The Bohai Sea.
The Bohai Sea is an inland sea of the Yanhuang Empire, nestled between the Liaodong Peninsula and the Shandong Peninsula.
The average depth of the Bohai Sea is eighteen meters, with the deepest point reaching seventy meters.
Large warships are affected by the depth of the water during combat, but smaller warships are not. This is especially true for Red Alert destroyers, weighing around 5,000 tons, and landing craft, carrying several thousand tons of cargo, with hundreds of them spread across the sea surface!
On the flagship, within the commander's room, the captain received an order from Lin Zheng.
"Commander Lin said this landing operation... is a rehearsal for the future landing on Fusang, and in the future there will be even larger scale landings on Fusang!"
"The destroyers will launch a missile barrage, destroying 20 of the Japanese coastal defenses!"
Whiz——!
Whiz——!
Whiz——!
The Red Alert destroyers' decks revealed vertical launch units for Medusa cruise missiles, among others. Lin Zheng's technology laboratory had modified them into all-purpose models capable of air, ground, and sea attacks.
Around 300 missiles landed on the Tianjing defense line!
The Japanese had built over 20 coastal defense guns along the shoreline, ranging from 150mm to 203mm. All twenty coastal defense gun emplacements were covered!
Boom boom boom
A series of intense explosions precisely targeted every coastal defense gun position!
The Japanese were torn apart, limbs flying!
The ammunition depots of the coastal defense gun emplacements were detonated, sending plumes of smoke into the air.
Thud thud thud.
Over 10 Red Alert destroyer formations began firing their 154mm high-angle, dual-purpose guns. Each shell fired sent a casing bouncing on the deck!
Dense 154mm shells pounded the positions of the Japanese 27th Division!
Close-in weapon systems are essential defensive weapons on warships, firing at a rate of 10,000 rounds per minute. They are extremely expensive to operate, although wartime industrial production makes the ammunition cheaper. Still, they consume tens of thousands of dollars per minute.
Transport ships were very common during World War II, for example, those of the American or Japanese empires.
Transport ships are a reflection of a nation's industrial strength, requiring a complete industrial system.
A German observation team, with their blond hair and blue eyes, watched the battle with astonishment. They buzzed with discussion, debating the newer combat tactics of the war.
…
Tianjing is less than fifty kilometers from the coast, and the Japanese had deployed three lines of defense across the fifty kilometers.
The Japanese defense lines became meat grinders, with their positions decimated!
The 27th Division used their flesh and blood to hold back the advance for half an hour.
One regiment and the heavy artillery regiment of the 27th Division were completely wiped out.
"What defense lines? Our flesh and blood are our defense lines!" roared the commander of the 27th Division, Kato Win.
He was filled with fear, because he couldn't contact Commander Yan Jun Liu.
Where had the commander of the North China Expeditionary Force disappeared to?
At this moment, Commander Yan Jun Liu had been promoted to the rank of Field Marshal.
His exalted position made him one of the highest figures in the Fusang Empire.
He was about to enter the Fusang Cabinet with his distinguished achievements!
The Sanryo Ichi-shiki land attack aircraft, with its thick fuselage resembling three large cigars, carried Commander Yan Jun Liu as he fled towards the Kwantung Army airport.
He intended to transfer to the airport and return to Fusang proper.
The plane had just reached the Qinhuangdao region, close to the Shanhai Pass!
Commander Yan Jun Liu's heart pounded in his chest!
He hurriedly looked towards the distant sky!
It turned out to be a seaplane, emblazoned with the Red Alert emblem. The Red Alert destroyer formations occasionally deployed seaplanes, as these aircraft had pontoons, making it easier to recover them from the sea.
Seaplanes are not as powerful as land-based aircraft, but the Red Alert seaplanes performed almost as well as jet planes...
Just as Commander Yan Jun Liu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, his eyes widened!
For the seaplane was rapidly closing in on his aircraft!
Baga! How could it be so fast!!
Too fast!!
One of the escorting Zero fighters had its right wing pierced by cannon fire, spiraling down to crash on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Sanryo Ichi-shiki land attack aircraft carrying Commander Yan Jun Liu clumsily tried to dodge the cannon fire, but was hit hard and exploded in the air!
Yan Jun Liu, the mastermind behind the invasion of China, died in front of the Shanhai Pass.
…
The Shanhai Pass defense line.
A Japanese Major General, with a military saber in one hand and binoculars in the other, surveyed the battlefield.
He saw the clash between the Fusang warplanes and the Red Alert warplanes.
The Major General led a group of several hundred Japanese soldiers to the crash site of the Fusang aircraft.
From the bodies in the aircraft's cockpit, they identified several Army staff officers, the Commander's radio, and a high-level codebook—critical items.
The Japanese Major General was so terrified that he couldn't even hold his saber straight!
What rank of official could have been equipped with such things?
Damn it!
When they dug out the body of Commander Yan Jun Liu, who died a dignified death in his military uniform, his face serene.
The Japanese Major General was so shocked that he dropped his saber!
"This... this is Commander Yan Jun Liu! The commander of the North China Expeditionary Force!"
The Japanese soldiers were all stunned. A Fusang officer of such high rank had been killed right under their noses!
This was serious. They would definitely be demoted or worse. Their faces turned pale.
The Japanese Major General's voice trembled as he said, "I suspect Commander Yan Jun Liu was trying to escape! Secretly dispose of his body! Don't let anyone know about it!"
One of the Major General's subordinates, in a display of traditional insubordination, reported Commander Yan Jun Liu's death to Tokyo! When Prime Minister Tojo learned the truth, he exploded with rage. Emperor Hirohito, enraged, overturned his table!
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