Courtyard House: Home Alone

He sat up from the daybed, asked Xia Yan to bring the telephone to the side, and dialed a number.

The call was quickly connected, and Commander Chen's hearty laughter came from the other end. He said with a smile, "Xiao Lin, you're finally back! Your radio station hasn't been working, and I was getting really anxious."

Lin Yifan chuckled upon hearing this: "Commander Chen, unlike you, I don't have a professional radio operator. I got so busy that I forgot to turn it on. You know you were in such a hurry to contact me because...?"

"Here's the thing, you should know about the situation in the Northeast. We're making rapid progress, but as the battle lines extend, transportation has become a major problem. I've used almost all the forces I can mobilize, but there's still a significant gap."

I heard that the "Ghost" (referring to a group of corrupt officials) procured a lot of large livestock for the rural areas around Beiping (Beijing) in 41 and 42. I wonder if they still have that connection now, and if they could help us get a batch to alleviate our urgent need.

Lin Yifan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard it was about large livestock. The horses he initially captured in his space had now multiplied to more than 50,000, all of which were Japanese-bred horses.

With excellent physical fitness, endurance, and load-bearing capacity, they are much better than ordinary horses, making them perfect for frontline transport.

There are even more cattle. More than 8,000 were given to the municipal committee at the beginning, and there are still more than 80,000 in the space now.

They can also be sent over together, solving the needs of farming and transportation in the rear.

He immediately replied, "What a coincidence, I happen to have a batch ready-made here. I wonder how much you need?"

Upon hearing this, Commander Chen became excited and raised his voice several decibels: "Really? That's wonderful! Xiao Lin, you've really helped us a lot!"

We were just worried about not having enough livestock to pull the cannons and transport grain, and you've filled our biggest hole! What reward do you want? Just name it, and we'll definitely give it to you!

As for the shortage, ideally we'd have 20,000 horses and 20,000 cattle. If there are difficulties... even solving half of that would be good.

Lin Yifan smiled and said, "No need for a reward. We're all fighting the Japanese, so it's only right. I can provide you with this amount."

In addition, "Ghost" has a batch of weapons, medicine, and food, as well as more than a dozen warships. He will deliver them to you at a later date. You can take them and use them. Take advantage of this momentum to drive the Japanese out completely.

The phone rang with the sound of chairs crashing to the ground. Commander Chen jumped up abruptly, unaware that he had knocked over the chair. He was stunned for several seconds before he came to his senses and exclaimed "Good!" several times.

His excitement practically spilled through the phone line: "Xiao Lin, you've really brought a timely rain to our entire anti-Japanese war camp! I'll arrange the handover right away. Just tell me where the weapons, medicines, and food are, and we'll come and pick them up right away."

As for those warships, I need to report to my superiors. I don't have the personnel for that; it will depend on their coordination. I'll contact you again once I have news from them. What do you think?

Lin Yifan thought for a moment, then arranged to meet at the granary outside the city early the next morning. After exchanging a few more words, he hung up the phone.

After hanging up the phone and turning around, Xia Yan saw three girls looking at him with bright eyes. He clapped his hands first and laughed, "Young master is so amazing. He just got back and has already solved another big problem for our front line."

Lin Yifan smiled and shook his head, explaining that he had to get up early tomorrow to deliver goods, so he should rest early tonight. The group chatted and laughed as they went back to their rooms to settle down.

The next morning, just as dawn broke, Lin Yifan drove ahead to the agreed-upon grain depot. He dismissed the guards and then released all the horses, cattle, and supplies to be delivered.

Commander Chen arrived early with his convoy. Looking at the livestock, the neatly stacked supplies, and the Japanese trucks parked to the side, Commander Chen held Lin Yifan's hand tightly and praised him repeatedly for his great contributions to the War of Resistance.

He instructed the logistics team to unload a batch of gold bars and antiques from the truck. These were recent spoils, most of which had been transported back from Northeast China.

Then they started counting the goods and even forced Lin Yifan to accept a check from the Border Region Bank, saying it was a reward set by headquarters and not included in the payment for the goods.

Lin Yifan glanced at the check and found it contained two thousand silver dollars. Unable to refuse, he had no choice but to accept it. After the transaction was completed, he drove back to Beiping City.

July arrived quickly. Although the Japanese troops in Northeast China had been largely wiped out, Kong Jie and Li Yunlong did not stop their advance. They left half of their troops to garrison the Northeast.

The other half of the troops marched south to prepare to attack the Japanese forces entrenched in the Central Plains and the Shandong Peninsula, in order to support the Eighth Route Army's encirclement and suppression of the Japanese forces in Shanxi.

In the past few months, with the strong support of "Ghost", the North China Military Region has expanded its troops to 350,000.

The number of armored regiments was expanded to fifteen, and the main battle tanks were, of course, the Type 44 with its round turret. In addition, six heavy artillery regiments were established, equipped with the Type 44 122mm howitzers produced by the "Ghost" military factory, which are the later Type 54 122mm howitzers.

With its great power and long range, it was just enough to suppress the vast majority of the Japanese field fortifications. The strength of the entire North China Military Region increased exponentially, driving the surrounding Japanese forces into retreat, forcing them to retreat into a few major cities and wait for reinforcements.

That day, Lin Yifan was picking grapes in the yard with three girls when the guard at the gate suddenly came over to report that Commander Chen had personally come from the military region and had brought a guest with him.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yifan quickly wiped his hands and headed to the door to greet them. Just as he reached the second gate, he saw Commander Chen leading a man in a gray military uniform with a thick beard into the room.

Commander Chen smiled and said from afar, "Xiao Lin, let me introduce you. This is Old Zhang from headquarters. He came here specifically to meet you. He has something important to discuss with you."

Lin Yifan quickly shook hands with Old Zhang, ushered him into the shaded area in the courtyard, and had Yu Wenxiu brew some of this year's newly released Biluochun tea. He then asked with a smile, "Comrade Zhang, you've come from afar. Is there something important you wish to discuss?"

Old Zhang picked up his teacup, took a sip, put it down, and got straight to the point: "Mr. Lin, I've come here on behalf of the headquarters leaders to talk to you about the warship takeover."

"Regarding the batch of warships that 'Ghost' was preparing to donate last time, headquarters took it very seriously after receiving the news. They specially selected comrades knowledgeable about the navy from various units. Now the team is assembled and waiting to receive these warships. When would be a convenient time for you to bring our people over for the handover?"

Lin Yifan nodded and replied, "I'm available anytime. If everyone's here, we can leave today, and I'll be able to leave without any worries after the handover."

Commander Chen chimed in with a laugh, "I knew you'd be a straightforward guy, Xiao Lin. Old Zhang, you see, I told you so!"