binnovel Chapter 278 Big Turning Point
Chapter 278 Big Turning Point
A short while later, the special forces members found a clean office building, and Yunlan and the others went inside. Because of the battle between Yunlan and Protector Zhen, especially after Yunlan killed Protector Zhen, a large number of zombies, both high-level and low-level, had fled the area, so their current location was very safe.
Yunlan checked the time on her crystal phone and found that although there hadn't been much fighting, it was already noon. Han Xiaoling took out warm water and a dozen basins from her storage space, letting everyone wash up quickly. After washing up, Yunlan took out various convenience foods, providing each person with a boxed lunch made of high-grade Dawn Rice, vegetables grown in her spiritual energy space, and exotic beast meat.
While eating, Yunlan said, "That level 11 Awakened Zombie is really strong. To be honest, apart from your Captain Li, this is the first time I've seen such a strong opponent. Last time when we were fighting at the Hohhot base, although there were two Guardians, their strength was much weaker compared to this one."
Han Xiaoling said with some surprise, "I didn't expect that there would be zombies with superpowers, let alone awakened zombies. We need to be careful about this in the future." Yang Liu reported, "Team Leader Yun, apart from a dozen or so people who suffered injuries of varying degrees, all 50 members of the special forces team are safe and sound. After treatment and taking crystal recovery potions, they are now out of danger."
Dong Meng, standing to the side, said with some concern, "I wonder how things are on Captain Li's side. We have a level 11 zombie guardian here, so Shanghai, as a major city in the Eastern Theater Command, must also have a high-ranking enemy general stationed there." Wu Ruilan smiled and said, "We don't need to worry about Captain Li. He's level 11 now. Last time, he took down two zombie guardians in one move. Back then, Captain Li was only level 10. Now that he's reached level 11, we haven't seen him make a move yet."
Yunlan took out her thermos and drank some water before saying, "Don't even mention you guys, I've never seen him fight either. Last time I wanted to spar with him to see how big the gap was between me and him at level 10. But as soon as he unleashed his power, I felt a chill run down my spine. It was as if the person in front of me wasn't him at all. It was terrifying."
The group continued chatting, and after finishing their meal, they were told to rest for a while before heading north at 2 PM to continue clearing out the zombies. Meanwhile, the Dawn Army and the troops from the Qianyun Base, heading north to provide support, received news that Yunlan had already killed the strongest level 11 zombie in Tianjin. Their morale soared, and they fought even harder. Zheng Yong and Sun Tianlong, who remained behind, optimistically estimated that completing the clearing of Tianjin within a week was entirely possible.
To expedite the battle, General Sun Tianlong deployed another half of his army to the battlefield, bringing the total number of armies deployed to Qianyun Base to two, leaving only one army to protect Qianyun Base and the eastern coastal positions.
The four main bases of the Eastern Theater Command have a total of 10 corps. Qianyun Base has three corps, Shuguang Village has two corps, and Feiyun Base and Qingshui Base each have 2.5 corps. The force that recaptured Shanghai consisted of a combat division of the Dawn Army and some other units, a combined force of one corps from Feiyun Base and 1.5 corps from Qingshui Base, which recaptured Shanghai through a pincer movement.
Li Chenglong, on the other hand, had a very relaxed time. He barely participated in the battle, only intervening once to wipe out an elite force composed of level 10 and level 9 zombies, acquiring a large number of level 9 and level 10 crystals. Later, after learning that Yun Lan had killed a level 11 zombie, she couldn't help but feel happy for her, while also warning her never to fight like that again. After all, while super self-healing was powerful, it required having sufficient spiritual energy; if one's spiritual energy was insufficient during self-healing, it would be very dangerous.
Shanghai has a large area and a greater number of zombies, so although there are more troops there, their progress is slower than in Tianjin. Li Chenglong, Xu Qingming, Wei Huasheng, and Gao Shixin met on the fourth day of the battle. After discussing the matter, they all agreed that although the progress was slower than originally planned, this thorough review would make future construction much easier.
Li Chenglong had two main reasons for not personally participating in the battle. First, he wanted to allow the ability users in his unit who were about to level up to advance. While his own strength was one thing, if they could all grow stronger, the overall combat power of the Dawn Army and Dawn City would be greatly enhanced. Second, no particularly powerful ability zombies had been found in Shanghai. He had eliminated some of the more powerful level 10 zombies, and even if the others were level 10, his level 9 members in the Dawn Army could easily defeat them.
Influenced by the Eastern Theater Command, all theater commands except the still-recovering Northern Theater Command launched large-scale operations, attacking nearby major zombie strongholds. A compiled battle report was handed over by Han Fei to General Chen Guoqiang, clearly outlining the various situations.
In this battle that spanned across all of China, the five theater commands—Eastern Theater Command, Northeastern Theater Command, Central Theater Command, Southwestern Theater Command, and Northwestern Theater Command—mobilized a total of 300 regiments from 20 armies to engage in combat. Chen Guoqiang said to the person next to him, "I believe that after this battle, the situation in China will undergo a tremendous change. From now on, we will shift from a passive defensive phase to an active offensive phase."
On November 22nd, the battle in Tianjin in the north finally ended. In order to allow for a buffer period and to give the soldiers who had fought so hard a rest, with the approval of the Central Military Commission of China headed by Chen Guoqiang, except for some soldiers left at the Qianyun Base to clean up the remaining small groups of zombies in Tianjin, the Dawn Army could withdraw to rest.
Meanwhile, in order to leave a buffer zone, the area of Beihe Province between Tianjin and Yanjing was not attacked with full force this time.
On November 25th, the cleanup of the Shanghai Stock Exchange finally came to an end. After the allied forces held a victory banquet on the spot, Li Chenglong did not allow his troops time to rest. He led the entire army back to Shuguang City, where they were warmly welcomed by the city's residents. It's worth mentioning that Han Feng did not return with Li Chenglong; instead, she went to find her master, Protector Xun. Seeing that she was determined to leave, Li Chenglong knew that trying to persuade her to stay was futile. He reminded her to be careful and gave her a considerable amount of Flame Fruit before she departed.
In this battle, Dawn City deployed two combat divisions, an air force regiment, a rocket regiment, information support units, equipment support units, special operations teams, and more than 27000 personnel. They eliminated over 20 zombies, zombie beasts, zombie birds, and other mutant species, and collected 18 crystals of various kinds. Furthermore, after the battle, the number of level 9 ability users in Dawn City has increased to 77, and the number of level 8 ability users has increased to over 1100. Meanwhile, veteran ability users such as Wu Gang, Zheng Aiguo, and Li Xue have all advanced to level 10.
Despite achieving significant victories, the Dawn Army also suffered heavy losses. In this battle, 4500 Dawn Army soldiers perished, including 622 individuals with supernatural abilities. Among these, there were 2 level 9 abilities, 45 level 8 abilities, and 445 level 7 abilities. In addition to the fallen soldiers, over 1000 were severely wounded and disabled, never to return to the battlefield.
With tears in his eyes, Li Chenglong stated at the memorial service that the people of Dawn City and Dawn Army would never forget all those who had shed sweat, blood, or even sacrificed their lives for the development of Dawn City and the Dawn Army. At Li Chenglong's suggestion, a monument was erected in the 1.5-square-kilometer Dawn City Square to commemorate all the people's heroes.