lcionline Chapter 1345 The High Wall of People
Chapter 1345 The High Wall of People
Without slowing down at all, the company charged straight to the vicinity of the tightly closed Ximen checkpoint.
The soldiers guarding the gate had clearly been notified beforehand and quickly cleared the way.
The officer at the front of the company quickly exchanged something with the garrison officer, without even stopping completely, he just abruptly waved his hand—
The entire company immediately split into several groups!
A group of soldiers quickly deployed inside the gate and at the base of the city wall, using sandbags, abandoned vehicles, and existing fortifications to begin constructing temporary defensive positions facing into the city. Their guns were pointed warily at the inner streets, clearly in preparation for possible chaos that might erupt from within, or... something worse.
Led by officers, many more people rushed like nimble monkeys toward the specially constructed Z-shaped concrete staircases and reinforced iron ladders on the inner side of the city wall, designed for rapid ascent!
Their movements were astonishingly swift.
The heavy equipment seemed to pose no obstacle whatsoever. The soldiers used their hands and feet, in groups of three, covering each other, climbing upwards at an astonishing speed like a rushing stream flowing into a steep riverbed!
The sound of footsteps echoed on the steps, and the metal ladder creaked under the weight of countless pairs of military boots.
Soon, the first soldier appeared behind the high crenellations of the city wall!
Then came the second, the third...
Within a minute or two, the entire company of soldiers, except for a small number who left behind to establish a defensive position below the city, had been densely "wedged" into the section of the city wall facing the western wilderness like nails!
They quickly established firing positions by utilizing the crenellations, firing ports, pre-placed sandbags, and building materials on the city walls.
Machine gunners set up general-purpose and heavy machine guns, snipers sought high ground, and riflemen spread out in skirmish lines, all pointing outwards at the distant area swallowed by darkness and a faint, eerie glow.
The whole process happened in the blink of an eye.
From the moment this company appeared at the end of the street until they had completely scaled the city wall and established an initial defensive posture, it probably only took five to seven minutes in total!
Old Zhou was stunned, and forgot to tighten his grip on his son's arm.
He had seen military patrols and soldiers training, but he had never seen such efficient, silent, and desperate emergency mobilization and deployment.
This is not about maintaining order or providing general reinforcements at all!
This is clearly... a pre-battle troop deployment! They're preparing to use their flesh and blood to fight the so-called "fungus beast tide" head-on on the city walls!
And all this has just begun.
The first company had barely settled down on the city wall—
"Tread! Tread! Tread!"
"Thump thump thump thump!!!!"
More, equally orderly and heavy, even more dense footsteps, like continuous muffled thunder, rolled in from the depths of the gathering place and from different directions!
The second company has arrived!
The third one!
The fourth one!
...
They poured out from different streets, like rivers flowing into the sea, all converging towards the west city wall!
The same full-body protection, the same silent and chilling atmosphere, the same... red armband with the character "Loyalty" on it!
They are all troops from the 1st Infantry Brigade of Yezhou!
Some of them carried even heavier weapons, with recoilless rifles and rocket launchers on their shoulders, and some were even seen carrying heavy mortar barrels and bases together!
In some teams, you can also see a few exceptionally tall and burly "iron cans" wearing heavy black exoskeleton armor—those are the legendary, more elite "Crystal Warriors".
These teams worked without delay, meshing and splitting up like precision gears according to the pre-defined defense zones.
Some of them charged directly onto the city walls to fill in and reinforce the existing defenses.
Part of the force was deployed in a designated area below the city wall to establish a second line of defense and support firing positions.
Another group began setting up ambushes at key intersections and buildings inside the west wall, constructing a three-dimensional, in-depth defense system.
In a very short time, the entire western wall area was transformed from a despairing and chaotic evacuation zone due to the closure of the gates into a giant fortress that was rapidly awakening, armed to the teeth, and filled with the smell of gunpowder and steel!
On the city wall, more and more figures in camouflage appeared, and the faint "click" of metal clashing as guns were set up could be heard.
The searchlight beams were focused more intently on the distant outskirts of the city, piercing the darkness and scanning back and forth nervously.
A tense yet intense atmosphere, as if a storm was brewing and a great battle was about to begin, replaced the pure panic from before, weighing heavily on the hearts of everyone who witnessed the scene.
The blue truck that Lao Zhou was in finally managed to turn around in the suffocating atmosphere and began to slowly crawl northward with the reorganized traffic flow.
The carriage was swaying, but Old Zhou's gaze couldn't leave the ever-receding western wall.
He watched the backs of the soldiers who stood like rocks behind the battlements, watched the busy yet orderly pre-battle preparations on and around the city walls, and watched the unsettling distance under the dark sky, as if something was brewing...
The little stone in his arms seemed to be affected by the somber atmosphere. It stopped crying and just stared wide-eyed at the "green figures" running outside.
In Lao Zhou's heart, the cold lake of despair had not warmed up, but a heavy stone had been thrown in, stirring up complex ripples.
The army did not abandon this place.
They are gathering their strongest forces at top speed, preparing to confront the monster from the depths of darkness.
They closed the door, not to block a path to survival, but to... keep an even more terrifying enemy outside?
But... can it be stopped?
Those soldiers... did they know what they were about to face?
An indescribable emotion welled up in Lao Zhou's chest, a mixture of sorrow, a faint glimmer of hope, and a deeper fear of the unknown fate.
The car accelerated, and the west wall and the figures of the soldiers were gradually swallowed up by the shadows of the buildings and the deeper night.
But the heavy, thunderous sound of running and the rows of guns standing on the city wall were branded into Old Zhou's mind.
The escape route turned north, and behind them, a dike built with human flesh and steel was being desperately built high before the desperate flood arrived!