binnovel Chapter 221 United Conference
Chapter 221 United Conference
Because the people from the Northeast Military Region and the Southwest Military Region were far apart and would take several more days to arrive, the conference was naturally postponed. Although the conference was postponed, Li Chenglong and his group were not idle. They met with representatives from different bases every day. Ma Tiancheng and Zhao Liying, as representatives of Dawn City, reached cooperation agreements with some bases relatively close to Dawn City and signed some commercial contracts.
Here, Li Chenglong unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance: Liang Li, Zhao Liying's former agent who had betrayed her at the hotel. Liang Li was now working in a canteen at the Anxi base, serving meals. Upon seeing Li Chenglong, she initially tried to avoid him, not wanting to be recognized, but he eventually spotted her. After a brief chat, she learned that after Li Chenglong and the others left, she had endured many hardships to reach this base. She had come to terms with it and simply found a basic job to support herself.
Although Li Chenglong didn't sympathize with her plight, he acknowledged her efforts after learning she was now working diligently. Before leaving, he asked, "Zhao Liying came with us this time too, would you like to see her?" Liang Li shook her head with a wry smile, "I think it's better not to. She's now a representative of your Shuguang City, while I'm just a cafeteria lady. It's not appropriate for us to meet, and besides, I feel bad for her, so I definitely can't meet her." Li Chenglong didn't say much more and left shortly after.
On August 17th, comrades from the Northeast Military Region and the Southwest Military Region arrived one after another. Upon seeing that everyone had finally arrived, General Chen Guoqiang announced that the meeting would be held the following day. At 8:00 AM, more than 120 key representatives from the six major bases convened on time in a large conference room at the Anxi Base. The conference, according to the schedule, would last two days and was divided into several parts.
The morning of the 17th was mainly for summarizing. Representatives from the main bases of the six military regions each gave a speech, briefly outlining their progress over the past year. Then, representatives from each military region gave a summary speech, reporting on the achievements of the past year. Subsequently, the data from each military region was submitted, and after some statistical analysis, a general overview of the current situation of the six military regions was finally obtained.
Looking at the compiled table, Chen Guoqiang saw that the six major military regions of China currently have a combined military force of over 2.6 million, while the population is only over 68 million. Chen Guoqiang sighed and put the table into a folder.
The afternoon session saw awards and new appointments for outstanding individuals and groups. Each of the six military regions selected its best base and presented its findings. Following a vote by all attendees, Dawn City unsurprisingly emerged as the top-ranked base. Chen Guoqiang, representing the Provisional General Affairs Council and the Provisional Military Commission of China, commended the representatives of these outstanding bases and engaged in friendly conversation with them, eliciting enthusiastic applause.
The meeting the next day was more important; it was a strategic meeting about future operations. The young man named Han Fei, who was next to General Chen Guoqiang, walked to the huge map of China hanging on the podium and said, "Based on information from various military regions, we have summarized the current situation. The zombies that currently pose a threat to China are mainly concentrated in the Impression Country in the southwest corner of Tibet, the western part of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the northern side of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the neighboring countries to the south of the Southwest Military Region. Finally, there are the zombies in the Southeast Military Region."
As soon as he finished speaking, a discussion broke out in the audience. They hadn't expected the situation in China to be so critical. Han Fei continued, "So our current situation is not optimistic. That's why we've gathered everyone here today—to give everyone a better understanding of the overall situation and to encourage deeper communication."
Han Fei walked down, and Chen Guoqiang nodded before striding confidently onto the stage, saying, "We are under attack from all sides. Zombies are gathering in the north, northeast, west, southwest, south, and southeast, while in the eastern sea, there are some powerful sea beasts. Some time ago, we sent an investigation team to the southeast, and you have all seen the report. The zombies are no longer the mindless monsters that used to just charge around aimlessly. Now they are organized, have high-level command, and are gathering a large army, preparing to fight us."
After everyone discussed it for a while, Chen Guoqiang continued, "After discussion, our Provisional China Military Commission has decided to carry out a major reorganization of the existing army, giving each unit a new designation to facilitate unified command and combat. Of course, our headquarters will only give a general direction; how to fight specifically will depend on each unit."
After discussions in the morning and afternoon, the reorganization and re-division of the troops were finally settled. The original six military zones were reorganized into seven war zones. Shuguang City under Li Chenglong, Qianyun Base under Sun Tianlong, Feiyun Base under Xu Limin and Wei Jing, Qingshui Base under Sun Qingpeng and Gao Shixin, and some smaller bases were assigned to the Eastern War Zone, while Heijin City under Shangguan Jingyun was assigned to the Central War Zone.
The conference also proposed consolidating the various bases to better cope with the massive zombie horde, with some smaller bases relocated and merged into larger ones to enhance their ability to fight the zombies. The seven war zones are currently the Northeast War Zone, Eastern War Zone, Central War Zone, Northern War Zone, Northwest War Zone, Southwest War Zone, and Southeast War Zone. Each war zone has one commander, two deputy commanders, and one political commissar. The members of the Provisional Military Commission of China consist of the four highest-ranking officials from each war zone and a portion of the original Military Commission, with Chen Guoqiang as the overall leader. In principle, each war zone has an organization of 10 armies, with a personnel strength of 300,000 to 400,000.
In the Eastern Theater Command, the commander is Lieutenant General Sun Tianlong, the deputy commanders are Lieutenant General Liu Baisheng and Lieutenant General Han Zhengguang, and the political commissar is Lieutenant General Kong Liang. Of the four major bases, Qianyun Base has four corps-level units, while Shuguangcheng, Feiyun, and Qingshui Bases each have two corps-level units. Yesterday, during a meeting between Chen Guoqiang and the highest-ranking officials of other military regions, Sun Tianlong strongly advocated for Li Chenglong to hold a nominal deputy commander position. However, some members of the Provisional Military Commission of China believed that Li Chenglong, at only twenty-nine years old, was too young, and that promoting him too early would be detrimental, so they rejected Sun Tianlong's proposal.
After the division and personnel appointments were announced, many people in the audience discussed among themselves. General Chen Guoqiang said, "This re-division will definitely affect some people, but it is also for the overall benefit of China and for better fighting against zombies and invading aliens. Please be sure to overcome the difficulties and fight well in the battles to come."
After the meeting, Chen Guoqiang hosted another grand banquet for the attendees. During the banquet, Shangguan Jingyun approached Li Chenglong and said with some regret, "I didn't expect that we'd only just met and already been assigned to different places, unable to fight together." Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Fighting is fighting, no matter where you are. It's all for protecting our country, for our base, and for our people. Besides, we're both in China, so there will definitely be opportunities to fight together again. But I hope our strategic partnership can continue." Shangguan Jingyun happily replied, "I'm relieved to hear that. As long as I, Shangguan Jingyun, am in this position, Black Gold City will always be Dawn City's most reliable ally."
After this reorganization, Shangguan Jingyun was assigned to the Central Theater Command, and Heijincheng was also divided into three armies. Her own position remained unchanged, which surprised Li Chenglong, because in terms of strength and prestige, she might not be the first in the Eastern Theater Command, but she was a leader in the Central Theater Command.
The next morning, people from various war zones left one after another. When Sun Tianlong and his group left, Chen Guoqiang personally came to see them off. He pulled Li Chenglong aside and said, "Don't be discouraged this time. I believe you will soon gain the recognition of all Chinese people." Because Shangguan Jingyun was assigned to the Central War Zone and they had to attend a meeting, they did not leave with Li Chenglong. Li Chenglong got into an all-terrain armored command vehicle and left with the people from Qianyun Base, Feiyun Base, and Qingshui Base.