Chapter 283: Chapter 283: Massive Reinforcements

Hearing Zhang Yue’s words, Lin Xinghai couldn’t hide his surprise. "This outpost is about to be overrun. What kind of mission could the Military Department possibly assign now?"

Zhang Yue pointed in the direction of the Mutated Zombies. "You have a full 52 Mutated Zombies right here! Over ninety percent of them have been drawn to this spot because of you."

"The Military Department’s thinking is that if we can hold off these Mutated Zombies for three hours, we’ll be able to win this war. Of course, it’s not a do-or-die order, but they want us to do our absolute best to accomplish it."

As he finished, a wry smile appeared on Zhang Yue’s face. He knew this mission was almost impossible.

But for the current state of the war, it was a golden opportunity.

Zhang Yue immediately explained the entire battlefield’s overall situation to Lin Xinghai.

According to the stats, in the last half hour alone, over 300,000 Zombies were killed along the entire front line.

Although Zombies were still converging from the distance to join the tide, the rate at which they gathered had noticeably slowed.

If they could maintain this kill rate, they could annihilate 600,000 Zombies in an hour, and 1.8 million in three hours.

Of course, all of this was predicated on one condition: no interference from other Mutated Zombies.

Normally, that would be impossible.

But the Military Department had never anticipated that Outpost 108’s efficiency at killing Zombies—far surpassing the other outposts—would attract so many of the Mutated Zombies.

That’s how they came up with this impromptu plan.

After hearing Zhang Yue’s analysis, Lin Xinghai understood why the Military Department had given them such a mission.

But understanding didn’t change the facts. He shook his head. "As things stand now, it’s impossible to hold our ground."

"Not even you have a solution?" Zhang Yue sounded disappointed.

"It’s not that it’s completely hopeless. It mainly depends on how much support the Military Department is willing to give," Lin Xinghai said after a moment of thought.

Hearing this, Zhang Yue’s spirits immediately lifted. "No problem. How much support do you need? Just name it, and I’ll request it right now."

"Alright, let’s cut to the chase." Lin Xinghai waved a hand, getting straight to the point. "Just tell me, how many forces can the military spare right now? I’ll do the math and see if we have a fighting chance."

"Er... one moment." Zhang Yue didn’t dare to be vague. He immediately opened his wrist-mounted computer, entered his credentials, and began looking it up.

"If you really have a way to hold off the Mutated Zombies here, I can request that all of the Military Department’s reserve forces be reassigned to this location."

"That’s a total of 10 rapid-response units and 3 artillery squads."

"I don’t need to explain the artillery squads. With them here, we can absolutely provide saturation fire coverage. They can even pose a lethal threat to the Mutated Zombies."

"As for our military’s rapid-response units, they have the best equipment, and their members are hand-picked. Although ten rapid-response units only total 1,000 men, their combat effectiveness is equivalent to 10,000 Mercenaries."

At this point, worried that Lin Xinghai might get the wrong idea, Zhang Yue added, "Of course, when I say 10,000 Mercenaries, I’m referring to Mercenaries of average skill. You can’t equate them with experienced veterans, let alone the members of your own team."

"Aside from military personnel, we can also pull 10,000 Combat Robots. That’s everything. Do you think it’s doable?" A hint of nervousness crossed Zhang Yue’s face as he spoke.

Lin Xinghai didn’t think much of it at first, but as he kept listening, he grew stunned. "You’re pulling all the Military Department’s reserves over here? What happens if another outpost along the line runs into trouble and needs reinforcements?"

"Ninety percent of the Mutated Zombies are gathered here. The pressure is all on us now. If the other outposts can’t hold out under those conditions, then they’re truly useless."

"Of course, don’t you worry. The folks in the strategy department aren’t just sitting on their hands. Even without reserves, if a problem arises, they can pull people from the various Mercenary Corps to send as support."

"The priority right now is here. If I bring these forces over, are you confident you can hold off these 52 Mutated Zombies?" Zhang Yue asked again, his voice laced with urgency.

Lin Xinghai quickly ran the numbers in his head, then gave a firm nod. "I can’t give you a 100% guarantee, but I’d say I’m about 70 or 80 percent confident."

That was exactly what Zhang Yue needed to hear. Overjoyed, he immediately had Wan Jiasong send a message to dispatch the forces.

As the highest-ranking officer present, he had naturally taken over command from Wan Jiasong.

Wan Jiasong, far from feeling any sense of loss or resentment, actually breathed a silent sigh of relief.

It couldn’t be helped. The mission was too critical and the pressure too immense; he felt like the weight of it all was about to crush him.

"It’s done. The Military Department has approved my request for troop movement. They’ll all be here in five minutes, max." Zhang Yue reported to Lin Xinghai as soon as he received the confirmation.

Lin Xinghai glanced at the distant Spitters. They were still relentlessly squeaking as they created more and more berserk zombies.

He actually found himself hoping that the Mutated Zombies would wait until they had created their 6,000 berserk zombies before attacking. That would buy him more time to set up his defenses.

However, beyond the berserk zombies, the Blood-colored Beetles were what truly worried him.

There were simply too many Blood-colored Beetles. The Blood Worms didn’t seem to care about casualties and had already sent a small contingent of the beetles to attack them.

Of course, this "small contingent" of Blood-colored Beetles still numbered over 30,000, and they were now only 1.5 kilometers from the first line of Defense.

Lin Xinghai had originally been planning to retreat, so he hadn’t paid them much mind. Now, however, he had no choice but to figure out how to deal with them.

"How long until the closest artillery squad arrives?" Lin Xinghai asked, already contemplating how to fight the coming battle.

"One minute, tops," Zhang Yue replied instantly.

"Good! Have them ready their Burning Bullets—preferably the long-lasting kind. I want the entire area outside the first line of Defense turned into a sea of fire."

"Our biggest problem right now isn’t the berserk zombies, it’s the Blood-colored Beetles. We absolutely cannot let them get close, or we’re finished," Lin Xinghai said.

"Right, I’ll relay the order immediately." Zhang Yue nodded, then asked, "Any other arrangements?"

"My only request is that you make sure the other support teams get here before the enemy launches their all-out assault. We won’t be able to hold the line if we’re short on people."

"When they arrive, you don’t need to make any special arrangements. Just plug them into our current defensive framework. After that, we’ll just have to play it by ear." As Lin Xinghai spoke, a flicker of excitement and anticipation appeared in his eyes.

Figuring out how to counter the coming assault from these 52 Mutated Zombies was, for him, a thrilling challenge.