Chapter 66 Volunteers

Lunch was in the officers' mess hall, where the lowest rank dining with Gao Yuan was at least a senior officer.

As for junior officers, there were even more.

Discussing matters over the dining table had become a tradition. Therefore, Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu were like the auspicious mascots being observed, but there were serious issues on Xiang Weiguo's mind to discuss.

"Commander Wang, I want to know something—about the able-bodied adults in the shelter. Are they all just idling around? Hasn't anyone organized them to do some work?"

Wang Hu also looked grave. He said solemnly, "At present, we have no orders concerning this matter. Our task is to protect all survivors. At most, we select some volunteers from the survivors to help us with daily tasks."

"What about the Local Government? What about the civil servants? Why not have the former civil servants continue their work?"

Wang Hu sighed and said, "When the disaster struck, many government workers were on the front lines, resulting in heavy casualties. It's now impossible to have the same mature and complete team of civil servants we once had. However, among the volunteers, there are indeed many former civil servants, but we don't really distinguish between pre-disaster roles anymore."

After speaking, Wang Hu hesitated, but eventually added in a lower voice, "If it were still the pre-disaster separation of military and administration, things would be complicated. Currently, the Government's stance is that the personnel of the Government should put their statuses aside for now. Everyone willing to take on some work does so as a volunteer. Nevertheless, it's often former civil servants of various levels who make up the bulk of volunteers."

Xiang Weiguo let out a sigh and said, "Then, has there been any consideration for ordinary citizens to receive military training and take on some of the defense responsibilities?"

"You mean letting the civilians take on some military duties?"

Xiang Weiguo nodded.

Wang Hu and the others at the table looked at each other. Then Wang Hu shook his head and said, "That won't do. Without orders, we cannot act rashly and impose military responsibilities on civilians. That would change the nature of things."

Xiang Weiguo sighed and said, "What times are these? Protecting our country, no, now it's about protecting the fate of humanity itself, and everyone needs to take on responsibility."

"But we also can't expand the military on our own. Conscription and expanding military forces can't be decided by us alone. This matter is too significant. I understand what you mean, but it's not for us to decide independently."

Xiang Weiguo looked seriously at those present and said with a grave voice, "Now that everyone is here, I will just say it. I propose recruiting volunteers from among the civilians to receive military training. They won't be soldiers, not even militiamen, just ordinary civilians."

Wang Hu nodded and said, "I understand. I believe many people would be willing to do this, but..."

"How many soldiers do we have in the shelter?"

Without hesitation, Wang Hu answered, "4,956."

"And Shelter One?"

"Roughly the same scale."

Xiang Weiguo said gravely, "Gentlemen, think about it—what time is it now? We can't wait for orders from above before we take action."

Pointing towards the city, Xiang Weiguo said with gravity, "How many soldiers do we have in the shelter? Let's round it to five thousand. How many zombies are there in the city? A conservative estimate is one million, or likely more. With just about ten thousand people from the two shelters, is it possible to clear the zombies out of the city? It's no longer a question of time—it's fundamentally impossible."

Wang Hu's face was serious and troubled. He said in a low voice, "Sir..."

But Xiang Weiguo waved his hand and said, "Don't call me sir. Just call me Mr. Xiang. Now, I am discussing this as a veteran and as a civilian."

The military is different from other places, unlike any other organization.

The military has its own rules; a colonel is a colonel, and a major is a major.

But this time, Wang Hu did not insist on military etiquette and immediately changed how he addressed him.

"Mr. Xiang, it might be too early to think about recapturing the city now."

Why did Wang Hu change the way he spoke?

Because of some concerns, playing down Xiang Weiguo's military colors was beneficial.

Was Wang Hu not aware of the saying 'many hands make light work'? Didn't he know that there were many able-bodied young adults in the shelter doing nothing? Of course, he knew, but because of his position, there were some things he couldn't do.

Xiang Weiguo fixed his gaze on Wang Hu and said, "Do you really think this way? Does the 'Armored Tiger' really think this way?"

Wang Hu shook his head and replied, "Recapturing the city is indeed premature now, but... we should indeed start preparing for the recapture."

In a low voice, Xiang Weiguo said, "Then why not let our shelter lead the way? We're not being reckless, but why can't we allow survivors to volunteer, and after receiving sufficient training, assist the troops with auxiliary work?"

Having said that, Xiang Weiguo pointed to Gao Yuan and added, "He's never been a soldier, but after three months of training, he's already capable of doing much. Why can't other young people do the same?"

Wang Hu slapped the table and looked at Xiang Weiguo, "Good! Now is not the time for hesitation. Let's do it this way, Mr. Xiang, you'll recruit young people as volunteers to form a team, and you'll also be in charge of their training."

None were the type to beat around the bush, especially in the current situation. As long as there was the right person to do the job, what was there to hesitate about?

Xiang Weiguo replied without any courtesy, "I guarantee to complete the mission!"

Wang Hu immediately said, "Through our observations these past few months, we've found that the best way to deal with zombies is using cold weapons rather than guns. Machine guns are the best for defense, but zombies have one trait; they're attracted to noise, so as soon as we fire, all the zombies nearby will come charging."

"I've fought zombies before, and using guns is indeed not the best choice. As long as the zombies don't immediately lose their ability to move, they still pose a great threat."

Wang Hu perked up, continuing, "That's right, we've found through trial and error that a five-person combat team using cold weapons and maintaining complete silence during searches and advancement is the most efficient. At least two people should use shields, two should use long bladed weapons, and one should use a short weapon like a hammer or an axe. This combination works very well in rural areas, but not in the city. If there are too many zombies, no matter how many people you have or what weapons they use, once they are surrounded..."

Once they are surrounded it's death, there's no need to say more.

Xiang Weiguo, with a grave voice, said, "Five-person teams, huh? Good, using cold weapons is my strong suit. We will specifically train some five-person combat teams. If we have enough people, we can slowly and meticulously clean up the zombies in the city."

Wang Hu, somewhat excited, said, "I plan to start resuming production after the spring. We need people to farm the land and grow vegetables. We can't just sit and eat away at our stockpiles. But now it seems that if we can train everyone capable, so they can work and fight when necessary, it would be very beneficial for our future survival."

Xiang Weiguo was also somewhat excited and said in a low voice, "These are things that definitely need to be done. The higher-ups will surely make such arrangements, otherwise self-rescue is nothing but empty talk."

And so, the matter was settled—there was no voice of dissent, because this was not something up for discussion.

Xiang Weiguo picked up his chopsticks again and said with a composed face, "I'll start working on this in the afternoon."

Wang Hu turned to Gao Yuan, "Then I'll arrange a place for you to stay. We can't have you living in temporary housing."

Xiang Weiguo also looked at Gao Yuan, then shook his head, "Everyone is treated the same. He is definitely going to be one of my soldiers, no, one of my volunteers. But his starting point has to be the same as everyone else's. I cannot give them special treatment."

Wang Hu seemed a bit worried as he frowned, "Take it easy, he's a precious asset. You must pay attention to his safety."

The fact that Xiang Weiguo was unwilling to give Gao Yuan special treatment showed his confidence in Gao Yuan.

Tapping Gao Yuan with his chopsticks, Xiang Weiguo smiled and said, "If you embarrass me, I'll kill you!"

Gao Yuan was at a loss for words, feeling that his days of misfortune had come once again.

"Xiaoyu..."

Just as Gao Yuan spoke a word, Wang Hu loudly said, "As for Xiaoyu, she has her duties. She'll be working in the telecommunication room."

Luo Xingyu immediately protested, "I won't! I want to be with him! I also want to join... What's the name of your team, anyway?"

"We can talk about the name later. In any case, the first batch won't include women. Just stay put in the telecommunication room," Wang Hu replied, quashing Luo Xingyu's hopes without hesitation.

Luo Xingyu wanted to say more, but Gao Yuan sternly said, "Follow orders. Why so much fuss?"

Luo Xingyu pouted, looking like she was about to cry. Though she said nothing in the end, she still pushed her chopsticks aside.

Many felt sympathy for her, and Gao Yuan could only give in, sighing softly, "Don't you know I worry about you? Just stay in the telecommunication room for now. You have to be obedient."

Luo Xingyu nodded, her face filled with grievance.

Wang Hu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Xiang Weiguo, "Let's start with a trial. How about we recruit a hundred people for the first batch?"

Xiang Weiguo frowned, "That's too cautious. We have two hundred thousand people here, at least one hundred and fifty thousand able-bodied adults. I think we should recruit five hundred people for the first batch, see how it goes, and then expand if it's effective."

"Alright, five hundred it is. We still need to train with guns, as we have a fair amount of weapons and can conduct live fire training, but we can't waste too much ammunition. Let's provisionally allocate twenty rounds per person for training, and also, make sure to teach them how to operate general-purpose machine guns. We've been continuously training machine gunners because machine guns are still the most useful right now, and in case of an emergency, I want everyone to at least know how to operate one."

"Full-time training?"

"There's no production activity anyway, so of course, it's full-time training. We can beef up the food rations a bit."

Xiang Weiguo and Wang Hu were already discussing the specifics. They spoke quickly because both of them had thought deeply about this matter for a long time, and now it was just a matter of confirming and voicing their decisions.

Therefore, Gao Yuan knew his status was about to change. Whether he was willing or not, he was going to become a... volunteer at this shelter?

The key point was that Gao Yuan was indeed willing because now he really wanted to do something.