The Power Plant finished first.
Hans was still inside the warehouse going through the Engineers’ defensive plan when the completion panel appeared.
------
[ Primary Structure construction complete: Power Plant. ]
[ Please select deployment zone. ]
------
Hans opened the Radar map and switched to the construction interface. He panned west across the Radar map until the main base came into view.
Several open areas still remained inside the Construction Yard’s radius. He selected one of the locations he had already noticed before queuing the structure, checked the surrounding roads and nearby buildings again, then confirmed the placement.
The deployment outline settled across the open ground.
No obstruction appeared.
"Deploy it."
The Power Plant rose from the selected area inside the main base. Its foundation formed first before the larger sections followed, one after another, until the cooling and generation systems locked into place.
------
[ Power Plant deployment complete. ]
[ Energy Capacity: 1,200 => 1,600 units. ]
------
Hans closed the interface and returned to the defensive plan.
Trailblazer Three completed production not long afterward.
It arrived at Site Three with the reinforcements sent from the main base.
The platoon assigned to the FOB took over the perimeter from the temporary escort squads. Once the transfer was complete, the escort squads returned to their previous assignments. The Guardian APC that had accompanied Trailblazer Two returned to the main base.
The second mobile platoon arrived with three Guardian APCs and two Vanguards.
One Vanguard remained with the newly arrived platoon. The other stayed near the southern side of Site Three, waiting for the sweep platoon still operating through Route One.
Trailblazer Three stopped behind the warehouse in vehicle form.
Hans gave it no deployment order.
The southern districts had not been inspected far enough for him to place another permanent construction radius based on guesswork.
Work on the surrounding approaches had already begun.
The Engineers used equipment from the distribution yard to reposition freight containers along the eastern and southeastern roads. Abandoned delivery trucks were turned across wider sections in staggered rows, while concrete barriers and industrial fencing closed the smaller passages between buildings.
They did not seal the roads completely.
Marked lanes remained open for the Guardian APCs, Vanguards, supply vehicles, and any force that needed to withdraw toward Site Three.
None of those obstacles would hold a large concentration by themselves.
They only needed to slow it, divide its frontage, and keep more of it inside the firing sectors prepared around the FOB.
Before long, the first Pillbox finished.
------
[ Secondary Structure construction complete: Pillbox. ]
[ Please select deployment zone. ]
------
Hans opened the construction interface again.
This time, he panned toward the prepared Wall section between the eastern and southeastern approaches at Site Three.
The Engineer had already marked the recommended position on the map. Hans selected the Wall segment and adjusted the Pillbox’s placement until the structure aligned properly with the existing defensive line.
The System accepted the position.
"Deploy it."
Part of the Wall shifted as the Pillbox rose into place without leaving an opening behind it. Armored plating formed around its front while narrow firing ports settled toward the roads outside the perimeter.
Its weapon system rotated once, tracking across both approaches before returning to the center.
Then, it stopped.
------
[ Pillbox deployment complete. ]
------
[ Energy: 983 / 1,600 ]
------
Hans immediately opened the Secondary Structures interface.
"Queue another Pillbox."
------
[ Pillbox queued. ]
[ Gold: 39,965 (-2,500) => 37,465 ]
[ Construction Time: 4 hours and 10 minutes. ]
------
The third sweep returned before the second Pillbox reached ten percent.
Three Guardian APCs entered through the western lane.
Dust covered their lower hulls. Scratches ran across the side armor of the lead vehicle, though none appeared deep enough to matter.
The returning platoon dismounted inside the yard.
Several soldiers carried duffel bags and sealed containers taken from the commercial buildings they had inspected. Engineers followed with updated street maps, photographs, and route markings.
No wounded came out.
Matilda met the platoon leader near the warehouse.
Hans joined them while the APC crews began inspecting their vehicles.
"Report."
"The southern and southwestern approaches remain passable, Commander," the platoon leader answered. "Not continuously. Several intersections are blocked, and two streets have structural collapses across them."
He opened the map over the hood of the Armored SUV.
The inspected route extended south from Site Three before dividing through the western commercial districts.
Some sections bent southwest, toward the colony Hans had left for others to manage.
"We found three possible routes through the first blocks," he continued. "This one is the widest. Guardian APCs and Vanguards can pass without clearing anything larger than abandoned vehicles."
His finger moved to the second.
"This route is narrower, but it reaches farther southwest before meeting a collapsed intersection."
"And the third?"
"Commercial service roads. Slower for armor, but several loading yards can be used for staging."
Hans looked at the markings.
"Hostiles?"
"Scattered groups. Nothing comparable to the concentrations east and southeast. We cleared what entered the roads and bypassed the buildings outside the assigned route."
"Survivors?"
"Four neutral groups within the inspected area. Two remained inside their buildings. One agreed to relocate once a secure route is established. The last group moved before contact."
The Radar still showed all four marker positions. One had shifted farther south during the sweep.
The route was not secure, but at least it existed.
"We also recovered convertible materials from several stores, offices, and one bank branch," Matilda added. "The Engineers are still sorting them."
Hans looked toward the containers being carried into the warehouse. The commercial corridor could pay for part of its own advance.
This income mattered a lot for him and his army.
The second Pillbox, Garrison Post, Sensor Tower, Field Hospital, and whatever Site Three eventually required would consume most of his remaining Gold.
Another PCV would eventually be needed beyond Trailblazer Three.
He still needed more squads, and eventually, aircraft and ships too.
Hans looked east.
The deeper concentration had barely moved throughout the third sweep.
Tens of thousands of markers remained compressed along the roads and buildings beyond the cleared blocks. More filled the districts farther behind them.
Just looking at them made his hair stand on end. If this was only the outer edge of a city nearly one hundred kilometers wide, just how much worse would it really get closer to the core?
The Hellhammers already had firing solutions prepared. That did not mean Hans had to use them.
The first Pillbox was operational. A second was under construction. That was nowhere near enough.
If the artillery scattered even part of the eastern concentration toward Site Three, the improvised obstacles and Walls would channel the infected exactly as planned.
Then one Pillbox would have to kill most of them.
Even with the support of two or three Platoons and his armored units, it would barely be enough to cut down the large swathes of infected.
These were no ordinary swarms between a hundred to thousands that he had played on FPS zombie games.
This was a scale he had never dared to imagine before. Approaching them with insufficient preparation would spell his doom.
Hans closed the firing solution.
"Remove the eastern and southeastern concentrations from the current artillery plan."
Matilda looked at him.
"No test mission?"
"Not with the defenses like this."
She glanced toward the newly completed Pillbox.
"The eastern line will need more than two."
"How many?"
The lead Engineer studied the map before answering.
"At least seven in total, Commander. Four along the eastern section and three covering the southeastern line, including the one already deployed."
Seven Pillboxes.
Hans looked at the Wall.
"All integrated?"
"Where the terrain allows it. They can be arranged along the same Wall line with overlapping firing arcs. The forward structures engage first. Anything passing them enters the next field of fire."
The platoon leader stepped closer.
"That also prevents one large group from concentrating on a single emplacement. Every approach will remain under fire from more than one position."
"And if they still reach the Wall?"
"The Garrison Post can anchor the center once it is constructed," the Engineer answered. "Infantry inside it will support both sectors, while its cannon engages concentrations before they reach the Pillbox line."
Hans checked the Secondary queue.
The second Pillbox had barely begun.
Seven would take more than a day even if he constructed nothing else between them.
That was fine.
The infected east of Site Three were not moving.
There was no reason to give them one.
"Continue the Pillbox line," Hans said. "I will concentrate on the eastern approach first. Southeast will follow after that."
"And the Garrison Post?"
"After the Pillboxes can hold the roads."
"Understood."
Hans opened the Barracks interface before returning to the southern map.
The permanent defenses would continue through the Secondary queue, but the cleared roads would still require soldiers.
"Train two more Standard Infantry Squads."
------
[ Standard Infantry Squad x2 queued. ETA: 3 hours and 10 minutes. ]
[ Gold: 37,465 (-19,000) => 18,465 ]
------
The squad already stationed around Trailblazer Two would remain inside Site Three.
Once the two new squads completed training, the three could form another reserve behind the mobile platoons.
Hans returned to the southern map.
The commercial corridor was different.
The infected there were scattered between individual buildings and streets. The third sweep had found no mass directly blocking the first stage of the route.
The mobile platoons could clear those numbers without bringing an entire district down on Site Three.
"The Hellhammers will remain available while the southern operation stays within range." Hans said.
Matilda adjusted the artillery markings.
"General support?"
"Only when requested. No firing into commercial buildings unless the ground force confirms the target."
The platoon leader nodded.
Hans did not want the artillery destroying a possible source of income either, since one fire mission could really ruin most of what his soldiers were supposed to recover.
"Road concentrations and large infected only."
"And anything the Vanguards cannot handle quickly."
Hans looked at the marked survivor groups.
"Check the Radar before every mission. I don’t want shells falling near survivors because someone saw movement and guessed."
"Understood, Commander."
One mobile platoon could lead the southern clearance with its Guardian APCs and Vanguard.
The second could follow on a separate route, clearing side streets and keeping both forces within supporting distance.
The Site Three garrison would remain behind the Walls.
Trailblazer Three would move with neither group until the Engineers found a location worth keeping.
Hans pointed toward the widest southern route.
"Prepare the first platoon here."
His finger moved toward the commercial service roads farther southwest.
There was no reason to send one platoon east anymore. Both mobile forces could work south instead, with one clearing the main road while the other covered the commercial service routes.
"The second platoon follows through this section. Keep both columns close enough to reinforce each other."
"And their objective?" Matilda asked.
Hans traced the roads south but not all the way to the Colony.
"The first commercial blocks. Clear the main roads, contact the survivor groups, and recover anything convertible."
He looked toward Trailblazer Three behind the warehouse.
"If they find another position worth holding, the PCV follows."
The eastern concentration remained untouched behind him. Site Three would continue preparing for it.
Hans did not need to attack every direction at once.
"Tell the army to prepare. Our next operation goes south."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter