Chapter 50: A Small Peak in the Committee's Development (2)

At present, there were only about three hundred guns and fewer than ten thousand rounds of ammunition. Li Fengyi and Staff Officer Yu both shook their heads; at least for now, this was not a solution. Nearly a hundred weapons had already been damaged through training and combat alone—most had their triggers broken. No matter how well they trained, a significant number would still be lost in real battles.

“Let’s try another approach,” Li Fengyi’s eyes lit up with inspiration. “We have far fewer people overall, but let’s see what happens if we pit our superior numbers against their smaller groups each time.”

The third exercise began. Squads 7 and 8 defended, their supports bracing the shields, while Squad 9 attacked—and was quickly wiped out.

“Ha!” Li Fengyi said triumphantly. “I knew it would work.”

A new clause was added to the Apocalypse Infantry Regulations: “In the absence of absolute firepower superiority, zombies must be divided and destroyed in smaller groups by a larger force.”

They also practiced methods for creating obstacles in open terrain. For this, they dug up all the stone slabs from the Peaceful Lane Central Park and used them to simulate trenches and earthen walls in the mud. Everyone was quite satisfied with the results. Of course, this time it wasn’t people hiding in the trenches, but standing behind them watching the soldiers, who were acting as zombies, fall in one after another.

“These methods are only for when we’re not outnumbered by zombies,” Commander Liu remarked after inspecting the survivors’ camp and seeing the results of the various exercises. “Luckily, this won’t be an issue inside the city. We’ll have to revisit it when operating in the wild. Let’s designate Peaceful Lane Central Park as a permanent training ground from now on.”

He then used the radio to call Li Qiang, the First Company Commander, and the Second Company Commander, instructing them that if they encountered large hordes of zombies, they should immediately call for reinforcements.

Today’s results were impressive. After assisting the Second Company once, the day concluded smoothly, and over 2,300 people were rescued in total.

This continued until the number of survivors reached ten thousand. By then, they had cleared half the area from Peaceful Lane East Street to Metro Line 13. Over eight thousand people had joined the army—almost all were young adults—organized into twenty-two battalions, eight regiments, and three divisions. Li Qiang was promoted to acting Army Commander, Li Fengyi became the Political Commissar, Wei Yong was appointed acting Division Commander of the First Division, with Wu Tianxiong as commissar; Sun Feigang took command of the Second Division, with Tian Ming as commissar; and Huang Shunyi led the Third Division, with Jing Hetian as commissar. The Reconnaissance Company expanded into a battalion, though it generally didn’t undertake specific battle assignments but was distributed among the units to strengthen them. Ma Xiaoshuai, a former reconnaissance soldier, was appointed battalion commander, with Wei Ming as instructor. Among the retired military personnel, there were neither special forces nor reconnaissance troops, and even the children of soldiers weren’t especially tough before the apocalypse. But now, everyone had to start from scratch.

Over several days of combat, Commander Liu admitted batches of exemplary soldiers and survivors into the Party on the spot. That’s why so many commissars were appointed at every level, and the organization’s structure was improved. Li Fengyi always believed that this kind of organization was best suited to emergencies; they could adjust as needed when circumstances changed. The key was survival.

A provisional military academy was also established for the apocalypse. A retired military academy principal, seeing that these people had not resorted to armed separatism, agreed to take charge and was appointed the first president. His faculty consisted mainly of zombie-fighting heroes, though basic firearms instruction was also provided.

There were now more than a thousand children, enough to establish a small elementary, middle, and high school. There was no university in this area, so none was founded. No matter the grade, the first lesson for all students was the Medical Department’s “Apocalypse Survival Handbook,” now in its fifth edition. The latest research stated: “Human physical fitness has generally improved, with strength two to three times what it was before the apocalypse. Speed has not changed. Resistance to disease has greatly increased, and so far, no internal diseases have been reported.

Zombies have regained the strength of pre-apocalypse humans. They feel no fear, no pain, and no fatigue, making their impact equal to that of humans today.

The only way to kill them is to destroy their brainstem. Zombies exhibit herd behavior; if their numbers increase in any direction, nearly all zombies within range will converge there. The exact range and cause are unknown.

Animals have mutated in size—generally two or three times their original body mass—but their temperament remains unchanged. It is not recommended to keep pets; all should be handed over to the Ministry of Health or to the Ministry of Civil Affairs (Minister Ou wisely did not mention that almost all animals sent to Civil Affairs were slaughtered and eaten, while those sent to the Health Ministry were dissected and then eaten).

There have been no mutations observed in plants, though their growth rate appears to be accelerating.”

Sun Xiaoshan officially left the military and became Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Industry and Information.

During the cleanup operations, they found a ham radio set in an enthusiast’s home. After days of monitoring, there was no news from any national administrative departments, but there was plenty of information from various survivor bases—none of it good. In many places, cannibalism had begun, and a variety of social systems coexisted: feudalism and slavery were becoming mainstream. Some in the south had established a Western-style system, claiming that foreign friends would come to the rescue.

Li Fengyi had recordings made of the desperate conditions in these places and played them to everyone in the base, to make it clear that their current base was the most secure in the country. He had noticed that many survivors were furious about the shortage of supplies and the strict controls, and complaints were growing. This approach proved highly effective.

After discussion, the Special Committee decided to release their research on zombies to all of humanity and to announce its own existence. “We must unite every possible force against the zombies,” Commander Liu said frankly. “It isn’t heroic to hide things—humanity’s numbers are too few. There should be five or six hundred thousand living people in this region, and now there are barely ten thousand left. If we don’t hurry, humanity is finished.”

He also implied that this was still China, and their organization was the legitimate authority—their presence would keep hope alive.

The first half of the Special Committee’s radio broadcast was greeted enthusiastically by various survivor groups, some of whom joined the communications. In the second half, reactions were mixed: some welcomed it, some were elated, some wept, some cursed, and most remained silent. It was easy to understand the mixed feelings; everything had been reclaimed from the zombies at great risk, and in their darkest hour, the state had not rescued them, the government had vanished, and now a self-proclaimed legitimate authority, barely able to fend for itself, had appeared—naturally, some were resentful.

In response, the United Front Department stepped in.

A glint flashed in Ye Liusun’s eyes. “At last, the moment has come!”

Every day he chatted away on the radio, categorizing and recording everything, and constantly pressed the Special Committee for policies. In response, the Committee instructed: unite everyone who can be united, and annihilating zombies is the overriding priority—even Li Fengyi thought those words were little better than saying nothing at all.