The Industrial Department building was located in the Shenyang Administrative District, situated on the street opposite the Northeast Government Office Building, alongside the Water Conservancy Department and Agriculture Department buildings. These structures were all six-story rectangular reinforced concrete frame constructions. In He Rui's view, they were practical, concise, fully functional, easy to build, and had excellent cost control. There was one and a half floors underground, and a parking lot in the back.

When Zhuang Jiaxiong, Director of the Industrial Department, went upstairs, he would sometimes look at the elevator shaft and wonder when they could fill in the gaps in industrial categories like elevators and high and low voltage electricity, as He Rui had discussed.

Of course, this was only occasionally. At least on March 5th, when heading to the conference room, Zhuang Jiaxiong had no mind to think about these things. The first item in the meeting was naturally war requirements. The Director of the Metallurgy Bureau submitted a request, "The troops have proposed prioritizing the production of heavy artillery and replenishing shells. The troops have requested the production of ultra-long-range fortress cannons, and there is a significant gap in the supply of special steel smelting. Our main technical personnel are all conducting research and development on the 6,000-ton hydraulic forging press and other hydraulic equipment. Can we satisfy the current 150mm artillery needs first?"

Seeing Zhuang Jiaxiong did not answer, the Director of the Metallurgy Bureau looked at the Director of the Machinery Bureau. The Director of the Machinery Bureau followed up, "Director Zhuang, this is the plan proposed by the Chairman. We have reached a critical time. As long as we can complete it, the gun blanks for the 250mm fortress cannons can be directly forged. Both quality and lifespan will be greatly improved."

Many other cadres from the Industrial Department participating in this project also supported completing the equipment first and offered their own opinions.

After everyone expressed their views, Zhuang Jiaxiong finally spoke, "If we produce according to the previous methods, it will affect R&D. Then slow down the R&D progress. The first priority is to produce the heavy artillery needed by the troops with guaranteed quality and quantity. This is the urgent task."

Seeing the unwillingness in everyone's expressions, Zhuang Jiaxiong tried to use a gentle tone, "R&D will be delayed by at most half a year. But if we win this battle, we will have plenty of time for R&D. If we try to do it all in one step and lead to a defeat in the war, the time it takes us to salvage the situation might not be half a year or a year, but several years."

Hearing this, the Director of the Metallurgy Bureau bit his lip, seemingly wanting to express that 'it could be completed in the short term'.

Industrial Department Director Zhuang Jiaxiong didn't care if his guess was correct. He didn't give his comrades a chance to voice foolish ideas and said loudly, "If the equipment is not in place on time, it could lead to unnecessary casualties. When considering such matters, life is the limit."

Now the Director of the Metallurgy Bureau lost the impulse to speak. Zhuang Jiaxiong did not dwell on this actually heart-wrenching issue and continued to discuss the subsequent work.

A sudden reduction in war pressure did not mean no pressure. However, in a safe environment, the pressure was actually not that great; the discussions and arguments were merely about which investments took priority.

For example, now that lasers had been developed, the previous optical measurement technology burning magnesium strips was challenged due to insufficient efficiency. However, the advantage of magnesium strip light emission technology remained huge because this set of technology was very mature and costs were controllable. Meanwhile, laser generators still had a lot of content that needed to be perfected to be fully effective and practical.

At this moment, Zhuang Jiaxiong stood on the side of new technology, deciding temporarily not to increase investment in magnesium strip optical measurement equipment, but instead to increase spending on laser technology to ensure that technical R&D could proceed according to the predicted process.

After discussing capital investment in these technical fields, Zhuang Jiaxiong began the next meeting. The first to enter was Feng Qiaonian, Director of the Commerce Department, followed by Morrison, Director of the Investment Promotion Bureau, and the Director of the Foreign Trade Bureau.

The four went straight to the topic. Zhuang Jiaxiong asked, "How many bulk commodities can still be maintained right now?"

Feng Qiaonian pointed at Morrison, "Let him speak."

Morrison immediately stated, "Trade with Britain should be greatly affected. I suggest making preparations regarding bulk commodity trade with the British side. Conversely, we can consider cooperation with the United States on bulk commodities. After our consideration, we believe the only thing we can probably negotiate is coconuts."

The Director of the Foreign Trade Bureau couldn't help but smile bitterly hearing this. China's foreign trade bulk commodities over the past few centuries had been just those few items. Tea, silk, and later tung oil and hog bristles were added. In recent decades, the variety of imported industrial products from foreign countries had increased greatly, turning the trade balance from surplus to deficit.

The US mainland was very far from China; the closer territory was the colony of the Philippines. In the Philippines, searching around for a trade good that could truly be traded in large quantities without restrictions, it turned out to be only coconuts.

Zhuang Jiaxiong took the report and looked at it, praising with some gratification, "This is good stuff! How big can the trade volume be?"

Commerce Department Director Feng Qiaonian sighed, "If it goes very smoothly, maybe one million tons of trade a year?"

Zhuang Jiaxiong actually beamed with joy, "This kind of trade is a mix of civilian and industrial products. One million tons—the Industrial Department can definitely fully digest it."

However, this was the only good news. The four exchanged views for a while and all accepted the conclusion that the layout of the Northeast industrial chain had reached its limit for the time being.

This was an old cliché of a problem. China's geographical location determined that unless China could quickly restore its technological advantage and sell products with unique advantages, it would face a situation lacking 'processing of supplied materials'. Many European countries with land and population far inferior to China could secure a place in the entire circum-North Atlantic industrial zone by relying on processing supplied materials to maintain the industrial chain.

It was unlikely that Britain would ship steel to China and then import steel products from China, and the same was true for other European and American countries. This also determined that China's industrial layout was vastly different from that of European and American countries.

How to deal with such a situation? All four felt their thinking was constrained and the pressure was great. Commerce Department Director Feng Qiaonian even laughed, "If we say there is any industrial product we have now that Europe needs, perhaps it is only fighter jets. It's just that fighter jets probably can't be sold."

Hearing that fighter jets, this industrial product, had become an object of attention, Zhuang Jiaxiong, Morrison, and the others couldn't help but sigh. This type of military equipment was indeed one of the products under China's handful of technological advantages at present. Even though it had only been noticed due to the war in the last few months, some countries were already paying attention and even probing whether they could purchase them.

When would China be able to possess such advantages in a considerable portion of industrial fields?

Although the discussion results were not satisfactory, and the current economic layout and economic scale of the Northeast could not achieve a true breakthrough, Zhuang Jiaxiong felt that the view in his heart was reinforced again. He made a summary, "If we want to expand the division of industrial labor, we must first defeat Japan. As long as we unify China, China itself can accommodate ten times the industry of the Northeast. At that time, our Chinese industry can also become an important factor dominating trade in the West Pacific."

The others also felt there was no other way and rose to take their leave.

American merchants soon received the coconut business. This stuff was everywhere in the Philippines, so it didn't cause any special repercussions in the Philippine colony. Moreover, the Northeast suppressed the price very low, with an attitude of 'sell if you want, get lost if you don't'. So only a few cargo ships collected coconuts as quickly as possible and transported them to China.

However, with the attitude that American merchants would be bastards if they didn't make money when they could, the merchants didn't feel they were being squeezed on price. After all, decades ago, American merchants crossed the Pacific to sell ice to southern China, and they did it anyway. Compared to ice, the transport difficulty of coconuts was much smaller.

Learning that several thousand-ton cargo ships had arrived in the Northeast from the Philippines, British Minister Alston frowned. Suddenly several American ships arriving in the Northeast—what could they be selling? Could it be some war-related materials?

Not only did the British think so, but the Japanese side, upon hearing the news, was also quite tense. But intercepting American merchant ships at sea was a very strong signal. As early as 1913 when the US Great White Fleet circumnavigated the globe, Japan had become reassured about US naval power. Although the Great White Fleet had a large number of battleships, they were all pre-dreadnought battleships and could not contend with Japan's dreadnoughts. But this did not mean that Japan could do whatever it wanted in the Yellow Sea.

It was already mid-April. The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters immediately asked the front-line commander, General Terauchi Hisaichi, when the next round of attacks would begin.

General Terauchi Hisaichi, facing the urging from the headquarters, actually had a calm expression. After two infantry attacks, the Japanese infantry had suffered heavy casualties. After the second attack, not only did the headquarters stop urging for attacks, but the various Division Commanders also changed from a state of excitement to being very rational.

If after experiencing two attacks with a total of over 400,000 casualties, there was still any Division Commander who maintained an attitude of attacking despite the risk of being crushed to pieces, General Terauchi Hisaichi would not hesitate to fulfill this Division Commander's wish for him and his division.

Looking at Lieutenant General Nagata Tetsuzan, known as the 'Wall of the Empire', General Terauchi asked, "Nagata-kun, how are the preparations?"

Chief of Staff Nagata immediately replied, "Reporting to the Commander, as soon as the heavy artillery from the rear arrives, we can attack."

General Terauchi did not see the figure of Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ishiwara Kanji, but he did not ask further. He had long noticed that although Nagata and Ishiwara looked harmonious on the surface and cooperated seamlessly, there was actually a deep rift between the two.

What exactly this rift was, General Terauchi did not care. The current situation was already very clear: relying on infantry to fill the gaps with their lives, it was impossible to breach the Yalu River defense line no matter what. Nagata Tetsuzan proposed using a large number of heavy artillery to destroy this defense line. Terauchi Hisaichi also fully agreed.

And General Terauchi Hisaichi already had plans. Regardless of whether the subsequent attacks succeeded, he would leave the position of Commander of the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army. The current Minister of War, General Yamanashi Hanzō, was not in good health and had not shown the ability to adapt to the current level of war development. General Yamanashi Hanzō also believed he was not suitable to serve as the wartime Minister of War. With the operation of the forces behind General Terauchi supporting him, it was basically certain that Terauchi Hisaichi would succeed as the Minister of War.

At this moment, the heavy burden of Japan's future pressed on Terauchi Hisaichi's shoulders. General Terauchi had absolutely no mind to focus on the rifts between his subordinates. Moreover, Nagata Tetsuzan was already the recognized leader in the Japanese Army after Terauchi Hisaichi's generation of generals. As for the evaluation of Ishiwara Kanji, in the core circle of the Army and among the core high-level officials of Japan, no one considered Ishiwara Kanji to be 'one of us'.

Of course, this did not affect Ishiwara Kanji's status. Even if he wasn't 'one of us', Ishiwara Kanji was still one of the few famous generals in the Japanese Army. The Army still needed Lieutenant General Ishiwara Kanji to display his strength and would provide space for him to do so... as long as it wasn't a position that held decision-making power.

Terauchi Hisaichi asked, "Nagata-kun, do you feel you have the ability to act as the Commander of the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army Headquarters?"

Nagata Tetsuzan's expression remained unchanged, and he replied respectfully, "The Commander of the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army Headquarters must be a general of high prestige. This subordinate's resume is not yet sufficient to convince the public."

After confirming Nagata Tetsuzan's view, Terauchi Hisaichi understood that Nagata Tetsuzan had not been carried away by his current status. He knew very well that the war ahead would be very difficult, and the Commander of the Manchuria-Mongolia Expeditionary Army would have to bear the responsibility.

"Then please perform well in the position of Chief of Staff, Nagata-kun," Terauchi Hisaichi replied.

The war between the Northeast Government and Japan seemed to have been forgotten by both sides from March to early May. Just in the early summer on May 1st, inside many gun emplacements secretly built by the Japanese army on the Korean side of the Yalu River, dozens of 200-300mm giant cannons were pushed into position. As the operations were completed, the Yalu River bank, which had been quiet for a long time, trembled slightly again.

At the very front of the Yalu River defense line, the multi-row pyramidal reinforced concrete pile abatis defense system, called 'Dragon's Teeth' by the Northeast Army, was the first to be hit. The reinforced concrete piles of the structure were blown to smithereens directly. Apart from huge craters on the ground, nothing remained. It was as if these objects had never existed there.

And just at this moment, the Northeast Army's 250mm fortress cannons also emitted dull sounds like the roaring of monsters, firing huge shells at the Japanese artillery positions.

150mm field howitzers and 120mm field howitzers were undoubtedly devastating in field battles. However, in front of the power displayed by fortress cannons and siege cannons with calibers over 200mm, they seemed like small water pistols spraying against each other.

Inside Shenyang city, hundreds of kilometers away, those with keen senses could slightly perceive vibrations that ordinary people could not feel. As for the seismograph needles in the Seismological Institute under the Northeast Government's Geological Bureau, they had already begun to swing back and forth with considerable amplitude. The power of the shelling from both sides had already triggered the effect of a micro-earthquake.

This artillery duel lasted less than an hour before it ended, and it was the Japanese army that stopped shelling first. The faces of the Japanese officers and staff officers who had prepared for this artillery duel for two months were very grim. On the contrary, Nagata Tetsuzan's expression remained unchanged. At this point, the Northeast and Japan had shifted from competing in army combat effectiveness to competing in industrial strength.

The performance of the Northeast Army's heavy artillery around 250mm caliber merely proved the bad part of Nagata Tetsuzan's prediction. The Northeast already had the ability to manufacture true fortress cannons; Japan's industrial strength was not enough to overwhelm the Northeast Army.

But this was not enough to make Nagata Tetsuzan make concessions. The Northeast Army had strength, but did they have the corresponding reserves?

Except for those heavy cannons destroyed in the artillery duel, the other heavy cannons were moved backward. Their maximum range no longer covered the Northeast Army's fortress bunker area, but covered the front part of the Yalu River defense line. Nagata Tetsuzan did not believe that the Northeast Army had the ability to manufacture fortress cannons exceeding the range of Japanese heavy artillery. Since they couldn't destroy the Northeast Army's fortresses, how much large-caliber artillery bombardment could the front part of the Northeast Army's Yalu River defense line withstand?

The next day, the shelling began again. This time, the front part of the Yalu River defense line was ravaged and destroyed by the fierce Japanese artillery fire. The shelling did not end until the afternoon.

On the third day, when Nagata Tetsuzan observed from a high place with binoculars, he saw to his astonishment that the small front part of the Yalu River defense line that had been destroyed yesterday had actually been repaired.

The 'Dragon's Teeth' were arranged neatly, and the ground had unexpectedly been filled with earth. Although some incomplete parts left after the bombardment could still be seen, it was still repaired by the Northeast Army.

Nagata's face finally turned grim. He ordered his subordinate, who had a look of disbelief on his face, "Continue bombarding!"

The artillery duel proceeded indifferently. The sound of shelling from both sides rang non-stop like children fighting during the Spring Festival. Yet there were not many casualties.

At this time, Ishiwara Kanji, who was promoting the latest tactical arrangements in the troops, finished a big lecture for junior officers. He walked out of the large tent located in a safe place and listened to the rolling sound of cannons in the distance.

Lieutenant General Ishiwara Kanji did not regret falling out with Nagata Tetsuzan. Even if the method Nagata Tetsuzan chose was the most effective and fastest at this time, and also minimized casualties among officers and soldiers to the greatest extent, Ishiwara Kanji still did not change his judgment of the outstanding personnel in the Japanese army at present.

As long as these people continued to hold power, ordinary Japanese officers and soldiers would be sent to the battlefield to die meaninglessly. The flesh and blood and lives of ordinary officers and soldiers were just bargaining chips in the struggle among Japan's high-level officials. For these officers and soldiers themselves and their families, this way of dying was meaningless.

Although Ishiwara Kanji could not change anything now, at least by improving the understanding of war among grassroots officers and soldiers, and by perfecting the transport and treatment of the wounded in the army, he could minimize casualties among officers and soldiers and let more grassroots officers and soldiers return to their hometowns alive.

The artillery duel thus proceeded. Because no tragic casualties erupted, the news did not pay much attention.

But those who truly knew the trade were shocked by this news. Especially the British military personnel in China; they were made quite tense by this. Even experts in gunnery and artillery like the Commander of the Yangtze River Fleet and the Artillery Training Commander were invited to the capital to attend meetings.