si-mexico Chapter 226 Departure
Chapter 226 Departure
August 30th, according to the Gregorian calendar. Although there were still six days until the scheduled departure, Li Chenglong estimated that the army would take three days to travel. Since the meeting yesterday, all departments of Dawn City and the Dawn Army had begun to operate at full capacity, preparing for battle. This time, Yun Lan did not strongly insist on going with Li Chenglong. She knew that a major battle could not be fought without a stable rear. After Li Chenglong left, only she could provide him with the greatest assistance.
After finishing his meeting with the high-ranking officials of Dawn City and officers of the Dawn Army in the morning, Li Chenglong came to the special forces team. Yang Liu was training the 30 special forces members who had joined later. Seeing Li Chenglong enter, she saluted and said, "Team Leader Li, what are your orders?" Li Chenglong nodded: "Your special forces team needs to depart on the 2nd, a day ahead of the main force. I want you to go ahead and scout out the situation, and then make contact with the people at the Flying Cloud Base and Clear Water Base who have arrived first." Yang Liu solemnly nodded: "Okay, our main force of 20 special forces members will depart early on September 2nd."
Li Chenglong didn't linger. He went to see Shen Menghua and Yun Qian, one a leader in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the other a leader in the Logistics Department—both crucial to the success of this operation. After checking the preparations, he came out at 5 PM. Li Chenglong hadn't eaten lunch that day, just some rice cakes made from Dawn Rice. He quickly went to his office, read and commented on the documents Wang Jie had prepared, and then instructed Wang Jie to distribute them as soon as possible.
Finally, he arrived at the central computer room in Shuguang City. All 12 members were there today. Because of the heavy workload recently, they were living and eating there, rotating in groups of six every 12 hours. Li Chenglong gathered them together and said, "Comrades, I know you're all working very hard, but this is the reality. We'll be relying on you for the foreseeable future. Communication is crucial to victory or defeat in battle. Each of you is worth an entire platoon or battalion."
After saluting, Zhao Liying, deputy director of the Central Computer Office, said, "Team Leader Li, this is what we should do. We are already much happier than our brothers and sisters sitting in the office. There is no hardship or not. Everyone in the Central Computer Office will stick to their posts and do their best to accurately and quickly transmit all kinds of information to the right places."
When Li Chenglong returned home, it was already 10 p.m. He looked at his sleeping son in the stroller and smiled with relief. Yun Lan came out of the bedroom: "Are you tired? Do you want something to eat?" Li Chenglong shook his head: "I'm fine. You should take our son back to your room and rest. I'll coordinate some work." With that, he kissed Yun Lan's forehead and went to his study.
At 12:30 a.m., Li Chenglong shut down his computer, lay down on the small bed in his study, and fell asleep in less than five seconds. Logically speaking, as a level 10 Awakener, Li Chenglong should not be this tired. However, he had been very busy these past few days and had not rested properly. Although his body could still hold on, he was indeed very exhausted mentally.
On the morning of September 2nd, Yang Liu led 20 members of the special forces team, including herself, and set off by car towards the south of Dawn City. Before their departure, Li Chenglong personally came to see them off, instructing them to be careful and pay attention to safety. In addition, he gave each of them two bottles of crystal recovery potions, just in case.
At 2 p.m., all the troops to be deployed gathered at the expanded Shuguang City Square for a grand oath-taking ceremony. Zheng Yong and Feng Tian delivered speeches, followed by Wu Gang and Zheng Aiguo. Li Chenglong gave a final, inspiring speech. Notably, the ceremony was broadcast live to all the people of Shuguang City.
Li Chenglong arrived at his office, just about to take a sip of water and begin his work, when Wang Jie walked in and said that reporters Fiona and Sophia had arrived again. Li Chenglong looked puzzled, but still said, "Please let them in." A moment later, the two women entered, guided by Wang Jie. As soon as they entered, Li Chenglong said, "Ladies, we're about to start a major battle, and we really don't have time to entertain you, so please go back to where you came from."
Fiona laughed and said, "No, no, we didn't come here just to interview you." It turned out that they hadn't been gone long when they heard that battles against zombies had broken out all over China, and that the Dawn Army in Dawn City was preparing to march south to fight the zombies. So the two of them decided to turn back and become war correspondents, recording and reporting on the Dawn Army's battle situation.
Fiona continued, "We don't need you to send anyone to protect us. The two of us can protect ourselves. We would be extremely grateful if Lord Li would allow us to travel with your troops." Li Chenglong thought for a moment. One more person wouldn't make a difference, and the two of them were indeed of high rank, so they might even be of some use. Therefore, he said, "Alright then, but since you've temporarily joined us, you must be under our jurisdiction and obey our orders." Fiona nodded, "That's only right, we agree."
That evening, Li Chenglong instructed the Logistics Department and the Dawn Army's support troops to prepare a lavish meal for all the Dawn Army soldiers. He himself hosted a banquet in the canteen on the fifth floor of the Dawn Building for all the high-ranking officials of Dawn City and officers of the Dawn Army who were able to attend. Everyone was completely relaxed at the table, showing no signs of being on the verge of battle. Li Chenglong knew this was because they wanted to unwind before the big battle, so he joined the diners and had a great time with them.
Because of a near-total lack of information about the enemy, the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft at the Qingshui base were only effective in the early stages. Later, whenever they made contact with zombies, they were shot down by the high-flying zombie birds. Sun Qingpeng sent out several reconnaissance teams, but all of them disappeared without a trace. Therefore, even the Qingshui base, which was closest to the front lines, had very limited intelligence.
Li Chenglong and Yun Lan returned home together. Qin Fangyu had already taken Hao Hao to bed. Although she was now the highest-ranking officer in the logistics support force, she was mainly responsible for the allocation of materials with the logistics department and the industrial department. She did not need to go to the battlefield personally. Her deputy, Lin Feng, a level 7 strength-type ability user, was the one who went to the battlefield personally.
Li Chenglong held Yunlan and talked for a long time. The two were affectionate for a while. Yunlan rested her head on Li Chenglong's chest and said, "You must be careful. Don't fight so recklessly like the last few times and end up with all your injuries." Li Chenglong stroked Yunlan's smooth back and smiled, "I feel that this is an unprecedented battle since we entered the apocalypse. It will definitely be quite fierce. But don't worry, for you and our son, and for Dawn City and the Dawn Army, I won't put myself in danger so easily."
However, Li Chenglong also said, "But when it really comes down to it, we still have to fight, we still have to fight. If we fail in this battle, the zombie army will be able to advance straight north, and even if our Dawn City is strong, it will be finished." The two talked until midnight. They had to set off early the next morning, so Li Chenglong took the time to go to sleep.