My Monster Fuses Everything

Chapter 344: 287: The Strategic Intent of the Southwest Military Preparedness Force_2

Chapter 344: Chapter 287: The Strategic Intent of the Southwest Military Preparedness Force_2

Setting aside that question, Su Han knew that Sun Hu probably didn’t know much about the secrets involved, as his rank wasn’t high enough.

Sun Hu breathed a sigh of relief; he genuinely couldn’t answer that question.

“There were 32 of us who advanced to Second Order at the same time, all elites from the military. Among us, ten people formed a squad to carry out exploration and communication tasks. The contact with the headquarters was maintained by people like us.”

Even at the beginning of the apocalypse, when there were not many monsters, venturing outside with Second Order strength was still very dangerous; one could only say that being from the Armed Forces, they followed orders and faced the danger head-on.

“Wushan City is at least five hundred kilometers away from Linshui.”

Su Han looked at Sun Hu and said, “That distance is much farther than from here.”

“At the onset of the mist, monsters were concentrated in cities, mostly First Order Monsters. At that time, armored vehicles and armed squads would travel at high speeds on highways. Aside from the interference from the mist, the danger was actually relatively low.”

Sun Hu and his team were not only on one exploration venture; it was only after the advancement to Second Order that they specifically formed outgoing squads.

At the beginning, it wasn’t just one or two teams that were dispatched.

“It was not just us who made contact with the headquarters, but also the 132nd Regiment. Under the headquarters’ orders, they abandoned their original base and went on to capture Minshan City, which served as a hub to ensure communication in the latter stages.”

Sun Hu took out a map from his pocket, marked with barely noticeable signs.

“Minshan City, Waimin County, Longheng County—these were all taken by the 132nd Regiment at a great cost, but they also successfully opened up the routes, reducing the dangers.”

Along the way, by taking several key points, although it was impossible to encompass the surrounding areas or even to expand based on these cities and counties, they successfully divided the surrounding paths into segments of several tens of kilometers each.

Although there were still dangers, there were responders everywhere, and one could say the level of danger had been reduced significantly.

Along this route, if there were other cities or bases, they could also use this to contact the Southwest Military Preparedness Force.

This was essentially the Southern contact route for the Southwest Military Preparedness Force—very important.

Su Han and Zhu Xiong looked at the route and couldn’t help but show a look of admiration. If the Southwest Military Preparedness Force developed smoothly, it could almost be said that going south along this line would enable them to recover all the cities along the way.

Although it would be a matter for the distant future, there was no doubt that the strategy was a success.

Furthermore, it wasn’t only the Wushan Base of the Armed Forces that was developing; relying on this line, both the 117th Regiment and the 132nd Regiment could recover and develop. If they could establish a city circle, it would be a further consolidation of their hold on the route.

The strategic intent was strong.

Suddenly, Su Han asked, “How is the situation with the Southwest Military Preparedness Force?”

“They have already taken Wushan City and Tang City, but beyond that I don’t know.”

Sun Hu answered honestly. Although he had sent messages a couple of times, they were limited to courier services and some communication about materials and post-apocalyptic research.

That was all; to know more, not to mention him, even their current regiment commander, Lu Changshan, wouldn’t be able to.

Su Han and Zhu Xiong took turns asking a few more questions, but they were mostly about the situation in Linshui City and Huiyuan City; Sun Hu didn’t have access to more detailed information about the Armed Forces.

Linshui City was still the main base of the 117th Regiment. Although lacking in industrial production capability, the population was sufficiently preserved, and agriculture had been restored. Inside the city, the wastelands and parks, as well as the areas outside the city, were now all cultivated.

Although Lamp Tree Crystals were initially sparse, after providing continuous nourishment to the Lamp Trees, as they grew, the crystals they produced gradually increased. With more fields opened, they successfully passed the awkward phase of insufficient food production and avoided depleting the granary.

As for Huiyuan City, it was the strategic target set by the 117th Regiment. According to Sun Hu’s estimation, they should have sent out a vanguard by now, but as for the current situation, he had been away for too long and didn’t know.

Su Han let Sun Hu return, and with Zhu Xiong staying in the room, the empty conference room was eerily quiet.

Zhu Xiong rested his hands on the table, frowning, and said, “There’s something off about the military aspect of the Armed Forces. They couldn’t possibly be related to this apocalypse, could they? But Old Li and the others haven’t received any news. It doesn’t add up.”

Sun Hu provided a lot of information, but there was one point that Zhu Xiong couldn’t get around, concerning the origin of the apocalypse. Who could easily overlook that?

“Old Yan also hasn’t received any messages,”

Su Han’s gaze shifted slightly as he pondered the situation, “Let’s make an assumption, if you had advance knowledge of the apocalypse, what preparations would you make?”

“Stockpile food, hoard guns, build a safe house,”

Zhu Xiong replied without hesitation, his eyes suddenly widening as he realized something.

“Stockpile food, ah, they didn’t notify the city government officials first, but instead they notified the military, even forgoing the need for supplies?”

It wasn’t that notifying the Armed Forces was a mistake, but with so many people, resources were an inevitable hurdle. The city was the key link in gathering various materials and getting prepared.

Even the Armed Forces couldn’t go without food, those armored vehicles and tanks couldn’t run without fuel, and items like bullets and shells needed to be produced.

The city government officials were essential for early preparation for the apocalypse.

“Right,”

Su Han nodded, “Normally, both channels should be notified: The Armed Forces to immediately enter the city and form a defense circle to ward off the apocalypse. But now, only the Armed Forces are preparing, and it seems they only had time to notify the field and combat units; the city garrisons weren’t informed in time. This hasty war readiness order, that’s the disturbing part.”

Zhu Xiong gasped, “You’re saying it’s very possible that the person issuing the command doesn’t know what he’s facing, just that there might be a war… No, more precisely, that the Armed Forces need to be mobilized.”

“Yes, now it seems that this is the only possibility, but the question is who issued the command, and what did they discover?”

The fog wouldn’t make the war readiness order come so suddenly, but what exactly they found beyond the fog is unknown.

“Old Zhu, how much is left with the clean-up work in Lisu County?”

“Most of the monsters inside the city are cleared out. Wang Yun led the construction team and finished building the walls, 30 meters high and 8 meters wide, which matches the current standard of the Tree Domain. The construction team is now working in divisions to build and reinforce two underground passages, as well as various storage lakes and livestock pens.”

Zhu Xiong reported on the situation in Lisu County and continued, “As soon as the search team finishes setting up the Parasitic Corpse Willow outside the city, the City Defense Legion can take over the defense. Then, the logistics teams can move in for reconstruction, and fully start tilling the farmland, planting crops and medicinal herbs, and breeding Evolved Kind.”

Just talking about food, the crops planted by South City are basically enough for these eighty or ninety thousand people to consume, even with a surplus.

But in the apocalypse, you can never have too much food. It’s better to be safe than sorry, and it can also be used to feed Evolved Kind, to cultivate more Contractors, and even Evolvers.”

“Let the City Defense Legion handle the deployment of the Parasitic Corpse Willow, and the follow-up work of searching for survivors can be handled by a portion of the Sky Cavalry and patrol teams.”

Su Han’s gaze became more focused, “You take people back to the Tree Domain to get ready. In some time, you lead the team to take over Sanli Town. I’ll go to Huiyuan City first to make a mark.”

Zhu Xiong understood what Su Han meant, but he was a bit hesitant, asking, “What if we directly confront the 117th Brigade? They have the support of the Southwest Military Preparedness Force behind them.”

Su Han’s gaze was resolute, “If we confront them, we confront them. The control over resources is determined by strength, just don’t go too far. After all, it’s a matter of who’s in charge.”

He hadn’t thought about killing the 117th Brigade, or even the Southwest Armed Forces. Competitive conflicts weren’t about eliminating the other side, but about controlling resources.

Just like the previous relationship between Tree Domain and South City Camp.

He wanted to be the one with the leading power, controlling the surrounding resources to ensure the development of Tree Domain, rather than living under someone’s thumb, relying on other forces.

That had been Su Han’s consistent approach since the apocalypse began, somewhat selfish but without a clear right or wrong.

Moreover, in his view, having him control the surrounding cities would result in a much faster recovery than if the 117th Brigade were in charge.

Under the Contractor system, they had gradually completed the transition of the power structure. The 117th Brigade, obviously, didn’t have the scientific research capabilities or even a clear picture of the strength of the Contractors.

The truly capable scientific research forces were still with the Southwest Armed Forces, and there were no shortage of scientists from the military in Tang City.