with a few words, and hung up.

Isogai Rensuke watched Major Takeshita organizing the transport of the wounded and repairing the positions, preparing to fight again. He couldn't understand in his heart what he had just experienced.

Since joining the army, Isogai Rensuke could fully accept dogmatic combat models and also strove to apply the military knowledge he had learned to command battles with flexibility. But a battle like this one—where from start to finish he neither understood it nor knew how to respond, and could only execute the combat model completely dogmatically—Isogai Rensuke had never encountered.

Even now, Isogai Rensuke didn't know why the Northeast Army opposite him had retreated, nor did he know when the Northeast Army would launch the next attack.

Just then, the sound of shells tearing through the air rang out. The Japanese troops on the high ground immediately took cover, but even so, some Japanese soldiers couldn't dodge in time and were blown away by the shells.

Isogai Rensuke dropped all thought and hurriedly prepared for the next battle. However, he waited and waited, until the sky grew dark, and the next battle did not occur.

In the 5th Army Headquarters, the corps commanders and division commanders were gathered together. Second Group Army Commander Hu Xiushan told everyone, "I have already sent a telegram to General Headquarters, and General Headquarters has replied, agreeing to stop the attack on Seoul. For the next few days, we will conduct harassing attacks on Seoul. Comrades, do a good job with the sniper fire and cold gun attacks, and give the whole army as much chance as possible to practice."

Although some division commanders seemed to want to speak, in the end, they said nothing. Hu Xiushan continued, "Comrades, write down the process of today's combat as soon as possible and send it to Headquarters. This is also an order from General Headquarters."