Jiang Ye grabbed his assault rifle and got out of the car, jumping into the trench and climbing into an empty firing position.
Standing up, the beach was fully visible. More than a dozen whales were beached on the shore, their blood being washed away by the seawater. The ground was littered with the bodies of water ghosts, over a hundred of them. Some water ghosts were not entirely dead, wriggling in the blood, like some kind of demons emerging from the earth. Bullets whizzed past, shredding those still moving!
Jiang Ye raised his rifle and emptied two magazines.
The beach finally fell silent, a deathly stillness. All living things had been obliterated. A strong, fishy stench wafted into the trench, the smell of water ghost corpses like fish that had been dead for half a month.
Shao Wan calmly picked up a water canteen by his feet and poured a kettle of water onto the six-barreled Gatling gun. The glowing hot gun barrel emitted white mist, sizzling. At his feet, the firing position was already filled with shell casings, a vast expanse of golden yellow.
Jiang Ye walked over, and Shao Wan immediately saluted him.
"You've worked hard. You hold the line with the auxiliary police for a while, and I'll bring reinforcements over," Jiang Ye said.
"Understood." Shao Wan nodded, bent down to pick up a new belt of ammunition, his expression nonchalant. He had seen major battles before; combat of this intensity was like a tickle to him.
Jiang Ye got into the base vehicle and drove towards the police station.
Unexpectedly, the entrance to the police station was swarming with people.
Far exceeding the fifty recruits they intended to enlist.
Jiang Ye got out of the car and was immediately surrounded by shouts, the townspeople surging towards him:
"Town Mayor! I'm signing up for the army!"
"I want to join the Quick Reaction Force! I'm a good shot!"
"I've served! Take me!"
"Commander, I request to be the first to fight!"
Jiang Ye raised his hand, signaling for quiet. It took a while for the crowd to calm down.
"Those working at the armory, please leave! Ensuring weapon production is equally important!"
A group of people left with disappointed expressions, reducing the crowd.
"Ladies, please leave. Those over fifty, please leave. Fighting is strenuous work and bad for your health. Only the young and strong can do it!"
Another third of the people left. However, some women and old men stubbornly remained in the crowd.
Jiang Ye counted the remaining people.
Sixty in total.
"Sixty is sixty. We'll expand by ten."
Jiang Ye led the applicants into the police station for registration.
Everyone's identification cards were replaced with military service records.
After half an hour, they were issued anti-stab vests and helmets, then proceeded to the armory to collect equipment. Each person received an assault rifle and ten full magazines. More ammunition would be delivered to the defense line in crates.
The advantage of being near the armory became apparent: unlimited ammunition!
Jiang Ye had roughly calculated that even if the sixty soldiers fired without restraint, the factory could meet the ammunition consumption.
The sixty soldiers of the Quick Reaction Force were divided into six squads. Squad leaders were chosen based on maturity and steadiness, resulting in all of them being middle-aged men.
Jiang Ye held a meeting with the squad leaders and formulated the defense policy on the spot:
"Under normal circumstances, from 00:00 to 08:00, squads 1 and 2 will man the fortifications. From 08:00 to 16:00, squads 3 and 4 will man the fortifications. From 16:00 to 24:00, squads 5 and 6 will man the fortifications. The order will be adjusted every week. If you hear gunfire, everyone will rush to participate."
To be honest, the manpower was still insufficient. A three-shift system would lead to excessive fatigue for the soldiers over time. However, it was manageable for the current situation.
After arranging the troops, Jiang Ye returned to the base vehicle and collapsed into sleep.
He hadn't slept all night and was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he touched the edge of the bed.
He woke up at one o'clock in the afternoon.
Jiang Ye got up and his first action was to head to the beach.
Fortunately, during the morning while he was sleeping, no more water ghosts had appeared.
Shao Wan was organizing the auxiliary police, carrying knives, to dismantle the beached whales by the water's edge.
A group of people dismantling one whale could complete the entire process in half an hour. The water by the beach was completely dyed scarlet, and everyone was wearing black rain boots, wading through the bloody water.
Jiang Ye walked over and called Shao Wan aside.
"Where did the whale meat go?" Jiang Ye asked in a low voice.
"I told them the troops needed money for the war, so the whale meat was sold as public funds and deposited into the police station's account. Then, I had Shizhi Daizhi transfer it to you," Shao Wan replied in a low voice.
Jiang Ye gave him a thumbs-up in his heart.
"So reliable!"
"Alright, you carry on. Jiang Ye patted his shoulder and turned to leave.
Jiang Ye had previously killed and dismantled the whales ridden by the water ghosts.
They were quite valuable; a large whale could sell for over a million!
A total of twelve whales had beached themselves. Conservatively, that was over fifteen million yuan. They were currently dismantling the last three whales, and it was estimated that they would finish within an hour.
A large sum of money, a true war profit.
Jiang Ye walked around the fortifications and, seeing that the soldiers on duty were in good spirits, returned to the base vehicle with satisfaction.
He checked his account balance.
The money in the account had been completely spent on purchasing weapons and building fortifications. He still owed Xu Yan 5.5 million yuan in construction fees.
But now, the account balance was a staggering 9,974,000 yuan!
Jiang Ye pondered for a moment and first transferred the 5.5 million yuan to Xu Yan.
He also transferred an additional 100,000 yuan as a thank-you fee.
Xu Yan immediately returned the extra 100,000 yuan, sending a message saying, "You're too kind."
Jiang Ye didn't send it back again; they would continue to cooperate in the future.
The account balance was now 4,474,000 yuan.
Jiang Ye thought for a moment, transferred 1 million yuan to Shao Wan, and then 200,000 yuan to each of the four regular police officers.
This was considered a bonus. If the police officers hadn't reacted quickly, the previous two waves of water ghost attacks would have breached their defenses.
The account balance was 2,674,000 yuan.
Jiang Ye didn't let this money sit idle. He opened the Galaxy Mall and began placing orders like crazy!
He bought six more rocket launchers and a large quantity of rockets. These were for the squad leaders of the Quick Reaction Force. Guns were somewhat inadequate against the water ghosts; when facing large numbers, artillery was more effective.
Next, he bought forty sea mines!
The money was spent completely, leaving only 1,000 yuan in the account.
Due to the large quantity purchased, the sea mines were not released from the transaction vault but were converted into bulk cargo.
A private message notification popped up.
Isabelle: Are the 40 sea mines you ordered to be delivered to the base vehicle?
Jiang Ye: Send them to the dock, sis. I'll be right there.
Isabelle: Understood. Your order is expected to arrive in five minutes.
Jiang Ye headed to the dock, and Isabelle's delivery vehicle arrived almost simultaneously.
This delivery vehicle was quite massive, like an extended truck, attracting the attention of many people in the distance.
The truck bed opened, revealing large black sea mines, one after another, with foam and synthetic sponge packed in between to prevent accidental detonation during transport.
The sea mines had been unlocked long ago but hadn't been used much. Jiang Ye felt it was time to put them to use.
He called over the soldiers on duty in the fortifications, two at a time, to help move the sea mines.
They were all loaded onto the fishing boat, placed heavily on the deck.
Then, Jiang Ye set sail, not going far, but stopping in the nearshore waters. He arranged for the soldiers to place the sea mines into the seawater.
One mine was placed at intervals. Although the sea mines were heavy, they were large in volume and floated quietly on the surface, revealing only half of their dark iron casing. As the seawater flowed past, each mine would slowly rotate towards the current. The design of these mines was very ingenious; controlled by their center of gravity, they could remain motionless on the water's surface.
After all the sea mines were deployed, Jiang Ye carefully navigated his boat around the minefield and returned to the dock.
The whales ridden by the water ghosts were quite heavy and swam at extremely high speeds, comparable to small warships.
If nothing unexpected happened, the moment a whale collided with a sea mine, it would trigger immediately!
If a matter could be resolved with one sea mine, there was no need to expend so much ammunition.