When the zombie horde descended, Li Guanglong did not retreat. Instead, he led his troops into battle, attempting to repel the darkness with tanks and artillery.
In Li Guanglong’s mind, even if these zombies
were immune to bullets and blades, there was no way they could withstand tank
shells and heavy artillery.
A single shot from a tank could crush even
solid steel --- surely a few rotting corpses couldn’t be any tougher.
It was a sound theory --- but reality proved entirely different.
The sheer number of zombies was overwhelming.
As tens of thousands surged in from all directions, they became an unstoppable
tide.
Zombies felt no fear. They didn’t retreat. They
simply charged straight through artillery fire without hesitation.
The military fortifications, so painstakingly
built, were utterly useless
against the undead.
Bullets had no real effect --- the zombies just
shrugged them off.
Tanks and cannons could indeed tear zombies
apart, but the efficiency was painfully
low.
With only a few dozen tanks trying to stop thousands upon thousands of zombies,
it was like scratching an itch through a boot.
Worse still, even dismembered zombies --- missing
arms or legs --- would still crawl or
lurch forward, relentless. Unless they were blasted into pieces, they simply wouldn't die.
But to achieve that level of destruction, it
often took two or three direct hits per
zombie.
Initially, Li Guanglong’s counterattack did
have some impact. A portion of the zombies were destroyed.
But when the horde closed in and breached the
trenches, the true horror began.
Zombies weren’t just strong and tough --- they
were fast, and worst of all, highly
infectious.
One bite or scratch, and a soldier would become
a new zombie in mere moments.
Once the undead jumped into the trenches and
engaged in close combat, the nightmare fully unfolded.
The soldiers were helpless. Bullets did next to
nothing. The zombies would lunge forward and tear them apart with a single
bite.
Moments later, those bitten soldiers would rise again --- now attacking their
former comrades.
With the enemy constantly growing while their
own ranks dwindled, Li Guanglong’s supposedly elite troops became nothing more
than fresh meat for the plague.
“Damn it! What the hell are these things?! Why
do they only grow stronger the more we kill?!”
In the distance, Li Guanglong cursed under his
breath, peering through binoculars into the trenches, his face twisted with
rage.
When he first saw zombies being blown to bits
by tank fire, he had been smug --- convinced that his decisiveness and boldness
had been the right call.
But when the horde broke into the trenches and
began massacring his troops, all
confidence turned into shock and fury.
He never imagined his army could be so
powerless --- shattered so easily.
Or perhaps the truth was simply that these zombies were far more terrifying than
he had ever expected.
“Your Highness! We must order the troops to
retreat --- any longer and we’ll only be sending more to die!”
Beside him, Wan Zhong pleaded. He had remained close to protect Li Guanglong
and now clearly saw the hopelessness of
the situation.
His prince’s forces were doing nothing but feeding the infection.
If they didn’t pull back now, they would be wiped out.
“The artillery! Where the hell is all my
artillery?! Bring out every last cannon we have! Blow those freaks to hell!” Li
Guanglong roared, still refusing to give up.
“Your Highness! We already deployed every gun
we’ve got! There are too many zombies --- we can’t kill them all! If we don’t
order a retreat now, we’ll die here today!” Wan Zhong was starting to panic.
He had just spotted several especially fearsome
zombies heading their way --- moving at astonishing
speed, leaping over ten meters in a single bound.
Even direct hits from artillery shells didn’t
slow them down --- clearly these
weren’t ordinary undead.
“There has to be a way… I refuse to lose to a
bunch of monsters!”
Li Guanglong began pacing, frantically trying
to come up with a plan.
He had fought in countless battles throughout
his life, and he had almost never lost. But he had never seen a situation like this.
“Your Highness! The defensive lines are
collapsing --- we can’t hold out any longer!” Wan Zhong was drenched in sweat.
Even that brief hesitation had cost dozens more
soldiers their lives.
The line of defense, once so solid, had now completely fallen apart.
The soldiers were brave --- fighting valiantly,
never showing fear. But bravery alone could not stop an endless wave of the undead.
“Retreat! Pull everyone back!”
Realizing the situation was utterly out of
control, Li Guanglong finally relented and gave the retreat order.
“Fall back! Get out --- now!”
Wan Zhong shouted the order and had the retreat
horn blown.
The remaining soldiers scattered and began to
flee in all directions.
But even that effort ended in disaster. The zombies were too fast. The soldiers simply
couldn’t outrun them.
In mere moments, every retreating soldier had
fallen under the claws and fangs of the horde.
Wan Zhong stood frozen in near despair.
As a general, watching your men get ripped apart in front of your eyes,
completely powerless to stop it --- that pain was soul-crushing.
If they had retreated earlier, maybe some
could’ve been saved.
Even saving just one more… would’ve been worth
it.
“You monsters! I’ll take you down with me!”
Furious, Wan Zhong drew his steel blade and
prepared to charge into the zombie horde.
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to die?!”
Li Guanglong moved quickly, grabbing Wan Zhong
by the arm.
Though Wan Zhong was a Grandmaster, even his martial prowess meant little against a sea of tens of thousands of zombies.
Even if he managed to kill a dozen --- or a hundred --- once his stamina ran out, death was inevitable. - Ton
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