On the road from Daqing Mountain Prison Base to Dawn City.

A mighty convoy is advancing.

At the front of the convoy are several bulldozers.

These bulldozers advance side by side, clearing the snow on the road, moving continuously, quickly clearing a wide path.

Behind them is a long line of heavy trucks.

The trucks are filled with armed soldiers, and there are even quite a lot of ammunition loaded inside.

This force is the absolute elite of the Liberation Army.

Initially, Guo Zhun dispatched this force to the Daqing Mountain Prison Base specifically to counter the Dawn Army.

These five thousand men are balanced in firepower and well-trained. If it weren't for Ye Fan's prominent prowess at the time, Guo Zhun wouldn't have been willing to send these five thousand men to Daqing Mountain.

If these five thousand men had remained in Ice City, it's possible that by now, the Liberation Army might have reclaimed the North of the River.

The leader of this force is a Level 2 Evolver, named Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing is a general under Guo Zhun, and also his confidant.

This time, Zhou Qing came with a mission.

Just like Ye Fan believed, the situation with Dawn City has indeed made Guo Zhun and the others deeply suspicious.

According to the initial situation, the zombie force might have arrived at Dawn City by New Year's Eve, but Dawn City sent out a train, and fought with the zombies over there, most likely delaying their arrival to thirty.

At that time, the Liberation Army also dispatched people to investigate, but their investigation was far less convenient than Ye Fan's.

Helicopters coming here to investigate are very difficult because once encountered by mutated birds, the helicopters are very unlikely to escape.

They can only send out scouts to trek long distances to obtain somewhat inaccurate information.

Later, seeing the New Year's song and dance performance in Dawn City proved that no zombies arrived on the thirtieth.

If not on the thirtieth, they should arrive on the first, right?

But they didn't arrive on the first either.

Then still none on the second.

And none on the morning of the third.

Dawn City's television station continued its daily programs, not mentioning the arrival of zombies at all.

At this point, Guo Zhun concluded, the horde of zombies would no longer come to Dawn City.

The greatest possibility is that they were led away by that train.

Guo Zhun immediately started contemplating.

Dawn City could change the situation with just one train, and he also saw the situation of that train, it's definitely an armored beast, as long as there are railroads, this thing is practically invincible at present.

The Dawn Army is developing so rapidly, if it continues, it might not be long before its overall strength surpasses that of the Liberation Army.

If this trend continues, his status as the leading figure in the province is at risk.

However, at this time, attacking the Dawn Army is equally inappropriate, not to mention whether they can win, if he dares to attack while the Dawn Army faces the zombie threat, he'll definitely become a target of public criticism.

After all, now that television is starting to resume, people are no longer in the dark like in the previous months knowing nothing.

So after careful consideration, Guo Zhun decided to send troops to Dawn City under the pretext of collaborative defense.

Without this pretext, he has no excuse to send people to Dawn City, especially after the assassination incident involving the performing troupe, the relationship between the two parties has basically become hostile.

If he dares to send people regularly, he will definitely face attacks from Ye Fan.

Using this excuse, if Ye Fan dares to retaliate, the justification becomes his, eventually he could even ally with Oil City or other cities, and launch a campaign against Ye Fan under the charge of crimes against humanity.

And Ye Fan refuting is also difficult, because, after all, he's supposed to be helping Dawn City.

As long as the force can enter Dawn City, it can establish a foothold under the pretense of collaborative defense; with this force here, it also gives Guo Zhun an opportunity to conquer Dawn City.

This time, Guo Zhun spared no expense, dispatching these five thousand men from the Daqing Mountain Prison Base, leaving no troops stationed at Daqing Mountain anymore.

If something truly happens to these five thousand men, then the Daqing Mountain Prison Base might lean towards the Dawn Army, given they are closer to Dawn City.

But after much thought, Guo Zhun doesn't find any reason for Ye Fan to target these five thousand men, so he still made this move, as the opportunity is rare.

********

On the fourth, Ye Fan stood atop the city walls, seeing the arrival of the distant Liberation Army.

At the front of the convoy was a lynx all-terrain vehicle sent by Ye Fan.

This vehicle was responsible for bringing them over, as right now the surroundings of Dawn City are full of minefields.

There's only one road through the minefield where passage is possible, someone must lead the way, or the convoy can't approach Dawn City.

The convoy finally entered the city.

"Stay alert, we're here for collaborative defense this time. Although it's just a show, the show has to be convincing enough to show them the power of our Liberation Army, don't let them underestimate us."

After making his instructions, Zhou Qing got off the vehicle and with a few others went up the city walls.

Here he met Ye Fan.

Ye Fan is considered a legendary figure in the province, leading the rapid rise of the Dawn Army at a young age; no one has ever managed to gain an advantage over him, even within the Liberation Army, many regard Ye Fan as an idol.

The Ye Fan in front of him stood upright, draped in a white cloak.

Zhou Qing, having a sense of courtesy, went over to shake hands with Ye Fan.

Ye Fan raised a hand to shake hands, given the other party came for collaborative defense, he still has to show some respect.

"Leader Ye, we didn't come late, did we?" Zhou Qing asked with a smile.

Beside them, there were journalists filming, brought by the Liberation Army.

The purpose of their journalists was simple: to report on the Liberation Army's formidable strength, ideally overshadowing the Dawn Army at every turn.

To show the entire province the immense gap between Dawn Army's troops and their elite forces.

Ye Fan was well aware of this, and smiled, saying, "You're not late, you've come just in time."

He then turned around to face the camera and said, "Our friends from the Liberation Army have come from afar out of humanitarianism to support us. The Dawn Army warmly welcomes you. Our cafeteria has already prepared meals for you, and after your long journey, you should first have something to eat here."

Zhou Qing waved his hand, "Thank you for your kindness, Leader Ye, but we are not here for food and drink. Here's a suggestion—wherever the battle is most dangerous, assign us that area, and we can eat after setting up the defenses."

Ye Fan did not object further and pointed to the city wall to his side.

"If you're talking about danger, then the south city wall is the most dangerous. It's a flat, open area where we will face the zombie attack directly."

Zhou Qing immediately said, "Then leave this area to us."

Ye Fan waved his hand, "You might not be familiar with the situation since you've just arrived. How about this: the Dawn Army will guard the east side of the south city wall, and you take the west side. When the zombies come, it will prevent you from getting flustered."

Zhou Qing was worried that Ye Fan wouldn't let his people participate, so he agreed at once when he heard this.

"No problem, let's settle it that way."

The Liberation Army's people immediately started climbing the southwest city wall.

The weapons they brought with them were also moved up, while the Dawn Army soldiers withdrew to the southeast city wall, leaving this section of the defense to the Liberation Army.

Ye Fan watched the Liberation Army's arrangements with great interest. He had to admit, their weaponry and defense preparations seemed quite decent.

At least, they were two levels higher in quality than the Survivor Alliance.

By the time the setup was complete, it was already afternoon, and Ye Fan invited Zhou Qing to have a meal once more.

This time Zhou Qing gladly agreed since he believed staying on the wall was pointless because zombies were not likely to come.

When he followed Ye Fan to leave, he winked at a journalist who came with them.

The journalist knew what to do. As soon as Ye Fan and Zhou Qing left, he began making a war report on the wall.

"Hello, viewers, we have arrived at Dawn City."

"Now behind me, you can see Dawn City's wall and parts of the city."

The camera panned across the Outer City District.

Being distant from the Inner City District and the Core District, which was shrouded in mist, not much could be captured.

"We can see the Dawn Army has made numerous preparations, building walls with ice blocks and piling sandbags atop them."

"Although they are working very hard, we can still see from this that Dawn Army is lacking in supplies."

"As I walk on the wall now, I feel the gravel underfoot is somewhat uncomfortable. Hopefully, Leader Ye will address these garrison details when he has time. In the Liberation Army's base, such situations would never occur."

"We see the Dawn Army is fully on alert, but I feel it might be unnecessary, for since I arrived here, I've seen no signs of a zombie siege."

"Is there truly a zombie horde approaching? Right now, it's still an unsolved mystery, but since our courageous Liberation Army soldiers are here, I believe any horde will meet its match!"

"At this moment, I actually hope a zombie horde would come, so our Liberation Army soldiers can show their prowess, haha!"

"This is Liberation Army reporter Xie Ming, reporting from Dawn City for you."

Xie Ming made what he believed was a humorous joke, then lowered the microphone, signaling the cameraman to stop filming.

Yet the cameraman continued to adjust the camera, showing no intention of stopping.

Xie Ming's face showed some displeasure, feeling slightly awkward as he glanced at the cameraman.

The cameraman still did not move.

He couldn't help but blink and coughed once.

Only then did the cameraman realize, moving the camera away, his face pale.

Xie Ming sensed something was off.

He slowly turned his head to the distance behind him.

In the distance, on the horizon, a massive black line appeared!

A horde of black mutated birds, a horde of black zombies!

The sky and the earth were gradually being taken over by them!

The black horde was like a tidal wave, slowly yet inexorably surging toward Dawn City!

Tiny Dawn City was like a lone leaf in a vast ocean, at any moment it might be capsized by the tide, leading to complete obliteration!

The zombies came from the south toward the north, alongside the northwest wind, a stench of blood wafted kilometers, carried by the north wind to Xie Ming's face.

He felt like he had fallen into an ice cave, shivering all over, suddenly yelling at the top of his lungs!

"Oh my God! They're here! The zombies have really come!"

The piercing sirens wailed inside Dawn City!

The well-prepared Dawn Army remained unfazed.

Yet the Liberation Army was in disarray.

They thought they were here just for a military exercise, but unexpectedly, they were thrust into a sudden encounter. Their luck was terribly bad!

At three-thirty in the afternoon on the fourth, the horde of three million zombies arrived at Dawn City!

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