From the first day, Ye Fan began a state of busyness.

The newly constructed ten-meter watchtowers were placed one by one, starting with the ones in the outer city.

Because construction takes time, this process was actually quite lengthy.

The arrangement of the watchtowers blocked the view of the citizens.

As soon as the ones in the outer city were placed, the ones in the inner city and main city were easier to handle, as the crack generators provided cover, preventing anyone from investigating the situation inside.

All one hundred watchtowers were set up by the third.

Each watchtower was equipped with a 25mm autocannon.

Although constructing watchtowers with autocannons was expensive, high costs have their benefits.

They are destined to become the main force of city defense in the future, as they are weapons capable of killing Level 2 Mutated Zombies.

By the night of the third, Ye Fan received news of the zombie group approaching again.

The zombies had moved diagonally from Pinggang to the Harvest Reservoir, but in reality, the distance from Dawn City remained unchanged.

Moreover, the weather had improved significantly in the past two days, not only had the snowstorm stopped, but the temperature also rose slightly.

Based on the speed at which the zombie group was traveling day and night, by the afternoon of the fourth, they would reach the outskirts of Dawn City.

"There's only one day left, but the Air Force Combat Laboratory won't be completed until the sixth."

Ye Fan thought for a moment, then consulted Wang Shun and Luo Jiaxin in the system.

"When will the development of the Giant Cannon be completed?"

"Sir, it will take another half a month."

"If I add more Heroic Engineers, can we shorten the time?"

Currently, the second Heroic Battalion still has three vacant spots. Since the Combat Laboratory is under construction, Ye Fan hasn't had time to fill the Heroic Battalion, leaving these three vacancies unused.

"Sir, the development of the Giant Cannon has reached an extreme speed. Some research projects do not become faster with more people."

Upon hearing Wang Shun's response, Ye Fan dismissed the idea of adding more engineers.

Although the city's defenses seemed very solid at the moment, Ye Fan knew it wasn't that simple.

The zombies had evolved to a considerable degree, making this siege ten times more difficult than the last.

If, like last time, the most powerful were only Level 2 King Kong Zombies, even with three million, let alone ten million, Ye Fan had confidence in defending.

But this time, there were Mutated Birds, Mutant Beasts, and large-scale zombie evolution, increasing the difficulty almost exponentially.

Therefore, all possible methods must be employed urgently.

First is mine placement.

Upon hearing the news of the zombie's arrival, Ye Fan produced three more mine-laying vehicles, making five currently busied outside the city.

One mine-laying vehicle can place 900 mines, costing six thousand gold.

And producing mines from the arsenal costs 5 gold apiece.

Ye Fan didn't produce too many mine-laying vehicles; after deploying the mines they carried, he purchased more from the arsenal.

Purchasing once per vehicle costs 4,500 gold, five vehicles equal 22,500 gold.

Deploying once with five vehicles means deploying 4,500 mines.

Ye Fan had the vehicles repeatedly lay mines, deploying 450,000 mines around the urban area!

This massive mine-laying operation cost a total of 2.25 million gold!

At this moment, within a ten-kilometer radius of the urban area of Dawn City, nearly the entire area had become a minefield!

The core area's rear, and the east and west city districts didn't have as many mines since the space was naturally smaller.

Unsurprisingly, the south city district would still be the zombies' main attack point. Here, 300,000 mines were buried, forming a vast sea of death, with only one passable road, but it was barely visible to ordinary people.

Originally, Ye Fan considered laying over a million mines, but dismissed the thought as unrealistic; the leader of this zombie group should have some intelligence, and concentrated attacks on several routes might render too many mines ineffective.

Moreover, with only 7.3 million gold left, Ye Fan had to wait for new air force units and still needed to deploy Light Prism Towers and Giant Cannons, so he couldn't spend all the money.

The newly produced artillery units were also deployed.

In the outer city, near the inner city, there was a parking lot.

The surrounding area was already under martial law, with residents forced to remove their vehicles. Ye Fan had turned this spot into an artillery position.

Fifty cannons were all directed south.

Because it was unlikely for large-scale zombie hordes to appear from the east, west, or north, mortars and the D-77s were sufficient, but the real battleground was in the south.

Giant cannon muzzles gleamed with a chilly glow, and all firepower accuracy was meticulously adjusted, with each cannon responsible for a specific area, all detailed in the plan.

Long-range was covered by cannons, while mid-to-close range was handled by the D-77 rocket launchers and mortars.

One hundred D-66, D-77 rocket launchers were already lined up, their primary target area still the south, but being mobile and light, their firing positions could be adjusted anytime.

Mortars, too, had adjusted their angles and orientations.

Behind the artillery position, boxes of spare ammunition were being moved in.

This was prepared by Ye Fan after producing the artillery; backup ammunition was a major concern, and running out at a crucial battle moment wasn't an option. So, Ye Fan spent another million-plus gold equipping the units with ample reserve ammo.

Eighteen million gold had now been two-thirds spent, leaving six million gold on hand.

This taught Ye Fan the costs of war; waging war is really about spending money.

Because the minefield outside the city is heavily concentrated, Ye Fan's tanks and armored vehicles cannot participate in battles outside the city in the early stages of the war.

However, these vehicles have their uses; the armored vehicles and tanks are deployed inside the city, and each vehicle is equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns, mainly for air defense purposes.

This time, facing several hundred thousand Mutant Birds, the pressure on air defense is actually enormous.

Ye Fan originally had thirty tanks in Dawn City, and later produced five more at Golden City, making a total of thirty-five tanks.

An armored vehicle has one per platoon, three per company, and an entire battalion has eleven, because they also include the direct platoon and guard platoon.

A regiment has thirty-five, but among Ye Fan's three regiments, the third regiment has yet to be equipped with armored vehicles, and the second regiment is not fully equipped either. Currently, the total number of armored vehicles is sixty.

In addition to armored vehicles and tanks, there are also Fierce Dragon Off-road Vehicles, also equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns. Ye Fan has over forty such vehicles here.

There are over a hundred anti-aircraft machine guns on various vehicles, distributed throughout the city districts.

At every street intersection and in front of every important area, powerful combat vehicles are deployed.

Ordinary residents are prohibited from approaching the combat vehicles, as the Dawn Army has issued a strict order. From the morning of the fifth, the entire city will enter a state of martial law.

Except for orders from the military, all residents are forbidden to leave their homes and walk on the streets. Anyone disobeying will be severely punished or even shot.

Even Adventure Squads like Qin Yumo's requesting to join the city's defense battles were rejected by Ye Fan.

There's no need for their involvement in besieging Dawn City. If Adventurers were indeed needed on stage, the city would likely have already fallen.

However, at this moment, survivors can still be of some use.

On top of the ten-meter-high ice wall, they started spreading sand.

The purpose of the sand is to prevent slipping, so that soldiers won't fall behind the city wall.

This project started on the second but hasn't concluded still.

Out of curiosity, Ye Fan walked up the city wall and discovered the survivors were stacking sandbags.

Ye Fan noticed the newly arrived Zhao Xiaoman busily working with her subordinates and couldn't help but walk over.

"Xiaoman, why are you working so hard?"

"It's not hard at all. For an Evolver, this work is nothing. Besides, don't you think sandbags are very useful? They're even more secure than the parapet. If someone shoots from the opposite side, soldiers will have an extra layer of life protection here."

Although Ye Fan thought zombies shouldn't shoot, having sandbags was probably better than not having them.

Furthermore, Zhao Xiaoman seemed to be competing with someone, working energetically.

Ye Fan glanced into the distance and saw Qin Yumo's Apocalypse Mountain Squad also busy at work nearby.

Occasionally, the two girls exchanged glances from afar, sparks seemingly flying.

"Are they vying for my attention? Unfortunately, it's somewhat difficult for you to win me over!"

Ye Fan shook his head slightly, then turned and walked down the city wall.

Seeing the survivors working passionately made Ye Fan sometimes wonder if allowing them to participate occasionally in battles might instead better unite the people's morale, giving them a stronger sense of belonging to Dawn City?

After descending the city wall, Ye Fan saw his sister, Ye Luo, coming over with a cameraman.

Since the zombie horde had left in the past few days, making it impossible to track and film, the TV broadcast returned to normal programming.

Occasionally, broadcasts showed the survivors' labor but didn't air the battle prep situation in case the zombie horde didn't return.

However, today it was confirmed they would come, so the TV station came out but planned to broadcast starting tomorrow.

Ye Fan had already said that the defense of the city would be broadcasted in full. He wanted to demonstrate their strength to everyone who could see the Dawn Platform through this battle.

In the past, there were no promotional channels, but as various bases gradually established TV stations, such an opportunity shouldn't be missed.

Some weapons aren't worth keeping secret, like cannons and tanks. Whether you keep it secret or not, others already know, making it of no secret value.

Moreover, the occasional appearance of high-end weapons could also deter those with ambitions.

It could also show other survivors the strength of Dawn City, aiding in personnel recruitment.

Ye Fan was even sure that after this battle, Dawn City would welcome another peak period of gaining people.

Although the three major bases in the province have populations in the millions, the number of people in other small bases and survivor gathering spots is greater than in the three major bases combined.

In over a dozen cities in the province, nearly every city has substantial-sized bases. Dawn City, Liberation Army, and Storm Army are just the three larger ones.

Seeing Ye Fan come out, Ye Luo excitedly ran over.

"Brother!"

"Xiaoluo, why are you out so early? Didn't I tell you to start broadcasting tomorrow?"

"I came to find you."

"What for?"

"Don't you watch TV? The Liberation Army said, considering our crisis situation, they've dispatched 5,000 elite troops to help us with co-defense. These 5,000 people set off from the Daqing Mountain Prison Base yesterday morning and are estimated to arrive at Dawn City early tomorrow. They've asked us to prepare for reception."

"Oh! The Liberation Army sent people to help us with co-defense? Proceeding without consultation, are they really this kind-hearted?"

Ye Fan instinctively felt it was impossible, but suddenly realized something was off.

The sudden change in direction of the zombie horde was only known to our side, the Liberation Army and Storm Army weren't aware yet.

Perhaps in their minds, Dawn City wouldn't be attacked, and all this was just Ye Fan's intrigue, right?

If so, the origin of these 5,000 people is very suspicious.

Ye Fan thought for a moment, then smiled: "Since they've come, let's welcome them warmly."

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