Strip Category Base

So I have a question, if I choose to remove the category base will existing links throughout the site redirect even though the category is still within the URL?

Eg. I have a url http://www.domainname.com/category/banana and I remove the category base via the rankmath setting so it will be http://www.domainname.com/banana. But in the website’s copy I have a link that is http://www.domainname.com/category/banana.

Will this http://www.domainname.com/category/banana direct to http://www.domainname.com/banana or will I get a 404 error?

Or do I have to change all the links within the website to http://www.domainname.com/banana to work?

Let me know.