Chapter 110: Gains in Tianjin

The Bohai Steel Group possessed a complete set of steel production equipment. Furthermore, the ten million tons of iron ore that had been frantically imported and stockpiled by Chinese steel enterprises at the Tianjin port before the apocalypse had all fallen into the hands of the Special Committee. Combined with the iron ore already in the Bohai Steel Group’s own inventory and the steel that had already been produced, they expected to secure nearly thirty million tons of steel—this was their greatest windfall.

"Perhaps the plains no longer belong to humanity," Li Fengyi thought, staring at a topographical map of China. "The zombie density in the plains is too high; no weapon can withstand an impact that feels like a tsunami."

"Although the mountainous regions are rich in minerals, their industrial production capacity is too weak," he continued, lost in thought. "Without industrialized weapon production, humanity's disadvantage is only further exacerbated."

"The West might be a good choice. With its vast deserts and Gobi landscapes, it is sparsely populated, making it perfect for digging bunkers. In ancient times, there was the Great Wall; today, there is humanity digging holes," he mused with self-deprecating irony. "There are also rivers. We could establish defenses along the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, but both banks are teeming with dense hordes of zombies. As for the mutated creatures in the water, they don't welcome humans or zombies alike."

"With the recovery of Tianjin and the acquisition of the Bohai Steel Group’s equipment, along with the iron ore stockpiled at the Tianjin port before the end of the world, we are essentially secure regarding steel," Li Fengyi thought earnestly about their resources. "Coupled with our numerous scientific personnel, our future focus must shift entirely toward how to exterminate zombies and handle various mutated animals, rather than how to kill fellow humans."

The restoration of the supercomputer at the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin brought great joy to the Science Department, as it would significantly accelerate their research.

The Science Department’s mission was to explore the unknown, which meant they constantly faced the difficulty of high uncertainty in their results. There were too many experiments to conduct and an astronomical amount of data to analyze; having a supercomputer was like strapping the legendary magical boots of the swift messenger Dai Zong to their legs.

The remnants of the reorganized military were further integrated into the Armed Forces Department, once again increasing the proportion of professional grassroots officers.

The numerous recovered military academies were happily received by Principal Wang, who shifted their focus from teaching human combat techniques to methods for killing zombies.

After organizing the complete records regarding Tianjin's industrial sector, the Ministry of Industry began operations in order, starting from coking plants to iron works and then steel mills, to restore production. They submitted their personnel requirements, requesting assistance from the Organization Department.

The Ministry of Industry’s focus was on the practical application of existing scientific technology, placing greater emphasis on the organization and utilization of current data.

The Ministry of Chemical Industry also located numerous chemical plants. They prioritized the restoration of production for the "three acids and two bases," the foundation of modern chemical industry. With these, they could continuously manufacture various military and civilian chemical products—though civilian products were brilliantly ignored for the time being. Survival came first.

Benefiting from the characteristics of pre-apocalypse state-owned enterprises, where each position was often overstaffed by three to five people while employees constantly complained about a lack of frontline workers, the Organization Department managed to scrape together a workforce capable of barely operating the steel and chemical groups. They scoured the surviving personnel from the Shougang Group who had relocated from Beijing, the Bohai Steel Group, the chemical conglomerates, and relevant professionals from Beijing—they didn't even spare those who had been working as cleaners.

Many of these people had worked on production lines in the past before finding ways to transfer to the logistics departments of steel or chemical plants for a comfortable life, despite being only in their thirties or forties.

This situation was common across all state-owned enterprises, whereas private companies were essentially unable to function because they did not employ idle hands; the loss of a single worker meant a vacant position.

In the post-apocalyptic era, staffing levels were strictly fixed. Those unwilling to work were sent to the basic labor brigades and treated as criminals for sabotaging production.

"There are many benefits," Li Fengyi thought, unsure whether to be relieved or depressed. "Most large-scale heavy industries were controlled by the state, which basically ensures we won't collapse. But, damn it, is this the result of all the taxes we paid to the state before the end of the world?"

He recalled how many state-owned enterprises received massive government subsidies every year, yet frequently reported losses while distributing huge profits to foreign shareholders. Alas, those bastards!

There were several power plants in Xianghe. Although operating the generator sets at full capacity required massive amounts of coal—most of which had to be transported from elsewhere—the drastic reduction in electricity demand meant that the need for coal had also significantly decreased.

There were small coal mines in the Mentougou mountains that had been banned before the apocalypse. Many villages had used their connections to operate illegal black-market mines. After the apocalypse, such concerns were ignored; as long as coal could be dug up, environmental protection and pollution were irrelevant. Ensuring industrial production was the only priority—human survival was what mattered most.

The Special Committee was renamed the "Special Working Committee for Post-Apocalyptic North China," with the "Special Working Committee for Post-Apocalyptic Beijing" and the "Special Working Committee for Post-Apocalyptic Tianjin" established as administrative bodies for the two megacities. Future recovered cities and provinces would essentially follow this operational model.

The Special Working Committee for Post-Apocalyptic North China adopted the pre-apocalypse departmental structure with appropriate modifications, and the Beijing and Tianjin committees followed suit, adapting the former municipal party committee and government models.

The Armed Forces Department was also renamed the Armed Forces Department of the Special Working Committee for Post-Apocalyptic North China.

Populations in all recovered areas were centralized. In an apocalypse where the population had plummeted, they could no longer live in their original residences, as it would make it impossible for any position to function normally or for defense to be deployed. Should a company or even a battalion of soldiers be sent to guard a village or residential complex where only one person survived?

It had to operate under a new model. In general, the population was concentrated into the two clusters of Beijing and Tianjin. Beijing was mainly focused on the inner city, while Tianjin was distributed around the Bohai Steel Group. Other important enterprises, such as power plants, also served as concentrated settlement areas.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs issued new identification documents to survivors within the Special Committee's jurisdiction, their personal files surfacing against the backdrop of various exhaustive national databases.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs also established numerous cremation towers in Tianjin. With the zombies in Beijing essentially cremated, the director of the crematorium, who held a doctorate, was transferred to Tianjin. The Propaganda Department once again recommended him for the "Post-Apocalyptic Human Hero List," but he declined again. He realized with sorrow that in an apocalypse where planes could no longer fly, it seemed he was destined to cremate the entire national population.

His premonition was flawed; later, he would execute the task of cremating all of humanity and would finally ascend to the Post-Apocalyptic Human Hero List precisely because of his work in cremation.