binnovel Chapter 228 The war is coming
Chapter 228 The war is coming
At 7 p.m., the soldiers of each unit were still carrying out preparations in an orderly manner, and the defensive positions had already reached a certain scale. In order to ensure a certain degree of mobility, Li Chenglong ordered Wu Gang's four regiments and other units to form two defensive positions, with each position one kilometer apart. The first position was to be occupied by two regiments and some soldiers from the Rocket Force and information support units, while the other units were to serve as reserves. If the fighting lasted a long time and the soldiers at the front became tired, they would then take over.
According to the report from Yang Liu and his team who just returned, the vanguard of the zombies is still more than 80 kilometers away from them, but they have stopped moving, giving the Dawn Army a lot of time to prepare.
Fiona and Sophia walked back and forth on the battlefield, filming the soldiers' bustling work, but they didn't go to interview them; the soldiers were too busy for them to handle at this time. Besides these two, the Dawn City Broadcasting Network Television Bureau also sent several war correspondents, led by Level 5 ability user Jiang Hui, to report the Dawn Army soldiers' battle scenes to the entire city of Dawn City.
With the operation over the past few months, and the fact that El and Tris helped Li Chenglong cultivate a batch of psionic apple trees, Li Chenglong can now produce 40 psionic apples every month. Most of the high-ranking officials in Dawn City have become ability users. Ma Tiancheng is a level 5 fire-type ability user, Shen Menghua is a level 5 wood-type ability user, and Wu Suqiang, Li Jianguo, Liu Qingqing, Zhao Xin, and others have also become ability users after receiving psionic apples from Li Chenglong for their outstanding contributions to Dawn City.
Based on the types of superhumans that people from Dawn City and the Dawn Army became after eating the Psionic Apple, Li Chenglong discovered a pattern: superhumans who became superhumans through the Psionic Apple were generally elemental or special superhumans; ordinary superhumans were relatively rare. The most common were water, fire, and wood elements. The rarest was metal; currently, only Zheng Yong became a dual superhuman of metal and strength after eating the Psionic Apple.
After becoming a superhuman, Zheng Yong worked very hard. Although he became a superhuman in a shorter time than others, his level did not fall behind. He is now a level 7 late-stage superhuman.
At 9 PM, news came from the logistics support unit that all the food had been prepared to the highest standard, and the soldiers could eat. Li Chenglong and Wu Gang told the soldiers to have a good meal and rest, and finish the remaining work the next morning. Meanwhile, the information support unit also dispatched several reconnaissance teams composed of speed-type ability users, ready to report immediately if they detected the zombie army beginning to move.
Li Chenglong, Feng Tian, Zheng Yong, and Wu Gang, Hao Dahai, Sun Youcai, Qian Guangming, and Wang Yousheng from the 7th Division sat together, eating and discussing tomorrow's battle. Suddenly, a click sounded; Fiona had taken a picture of them with her camera. She then smiled and said, "Although a major battle is imminent, you show no signs of panic, still eating and discussing with ease, just like the great generals I've seen in your Chinese films and television shows."
Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Fiona and Ms. Sophia, why aren't you going to eat and rest? It's so late, why are you here? Also, please don't release the photos from earlier; you can keep them privately at most." Fiona nodded, "I understand, I understand. We've already eaten, and it was delicious. There was even fresh fruit today. We tried to interview some soldiers and military officers, but they all declined. I wonder if you could accept an interview? We just want to ask a few simple questions."
Li Chenglong thought for a moment and said, "Alright then, but I can only allow the two of you to ask a total of three questions." Wu Gang and the other key officers of the 7th Division finished their meal, said goodbye to Li Chenglong, and left. Fiona moved a chair and sat down next to Li Chenglong, while Sophia took out a notebook and a voice recorder to take notes.
Fiona didn't hold back and immediately asked the most crucial question: "Lord Li, do you think your army can win this battle? According to the intelligence we have, there are at least 200,000 zombies rushing towards us, but we only have less than 15,000 soldiers stationed here."
Li Chenglong nodded: "We are absolutely confident of winning this battle. In the history of the Dawn Army and Dawn City, we have fought countless battles where we were outnumbered and outgunned. Several times we even found ourselves in very dangerous situations, but we always managed to overcome them. Now our equipment and logistical supplies are more abundant, and most of our soldiers have very rich combat experience. We are confident that we can win this battle. In a close contest, the brave will prevail. If you lose your courage, no matter how strong your army is, you will not achieve victory."
Fiona wrote down Li Chenglong's words in her notebook, and then asked, "Lord Li, the next question is, will you personally go to the front line of the battle tomorrow, or will you sit in the command room to command? There is a saying in China, 'Planning strategies within the tent, winning battles a thousand miles away.' A good decision and plan may be more useful than fighting on the front line."
Li Chenglong smiled and said, "As Miss Fiona just mentioned, we have less than 15,000 soldiers on our position in Nanchang City, facing an enemy force dozens of times larger, including advanced zombies and advanced zombie beasts. Here, there is no distinction between generals and soldiers; a general is a soldier, and a soldier is a general. Moreover, in this crucial battle that determines life and death, all leaders and all members must set an example and personally lead their soldiers into battle."
Sophia then asked her final question: "Lord Li, what enabled you to fight against two or three hundred thousand zombies with such a small number of people? Was it merely courage?"
Li Chenglong shook his head: "That's definitely not the case. There are many factors involved. Otherwise, we wouldn't have traveled 900 kilometers from Shuguang City in three days to get here. I feel the biggest factor is belief. From the army political department, division political department, regimental political department to company political instructors and platoon political instructors, we all attach great importance to the soldiers' daily ideological work, so that they can develop a firm belief over time. This firm belief, in a sense, can determine the outcome of a battle."
He continued, "Besides that, another major factor is Dawn City. We've been operating in Dawn City for so long, and many soldiers have settled down here. Everyone has a deep love for Dawn City. Over the long years, the soldiers have become brothers and sisters. Dawn City is like one big family, and the awareness of protecting our country and safeguarding our homeland is engraved in the hearts of every soldier. Of course, there are other factors as well, such as the army's commanders. A good general can inspire soldiers to fight alongside you, but an incompetent general will often cause soldiers to abandon you."
Li Chenglong concluded, "Of course, there's also the issue of supplies and equipment. Currently, all members of our Dawn Army have been equipped with the Type 20 assault rifle, and the Rocket Force has acquired eight new crystal beam cannons. Each combat division is also equipped with 300 energy rifles. In addition, the application of new combat equipment such as crystal swords, crystal bombs, and new combat uniforms has given our soldiers confidence in resisting the zombies. Besides equipment, we also have ample supplies, ensuring that every soldier is well-fed and in good physical condition to fight, which also reduces casualties."
After Li Chenglong finished speaking, he glanced at his watch and said, "Ladies, it's already past 10 p.m. Please get some rest. Please be sure to be careful tomorrow." With that, he left to check on the situation at each position.