sjar Chapter 50 Reorganizing the Army
Chapter 50 Reorganizing the Army
Li Chenglong, Yunlan, and Li Xue moved Qi Guoan to a small courtyard only 10 meters away from their own. This courtyard originally belonged to Zheng Yong, but after becoming a superhuman, he vowed to level up quickly and moved to the military camp, leaving the place empty. Li Chenglong gently placed Qi Guoan on the bed, and Li Xue immediately activated a level 5 healing spell. Two pale blue lights gradually entered Qi Guoan's body from her hands. Five minutes later, two streams of black blood oozed from Qi Guoan's right arm and right rib. Because this was a level 5 virus, which was difficult to treat, Li Chenglong immediately stored it in his storage ring, letting it become fertilizer for the persimmon tree.
Five minutes later, Qi Guoan's wound had gradually healed, and there was almost no trace of injury left. His previously pale face was regaining color. Li Xue withdrew her powers and let out a long sigh: "This virus was quite powerful. Luckily, I'm currently using level five healing magic, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to heal Uncle." Qin Fangyu excitedly grabbed Li Xue's hand: "Girl, thank you so much, thank you so much!" Li Xue nodded shyly. Yun Lan hugged Li Xue from behind: "Little girl, when will my dad wake up?" Li Xue smiled and broke free from Yun Lan's bear hug, then used another power-restoring technique, and Qi Guoan slowly woke up. Taking advantage of the moment when the two were distracted, Li Chenglong secretly pulled Li Xue away and slipped out.
Qi Guoan opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath: "Hoo..." Qin Fangyu immediately asked, "Old man, how are you feeling?" Qi Guoan sat up abruptly: "Comfortable, I feel extremely refreshed now, I have inexhaustible energy." Then he touched the injured area and vigorously swung his right arm: "It feels even better than before I was injured." Qin Fangyu smiled and said, "Then we have to thank Xue'er, let me introduce you... Hey? Where did she go?" Yun Lan rushed into Qi Guoan's arms, almost knocking him over: "Dad, you're finally awake, Mom and I were so worried about you." Qi Guoan smiled and stroked Yun Lan's hair: "Although I'm ill, I know what happened, and I can hear what you're saying. You've had a hard time on this journey." He then pushed Yun Lan away: "You're twenty-five or twenty-six and still crying, is this how I raised you?" He then laughed: "A Level 5 Awakener, not bad, really not bad, worthy of being my daughter, Qi Guoan."
Qin Fangyu first patted Qi Guoan on the shoulder, then said, "We didn't discuss the base merger with you back then, but you couldn't have discussed it with us in that state anyway. You won't blame us, will you? After all, you're the one who built the Long'an base." Qi Guoan laughed heartily, "No, no, even if I were here, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. Besides, my daughter is the second-in-command of this base, so it's not surprising that I came." The group chatted for a while longer when there was a knock on the door. Qin Fangyu opened the door and saw Li Xue carrying a tray with several lunchboxes on it. Li Xue smiled and said, "Uncle, Auntie, Sister Yunlan, you must be hungry. This is food my brother got for you, and he asked me to bring it over." Yunlan said irritably, "Where did he go? Why didn't he come over?" Li Xue thought for a moment, "He said he wanted to properly settle the people at the Long'an base, so he went to help." Qin Fangyu quickly took the tray, "It's quite heavy. Come in quickly, let's eat together." With that, she pulled Li Xue inside.
Yunlan suddenly remembered something: "Sister Shen and Yunqian must be very busy right now. Where did Han Xiaoling and Cao Yuechan go?" Li Xue replied, "They went to Sister Yangliu's for dinner, and it seems they'll be staying there tonight too." Qin Fangyu quickly introduced, "Old man, this is Li Xue, the one who treated your injuries." Qi Guoan looked at the quiet and well-behaved girl in front of him and quickly thanked her. At the dinner table, Qi Guoan chatted with Yunlan and Li Xue for a long time, familiarizing them with the Dawn Base. He couldn't help but sigh, "Indeed, success is inseparable from sweat and tears. You've done a great job."
Around 8 PM, Li Chenglong, Zheng Yong, Wu Gang, Ma Tiancheng, and more than a dozen others arrived at the house. Yun Lan introduced them one by one. When it was Ma Tiancheng's turn, he stood up with a smile and said, "Commander Qi Guoan from the East China Sea Base, we met once before. I happened to be there when you came to Linhai for exercises." Qi Guoan smiled and replied, "So it's Mayor Ma Tiancheng. He looked somewhat familiar when I came in." After Song Tie and Liu Jianye arrived, Zheng Yong spoke first: "Although we said we'd discuss other things tomorrow, we'd like to talk about this first. I'd like to hear Commander Qi's opinion."
Qi Guoan didn't mince words and went straight to the point: "We're willing to join your team, not only because my daughter is also part of this base, but also because of my observations. Although I was sometimes conscious and sometimes unconscious due to my injuries, I saw what the Dawn Base is like. Here, people have clothes to wear, food to eat, and even electricity. This shows that you are truly people who care about the people, and such a group of people can't be bad." Song Tie added, "Just now, Liu Jianye and I took a stroll around and checked out the residents' dormitories. We initially thought that only a few people had better benefits, and the average person would suffer, but after my observation, that's not the case. Here, as long as you work, you will receive payment. I even saw two schools. There are many children there, many of whom are said to be orphans. The Dawn Base provides them with free food, clothing, and education, which is truly remarkable."
Seeing that the three men had truly agreed, Zheng Yong smiled and said, "On the way here, Song Tie told me that more than 400 of these 700-plus men are former soldiers. With these brothers joining us, our subsequent plans can proceed smoothly." Qi Guoan asked, "So, Commander Li, how do you plan to arrange for these soldiers who have come?" Li Chenglong took out a notebook he had already written down and said, "Currently, our Dawn Base's military structure consists of seven battalion-level units: five combat battalions (1st to 5th), one logistics support battalion, and one special operations team, totaling 1750 men. Now, with the arrival of more than 400 brothers, I want to conduct a reorganization. My initial plan is to reorganize the first five battalions into four, and then have the 400 newly joined men become the fifth battalion. This way, each battalion will be larger and stronger, which will be helpful for our subsequent operations." The group discussed this issue until 11 p.m. before dispersing.
After washing up, Yunlan took Li Chenglong's hand and asked, "You divided the previous five battalions into four. Can those company and platoon leaders handle it?" Li Chenglong frowned slightly and replied, "I'll talk to them. The zombies are showing signs of activity again. I feel we need to attack the coastal base quickly. Setting up too many facilities to improve combat effectiveness and facilitate command is not good. The organizational structure must be streamlined so that instructions from above can be quickly transmitted to every soldier."
The next morning, the Dawn City Military Commission held a meeting. However, before the meeting, Li Chenglong had already communicated with several battalion commanders, and no one offered any opinions. The meeting decided to increase the Military Commission from six members to seven: Li Chenglong, Yun Lan, Zheng Yong, Qi Guoan, Wu Gang, Zheng Aiguo, and Hao Dahai. The original five combat battalions were reduced to four: Battalion 1: Commander Wu Gang, Deputy Battalion Commanders Qian Guangming and Wang Yousheng; Battalion 2: Commander Zheng Aiguo, Deputy Battalion Commanders Wan Dahai and Sun Youcai; Battalion 3: Commander Hao Dahai, Deputy Battalion Commanders Zhao Gang and Zhao Rui; Battalion 4: Commander Zheng Yong, Deputy Battalion Commander Song Tie; Battalion 5: Commander Qi Guoan, Deputy Battalion Commander Liu Jianye. The Logistics Support Battalion remained under the command of Yang Hu and Liu Cheng, with Special Forces Captain Yun Lan and Deputy Captains Li Chenglong and Yang Liu.
The number of soldiers in each combat battalion has increased from 300 to 400, bringing the total to over 2000. Li Chenglong also stated that no more troops could be added. Given the current stockpile of supplies and losses, this number is the limit for now. They can only wait until the grain harvest in August or September. Currently, Yun Qian has organized people to survey suitable land for planting. After the meeting, Yunlan came over to Li Chenglong and said, "My mom said she doesn't want to be idle and wants to help out in some way." Li Chenglong replied, "Okay, then what did Auntie do before? You can arrange it." Yunlan rolled her eyes at Li Chenglong, "My mom used to work in the Joint Logistics Support Force at the East China Sea Base, responsible for warehousing, material transportation, and so on." Li Chenglong was overjoyed, "So Auntie was actually in the Joint Logistics Support Force! I'll talk to Yang Hu and Liu Cheng and ask her to go to the Logistics Support Battalion, or I'll talk to Sister Shen and Yun Qian and ask her to go to the Logistics Department." Yunlan thought for a moment, "Let's go to the Logistics Support Battalion. After all, military logistics is different from our daily logistics." Li Chenglong nodded in agreement.
Yun Qian properly settled the other 300-plus survivors at Long'an Base. As evening approached, Qin Fangyu also approached Yun Lan, saying she wanted to have dinner together. Yun Lan then found Li Chenglong and Li Xue. Li Chenglong had spent the day leading the Fifth Battalion to familiarize themselves with the environment and mission, so he went home with Qi Guoan. The two smelled the aroma of food as soon as they arrived at Qi Guoan's courtyard. A moment later, Qin Fangyu came out with a plate of stir-fried pork with chili peppers: "You two are back! Where's Wan'er?" Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Yun Lan went to call Li Xue. Auntie, don't bother, we can just get food from the canteen. The food at our headquarters canteen is quite good." Qin Fangyu shook her head: "This is the first time our two families are having a meal together. How can we go to the canteen? I got some vegetables today and asked Wan'er for a gas cylinder, so I cooked a few dishes. Come, sit down first." With that, she went back to the kitchen.
Qi Guoan smiled and said, "Come, sit down. Today you took us to many places in the Dawn Base. The more I see, the more I feel that the Dawn Base has great potential. And I heard that our target is Linhai City?" Li Chenglong nodded, "Yes, we originally planned to capture Linhai City in early April. Today is March 22nd, but I led a small team to Linhai City to scout it out. I felt that with our strength, it would be very difficult to capture Linhai City, so we decided to postpone it to May. However, May is also the deadline, because we need to quickly occupy Linhai and then rely on the large farmland in the northwest of Linhai to carry out self-sufficient reclamation operations."
As the two were chatting, Yunlan and Li Xue walked in. Qi Guoan said, "Didn't you say there were two other girls? Why didn't you bring them along for dinner?" Yunlan replied, "They said they were eating with Sister Shen at the logistics department today, so they won't be coming." While they were talking, Qin Fangyu had already placed several dishes on the table: "Come on, quickly wash your hands and eat." After everyone was seated, Qi Guoan stood up and said, "First of all, I must thank Li Chenglong. He has saved my daughter several times, shielding Yunlan from bullets during missions and rescuing her from zombie attacks several times in the apocalypse." Li Chenglong immediately stood up and said, "Uncle, it's only right. Yunlan is not only my comrade-in-arms but also my friend, and we've sworn to stay together." Qi Guoan smiled and patted Li Chenglong's shoulder: "Then we entrust our daughter to you. As long as you treat her well, we won't say anything else." Yunlan shyly said, "Dad, please sit down and eat."
Qi Guoan waved his hand: "The second person I want to thank is Li Xue. I will never forget your life-saving grace. If it weren't for you, I would probably be dead, and I wouldn't be able to have dinner with everyone like this today." Li Xue quickly said: "Uncle and Aunt, this is what I should do. Besides, my brother and sister-in-law had already decided to get married after they conquered Linhai City, so we are family now." Qin Fangyu also pulled Li Xue to sit down: "Xue'er is so well-behaved and cute, unlike our Yunlan, who is as wild as a boy all day long." Yunlan rolled her eyes: "Mom, what are you saying?" Li Xue also said: "Actually, my sister-in-law is a very good person and cares about me a lot." Qi Guoan continued: "The third person I want to thank is my wife Qin Fangyu and Yunlan. Thank you Fangyu for your companionship for more than 20 years, thank you for taking care of me without leaving me during this time, and thank you Yunlan for letting us two old guys see our living daughter in front of us." As he spoke, Qi Guoan shed tears, and Qin Fangyu also shed tears.
Yunlan immediately smiled and said, "Dad, Mom, today is a happy day, so let's not think about those unpleasant things. We're a family again now, and we even have two more family members." Qi Guoan sat down, "Yes, yes, come on, let's eat quickly, or the food will get cold." Qin Fangyu looked at the phoenix-shaped ring on Yunlan's right ring finger. Yunlan handed her a chicken leg, "Mom, what are you looking at?" Qin Fangyu said mysteriously, "Are your rings tattoos? They're quite romantic, but the army doesn't allow tattoos, so you only got them recently?" Yunlan looked at her right hand, then at Li Chenglong's left hand, and smiled, "These aren't tattoos. They're proof that we're both awakened, and also proof of our love." Qi Guoan then spoke up, "Let the young people take care of their own affairs. As long as they're happy, that's all that matters. We shouldn't interfere."
After dinner, Qin Fangyu and Li Xue went to wash the dishes, while Li Chenglong and Yun Lan remained in the living room. Li Chenglong said, "I'm planning to go to Linhai City again in a few days. This time, we won't go to the city center; we'll go directly from the south to the high-tech development zone in the southwest of Linhai City. That's our original target, and I'm about to level up. Going there to scout might help me quickly reach level 6, which would provide a guarantee for our subsequent attack on Linhai City." Qi Guoan nodded, "That's good, but we'll have to wait a while. The army has just finished reorganization and still needs time to familiarize themselves with it." Yun Lan suggested going with them, and this time Li Chenglong agreed. Yun Lan's Martial Power Tower reserves were still a bit low, and staying at the base all the time wasn't feasible. Moreover, the Dawn Base was now more established and its strength had increased significantly. Unless something major happened, nothing serious would likely occur.