Courtyard House: Home Alone

At this point, the Japanese commander was unaware of the situation on the artillery positions three kilometers behind them. If they had known that the two artillery companies behind them had been completely wiped out, they might have considered retreating. However, that depended on whether Lin Yifan was willing.

The two squadrons preparing for a probing attack were soon only 800 meters from the city wall and 300 meters from the outer bunkers.

With a thought, Lin Yifan sent ten bullets in a group from his spatial storage to the mortar position in front of the Japanese troops.

The bullets silently pierced the heads of the Japanese mortar operators, and in a short time, more than a hundred Japanese soldiers operating mortars and their ammunition handlers fell to the ground.

The remaining Japanese soldiers only saw their comrades fall one after another without any reason, but they didn't even hear the enemy's gunfire, and they were instantly thrown into panic.

Shen Jingbo, on the city wall, seized the opportunity and fired a red signal flare into the air. At the same time, the light and heavy machine guns in the bunker spewed fire, and bullets swept towards the Japanese soldiers who were preparing to charge like water.

The Japanese soldiers hadn't even dug any bunkers beside the open road, so they couldn't withstand the dense hail of bullets. They fell in droves, and those who were lucky enough to escape unscathed could only lie on the ground, too afraid to raise their heads.

Six armored vehicles attempted to advance to cover the infantry, but they hadn't gone far when snipers, who had been lying in ambush on both sides of the road, blew out their observation scopes one by one. The driver and commander were sniped in succession, and the remaining crew members frantically opened the hatches to try to escape, only to be riddled with bullets as soon as they peeked out.

Lin Yifan stood at the observation post, maneuvering the bullets back and forth among the Japanese troops, specifically targeting officers who were waving their swords and shouting. Without exception, every Japanese officer who dared to show his face and give orders was shot dead.

Without command, the Japanese soldiers were in complete chaos, firing randomly from behind vehicles and in shell craters, unable to mount any semblance of a proper counterattack.

In less than an hour, all of the more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers on the highway had been wiped out. Only a few dozen Japanese soldiers who were hiding under the trucks pretending to be dead were eventually shot dead by the soldiers responsible for finishing them off.

From the moment they became "Ghost's" subordinates, their first lesson was to show no mercy to the Japanese and traitors. Six armored vehicles fell into our hands intact, and more than eighty trucks didn't even have much paint damage.

Lin Yifan led his men along the road to the artillery position. The Japanese soldiers were still lying on the ground in the same positions as when they were operating the cannons. The twelve Japanese field guns and mountain guns were neatly arranged on the position, and even the gun covers had been removed.

Shen Jingbo looked at the intact cannons and grinned from ear to ear. He turned to Lin Yifan and said, "Young master, you did a really amazing job. We wiped out the entire artillery company without firing a single shot and got all this good stuff. Now the Red Army's heavy artillery regiment can be expanded again."

Lin Yifan chuckled and patted the cannon barrel: "First, have someone pull the cannon back, then quickly clean up the battlefield, pile the Japanese corpses in the pit next to us and burn them. The main force of the Kwantung Army might arrive at any time, so we need to hurry up and make preparations, waiting for Li Yunlong's main force to land."

The soldiers responded and began to move. Lin Yifan stood beside the artillery position, looking at the hazy horizon in the distance. He spread his mental energy again, carefully checking all the movements within a 20-kilometer radius. Only after confirming that no Japanese soldiers had escaped and no other reinforcements had sneaked over beforehand did he breathe a sigh of relief.

He glanced down at his watch. Based on the speed, Li Yunlong's fleet would reach the shore in seven or eight hours. As long as they held Lushun for less than a day, they would have a firm foothold, and the entire game in Northeast China would be in motion.

As time went on, Lin Yifan and his men eliminated two more waves of Japanese reinforcements, but neither was large in scale. Both waves were at the battalion level, and the longest wave took only half an hour. Those thousand or so Japanese soldiers became fertilizer for the Northeast.

Night fell quickly, and Li Yunlong, who was floating at sea, finally saw the lights of Lushun Wharf through his binoculars. He asked the radio operator to contact Lin Yifan while urging the captain to speed up.

Upon receiving the signal, Lin Yifan immediately arranged for a team to meet the fleet, personally leading his men to guard the dock and wait for the fleet to arrive.

Soon, cargo ships and troop transports slowly docked at the pier. Li Yunlong was the first to jump ashore, grabbed Lin Yifan's shoulder, and laughed loudly, "Good lad, you truly live up to my expectations, Li Yunlong! You've actually taken Lushun! Now we're really going to make a fortune!"

Lin Yifan smiled and returned the greeting, then led everyone into the city, introducing the day's results as they walked, and having Li Yunlong verify the captured artillery, vehicles, and supplies.

Li Yunlong's eyes lit up as he listened, and he patted Lin Yifan on the shoulder, praising the battle as brilliantly fought. He said that they had taken such a large piece of meat without much effort, and once the main force arrived, they could use these weapons to deal with the Kwantung Army.

The group quickly entered the city and arrived at the former temporary command post of the police station. Li Yunlong spread out a map and studied the next steps of the deployment by the light of an oil lamp.

Once all the personnel and equipment on board have disembarked, they will immediately deploy to the area around Lushun, completely sealing off the entrance to the Liaodong Peninsula, waiting for the Kwantung Army to slip in.

After Li Yunlong's troops took over the defense of Lushun, Lin Yifan instructed Qi Haishan and the others over the walkie-talkie to gather their men at the dock.

He himself went to the police station, greeted Li Yunlong, and prepared to lead his team away.

Li Yunlong grabbed him and pointed to the steaming hot pork stew with vermicelli that had just been served on the table, saying with a smile, "What's the rush? You've been busy all day, sit down and have a hot meal before you leave."

"You've amassed such a huge fortune for me, I have to thank you properly for this meal. Let's talk business after we finish eating."

Lin Yifan didn't refuse. He sat down, picked up the bowl, and ate a big mouthful of rice. With the stewed rice noodles and fatty meat, most of the day's fatigue disappeared.

Li Yunlong finished his meal in a few bites, wiped his mouth, took out a cigarette, lit it, and talked to Lin Yifan about the upcoming operation, hoping that Lin Yifan would cooperate more with his attack later.

Lin Yifan smiled and nodded in agreement, then turned and left the police station, heading towards the dock.

Of the 1,597 men under Lin Yifan's command in this operation, apart from more than 20 who sustained minor injuries, none were killed.

Upon arriving at the dock, the cargo ship transporting the personnel was ready to return to Tianjin to continue receiving the follow-up troops. Lin Yifan arranged for everyone to board the ship, and he himself boarded a cargo ship as well. With a whistle, the cargo ship slowly departed from Lushun dock and headed towards Tianjin.

When the ship reached the center of the Bohai Sea, it was almost dawn. Lin Yifan stood by the ship's railing, enjoying the sea breeze. He spread his mental energy to a radius of twenty kilometers to confirm that there were no Japanese ships patrolling the area before he felt relieved and leaned against the railing to rest.