Before the East China government entered the war, the Japanese army deployed about 250,000 troops, more than 1,000 artillery pieces of various types, and about 160,000 logistics personnel in Shenyang, and expanded the defense area to 20 kilometers outside Shenyang. After the People's Army broke through the Liaohe River and occupied Liaozhong, Dashanyan transferred back 3 divisions from Shenyang, plus the defense of Liaoyang, plus the remnants of the Fourth Army, and now the defenders of Liaoyang are about 100,000 people.

However, during the armistice period, the People's Army increased its troops to Liaozhong on a large scale, and at this time, the 3rd Army and the 4th Army had arrived on the battlefield, making the total strength of the People's Army reach about 200,000, but the 3rd Army and the 4th Army were temporarily stationed on the west bank of the Liao River, and only the 2nd Army all crossed the Liao River and was stationed on the east bank of the Liao River. But during this time, KPA engineers had built nine bridges over the Liao River, three of which were wooden bridges that could pass through all the KPA artillery, while the remaining six were pontoon bridges that personnel could pass on. Therefore, there was no obstacle at all for the People's Army to cross the Liao River.

Although the Japanese army did not have planes to reconnoiter in the air, it also sent a large number of reconnaissance personnel, so it had a relatively obvious understanding of the people's army's troop dispatch and arrangement, and such a situation naturally caused tremendous pressure on the Japanese army, but at this time the Japanese army could no longer draw troops from Shenyang, after all, the transfer of 1 or 2 divisions to Liaoyang would not play a big role, and the more troops mobilized, would affect Shenyang's defense.

It was not until Japan decided to abandon Shenyang that the Japanese army breathed a sigh of relief, and finally did not have to worry about troops. However, it is not easy to withdraw troops from Shenyang, because in addition to arranging a large number of combat and logistics personnel in Shenyang, the Japanese army has also gathered a large amount of food, ammunition, and other materials totaling hundreds of thousands of tons, and Japan is small and narrow, and resources are scarce, and now that the East China government has obtained the right to control the sea, it will be extremely difficult for Japan to transport materials to Liaodong in the future, and these materials will still be needed in future wars, so it is even more impossible to give up these materials, and they must all be transported back to Liaoyang.

Although there is a railway between Shenyang and Liaoyang, the Japanese army now has only three trains, and the transportation demand of one train is only more than 1,000 tons, even if it is running at full capacity, it can only transport about 10,000 tons of materials a day. Therefore, rail transport alone is not enough. Fortunately, the Japanese army still had more than 10,000 mules, horses, and livestock, and about 3,000 vehicles of various kinds, all of which were also used for transportation.

Moreover, Oyama Iwa also decided to send Kodama Gentaro to Shenyang to sit in Shenyang and preside over the withdrawal of troops. After all, the withdrawal of troops has always been the most difficult project in military operations, and the slightest carelessness will turn into a major rout, not to mention that this time the Japanese army will withdraw under the noses of the People's Army and the Russian army, and it will also cede Shenyang to the Russian army, and it is best to lead the Russian army and the People's Army to fight for Shenyang. Such a difficult job can only be relieved by handing it over to Gentaro Kodama and Oyama Iwa.

Kodama Gentaro was also well aware of his heavy responsibility, so after arriving in Shenyang, he ordered the materials to be loaded one after another and transported back to Liaoyang, and on the other hand, he withdrew the troops on the periphery of Shenyang to shrink his troops, and at the same time increased his troops in Changtan Town, Xinmintun and other places in the southwest of Shenyang to prevent the People's Army from attacking Shenyang, and also to ensure the safety of the railway line from Shenyang to Liaoyang.

In fact, Kodama Gentaro is not very worried about the attack of the Russian army, because although the Russian army's individual combat ability is strong, the overall organization and command ability is insufficient, and the Japanese army also has a psychological advantage over the Russian army, and after the end of the Battle of Mukden, the Japanese army built a large number of fortifications north of Shenyang, so even if the Russian army attacks, the Japanese army can resist for a while.

But the People's Army is different, they have just joined the war, they are the new force, they have fought very well at the beginning, and now they are in full swing, and during this time, Kankodama Gentaro also took the opportunity to conduct a serious study of the Liaohe Campaign, believing that the People's Army's organizational and command capabilities are far above the Russian army, so the People's Army must not be underestimated.

The withdrawal of the Japanese army began in earnest on May 27, and Oyama Iwa also began to consider increasing the strength of the Dandong area, ordering the remaining 1st and 9th Divisions of the 3rd Army and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade to be incorporated into the 4th Army, under the command of Nozu Michikan, and rushed back to reinforce the Dandong area.

In the Battle of the Liao River, Nozu Michikan decisively withdrew his troops, preserved the two reserve brigades of the 4th Army, and organized the remnants of the other units of the 4th Army into a reserve brigade, as well as an artillery wing and an engineer wing, plus a cavalry brigade of these two divisions, with a total strength of 62,000 troops. Now the Japanese army is stationed in Dandong is the Yalu River Army, which was formed at the end of 1904, and the commander is Lieutenant General Kawamura Keimei, under the jurisdiction of the 11th Division, the 1st Reserve Division, the 16th Reserve Brigade, and the 59th Reserve Wing, with a total of about 53,000 people.

The purpose of the establishment of this corps was to guard the Yalu River and ensure the retreat of the Japanese army, and the garrison area included Phoenix City, Jiulian City, and Andong County, with a range of about 50 kilometers in length and width. and Sinuiju on the east bank of the Yalu River, where the headquarters of the legion was located in Jiuliancheng.

After the People's Army conquered Lushun, Kawamura Jingming also felt pressure, because there was no need at all, the next step of the People's Army that captured Lushun was definitely to attack the Dandong area, although he had more than 50,000 troops in his hands, but most of the troops had just been formed, and the combat effectiveness was not strong, and even a cow like Nogi Noshinori was defeated by the People's Army, so Kawamura Jingming had no bottom in his heart, so he rescued the Manchurian Army Headquarters in Liaoyang, and on the other hand, ordered the Japanese troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula to gather troops and recruit Koreans to join the army to strengthen their own troops. However, the Japanese troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula were also reserves, and the army formed by the Koreans was even more unreliable, and it was better than nothing, and Kawamura Keiaki's main hope was pinned on reinforcements from the Manchurian Army Headquarters.

But at that time, Liaoyang's own garrison forces were not enough, so what about the troops that still had troops to reinforce the Dandong area? Dashanyan had no choice but to stabilize Kawamura Jingming with words first, hoping to make up for it, and at least squeeze out a division to reinforce the Dandong area, Dashanyan of course knew the importance of the Dandong area, and once Dandong was lost, then these hundreds of thousands of troops and logistics personnel would follow in the footsteps of Nogi Noshinori, and there was only one way to be loyal to the imperial country.

However, just yesterday, Kawamura Keiaki sent another telegram asking for help, saying that he had discovered that the People's Army was moving towards the Dandong area, and had reached the Dayang River, which was about 50 kilometers away from the Dandong area, so the situation had become very critical. Fortunately, it was at this time that Japan decided to abandon Shenyang, and Dashanyan was able to free up his hands to reinforce the Dandong area.

However, although reinforcements can be sent now, it will take at least 3 or 4 days from Liaoyang to the Dandong area, and it can no longer be delayed, so Oyama Iwa can only take the risk of ordering Nozu Michikan to attack on May 28, and on May 30, one division must arrive in Phoenix, and then send a telegram to Kawamura Keiaki, asking him to hold on to the Dandong area.

As soon as Nozu Michikan led the 4th Army Corps away, Liaoyang's garrison was only 40,000 people, and even the basic defense line could not be maintained, but fortunately, on the night of May 27, the first batch of troops to withdraw to Liaoyang arrived, which was the 7th Division, and on the afternoon of May 28, another division and a brigade arrived in Liaoyang, although it could not completely make up for the evacuated army, but at least it could maintain a complete defensive line, so Dashanyan was also relieved, and now he only hoped that the 4th Army could rush to Dandong in time.

On the afternoon of 27 May, based on the reconnaissance planes and the Japanese movements reported by the scouts, the Northeast Theater Command judged that the Japanese army might abandon Shenyang and defend Liaoyang with all its might. Judging logically, the Japanese army's abandonment of Shenyang can not only concentrate its forces and defend Liaoyang, but also pull the Russian army to the battlefield, so that the Russian army will lose its transcendent situation of staying out of the matter, and form a situation of tripartite competition and mutual containment. It would be better if it could trigger a war between the People's Army and the Russian army for Shenyang, so that it would be the turn of the Japanese army to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight.

This judgment of the Northeast Theater Command was also recognized by the Qingdao Military Group, and it admitted that the Japanese army's plan was very clever, which shows that the current Japanese top brass is still very sober-minded and knows how to make trade-offs. However, the East China government has already responded to this, and has reached a resolution with Russia to take what it needs, that is, it does not want to tear up its face with Russia too early. Therefore, the People's Army would not attack Shenyang at this time, and of course it would change to Russia.

Although in this way, the Japanese army strengthened the forces in Liaoyang, but a defensive system was not so easy to establish, and the East China government also had the tactics of mobilizing the Japanese army.

Therefore, the military group immediately suggested to the Northeast Theater Command that military action should not be taken on the western front for the time being, and that the troops of the southern front should first launch an attack on the Dandong area, and the Japanese army's rear road was threatened, so naturally it could not be indifferent, and it was necessary to mobilize troops to reinforce it, and the reinforced army would never be less, so that it could not only weaken the Japanese army strength in Liaoyang, but also hit the morale and confidence of the Japanese army, after all, if the rear road was attacked, anyone would panic, and then the People's Army would launch an attack on Liaoyang, which would naturally be much easier.

In the previous battles, the Qingdao military group directly ordered the troops on the front line to act. Although the level of the Qingdao military group is higher than that of the Northeast Theater Command, from the perspective of management, it is also necessary to respect the authority of the Northeast Theater Command, so in the future, the Qingdao Military Group will not give orders to the troops on the front line, but will directly face the Northeast Theater Command, convey suggestions or orders, and then the Northeast Theater Command will issue orders to other combat units.

After receiving the proposal of the Qingdao military group, the Northeast Theater Command also held discussions overnight, and finally believed that the proposal of the Qingdao military group was more reasonable, and Bi Jing's Japanese garrison in the Dandong area was very weak, and the People's Army attacked the Dandong area first, which could indeed play a role in mobilizing the Japanese army, so the Northeast Theater Command immediately ordered Luo Yue, the commander of the southern front, to order the people's army on the southern front to immediately launch an attack on the Dandong area.