Night finally descended, and the artillery on both the Chinese and Japanese sides immediately shifted into their night duty fire mode. This involved sudden shelling of specific positions, sometimes accompanied by feigned infantry attacks, and sometimes not.

Nagata Tetsuzan had long since grown numb to such artillery duels. He focused entirely on reading the battle reports sent by the six division commanders. Only after reading them all did Nagata heave a sigh of relief. At this moment, what Nagata feared most was a division commander losing his rationality and furiously announcing that he would learn from the "God of War" Nogi Maresuke, launching a "human bullet" charge.

It was obvious that after the fighting on January 9th, the reality of over ten thousand casualties had forced the division commanders to admit that the Northeast Army facing them was an elite force with fighting will and combat capabilities no less than that of the Japanese Army. Launching human bullet charges at this time would be an extremely unwise choice.

Standing up, Nagata lit another cigarette. At least up to now, the commanders of the six divisions on the western line had gradually accepted reality, and Nagata's expectations for the first phase had been met. The second phase would be how to defeat the Northeast Army based on the division commanders' understanding of this reality.

In the second phase, perhaps Nagata would indeed have to, at some moment, use the "good example" of General Nogi Maresuke's human bullet attacks to incite the Japanese army into launching desperate charges.

***

So far, they had only fought for one day. The counterattack was initially successful, and the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army had pushed north by 100 kilometers. When this news reached the homeland, the major Japanese newspapers immediately reported it extensively. Although Japan was under total mobilization and controls were in place to temporarily prevent citizens from marching in the streets, the dissatisfaction of the populace was still greatly relieved.

As far as Nagata knew, the major newspapers had received hints and did not publish unrealistic views. However, some tabloids had already published articles about "Seizing Manchuria and Mongolia, Securing the Empire's Lifeline."

Fortunately, the Kenpeitai acted quickly, immediately visiting the newspaper editors-in-chief to warn them that if they published such articles again, the Kenpeitai would not be so polite next time.

Nagata knew that the moment of national fanaticism would definitely come. He could only hope that this day would not arrive so soon, and even if it did, that it could be suppressed as much as possible.

Before he had even finished one cigarette, the voice of Commander Terauchi Hisaichi, a Lieutenant General, came from behind him. "Nagata-kun, have you seen the telegram from the General Staff Headquarters?"

Nagata turned around and replied, "I was just about to discuss this with Your Excellency."

The two sat down, and Terauchi immediately lit a cigarette as well. "Nagata-kun, the General Staff is very dissatisfied with the situation of today's offensive. However, they seem to have loosened up somewhat, stating that the matter of artillery will be satisfied as soon as possible."

Nagata felt that Lieutenant General Terauchi was indeed reliable when it came to internal maneuvering. The internal discussions within the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army headquarters concluded that progress could only be made by relying on powerful artillery; infantry could only play a role when fighting for shattered positions. This fact had been proven countless times on the European battlefields.

Of course, there was another way to use infantry: learning from the German Stormtroopers (*Stosstruppen*), using powerful small frontline units to open breaches.

The most successful use of German Stormtroopers was the "Kaiserschlacht" (Emperor's Offensive) at the end of the Great War in Europe. On the front lines, Germany committed over a hundred thousand infantry organized in the Stormtrooper model to launch attacks. Relying merely on a few small units with limited numbers would have no effect in a massive war involving hundreds of thousands of troops.

The Japanese Army understood Stormtroopers; the General Staff Headquarters possessed the complete organizational model for Stormtroopers, as well as several versions of Stormtrooper combat manuals. But seeing the equipment, numbers, and training time required for Stormtroopers, they had to abandon such plans.

Nagata pressed, "Your Excellency, did the General Staff give a timeframe? After all, we need at least 800 heavy guns."

Terauchi Hisaichi sighed somewhat emotionally. "I heard that the Naval Arsenal has also gone all out to help the Army produce 150mm field guns. I believe it won't be long."

Nagata hoped this would be the case. After all, the Japanese army could not afford to be stalled in the mountains, unable to advance an inch. The greatest pressure right now was not the war itself, but the surging pressure from within the country. No one could withstand such pressure. Of course, if the Emperor, who was considered a living god in the mortal world, were to speak, perhaps it could be withstood. But the Emperor would never speak on this matter, no matter what.

Waking up early the next morning, Nagata received the latest telegram. The Quartermaster Department of the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army had actually received a notification that starting today, a dozen or so 150mm artillery pieces would be transported to the front lines every day.

The Quartermaster who brought the telegram thought Nagata would be happy, but he didn't expect Nagata to keep a straight face and order his adjutant to send a reply: "In yesterday's artillery duel alone, the troops lost seventy 150mm guns. A dozen or so guns cannot even satisfy the replacement needs of the Expeditionary Army. Please ensure 100 guns are provided daily; only then can we accumulate enough firepower within a month to destroy the enemy's defense line. I ask the General Staff to reconsider carefully."

Hearing Nagata Tetsuzan's hardline response, the Quartermaster couldn't quite believe it. "Nagata-dono, 100 guns delivered every day... can the homeland really achieve that?"

Nagata answered decisively, "If the quality of the artillery is lowered somewhat, I believe it can be done."

Seeing that the Quartermaster still didn't quite understand, Nagata didn't want to explain, but in the end, he did: "Right now, what we need is to break through the enemy's defense line as soon as possible and retake Pyongyang. As long as we can retake Pyongyang, our mission will be more than half complete. If we cannot do this in a short time, the pressure we bear will only increase. I believe Imperial General Headquarters is actually very clear on this matter."