Chapter 311 - 260: Apocalyptic Mobilization

Chapter 311: Chapter 260: Apocalyptic Mobilization

Sunday, 4:00 PM sharp. Three hours until the zombie virus outbreak.

Yanhai City, North River District, Military Sub-district Headquarters.

A large crowd had gathered here today. On the vast flag-raising plaza, a red flag fluttered in the wind.

In the most prominent spot, a banner was stretched out.

[Major Disaster Drill: Yanhai City Veteran Trial Mobilization]

A few days ago, Qiao Yunliang had worked with the Bureau of Veterans Affairs to notify veterans in and around Yanhai City to participate in today’s major disaster drill.

The mobilization was a resounding success!

When the local veterans heard the military sub-district was holding this event, most of them agreed to attend.

After all, this was essentially a trial recall from the higher-ups. Whether they came out of curiosity or to honor the promises they made when they were discharged, it was their duty to be here.

This was a matter of their faith.

Besides, most of them understood that the higher-ups wouldn’t make a pointless move like this out of the blue. Considering the growing online clamor this year regarding a certain island...

Everyone thought they were being called up to storm the beaches!

How could they possibly miss out on such a glorious, history-making event?

Originally, Qiao Yunliang had planned to notify everyone and just take whoever showed up, but... the enthusiasm was overwhelming!

Qiao Yunliang took stock of the equipment he had on hand and realized it wasn’t nearly enough to arm so many people. In the end, he decided to select the best of the best, accepting only veteran soldiers who had served for five years or more.

Compared to the two-year conscripts, these individuals had undergone more extensive and specialized training. They were true soldiers with superior overall quality.

Take Yang Ze, for example. He was a mid-rank NCO who had retired after eight years of service. At thirty-one, he had endured eight years of high-intensity army training, participated in major operations, and was proficient with all sorts of army weaponry. With his tough psyche and solid skills, he was a formidable fighter if properly armed.

Elites like him were far superior in combat readiness compared to most militiamen, who weren’t full-time and only trained for a few days each year.

Qiao Yunliang had gathered over 7,000 veterans from across Yanhai City who had served for more than five years to participate in today’s drill.

Qiao Yunliang couldn’t convince anyone else, but he himself had witnessed Yu Dong’s miracle. He had to make preparations. He used this drill to recall the veterans and also deployed his own active-duty soldiers and armed guards.

If the apocalypse didn’t come, the drill would conclude successfully. At worst, he’d get a chewing out from his superiors or have to take some responsibility, but it wouldn’t be a huge deal.

But if the apocalypse really did arrive... he would be able to preserve this elite force, and it would become the greatest ace up his sleeve.

This time, he had concentrated all weapons and ammunition at the military sub-district and used his authority to requisition reserve supplies to support his force’s logistics.

Of course, he had also made arrangements for the reserve food supplies.

This time, Qiao Yunliang was prepared to fight a tough battle before the apocalypse even began!

He stood on the speaking platform, watching as the elite veterans arrived one after another. Each of them was issued a simple protective suit.

"Thankfully, Yu Dong gave us the *Reincarnator’s Handbook (Part 1)*. We won’t be so passive now."

"The thing I hope for most right now is that Yu Dong is a fraud and none of this is going to happen."

Advisor Shao said, "Commander, I’m afraid that’s just wishful thinking. He has nothing to gain by tricking us, and he’s in danger himself."

"I know... but what if this world is different?"

"The ability he described... I believe it’s time regression. He said everyone is exactly the same as in his previous life, so it doesn’t sound like a different world. Otherwise, his ’keys’ wouldn’t have all been successfully verified."

"Mm... we’ll know for sure at 7 o’clock."

As time passed, most of the personnel had arrived and assembled on the flag-raising plaza.

There were over 7,000 veterans, plus Qiao’s own 300-plus active-duty soldiers, over 600 armed guards, and more than 1,000 core militiamen.

In total, around 9,000 people now packed the plaza, silently waiting for the leaders on the platform to speak.

...

In a large industrial park in Zongshan District, Yin Shuangyang’s people had also finished assembling.

The force, composed of professional security personnel, enforcers, key company employees, and a large number of temporarily-hired migrant workers, numbered over a thousand.

They stood in the park, a dense and boisterous crowd. The air was thick with smoke, and piles of cigarette butts quickly accumulated on the ground.

In addition, Yin Shuangyang had also kept a large number of service staff at the base, such as his large secretarial department of over 200 people, which included many "professional" secretaries capable of providing service from head to toe.

Huang Zhiqiang’s favorite.

Yin Shuangyang and Yu Dong walked over, inspecting the crowd.

"I still have too few men," Yin Shuangyang sighed. "After deploying people to the railway, shipyard, and airport, I don’t have many left. I had to hire some strong construction workers just to make up the numbers."

He had, after all, gone legitimate many years ago. The old days of hundreds of men chasing people down the street with choppers were over. Now, problems were solved through legal means whenever possible. If that failed, they’d resort to surveillance and information theft. There was no need to keep so many idle hoodlums on the payroll anymore.

The men who had followed him in his early years had gradually become official employees of the Shuangyang Group. Including the personnel from large security firms he collaborated with, the number of men he could completely control for a fight was only about 300.

The 800 migrant workers here were all recruited by his group.

"So how will you ensure their loyalty?" Yu Dong asked.

"Loyalty... that can be cultivated over time. I just need to make sure our interests are aligned. After the apocalypse hits, I’ll have supplies and guns. Anyone who survives and sticks with me will live well and have status. Of course... if some of them still want to leave after I lay it all out... then let them go. I won’t stop them. After the apocalypse, there will be plenty of people for us to use."