Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

Meanwhile, in the training field...

Xiaoyun was walking to the logistic building and directly into Yezi's office, where the three of them had arranged to meet today.

"What took you so long?" Yiming curiously asked, with the two both already planning on the table.

"Just got shot in the chest yesterday. But I'm fine now."

"Shot? What the hell did you do over the weekend?" Yezi asked, both of their faces looking a little shocked by his answer.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, let's get back to planning this. I want to get this done before the end of March..."

---

Several days quickly went by.

Just four days before March was about to end, the three of them finally finished writing the new military structure.

It kept some of the elements, such as ranks and how the soldiers earned their promotions.

However, the army was now completely split into two army corp, with Yiming leading the first army corp that contained 100,000 soldiers.

In other words, he still led his original 60,000 soldiers, and Zhen Ren and Li Miao joined his corps as they led their Division under him.

Yezi led the Second Army Corps, with Han Bang and Ningjing under him. Both leading Divisions contained 20,000 soldiers each.

It also meant three new Colonels would be recently promoted to fulfill the duty of leading the divisions under Yezi.

Meanwhile, Lingang was promoted to become a full motorized Division, armed with all the tanks, APC, and makeshift armored cars.

Although Lingang wasn't under either army corps, this just meant the two had the choice to direct him as reinforcement.

Besides the more in-depth, individual units reform, such as field hospital in every Platoon and smaller artillery units now a part of every Regiment, the logistic department was formalized with military rank as well.

The head of the logistics department was also promoted to general, having the same rank as Yiming, to emphasize the separation between the army and the logistics.

At first, Xiaoyun was opposed to the idea of having an independent logistic department, but Yiming and Yezi eventually convinced them.

Despite losing power, they both knew there needed to be a way to limit the commanders in each unit.

Xiaoyun also implemented one reform that both Yezi and Yiming initially hesitated to agree on.

It was a massive reshuffle among all the army units, as even Yiming's original soldier groups were being broken apart to mix with others.

Although they were still in the same army corp, it had to be done as Xiaoyun felt it was vital for the army to be as integrated as possible.

He also had another hidden intention, which he didn't say out loud, but they both could tell Xiaoyun was trying to break up all the factions.

With the army now bolstering 220,000 people, it was technically a downsize, if excluding support units and the logistic department.

The reason for the smaller number was due to some majors who were not part of any groups stationed in various areas.

Some were in water stations, while some were on important highways or in scouting missions.

Still, the downsize wasn't going to be a 'full' downsize, as Xiaoyun already had another plan in mind.

When he suggested bringing back the militia, both Yiming and Yezi quickly accepted it after he mentioned Li Miao's action in Qijing.

All city defenses were now held by part-time reserves of militia units that lived in the local cities rather than having soldiers stationed there.

Meanwhile, important targets were transferred over logistic department control, and the scouting mission became part of the army corps instead.

It meant that the army corps would either conquer new cities or be stationed outside of cities to avoid interaction with outside influence.

Soldiers could only enter a city when they were on a break or attending a special event.

And for many soldiers, that special event was coming up soon.

---

"A Military Parade?" Yiming murmured as he considered Xiaoyun's idea in his head.

"Yeah, a military parade at the end of March would be great. It would let people see our army and be proud of who's protecting them.

And those traders who saw it will bring the news to other factions... They will have second thoughts messing with us."

"It's going to cost a lot." Yezi raised his concern.

"A few days ago, a report from Foshan about a massive government-controlled food storage unit that was still untapped," Xiaoyun argued.

"I don't see why not then," Yiming stated as she shrugged his shoulder.

"Yezi?"

"Are we implementing this reform first, or having the parade happen first?"

Xiaoyun sat in silence as he lightly tapped on the table, thinking of the pros and cons.

"After... Let those soldiers be with each other on the parade before the shuffle happens."

"Okay."

---

As Yezi intentionally leaked the news of a military parade, the entire town was abuzz.

Newspapers were already running emergency print of analysis of the reasoning behind it.

Some were basic, like a celebration of the conquest of Foshan, while some were on point, as they predicted something big would happen.

But no one was madder than Yuqi, who brought it up the first time Xiaoyun came home from the training field.

"Xiaoyun, why didn't you tell me you're going to host a military parade in advance?"

"We just planned it at noon. I was just about to tell you that at the dining table." Xiaoyun explained as the two headed to the kitchen.

"What are you guys talking about?" Yueyue curiously asked.

"He's holding a military parade on Monday without even telling me a week in advance," Yuqi complained as she sat down and began eating.

"Military parade?" Wuli asked excitedly as she started to miss going to the military for work.

"Yeah. But this time, all the army units are going to be in Luoping."

As soon as Xiaoyun finished talking, Yuqi almost spat out her food in front of everyone.

"What! All of them? Are you crazy? There's no way we have that much food for them." Yuqi asked in anger.

"Xiaoyun... I don't think that's a good idea. When I went to buy food, people in the town had already been complaining about the rationing."

Leyan's point made Yuqi even more confident as she prepared to change Xiaoyun's mind.

But what Xiaoyun said next neutralized all the things she was about to say.

"Tomorrow and the day after, we will have a ton of food being shipped here from Foshan.

They found a government warehouse storing a ton of rice and other foods. I'm sure that should be enough."

Seeing Yuqi bite her lips in anger, Xiaoyun smiled as he knew she had no way of arguing back.

"Isn't that still going to cost a lot of food stamps?" Nami raised her concern.

"It's actually saving more money since the soldiers aren't on active duty, which means they get paid less," Wuli replied first.

"Good luck, Yueyue... You're going to have a tough job ahead of you." Shuli suddenly whispered.

"I know..." Yueyue murmured as she imagined the workload, trying to make sure nobody suspicious tried to do something crazy.

"Ahem, Yueyue, you don't have to worry about it that much. I'll ask Renqin to lend you a hand, too.

The police can maintain most of the security stuff, so it shouldn't be that much work," Xiaoyun reassured.

"Thanks..."

As everyone went back to eating, Anna suddenly cleared her throat.

"Ahem, Xiaoyun, can you come to my bedroom later? Kate and I have a little request."

Xiaoyun froze for a second as all of the girls looked at the three of them with suspicion.

"I-I mean, we just want to talk about the weapons. I-It's not what you guys are thinking of."

Anna quickly clarified as she realized how misleading it sounded when she said her line out loud earlier.

The girl's face was full of disappointment, but Xiaoyun let out a sigh of relief as he nodded in agreement.

---

When everyone finished eating dinner, they all headed to the living room, with Leyan staying behind to clean the table.

Meanwhile, Kate and Anna headed inside their room, and Xiaoyun followed behind them.

As he stepped inside, he noticed the bullet hole being covered with a painting attached to the wall.

"Ahem, what do you guys want to talk about again?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as he took a seat, with the other two sitting on the bed.

"Um, before we talk about the factory... I just want to apologize to you first."

Anna suddenly kneeled, banging her head onto the floor as she remained still.

"There's no need for that. You don't need to apologize like that." Xiaoyun softly murmured as he helped Anna back up onto the bed.

"I have to. What I did yesterday was unforgivable. You had the full right to punish me... Or take my life away."

Seeing Anna looking down as she whispered the last part, Xiaoyun couldn't help but pat her head.

"I don't need your life. I have no use for that. You being here is all I care about..."