The "Pyongyang Line" was merely a designation. This defensive line, which bisected the Korean Peninsula, stretched for 250 kilometers through the mountainous region more than a hundred kilometers south of Pyongyang.

Along the defense line stood numerous mountain ridges. The high peaks were capped with white snow, reflecting a golden radiance like gilded metal when illuminated by the sun. Moments later, those ridges began to tremble. Sections of snow on the peaks collapsed, and the beautiful snowy summits were instantly shattered.

The main Japanese attack was focused on a 70-kilometer width at the westernmost end of the Pyongyang Line. The terrain here was relatively gentle; once breached, it would allow direct access to the Pyongyang plains.

Over 400 heavy guns bombarded the highlands that served as the defense line's anchor points. Barbed wire and visible trenches were instantly reduced to powder under the intense artillery fire.

Members of the British and French military observation groups watched as the nightmare they had struggled to forget reappeared before their eyes, sighing with emotion. A British observer sighed, "This time, it is the Japanese Army on the battlefield."

Years ago, shells had swept across British and French positions like a rainstorm. British officers had felt the palpitation and tremors of mortal fear in their bunkers, while Japanese observers had watched the war from safe positions.

The French observers quickly returned from their memories to reality. Someone took out a pocket watch and looked at it. With the thunderous roar of countless explosions ten kilometers away as background noise, he shouted loudly, "It has been five minutes!"

Other French observers took out their pocket watches. Before the second hand had rotated two full circles, the sound of new shelling joined the chorus of heavy artillery. The British and French observers, from their respective national positions, made judgments based on the whistling of shells and the sound of their impact explosions. "It is indeed 120mm caliber artillery." "The Northeast Army's artillery... the quality is quite good."

Amidst the Japanese heavy artillery cluster, men shouted and horses neighed. On the artillery positions of the First Cluster, heavy 150mm guns began to move positions using animal and manpower. Although they had not yet been accurately hit by the Northeast Army's heavy artillery, the basic positions of the Japanese heavy guns had been exposed. They had to shift positions quickly to begin bombarding the Northeast Army's heavy artillery group from the next safe location.

The Japanese Second Heavy Artillery Cluster began to counterattack based on the approximate locations judged from ballistic trajectories. After quickly firing the eight rounds of ready ammunition on the gun carriages, the Second Heavy Artillery Cluster also began to shift positions.

At this moment, blossoms of artillery clouds suddenly bloomed in the sky. It was the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery beginning to bombard the Northeast Army aircraft. The Japanese did not believe they had the ability to directly hit Northeast Army aircraft flying at speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour with shells. The anti-aircraft shells all used timed fuzes, exploding after flying into the air, attempting to inflict damage on the Northeast Army aircraft with shrapnel flying horizontally at high altitude.

The Northeast Army aircraft had also raised their ceiling and were flying in a considerable maneuvering mode, trying their best to prevent the Japanese from tracking their flight paths.

The British and French military observers also noticed these changes, and the feeling of returning to the Western Front grew a few degrees stronger.

Just then, six Japanese divisions began to charge toward the Northeast Army's positions, just like the British and French armies on the Western Front of the Great War in Europe.

A duel began between the heavy artillery of both sides, leaving no power to implement fire suppression. Japanese infantry rushed out of their trenches, holding rifles and carrying 50mm mortars, starting the first wave of attacks.

Suddenly, large clouds of smoke rose from the long Northeast Army positions. Barbed wire launchers propelled large rolls of barbed wire into the air. The cloth strips binding the barbed wire broke in mid-air, and stones wrapped with iron strips at the front end carried huge inertia, pulling the barbed wire open as it fell to the ground.

Moments later, as the stones shattered, the coiled barbed wire contracted due to its own elasticity, once again erecting lines of barbed wire in the positions that had been destroyed.

The attacking Japanese troops, who thought they could charge bravely into the Northeast Army positions, head-butted into the traps laid by layers of barbed wire. Those Japanese soldiers caught by the barbs became excellent targets, their flesh and blood sent flying by crossfire from machine guns. The Japanese soldiers trapped within the barbed wire were another kind of target; any hesitation would lead to being shot dead, while movement would result in falling into the thorny trap of the wire.

Whether to be shot dead directly or to die hanging on the barbed wire was indeed a choice that tested human nature.

Follow-up Japanese troops immediately used 50mm mortars to attack the Northeast Army's strongpoints, but were immediately met with counter-fire from Northeast Army infantry support artillery. The Japanese 75mm guns, mortars, and machine gun points, completely exposed on the battlefield, were swept by the Northeast Army's 75mm guns, mortars, and machine guns.

Bullets pinged off gun shields and machine gun shields, but the Northeast Army's bunkers provided maximum protection, while the Japanese were exposed. Within twenty minutes, the losses of Japanese frontline strongpoints were four times those of the Northeast Army. Deprived of battlefield fire support, the Japanese were pinned down firmly at the front line; anyone who dared to show their head was cut down by flying bullets.

Lieutenant General Hoshino Shozaburo, commander of the 9th Division, the main force of the attack, saw that the offensive was stalled. He immediately ordered the division's artillery to move forward quickly and engage at the front line, while also requesting weapon support from the rear.

As soon as the Japanese battlefield infantry support fire was quickly replenished, it continued to exchange fire with the dense Northeast Army strongpoints. Some of the Northeast Army's strongpoints facing the six divisions were bombarded by 150mm heavy artillery. Similarly, parts of the long departure positions of the six Japanese divisions were also bombarded by the Northeast Army's 120mm artillery.

The heavy artillery groups of both sides were now moving while fighting. The frontline positions had a depth of no more than five kilometers, and both the Japanese 150mm guns and the Northeast Army's 120mm heavy guns had a range of ten kilometers. The observation levels of both artillery forces were evenly matched. More than 900 Japanese 150mm guns and 1,100 Northeast Army 120mm guns were constantly shifting within an area of 70 * 5 = 350 square kilometers behind their own positions. After stopping, they would immediately adjust their firing data and open fire on the enemy.

Neither side could organize massive bombardments anymore, but shelling by a small number of guns could cause significant effects on a specific piece of ground. Some strongpoints on the Northeast Army positions were instantly destroyed, and Japanese positions were also bombarded, causing heavy casualties among the troops preparing to sortied. However, the bombarded positions of the two forces were not one-to-one relative; at least the Northeast Army strongpoints facing the Japanese 9th Division's departure positions were comprehensively weakened. The Japanese infantry on the position reversed the situation of being suppressed and began to suppress the Northeast Army in turn.

Even without the Brigade Commander personally issuing the order, the Regiment Commanders issued attack orders to the battalions. More than half of the snow between the positions of both sides had disappeared. One-third of that snow had vanished under shelling, one-third had vanished under the trampling of the Japanese attacking troops, and the remaining third was covered by the corpses of Japanese soldiers and the wounded hanging on the barbed wire.

On the ground leading to the Northeast Army's first line of positions, corpses and Japanese wounded who could not free themselves from the barbed wire had crushed the wire until it was almost invisible. The obstacles on the road finally could not impede the main force's attack. Frontline junior and middle-ranking officers on the five attack positions of the Japanese 9th Division threw off their heavy cotton coats. Junior officers raised their rifles, and middle-ranking officers drew their command swords, issuing the order to charge to the troops.

"His Majesty the Emperor—*Banzai*!" As this shout, most capable of condensing the Japanese consensus, rang out.

Japanese soldiers shouted "*Banzai*!" in unison, jumped out of the trenches, and began their attack on the Northeast Army positions. The blood of Japanese casualties sprayed on the snow, freezing into crimson blocks of ice. These ice blocks were trampled into fragments under the feet of the new wave of attacking Japanese troops, making crisp snapping sounds. Although these sounds were numerous, they were insignificant and unheard on the boiling battlefield.

On the positions flanking the attacking troops, although the Japanese did not gain fire superiority and could not participate in the joint attack, they still had artillery near the junction of the positions fire at the positions facing the Japanese attacking troops. They would fire at least one round of shells to kill and wound as many Northeast Army soldiers on the position as possible.

Seeing the Japanese attack, at the rear of the central Northeast Army position, Zhuang Pengyun, Vice Commander of the 1st Regiment, 1st Division, 5th Corps of the Northeast Army defending against the 9th Division, rushed up with a platoon. This position was defended by the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment. The Battalion Commander had been killed in the Japanese heavy artillery bombardment just moments before, and his body could not even be found. More than ten minutes earlier, the Vice Battalion Commander had also been killed. The Regiment Commander immediately sent Vice Commander Zhuang Pengyun to take over command.

Upon entering the position, Zhuang Pengyun immediately asked the Battalion Political Commissar, "How much ammunition is left?"

Seeing that the Vice Commander had taken over command, the Battalion Political Commissar breathed a sigh of relief and immediately replied, "Ammo was just brought up; it's all fully stocked."

Zhuang Pengyun felt reassured. As long as ammunition was sufficient, given the current Japanese equipment and troop strength, they could not achieve a breakthrough.

Just as Zhuang Pengyun expected, although the troops had lost their Battalion Commander and Vice Battalion Commander, each company continued to conduct blocking actions relying on the positions. Machine guns spewed tongues of fire toward the Japanese attack channels, and those mortar positions with sturdy bunkers fired fiercely, round after round. Mobile mortar teams shifted positions immediately after three rapid shots.

The Japanese did not charge straight forward. Zhuang Yunpeng watched as the Japanese very skillfully relied on various terrain features that could offer concealment to dodge the Northeast Army's fire. When the Japanese rear infantry support fire opened up fiercely to suppress the Northeast Army's fire, the Japanese quickly shifted positions and continued to close in. It was only when they got to within about 30 meters and there were truly no bunkers left to rely on that they suddenly began to charge using classic skirmish line tactics.

The Northeast Army, having conducted too many offense and defense training exercises targeting the Japanese, was familiar with this set of Japanese tactics—too familiar. Moreover, the Northeast Army itself was based on such principles of warfare.

Zhuang Pengyun had been in the army for six years. Before enlisting, Zhuang Pengyun thought officers commanded soldiers in battle with majestic prestige or led their subordinates into combat. Zhuang Pengyun no longer held those notions.

Scanning the engaging sides, Zhuang Pengyun did not pay attention to single combats but observed the operations of both friend and foe.

75mm guns suppressed Japanese artillery, mortars struck Japanese troop concentrations, and machine guns swept Japanese skirmish lines and breach points. Now that the Japanese infantry had begun to attack, Northeast Army infantrymen were spot-shooting individual Japanese soldiers who broke through.

With reasonable fire combinations, infantry officers at all levels commanded troops to fight in accordance with military regulations, continuously inflicting casualties on the Japanese. Although the battle was extremely fierce, control of the battlefield was firmly in the hands of the Northeast Army.

If a soldier could not continue fighting due to casualties, their superior commander immediately decided whether to transfer another soldier to fill that combat position based on the battlefield situation.

If a combat unit was suppressed by Japanese fire and manpower, its superior commander immediately adjusted the fire and troop disposition to reverse the disadvantage and maintain the battle line.

The opposing Japanese were also quite elite, which put pressure on Zhuang Pengyun. The Japanese officers at all levels were also effectively commanding their troops, attempting to suppress the Northeast Army's fire and using superior numbers to rush into the Northeast Army's trenches. Several times the Japanese almost succeeded, only to fail at the last moment under the blow of quickly concentrated fire and troops.

Opposite them, a Japanese battalion of about 900 men attacked the positions of two Northeast Army battalions. After suffering more than 300 casualties, they had to stop the attack and retreat. Seeing that the Japanese had failed to break into even the first trench, Vice Commander Zhuang Pengyun hurriedly connected to the Regiment HQ by phone. "Commander, should we withdraw the 3rd Battalion first and let the 2nd Battalion take over?"

The Regiment Commander's resolute voice came from the other end of the phone, "No. Wait until after today's fighting is over before withdrawing the 3rd Battalion."

Since the Regiment Commander had ordered so, Zhuang Pengyun immediately ordered the troops to organize ammunition and transport the wounded to the rear. He also integrated the replenishment personnel into the units to ensure the troops were fully equipped and manned as much as possible. Taking advantage of the lull while the Japanese opposite were reorganizing, Zhuang Pengyun called over the Battalion Political Commissar and asked for his views on the various company commanders during the battle. He then called for the 1st Company Commander, Li Fugui, and the Company Instructor. Zhuang Pengyun conveyed the Regiment HQ's order, "Company Commander Li, you have been appointed as Vice Battalion Commander."

There was no joy on Li Fugui's face, which was blackened by smoke. He simply nodded and replied, "Yes."

Zhuang Pengyun then appointed the 1st Company Vice Commander as Company Commander and transferred a platoon leader from the 2nd Company to be the Vice Commander of the 1st Company. After arranging the troops, the logistics personnel arrived.

In the battle just now, the Northeast Army had 7 killed and 14 wounded. The pit storing the remains was opened, and hemp body bags were taken out. The bodies of the 7 martyrs were placed inside, sent into the pit, and stacked neatly. After the pit was closed, the wounded had basically all been treated urgently and were being transported by logistics personnel to the field hospital in the rear. Since the wounded had all been injected with morphine, no one cried out in pain.

As the wounded were sent out, the replenishment personnel from the rear arrived—a total of 31 men, exactly enough to fill the vacancies left by the soldiers. It was evident that these recruits were both excited and nervous. The squad and platoon leaders assigned the new soldiers hurriedly shook hands with them and introduced the combat posts they were to take over.

Only then did Zhuang Pengyun breathe a sigh of relief. With the battlefield arrangements completed, the next step was to make combat records. Zhuang Pengyun called the new Vice Battalion Commander to temporarily record the approximate course of the battle.

When writing about the death of the Battalion Commander and Vice Battalion Commander, Zhuang Pengyun felt a wave of regret. The 3rd Battalion Commander had led the troops very well, but he hadn't expected him to be sacrificed first. A pity! What a pity!

Just as he was halfway through writing, the new Vice Battalion Commander Li Fugui ran over to report, "Vice Commander, it looks like the Japanese are going to attack again!"

Zhuang Pengyun closed his notebook and went to the observation post to check. He saw some movement on the Japanese positions again; it indeed looked like they intended to attack again.

*They were just beaten back once, and they want to attack again?* Zhuang Pengyun could not help but sigh in his heart; the Japanese were truly risking their lives!

On the 70-kilometer-long front, the troops on both sides had their nerves pulled tight, without the slightest relaxation. Since infantry and infantry fire could not break the offensive and defensive stalemate, the constantly moving heavy artillery groups of both sides began to allocate a portion of their firepower to fiercely bombard the enemy's lines.

Japanese heavy artillery could weaken the Northeast Army's defenses to gain a momentary offensive advantage. The Northeast Army could also weaken the organization of the Japanese attacking forces.

The artillerymen of both sides were guessing—guessing where the enemy's heavy artillery might have moved. Guessing which enemy positions were suitable for shelling to weaken enemy strength. Some gun crews were constantly moving, while others did not move after shelling but remained in place, pausing fire, waiting for more than ten minutes until ammunition was fully reloaded before starting a new round of shelling.

The artillery of both sides could not see each other at all, could not see the opposing positions, and could only rely on telephones and semaphore to obtain information. In such a situation, the two sides battled with wits and courage.

In just half a day, both Chinese and Japanese sides lost more than 7% of their artillery. But such a contest did not stop because of this. Artillerymen passed by their artillery comrades who had unfortunately been hit and destroyed, advancing toward the next moving position. The artillerymen did not leave the battlefield but bravely continued this battle that seemed relaxed but was a struggle of life and death.