At 11:00 AM on January 11th, the Japanese 27th Division relieved the 6th Division, the "sharp knife" on the main axis of attack, and continued the breakthrough offensive.

Fighting since dawn, the 6th Division had made the greatest progress among all divisions, advancing a total of 1,800 meters. The vanguard of the 27th Division crossed positions covered with corpses and wounded soldiers, passed through trench after trench, and finally reached the 6th Division headquarters.

Initially, seeing corpses—especially in large numbers—Colonel Shiratori Meiichi, commander of the 27th Division's vanguard regiment, felt a palpitation in his heart. But after seeing so many, the feeling faded.

In the frontline less than 300 meters from the division headquarters, the sound of gunfire and explosions was as dense as popping beans. Colonel Shiratori Meiichi entered the headquarters and immediately saluted Major General Yuhara Kanzo, the Division Commander. "Your Excellency, I am Shiratori of the 27th Division, ordered to take over the attack."

"Is that so?" Major General Yuhara Kanzo was bareheaded, not wearing his military cap. Looking at Colonel Shiratori, a look of joy surprisingly appeared on his desperate yet resolute face. "Please, Shiratori-kun, take over the command here."

After speaking, Major General Yuhara Kanzo looked around, picked up his military cap from a corner on the ground, patted off the mud sticking to it, and put it on. Only then did he bow to the Chief of Staff of the 6th Division beside him.

The 6th Division Chief of Staff hurriedly returned the bow. After the formalities, Major General Yuhara Kanzo threw out his chest and said, "You have worked hard up to now. Chief of Staff, I must trouble you with the remaining matters."

With that, Yuhara Kanzo picked up his officer's sword and walked straight out of the command post. The Chief of Staff looked pained but stood still without saying a word. Colonel Shiratori Meiichi, standing nearby, didn't know what was happening and could only watch.

Not long after, the sound of gunfire ahead suddenly intensified. The 6th Division Chief of Staff, his expression full of pain, walked back to the command desk and said, "I am temporarily assuming command of this division. Colonel Shiratori, let us proceed with the work as soon as possible."

Only then did Colonel Shiratori Meiichi realize that Major General Yuhara Kanzo had gone out to join the final charge. Moved, Colonel Shiratori Meiichi tentatively asked, "Chief of Staff, may I ask how many troops are left in the 6th Division?"

The 6th Division Chief of Staff looked bleak. "Those inside the command post are all the mobile troops currently available."

Colonel Shiratori Meiichi was startled and quickly ordered his troops forward to take over the 6th Division's battle line.

Fifteen minutes later, Major General Yuhara Kanzo, who had been hit by three bullets but was miraculously still alive, was brought back by the troops sent by Colonel Shiratori Meiichi. Perhaps bolstered by the spirit of the Division Commander personally leading the charge, the remnants of the 6th Division launched a final attack that pushed the battle line forward another 100 meters, approaching two kilometers.

However, by current general military standards, the defensive depth was around five kilometers. That is to say, at the cost of almost total annihilation, the 6th Division had only completed two-fifths of the objective. The remaining three-fifths would have to be truly completed by the 27th Division, or the troops that would relieve them.

Inside the headquarters of the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army, Nagata Tetsuzan, directing the operations of eighteen divisions, stood up involuntarily after seeing the report and exclaimed loudly, "Commander, the bravery and tenacity of the Kumamoto Division reminds one of the heroic feat of resisting Saigō's great army inside Kumamoto Castle back then."

Terauchi Hisaichi looked at the casualty report and could only nod and sigh barely. According to the battle report, when the 6th Division was withdrawn, it could no longer be considered a "remnant unit," but rather the "wreckage" of a unit. Of the 6th Division's two brigade commanders, one was dead and one wounded. Of the eight regimental commanders, five were dead and three wounded. Eighty percent of the battalion and company commanders had died in battle. The entire unit had only 1,000 officers and men uninjured. Rough statistics showed the 6th Division had suffered nearly 40% deaths and missing, and 60% wounded.

The 6th Division (Kumamoto) and the 2nd Division (Sendai) were known side-by-side as the two strongest and most combat-effective elite units in the Japanese Army. Its predecessor was the Kumamoto Garrison established in 1873. During the Satsuma Rebellion, this unit was besieged in Kumamoto Castle by the Satsuma troops led by Saigō Takamori, and withstood Saigō's tide-like attacks with sheer will. With the army reform in 1888, the Garrison was renamed a Division, and the Kumamoto Garrison became the 6th Division.

Nagata Tetsuzan did not care about the fate of the 6th Division; he said this entirely to boost morale. Seeing Terauchi Hisaichi's reaction, Nagata struck while the iron was hot. "Your Excellency, the 6th Division possesses the spirit of the War God Nogi Maresuke; we should request a commendation for the 6th Division."

Terauchi Hisaichi was of noble birth and very clear about politics. Hearing Nagata say this, he immediately understood. Terauchi Hisaichi's expression instantly became impassioned. He stood up and ordered his adjutant, "Immediately telegraph Imperial General Headquarters, and at the same time inform all divisions of the 6th Division's heroism. At this time, the Army should have the courage to serve the country for three lives..."

Seeing Commander Terauchi acting according to the direction he pointed out, Nagata did not interfere further, but listened respectfully. When Commander Terauchi finished speaking, Nagata walked out using military affairs as an excuse. Okamura Yasuji followed him out. Nagata whispered, "Ask Ishiwara when the 2nd Command Post prepares to attack?"

Okamura hurriedly asked, "Do we need to urge Ishiwara to move?"

Nagata Tetsuzan shook his head. "No. I believe Ishiwara-kun can correctly judge the timing for deployment."

Okamura's brow was already furrowed. "Nagata-kun, if we keep fighting like this, we will inevitably fail to break through the enemy's defense line."

Having said this, the anxiety-filled Okamura looked at Nagata, hoping Nagata could immediately propose a countermeasure. Unexpectedly, Nagata's expression remained unchanged as he said calmly, "The performance of the Northeast Army's division and corps-level commanders in the first two days proved they lack war experience. But our judgment was not comprehensive. In trench warfare, where the space for free decision-making is not large, the performance of the Northeast Army generals can be considered qualified. That is to say, the probability that the headquarters previously judged we could penetrate the Northeast Army's defense line through frontal assault has become very low. Now we can no longer withdraw; we can only force the Northeast Army to continue fighting. By attacking at all costs, we force the Northeast Army defense line to move their reserves, creating conditions for Ishiwara-kun's landing."

Okamura actually understood that this was the only way for now, but at this moment, Okamura was truly unwilling to pin all expectations on Ishiwara's judgment of timing. If there was the slightest error in this judgment, the whole game would be lost.

Just as he wanted to say something more, he saw Nagata Tetsuzan composed and self-possessed, not affected by the unfavorable war situation at all. Okamura surprisingly could not speak. After hesitating for a moment, Okamura replied, "I will go arrange the breakthrough troops now."

War is like a meat grinder, constantly devouring flesh and life. Across the entire battle line, various Japanese divisions attacked continuously, attempting to find gaps in the Northeast Army's defense line. The Northeast Army units also focused intently on dealing with the Japanese attacks.

The entire 250-kilometer-long battle line was not like a pool of stagnant water, maintaining a clear distinction. Instead, it was like the waves of the sea, rising and falling. The Japanese units, as the attackers, pushed forward continuously, only to be pushed back by the Northeast Army.

At the positions selected by the Japanese army as breakthrough points, the troops of both sides were like ice and snow thrown into a boiling hell-cauldron—rising, falling, spinning, melting rapidly, and finally disappearing completely into the bloody, boiling cauldron.

At 11:30, in the headquarters of the 2nd Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army located on the Combined Fleet flagship *Kongō*, Ishiwara Kanji finished reading the latest battle report and immediately stood up, walking to Commander Suzuki Kantarō and Vice Commander Ugaki Kazushige. "Your Excellency Commander, Your Excellency Vice Commander, the time to strike has arrived!"

Vice Admiral Suzuki Kantarō looked at Ishiwara Kanji and did not answer. Lieutenant General Ugaki Kazushige couldn't help but ask, "Why do you judge so?"

Ishiwara Kanji answered decisively, "Analyzing the latest battle situation, the Northeast Army has already seen the hope of victory. In at most another twelve hours, our troops attacking frontally will be exhausted and unable to sustain the offensive. At that time, as long as the Northeast Army launches a comprehensive counterattack, they can repel our army. This subordinate believes the Northeast Army will not let this opportunity pass."

Lieutenant General Ugaki dared not fully believe Major General Ishiwara Kanji's judgment. The battle reports were not being read by Ishiwara alone; the entire 2nd Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army headquarters was reading them. Every officer working in the headquarters could see that the Japanese offensive had begun to develop towards a spent arrow, but no one dared to make a judgment on when the Northeast Army would use their final reserves.

Because the Northeast Army could completely choose not to use the reserves and just rely on cobbling together frontline troops to tough it out.

Just as Lieutenant General Ugaki hesitated, Vice Admiral Suzuki Kantarō, who had been silent most of the time, spoke. "Since the opportunity for battle has arrived, let the troops depart."

Lieutenant General Ugaki had no choice but to nod. But the unease in his heart grew stronger. There was only one chance to win; if they failed to grasp it, the Japanese army would have to wait months before launching another amphibious landing, or potentially lack the power to launch another landing operation at all.

The transport fleet had long been cruising at sea 200 kilometers away from Pyongyang. Once the order was given, thick black smoke soon poured from the smokestacks of all transport ships. All boiler dampers were opened, and stokers shoveled coal desperately into the boiler fuel intakes.

The Japanese army judged that the Northeast Army's air force had a range of only a little over 300 kilometers, so they parked the fleet at the 200-kilometer mark. At this time, observers on all warships strained their eyes searching the sky for Northeast Army planes, ready to issue warnings to the command bridge at any moment.

Also at 11:30, Xu Chengfeng ordered another corps to reinforce the Pyongyang defense line. Chief of Staff Cheng Ruofan did not object, but still offered a plan to draw one division from each of the three coastal defense corps.

This time, even Xu Chengfeng felt it was unacceptable. "Chief of Staff, if we do this, our coastal defense strength will be hollowed out."

Cheng Ruofan replied calmly, "Since it must be hollowed out, then treat the coastal defense forces as warning units. As long as we still have a corps of reserves in hand, a coastal defense division can serve the function of a warning unit. Once the troops begin reinforcing, the coastal defense units will no longer serve a coastal defense function."

Cheng Ruofan's judgment left Xu Chengfeng speechless for a moment. It took half a minute for Xu Chengfeng to catch up with Cheng Ruofan's train of thought. Xu Chengfeng answered decisively, "Let's do it that way!"

Hu Xiushan was actually somewhat torn inside, but he knew even more clearly that as the battle situation became clearer, even if the choices exceeded pre-war predictions, they had to proceed. Since Cheng Ruofan had already completed his adjustment in understanding the current war situation, Hu Xiushan saw no reason to object. He said, "I agree."

High-level commanders rarely rely on improvisation in their views on war. *The Art of War* states: "He who makes many calculations before battle will win; he who makes few will lose. Much calculation brings victory, little calculation brings defeat; how much more so with no calculation at all! By observing this, the outcome is apparent."

Sun Wu, this great military strategist, earnestly exhorted later generations studying his military works: "To predict victory before war is because planning is thorough and conditions are sufficient; to estimate little chance of victory before war is because conditions for victory are few. With sufficient conditions, the chance of victory is great; with insufficient preparations, one will fail. Let alone having no conditions at all! I observe war based on these, and victory or defeat becomes clear."

The Northeast Army implemented Sun Wu's philosophy in formulating strategy and campaign arrangements. In strategic considerations, there was absolutely no laziness.

The ongoing campaign did not go beyond the possibilities of the Northeast Army's campaign simulations. Even the seemingly sudden change in the use of reserves did not exceed previous arrangements.

Orders were conveyed to the troops guarding the coast in moments. All three corps had contingency plans. Upon receiving the order, although the three corps commanders could not quite understand the headquarters' intention, they immediately issued orders according to the plan.

At 12:03, troops from three divisions withdrew from their positions respectively and, following the arranged routes, rushed to the front line in reinforcement formation.

At 12:30, the rearguard units of the three divisions had already left the coastal positions.

The Northeast Army stationed in the Yongchon Plain north of Pyongyang was the 7th Corps under the 3rd Army Group. Behind the 7th Corps station, jeeps equipped with radio direction-finding devices began routine patrols.

At 13:30, just as a radio search jeep drove to the rear entrance of the position, the needle on the instrument suddenly jumped. The listening operator wearing headphones shouted in great surprise, "Report, unidentified radio signal received in the rear!"

The vehicle commander couldn't believe it for a moment. The war had been fighting for months, and the listening units had been conducting routine searches every day without ever receiving an unidentified signal. Hearing the operator say this, the commander immediately asked, "Is there a mistake?"

The listening operator had never encountered such a thing either, and the signal had only sounded a few times before suddenly falling silent again. The operator couldn't help but doubt if he had made a mistake. The vehicle stopped at the entrance to the position, and was running low on gas. The operator dared not say he had definitely monitored it, and could only answer, "The monitoring instrument definitely moved just now. Our instrument was just serviced; it should have received some signal."

There were a large number of signals being transmitted in Korea every day now. If one said they received a signal, it wouldn't be strange. The commander finally ordered, "Let's go back first."

Lieutenant Okada Taichi had already stopped transmitting. A few months ago, during the Japanese army's great rout in Korea, he had followed Lieutenant Colonel Ishiwara Kanji's orders to take a radio, and with the help of Japanese intelligence personnel in Korea, lay in ambush in northern Korea with several soldiers.

Lieutenant Colonel Ishiwara Kanji had not ambushed just one small squad, but several. The leader of each small unit was a member of the "Future Society" in the Japanese military. Everyone was willing to accept such orders because they believed in the Future Society leader, Ishiwara Kanji, regardless of life or death.

For the past few days, according to the codebook left to Lieutenant Okada Taichi, Ishiwara Kanji required the squad to continue maintaining radio silence while observing the Northeast Army's movements at the designated location. Once large-scale movement of the Northeast Army was discovered, record it. After receiving new orders, begin transmitting at the time stipulated by the new orders. After that, transmit once every 10 minutes.

At this moment, the first transmission had ended. Lieutenant Okada Taichi walked in the mountains, panting, observing the distant Northeast Army positions with binoculars.

While observing, he heard a subordinate ask, "Lieutenant, ten minutes are up."

Lieutenant Okada Taichi ordered, "Transmit!"

After issuing the order, Lieutenant Okada Taichi continued to observe the Northeast Army positions. Amidst the clatter of the telegraph key hitting the button, Lieutenant Okada saw several Northeast Army vehicles—which looked quite good—drive out of the Northeast Army positions, splitting into several routes and driving towards his location.

A thought suddenly popped into Lieutenant Okada's mind: *Could they have discovered us?*

But Lieutenant Okada was not particularly worried. After all, he was just a small squad, hiding far away in the mountains. How could the Northeast Army possibly know where he was?

Another twenty minutes passed, and after sending two more telegrams, Lieutenant Okada heard the commotion of troops rushing towards him from a distance. It seemed he had indeed been discovered!

Without time to figure out why he was discovered, Lieutenant Okada immediately ordered, "Kinoshita, you and the telegraph operator move the radio; try to send one more! The rest follow me; lure the enemy away!"

The Northeast Army moved extremely fast. In just a few minutes, they were chasing towards Lieutenant Okada, who had intentionally exposed his tracks. Just as they were about to catch up with Lieutenant Okada's group, following several sharp whistle blasts, at least half of the pursuing troops turned around and chased in the direction of the radio.

Lieutenant Okada was now certain that the Northeast Army definitely had equipment to pinpoint radio signals. But understanding this was useless now. Although there were not many pursuers behind him, a squad of Northeast Army soldiers had already circled around to intercept in front.

Fight to the death with the Northeast Army? After this thought emerged, Lieutenant Okada immediately remembered Ishiwara Kanji's instruction: "If you encounter a situation where you cannot fight, please surrender immediately. Although He-kun is very cruel to the Japanese army, he is very lenient towards surrendered soldiers. Since Okada-kun has already undertaken such dangerous work, please be sure to come back alive."

Thinking of this, Lieutenant Okada ordered his subordinates, "Put down your weapons and prepare to surrender."

With that, Lieutenant Okada set an example by taking out his weapon and throwing it on the ground, then raising his hands and walking out from behind the tree where he was hiding. Before walking towards the Northeast Army to surrender, Lieutenant Okada looked back at his subordinates. He saw looks of astonishment and loss on their faces, but no one refused. Under Okada's gaze, the soldiers all threw down their weapons and followed Lieutenant Okada with their hands raised.

When Lieutenant Okada and the others knelt on the ground with their hands behind their heads under the guns of the angry Northeast Army soldiers, Okada felt quite terrified in his heart. He could understand the importance of the intelligence, which was why he had disregarded life and death to undertake such dangerous work.

Presumably, the Northeast Army was also very clear about this, which was why they were gnashing their teeth in anger. However, no matter how angry the Northeast Army was, just as Ishiwara Kanji had said, they did not shoot prisoners. for a moment, Okada was somewhat surprised; if their positions were swapped, Okada feared he wouldn't be able to suppress his anger and would kill someone.

On the battleship *Kongō*, all hesitation disappeared from Ishiwara Kanji's expression. Not only Ishiwara Kanji, but Vice Commander Ugaki Kazushige's face also showed only fortitude. He requested of Commander Suzuki Kantarō, "Commander, the landing that follows is entirely up to you."

Vice Admiral Suzuki Kantarō truly hadn't expected that Ishiwara Kanji had actually planted a dormant asset during the collapse of the Japanese army in Korea months ago, and now these small squads actually risked death to send out radio signals. Judging from the squad's position, Ishiwara Kanji's judgment of the war situation was surprisingly accurate... as if Ishiwara Kanji had seen and heard it personally inside the Northeast Army headquarters...

Previously, Commander Suzuki believed in Ishiwara's ability, and although he looked cold, it was somewhat of an act. Now, Vice Admiral Suzuki felt somewhat in disbelief. Steel his heart, Vice Admiral Suzuki ordered, "Fleet, advance to the landing grounds. Order the *Hōshō* to launch all planes for comprehensive reconnaissance. Tell the pilots that the heavy burden of the Empire is entirely entrusted to them."

Before WWI, battleships carried reconnaissance planes, and Britain even developed early aircraft carriers. But the true aircraft carrier was the *Hōshō* developed by Japan. The Japanese army had suffered a big loss before, so for this naval sortie, they brought the *Hōshō* along.

Reconnaissance planes took off from the *Hōshō* one after another. At this time, the landing fleet was less than 50 kilometers from the target, the Yongchon Plain. Sailing at full speed, the main fleet responsible for clearing the beachhead could arrive within an hour.

At this time, the Northeast Army's Korean Front Headquarters had already received the news. Xu Chengfeng only felt his head buzzing. He had calculated everything, but he hadn't expected the Japanese army to actually seize the Northeast Army's only flaw.

However, Xu Chengfeng quickly calmed himself down. If he had sent out the last corps in hand earlier, the headquarters would truly have no moves left. Now there was still one corps that could be thrown into battle. Xu Chengfeng knew that the Japanese army had not yet gained the advantage.

At this time, Cheng Ruofan asked, "The telegraph is connected. Commander, apart from reporting the war situation, do you have anything else to ask?"

Xu Chengfeng answered decisively, "Please ask the Commander-in-Chief if we can implement Option Zero?"

Cheng Ruofan couldn't help but sigh, but didn't speak to stop him. He quickly wrote the draft telegram and had the communications officer send it. Soon, the reply arrived. He Rui's reply asked only one question: "If the enemy breaks through the coastal defense positions, can our army complete a new defense line within 10 kilometers behind the enemy landing ground?"

Xu Chengfeng hadn't expected He Rui to ask such a question, but he also understood that He Rui did not want to adopt "Option Zero." The so-called Option Zero was to use planes loaded with large amounts of explosives to ram Japanese capital ships.

This was a very cruel and extremely inhumane plan, and Xu Chengfeng himself disliked it very much. Although the Air Force had also modified planes, they had not organized pilots specifically to execute this order. At most, they had selectively paid attention to some pilots.

Just as Xu Chengfeng was torn, Cheng Ruofan spoke up. "I believe we can do it. Moreover, the troops implementing the counterattack have already been sent out; it is now impossible to call them back. Since that is the case, let's fight this battle with all our might. We still have seven divisions—one division plus one corps to hold out. As long as we determine the direction of the Japanese landing, the other two divisions can also provide support. We can hold it."

Xu Chengfeng turned to Hu Xiushan, asked, "Xiushan, what do you think?"

Hu Xiushan was silent for a moment before answering, "According to the current situation of the frontline troops, we can completely defeat the Japanese troops at the breakthrough point and inflict heavy damage on this part of the Japanese army!"

Although Hu Xiushan's answer did not directly address the question, it made his attitude extremely clear. Xu Chengfeng knew it was time for him to make a decision. For a moment, Xu Chengfeng wanted to send another telegram to He Rui, asking He Rui to decide.

But Xu Chengfeng overcame this impulse. Although his heart felt like it was crushed by a giant boulder, Xu Chengfeng still ordered, "Telegraph the Commander-in-Chief: Our army can build a new defense line."