578 City K under Quarantine

Chapter 578: City K under Quarantine

Translator: _Min_Editor: Caron_

The terror of a quarantined city spread like the plague in people's minds. Although Country F sent two divisions of forces to control the situation, the gloom of death still lingered in people's minds.

A city with more than a hundred thousand people only had seventy thousand left.

The entire east side lost control and the majority of the west side was lost as well. The government forces spent a night defeating the attacking guerillas then spent an entire day in the south area of the west side of the city to create a safe zone with barbed fences.

The second day after the plane crash, the government forces established a quarantine in the city and limited the zombies inside the City K. At the same time, helicopters hovered around the boundaries of the city while searching for any zombies that might have escaped.

At the same time, the Country F government sent out cargo planes and airdropped humanitarian aid to zombie-occupied areas. Along with the aid were small books on how to survive in zombie-occupied areas, reminding people to remain hopeful in the face of disaster.

Based on estimates, there were still ten thousand people struggling in "occupied areas." They could either be uninfected or the few lucky ones immune to the virus. Regardless, they were in an extremely dangerous situation, but the Country F government could no longer divert any more helicopters to rescue them. Even international aid groups weren't permitted to enter due to the danger of the virus and the influence of the civil zone.

People in the safe zone also suffered.

Seventy thousand people were stuffed in a separated zone only a few square kilometers large, unable to really live their lives. The living spaces were crowded. The lack of necessities caused chaos for security. In despair, the ugly side of humans was fully exposed. People fought over boxes of antibiotics and sold their bodies for a piece of bread. The "cleaners" responsible for health inspection controlled everyone's lives. The soldiers responsible for distributing humanitarian aid could freely determine who would be fed. Aside from the soldiers who didn't approach the area, they were the emperors of the safe zone.

No media outlets were permitted to enter the area. No one knew what was happening there, no one knew how long the quarantine would last, and no one knew if they still had the zombie virus hidden in their bodies. To all of society, they were dangerous, and at least before a vaccine was found, they couldn't return to society.

It was a source of despair.

This place was no different than a concentration camp.

It only took two days for the situation to deteriorate to this point.

On the third day, the situation in City K was under control. The 21st Infantry Division pushed its defense line to the south. At the same time, the 14th Division sent out a mechanized brigade to push from the safe zone to the K River and repair the bridge. But the commander clearly underestimated the strength of the zombies. The mechanized brigade didn't even reach the bridge before they experienced heavy casualties.

In theory, the soldiers with hot weapons shouldn't be at a disadvantage against the zombies, but reality dictated otherwise.

While the equipment of Country F's land forces wasn't as terrible as the navy's, their training level was exceptionally low. This point wasn't demonstrated by their ability to shoot but their ability to adapt in battle.

Firing at unarmed civilians, even with orders from the commander, meant the soldiers executing the orders had to bear a great amount of mental pressure. This pressure arose from the sense of morality built since they were born from the restriction of living in a society governed by laws. They knew it was wrong, but they had to do it...

A lot of people unable to withstand the pressure unleashed fire onto hoards of zombies while relinquishing their fear through bullets, but they forgot the importance of shooting their heads. Against zombies, this was a critical error.

What made the soldiers even more distraught was that they had to press the trigger against their comrades who had been bitten. No medicine could treat them now. The only way to end their misery was death, at least for now.

Why didn't they push forward with the help of the artillery?

Because of damned humanitarianism.

As long as there was a single civilian left in the city, as long as the outside world remained civilized, the Country F government forces wouldn't permit firing in its own city. Countless eyes were watching them, so politicians wouldn't allow them, and the media wouldn't allow them.

They faced a great deal of pressure already, firing bullets at the heads of "patients" instead of using tranquilizers.

The city was a mess, and it was a mess they had to take care of. Aquino thought of burning down the entire city more than once - he wanted to just burn the insane and the virus in a great fire… But it wasn't possible unless he wanted to face charges of crimes against humanity.

Just as the mechanized brigade returned to the safe area with low morale, Country F's Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the declaration of war from Celestial Trade.

Three hours ago, the Navy fleet at the border was completely wiped out.

Two and a half hours ago, Country F's Presidential Palace repeatedly confirmed the accuracy of the information with the Country F Navy's command center.

Two hours ago, the information was passed to the Second Army Commander stationed at City K. At the same time, Celestial Trade's Marines landed at the port of Dawo.

At the moment, Lieutenant-General Belli stood in the interim command headquarters and held a simple meeting.

Just then, an officer entered the barracks, interrupting the meeting in progress.

"What's the matter, Sergeant Cavell?"

Sergeant Cavell saluted, stood upright and made his report.

"According to the pictures taken by UA satellites, after the naval blockade was broken through, Celestial Trade Marines landed at Port D. It is suspected that heavy weapons have also landed."

"What about the UA military?" This was the most important issue to Belli.

"The aircraft carrier is quiet for the time being. The Capital said it would provide intelligence support for our operations via satellites and provide assistance in resolving the issue through diplomatic mediation..." Cavell replied.

"These treacherous cowards," Belli scoffed, slashing the map with his marker.

At present, Jiang Chen was unconscious. The reason why the UA offered such an appeasement strategy was in fear that the unscrupulous Celestial Trade would overreact; another reason was its uncertainty in its combat strength.

Guardian-class frigate electromagnetic pulse cannons and Aurora-20s combat performance shocked the Stan aircraft carrier monitoring the battle through the global hawk unmanned aerial drone. Therefore, the Capital had to re-evaluate the strength of Xin while discussing the necessity of adjusting its diplomatic strategy toward the country.

Although the Hamilton-class cruiser was a decommissioned ship from the coastal guards, it was still too strong to be pierced by one shell. In particular, this semi-curved shell wasn't a missile, thus it couldn't be defended against by anti-missile defenses. They weren't going to take the risk until they were certain the Stan aircraft carrier could take the hit. After all, the real opponent in the region was Hua. Even if they finished off Xin's navy, it would be detrimental for them if the aircraft carrier battle group around the region was damaged.

Yes, they didn't think the two Guardian-class frigates would be worthy opponents for the aircraft carrier battle group. No matter how powerful they were, they were just two frigates. Compared to the battle group with comprehensive battle functions, their abilities couldn't compare.

No one suspected that it would hurt if these two "ants" bit them.

There were still a lot more things to discuss, but before they could reach a conclusion, the Celestial Trade soldiers would likely beat F down already.

That was the essence of a Blitz!

"In this region, the 21st Division has already established a line of defense deployed with anti-air cannons and machine guns. I need you to take the 15th Mountain Range Division to traverse through the mountains to the east of K River and deploy the new mid-range anti-air missiles UA provided us at these five points, as well as artillery support to provide coverage for the 21st Division to the west of the river."

"Also, mobilize the 101st Mechanized Brigade in the northeast to the rural area of the city. Once the enemy focus on the defensive line is established along the river, push the 101st Mechanized Brigade forward while cooperating with the 19th Paratrooper Division to attack the Port D. We need to push the arrogant Xin soldiers into the sea! Make the foolish navy realize the abilities of our land forces!"

With this setup, the roads from the port to City K were completely blocked by the firepower of two divisions. Any forces attempting to break through the defense had to pay a heavy price!

"Defense… How long will this war last?" The supply officer turned his pen and looked at Belli.

"Perhaps half a year, perhaps only a month."

"If they're foolish enough to dive into our line of defense, maybe it'll only last ten days." Seeing that the conference was coming to an end, an officer joked around.

A proud curvature appeared on Belli's mouth.

He fully agreed with his subordinate's comment, although he didn't think the enemy would be foolish enough to seek their own death.

At the very least, Country F's military power was ranked 25th in the world - that is, after being dragged down by the useless bastards from the navy.

Although this ranking was nothing to be proud off, they didn't fear Xin as they hadn't even made it onto the rankings.

…

While Country F was busy establishing its defense line, the two Guardian-class frigates were already approaching Port D. The electromagnetic pulse cannon was set up while waiting for its firing orders.

A night of preparation and rest.

One thousand Celestial Trade soldiers in kinetic skeletons already boarded the landing ship to enter the port then took control of the region Moro set out for them. Ten large cargo helicopters were waiting for orders on the empty ground, waiting for strike orders.

MLL Islands were mostly mountainous and covered in forests, which made it difficult for armed units to engage in combat. This was extremely beneficial for both Moro guerillas and Celestial Trade.

Ivan, with his general's cap and shades, took the helicopter and arrived at Port D again. This time, he arrived as the commander.

Moro's 5th Infantry Division arrived at the airport for their welcoming and the two powerful hands shook together.

"Prepared and ready to go?"

"Prepared and ready to go."

Ivan took off his shades and stuffed them into his chest pocket.

"Then let the battle begin!"