The War of Resistance Against Japan: Special Operations Battalion Traverses Shanghai and Slaughters

The following day, the eastern and southern fleets of the Longyan People's Army Navy, led by Xie Qiang and Zhou Weiguo, secretly departed from Qingdao Port, heading to the Korean Strait and the East China coast respectively.

Currently, Japan is engaged in a major offensive in Southeast Asia and is at war with the United States in the Pacific.

Therefore, the vast majority of the navy's warships are engaged in combat operations overseas, and thus there are no warships stationed on the Korean Peninsula.

Only a small number of Japanese warships were anchored in some ports in the eastern part of China. These Japanese warships were not even enough to fill the gaps in Zhou Weiguo's southern fleet.

Meanwhile, at the same time that Long Fei was holding a combat meeting, Yan'an also began to issue orders to the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army and other units.

Yan'an ordered all troops to enter combat readiness and actively cooperate with the Longyan People's Army in operations both on the front lines and behind enemy lines.

Meanwhile, Yan'an also ordered all troops to immediately occupy the liberated areas and carry out follow-up work.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist government also noticed unusual activities by the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, but the specific reasons remained unknown.

After careful consideration, WYZ ordered all Nationalist troops at the front to strengthen their vigilance and report any situation immediately.

To ensure the element of surprise in the attack, the attack was scheduled for two hours prior to the scheduled time for each unit.

The Longyan People's Army Air Force took off from airports in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Liaoning.

They carried out indiscriminate bombing of places such as Sinuiju, Kuseong, Jeongju, Ganggye, Sinanju, and Pyongyang on the south bank of the Yalu River in the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the Chinese side launched intensive bombing raids on Japanese airfields and various military targets in Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces.

The Air Force then returned to refuel and reload, and immediately began the second round of bombing.

At this moment, the three army groups launched their attack on schedule.

The Northeast Army had already assembled in Dandong, so it crossed the Yalu River Bridge directly into Goryeo territory.

The troops that crossed the Yalu River, under Chen Yiding's orders, quickly split into two divisions: one division went to surround Sinuiju, and the other division rushed to attack Jiangjie.

The remaining troops quickly advanced towards Dingzhou and Guicheng.

After the Japanese 19th Division, stationed in northern Korea, was attacked by air, Lieutenant General Kamezo Otaka, the division commander in Sinanju, reacted quickly.

He ordered warnings to be sent to other troops within Goryeo and to the main headquarters in Korea.

On the other hand, he ordered the garrison in Sinuiju to send an engineering squad with enough explosives to immediately blow up the Yalu River Bridge.

Otaka Kamezo knew very well that only the Longyan People's Army in Liaoning Province had the strength to launch an offensive against them.

Therefore, he made a decisive decision to blow up the Yalu River Bridge in order to prevent the Longyan People's Army from crossing the river.

What Kamezo Otaka didn't know was that even if he blew up the Yalu River Bridge...

The Northeast Area Army could also build a pontoon bridge large enough for Type 59 tanks to pass through within an hour.

Unfortunately, this small squad of Japanese engineers didn't even reach the Yalu River Bridge.

They then encountered the Dragon Flame People's Army forces that had come to surround Sinuiju, and were all killed within minutes.

The Longyan People's Army, equipped with Type 59 tanks and large-caliber howitzers, was not something the Japanese could contend with.

The Northeast Area Army set out precisely at 6:00 AM, captured Sinuiju at 8:30 AM, took Guicheng at 10:00 AM, and occupied Dingzhou at 12:00 PM.

Around 1 p.m., the division that had raided Jiangjie also reported good news.

Chen Yiding ordered his troops to continue advancing, aiming to cross the Qingchuan River before nightfall and capture Xin'anzhou and Jiachuan.

In addition, Chen Yiding ordered the division that had raided Jiangjie to leave one company behind to await the Northeast Allied Army's takeover, while the rest of the troops continued south along the Langlin Mountains toward Xianxing.

Hidden in Sinanju, Odaka Kame is receiving a constant stream of bad news. He's now like a cat on a hot tin roof, anxiously awaiting instructions from headquarters.

However, the Japanese headquarters was already in chaos, as they received news that their troops in Goryeo had been attacked.

Immediately afterwards, a report was received from Hata Shunroku, stating that airports and military targets in Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces had suffered heavy losses from large-scale air attacks that morning.

In addition, at least 200,000 to 300,000 Longyan troops are launching a full-scale offensive from Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong towards the aforementioned three regions.

The headquarters first reported the situation to Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who then immediately reported it to Amako.

With a furious expression, Tianhuang asked the newly appointed Prime Minister Hideki Tojo how to deal with the situation.

Hideki Tojo didn't expect the Dragon Flame Army to launch an attack so quickly. In his judgment, the Dragon Flame Army's recent silence was likely because they wanted to watch Japan and the United States fight to the death so that he could reap the benefits.

But as things have now proven, his judgment was wrong.

"Your Majesty, the Dragon Flame Legion now boasts a million-strong army. They have not only declared the establishment of the Dragon Flame Kingdom, but have also renamed the Dragon Flame Legion the Dragon Flame People's Army."

"This only shows that Long Fei has great ambitions, and the Empire is currently engaged in a bloody war with the United States in the Pacific, with the outcome uncertain."

"In addition, we have transferred a large number of troops to the Pacific and Southeast Asian battlefields, so we are currently not strong enough to fight against the Dragon Flame Army."

Upon hearing Tojo Hidekichi's words, Tenko's expression grew even more unpleasant.

"Do you want me to make a massive retreat? Do you know how many excellent Imperial soldiers sacrificed their lives to occupy these places? How much strategic material of the Empire was consumed?"

"Your Majesty, I know, but I can only tell you the truth: we must now make a firm decision to abandon the occupation of Chinese territory, and even abandon the Korean Peninsula."

"We must preserve the troops in these two places to confront the powerful United States."

Tianhuang sighed and said, "If we give up, will the Dragon Flame army not attack our homeland?"

Hideki Tojo suddenly laughed: "Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. The Dragon Flame Army has no navy. What will they use to attack our homeland? Will they swim over with a million troops?"

"Furthermore, it takes ten years for the army, fifty years for the air force, and a hundred years for the navy. Even if they wanted to build a navy, it wouldn't be something they could do overnight."

"Once we defeat the United States and occupy the entire Southeast Asia and the Indochina Peninsula, we will concentrate our forces to destroy the Dragon Flame Kingdom and the Dragon Flame Army and avenge our defeat."

Tojo Hidekichi's words put Amako's heart at ease.

“Alright, I agree with you. Then let’s not hesitate, immediately dispatch all ships to bring these elite imperial troops back to the homeland.”

"Hai, I will carry out your order immediately."

After persuading Amako, Hideki Tojo immediately summoned the Minister of the Navy and relevant personnel to formulate an evacuation plan.

At the same time, Hideki Tojo ordered all troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula to immediately retreat south to Busan, and that naval ships would be dispatched to pick them up and return them to the mainland.

In addition, Hideki Tojo also ordered Shunroku Hata to quickly withdraw troops from Henan, Hubei, and Anhui to Jiangsu, and troops from Hunan and Jiangxi to Zhejiang, and then prepare to board ships to return to their homeland.

As for the troops in Guangdong, Fujian, and Hong Kong, Hideki Tojo believed that the fighting would not reach there for the time being, and that they could postpone their plans.