The tense evacuation lasted until midnight.

The square outside the train station, near the north gate, and around the airport were still crowded with people.

For these people's survival, the Dawn Army had to dispatch helicopters to airdrop a large amount of survival supplies.

Drinking water, steamed buns, sausages, and some rudimentary but warm supplies, these things could help them get through the cold winter nights.

At midnight, Ye Fan saw a towering blaze rise over the south gate.

Seeing this fire, Ye Fan felt slightly more assured.

The Liberation Army can still hold out, which is a good thing.

The rescue operation now still relies on the Liberation Army, as long as they hold on for one more day, the Dawn Army can at least evacuate a million people.

Today's rescue operation started only at noon, and now twelve hours have passed, the Dawn Army has already rescued 550,000 people.

At the Ice City station, the number of trains has increased to eighteen, and by noon it should exceed twenty-five.

Additionally, some Adventurer Squads from Ice City itself, inspired by the Dawn Army's Adventurer Squads, also provided many trucks to help transport survivors. Freight alone is enough to transport a million people.

Over the next twenty-four hours, at least 1.3 million people can be transported.

Never before has Ye Fan hoped more that Guo Zhun's side could hold a little longer.

......

At the south gate of Ice City, Guo Zhun lay in his armed mining vehicle, barely able to keep his eyes open.

He felt incredibly aggrieved.

After a day's fierce battle, the Liberation Army had lost more than 15,000 men again.

Logically, with about 150,000 left in the Liberation Army, they should hold out for another seven or eight days without a problem.

But it doesn't work out like that, zombies aren't afraid of death, but humans are.

His troops' morale was extremely low, the soldiers were severely war-weary, and without this big fire, they might not have held out even tonight.

A Tyrannosaurus Zombie appeared in the zombie horde today, the first time Guo Zhun had seen such a thing.

That thing was simply a monster, utterly indestructible, whether heavy machine guns or rocket launchers, nothing worked, it was practically invulnerable.

Finally, Guo Zhun organized a Suicide Squad, who charged at the Tyrannosaurus with explosives strapped to them.

Hundreds sacrificed themselves to cover a dozen who finally managed to blow up the Tyrannosaurus, but the fear this instilled in the soldiers was immense.

Tomorrow might still hold, tomorrow the petrol bombs can still burn once more.

But Guo Zhun knew, the day after tomorrow night, disaster would come for the Liberation Army.

Because the fuel would be gone, and flares too would be exhausted by then, and he'd not be able to hold on until the day after tomorrow's dawn anyway.

"Two more days, I can still hold out for two more days."

"The second wall should also be completed by the day after tomorrow night, then this wall can't be defended anymore, and a retreat would be necessary."

"But will things improve after retreating to the second wall?"

Guo Zhun analyzed for quite a while and felt that retreating to the second wall, maybe they could hold for another day.

But what would be the point of that?

The fall of Ice City's wall was just a matter of time, more time spent defending would just increase casualties.

Was everything he was doing now just to cover for those who abandon him to flee to Dawn City?

Then would Dawn City become Divine Dragon Province's largest base, and would Ye Fan be decorated while he becomes a stray?

The ruthlessness in Guo Zhun's eyes grew stronger, a previously vague thought now formed clearly.

........

The next day's battle in Ice City remained fierce, and Guo Zhun's side resisted tenaciously, seemingly still able to hold on.

But Ye Fan knew humans have weaknesses, and when casualties reach a certain point, they break apart easily.

This battle was unlike human-on-human slaughter, fighting zombies, who know no fear, compounds that fear endlessly.

Though evacuation continued, by noon today, another 600,000 had been evacuated from Ice City, totaling 1.1 million evacuated.

But the unease in Ye Fan's heart continued to grow, as the situation in Ice City was extremely dire.

There weren't many people left inside the city, most had gathered at the three evacuation points, and these places were teeming with people, requiring another three to four days for evacuation.

Food and warmth were not the main issue, Ye Fan worried about Guo Zhun's troops.

Once they can't hold anymore, those who haven't yet been evacuated will become zombie food.

Now they could only strive to ensure evacuation, take as many people as possible.

All vehicles were running beyond capacity, like at the train station here, they were just short of having people ride on the rooftops like in some southern countries.

By the end of the night, Ye Fan once again saw the towering blaze rise from the south gate.

"Well done, just hold for three more days, and I can evacuate all the people from Ice City."

By midnight, Ye Fan counted today's transport results again.

Today in total, 1.38 million were transported, combined with yesterday's figures, over 1.9 million have been evacuated.

This is a very brilliant achievement. At this rate, the mission will definitely be completed in another three days.

Even some of the generals within the Dawn Army were quite optimistic at this point.

"Sir, in at most three days, perhaps even two and a half, we can complete the mission. This efficiency is very high. The cross-strait evacuation in the last century only managed to evacuate hundreds of thousands in a few days, and our efficiency is much higher than theirs."

"Guo Zhun's Liberation Army isn't a pushover either. They've held on for four or five days, right?"

"They still have more than a hundred thousand troops. It's definitely no problem to hold on for another three days."

Listening to the generals, Ye Fan wasn't sure if Guo Zhun's troops could still hold on.

At that moment, the communicator Wang Meng came over: "Sir, a call from Guo Zhun."

"Oh, give it to me."

The radio communicator was handed to Ye Fan, and Guo Zhun's voice came through.

"Leader Ye?"

"It's me. Hello, Leader Guo."

"Leader Ye, there's a situation here. Our fuel is depleted, and by midnight tomorrow, we surely won't be able to hold on. I wonder if Leader Ye can support us with some fuel?"

Ye Fan immediately asked, "How much do you need?"

"About ten thousand barrels. You know, too little won't be enough to stop the zombies' advance."

Ye Fan didn't hesitate, "Sure, we must support Leader Guo this time."

"That's good. Furthermore, I have another request. Our troops are too exhausted. Can we ask the Dawn Army to help pour and ignite the fuel tomorrow? Our second city wall will be completed tomorrow, and then my troops will take this opportunity to retreat to the second city wall for defense and take this time to rest?"

Upon hearing this request, Ye Fan found it reasonable and agreed after thinking it over.

"Thank you so much, Leader Ye. Rest assured, your people can retreat after igniting the fuel. Let the zombies in; our second city wall is built ten meters high, enough to hold off zombies for several days."

After ending the call with Guo Zhun, Ye Fan closed his eyes slightly and pondered every word Guo Zhun said.

Chief of Staff Zhongjing said, "Sir, I think there shouldn't be any problem. The Liberation Army has indeed built a second city wall. According to our knowledge, their fuel is indeed exhausted. Everything seems quite normal. Is there anything else you're worried about?"

After a while, Ye Fan spoke, "It's just too normal. We've also learned that their bullets are nearly depleted, yet they haven't purchased any from us or sought help from other forces."

"Also, they should be out of flares, but Guo Zhun hasn't mentioned this, only asking for fuel. Why is that?"

Zhongjing was stunned for a moment, "Maybe he doesn't want to rely on us too much. After all, we were in a state of war earlier."

"You're right, we were in a state of war. Moreover, our actions now are equivalent to undermining Guo Zhun's foundation, and he hasn't protested at all. This is a bit unusual."

Thinking of this, Ye Fan suddenly stood up.

"No, we must prepare for the worst-case scenario. Immediately inform the citizens of Ice City to open the east gate. If residents have their own vehicles, they should leave through the east gate and head to the Dawn Army's border checkpoint for unified arrangements."

Zhongjing interjected, "Sir, that might cause a lot of unnecessary chaos."

"But we can't wait any longer. The current evacuation speed is still a bit slow. We must guard against Guo Zhun and his people acting rashly and doing something irrational."

"Should we still support Guo Zhun with fuel?"

"We still need to support them, not just for them. Additionally, notify the Second Field Regiment to come over and help us maintain order, just in case."

"Understood, I'll make arrangements immediately!"

......

Another tense day passed. Due to Ye Fan's decision, many Ice City residents with vehicles left through the east gate, taking away a considerable number of people.

So, this day reached the peak of transportation, with a total evacuation number reaching 2.4 million!

Those with vehicles left, leaving behind those without, who could only wait for the Dawn Army's rescue.

Adding the transportation from the previous two days, more than four million Ice City residents had been relocated.

And a battalion from the Dawn Army also delivered fuel supplies, climbing to the south gate at the most dangerous moment, pouring down ten thousand barrels of fuel.

The blaze burned once more, and even Tyrannosaurus Zombies did not wish to approach such intense flames.

The scorched earth became a zone of death, cutting off the zombies once again, providing at least two and a half hours of safety for humans.

After the Dawn Army finished deploying the fuel and retreated, the Liberation Army withdrew from this city wall to the second city wall.

The line that humans had defended for five days was finally abandoned at this moment.

Then, about an hour passed.

While the evacuation was in full swing, a sudden change occurred!

The one hundred thousand remnants led by Guo Zhun were completely scattered. Together with the one hundred thousand civilians who built the city walls, they threw down their weapons and flooded into the groups of evacuating citizens.

They no longer defended the city but demanded to evacuate along with the civilians!

As for Guo Zhun himself, he vanished into the chaos, with no one knowing where he went.

Worse yet, although the second city wall was built, many city gates weren't installed, effectively opening doors to the zombies.

When Ye Fan's troops went to inspect, they found weapons and supplies abandoned everywhere, and the entire Liberation Army had vanished!

At this point, there was still more than an hour until the flames on the riverfront would extinguish.

Inside Ice City, there were still a full one million people who hadn't evacuated in time!

It's too late!

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