flstandardbreds Chapter 1385 The Chen Brothers
Chapter 1385 The Chen Brothers
Watching the officers quickly get up and leave, their footsteps fading into the distance in the corridor, Nguyen Van Hung sat alone in his chair, not leaving immediately.
He picked up the reconnaissance report on the new troops in Pingxiang again, looking at the blurry photos and cold numbers, his fingers unconsciously tracing over words like "army group," "50,000 to 80,000," and "new main battle tank."
“Zhongzhou…Zhongzhou War Zone…” he murmured, savoring the title.
Before the end of the world, he had complex feelings toward his northern neighbor, a mixture of historical entanglements and present-day fears and calculations.
After the apocalypse, preoccupied with their own survival, they almost forgot about the existence of this behemoth.
Unexpectedly, it has recovered from its own chaos so quickly and cast its shadow back onto the border in a more powerful and unquestionable manner.
This time, the other party is clearly no longer the "neighbor" that can be manipulated, schemed against, or exploited.
Judging from their organizational capabilities, industrial capacity, and sheer military strength, they are a giant undergoing reintegration and with a clear objective.
“Southward…deeper…” Nguyen Van Hung recalled Le Quang Trung’s assessment.
If that's the case, then with his meager possessions, he probably wouldn't even qualify to give the other party a "warm-up."
Their gaze may have already crossed the border mountains and turned towards the richer, wider, but also more chaotic southern hinterland.
He himself, and the land beneath his feet, were nothing more than dust that the giant might casually brush away as he took his next step south, or... roadside pebbles that he needed to avoid slightly and were not worth wasting too much effort on.
“Survival… in the cracks…” Ruan Wenxiong gave a bitter smile.
Faced with an absolute power disparity, all so-called strategies, calculations, and appeasement appear so pale and laughable.
Everything he's doing now is a gamble—gambling that the other party isn't interested in crushing him like an ant for the time being, and gambling that his "sincerity" and "usefulness" can buy him a little more time to eke out a living.
He looked at the dim lamp on the table, its light flickering as if it might be blown out by the wind at any moment.
Just like their small cluster that has struggled for two years in the apocalypse, it seems to have a sturdy shell, but how long can it withstand the real storm?
"Do your best and leave the rest to fate..." he finally murmured to himself, his voice filled with exhaustion and helplessness.
He stood up, preparing to leave the oppressive underground command center and go see the troops outside and the civilians who depended on them for survival.
Regardless of what the future holds, for now, he remains the person in charge here and needs to maintain basic order and hope.
However, the silent yet immense pressure emanating from Pingxiang in the north hung like the Sword of Damocles over him and the entire group. Every step required treading on thin ice.
...
As soon as Nguyen Van Hung's order was given, the first place to move was the Ha Quang assembly area, where the 2nd Infantry Division headquarters was located!
Beep beep beep beep————
The piercing sound of metal whistles echoed throughout the camp, accompanied by the officers' hoarse shouts.
Squads of weary soldiers, clad in various gears, emerged from their makeshift barracks or shacks, grumbling as they hurriedly adjusted their mismatched equipment.
Old but well-maintained AK series rifles, badly worn tactical vests, and some people even carry homemade spears or machetes.
The roar of diesel engines emanated from the maintenance area in the corner of the base, where the 2nd Infantry Division's prized possessions were stored:
Seven modified BTR-60 armored vehicles!
At this moment, they were also activated for a final check before deployment, and the thick black smoke intensified the sense of suffocation in the air.
The entire settlement, like a frightened hedgehog, hastily and futilely tried to curl up, raising every quill it could.
Meanwhile, in the southwest corner of the settlement, near the edge of the abandoned sewage treatment plant, lies a shack area.
This low-lying, damp, and dark area, piled with all sorts of construction debris and scrapped parts, is the least desirable place in the settlement and is usually assigned to the last to arrive or the least "valuable" survivors.
Two young men squatted in front of a low shack that was barely made of tattered canvas, rusty iron sheets and plastic sheeting.
They were all in their early twenties, pale and thin, with high cheekbones and sunken eyes due to long-term malnutrition.
He was wearing tattered clothes that were no longer recognizable in their original color, covered with patches and stains, and on his feet were "sandals" made from tire rubber and ropes.
The older one was named Chen Shan. His hair was messy and stuck to his forehead. His eyes had a kind of numbness that came from being repeatedly battered by life. But at this moment, this numbness was broken by the noise and urgent mobilization coming from not far away, revealing a little unease.
The younger brother is Chen He. Compared to his older brother, his eyes still retain a bit of the liveliness of youth, but are more wary like a frightened bird.
He stood close to his brother, his eyes following a group of soldiers rushing past.
“Brother,” Chen He lowered his voice, speaking in Mandarin, though with a heavy southwestern accent:
"What's going on now? Why is the whistle blowing so urgently? Those soldiers are running like they're being chased by ghosts."
Chen Shan didn't answer immediately. He squinted, looked towards the center of the base, and then looked at the soldiers who were obviously reinforcing the wall facing north.
"This is no small matter." Chen Shan's voice was hoarse and dry, as if he hadn't had a proper drink of water in a long time.
“Look at the direction they’re heading, and those metal turtles are all moving… They’re most likely heading north.”
"The north?" Chen He was stunned for a moment, then his face turned even paler, and his lips trembled:
"Another...another incident? Wasn't it supposed to be chaotic over there too?"
Chen Shan forced a bitter smile: "Chaos? No matter how chaotic it is, it's still our own country, our own place..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but Chen He understood.
The two brothers came from the mountainous area of southwestern Guizhou Province. Their family was poor, and after finishing junior high school, they went to work in an electronics factory in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, with fellow villagers.
Standing on the assembly line for twelve hours every day, repeating monotonous and numbing actions, earning a meager wage to barely make ends meet.
The factory dormitories were crowded and noisy, the canteen food was bland, and the future seemed predictable—save some money, go home and get married, or switch factories and continue repeating the same life.
The change occurred when they came across a large number of "wonderful" videos about the Yue Kingdom on short video platforms on their phones.
In the video, the Yue Kingdom's economy is described as "rapidly developing," with opportunities everywhere, and it is especially "friendly" to the Zhou people.
Even more eye-catching were the headlines—"Why did Yue girls fall in love with Zhou men?" "In Yue, an eight-hour workday is not a dream!" "Earn over ten thousand a month and start a new life in Yue!"...
Coupled with some carefully edited footage and exaggerated narration, it ignited a flame of delusion in the hearts of two young people who saw no hope in the factory.
They scrimped and saved to scrape together travel expenses, and through a roundabout way, they found a so-called "intermediary." With dreams of a "new life" in their hearts, they crossed the border in a daze.
However, before they could even experience the imagined "economic boom" and "friendly hospitality," the apocalypse descended like a nightmare without warning.
With communications cut off, zombies roaming freely, and social order collapsing instantly, they, like many Zhou people stranded in Yue, found themselves in dire straits.
Unable to speak the language and with no relatives or friends around, the little money they carried became worthless in the apocalypse. In order to survive, they had no choice but to join this settlement that was originally controlled by the Vietnamese army.
At first, although the Yue people were vigilant, they were able to maintain a semblance of order, and they earned a meager amount of food by doing the hardest and most tiring work.
However, as time went on, resources became increasingly scarce and the pressure to survive intensified, and xenophobic sentiments within the settlement grew wildly like poisonous weeds.
'There's not enough food even for our own people, why give it to these foreigners?'
Such complaints quickly transformed these Zhou people who remained behind from "troublesome individuals who needed to be managed" into "scapegoats who could be bullied at will" and "resource consumers."
When food is distributed, they are always the last and smallest group.
When they were working, the most dangerous and dirtiest tasks were always theirs.
Any resistance or complaint would result in beatings or kicks, or even rations being cut, or being thrown out on "dangerous reconnaissance missions."
The two brothers witnessed several fellow countrymen from Zhoubang being beaten to death by a group of bloodthirsty Yue survivors for trying to defend or protect what little they had left. Their bodies were thrown over the wall like garbage.
Right under the noses of the Yue army...
From that time on, they learned to remain completely silent, to bow their heads before any Vietnamese, and to communicate in the simplest way using their broken, accented local dialect, daring not to utter a single word of Mandarin.
They were like rats, hiding in the dirtiest corner of this settlement, using the most humble posture to earn a few scraps to sustain their lives.
The longing for a "new life" has long been crushed by the harsh reality, leaving only one incredibly clear and burning desire in my heart day and night—to go home! To return to my own country!
But with the border blocked and endless zombies and mutated beasts outside, how could the two unarmed and weak people cross this death zone of hundreds of kilometers?
Hope, like a candle flickering in the wind, shines dimly.
At this moment, upon hearing that another major event might have occurred in the north, and seeing the Yue army looking as if facing a formidable enemy, the two brothers suddenly had an unbelievable thought.
Could it be...?