High above.
Feng Yong's eyes were cold as iron. Through the cockpit glass, he watched the enemy soldiers scattering in panic below with detached indifference.
The words Young Marshal Zhang Xueming had spoken to him echoed in his mind.
"Feng Yong, I'm entrusting you with the skies over the Northeast."
"From this day forward, there will be only one kind of aircraft flying in these skies: our Feng Army's planes."
He pressed the radio button, his words brief and firm.
"First Squadron, once you've cleared the ground of those stragglers, climb immediately and head due south."
"We have guests."
"Remember, the skies over the Three Eastern Provinces don't welcome any flies that weren't invited."
"Not a single one gets in!"
Outside Pine Town.
Artillery fire stained the sky a filthy orange.
Yingzhou Naval Base had also been plunged into a sea of flames.
It was the cradle of the Huaxia Navy, yet not a single regular Feng Army soldier was stationed there to defend it.
The Japanese Army had clearly counted on that. As they launched a fierce assault on Pine Town, they also sent a large force straight at the heart of the navy, which had no army garrison at all.
In the hastily dug, rudimentary fortifications around the base, a group of young men in spotless white naval cadet uniforms used sandbags and shell craters for cover, firing desperately at the enemy.
They were so young.
Their faces still held the last traces of boyish innocence, but the rifles in their hands burned hot.
Their white uniforms were already smeared with gunpowder, dirt, and their comrades' blood.
The fighting had reached a fever pitch.
"Platoon Leader! The east side can't hold much longer! The Japs are coming!"
A cadet, his face covered in blood, screamed at the top