Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 417 Lure the enemy deeper
It has to be said that this is really bad news, but Li Wei had expected it—or rather, it was within his expectations.

Just like capitalists who only know how to eat and drink, the things they can do are limited to a few things. A lack of imagination and creativity is a consistent characteristic of this group of capitalists. Otherwise, they wouldn't just spend their money eating, drinking, and womanizing… without any ideals whatsoever.

"Commander French, how many people are left here?"

Commander French pondered for a moment when confronted with Levi's question.

"The First Expeditionary Force has a total of 100,000 men deployed in Port Derley, but it's hard to say right now... The soldiers I've gathered who have fled underground are currently less than 20,000. Fortunately, Krant has reinforced the tunnels, and they plan to use the underground passages as their command center, so there are still quite a few supplies stored here. We shouldn't be too affected in the short term."

"Hmm...do you have a map?"

"Of course, here."

Soon, Commander French placed the map in front of Levi. Levi stared at the map, and the next moment, his gaze immediately rose, instantly landing on the puppet bird hundreds of meters away.

Then, Li Wei activated [Soul Vision] again.

The next moment, red and white dots of light reappeared in front of Li Wei. He stared at the map in front of him and then began to check the location of himself and the others.

It must be said that the tunnels of the Krant were indeed terrifying. Their tunnels were almost everywhere under the entire town of Dre. If the expeditionary force hadn't taken over the command post under Li Wei's guidance, the fact that they were just playing whack-a-mole in the whole town would have been enough to give anyone a headache.

Krant had obviously thought of this as well. The tunnels that were scattered beneath Dre were not just tunnels, but also his own underground command post and supply depot.

Currently, only the tunnels near the fortress show white spiritual light; the rest is almost entirely filled with red. This means the soldiers, now transformed into monsters, are crawling around like rats beneath Port Drei…

How many exits does the tunnel have in total?

"Four, located in the command post, the fortress, the armory, and the barracks."

"It seems the Krantes really do like digging holes."

Li Wei muttered a complaint, then pulled himself out of his thoughts. After a moment of silence, he made a decision.

"I suggest we fight our way back to the surface and then hold the port fortress as our base for a complete and utter defense."

"Ground base?"

It must be said that Commander French was quite surprised to hear Levi's suggestion.

"I think you might not know about those monsters..."

“I know very well that they are fearless and strong, which is why you failed to hold the command post before. But now that I’m here, things are different.”

With the Eye of the Sky, Li Wei speaks with more confidence. You think the Eye of the Sky's grenade launcher is joking with you?
It's hard to fight underground, but we'll see how I deal with you on the surface.

Li Wei understood perfectly what Commander French was worried about. On the surface, these creatures could attack from any direction, but underground, they only needed to hold one place. But now the situation was different. The monsters were secondary; under no circumstances could they afford to lose Port Drey.

When it comes to digging underground tunnels, the Empire is no match for the Krant.

"Therefore, I suggest that we block the main underground tunnel, and then return to the port fortress by the same route, where we can prepare to meet the enemy."

Whom do we engage?

"Krant's army, I just received news that they've discovered their tracks, and it's possible they're now..."

Li Wei paused for a moment as he spoke, then squinted his eyes.

"They've started using their best groundhog tactics again, which is good."

"You mean, the Krant army is going to attack Port Drey? Now? Is this a coincidence?"

Commander French wasn't a fool; upon hearing this, he quickly realized something was wrong, and Levi's expression also darkened.

"This is certainly no coincidence, but we'll deal with these bastards after we've secured Port Deloitte!"

Although Li Wei wanted to go back and propose the ancient invention of punishing nine generations of a family to Her Majesty the Queen, he had to wait until the trouble here was over.

Levi and Commander French quickly agreed on a battle plan and immediately began their operation. Soon, the soldiers who had been hiding in the tunnels set out again. They packed their equipment and carefully and quietly returned along the same route that Levi and his men had taken before—French told Levi that they had discovered that while the soldiers who had turned into monsters were incredibly strong, their eyesight was poor, but their hearing was exceptionally sharp.

In the dark tunnels, this is a major advantage.

Upon hearing this, Li Wei suddenly realized why the monsters they had encountered earlier hadn't stopped because of the searchlight's beam.

The fortress command post remained unchanged. Li Wei glanced around, confirming that there were no other monsters or survivors besides them. Soon, the soldiers began to move. They moved the corpses aside, then closed the fortress command post gates again, preparing for battle as much as possible.

"Are we able to contact the Fifth Fleet or the rear through command?"

Levi and French returned to the command post, which was also in a mess. When Levi asked them questions, Commander French shrugged.

"There's nothing we can do; there's a problem with our communication lines."

"When?"

"Just before the attack, I thought there was probably a malfunction somewhere and I was going to send someone to check it out, but before I could get a response, the attack happened."

"………………………"

Li Wei remained silent for a moment after hearing this.

Do you know what exactly happened during the attack?

"At the moment, I don't know much about it. All I know is that the port reported that merchant ships tried to force their way in, but were destroyed by the fortress's defensive artillery."

Which merchant ship was it?

"Let me see, the records should still be here..."

Commander French returned to the table and searched among the papers scattered around and on the floor.

"Oh, found it, Baiyunfeng. According to the report, it was destroyed and exploded. The port authorities are planning to send a fire brigade to put out the fire."

"And then the attack happened?"

"Yes, shortly after that."

What's with those snowflakes?

“Those aren’t snowflakes.” Commander French shook his head.

“At first I thought it was snowflakes, but it wasn’t. It was more like some kind of… insect. I’ve seen those snowflakes fall on soldiers and then they would burrow into their bodies, and then the soldiers would turn into those horrible monsters… God help me, it’s like a curse from the devil.”

"We'll find out what happened, and after all this is over..."

Just then, Lieutenant Horn's voice came through Levi's radio again.

"Sir, we have located the Imperial forces in the southern forest. They claim they were attacked by monsters that were their comrades and suffered heavy losses."

"How many people are left, and who is the leader?"

"There are still about 20,000 people left, and the commander of the First Regiment, Qile, is temporarily in charge."

"………………………"

Li Wei frowned. There were 18,000 soldiers who survived in the tunnels, while there were 20,000 who survived outside. Together, they accounted for less than 40%, which meant that 60% of the expeditionary force had either died in battle or disappeared without a trace. Hmm, I wonder if the Rothsfield family has enough 60,000 men to pay for their deaths.

"Are they capable of fighting?"

"They did not have enough weapons and ammunition, nor food, and they requested support from the fleet."

“It’s a bit annoying that Port Deloitte isn’t a deep-water port.”

Commander French gave a wry smile.

"It might be much better if we could take Deburg."

"To quell external threats, we must first secure internal stability. Let's remain calm and patient..."

Li Wei shook his head, then thought for a moment.

“Lieutenant Horn, I need to contact them directly.”

"OK, just a second."

A moment later, an unfamiliar voice came through the radio.

"This is Commander Chiller Corbett, commander of the 1st Regiment of the 5th Division of the Expeditionary Force, reporting to you, sir."

"Chiler, I'm so glad you're alright."

Upon hearing this voice, Commander French immediately breathed a sigh of relief, while the other party was also somewhat surprised.

"Are you alright, Commander?"

"Yes, I led the remaining soldiers and hid in the tunnels. We just reunited with Sir Levi."

"Give the order, sir. Shall we retake Port Deloitte now?"

"We will definitely take it back, but there's no rush for now."

Li Wei joined the conversation.

"I heard that you are currently short of weapons, supplies and ammunition?"

“Yes, sir, those…those monsters transformed from my own people are very troublesome. We’ve used up a lot of ammunition, and we’re running out of supplies. But if we can return to Port Dray and get supplies from the armory…”

"Don't rush this, I have something I need you to do."

Li Wei interrupted the other person.

“Currently, the Krant army is approaching Port Derlai and could launch an attack on us at any time, so I have something for you to do.”

"Please give the order, sir."

"Do you have a way to make yourself look like you're working fully armed on the front lines? To make the enemy think that Port Der Lai's defenses are tight and that they can't break through immediately?"

"this…………………"

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, Chiller thought for a moment.

“We can continue the trench digging work. In fact, we were responsible for digging trenches around Port Der Lai before we received the evacuation order. We have enough manpower to do this.”

"Then let's do it this way. Remember, there's no need to confront them head-on. From now on, go into radio silence, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

After giving the order, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief and then plopped down in the chair next to him.

"Excuse me, could I have a cup of tea?"

"of course can."

Commander French gestured for the guards to make tea, while Levi gazed calmly out the window.

"Speaking of which, I'm reminded of a story I read before."

"story?"

"That's right, it's a war story. It tells of a company that captured an enemy position, only to find it deserted. Initially, they assumed the enemy had retreated and happily occupied the position. However, they later discovered that the enemy hadn't actually retreated; instead, they had disturbed a monster slumbering nearby and were eaten by it. And now, as night falls, they will face the same crisis…"

"Uh...this..."

"Don't you think this story is quite fitting for the current situation, Commander French?"

Levi turned to Commander French and smiled slightly.

"The difference is that this time, we are the ones controlling the plot."

As he spoke, a cold glint flashed in Li Wei's eyes.

"I hope the Krant army likes the show I put on for them."

(End of this chapter)