While constructing the Electronic Combat Laboratory, Ye Fan continued to reinforce some troops.

The Military Intelligence Bureau now had fifty electronic warfare soldiers. Ye Fan additionally supplied thirty spies and twenty special forces, along with ten eagles and twenty large wolves, all under the command of Shen Ruihui. This brought the number of the Military Intelligence Bureau to over a hundred, with many eagles and dogs, justifying the unit's designation as a regiment-level unit.

Firstly, on the special forces side, Ye Fan added three hundred and fifty soldiers, bringing the special forces to a full complement of five hundred and fifty people, forming a full battalion.

Then on the Land Air Force Group side, Ye Fan added a paratrooper battalion, bringing the total paratroopers to two battalions.

Having supplemented the paratroopers, it was also necessary to supplement transport aircraft. The Dawn Army had two large transport planes, but they hadn't been utilized because, apart from this location, airports in other places were generally unable to accommodate landings.

So, he supplemented six more Night Hawk Helicopters, bringing the transport capacity to a total of twelve helicopters. This meant that besides his own two vehicles, they could barely airdrop a battalion of paratroopers at one time.

On the Engineers side, Ye Fan also supplemented with a battalion, bringing the Engineers to two battalions. Otherwise, the current construction effort would still be insufficient.

After all these reinforcements, another 1.4 million gold was spent.

At this point, Ye Fan realized that he only had over four million left.

And at this time, there were still areas not yet supplemented, such as the artillery unit.

However, as new cannons had not yet been developed, Ye Fan could only supplement fifty cannons and a hundred rocket launchers to maintain the artillery scale.

He also supplemented the Chief of Staff's office with some military advisers and the logistics department with some personnel, not spending too much.

After another round of operations, nearly one million gold was spent, leaving three million in hand.

Originally, Ye Fan wanted to spend all the money, but he kept feeling like there was something he was forgetting.

After pondering over his troops, Ye Fan discovered that after this round of troop expansion, the total number of his Dawn Army reached twenty-three thousand!

Four field groups with about thirteen thousand two hundred people, four thousand in the City Guard, one thousand five hundred in the Land Air Force Group, one thousand one hundred in the Engineering Corps, and five hundred fifty in special forces.

Armor regiment with one thousand one hundred, artillery regiment with one thousand two hundred.

Guard Company with one hundred thirty people, Air Force with over a hundred, several Combat Laboratories with hundreds of people, and some including hospital staff, police, Military Intelligence Bureau personnel, totaling a full twenty-three thousand people.

He then asked the officers present, "Is there anything we are still missing?"

Chief of Staff Zhongjing thought for a moment, "A dock."

Ye Fan shook his head, "Not a dock, a dock unlocks only at full brigade strength, it should be something else."

But everyone looked at each other and couldn't remember what was still missing.

Ye Fan couldn't remember either, just felt like there was something not considered, yet he wasn't fixated on it. Although the absolute number had not increased significantly in this wave of troop expansion, it laid a solid foundation for the troops.

He always had to reserve some space, so he didn't spend the three million funds again, not even upgrading the Guard Company to a battalion.

The troop expansion continued, and the meeting was ongoing.

At the meeting, the Police Chief of Dawn Army, Tan Qiaoge, reported the work.

"Sir, following your instructions, thirty warriors from our system have already taken up medium-level core positions in the police department. The remaining police officers are mostly recruited from survivors, responsible for maintaining the order of Dawn City, but currently, the security situation is still severe."

"Oh! How many police officers do you currently have in the police department?"

"We have over three hundred in total. Each Red Alert Soldier leads ten officers, but it's still not enough, because people have been arriving continuously these days, and the total population within Dawn City has now exceeded three hundred and fifty thousand."

"Three hundred and fifty thousand? Wasn't it supposed to be three hundred and ten thousand?"

Ye Fan remembered that previously Dawn City had two hundred and ten thousand, and this time ten thousand people were transported back from Hai Shan Wei over several days, leading to a total of three hundred and ten thousand.

"Sir, you might have forgotten about the captives. We also captured eighteen thousand Rakshasa, currently serving as free labor in the Outer City District. These people need to eat, and they are also an unstable factor."

Ye Fan suddenly remembered the captives, "What about Rikov?"

Shen Ruihui immediately responded, "Locked in the dungeon, the same dungeon where Wang Huining was initially held."

Ye Fan nodded, actually he could execute Rikov, but Ye Fan always felt that this captive might still be of some use, so he spared his life for now.

As for the other captives, it was indeed a problem.

These people were forced to surrender and before surrendering, they were enemies fighting to the death with the Dawn Army.

How to handle them is indeed a big issue.

Once the city is built, these people cannot be allowed to stay in the city; by then, a place must be found for them to go.

Ye Fan put this issue aside for now, "Even with nearly twenty thousand captives, it should be three hundred and thirty thousand, where did the other two thousand come from?"

"Sir, they were attracted by reputation. Our capture of Hai Shan Wei caused a huge sensation in the province, a part of the people Guo Zhun failed to recruit at the last meeting came to join us. In these few days, two more groups might arrive, and the number of people in Dawn City could soon reach four hundred thousand."

Ye Fan nodded, the normal capacity of Dawn City is about one million five hundred thousand, so with four hundred thousand, it's still quite spacious.

At this moment, the logistics officer Zhang Kunlin excitedly reported, "Sir, the supplies you brought back this time are incredibly abundant. We are gradually putting them into the market, and trading is especially booming over there. The snowstorm has lessened a bit these days, allowing adventurers to venture out again. Some of the outsiders mentioned by the Chief of Staff are adventurers. They are willing to spend money and have the resources. Many of them even plan to settle in Dawn City. I think we can issue currency now."

"Issue currency... now?"

Zhang Kunlin nodded excitedly, actively encouraging Ye Fan, "Sir, the benefits of issuing currency are immense. We can sweep all the gold and silver from the hands of the survivors. I estimate it's not a problem to collect another twenty or thirty million in capital throughout the city. This is too advantageous for us."

Ye Fan stood up and paced back and forth in the room a few times.

"Is that what people are thinking too?"

"Well, some people do think that way, but once we issue the currency, everyone will have to comply. We don't need to consider the thoughts of others."

Ye Fan didn't fully agree, "If it were peacetime, I would agree. But the situation is a bit different now. Guo Zhun mentioned that an Empire Duke has already established a base city at the Tianjiang Riverfront. The base city population is at least over five million. Would they also issue currency over there?"

Zhang Kunlin was stunned for a moment, "What does their issuing currency have to do with us? Cross-province TV programs aren't even accessible; they wouldn't interfere with us over here."

Ye Fan slightly shook his head, "Just because it's inaccessible now doesn't mean it always will be. Even if it remains inaccessible for a short time, the Empire's high-level officials will control this land through agents, and this agent likely won't be me; it should probably be Guo Zhun."

"And once Guo Zhun gets that Duke's recognition, wouldn't he become a member of the Empire's upper echelons? Then, will they also issue currency? If we both issue currency at the same time, can we compete with the Liberation Army?"

Everyone was silent. If Guo Zhun indeed gains the identity of the Empire's nobility, then the currency competition might not be in Dawn Army's favor.

Issuing currency isn't only for use within Dawn City but must at least be used province-wide to be profitable.

There were doubts about whether Guo Zhun could achieve this, so they were indecisive about whether to issue currency.

Just at this moment, the Combat Laboratory was built.

Ye Fan immediately left the meeting room and went to the Outer City District.

The Military Intelligence Bureau compound was already completed, and the laboratory could be directly placed there.

With the Wall shielding it, there was no fear of it being discovered, so the Combat Laboratory was placed outside.

Fifty electronic combat soldiers followed and directly entered the laboratory, quickly putting it into operation.

Ye Fan had just returned to the meeting room when a message came through.

"Sir, the Combat Laboratory intercepted an important message," the communications officer Zhang Meng said to Ye Fan.

"Speak."

"The leader of the Liberation Army, Guo Zhun, left Ice City this morning. He went to the base city of Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan in the south of the Empire. It's said he went to deliver a promotional film, preparing to receive an Empire commendation with it."

After the communications officer finished speaking, the meeting room burst into an uproar.

"The Sir really predicted it; Guo Zhun went for it!"

"This guy is too impatient. He hasn't united the province yet, how dares he to accept the commendation?"

"We know he hasn't united it, but those in the south may not know that. He might really fool them."

"If he succeeds, he might be back in about three days, and the ceremony will definitely be broadcasted on television."

"The radio will also broadcast it, and with that, those wavering survivors will head to Ice City."

Thinking of the province's survivors gathering in Ice City, everyone felt uneasy.

By then, Ice City will truly become a large base city with over five hundred thousand people, and with legitimate recognition, it's too disadvantageous for the Dawn Army.

Some generals even advocated sending troops directly to attack before Guo Zhun succeeded. As long as they capture Ice City, becoming a noble won't matter anymore.

Ye Fan thought it over for a long time but ultimately rejected this suggestion.

Setting aside whether they could take it down, this battle would still cause ordinary people to suffer, and this would gravely harm Divine Dragon Province, which already has a declining population.

After the apocalypse, people's main enemies are zombies, not each other.

Zombies are continually evolving, and minimizing infighting is the best.

However, Ye Fan wasn't worried. Even if Guo Zhun were to gain the Empire's noble status, it would likely take him two to three months to prepare his army before he thinks about starting a war with him.

During this time, the Dawn Army still has plenty of room for development, and if Guo Zhun dares to come, he is bound to meet a calamitous defeat.

"Alright, let's observe the situation for now. During this time, we focus on creating a safe zone, expand trading scale as quickly as possible, actively prepare for war. If there's news from Guo Zhun's side, it should be in the next few days. Once we handle our affairs well, we'll stand in an invincible position."

With that, Ye Fan concluded this comprehensive meeting.

On the Dawn Army's side, soldiers were being continuously produced, and their strength was growing.

Ice City was also flourishing, as they believed their strength was increasing.

But what they all didn't know was that one side's strength was rapidly expanding at an explosive rate.

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