Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Huayang’s spirits lifted, ”Which squad?”

Wen Biao shook his head, ”Not from the train.”

”Then what’s the point...”

For them, only the teams on the train counted as combat strength; even a single person was better than an entire squad of Gunfire.

”I heard they’re Genetically Modified Warriors,” Wen Biao added.

”What the heck?” Huayang was momentarily stunned. Knowing too much, various ideas flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t immediately determine what the other was referring to.

”A kind of new Evolver, I guess. I don’t really understand, and they didn’t explain much. They said there are twenty of them, and we should make good use of them.”

The teammate responsible for sensing said, ”Okay, that’s all.”

Huayang got up, brushing the snow off his body, ”Let’s go, pick up the guns.”

Due to the difficulty of transporting supplies, maintaining a food supply was already challenging enough; firearms and ammunition had to be obtained from the enemies.

Watching the few of them walk away, the Northern Alliance lieutenant’s eyes flared with white flames. He turned to the two soldiers beside him and ordered, ”Gather everyone, I have a few words to say.”

”Yes, sir!”

One of the soldiers turned and left, leaving only the other with his back to him.

Slightly tilting his head, he saw the other had walked far away. He drew a dagger from his thigh and stabbed it directly into the other’s back. The victim could only twist his body futilely, wanting to scream, but life quickly slipping away left him only able to open his mouth powerlessly.

Blood stained the snow, but no one noticed anything amiss here.

The lieutenant swaggered over to a snow cave on the other side of the trench, where his soldiers were already gathered. After checking the numbers were correct, he threw in two grenades and then held the wooden door tightly shut.

Screams and curses were completely silenced after two muffled bangs, but the commotion had already caught Huayang and the others’ attention.

”Did the snow cave collapse?”

Wen Biao said, a bit unsure.

Before Huayang could say anything, a teammate had already rushed over from afar, breathless and anxious, ”Hurry back, over three hundred Pale Devils are converging on us! All wearing military uniforms.”

Their expressions changed.

Including all the Northern Alliance soldiers, they had just over a hundred people. Taking down a few dozen gun-wielding Pale Devils was barely manageable, but facing more than three hundred, who knew who would be besieging whom. The snow wasn’t soil; blocking bullets depended half on thickness, half on luck.

If hundreds of guns opened fire, even a Death God would be shot to pieces.

[Snow in the Wind Snow Zone is like hard sand, it can somewhat deflect and slow down bullets, but can’t completely defend against them]

They were fine, being Evolvers themselves, also having bulletproof vests and armored trench coats for multiple layers of protection. Ordinary soldiers, after a few bursts from automatic weapons, would be completely wiped out.

”What do we do?”

Wen Biao looked at Deputy Officer Huayang.

He was put in by He Jie to assess Huayang’s capabilities, so at crucial moments, he would seek his guidance.

Although it had been many times, when facing Wen Biao’s earnest and pure gaze, Huayang felt like Uncle Liu, holding back the urge to make a quip, he calmly said, ”First, regroup, worst case, retreat, conduct guerrilla warfare with them, hold on for a while, reinforcements will arrive.”

No one had objections, they quickly retreated towards the trench, but Huayang’s heart was restless, sensing something was amiss.

Just then, it felt like something flashed before his eyes. Looking up, he saw the barrel of a gun with a scope fixed straight on him from within the trench.

An intense sense of danger made his scalp tingle. Without any hesitation, he spread his arms and dove into the snow. His trench coat flared like a bat’s wings covering him, feeling as if hailstones struck him, causing his muscles to tremble with pain as he dug his hands and feet hard into the snow.

Though pained to the point of cursing, a fleeting sense of relief passed in his heart.

Utilizing the cloak to withstand bullets is a key lesson for all new recruits, including quick firearm assessment and prone position selection.

If facing a large-caliber sniper rifle or heavy machine gun, lying down was a sure way to get killed.

But regular full-power ammo could be resisted with the quality of the trench coat.

As a new recruit, whether eating or training, there were two instructors ready to pull out submachine guns or pistols to shoot at him anytime. Initially, he thought it was He Jie messing with him, only now understanding the other’s intention.

’I’ll never call you the Dog again.’

The built-in communicator suddenly buzzed, first with a mechanical voice, ”Information from three minutes and twelve seconds ago, Armed Train engine, battlefield commander, Colonel He Jie.”

Then came a coarse voice, ”A batch of Pale Devils headed your way, I’ll give you twenty men, no matter what, hold the line. If any get through, I’ll make sure you’re executed!”

”Damn it, He the Dog, I’ll never forgive you!”

Huayang cursed inwardly, feeling two hands gripping his arms, dragging him up.

With him as the front line, Wen Biao and the others naturally reacted, grabbing people and simultaneously retreating while counterattacking.

”Damn it, are these Mao Bears brain dead?”

Wen Biao cursed frantically, his rifle spitting out rounds furiously.

Huayang focused on the battlefield ahead, quickly analyzing, ’Could someone have infiltrated just now?’

’No, absolutely no one slipped through just now, though A-cheng’s Evolver scanning abilities are weak, scanning these energy beings is foolproof, so it must have been before they infiltrated?’

Huayang quickly grasped the cause and effect, a chill running through his heart.

Upon arrival, he naturally watched out for these Northern Alliance people, but the calm battles lately allowed him to gradually let his guard down, not expecting an inside-outside collaboration at this moment.

”What now? The Pale Devils behind are closing in fast.”

The scout in the squad asked urgently.

”First move towards the support direction, conserve ammunition.”

Most supplies were in backpacks, they carried only a few light weapons, with ”Firepower Hand” having just one ammo belt, if they ran out now, the fighting would soon die down.

”What about the train’s orders?”

Wen Biao asked, both as primary and deputy officers, naturally receiving direct orders from He Jie.

Huayang decisively said, ”Follow my lead and retreat for now, I have a plan for the rest!”

...

As Huayang and the others headed towards reinforcements, in the engine, the train director questioned He Jie’s command.

”Why are your orders always to hold or retreat, and never more complex commands?”

He Jie furrowed his brows, the large cigar wobbled up and down between his fingers, hesitantly, ”Do you even understand battlefield command?”

”Oh, no.”

Su Huan said confidently.

”Then where did you learn?”

”From TV dramas.”

Hearing this, He Jie’s eyes nearly rolled back, spitting firmly, ”What absolute nonsense!”

”Military orders are not about being complex or simple, but about being easy to understand, unambiguous, and crucially, delivering different levels of information for different ranks.”

He jie pointed at the chaotic cluster of dots in the middle, almost indistinguishable from one another, sprawling across dozens of kilometers.

”Have you noticed, when I order Xiaoba, Lin Jin, I generally tell them the current situation and the extent to achieve, ordering Qu Hang I tell him the reason but not the situation, ordering lieutenants I only tell them to retreat or attack, while ordinary soldiers are told nothing.”

”It’s not to maintain mystery, but because their roles are different.”

”For soldiers, knowing too much doesn’t benefit the war effort and might brew unnecessary thoughts; they just need to focus on fighting well.”

”Qu Hang directs specific battles, so I only inform him of the reasons, without the bigger picture.”

”But Xiaoba and Lin Jin hold decisive power and also lead specific battlefields, thus I inform them of the situation to avoid doing too little or overdoing it!”

[When writing the book, I really looked forward to Wind Snow Zone, but after eight years away from home, many sentiments have been forgotten]