Devil's Army

Seeing that the Japanese continued to retreat, Wang Zhuangfei ordered the artillery to extend their fire, and the second and third battalions of the third regiment opened the city gates and hit the Japanese in the face.

The vanguard of the Isoko Regiment charged and attacked fiercely, tearing a hole in the 5th Brigade's defense line, and the troops that followed quickly expanded the hole to both sides.

The First Battalion of the Fifth Brigade tried several times to block the gap, but due to insufficient manpower, they failed.

The artillery of the Isoko Regiment quickly retreated with small mountain guns and 100mm howitzers under the escort of a squadron of Japanese troops.

But the 100mm howitzer was inconvenient to move. The Devil's 150mm howitzers exploded in front of them and on both sides from time to time. The sound of the Devil's Third Regiment also came from behind.

They had no choice but to abandon those 100mm howitzers, and there was no time to blow them up. They hurriedly fled to Jinzhou through the opening with those small mountain guns under the cover of a squadron of infantry.

By the time a battalion and a half of soldiers from the rear of the 5th Brigade arrived at the battlefield, Colonel Isoguru had already fled to Jinzhou with less than half of his troops.

Although the plan to completely wipe out the Japanese army's death squadron failed, it also dealt him a heavy blow. He would definitely not dare to spy on Huludao again in the short term.

The threat from the Japanese in Jinzhou was temporarily lifted, and the threat from the Japanese navy at sea was also temporarily lifted. Leng Feng began to rebuild Huludao.

Engineer Li and his technicians followed Leng Feng to Huludao under the escort of a battalion of troops from the regiment.

Leng Feng and Engineer Li first came to Hulugang Shipyard to see the two captured warships.

Li Gong looked at the two warships that were riddled with holes from the 150mm howitzers. He smiled wryly and said to Leng Feng, "Captain Leng, the task of repairing them is not easy."

Leng Feng handed a cigarette to Engineer Li and said with a smile: "Engineer Li, you came to the army to take on important tasks. You are not responsible for any light tasks."

"Your cigarette is so heavy." Engineer Li said with a smile as he smoked the cigarette handed to him by Leng Feng.

"Then take on a more difficult task." Leng Feng said and stuffed the whole pack of cigarettes into Mr. Li's pocket.

"We have a heavier task ahead of us. We need to get started quickly."

"You ask the masters to go aboard and take a look first, and you walk with me to see where it is appropriate to build the coastal defense guns."

Engineer Li nodded and asked the technicians who came with him to board the ship first. He then walked around Hulu Port with Leng Feng under the protection of the guards.

Leng Feng and Engineer Li made two major tours of the coastal ports of Huludao and preliminarily determined three locations for building large-caliber coastal defense artillery.

One guards the estuary from Jinzhou, one guards the estuary from Shanhaiguan, and the other is responsible for protecting the port of Huludao.

Engineer Li is a practical man. After accompanying Leng Feng to survey the location of the coastal defense guns, he immediately boarded the Mount Fuji destroyer and began to repair the Mount Fuji destroyer with the technicians.

Leng Feng and the guards continued to walk around the port. The more they walked, the more frightened Leng Feng felt.

The destructive power of the Japanese Yamato battleship's main gun was truly astonishing, with large holes everywhere on the dock. Almost none of the warehouses that had been built were intact.

Due to the suddenness of the First Army's attack on Huludao, most of the warehouses still had goods that had not been shipped out. Most of the goods in the warehouses suffered considerable losses in the bombing by the Japanese warships.

Some businessmen who received the news in advance stood in front of the destroyed warehouses and goods and cried in silence.

There was a couple standing in front of a warehouse that had been bombed and caught fire. The entire warehouse was burned down. The woman was crying loudly, while the man was holding the woman and crying silently.

Leng Feng walked forward and asked softly, "What's the matter?"

"We are in the cotton yarn and fabric business. Business is not good right now. Many cotton yarn factories and tailor shops are also struggling. They all owe us money for the goods. Now that the weather has turned cold, the cotton yarn and fabric business has started to pick up. We finally collected some of the money owed and borrowed some money from the bank to buy these goods. Now they have all been burned to ashes."

"Are you in the cotton yarn and cloth business?" Leng Feng asked in surprise.

"Is there anything I can ask you, sir?" the man asked Leng Feng a little worriedly. The Japanese controlled cotton yarn, and he had to report the whereabouts of his cotton yarn to the Japanese. He was not allowed to sell to many customers with unknown origins. This in itself brought considerable losses and troubles to his business.

If the officials now impose stricter controls, how will he be able to do business?

"No, we have always wanted to open a clothing and bedding factory, but we don't have a stable cotton yarn supplier. If you are willing, we can cooperate to set up a factory, or you can supply us with goods and we will settle with you in cash and never default on payment!"

"Really?" The man's eyes sparkled, but soon went out.

"I never brag. You can come to the barracks and talk to me about the details."

"It's no use. I can't afford to buy more goods." The man said disappointedly. The woman who had just stopped crying started crying again.

"Our army can provide you with an interest-free loan, and we will also rebuild the warehouses on the docks. For merchants whose warehouses were destroyed by the war, we can rent them rent-free for a period of time."

This was undoubtedly a golden pie falling from the sky. The merchant asked in surprise, "May I ask your name, sir?"

"No matter your last name is Leng, just say you are looking for Leng Feng when you go to the military camp."

The businessman couple who were on the verge of bankruptcy now had hope of survival. He hurriedly invited Leng Feng to return to the military camp for discussions.

Leng Feng asked the couple to go back to the military camp and sit for a while while he checked the situation at the dock before going back.