"We’re about to get serious."
The group voiced their agreement.
The morning had just been a warmup. They hadn’t truly faced a horde of zombies yet.
Yu Dong watched the team spring into action, a worried look on his face.
"Lin Mo, we have plenty of weapons and ammunition, but too few people who know how to use them. Stay at the base and teach Zhuoyu and the students how to shoot. How many days will it take for them to get the hang of it? I’m not asking for sharpshooters, just for them to not shoot our own people."
Right now, Yu Dong was sitting on a mountain of guns and ammunition, but he couldn’t immediately turn it into combat strength.
"If we’re willing to burn through the ammunition, it’ll take at least two days of training just to cover the basics of shooting. And I mean *very* basic. Forget about accuracy..."
"Time is of the essence. Now is the perfect opportunity. Don’t be stingy with the ammunition. Train them hard. You’ll all do target practice at the base today."
RING RING RING~
Yu Dong’s satellite phone rang. It was a call from Qiao.
"Yu Dong, my people have already gathered at Wang Dingbei’s cruise ship base. We can launch the attack at any time. How are things on your end?"
"I just finished sorting the weapons, and I still need to go rescue a small team. You guys should first clear a path to the Olympic Sports Center. Use Zhang Yihuai’s location as a staging point for your push into the Urban Area. I’ll attack the Urban Area from the Zongshan side. We’ll advance on two fronts. By the way, are Commander Deng and his people almost here?"
Yu Dong calculated the timing. Wang Dingbei’s train had left at 6 AM. It should only take an hour and a half to reach Zunshou Station. In theory, a smooth round trip would take just three hours.
Factoring in the time to load equipment and assault vehicles, they should be arriving around now.
"Hmm... Not yet. He’s run into some trouble that needs handling. He told us to wait a bit."
"Alright."
Just then, Lin Mo motioned for the phone.
"Commander! It’s Lin Mo. Yu Dong and I need your help over here."
"What do you need? Guns and ammunition are out of the question. I don’t have enough to spare."
"We need the addresses of the surviving military veterans in the Zongshan District. We need to conscript them..."
’You need men...’ Qiao Yunliang mused. Before the apocalypse, his authority extended to managing these active-duty and veteran soldiers, allowing him to forcibly preserve this ’kindling’.
His base wasn’t large enough, and he didn’t have enough protective suits or weapons for everyone. He could only order the more than 60,000 veterans and militiamen to self-quarantine at home and await further instructions.
Over 6,000 of them had survived so far, and they had all reported their status to the Yanhai City Military Sub-district. Qiao Yunliang had tasked them with acting when opportunities arose: to kill nearby zombies and rescue their neighbors.
These people were already in action, doing their best to protect civilians in their vicinity. This would allow them to save more people during the critical first week—the optimal window for rescue.
Then, they would wait for the main army to fight its way to them, gradually retaking territory and consolidating the population.
These were all trained soldiers. Regardless of their skill level, at least most of them knew how to fire a weapon.
"Alright. I’ll have Advisor Shao compile a list of the veterans’ names and locations in the Zongshan District and send it to you. Go and lead them into battle."
"Thank you for your support, Commander!"
Only then did Yu Dong realize... there were still many capable people scattered throughout Yanhai City, ready for combat the moment he could round them up.
Although Qiao had gathered all the elite soldiers under his own command, the rest were more than enough to handle the light weapons and small number of RPGs Yu Dong had on hand.
’In this life, Qiao has actually done a pretty good job.’
"Anything else? If not, we’re heading out to clear a path."
"Yes, there is. Qiao, I need to make one thing clear upfront. Once I gather these people into my ranks... I’m not letting them go. So don’t come asking me for them later."
"Hmm... Fine. As long as you can earn their loyalty yourself."
’Qiao Yunliang was actually a little uncomfortable. What Yu Dong said felt... improper. We’re all fighting for the country, so why is he starting this ’your men, my men’ business?’
’But at this stage, he truly lacked the ability to rescue the people all the way out in the Zongshan District. Besides, he didn’t have the equipment to arm them anyway. They would be more effective with Yu Dong.’
’Yu Dong needed men; he needed ammunition.’
’For the sake of the bigger picture, Qiao Yunliang decided not to quibble with Yu Dong over such trivial details for now.’
’Once order was restored, those who were supposed to return would return. Yu Dong would have to come back then, too. He had it all figured out...’
’The higher-ups were still in disarray. They would use this window of opportunity to bring over Deng’s Wilderness Battle Corps, liberate Yanhai City first, and then use it as a foothold to kickstart the liberation of the entire province.’
’After the leadership regained organizational control, he would even take Yu Dong to meet his own superiors.’
’The first volume of the Reincarnator’s Handbook needed to be taken seriously. At the same time... it was time for Yu Dong’s second volume to be shared with the higher-ups as well.’
’He had to make the top brass take Yu Dong seriously!’
’Then they could plan for the future. That was the optimal solution.’
’Yu Dong couldn’t pull off anything big with just his small group of followers...’
’Of course, for now, liberating Yanhai City first was indeed the best course of action. They needed to secure one front before anything else.’
After hanging up, Yu Dong slowly let out a long breath.
The reason he’d spoken to Qiao Yunliang that way was because... he didn’t want another Yang Ze on his hands.
Those who followed him had to be completely loyal to him.
From now on, they would all be members of the Salvation Army. They couldn’t be whisked away by some mobilization order from Qiao Yunliang, and more importantly, they couldn’t suddenly betray him for the sake of some ideal or belief.
’Once I’ve gathered everyone, I’ll have to strengthen our group’s identity. I need to make everyone fully embrace their role as members of the Salvation Army...’
With the tasks assigned, Yu Dong led his team and set out.