Chapter 42: The Special Committee (9)

Someone began to sing the theme song from "Drawing the Sword," and gradually, more and more voices joined in the chorus: “If the motherland is invaded, a true man must rise with courage. Drain this cup of hometown wine, for the warrior who leaves may never return. The mighty Yellow River, the vast Yangtze; they gave me life, they gave me strength. Let the blood bloom into the most beautiful flower, blossoming on my chest. The bugle sounds, the sword leaves its scabbard, thunder and lightning clash. The brave always prevail when paths cross. The soul of China!”

Their singing mingled with the roar of rain and thunder, streaks of lightning illuminating the sky. Each company successively received their unit’s banner. Commander Liu, who had experienced countless flag presentations and receptions in his life, saw before his eyes the children’s corps, the Eighth Route Army, the Liberation Army, the Volunteer Army—every era of the army, every flag ceremony he had taken part in: the War of Resistance, the Civil War, the Korean War, the self-defense counterattack against India. He remembered the passionate, heroic young men who, for the sake of the nation’s liberation, marched into battle without hesitation under a hail of fire, and could not help but weep—“Instructor, did you see? Your boy Liu is still fighting on!”

Damn it, in this life, I will defend my people to the very end! If anyone dares threaten the nation, no matter what demon or monster you are, I’ll fight you to the last!

Commander Liu sniffed, then loudly declared, “The flag presentation ceremony is over. All units, return to your posts!”

The companies of the provisional First Battalion began to withdraw in an orderly fashion. By then, the rain had lessened...

It rained steadily into the night. The Special Committee convened the entire leadership in the conference room of Mary Hospital to review preparations for the expedition.

The Industrial Department had already set up the projector, and to remove the dark red stains of blood, a layer of plaster was scraped from the wall and a piece of white cloth was hung in its place.

Sun Xiaoshan pledged, “We will do our utmost to produce weapons and equipment of the highest quality for our soldiers.”

Ma Huaibo promised, “Wherever the First Battalion fights, we will deliver their rations and clear out the supplies. We’ll also take care of the rescued survivors.”

Tian Yali assured them, “No matter how many survivors we gather, we will organize and allocate manpower efficiently.”

Chu Xiongfei vowed, “We will defend every piece of recovered land. We will ensure the safety and peace of the rear.”

Ye Liusun promised, “I’ll make sure every survivor group is welcomed and made to feel the warmth of our embrace.”

Ye Liusun nudged the absent-minded Minister Ou. Minister Ou, startled, muttered, “Oh? Oh? Bring me a few more zombies to study.”

Everyone fell silent...

All eyes turned to Zuo Fang.

Yesterday, a child had said that Minister Ou looked at her as if she were a piece of candy. Zuo Fang, on the verge of tears, replied, “...I will take good care of the children.”

That evening, Commander Liu summoned all soldiers who had served in the regular army before the apocalypse to a meeting on the muddy drill ground. They sat around Commander Liu on the ground.

“I know you’re not convinced,” Commander Liu said, looking each soldier in the eye. “You think of yourselves as well-trained soldiers, and you feel humiliated being ordered around by a bunch of civilians.”

The soldiers stared at him, their eyes bright.

“They’re a bunch of soft city boys, weak and unskilled, and in a normal society they’d amount to nothing,” Commander Liu raised his voice, “But not one of you stepped out of your apartments on the day the world ended. Not one of you went to rescue the civilians!”

The soldiers were indignant. Disciplined as they were, they did not argue, but their faces clearly spelled defiance.

“Yes, you didn’t know what was happening, and you hadn’t received orders from superiors,” Commander Liu scolded them, frustrated, “But those people—those people rescued their colleagues from hordes of zombies, saved children from schools. How much did they know? Did anyone give them orders?”

“They even rescued you,” Commander Liu barked. “They accepted being reorganized; which of you understands zombies better than they do?”

“They had no proper weapons, just steel pipes, bed boards, and makeshift clubs. At meetings, they couldn’t even stand at attention properly. They didn’t even have real uniforms,” Commander Liu recounted, “But you, wearing your uniforms, holding your guns, just waited for someone to come save you!”

The soldiers were even more indignant. A captain in a 2007 pattern camouflage uniform sighed, “We just didn’t have time to react... They moved so fast...”

“In my life, I’ve reorganized countless armed groups—bandits, puppet troops, even civilians who rose up against the invaders,” Commander Liu spoke earnestly. “They could all be transformed—so why can’t these people, born and raised under the red flag, be transformed?”

“Are you not true soldiers? In times of crisis, we need every ounce of strength united.”

“Commander,” the soldiers murmured, “we just feel ashamed... How did a bunch of civilians end up saving us?”

“Then your task is to teach them well,” Commander Liu said, unfazed. “Back in the day, when we captured those Nationalist soldiers, weren’t their skills better than ours? Didn’t they get re-educated and patiently teach us? The fame of the Liberation Army was earned through battle! Our political work is unrivaled in the world! Anyone captured by us eventually became convinced. Anyone who joined us pledged their lives to the cause. Don’t bring shame to the army... On the battlefield, if anyone cowers, I won’t forgive him!”

There was a long silence, then the soldiers spoke up one after another, “Don’t worry, Commander, from now on, we’re comrades. Anything they don’t know, we’ll teach them. On the battlefield, we’ll give our lives to shield them from zombies!”

The captain muttered, “We are soldiers, we’re supposed to protect the people. The people have always supported and fed us, so how did it come to this? Ah...” He closed his eyes in pain, tears streaming down his face. “I know I’ll never live this down. Let me save them a few more times.”

Commander Liu shot him a glare.

Li Fengyi, accompanied by Sun Xiaoshan and Li Qiang, walked past the pine trees at the edge of the drill ground.

On the third night, all weapons were modified and handed over to the provisional First Battalion.

There were two types of steel pipes: one four feet five inches long, the other six feet, with the last ten inches roughly finished. Red tassels made from bicycle inner tubes were tightly wrapped around the top five inches, and the business end was sharpened to a gleaming point. The soldiers called them short and long steel pipes.

The shields came in two sizes, 500 by 600 millimeters and 500 by 900 millimeters. The troops called them half-body and full-body shields. More than six hundred security doors were dismantled to make them. Besides issuing them to the troops and keeping some in reserve, those at risk in the base were also equipped.