Zhang Xiaoqiang had also thought of the worst-case scenario. The main force would be wiped out, and all the heavy weapons would be lost. He would take a few hundred people and escape by boat. He would use the two thousand shields to eliminate the Great Blackbird, then bring the weapons, ammunition, and 20,000 people back to the gathering place to start again.
Ding Luo scratched his head and shook his head. He looked at the dumbfounded soldiers around him and smiled awkwardly at Huang Quan. Ding Luo was a person who couldn't stay idle. In the past, he brought a group of young disciples to spread the knowledge of his sect. Later on, he brought a few hundred people to other lakeshore to plunder resources. He didn't feel bitter even though he was sweating profusely every day. Now that he was suddenly free, he didn't know what to do.
Thinking about the upcoming battle, Zhang Xiaoqiang was a little worried. Zhang Xiaoqiang had enough rifles, but not enough bullets. He had to hide the 5,000 rifles. Sun Kefu had prepared 3,000 people, and Wen Wen had also sent 1,500 people to report to Zhang Xiaoqiang. Wen Wen didn't come, and Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't explain the reason to him. Wen Wen just hid in his small courtyard all day.
In the direction where Ding Luo's finger was pointing, thick smoke rose and dyed the sky black. From time to time, large pieces of ash would float across the distance and fall on the temporary camp.
"Reporting … the fire in front is gradually extinguishing. The temperature is too high, we don't dare to approach. We don't know if it was extinguished naturally or by the zombies …"
Sun Kefu had 30,000 people, the armed police had 20,000 people, Wen Wen had 10,000 people, Qian Kaixi had more than 20,000 people, and the remaining 40,000 people were the poor people of the gathering place or people from small forces.
In this regard, Zhang Xiaoqiang specifically ordered that rifles were only allowed to fire one shot at the zombies. Multiple shots were not allowed, and this was slowly brought under control in the past two days. Even so, the ammunition consumption had exceeded 300,000 rounds. Including the ammunition for the women's camp and the armed police, it had reached a million rounds. This was almost a third of the entire camp's reserves. This was already a dangerous reserve.
Adding the armed police and the militia that Zhang Xiaoqiang had previously recruited, his fighting strength had already reached 3,000 people. Among them, there were more than 2,000 who had gone through the baptism of battle. Subsequently, Zhang Xiaoqiang sent the real 1,000 militia to the other side of the river, with Huang Quan leading them to take turns with Ding Luo. After Huang Quan went over, Zhang Xiaoqiang organized Sun Kefu's original 1,000 men and 2,000 slightly stronger men into a large group of 3,000 people. These people were temporarily led by Chen Huiyong.
Zhang Xiaoqiang got Huang Quan to bring out 8,000 rifles, of which 5,000 were placed on the island in the middle of the lake, and 3,000 were placed in the camp. Zhang Xiaoqiang was prepared to land on the island, and only after the zombies had truly surrounded the city would he place the rifles there. The battle a few days ago had made Zhang Xiaoqiang realize that automatic firepower was pure nonsense to the zombies. The 20 rounds of the Type 63 rifle were emptied in a blink of an eye, and the zombies in front of them were shot through a thousand times. However, the zombies did not die. As long as they were not shot in the head, the zombies could not die even if they wanted to. Furthermore, the 200 rounds of ammunition that each person carried were emptied in less than two days.
In the armed police force, 500 people were separated and formed into an independent battalion. The remaining 200 people were split up into Zhang Xiaoqiang's militia. This time, Zhang Xiaoqiang was especially generous. As long as they went over, everyone would be promoted to team leaders, and those temporary team leaders that were previously appointed would be demoted to team leaders.
Huang Quan made a show of force, and when he saw that all the soldiers had stood up and were on guard, he nodded his head in satisfaction and handed over the duties to Ding Luo.
After the professional soldiers entered Zhang Xiaoqiang's army, their overall combat power rose by a notch. An army's combat power was not only displayed through rigorous training, but also the quality of the officers at the bottom. With these armed police, Zhang Xiaoqiang no longer had to worry about a situation where more than 10 people would escape at once. After all, deserters from the battlefield would not be tolerated regardless of whether it was a regular army or a miscellaneous army.
Of course, the population of Sun Kefu and the armed police belonged to him. These days, after eating their fill, Zhang Xiaoqiang still planned to retreat with these people. At the very least, he wanted to let them cross the river and slowly think of a base on the other side of the river. At that time, he didn't care how many people would be left. After all, these people were picked up for free.
Huang Quan led a thousand soldiers to the other side of the river through the increasing number of cableways. After slightly tidying up the formation, they ran towards the frontline. When they ran to the temporary camp ten kilometers away, they saw hundreds of soldiers sitting around lazily and resting. Yang Ke-er was instigating the two puppies to chase after the escaping water snakes. On the other hand, they saw Ding Luo sleeping soundly on the mattress outside the tent. It seemed that the frontline was much more comfortable than the rear, and this put the anxious new soldiers at ease.
With regards to this, Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't plan to let go of the remaining people. When they first arrived at the colony, there were about 150,000 people. After a few months of attrition, there were only about 140,000 people left. Among them, 15,000 were recruited by Zhang Xiaoqiang. Including the female soldiers, Zhang Xiaoqiang had a total of more than 20,000 people. Other than nearly 4,000 men, the rest were women and children. Children under the age of five were not counted in the population of the colony.
After completing the handover, two black-faced soldiers suddenly ran over from the frontline. Seeing the shock on their faces, Huang Quan's heart skipped a beat. Something had happened.
Sun Kefu previously had more than 400 Type-81 Rifles left. Zhang Xiaoqiang did not confiscate these rifles and allowed the 3,000 people to learn how to shoot. Each person had to shoot at least three rounds a day. Regarding these people, Zhang Xiaoqiang only wanted to temporarily use them to attack the colony. Once they successfully broke through the encirclement, these people's weapons would actually be taken back. To Zhang Xiaoqiang, an army of 3,000 people was temporarily enough. He couldn't provide for any more, after all, there were too many people who needed to eat now.
After some calculations, Zhang Xiaoqiang already had close to 8,000 armed forces. Adding Qian Kaixi's 1,200 men and the 500 from the female soldiers, the entire colony had an armed force of more than 10,000 people. These 10,000 people were the better ones in the colony. The rest of the people had been starving for a long time and could not even jog, not to mention risking their lives.
Huang Quan looked at Ding Luo coldly. He was very unhappy that the frontline commander was hiding in the camp and sleeping while the soldiers under him were like ducks. He shouted, "Vice-captain Ding, pay attention to your status. You are the highest commander on the frontline. Zhang Xiaoqiang trusted you and allowed you to bring hundreds of brothers to the frontline, not for you to sleep here. Your team members did not come here for an outing. They did not follow the order of the battlefield, and you did not set an example. I will now punish all of you. All the soldiers under you will have their food supply reduced by a third for the next three months. Do you have any objections?"
Most of them were frail, and Zhang Xiao Qiang did not place much hope on them. Zhang Xiao Qiang wanted to gather another 10,000 people from the various factions to form a backup army. These people would be used as a last resort, and would be sent to fill in the gaps.
Zhang Xiaoqiang was quite satisfied with the 1,500 people that Wen Wen had sent. These people were all equipped with the same standard equipment, each of them had a shield and a broadsword. Although Wen Wen did not hand over the guns, Zhang Xiaoqiang found them very pleasing to the eye. It was very simple, if they did not have guns, they would not have to use up bullets. These people would go forward to fight hand-to-hand, and he would place a few heavy machine guns behind them. Once these people wanted to escape, the heavy machine guns would be able to suppress them. They might not necessarily die if they advanced, but they would definitely die if they retreated.
"Zhang Xiaoqiang's fire has been burning until now. Our scouts at the frontline have been roasted into roast ducks by the heat. Look, there is still black smoke coming out. I guess if the fire is not extinguished, the zombies won't be able to come over …"
No matter what, Zhang Xiaoqiang would not be at a disadvantage. He would not be a saint. He would only help within the scope of his ability and leave the rest to fate.