The equipment of the Death Seeker Group was also changed. There were enough supplies in the two cities. All of them changed into engineering stab resistant suits, which increased their survivability. Many senior prisoners also wore medium leather armor that was reinforced with rivets. As long as they didn't encounter S2 zombies, they wouldn't be scratched.
In addition, even if they encountered S2 zombies, they wouldn't be afraid. Zhang Xiaoqiang had always been obsessed with the Reel Gun. After he found a few in stock in the police station, a large number of simple replicas were made. There were also all kinds of replicas of bows and crossbows. As a supplement, the Death Seeker Group's long-range combatants were constantly increasing.
The battle to encircle Helan Mountain had already begun. Helan Mountain was a mountainous area, so heavy weapons couldn't go up. The combat department split up the Bloody Battle Group. The Reel Gun and Rocket Launcher cooperated with each other. While fighting, a large number of zombies were captured and sent to the Botanical Research Institute in the mountain town.
Although zombies were Zhang Xiaoqiang's biggest enemy, they were also a kind of resource. Later on, he reported the growth of the tusk tree every day. Under the pouring of countless zombies, the tree could grow one or two meters every day. Its body was also getting thicker. Not knowing if it was because of the excessive corpse fluid, the tree began to grow horizontally. Now, it was as wide as three people.
At first, Zhang Xiaoqiang was still waiting for the tree to grow fruits. He didn't expect that the uncle only grew taller and no fruits. This made Zhang Xiaoqiang secretly puzzled. Could it be that there were male and female trees?
However, there were already hundreds of zombies inside. Zhang Xiaoqiang gritted his teeth and ordered the frontline to continuously send zombies over. Even if it didn't grow fruits, he would accept it. He wanted to see what the tree could grow into.
The battle at Helan Mountains wasn't something that could be resolved in a day or two. Zhang Xiao Qiang didn't even use his main force. He only sent 3 Garrison Divisions with new recruits to assist the Blood Battle Group in clearing out the enemy. The Blood Wolves Brigade acted as a reserve force, while the Hunter Cavalry crossed Yinchuan City and began clearing out the cities upstream of the Yellow River.
Although the current battle involved a division, a brigade, and a Hunter Army, Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't worry about it. For him, it was not a big deal to deal with hundreds of thousands of zombies with only ten thousand people.
When Zhang Xiao Qiang had only reclaimed half of Yinchuan City, he had brought the 1st Regiment and the armored troops here. They first found the camp that the Yinchuan Army had left behind. Most of the traces left behind by the sea of corpses had dissipated, and all that was left were piles of bones and huge steel bodies.
Tanks, helicopters, and self-propelled cannons, these powerful weapons had all become broken remains covered with moss. Walking into the first defense line of the military camp, on the right side of the military camp, a road made of pure white bones appeared in front of them. Looking at the road of white bones, a few staff officers from the Silver Stream Army kneeled on the ground and cried bitterly.
Shi Yuanye quietly got off the car and walked among the bones. He walked towards the road that was about to be buried by weeds. Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't follow him, nor did he try to persuade him. He knew that this was a thorn in Shi Yuanye's heart. If he hadn't given the order to retreat, this road wouldn't have been formed.
Shi Yuanye quietly stood at the edge of the road, as if he was repenting. Zhang Xiaoqiang sat in the military vehicle with his legs crossed. He looked at the clouds in the sky and smoked. Time seemed to stop at this moment. Only the smoke from the cigarette in Zhang Xiaoqiang's mouth was still fresh, dancing and spreading with the flow of the air …
"There's no need to repair all the equipment. The rain ruined everything …"
Shi Yuanye stood behind Zhang Xiaoqiang in a low voice. Ever since entering the barracks, Shi Yuanye hadn't been in a good mood. Zhang Xiaoqiang, on the other hand, was standing in the center of the war room, looking at the skeleton sitting in front of the giant monitor.
The skeleton's clothes were still intact. The two gold stars on each epaulet told of this person's identity. Lieutenant General. Perhaps everyone looked down on this former commander of the Yinchuan Army who had committed suicide, but Zhang Xiaoqiang admired him.
This person was able to gather 100,000 survivors, lead the army to recover the military base, and even die at the last moment. Although his commanding skills were questionable, he was still a hundred times better than those higher-ups who ran away at the last moment.
"Find a good place to bury the Lieutenant General. Don't touch his belongings. Let him be buried with dignity …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang walked around the war room. That was all he said before he turned and left. Shi Yuanye stood there, staring blankly at his former superior. After Zhang Xiaoqiang left, the others in the war room also left. The slightly lively atmosphere became gloomy again. Darkness surrounded Shi Yuanye. Shi Yuanye looked at the skeleton for a long time, then suddenly stood straight and saluted solemnly …
"We retreated in a hurry. The food for 100,000 people for half a year was still left in the granary. We only took one set of ammunition, including the vehicle. There are three ammunition depots in the base. One is a standing ammunition depot, one is a backup ammunition depot, and the last one is a retired ammunition depot …
There's not much left in the standing ammunition depot. I don't have the passwords to the backup ammunition depot and the retired ammunition depot. It'll take more effort to retrieve the ammunition …
"There's still a lot of military supplies, especially fuel. We found almost a thousand tons of gasoline and diesel in the fuel center behind the mountain. We also have a lot of maintenance parts. There are hundreds of engines for tanks and armored vehicles. Almost half of them are useless. As long as we have Xiao Lang, we can make use of them …
"There's not much left of light and heavy weapons. We only found a regiment's worth of light weapons in an equipment depot that we forgot. The rest were damaged by the rain, and some were abandoned when we retreated …"
In the administration building of the camp, Zhang Xiaoqiang sat with his legs crossed as he listened to Shi Yuanye's report. Although a lot of equipment was damaged and many weapons were gone, Zhang Xiaoqiang was very happy. Even a broken ship had three catties of nails, not to mention that the camp still had a lot of military supplies.
"What's with the retired weapons depot?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang thought of the weapons depot he found in the prison. There were all kinds of weapons in there. Just the light and heavy machine guns alone had more than ten types.
Shi Yuanye did not know much about the retired weapons depot. He pondered for a while and said uncertainly, "The army started changing equipment in the mid-80s.
"The troops have been changing their equipment since the middle of the 1980s. Other than some of the equipment that performed exceptionally well, the rest of the equipment has been sealed. Other than transferring some of the equipment from before the 1970s to other places, we have kept some of the more advanced weapons as reserves in case of war.
These weapons are from after the 70s, like rifles. I've seen a report about the maintenance of 24,000 Type-81 rifles. The Type-81 rifles are still the main equipment of the armed police, so … "
Zhang Xiaoqiang already understood. In name, they were retired weapons, but at the moment, they were no worse than the mainstream equipment of some small countries. If they were to flow into the military, it would only be a problem.
Zhang Xiao Qiang had wanted to order for all of them to be unsealed, but he hesitated. Right now, the troops did not lack weapons, they only lacked ammunition. As long as they unsealed the ammunition depot at the back, as well as the surrounding armories, it would be enough for them to continue fighting. He had no way of storing the extra weapons. Furthermore, the weapons were all well taken care of. Before the waterproof glue was made, it would be a headache.
"First, gather all the ammunition that can be found and send it to the logistics department. Let Chen Fei be in charge of the inventory. Do the same for the various supplies. The troops are not allowed to keep weapons and ammunition. If there is a mission, report it to the operations department first, and then the logistics department will give the order. No one is allowed to break the rules …"
Unifying the supply of ammunition was Zhang Xiaoqiang's first step. Last time, he almost caused the collapse of the entire army because of an accident. Although it was a close shave, it gave Zhang Xiaoqiang a reminder. As long as the logistical lifeline of the army was in the hands of the headquarters, the troops below would not be able to do anything.
"Tell Zhao Jun that we have to speed up the clean-up operation in Mount Helan. It's much easier to encircle the zombies in the mountains than on the plains. The zombies are greatly affected by the terrain. Tell him to be more flexible and send more troops to encircle the zombies.
Don't be too calculative … "After instructing about the ammunition, Zhang Xiaoqiang thought of Zhao Jun. He was a little impatient that Zhao Jun had not cleared the zombies at the foot of Mount Helan in two days.
Shi Yuanye heard the resentment in Zhang Xiaoqiang's words and could not help but defend Zhao Jun:
"Commander Shi slowed down the operation mainly to catch more zombies. The rear already has an idea of how to use the zombies, and we need a large number of zombies as materials. If …"
"Tell him that there are many zombies in the world. After clearing Mount Helan, there are at least two million zombies waiting for him to catch. Don't pick sesame seeds and lose watermelon …"
Hundreds of thousands of zombies were already small fries in Zhang Xiaoqiang's eyes. First, they would recover Yinchuan, then follow the river and recover the cities along the way to Baotou. After that, they could contact the northern army. Once the zombies in Hohhot were cleared, whether the northern army was willing or not, they would be swallowed by Zhang Xiaoqiang. At that time, the whole of Inner Mongolia would become a front line. However, that had nothing to do with him. His goal was to go home and find his wife.
"Report, there is news from the recruitment camp of the Death Seeking Regiment in Mount Helan. They have already taken control of 12,000 survivors, including 8,600 males and 3,400 females. At the same time, in the Mount Helan region, the number of survivors is between 100,000 and 150,000, requesting for reinforcements …"
The intelligence officer reported the latest news, causing Zhang Xiaoqiang and Shi Yuanye to look at each other. Then Shi Yuanye said in a serious tone, "Zhang Xiaoqiang, this is a big fat piece of meat. Let the 1st Regiment go. Silver Creek is guarded by the Armored Regiment. If that is not enough, we can transfer two battalions from the 2nd Regiment stationed in Wuhai …"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiaoqiang shook his head and said, "There is no need to transfer the 2nd Regiment.
They have to guard the zombies downstream of the Yellow River. I only need to take two battalions from the 1st Regiment. The remaining two battalions will cooperate with Bao Lingmin to speed up the clearing of the remaining zombies in Silver Creek. The Armored Regiment will guard the barracks. Ask Xiao Lang to hurry over and use the spare parts to optimize the equipment of the Armored Regiment. At the same time, ask Xu Hao to do the reconnaissance and closely monitor the sea of zombies upstream … "