Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 82 Zombie Tide

Amidst the thunderous roar of artillery fire, Li Changshun, the regimental commander organizing a defensive counterattack at the front, picked up the landline phone and momentarily felt as if he were on a battlefield eighty or ninety years ago.

His command post was located in a high-rise building, overlooking the entire battlefield and allowing him to issue simple instructions to various positions via flag signals, light signals, and even a monochrome LED screen.

The only advantage of fighting those fearless monsters is that they don't yet have the ability to deliver something like a missile to a fairly conspicuous command post on the battlefield, at least not for the time being.

"...Zombies! Countless zombies, many of them mutated, are fiercely attacking our defenses!"

"Yes, I promise to complete the mission!"

After briefly reporting the situation, he had just hung up the phone when a messenger rushed in from the floor where the lookout post was located.

"Position No. 4 has fallen, and the wall has been breached!"

Li Changshun clenched his fist and slammed it on the table.

He didn't ask about the specific casualties. In battles against zombies, there are often no wounded. Once a position is covered by a horde of zombies, it basically means the annihilation of the entire army.

"Send a message to the artillery positions: bombard position number four with artillery fire, and send the reserves to take over!"

Just as the order was given, another phone call came in, this time from the front lines.

"Withdraw? We can't withdraw! Reinforcements from the base are still on their way. You must hold out until the second line of defense is established!"

After hearing only half a sentence, Li Changshun roared at the other side: "In peacetime, you all kept bragging about how good you were at fighting and how fearless you were. Now that it's time to use you, are you scared? What were you doing all this time!"

The staff at the command post looked over; they only heard Li Changshun cursing, but they didn't know what was being said on the other end of the phone.

After glancing over briefly, everyone returned to their work.

The sounds of gunfire outside were sometimes intense and sometimes sparse, and each change made the people in the command post extremely anxious.

"Once the soldiers are done fighting, you fill in the gap yourself. After you've filled in, I'll fill in the gap. Behind us is a shelter for tens of thousands of people. This is the first safe zone we've built in the apocalypse. Anyone who says retreat again, I'll be the first to shoot them!"

Li Changshun slammed the receiver onto the base, his expression fierce, but his eyes were red.

In the past two days, dangers have been constant, but the commanders at all levels in the shelter have not regarded the zombies as the main threat that could cause huge losses.

They did not slack off in this matter, but ultimately they were unable to be thorough in every aspect, or rather, it was simply impossible to be thorough. The time was too short, the situation was too chaotic, and maintaining this current line of defense was already the limit.

Li Changshun leaned against the windowsill and looked down. Fortunately, the visibility was good today, and he could see far into the distance. The most conspicuous thing was a long "wall" in the distance, made of stacked containers and reinforced with steel and concrete. Inside and outside the wall were large areas of ruins, which were high-rise buildings that had been blown up in advance.

Fortunately, this sizable clear area was cleared; otherwise, it's hard to say how many zombies would have been killed by a few incendiary bombs, and if a large-scale fire had been caused, it would have resulted in even greater casualties.

After a burst of rapid artillery fire, watching the white smoke rising from the zombie-covered position, Li Changshun felt a painful urge to breathe.

But he still had to keep watching, forcing himself to keep watching, forcing himself to understand the overall situation on the battlefield.

The situation in the various shelters in Haiqu seems particularly dire. Or perhaps this is actually a chain reaction.

The expansion of the secret realm led to a large-scale migration of survivors, which in turn attracted zombies from half of the city.

Perhaps it was the appearance of the zombie lord mentioned in the data that caused the zombie horde to surge towards the safe zone's defenses like a tidal wave. Only when they truly formed a cluster did many people realize how terrifying they were.

A city has millions of zombies. Even if they are all locked up at the beginning, a significant number of them will be able to break free. Moreover, most of those who break free are individuals that have undergone mutation.

Now, Li Changshun can see through his binoculars that the zombies with their incredible speed and strength are rushing out of the ruins at a speed that is completely beyond reason. Li Changshun has seen people with enhanced physical abilities before, but this kind of ability seems to play a greater role in zombies that are not afraid of death or pain.

Human weapons are ultimately developed to counter other humans; when fighting zombies, their effectiveness is not as great as one might imagine.

A stun grenade that can blind and stop humans is like a small firecracker to zombies; it can only briefly attract their attention and cannot stop them for even a moment.

A shell exploding and releasing hundreds or thousands of fragments can only take down those who are hit in vital areas. Unless the wound is fatal, it cannot have a decisive effect.

Incendiary bombs were fairly effective, but the zombies with flames on their bodies would charge towards the position with the flames still burning them.

This is a truly fearless act that defies biological instinct. Humans are not incapable of doing it, but only a few can. Throughout history, there have been very few instances of this, and it almost always occurs only at major turning points that are worthy of being recorded in history.

Now, the hundreds of thousands, or even more, of zombies they are facing all share this characteristic.

Artillery can suppress human positions, and machine guns can repel mass human charges, bringing large-scale infantry regiments to the end of history. This is because people are afraid, and it is difficult for people to maintain their composure when they see their comrades falling in droves.

To deal with zombies, only by weaving together a dense enough network of machine gun fire and physically destroying them can they be completely stopped.

This was actually not an easy task. The machine gun would jam, overheat, and need to be reloaded. In a short while, Li Changshun saw another section of the wall being approached by zombies. The soldiers there were firing assault rifles at the zombie horde to take over the malfunctioning machine gun position.

Li Changshun gripped his binoculars, pondering whether he needed to send reinforcements in that direction. However, the next moment, he saw several sparks explode in the zombie horde in that direction.

"What's going on? Who ordered the artillery to fire?"

Li Changshun was startled. He hadn't given any orders yet, so how could this have happened?

But soon, the doubts were dispelled as more firelight appeared amidst the dense horde of zombies.

The shells fell without igniting towering flames; instead, they scattered countless sparks, like sparks from firing iron.

Shrapnel, invisible to the naked eye, tore hordes of zombies apart. This round of shelling did not produce a decisive result, but it suddenly relieved the pressure on the entire defensive line.

Li Changshun understood that the first round of shells was just a calibration shot.

Reinforcements are arriving.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)