Courtyard House: Home Alone

By the time he arrived in Tianjin, it was already dark. Instead of going to his base, he went directly to a deserted beach near Tanggu, launched the 022 boat, and prepared to head to Lushun overnight.

In this way, he will have a whole day tomorrow to thoroughly scout out Lushun.

He started the engine, and the silver-white hull silently slid into the dark sea, taking advantage of the cover of night to speed towards Lushunkou.

The sea breeze blew against the glass windows of the cockpit, carrying a salty, cool feeling. Lin Yifan stared at the navigation radar display screen, his right hand resting on the rudder, his mental energy already spread out, carefully scanning the sea area along the way.

With smooth sailing all the way, just as dawn was breaking, the 022 submarine quietly docked behind a secluded rocky beach outside Lushun Port. Lin Yifan put away the submarine, changed into a student uniform in his spatial dimension, checked the prepared documents, and teleported into Lushun City.

The teleportation point he chose was a deserted courtyard. Judging from the house's decor, the owner was probably a Japanese soldier. He sat down on the tatami mats inside, took out some dry rations and braised meat from the static storage in his space, and ate them with the spiritual spring water.

After eating and drinking his fill, he began to release his spiritual power to carefully examine the situation within his domain. What he saw ignited his fury.

His current area of ​​surveillance has a radius of twenty kilometers, covering almost the entire area except for the port of Lushun. He discovered that, apart from a small shantytown in the west of the city inhabited by Chinese people, the rest of the area was inhabited by Japanese.

These remaining Chinese people were probably left behind by the Japanese to clean up the city's garbage, because there were garbage trucks and septic tank trucks parked in front of their shantytowns. Some of them had already gone out to work, and they were all emaciated and starving, unable to even afford proper clothes.

Seeing this, Lin Yifan clenched his fists, and the fire in his heart burned even brighter.

He suppressed his anger and continued to inspect the Japanese city defenses and garrison. After memorizing everything within his area, he teleported again to another empty house he had previously scouted.

Then, he carefully examined the surroundings again, and the coastal defense batteries next to Lushun Port also came into his field of vision.

The Japanese coastal defense batteries were built quite well hidden, with most of them concealed inside the mountains, leaving only the cannon muzzles facing the sea outside the harbor.

Moreover, each fort was surrounded by thick reinforced concrete fortifications, and was also covered with layers of barbed wire and minefields. The Japanese soldiers stationed there were all elite troops from the Japanese Kwantung Army, with a regiment of soldiers guarding the forts alone.

Lin Yifan memorized the location of each artillery position, troop deployment, and access routes, and also figured out the rotation schedule of the Japanese garrison. He slowly began to plan his attack.

The Japanese had about one regiment in the outer city defense fortifications and military camps, plus the coastal defense troops on the shore artillery platforms. The regular army had a total of two regiments, plus about a thousand policemen and a battalion of military police, which made up another two thousand people.

In addition, during his inspection, he discovered that many ordinary Japanese merchants and residents also kept a large number of weapons in their homes, which was a true case of the entire population being mobilized for war.

If the main force were to advance like this, and we were truly surrounded by enemies on all sides, the casualties and losses would be unimaginable. Therefore, we must first capture the city's fortifications and coastal artillery positions, control the outer city defenses and the port, and allow the main force to land smoothly. Only then can we gradually eliminate the Japanese troops inside the city and minimize our losses.

Having made up his mind, Lin Yifan carefully put his student ID away, opened the courtyard gate, and slowly walked out, intending to sneak near the fort to verify the details and ensure everything went smoothly when he took action.

The streets were mostly filled with arrogant Japanese soldiers carrying military swords. Occasionally, you would bump into one or two ragged Chinese people, who were cleaning up garbage and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Lin Yifan adjusted his student cap and swaggered towards the dock. Along the way, he encountered several patrols of Japanese military police. His attire clearly identified him as a Japanese, and he did not arouse any suspicion.

The closer you get to the mountain where the fort is located, the denser the sentry posts become. A blockade line is set up at the end of the road, making it impossible for anyone unrelated to get close.

As Lin Yifan walked, he quietly memorized the details of the blockade's deployment and decided on his method of attack—to teleport directly into the artillery command post under the cover of night, take out the Japanese command level first, and then deal with the defenders on the artillery positions one by one, which would be much easier than a direct assault.

He strolled slowly toward the port. The closer he got, the clearer and easier it became to see. He first checked the situation on the dock and the sea. He found that apart from a few small patrol boats and gunboats, there were no other warships.

Meanwhile, the cargo terminal was bustling with activity as cargo ships were loading and unloading goods and minerals.

Lin Yifan was secretly delighted. He wondered where the Japanese main fleet had been transferred to, which saved their main force a lot of trouble in landing.

He pretended to be a student who came to the port to watch the excitement, and mingled among the Japanese soldiers coming and going, learning the dock's loading and unloading schedule and the location of various sentry posts very well.

Seeing that the sun was approaching noon, he found an inconspicuous little restaurant, sat down, ordered a simple meal, and while eating, he sorted out the intelligence he had just gathered in his mind, drawing a detailed map in his mind of all the troop strength and fortification locations.

After finishing his meal and paying the bill, he leisurely strolled out of the restaurant, found a quiet alley, slipped inside, and instantly returned to the small courtyard where he had stayed that morning.

After closing the door and sitting down on the tatami, he took out the telegraph machine from his spatial storage, placed it on the low table, and sent an encrypted telegram to Commander Chen, reporting back in detail the current defense situation in Lushun, the number of Japanese troops stationed there, and the situation at the port.

At the same time, he was instructed to inform Li Yunlong of his call sign and to send him a telegram as soon as he arrived at Lushunkou, as he might be able to take action ahead of schedule. He hoped that they could also lead their team to land as soon as possible.

Then, he sent a telegram to Chen Gongshu, confirming Qi Haishan's hiding place and call sign, and then began to contact Qi Haishan.

Qi Haishan quickly replied with a telegram, saying that he was in a small fishing village outside Lushun City with more than thirty brothers. The others were in the nearby mountains, where there were several hidden caves, and they had managed to hide there.

Meanwhile, some of them had already gathered here five days ago, and they had run out of the dry rations they brought. Most of them hadn't eaten for more than a day. Fortunately, the water supply hadn't run out, as there was spring water in the mountains.

After getting the exact address, Lin Yifan told them to wait where they were, and that he would be there soon. He then put away the telegraph machine, took out a map to confirm the direction and location, and with two teleportations, he appeared at the entrance of the small fishing village.