In June, a naval battle broke out between the US and Japanese navies in the Ryukyu Islands, led by the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carrier battle group. And the Japanese concentrated the main fleet and elite air forces in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. However, the Japanese army fought to the death to no avail. In this battle, the US military only paid the price of minor damage to two aircraft carriers, two battleships, and one cruiser, and none of the battleships were sunk. In this battle, the US military paid the loss of 117 carrier-based aircraft and won an absolute victory in the naval battle.

The combined fleet of the Japanese army can be said to have lost all its capital and suffered heavy losses. In this battle, the main aircraft carrier of the Japanese Combined Fleet sank 3 ships and 2 oil tankers. Three aircraft carriers were damaged, one battleship, one cruiser and one tanker. The Japanese lost more than 400 carrier-based aircraft and more than 300 shore-based aircraft, of which the battle loss rate of carrier-based aircraft reached almost 92 percent, which was almost completely annihilated. In addition, the Japanese army dispatched 36 attack submarines, 20 of which were sunk. The Japanese army lost its ocean-going combat capability, air support was lost, and the Japanese navy completely lost its ability to confront the US navy.

The Combined Fleet narrowly escaped the annihilation of the entire army, and the next step was to retreat to the mainland for coastal defense. After the end of the Taiwan Campaign, the U.S. military frequently bombed the Japanese mainland from the Mariana Islands and Taipei airfields, and the Japanese army's military industrial enterprises and factories supporting the war were devastated. In order to strengthen the coastal defense of the Japanese army, the Japanese base camp requisitioned and transferred the Bohai Bay warships back to the Japanese mainland, which then caused the Bohai Bay to be in a vacuum and created conditions for the Chinese army to land in the northeast.

In early July, the U.S. military began the Ryukyu Campaign, first attacking the Sakishima Islands. The US ground forces are concentrated in Taipei, close to the water, but the US army's land forces are N notches behind the performance of the navy. The total strength of the Japanese army on the Sakishima Islands was only 9,000 men, and they stubbornly defended without air support. The US military dispatched nearly 50,000 troops from four divisions, not including aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, and only one part of the US 14th Air Force and the 21st Air Force in Taiwan, with 500 shore-based combat aircraft.

The US ground forces, with strong fire support from the sea and the air, captured the Sakishima Islands in mid-September. All 9,000 Japanese soldiers were killed, while the American army paid the price of 15,000 soldiers. In particular, the U.S. military launched an attack on Shiheng Island, losing nearly 10,000 casualties among its soldiers. Next, the U.S. military will face the Kereima Islands, with Okinawa as the core island. In order to speed up the advance of the U.S. military to the Japanese mainland, its main Pacific Fleet will assist the U.S. forces in the Mariana Islands and launch the Battle of Iwo Jima, aiming at Tokyo.

After the Japanese army withdrew from the eastern part of the Shandong Peninsula and lost the defensive operation around the Bohai Bay, it was next to face a decisive battle in the northeast. The Chinese army took the opportunity to enter Outer Mongolia, and Okamura seemed to see another change. Outer Mongolia has a bearing on the huge interests of Soviet Russia, and it is impossible for Soviet Russia to turn a deaf ear. Therefore, Okamura first put on a posture of stubborn resistance in the Beijing-Tianjin area and stubbornly defended in Tianjin. In fact, his real purpose was to stabilize the defense on the front line of Shanhaiguan and delay the enemy's entry into the northeast.

As Okamura Ninji judged, after the Chinese army entered Outer Mongolia, Soviet Russia really began to recruit troops from the Eastern Front, so the pressure on the Manchuria front line was sharply reduced. Just when Okamura Ninji felt a little relieved, the Japanese base camp ordered the requisition of all Japanese warships in Bohai Bay, especially the task force stationed at the Lushun Naval Base, back to the Japanese mainland. After the U.S. forces captured the Sakishima Islands, they immediately launched the Battle of Iwo Jima in the waters southeast of Tokyo Bay. This move by the US military was directly related to the safety of the homeland, so the Japanese army base camp had no choice but to adopt the strategy of making up for the dead.

The Japanese base camp had insight into the U.S. military's intentions to ensure that Iwo Jima was not lost, but this move disrupted Okamura Ninji's strategic deployment in the northeast. In particular, the transfer of the Japanese task force at the Lushun Naval Base has opened the Bohai Sea, especially Liaodong Bay, to the open door, which means that Okamura Ningji's maritime defense line is basically in an undefended state. The loss of the maritime defense line forced Okamura Ninji to strengthen anti-landing operations along the coasts of Dalian, Lushun, and Liaodong Bay.

At present, the enemy army has a strong air power and a strong sea force, and the landing operation is as easy as a breeze. How to accurately determine the location of the enemy's landing was a difficult problem for Okamura. There were many landing sites in Dalian, Lushun, and Liaodong Bay, and it was impossible for him to send heavy troops to guard every suitable landing site. According to the needs of defense, the decisive battle in the northeast is imminent, and now the Japanese army has sent the headquarters of the Chinese army to move to Mukden. Okamura Ninji racked his brains, and while the base camp was strategically maneuvering, he skillfully retreated from the Chinese battlefield and better preserved the elite troops of the Japanese army.

Although the base camp continued to recruit troops from the northeast, the vital forces that were successfully withdrawn from the Guannai effectively supplemented the shortage of troops in the northeast. At present, there are 30 first-line combat divisions and 20 second-line combat divisions and regiments defending the northeast, including other auxiliary combat units, with a total strength of nearly 2 million. If the maritime defense line is stable, Okamura Ninji is extremely confident that he will defend firmly in the depth of Shanhaiguan and even Jinzhou, and the forces in his hands will also be at ease. However, the maritime defense line was completely lost, and Okamura Ninji had to divide his forces to strengthen the anti-landing operations along the coast of Liaodong Bay.

With the approach of the Great War, Mukden City was shrouded in an atmosphere of war. At this time, in the Japanese headquarters, Commander Okamura Ninji, his eyes were silent when he looked at the northeast military deployment map. It is his bounden duty to fight on the battlefield as a soldier, and this is the only choice. The fate of the defeat of the Japanese Empire and the defensive operations on the mainland were not under his control, but the northeast was under his control, so the decisive battle in the northeast was the final destination of his life.

A shrill siren sounded outside, and Okamura Ninji seemed indifferent. The chief of staff of the Japanese army walked in and said: "Commander, the enemy has started air raids again, you better go into the bomb shelter for safety!" "Chief of Staff, the enemy army does not dare to bomb the city, for the safety of their compatriots, they will never go beyond the thunder pool, don't worry." "Commander, since late September, there have been fierce battles in the sky for eight consecutive days, and enemy fighters have frequently made sorties from Beiping Airport and Tianjin Airport. Didn't think about the enemy air force units, which are getting stronger and stronger. ”

"The Zero team that we are proud of is no match for the enemy at all. In just 8 days, Team Zero was completely lost. The old fighters were even more vulnerable, and our accumulated aviation elite was crushed. Nowadays, the airspace of the Northeast is already the domain of the enemy, and the glory of the Imperial Air Force is gone forever. The chief of staff of the Japanese army sighed. The Imperial Air Force warriors did their best, this is the war potential, and we must face it. Are there any movements of the enemy forces? ”

"Intelligence shows that the enemy's 4th Corps and 8th Corps will join the Shanhaiguan Pass, and it is estimated that they will soon launch an offensive. The enemy's elite 1st Corps remained unmoved in Tianjin, while the elite 2nd Corps and 9th Corps remained in Taiwan. Based on the situation at the front, there is one thing I do not understand why the elite of the enemy army does not move. The enemy's 8th Corps and 4th Corps had average combat effectiveness, but they appeared under the Shanhai Pass. Okamura sneered: "There are political factors involved, and China's national conditions are not something that ordinary people can understand." ”

"At present, the Communist Party is getting stronger and stronger, and the Kuomintang is already yesterday's yellow flower. You see, the northwest, Jiangxi, northern Jiangsu, Taiwan, and even the eastern coast of Chinese mainland have all become the sphere of influence of the Communist Party. The 4th Corps and the 8th Corps are the descendants of ******, and there can only be one explanation for this situation, Lao Chiang wants to monopolize the northeast. In addition, another elite unit of the enemy army went out of Outer Mongolia and had to face Soviet Russia. This situation is very favorable to us, and my greatest fear at the moment is that the enemy will launch a landing operation. ”

"Commander, according to intelligence, the warships of the US First Fleet appeared in the port of Tanggu in Tianjin, and the signs of the enemy's attempt to launch a landing operation are very obvious. The General Staff Headquarters believes that the first place for the enemy's landing is Yingkou, and the second choice is Huludao. The purpose of choosing Yingkou was to capture Mukden as soon as possible and go straight to the heart. Choosing Huludao to land can form a southeastern flank attack on the front-line defensive forces of our Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou, and take advantage of the situation to encircle and annihilate the first-line defensive forces of Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou. ”

Okamura Ninji shook his head and said, "With what I know about Lao Jiang, his appetite has swelled. In order to salvage the reputation of defeat since the war in China. He will not only monopolize the northeast, but also destroy our main forces and cooperate with the US military to create conditions for landing on the Korean Peninsula. In order to achieve the goal of this campaign, Lao Chiang would definitely use the 9th Corps in southern Taiwan to launch a landing operation. To sum up, I believe that the place where the enemy launched the landing operation was neither Yingkou nor Huludao but Dalian. ”

The chief of staff of the Japanese army showed a puzzled expression, "If the enemy wants to completely annihilate the troops in our northeast, it must cut off the connection between the northeast of the Yalu River and the Korean Peninsula, so as to finally achieve the goal of the campaign. If the enemy succeeds in landing in Dalian, it can drive straight along the Liaodong Peninsula and take Dandong as quickly as possible, blocking the connection between the northeast and the Korean Peninsula, and then forming an encirclement trend. As for Huludao, it is not considered, Yingkou is a good landing site. ”

"But choosing to land in Yingkou is very risky. If the enemy forces on the front line of Shanhaiguan cannot break through as soon as possible, the enemy troops landing at Yingkou will have to face pressure from three sides, especially the east-west attack, and the landing force may be completely annihilated. The premise of choosing to land at Yingkou is that the enemy forces on the front line of Shanhaiguan must break through in order to ensure the absolute safety of the troops landing at Yingkou. From what I know about Lao Jiang, he would never take such a risk. If it is the front line of the Eighth Route Army's Chen Bingshan Customs, I will have to consider it. ”

"Immediately order the General Staff Headquarters to draw up a new defensive deployment for Dalian and the Liaodong Peninsula!" Okamura was indeed extraordinary, and the landing operation site planned by the Ministry of National Defense was Dalian, and Okamura accurately judged the landing site, which then added unimaginable difficulties to the decisive battle in the northeast. The Japanese army has been operating in the northeast for more than ten years, and it can basically be regarded as a base area for the Japanese army. Okamura Ninji accurately judged the landing site, thus delaying the capture of the Tohoku.