The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse
Chapter 244 - 239 Give a Reason

Chapter 244: Chapter 239 Give a Reason

Gao Yuan and his companions had been blocked outside for a rather long time, but even on the outskirts of Dushanbe, one could already discern the terrifying cloud of dread that loomed over the city.

Gao Yuan saw a person pushing a two-wheeled cart full of daily necessities, followed by a middle-aged woman holding the hand of one child and cradling another in her arms, with an old man walking behind the man with the cart. Clearly, it was a family trying to flee the city.

Dushanbe was one of the rare cities that hadn’t been infected by the virus, but Dushanbe was not an isolated island cut off from the world; at least before the global communications were severed, the people here were aware of what had happened.

The city was consequently ringed by soldiers, a blockade which was utterly necessary and definitely expected.

"Are the people here finally starting to evacuate? I’m curious, if the Serpent People notice that the humans in this city are beginning to flee en masse, will they immediately deploy monsters? Why haven’t the Serpent People released any monsters until now?"

Gao Yuan was starting to get agitated because Mosavizadeh hadn’t come back since leaving, and they had been waiting for over twenty minutes, yet no one had returned.

Zhao Qiang whispered, "Observe carefully. Before, I think any entry or exit from here was forbidden. They didn’t allow people from outside in, nor did they let those inside out. We didn’t see any refugees before, but now we’re seeing them, which means they’ve taken the advice and begun to evacuate."

Panxin looked around and said, "It’s not an evacuation—they just need to lift the blockade and allow people to leave the city. But with the choice given, some choose to leave, and some will certainly choose to stay."

With armed soldiers ahead, Gao Yuan and his team obviously couldn’t just force their way into the city. Gao Yuan glanced at his watch and said, "Let’s wait five more minutes. If no one attends to us by then, we’ll pull out."

Time passed rapidly, and the soldiers blocking the way suddenly looked back. Then, a car sped towards them, and a captain got out.

"Commander orders me to inquire about your purpose for returning."

Zhao Qiang shouted, "We believe the aliens will attack soon, so we want to stay and help. We’ve experienced the aliens’ assaults and know what kind of monsters they release, and we know how to better confront these monsters."

"Monsters? What kind of monsters?"

The captain seemed puzzled, but he promptly grabbed his radio and began talking. Zhao Qiang shouted, "Make it quick; we don’t have much time."

Soon the captain put down the radio and shouted, "Follow me."

The checkpoint moved the barriers aside, and Gao Yuan and the others followed a jeep as they drove into the city.

The streets were nearly empty, but it wasn’t long before Gao Yuan and his group saw a truck with loudspeakers broadcasting loudly, slowly moving along the street.

"They’re announcing a possible alien attack and telling civilians to take shelter outside the city for the time being—bring identification, enough warm clothing, and food, and if all is well, then return to the city."

Zhao Qiang explained. Gao Yuan said, "They’re acting rather swiftly. My concern was that no one would take our warnings seriously."

"The spaceship is just hovering above. If it weren’t for the Serpent People’s ship, no amount of our warnings would matter."

Dushanbe is a large city with fast-moving streets and excellent greenery. Although most buildings appear somewhat old or even dilapidated, the city is clean.

Most importantly, not a single zombie could be seen on the streets of the city.

Driving a car on the streets of a city without zombies, Gao Yuan could hardly remember the last time he had such an experience. It felt like a distant memory.

The lead vehicle soon stopped in front of a large building.

There were many military vehicles, and people were bustling in and out. The captain stepped out of the car and said to Zhao Qiang, "Please follow me inside."

"Indoors? No, no that’s not appropriate. I think it’s better to talk outside because if we have the virus on us, it’s less likely to spread outdoors."

The captain said something into his radio again, and then he addressed Zhao Qiang, who was still in the car, "The commander is asking you to come inside."

Zhao Qiang and Gao Yuan exchanged a glance, and then he whispered, "Let’s go inside then. Those with combat experience follow me; Mr. Jian, Mr. Hao, come along. Everyone else, stay in the car. Li Yang, take good care of Xinghe."

Gao Yuan and the other three got out of the car and followed the captain into the building.

The atmosphere was tense, everyone was in a hurry, their faces either irritable or panicked, and there wasn’t a single person who looked calm.

Not far into the building was a meeting room. As Gao Yuan and his companions entered, they witnessed a chaotic scene of loud arguing.

There were about twenty people in the meeting room, some pounding on the table and shouting, others flushed with passionate debate. As Gao Yuan and his group entered, the quarrel quickly ceased, and everyone turned to see them dressed in protective suits.

Someone pointed and shouted. Zhao Qiang whispered, "He’s asking who these people are."

As others spoke, Zhao Qiang quietly translated, then Mosavizadeh, whom they had met previously, shouted, "We’re out of time! We have no time left. Now let’s listen to what these Shenzhou People have to say. They’ve fought the aliens for a long time, while you all just yell. Let’s hear what they have to say!"

Zhao Qiang raised his hand, then spoke calmly but sternly, "Ladies and gentlemen, an alien assault is inevitable; it’s just a matter of time. Moreover, the aliens will release many dangerous monsters. My advice is to deploy suitable measures as soon as possible to prepare for the looming alien attack."

"Monsters? What monsters?"

"All sorts, like creatures of immense size that can unleash electric arcs, impervious to bullets, only high-velocity armor-piercing rounds can pose a threat to them."

"You’re joking!"

Zhao Qiang didn’t argue; he simply pointed upwards and said, "For those of you in doubt, the aliens’ spaceship is right above your heads. Now, do you want to discuss with me what kind of monster is laughable, or do you want to know how to deal with these creatures?"

It only took one sentence to silence everyone.

Mosavizadeh said loudly, "We are in the midst of formulating combat strategies."

Zhao Qiang spoke gravely, "Based on our combat experience, rapid-fire cannons are the best weapon against creatures known as Armored Beasts, because the monsters are incredibly fast. Artillery like tank guns, though powerful, struggles to hit them, so our summarized experience is to concentrate two to three rapid-fire cannons for a sufficient metal stream. If using tanks, then group them in fives, with only one tank firing; the monster will be drawn to it. Then, when the beast approaches the tank that fired, the nearby tanks open fire in unison, ensuring the monster is killed in one strike. This tactic can be used two to three times."

"Why only two or three times?"

"That’s because the tank that fires often has no chance of survival. If they’re extraordinarily lucky, a group of five tanks can use it four times."

"That’s suicide!"

"Of course, it’s suicide!"

Zhao Qiang answered the skepticism without hesitation, and then calmly suggested, "With this tactic, at least there’s a chance and meaning to the suicide."

Mosavizadeh took off his military hat, ran his hand through his hair, and said gravely, "What else?"

"We fear the aliens might release bugs, virus-carrying insects. If there are flamethrowers, that would be best, because the good news is that the aliens never release a large number of monsters at once. Gentlemen, what I’ve just described is only the use of heavy weapons. Regarding how infantry should fight the monsters, the best weapons are rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles. Machine guns and rifles are useless; even heavy-caliber machine guns don’t help much."

Zhao Qiang didn’t finish, but paused to gauge everyone’s reaction. As expected, his slight pause caused the conference room to erupt into argument again.

"Do we have any hope of winning?"

Zhao Qiang nodded without hesitation, "We do. We need to eliminate the monsters, and then at the first sign of infection among the population...many people in this city will survive."

The conference room fell silent for a long while until finally, an officer said softly, "Maybe... we should just retreat."

The proposal was indeed tempting. Facing an unbeatable enemy, retreat, or rather escape, was most people’s instinctive reaction.

The reality was that if the people in this conference room decided to flee, then Zhao Qiang and the others definitely couldn’t stop them. So now it depended on whether someone could step forward to turn the tide.

But no one spoke of fighting to the end.

Zhao Qiang realized he was an outstanding bodyguard, but he was not an excellent persuader.

In other words, Zhao Qiang screwed up. He realized he had successfully frightened everyone in the room.

Internally full of self-reproach but outwardly calm, Zhao Qiang looked at Gao Yuan and said, "They want to flee because they have no reason to stay and fight to the death. If defeat is certain, it’s better to preserve the fighting force and save whoever can be saved..."

Gao Yuan felt that Zhao Qiang’s words actually made a lot of sense.

If defeat was certain, then why fight at all?

Convince them with logic, move them with emotion? Have these soldiers cover civilians’ escape?

Too bad not every military follows the sentiment of unity between soldiers and civilians.

Entice them with benefit?

But where’s the benefit? Without benefits, there’s nothing to find.

Telling them the truth, how to fight the monsters, would scare these people into losing their will to resist. But saying nothing would be allowing the city’s population to await slaughter.

It was indeed a tough situation.

What to do? In his urgency, Gao Yuan suddenly said, "Tell them that if we win this battle, the aliens will be completely defeated because all their ships from around the world have gathered here! Say that there are only seven alien ships worldwide."

Zhao Qiang was taken aback, "Such a clumsy lie, how could they possibly believe it?"

Gao Yuan looked seriously at Zhao Qiang and said, "I forgot which book I read this in, but if you want to deceive someone, treat them like a fool. Never mind, just translate what I said."