Courtyard House: Home Alone

Lin Yifan smiled and said, "I've thought about this before. You should tell the brothers in charge of the shelter to keep a close eye on things and register everyone when they go in. Anyone with a traceable family background should be placed in a normal place."

Those of unknown origin will be placed in separate areas and monitored by spies. If they are truly up to something, they will naturally slip up.

Besides, every extra refugee we take in means one less person forced by drought to serve as a puppet soldier for the Japanese. It's a worthwhile deal no matter how you look at it.

Furthermore, I reckon Commander Kong will need to recruit more people. With so much equipment on my hands, it's no wonder the Reds are envious. And once they have the equipment, they'll need manpower.

Chen Gongshu suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly: "I understand. I'll go back and make the arrangements right away. I'll make sure this is handled perfectly." After saying that, he got up to take his leave and quickly left the courtyard.

Lin Yifan watched his figure disappear into the alley, then turned to Yu Wenxiu standing to the side and smiled, "Look, the Japanese are giving us an opportunity themselves. Before long, we'll be able to establish a firm foothold in North China."

Yu Wenxiu brought over the teapot and poured tea for Lin Yifan, saying softly, "It's all thanks to your meticulous planning. These past few days, I've seen batches of refugees come over, with food and shelter, and they all remember our kindness."

Lin Yifan smiled, picked up his tea and took a sip. He looked out at the clear sky and had already planned the route for transporting equipment to the Anti-Japanese United Army. He was just waiting for this operation to begin so that he could give the Japanese a good stab in the back in Northeast China.

Yu Wenxiu watched Chen Gongshu's retreating figure, then turned to Lin Yifan with a resentful look and said, "Young Master, you always leave after Master Chen comes. Are you leaving again this time?"

Lin Yifan smiled and reached out to pull her closer, gently stroking the back of her hand with his fingertips as he spoke softly, "I'm not leaving this time. I just got back from the sea and I'm exhausted, so I'll stay home with you for a few days. Oh, by the way, go and call Xia Yan over; I need her to go out for a bit."

Upon hearing this, Yu Wenxiu's face immediately lit up with a smile. She responded and turned to call Xia Yan. A moment later, Xia Yan returned with light steps, smiling as he said, "Young Master, you were looking for me?"

Lin Yifan nodded and said with a smile, "Go see Manager Zhou and ask him to come over. Tell him I need to see him about something."

Xia Yan crisply replied "Okay" and turned to walk out.

Before long, Manager Zhou followed Xia Yan into the room. As soon as he entered, he cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Young master, it's been a long time. I wonder why you asked me to come...?"

Lin Yifan smiled and gestured for him to sit down, then said, "I asked you to come here so you could contact your superiors and tell them that 'Ghost' recently acquired a batch of heavy equipment, including tanks from one armored division and artillery from two divisions. The equipment is all in Beiping. See if they need it. If they do, send someone over to discuss it."

Also, you could ask them how their air force training is going, and if possible, they should get moving.

Our Nanyuan and Xiyuan airports are both in good working order. Let them consider opening an air corridor between your base area and Beiping (Beijing) to facilitate communication between the two.

Shopkeeper Zhou's smile froze instantly. He couldn't help but rub his ears, making sure he hadn't misheard, before abruptly standing up, his voice trembling slightly: "Young master... what did you say? A complete tank division's worth of tanks, and two divisions' worth of artillery? This... this is a huge investment!"

Lin Yifan smiled and took a sip of tea: "A few days ago, 'Ghost' intercepted the Japanese reinforcement fleet off the coast of Jeju Island and brought it all back. These things are just sitting idle in Beiping. If they can use them, they can take them to fight the Japanese."

Just pass on the message. We'll discuss the details when your people arrive.

Manager Zhou nodded repeatedly, took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and hurriedly got up: "I'll send a telegram right away. This news is too important; I need to let the higher-ups know immediately!"

Lin Yifan smiled and stopped him: "No rush, have a cup of tea before you go. Anyway, it won't make a difference if the news gets through a little earlier or later."

Shopkeeper Zhou couldn't sit still any longer. He rubbed his hands together and laughed, "I'll drink the tea when I get back. This news needs to be sent out quickly. The comrades over there will be overjoyed when they find out! Ever since the Japanese raided our stronghold last time, we've been worried about lacking heavy equipment. This is like a pillow delivered just when we were sleepy!"

Seeing how anxious he was, Lin Yifan stopped trying to stop him and got up to hand him a list that had been written down beforehand: "Take this with you. It clearly lists what equipment is included, so they know what to expect and can plan ahead how to transport it."

Shopkeeper Zhou took the package with both hands, carefully folded it, and put it in his pocket, covering it tightly. After thanking him repeatedly, he hurriedly took his leave.

Lin Yifan watched his hurried figure, shook his head with a smile, and turned back to sit in his chair.

Within two days, Manager Zhou brought back a message saying that a representative had been sent from above and was on his way to Beiping. He would arrive in three days at most. The higher-ups also strongly agreed with the proposal to open an aerial corridor, and they were just waiting for the representative to arrive so they could discuss the specific details together.

Lin Yifan had anticipated this, and upon hearing it, he simply nodded and waited at home with peace of mind. He spent the next few days leisurely and peacefully with Yu Wenxiu and Xia Yan.

On the afternoon of the third day, there was a knock on the courtyard gate. In addition to Manager Zhou, a thin middle-aged man wearing a long gown and glasses entered. As soon as he entered, his eyes fell on Lin Yifan, and he took the initiative to extend his hand: "Hello, Mr. Lin, my name is Li Da. I have been ordered by the organization to come and talk to you about equipment."

Lin Yifan smiled and shook hands, inviting the two to sit down. He got straight to the point: "Manager Zhou has already given you the equipment list. The price is negotiable; we'll settle for half the market price. We only want the antiques and gold; the rest can be donated to you guys to fight the Japanese."

Li Da was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then stood up excitedly: "'Ghost' is so righteous, willing to provide us with so much equipment. The soldiers and civilians of our entire base are extremely grateful! On behalf of the organization, thank you in advance!"

He bowed deeply to Lin Yifan, who quickly helped him up and said with a smile, "We're all fighting the Japanese, no need to be so polite. Let's talk about the equipment handover first, and then we can discuss the air corridor. We can settle it all at once."

Li Da nodded repeatedly, sat down, took out paper and pen, and finalized the handover details with Lin Yifan one by one. In no time, the equipment matter was settled.

Considering that it would be very difficult for such a large amount of equipment to pass through enemy-occupied territory, Li Da had received instructions before coming to Beiping to expand Kong Jie's new Second Regiment (which had actually been expanded to 35,000 men) into the Beiping Military Region.

Kong Jie will serve as deputy commander, while the commander will be appointed separately. The exact number of personnel is tentatively set at 60,000, but the Beiping Military Region has complete autonomy in personnel expansion and other aspects.

However, they operated under the name of the Beiping Self-Defense Force. Even their uniforms were designed by Lin Yifan based on those of the German SS.