Chapter 302: Assault on Long Hai City
Translated by: Kun
Edited by: Ulamog, Dedition
[Book 2: The Sea of Zombies]
The elite 1st and 2nd Battalion of Qing Yuan County, 1st and 2nd Battalion of Ning Guan County as well as the Armored Battalion were grouped as the 1st Division belonging to Yue Zhong, its commander Xu Zhengang and vice-commander Wu Guang.
Qing Yuan's 3rd Battalion, Ning Guang's 3rd and 4th Battalion were reorganized as the 2nd Division, its commander Chen Shitou, vice-commander Kong Tianyu.
SY County's 8th Battalion and Shen Xue's 2 battalions were grouped into the 3rd Division, its commander Xiong Zheng, vice-commander Shen Xue.
The Special Combat Forces remained under the command of Ji Qingwu. The preliminary troops remained as it is, belonging to Yue Zhong and trained by Xu Zhengang.
Da Gouzi was conferred the title as Support Commander, being placed in charge of all support activities. The support division was important and could decide victory in modern warfare.
On top of that, Yue Zhong established a Youth Guards. This Youth Guards was comprised of various youths that had ambition and idolized Yue Zhong. They numbered in the 3,000, consisting of both boys and girls. They had to go through a specialized programme where they had to learn about culture and skills in the day, and learnt various fighting and combat skills from the Special Combat Forces. They ate Mutant Beast meat, and got to enjoy Type 2 Meat once in a while, strengthening their bodies through the course of training. Zhang He and Zhang Yulan had joined it the first moment they could, as they possessed the drive and idolization of Yue Zhong.
The top expert of the Youth Guards was the little loli Yao Yao. Zhang Yulan had been awed by her the first moment she saw her, and became her huge fan, and her small attendant.
Yao Yao saw that she had someone who idolized her, and felt smug as well. She did not hold back and taught Zhang Yulan all she knew and experienced. It was just that regardless how hard Zhang Yulan worked, she could not match Yao Yao as she was lacking in both age and talent.
However, Zhang Yulan and her brothers did not slack off, and absorbed all that they could. They wanted to become useful members of society in this new post-apocalypse world.
A month went quickly with all the adjustments, integration and training. After the reorganization and training, Yue Zhong's troops had surpassed what they were previously, and became even stronger.
"Now! Let's move out! Our target is Long Hai County!!"
Following Yue Zhong's single command, his 1st Division started to move towards Long Hai City.
The army set off, and following them from the rear were over 20,000 survivors as well as the support troops and their transportation supplies. As there was not enough fuel, the support troops could only use their own legs to follow the vehicles forward. It was extremely tough.
However, these troops and the survivors had not a word of complaint, as they were very clear that the operation this time on Long Hai County was extremely crucial. If they could conquer it, they would gain a huge amount of resources, and could gain a new city to become another habitat.
If they failed, then the horde that was holed up inside would cause all their deaths.
This battle, they could only win! They could not lose at all!
The zombies in the surrounding villages had either been summoned into Long Hai County, or were already wiped out by Yue Zhong's troops as training.
Yue Zhong's huge army had marched on for a few days, before finally arriving at the highway which led to Long Hai County and encountering the horde of zombies.
The huge horde of zombies was also slowly making their way towards Qing Yuan County, on the highway, through the various plains and forests. As far as the eye could see, they were all filled with zombies.
Upon sighting in on zombies, the 10 tanks that had become part of the armored vehicles immediately opened fire as they slowly and continuously advanced forward.
The zombies scattered throughout the plains and forest were immediately gunned down by the heavy fire, as they slumped to the floor.
The 10 tanks continued advancing forward, intending to crush the zombies.
The troops behind followed as they stepped on the meat paste on the ground, advancing behind the cover of the tanks.
In the skies, Greenie and 2 drones were flying, and the drones were feeding information back to the central command, while Greenie was in charge of chasing away the other flying Mutant Beasts that got attracted by the huge number of humans.
"Scum Battalion! Go charge!" Yue Zhong looked at the zombies that had been shot and laid on the ground on the plains and in the forests, and he gave the command to the scum battalion!
The commander of the Scum Battalion was Gao Daqiang, who was wielding a Tang Replica Sword, decked in Mutant Water Snake hide armor, another hand holding a steel shield, as he shouted at the 2,000 males who were made to join the scum battalion: "Your father, I, am Gao Daqiang!! I'm sure you guys can tell that I used to be a criminal who was sentenced to the Scum Battalion in the past. However, I have killed enough zombies, and have become an upright leader under Commander Yue's forces. My current rank is 2nd Lieutenant, and I'm a Level 18 Enhancer. I even have 2 wives as well! Everyday,I get to eat my fill, with meat in my meals also!"
Gao Daqiang let out a roar, and he charged at the zombies: "If you want to become like me, give it your all! Kill the zombies!! As long as you risk it all and fight, women, food, lodging, they will be yours! If you want to rise in rank and get rich and have your way with women, charge with me!! Whoever dares to retreat from battle, will be shot by the troops behind! Charge!!"
Yue Zhong had always placed importance and rewarded on those who worked hard. This Gao Daqiang had dared to fight and risk his all, and had killed numerous zombies. Even after he became a proper soldier, he continued putting in effort, and gained a Tang Replica Sword and Mutant Water Snake armor for himself. He had truly grown to become a powerful Enhancer, and was always the first to lead the charge in the Scum Battalion.
"Charge!! Follow Boss Gao, and let's rise in rank!!!" Beside Gao Daqiang, Nalan Mingzhu shouted out loudly and charged as well.
Under the motivation of Gao Daqiang and Nalan Mingzhu, those warriors of the Scum Battalion, who had been forced to train without any entertainment or break, seemed to become beasts with eyes filled with battle lust as they took up their weapons and charged. Only by killing enough zombies, could they earn freedom for themselves, and become normal citizens. Otherwise, they will forever remain as cannon fodder within the Scum Battalion forever.
When Gao Daqiang and Nalan Mingzhu appeared, and showed that they were examples of warriors who earned their freedom and rose in ranks, and even managed to marry wives, the criminals within the Scum Battalion were immediately motivated and found the incentive and hope to perform. They wanted to regain their freedom. Only when one loses freedom, will one truly understand its preciousness.
Those who earned their freedom from the Scum Battalion were a sturdy troop of veterans who had killed at least 30 zombies. When these hardened veterans were reintegrated within the normal army, when they obtained their God and Devil System equipment, they quickly rose to become strong Enhancers, and had filled up the ranks of experts within Yue Zhong's troops.
Those 2,000 troopers from the Scum Battalion were like tigers amongst sheeps the moment they charged at the zombies, as they waved their steel blades in frenzy and lopped off the zombies' heads in a wild and yet strangely disciplined manner, one by one.
When the troopers were riled up and threw away their fear, they became unstoppable, and the ordinary zombies weren't their match, they could only be slaughtered.
The zombies within the forests and plains were easily decimated by the scum battalion just like that.
The main force of Yue Zhong were easily picking off those zombies who stood in their way along the road.
As the forward party of zombies which numbered in the tens of thousands were being wiped out, the remaining scattered zombies quickly made their way back towards Long Hai County to gather.
On Greenie's back, Yue Zhong saw the droves of zombies making their way towards Long Hai County, forming a huge horde that stretched for miles.
"The number of zombies could number in the millions!!" Yue Zhong frowned as he thought to himself.
Although the number of zombies seemed to number in the millions, Yue Zhong did not panic as he currently possessed over 7,000 soldiers, including the preliminary troops and Scum Battalion, he had over 10,000 men who could fight. At the same time, he had the equipment from the Mechanized Infantry Brigade as well as enough ammunition for a regiment to expend, it was more than enough for him to fight with.
Yue Zhong had also constructed his own factory, that specialized in refilling bullets and could produce 20,000 bullets a day. In a month, the workers could churn out 600,000 bullets. Although the refilled bullets were less accurate, under heavy fire, they could cause waves of zombies to fall.
With this kind of support, Yue Zhong had the confidence to deal with these couple millions of zombies!
After the zombies within Long Hai County had gathered, they used their old methods, surging forth like a tidal wave and charging towards Yue Zhong's troops in a frenzy as commanded by their Z-Types.
After gaining valuable experience from the previous defeat, Yue Zhong swiftly commanded his troops to station at various strategic points, and began construction of fortifications and barricades, in the event the frontlines could not maintain, they could at least withdraw with ample protection.
The main force of Yue Zhong's troops swiftly gained control over Green Wind Gorge, an important channel, and began their fortifications and awaited the assault from the horde.
Green Wind Gorge was not as wide as Tiger Mouth's Gorge, and it had a decent defence line of about 4 km wide, but it was the most suitable for Yue Zhong's troops to begin their work with.
As the construction work was in full swing, and various traps were being dug, the sea of zombies finally approached the Green Wind Gorge.
If there were any weaknesses of the horde to be pointed out, it would be that their mobility was severely impaired, and thus Yue Zhong could find ways to deal with it.
As the sea of zombies lumbered towards the Green Wind Gorge, while their speed was slow, it was extremely steady. Soon, the landscape was filled with the zombies.
"Open fire!!"
Following Xu Zhengang's orders, the artillery unit began firing.
Round after round of rockets landed accurately amongst the zombie horde, exploding outwards with flame and shrapnel. With every blast, a huge hole would appear, and the zombies within a certain radius would be incinerated along with it. Regardless if they were ordinary zombies, or the evolved L1s, L2s, H1s, S1s, or S2s, under the relentless bombardment, they would become ash, with no way to retaliate.
Within a short 5 minutes, the densely packed horde had been blasted many times, and the leading force became a handful of scattered zombies.
Artillery weapons were considered godly weapons, and in this post-apocalyptic world, using them against the zombies could display their terrifying strength. In just this short 5 minutes, over 30,000 zombies had been incinerated.
After the constant bombardment for 5 minutes, the artillery immediately stopped. The zombies in front had been annihilated, and continuing their firing would not achieve anything. Furthermore, their ammunition was not endless, firing one meant one less for the future. Xu Zhengang had to utilize them to their fullest potential.
Facing the remaining scattered zombies, Guo Quan led the warriors from the 1st Battalion of the 1st Division forward, as they were decked in Mutant Water Snake hide, Mutant Black Fish hide, wielding Tang Replica Swords, and charged at the zombies.
With the protection of the hides, as long as the soldiers took care not to let their faces get scratched, they would not get infected. With the protection of those hides, the ferocity of the soldiers from the 1st Battalion was like a sharp knife that pierced the zombies after they had just faced the bombardment of the artillery, killing any few zombies that remained.
Ji Qingwu also deployed 20 soldiers from the Special Combat Forces as they followed the 1st Battalion, killing any evolved zombies such as the L2s or S2s that appeared, allowing the other soldiers to focus on the ordinary zombies.
The moment Guo Quan led his men into battle, they hacked and slashed their way through, killing over 2,000 zombies, before retreating to their positions. Many had gained levels after this first onslaught. Under Guo Quan's command, they all allocated the enhancement points into Stamina. In war, a modernized battalion that had immense Stamina was extremely fearsome, as long as they had enough Stamina, they could remain fighting on the frontlines, killing even more enemies.
The rest of the battalions also took turns and launched assaults on the remaining zombies, treating them as training fodder and experience. Without the densely packed horde and support of numbers, these zombies could only become meat for slaughter.
The 50,000 zombies leading the horde were wiped out in such a short time, and the endless zombies behind continued forward to fill up the places and gaps, as they lumbered towards Yue Zhong's forces.
The moment the horde stepped up again, the artillery that was resting immediately opened fire, and the fearsome bombardment of rockets blasted the zombies into smithereens, with the scattered zombies taken out by the troops.