Shen Feng's words summarized the day's meeting. They were there to discuss whether to continue fighting or to leave as soon as possible. With the zombie horde occupying the city, recapturing Luzhou was impossible. Given that, why waste time?
Upon hearing their leader's words, the others began to whisper amongst themselves, breaking the silence in the conference room. They were all discussing the zombies in the city center. No one was foolish enough to misunderstand Shen Feng's meaning. Shen Feng seemed to lean towards evacuation. Fighting the zombies at this juncture was clearly suicidal. A large-scale offensive could easily lead to annihilation. To avoid such a situation, relocation was the only option.
"Leader, we should retreat. As long as we take the grain from the granary with us, we can live anywhere. At worst, we can bypass the city and head north to Rongcheng. There aren't many major cities along the way, so we won't encounter any danger," Yang Chang said first.
As soon as Yang Chang spoke, the evolved individuals from the combat team behind him began to chime in. Their leader had already stated his position, and as his subordinates, they naturally had to follow suit. Thus, one-third of the evolved individuals began to agree with Yang Chang's suggestion.
Yang Chang's idea was simple: once they bypassed the city and crossed the mountains, the road to Rongcheng would be smooth sailing. There were no large cities along the way. As long as they collected enough vehicles, they could set off. What was there to fear from zombies?
However, as soon as Yang Chang finished speaking, someone objected. Chu Chaoyan stepped forward. She held no official position in the Self-Help Association, merely being an ordinary member of the combat team. But she also had another identity: she was a local. She had always hoped that the Self-Help Association would rescue the people of Luzhou, or at least protect their safety. But now, to find that everyone wanted to abandon them and flee, she couldn't help herself.
"You're all preparing to run without even engaging the zombies head-on? You're all from Luzhou, how can you abandon your hometown and flee? Not to mention, many people in the base have family trapped in Luzhou. Is it really okay to just leave?" Chu Chaoyan was speaking very politely. If she hadn't been, she could have accused everyone present of being cowardly rats trying to escape in disgrace.
"It's easy for you to say! You've only been fighting for a few days?" Yang Chang didn't want to indulge Chu Chaoyan and directly retorted, "Do you know what hundreds of thousands of zombies mean? It's like a locust swarm that leaves nothing behind. Forget ordinary people; even evolved individuals would be bitten to death. We don't have any large-scale destructive weapons, how can we fight? Are we supposed to fill the gap with human lives? If we could fill it, that would be fine, but we only have over ten thousand people, not even enough for the zombies to eat!"
Chu Chaoyan gritted her teeth and said firmly, "Then it's a matter of how to fight, not whether to run. If we can't kill these zombies now, we can find a way. If all methods fail, then we can discuss it again, can't we?"
"Then do you have a solution? Tell us how to solve it. Tens of thousands of zombies only need to charge forward, and everyone will die. No matter how you fight, it's impossible. Command zombies aren't fools who will let you kill them. If you don't have a solution, then shut up!" Yang Chang was spitting as he spoke. He was truly agitated now. He had to consider the members of his combat team. If they were defeated, everyone would die. Why take the risk?
"I'm a humanities major, I don't understand combat tactics or strategy, but the three gentlemen from the advisory group must have a way, right?" Chu Chaoyan looked at the three people sitting behind Shen Feng: Zhou Xiaoxiao, Yang Ye, and Tu Xuhuai. Everyone's gaze then shifted to them.
At this moment, everyone's hope rested on the three gentlemen. As long as they could propose a method to deal with the zombies on a large scale, the base could continue to fight. But if there was no such method, they could only choose to retreat.
Zhou Xiaoxiao spread his hands and said helplessly, "With our current combat strength, it's impossible to win. Unless we have ten thousand guns, or a thousand evolved individuals here, we can still hold our ground."
Zhou Xiaoxiao essentially said the obvious. If Shen Feng had ten thousand guns, would he still need to fight so cautiously? He could have simply cleared all the zombies in Luzhou. Why wait until now? As for the issue of evolved individuals, it was even more troublesome. The Self-Help Association only had over a hundred evolved individuals, and that was after accumulating for a month. If there were more evolved individuals before, it would mean the Self-Help Association had killed a large number of zombies to reach this point.
Yang Ye cleared his throat and continued, "Why did we choose to establish the base above Hezhou? It's because this place is safe. But everyone didn't consider that production cannot be organized in Hezhou, and we cannot recapture Luzhou. So, staying here is just a waste of time."
Tu Xuhuai waved his hand, indicating that he didn't want to speak at the moment. Clearly, he didn't have any particularly good solutions either.
Seeing that his suggestion had gained everyone's support, Yang Chang continued, "Of course, we don't want to abandon Luzhou, and we don't want our relatives in the city to be harmed. But we really can't kill these zombies. Since that's the case, we can only choose to leave!"
At this point, everyone fell silent. It seemed the next step was to discuss where to evacuate to.
However, just then, Yu Renshu, sitting beside Shen Feng, spoke up directly, "Everyone, I have a method to eliminate zombies on a large scale, but it will take a long time. Although I am not from Luzhou, I want to share my thoughts now."
Shen Feng looked at Yu Renshu beside him and asked, "Doctor, what method do you have to eliminate zombies? Please tell us quickly so we can have more ways to deal with them."
Yu Renshu was not timid and said, "I study microbiology, so I am very aware of the consequences that microorganisms can cause. Therefore, I think it's my time to shine. Since zombies are infected and mutated from humans, their bodies must be similar to humans, or even inferior to humans, right?"
"Please continue," Shen Feng nodded, signaling Yu Renshu to proceed.
Yu Renshu picked up the teacup on the table and said, "Everyone, animals need water to survive! Humans have learned to drink boiled water, especially our people who like to drink it. Most bacteria and viruses are killed by boiling. But zombies don't drink boiled water. They don't even know what boiled water is. They only drink dirty water on the ground when they're thirsty, as we've observed before. Therefore, I believe we can use bacteria to harm zombies!"
"Will it work?" Yang Chang asked with a frown.
Yu Renshu smiled and said, "Microorganisms and humans have always been evolving. Please don't underestimate the role of microorganisms. For example, bacteria causing dysentery can cause diarrhea in humans, and severe cases can lead to dehydration. Excessive dehydration can lead to death. Ancient wars were always accompanied by epidemics, with plague and cholera being the most common. Even today, these infectious diseases still occur in many places. Even humans find them troublesome, let alone zombies?"
"Won't this method take a long time to take effect?" Chang Jianyi asked.
Yu Renshu nodded and said, "Indeed, it will take at least a week. Because the number of zombies is too large, a large number of zombies need to be infected by bacteria. We cannot create a plague, otherwise, we ourselves will be in danger. Therefore, it is best to throw feces into the zombies' water sources to cause dysentery, making them dehydrated and die. If the effect is slightly less severe, it can also make the zombies lose their combat effectiveness."
"Doctor, what if the zombies in the city center launch an assault within a week?" Shen Feng continued to ask.
At this moment, Shen Feng felt a sense of powerlessness, as if he were playing a game. His own side's players hadn't developed well, and they were all eagerly relying on economic advantages. Yet, the opponent, with a perfect start, was forcing a team fight. If they didn't engage, they could only retreat. If they did engage, they might not survive. This was Shen Feng's current feeling of powerlessness.
"Then there's nothing we can do. If the zombies make a move within a week, we can only defend the dam. The zombies cannot break through the Yangtze River, but the dam must be held!" Yu Renshu said helplessly.
Thus, the theme of the meeting shifted again. Should they risk fighting the zombies? If the zombies attacked within a week, they would most likely have to flee, rendering all their previous efforts futile. However, if they didn't risk fighting and just left in disgrace, no one would be reconciled, especially since they had a method but were too timid to use it!
Yang Chang frowned and said, "This is a good method to eliminate zombies on a large scale, but it takes too long, and variables are likely to occur during this period. It's too risky!"
"As the leader of the combat team, are you still afraid of taking risks?" Chu Chaoyan retorted, "If victory can be achieved without effort, is it still considered war? At this time, we should take risks. If we can't win, can't we run then?"
Thus, the argument between Chu Chaoyan and Yang Chang erupted again. What was more, many people supported the arguments of both individuals. The people in the meeting were divided into three factions. Those who were conservative and didn't want to risk their lives wanted to retreat directly and fight later. Another faction believed that there was a high chance of victory in the fight because it involved using bacteria, not direct combat. They only needed to defend the dam and prevent the zombies from approaching, which was entirely achievable. The last faction remained silent, expressing no opinion.
Just then, a discordant voice emerged. Guo Pinming, sitting in the back row, stood up. He was a retired veteran, and after hearing everyone's arguments, he couldn't help but voice his opinion: "Why not request reinforcements?"
Shen Feng saw the person who suddenly stood up from the back row and couldn't help but ask, "Senior sister, who is he?"
Chang Jianyi, seeing that no one recognized this person, loudly introduced him, "His name is Guo Pinming. He was very brave in today's battle, killing over eighty zombies. As a reward, he was prepared to be granted an evolutionary serum and is attending the meeting today as an observer."
"If you're an observer, then observe. Why are you interrupting?" Yang Chang said with some dissatisfaction.
Guo Pinming stood straight and said loudly, "Report, leader. I have my own views on combat, so I would like to propose a suggestion. Please approve."
Yang Chang shook his head helplessly. After all, this was one of their own. He couldn't just dismiss him. Since he was from the combat team, it was better to let him speak his mind. He explained, "The army is currently recapturing coastal cities. We are an inland city. Even if we request rescue, we won't get support."
"Report, if we don't try to request support, how will we know that support won't come?" Guo Pinming asked.
Yang Chang shrugged helplessly and said, "We are not part of the army, so why would they come to support us? I know you were a soldier, but let's be practical. We won't have any support arriving in the short term."
Guo Pinming did not give up his view and continued, "Report, the army is the people's army. It will not stand idly by when the people are in need. Therefore, we must request support and not place the people in opposition to the army."
Yang Chang opened his mouth but said nothing. He was, after all, just a college student and didn't have much understanding of many things. Now, being overwhelmed by Guo Pinming's grand principles, he didn't know what to say. Speaking of which, Guo Pinming's idea of requesting support was also quite good.