89: Chapter 86: The Awful Situation…

89: Chapter 86: The Awful Situation…

Nanming Prefecture:

“Governor Zhou Hanyang, all the grain in the warehouse has been accounted for, and the government has purchased all the available grain in Nanming Prefecture at the current price.

Any merchants who dared to raise prices have been taken down!”

The Provincial Governor reported the situation respectfully in the government hall to the towering Governor Zhou Hanyang.

In theory, as a Provincial Governor, he held a rank equivalent to the Military General, one governing administration and the other military affairs.

However, in these times, when military commanders were dominant and officials not born of magicians had no confidence in the face of these warrior-born soldiers.

“Good!” Governor Zhou Hanyang, who hadn’t even had time to take off his armor, nodded and kept gulping down tea, obviously suffering from severe dehydration.

“You need not worry…” Zhou Hanyang said as he drank, “No matter the background of those grain merchants, even if they belong to one of the big four trading companies, as long as they dare to raise prices at this time, seize them all.

If they resist, kill them!”

“Yes, yes…” the Provincial Governor said with a wry smile, “Those who dare to profit from national disasters, this official will certainly not be lenient.”

At this time, the fate of everyone in the city rested on this man, so naturally, whatever he said, went.

“General, do you know the origins of those strange creatures outside the city?” The Provincial Governor asked cautiously.

“How would I know?” Zhou Hanyang gave him a glance, feeling irritated.

Those sudden living zombies weren’t really powerful, only frighteningly fearless of death and slightly stronger than the average person.

Their movements were stiff, and they didn’t use weapons, which made them hardly a match for fully armed elite soldiers.

If they fought on open terrain, with only a few hundred elite cavalry to scatter them, combined with bowmen and pikemen to divide and conquer, they often achieved a casualty rate as low as one to ten with minimal losses.

But there were just too many of these damn things—like an endless horde.

At first, just tens of thousands came ashore.

After his army eradicated them, another wave arrived, each time growing larger.

By last night, near dawn, the last wave consisted of at least a hundred thousand, pouring out of the waves like a tide of living zombies!

Stationed in Nanming Prefecture were over fifty thousand navy soldiers, but most were miscellaneous soldiers from naval ships; the actual number of elite forces didn’t exceed twenty thousand.

And in these two nights alone, they had probably slain at least three hundred thousand zombies, hadn’t they?

Even slaying three hundred thousand pigs would have exhausted the many soldiers by now, inevitably leading to significant casualties.

Thinking of this, Zhou Hanyang became even more irritable.

The last wave of living zombies from yesterday hadn’t been completely eradicated; as dawn approached, they seemed to intentionally avoid the sunlight, fleeing back into the water, and his soldiers naturally wouldn’t chase them into the water to engage.

He knew that if these creatures followed the waters to the surrounding counties, it would be troublesome!

But with the current shortage of personnel, splitting forces to defend county cities or even rural areas would maximize the enemy’s numerical advantage.

Not to mention the river, who knows how many more might emerge at night…

While pondering, several people hurried into the entrance of the Government Office.

The Provincial Governor hurried to greet them upon seeing the arrivals.

It was the person he felt was the most reliable, the Educational Governor: Mu Hongqing.

“I heard from the students below that, General, you didn’t completely annihilate those monsters today but let them return to the water?” Mu Hongqing asked directly without pleasantries as soon as he entered.

Hearing this, Zhou Hanyang bristled, but he held back his anger.

After all, the person before him was no ordinary government official, but an Academic Commissioner level magician.

Facing these eerie demons, he had to admit that magicians often played a significant role.

Therefore, he nodded and patiently explained, “The number of living zombies is too great, and they carry severe poison.

Any soldier scratched or bitten would lose combat capability the next day.

If we were to pursue them into the water, the soldiers’ armor would become a burden.

And if they took off their armor to enter the water, the risk of injury would be too high.

With our military strength already insufficient, we cannot afford such losses, or the situation will be unfavorable!”

Mu Hongqing nodded, “I understand the General’s difficulty, but if we allow those living zombies to escape through the water, they will spread to the surrounding counties and rural areas, and the common people will be massacred!”

“Am I not aware of this?” Zhou Hanyang responded irritably, “But what can I, the Governor, do?

The fog is strange, and we don’t know how many zombies lurk within.

Perhaps there will be even more tonight.

At this time, being able to hold Nanming Prefecture is already an achievement; how can we dare to divide forces and send them to the counties?”

“Shouldn’t we consider…

hardening the defenses and clearing the fields?”

“Hardening defenses and clearing fields?” Zhou Hanyang looked at him, “Do you mean…

evacuating everyone to Nanming Prefecture?”

Mu Hongqing nodded, “The counties lack the capability for self-protection, and those creatures don’t seem to feed on grain, so they’ll probably leave the crops alone.

Plus, I’ve observed carefully, and the living zombies seem to fear sunlight, their activity severely limited during the day.

They either hide in the river or cluster under a layer of black fog of unknown origin, nowhere near as threatening as they are at night.”

“We could take advantage of daylight to transfer the people from surrounding counties to Nanming Prefecture as much as possible.

If we encounter these living zombies on the road, they are more manageable during the day due to their restricted activity.

What does the General think?”

“If all the people come to the city, the pressure on our grain supply will be no small matter!” Zhou Hanyang spoke solemnly, “Now that river transportation has ceased and grain is tight, if we evacuate all the people to Nanming Prefecture, how will we feed so many mouths?”

As they reached this point in the conversation, one of Mu Hongqing’s disciples couldn’t help but frown, “It’s been a good harvest this year; shouldn’t the rural folks have surplus grain at home?

If they bring their grain, how could there be a shortage?”

Zhou Hanyang gave the disciple a cold look but did not respond.

The disciple was puzzled, yet Mu Hongqing’s expression turned very dark, instantly understanding the implication of the others’ intentions!

Nanming Prefecture had a vast in-town population, normally reliant on river transportation for its food supply.

The surrounding counties couldn’t possibly support it.

With the city’s food supply already tight and no river transportation, where would the grain come from if the situation persisted?

It was clear from their intentions that they had no plans to care for the lives of the county’s common folk; after all, these zombies only consumed people, not grains.

Once the zombies devoured the surrounding civilians, wouldn’t more grain become available?

When the time came, they could simply send troops out to the countryside during the day to collect it!

“Lord Chen is truly heartless!” Mu Hongqing enunciated each word deliberately.

“Mercy does not win battles!” Governor Zhou Hanyang’s voice was equally cold, “If not this way, what will my men eat?

What will the people inside Lyuzhou eat?

Taking care of everything means we all die together.

At times of crisis, only by cutting off the tail can we survive.

Such a simple truth, and yet does the Educational Governor need a mere warrior like me to teach you that?”

The apprentices who clearly understood the implications instantly turned pale, but they did not speak up to argue anymore.

Obviously, as the beneficiaries, even if they were uncomfortable inside, they had to lean where they should when the time came!

Mu Hongqing looked coldly at the other party for a long time, about to speak again when suddenly a government official rushed into the Government Office entrance in a great hurry.

“What is so urgent that you’re in such a panic?” The Provincial Governor, unable to get a word in edgewise until now, immediately scolded with annoyance.

“Lord, it’s madness, madness!”

“You’re the one who’s gone mad!” The Provincial Governor was instantly so furious he was beside himself.

“No…

Lord…” The government official stuttered, “It’s the soldiers, the soldiers have gone mad!”

“What did you say?” Zhou Hanyang’s eyes widened as he strode over and lifted the man like lifting a kitten, “What in the world is going on?”

“I…

I am not sure…” The official cried out, “Since last night, the wounded soldiers suddenly started going mad and biting people.

This morning when we went to check on the wounded, we saw many people bitten to death, many doctors bitten to death, it’s terrible!”

“This…” A bad premonition instantly rose in Zhou Hanyang’s heart, and he dashed out hurriedly…

Behind him, Mu Hongqing, who watched the other party’s figure vanish quickly, also stood there somewhat dazed.

After a long while, he came to his senses and muttered, “This is bad…”

With his years of experience dealing with demons, he immediately deduced that the ‘mad’ soldiers the official spoke of were probably those wounded carried into the city.

The Governor had mentioned before that the zombies had highly toxic teeth and claws.

Now it seemed that it was not as simple as just being highly toxic.

These zombies…

might be like the Insect Demon, capable of assimilating and infecting others, and doing so very quickly!

The thought spurred him to swiftly exit the Government Office, his mind sensing trouble.

If this zombie poison was contagious, then there was big trouble.

No one paid attention inside the city last night; the poison…

had probably already spread!

—————————————–

“Lord Chen, the soldiers have been assigned.

A total of one thousand five hundred thirty-nine new recruits are willing to go to the villages to save people, but it seems they all want to go to their own hometowns first to rescue their families!”

“That won’t do…” Chen Qing shook his head, “It’s easy to have disordered command if they go to their own hometowns.

They must be assigned elsewhere, and the task of rescuing their relatives should be scheduled as a limited part of the mission, but they themselves shall not go!”

Wei Gongcheng smiled upon hearing this.

Though Lord Chen came from a scholarly background, he seemed to have a good grasp of military leadership.

“Arrange for five hundred soldiers from the new recruits to reinforce the South Gate!”

This statement made Wei Gongcheng frown slightly.

He agreed with leaving behind a garrison but to only guard the South Gate?

“Lord Chen, what about the other gates?”

Chen Qing, however, shook his head, “Lyuzhou is backed by Nan Mountain, and both the East and North Gates lead to main roads.

Those areas…

will not be troubled for the time being!”

East Gate leads to Nanming Prefecture territory, and the North Gate leads to Nanyang, both large cities.

With Jiangnan divided into seven provinces, each has its own Array for defense.

And these zombies were unlikely to leave their zone and come over in the early stage.

Chen Qing did not believe that yesterday’s zombies would take a detour.

Although the zombie leaders had gained some intelligence, it was indeed only a little, not comparable to that of normal people.

What’s most urgent now is to enhance the quality of the Gate Deity.

Last night, many had witnessed the power of the Gate Deity firsthand.

He believed that the soldiers who became city gate guards would soon convert to devoted believers.

According to the rules, only devoted believers can receive the Gate Deity’s blessings.

With a little training, they could become low-ranking Gatekeeper Soldiers.

A thousand low-ranking Gatekeeper Soldiers could then enable the Wind Wolf to ascend to the Yellow Rank ninth grade, entering the rankings!

By the time they faced the next wave of zombies, Chen Qing would have much more confidence.

Therefore, in this rescue mission, as many people as possible should be moved into the city, especially able-bodied adults!

While Chen Qing and Wei Gongcheng continuously discussed the rescue routes, Second Elder Shen glanced towards the north, a trace of concern in his eyes.

Because of the Shen Family’s presence, Nanyang had few Imperial Court troops stationed there.

Under the current circumstances, the situation was likely worse than in Lyuzhou!

Old Liu has always been astute; now all one could do was hope he could control this dire situation….