During the day, Shen Feng led his men in continued combat. Facing the powerful offensive of the zombies, the frontline defense was resolute. At most, the zombies would be killed at the foot of the city walls, and after a day and a night of fighting, not a single zombie had managed to reach the top of the wall.
However, at this moment, Shen Feng received orders from his superiors: "Prepare to sally forth from the city gates. Push the defense line out by three hundred meters. Artillery support will be provided. Organize the defense line three hundred meters outside the city."
Shen Feng was perplexed. The defense of the city walls was going well. Why push the defense line outward? Was it to test the soldiers' ability to fight in open terrain?
At this point, Shu Da Ping stepped forward to explain the reason for the operation: "Mr. Shen, we have referenced the defense of Jiangyang back then. The only time zombies managed to breach the city walls was by forming a gentle slope with a dense formation of zombies. That's how they succeeded. Therefore, we will not give the zombies a chance to pile up a slope. Advancing the frontline is to allow people to dispose of the zombie corpses."
"So that's how it is," Shen Feng nodded, understanding the superiors' orders.
However, Shu Da Ping also said grimly, "There is another reason for clearing the zombie corpses, and that is the plague. Even in winter, plagues can occur. If the zombie corpses are not cleared promptly, and a plague breaks out in Yanjing, it will be truly troublesome."
Shen Feng was naturally aware of the plague. After all, the plague in the southwest had spread from Yuzhou, and Yuzhou was currently under Shen Feng's control. It could be said that without the plague, clearing Yuzhou city would not have been too difficult.
In fact, the closer one got to the north, the greater the risk of plague, because there were numerous rats in the northern grasslands, which could easily roam and were more difficult to prevent. Therefore, Yanjing's emphasis on this matter was understandable. Once the plague broke out in this chaotic era, it might cause immense casualties.
Fierce artillery fire erupted from within Yanjing city, "Boom boom..." accompanied by bursts of deafening noise as countless shells were fired. To leave the city, all the zombies surrounding the city had to be cleared, otherwise, no matter who went out, they would face pressure from all directions.
The shells fell from the sky and exploded outside the city, instantly killing the surrounding zombies with shrapnel. The shelling did not end quickly but continued for a long time. Under the saturation bombardment, even if a few scattered zombies survived, they could not cause any harm.
Shen Feng stood on the city wall, watching this scene, his heart filled with unspeakable shock. Although he had also experienced artillery fire before, he had taken advantage of the situation then, hiding behind a towering tree and quickly leaving. Being in the mist, he couldn't see his surroundings clearly. But now, he was a spectator by the wall, able to personally feel the power of the bombardment.
In an instant, the zombies were cleared. The battlefield was strewn with dismembered limbs and severed arms, and the zombie tide had been pushed back a considerable distance.
"No wonder they could kill Treants. With such destructive power, even I couldn't withstand it," Shen Feng muttered to himself, staring blankly at the battle outside the city.
The shells, upon landing, instantly killed the surrounding zombies. Even tank zombies couldn't withstand the bombardment. Some third-tier tank zombies, hit by shrapnel and miraculously surviving, were able to endure due to their powerful regenerative abilities. However, surviving once did not mean surviving dozens of times. Ultimately, even tank zombies could only perish under such circumstances.
The saturation bombardment lasted for half an hour. Most of the zombies outside the city walls were dead. During this period, the zombies also stopped reinforcing. The Zombie King clearly understood that under such concentrated firepower, further reinforcement would only be a futile expenditure of zombie numbers. These cannon fodder were not even enough to serve as stepping stones.
Finally, Shen Feng received the order to advance and immediately led his soldiers out of the city gates. Their first task was to kill all the zombies that had survived the artillery fire, and then quickly reach the designated area to establish a defense line. As long as the machine guns were set up and adequately supplied with ammunition, the zombies could be halted. It had been proven that the human wave tactic was obsolete and useless.
Chu Chaoyan was also unwilling to be outdone. Her ability was originally a range attack. If she didn't show off now, wouldn't she have no opportunity later?
Thus, Chu Chaoyan had people bring salt water to quickly produce chlorine gas. Bags of salt were poured into the water one after another. Chu Chaoyan, with one hand in the water and the other pointing at the numerous zombies ahead, continuously released a yellowish-green gas, which soon formed a cloud of smoke.
At this moment, Shen Feng also made his move. With a thought, he instantly summoned a strong gust of wind from behind him, blowing the chlorine gas towards the zombies.
If Chu Chaoyan had solely used poison gas, her ability would not have been particularly strong, as she still had to consider the wind direction. She herself would be unaffected, but her soldiers would not. If the wind direction changed, it could easily lead to friendly fire. However, Shen Feng could control the wind, which allowed Chu Chaoyan's ability to be maximized, as the wind direction was under Shen Feng's control.
The yellowish-green toxic fog spread towards the zombies. After inhaling the poison gas, most of the zombies collapsed on the ground, convulsing. These zombies did not die immediately, but they had inhaled a large amount of chlorine gas, and their organs were failing, meaning they would not live long. A minority of zombies stood still, blind, flailing their arms.
Seeing this, the soldiers under Shen Feng were greatly frightened. Awakened ones were indeed terrifying. They hadn't had a direct experience before, but now they saw the unimaginable power of awakened ones. With just a wave of their hands, tens of thousands of zombies had fallen. This combat power was even superior to firearms and artillery.
Shu Da Ping also stood nearby and saw this scene, her expression slightly changing. She thought, "Material-type awakened abilities are indeed extraordinary, killing zombies so easily."
At this moment, Shen Feng suddenly had an idea and quickly controlled the wind to blow the toxic fog, spreading it over five hundred meters ahead. This way, the zombies would have no hope of crossing the barrier created by the toxic fog. And once the zombies broke through the barrier, they would still face the soldiers' gunfire.
The situation on Shen Feng's side was quickly noticed by the surrounding soldiers, who exclaimed, "There are awakened ones on the battlefield! Did we see correctly?"
"Don't be envious. This is a civilian team. It's not unusual for awakened ones to be on the battlefield. As for us, let's just stick to shooting."
"Why doesn't the Awakened Administration let awakened ones participate in the war?"
"What do you know? Awakened ones are all treasures. How could they appear on the battlefield? These people are basically carrying out special missions, either as bodyguards or as special envoys."
"If only we could become awakened ones too."
... Many soldiers, upon witnessing Chu Chaoyan's ability, were filled with envy. After all, with awakened abilities, they could do many extraordinary things. It was as if one person's success would lift their entire household. Unfortunately, becoming an awakened one was not something that could be achieved casually, otherwise, the entire world would have been filled with awakened ones long ago.
According to statistics, there were only a few dozen awakened ones nationwide, not even reaching one hundred. The Awakened Administration had the largest number of awakened ones, while the remaining awakened ones were very few, basically scattered and disorganized. Shen Feng's side, with five awakened ones, was already considered a large number.
However, at this moment, soldiers outside the city discovered someone unexpectedly appearing. Upon closer inspection, it was Jin Zijue, surrounded by crackling arcs of electricity. A sinister smile played on his lips as he calmly walked towards the front line.
It turned out that Jin Zijue and others had reported their speculation about uncontrolled awakened abilities, so the superiors had specially approved the participation of awakened ones in combat to gain control of their abilities earlier. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of awakened ones on the battlefield also needed to be tested. Therefore, more than thirty people from the Awakened Administration had basically come to the front line. As for Jin Zijue, he was the closest awakened one to Shen Feng.
Jin Zijue was already a fifth-tier awakened one. He glanced at Shen Feng, his eyes showing a provocative gaze. Then, he raised one hand upwards and shouted, "Thunderous Might!"
In an instant, a powerful current appeared in Jin Zijue's hand, tearing through the air and heading straight for the zombies ahead. This action was completed in a flash. The massive current tore through the sky and slammed into the zombies, erupting with arcs of electricity. Zombies struck by the arcs instantly fell. Most zombies died after being hit by the current, while a small portion survived but were paralyzed and unable to move. The soldiers present praised this performance.
"It's truly a miracle. Such an effortless strike could kill thousands of zombies. It's simply not something a human can do."
"We also have awakened ones participating in the battle. Now we don't have to envy other teams for having awakened ones. We have powerful awakened ones here too!"
Jin Zijue listened to the flattery from his subordinates, a smug smile appearing on his face. He had specifically appeared near Shen Feng for this moment. He wanted to prove to Shen Feng through his actions that his ability was definitely the strongest. As for Shen Feng, he must be envious by now, right?
However, Lu Xian, standing beside Shen Feng, saw through Jin Zijue's pretense. He could already see the heat emitted by others. Now, he noticed that the heat from Jin Zijue's body had significantly weakened. It was clear that this move had consumed a large amount of physical strength.
"City Lord, that guy must have done it to show off. In reality, his physical strength is greatly depleted," Lu Xian whispered to Shen Feng, explaining.
Upon learning this, Shen Feng couldn't help but laugh. He hadn't expected Jin Zijue to go to such lengths just to show off. So, he gave Jin Zijue a thumbs-up and then pointed his thumb downwards towards the ground, clearly conveying the message that he was weak.
Seeing that he couldn't intimidate Shen Feng, Jin Zijue pointed his middle finger towards the sky. The two sides stopped interacting and continued with the battle.
The moment the defense line was established, the zombies' retaliation arrived. Countless zombies charged from afar. These zombies were in tattered clothes, as they hadn't been washed in nearly five months. It was already good if they still had strips of cloth hanging on them. And these zombies had only one thought in their minds: to charge forward and enter the city walls. Once inside the walls, victory would be theirs.
Facing the endless horde of zombies, the human defense line was ready with machine guns. Countless gun muzzles spewed flames, and bullets struck the zombies. The zombies could only fall powerlessly, then be trampled into bloody mud by the zombies behind them. The zombies were dense, like an endless swarm of locusts, but this was where it ended. Because the zombie tide crashed against the stones, leaving nothing but splashes of bloody waves.
Taking advantage of the stable defense line, many workers rushed out from within the city walls. These workers quickly transported the zombie corpses from outside the city to prevent their accumulation. During this period, many people were identifying the types of zombies. If they were ordinary zombies, they would be transported away directly. However, if they were confirmed to be mutated zombies, their heads would be cut off and stored separately.
Yang Chang inadvertently looked back and saw this scene. He quickly approached Shen Feng and asked in a low voice, "Some of those zombies were killed by us, but the heads of the mutated zombies were all taken away. Isn't that unfair?"
Shen Feng curled his lips and casually replied, "This is not Yuzhou. Don't overthink it. Those mutated zombies are definitely spoils of war. Do you think we can get a share of the pie? You're dreaming!"
Hearing the City Lord say this, Yang Chang could only turn back helplessly and whisper, "I saw nothing, I saw nothing."
In reality, Yang Chang was feeling regret. He knew that with so many mutated zombies, how many evolution potions could be made? If they fell into his hands, he could cultivate many evolved individuals as his subordinates. It was a pity that none of these mutated zombies belonged to him.
Shu Da Ping overheard Yang Chang and Shen Feng's conversation and couldn't help but shake her head with a wry smile. Then, she said seriously, "Headquarters will not let you help for nothing. After the war ends, we will hold a commendation ceremony. Those who perform exceptionally will receive rewards. Additionally, awakened ones who participate in the war will be bestowed with titles!"
"Titles? That's good. I need to think carefully about my title. It must be a resounding name, just like Lin Chong of the Leopard Head. As soon as the title is spoken, everyone will know!" Yang Chang immediately became interested and began to ponder what kind of title he should come up with.