Chapter 276: Chapter 276: The Military’s Response Plan

After learning the location of the staff office from Jin Canlan, Lin Xinghai didn’t leave right away. Instead, he went to find Fang Tianhe.

"Ah Hai, what are you doing here?" Fang Tianhe asked, completely surprised to see him.

"It’s nothing, I was just passing by. But the situation is grim, and a zombie horde could erupt at any moment. This is my military communication channel. If I tell you to retreat, don’t ask any questions. Just get your people out of here immediately," Lin Xinghai said.

Fang Tianhe was clearly taken aback. "Did something happen?"

He wasn’t stupid. He knew Lin Xinghai wouldn’t say something like that, even if he was just passing by, unless something was seriously wrong.

"There are some things I have to keep confidential, so I can’t tell you yet. Just be prepared."

"Don’t worry. With me here, even if something does happen, you’ll get the news before anyone else. Just be mentally prepared for it," Lin Xinghai said.

’Even against a million-strong zombie horde, the military wouldn’t be routed instantly. As long as they aren’t betrayed, there will definitely be enough time for an orderly retreat.’

Lin Xinghai then asked about their current situation and learned that everything had gone very smoothly, both last night and today.

Although Lin Xinghai’s departure meant the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps had lost a major combatant, Liu Miaomiao’s performance in her new mecha was astounding. Basically, wherever she piloted it, a trail of dead zombies was left in her wake.

By Fang Tianhe’s estimate, even if they ran into a Mutated Zombie, he and Liu Miaomiao could easily defeat it by working together.

Having gotten an update, Lin Xinghai had no reason to linger. He soon piloted his mecha away, heading toward the staff office’s location.

When Lin Xinghai arrived, he found that the temporary staff office wasn’t in a building at all, but was instead formed by two Armored Vehicles linked together.

Their roofs were equipped with two ultra-long-range communication devices, allowing for command and control over the entire battlefield.

This "mobile staff office" was surrounded by a full thirty mechas standing guard, so Lin Xinghai was spotted the moment he approached.

Of course, he wasn’t trying to hide and had approached openly, so someone was already there to greet him when he arrived.

The person who came out to meet him was even an acquaintance: Colonel Zhang Yue.

"Lin Xinghai, the General is already waiting for you inside." Zhang Yue gestured for him to enter.

"You knew I was coming?" Lin Xinghai raised an eyebrow.

Zhang Yue simply smiled without answering.

Lin Xinghai thought for a moment before it dawned on him. ’It must have been Zhuo Yongyuan who reported my intentions.’

’But since he’s part of the military, that’s not surprising.’

He quickly followed Zhang Yue inside the temporary staff office.

Only after entering did he realize that this was not just a staff office, but also a temporary command post. All the equipment inside was state-of-the-art, and though the space was cramped, it lacked none of the essential functions.

"General Lin, my apologies for the intrusion." Upon seeing the veteran soldier Lin Zhengyang, Lin Xinghai immediately snapped to a military salute.

’No matter what, the man deserved his respect.’

"With that impatient personality of yours, I thought you’d be a little more composed!" Lin Zhengyang said with a hearty laugh.

"General Lin, to be frank, I’m the kind of person who likes to be in control of the whole picture. So when I’m kept in the dark about things, it makes me uneasy," Lin Xinghai said bluntly.

"Haha, you’re a lot like I was back in the day." Lin Zhengyang paused, then continued, "If I’m not mistaken, you’ve come to ask what we’re doing to stop the zombie horde, haven’t you?"

Lin Xinghai nodded, but as he looked at the old general, he added, "I know I’m overstepping my authority, sir. It’s just that a million zombies have already gathered at the Industrial Park. It could turn into a super-horde at any moment, and if we don’t take action now, it’ll be too late."

"Haha! Who said we haven’t taken any measures? In fact, we started our preparations first thing this morning," Lin Zhengyang laughed.

Lin Xinghai frowned slightly. "You mean the fortifications? They cover a vast area, and a defensive network would certainly be effective, but that alone can’t possibly be enough to stop a horde of a million zombies, can it?"

"What’s more, a million-strong horde is the optimistic scenario right now. The zombies are still gathering. The number could climb to 1.5 million, or even 2 million. What will we have to stop them then?"

"You’re not wrong," Lin Zhengyang nodded. "This is a disparity in pure numbers, one that can’t be overcome with a clever plan. So, all we can do right now is... wait."

"’Wait?’" Lin Xinghai was astonished, but he didn’t ask further, waiting for the other man to explain.

"That’s right. We either wait for the horde to attack so we can retreat, or we wait for our ace in the hole to show up and fight the horde to the death."

"In fact, a few days ago, after we noticed the unusual behavior of those Mutated Zombies, I reported the situation to the Star Shield Shelter and told them to prepare to send reinforcements."

"And over the past few days, that old codger Wei Tianxing hasn’t been sitting idle. He’s already been to three different shelters to ask for aid, and you know what?"

At this, Lin Xinghai’s interest was piqued. "You must have found reinforcements."

"Mhm." Lin Zhengyang nodded, then said with a sigh, "Frankly, at a time like this, every shelter is short on manpower. Trying to borrow troops is exceptionally difficult."

"But Old Wei is really something else. He resorted to all the pestering and shameless tactics of his youth and actually managed to scrape together 100,000 Combat Robots."

"Add to that the Star Shield Shelter’s own stockpile from the past few years, and that makes a total of 200,000 Combat Robots."

"This morning, after receiving the intelligence you sent back, I knew something was wrong. I’ve already notified the Shelter to send the Combat Robots over."

"However, transporting 200,000 Combat Robots is no easy task. Even if each transport vehicle can carry 1,000 of them, that’s still a convoy of 200 trucks. But, by my calculations, they should be arriving soon."

"Now all we need are the defensive positions. This is going to be a battlefield with millions of combatants on both sides."

"The area our defenses need to cover is absolutely massive, and I’m not sure if they can be completed in time." Lin Zhengyang held nothing back from Lin Xinghai, telling him everything.

Even Lin Xinghai felt a surge of emotion at this news. Two hundred thousand Combat Robots—it was an absolutely immense force, but...

"With these 200,000 Combat Robots, can we really win this battle?" Lin Xinghai was well aware that Combat Robots were merely controlled by an AI system. Their Gun Technique was inferior to even an ordinary mercenary’s.

’So, the greatest value of Combat Robots is their ability to provide effective suppressive fire under the unified command of an AI system.’

’But suppressive fire alone is clearly not enough.’

Lin Zhengyang was clearly displeased to hear Lin Xinghai’s doubts. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Can’t win? Are you kidding me? A single Combat Robot can kill at least fifty zombies. I’ve brought in 200,000 of them. That’s enough to take down ten million zombies," Lin Zhengyang said dismissively.

Lin Xinghai said nothing, just looked at him in silence.

"Ahem! Okay, fine! A ten-million-strong horde might be a bit much. But according to the staff office’s calculations, once we’ve established a complete defensive system and with the support of the Mercenary Corps and the Military Department, each Combat Robot should have no problem killing ten zombies."

"Two hundred thousand Combat Robots can hold off a horde of two million zombies. When you add in the forces from the Mercenary Guild and the Military Department, we can push our limit to holding off a zombie army of 2.5 million."