Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 727: Negotation or Force?
"Yeah, did you forget about it? You’re the one who told her how it is a bad idea and how it’s unnecessary."
"I really said that, huh?"
As Xiaoyun’s mind started to feel a little conflicted, Wuli suddenly hit the brakes as the car came to a complete stop.
"Anyway, just at least tell us about it if you’re going ahead with it... Now get out of my car and go meet your troops."
The answer quickly snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked outside, only to see all the soldiers already waiting for him.
"I will... See you later."
"See you."
As Wuli’s car drove off into the distance, Xiaoyun’s attention was quickly shifted back to the troops that had been waiting for him all morning.
"Sorry, everyone, yesterday I promised that the expedition was only going to last a day. But it turned out Secretary Houqin and General Yiming were not together."
None of the soldier responded back, but their lack of complaint told him that they were more than fine with it.
"Although our job is not finished, I’ll remind everyone that our objective remains the same. We’ll not be fighting unless it’s necessary."
"Commander, are we going to Changsha to rescue General Yiming next?" An officer impatiently asked.
"Yes, that’s what we’ll be doing next. Our opponent will be fellow soldiers who had surrounded General Yiming in Changsha.
I’ll personally negotiate with them first. But if all things failed, everyone needs to be prepared to act as a spreadhead to rescue them."
As Xiaoyun spoke about the possible challenges ahead, none of the soldiers looked scared.
Rather, they all looked a little excited. Their chin lifted with pride as they waited for his next command.
"Everyone, get ready to leave. We’ll get going in ten minutes."
"Commander! We’re all ready to leave at any time!" The first row of officers all yelled out at the same time.
"That’s what I like to hear. Everyone, get in your vehicle! We have a General to save."
---
As Xiaoyun’s army left Shaoguan and entered Hunan once again, the road was mostly peaceful as barely any zombie stood in their way.
It was almost as if the zombies themselves knew something was brewing. A struggle between humans that helps them more than anything.
"Commander, we’re ten minutes away from Changsha. The scouts ahead already reported enemy forces stationed a few kilometers away."
The officer on the other end of the walkie-talkie didn’t make Xiaoyun hesitate as he turned on the transmission.
"Keep going. We’re only going to stop when we can see them with our naked eyes. Over."
"Commander, should I start to slow down my car?" The driver asked as their car’s position in the army was at the very front.
"They don’t have the balls to shoot us. Those men in Jiangxi won’t be stupid enough to piss us off for no reason."
With the confirmation, the driver kept the car in the second row of the main caravan as Xiaoyun took out his binoculars to check.
He could see a visible barricade already built along the highway, with all the smaller buildings at the city entrance already occupied.
Upon an even closer inspection, Xiaoyun could see several artillery pieces already positioned at the ground level, all aimed right at the city itself.
"Commander! A car is approaching us." A walkie-talkie rang as Xiaoyun himself could see the car driving in the opposite direction.
"I know... Let them approach us first. Everyone, begin slowing down and get ready for combat."
After just a five-minute drive, Xiaoyun’s army came to a complete stop, right at the signs that welcomed them to Changsha.
Everyone could see the city in the distance, with men wearing full black uniforms all starting to turn their weapons away from the city and towards them.
"Commander, they stepped out of the car and wanted to meet you." The officer stated through the walkie-talkie.
"I’m not going to meet with a low-ranking soldier. Tell them to send someone more important. Over."
As Xiaoyun’s soldier began exiting their vehicle, artillery was soon carried out of the semi-trucks and put into position.
Tanks in the front had already raised their barrel, all waiting for a single command to all fire at the buildings in the distance.
"Commander, I don’t think you should step out of the car." The driver murmured as he noticed Xiaoyun reaching towards the door handle.
"It’s fine."
Exiting the car, the seething hot air hits him right in the face. But he quickly recovered as he walked towards the HQ tent that was being set up.
"Commander Chen!"
"Is everything set up properly?" Xiaoyun asked as he saluted back to several officers who were directing the troops.
"Everything is in position. We are ready to fight at a moment’s notice." The most senior-looking officer answered.
"Good... Have you guys sent out more scouts yet? I want the numbers of enemies we’re actually facing in front of us."
"Um... It’s going to take a while. We already sent out a drone operator to scout the other directions surrounding Changsha."
"That’s fine... Now we just have to wait for them to respond."
As Xiaoyun walked around the defensive parameter being set up with rows upon rows of sandback and armored vehicles, the walkie-talkie soon rang again.
"Commander, they sent a um... I think it’s an eunuch to meet with us." The officer answered with a hesitating tone.
It surprised Xiaoyun a little, but he didn’t think too far into it as he quickly directed the officer to bring him over.
After waiting for three minutes, the officer finally brought the supposed ’eunuch’ to the just-completed HQ tent.
---
As a person wearing what seemed to be clothes from ancient China into the HQ tent, every single one of the officers was a little surprised, Xiaoyun included.
No one had ever expected the ’diplomat’ that the Jiangxi men sent was a person who looked as if to were dressed for the 1800s.
"You’re the commander leading this army?" The high-pitched voice asked as they looked towards the senior officer.
"No, he is."
The diplomat looked a little surprised, but didn’t question it as they turned their eyes towards Xiaoyun, which sent a weird chill down his spine.
"You’re a young commander, Mister."
"Mhm. You can call me Mr.Chen... Let’s stop beating around the bush. I want your army to withdraw from Changsha, immediately."
As Xiaoyun made his demand right off the bat, the weirdly dressed diplomat didn’t look scared at all as they looked back at him right in the eyes.
"Mr.Chen, I don’t think you understand your situation. Your men shouldn’t be interfering with our affair."
"Your affair? When did Hunan province become Jiangxi province? Or did I read the map wrong?"
The diplomat’s face flinched a little, but it quickly changed back to normal as they showed no fear in front of all the officers.
"Your general, Yiming. He’s not getting out of the city alive unless he hands over those weapons."
"So that’s the red line you guys are drawing?" Xiaoyun questioned back.
"Yes. We’re more than willing to let your men and everyone in Changsha go free as long as you direct your general to hand those weapons over."
"And what if I don’t hand them over?"
"Then we’ll see each other on the battlefield."
"You’re that confident that you’ll win? Do you really think your army can beat the two of us combined against all those missiles?"
"The Emperor’s Will cannot be stopped. You and your general have three hours to think before we start our offensive."
As the diplomat turned around and was escorted out by a soldier, several of the officers thought of stopping them before Xiaoyun signalled them to stop.
"Commander, why are we even bothering with talking to them? We should just strike them before they have the time to react."
The officer’s question was met with a shake as Xiaoyun turned his attention towards the big table in front of all of them. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
"Can you open the map?"
One of the officers quickly pushes the map of Changsha open, revealing a heavily improvised map that Lingang once used.
"This map is as accurate as it could be, right?" Xiaoyun questioned as all of the officer nodded their head.
Looking around, he could see the city itself was much more open, with rivers that ran straight through the middle.
"They had the entire city surrounding... Which means they need at least 100,000 soldiers alone, wouldn’t they?"
"What?"
All of the officers looked a little surprised, as if Xiaoyun had asked some dumb question that didn’t make any sense.
"Commander, it only roughly takes 20,000 soldiers to surround the city itself. They don’t need to capture the surrounding hills and river."
"Right. So 20,000 soldiers... But would they really have that few soldiers to surround Yiming’s army?"
This time, the officers fell into silence. No one could give an exact answer until the scouting team had finished making its estimation report.
"They certainly have more than we might imagine... That man looked way too confident despite seeing our tanks in the front."
