Chapter 742: Constructing Line of Defense
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
“The best way to deal with the Month of Disaster is to wait it out. It’s better to clean up the eggs of the Mud Crabs than to fight against the Mud Crabs. There are tens of thousands of Mud Crabs around and even tanks can’t do anything. Since you flew in on an airs.h.i.+p, get on the airs.h.i.+p at the beginning of March or just wait until the summer solstice comes again.”
“We need to do something on the island; we can’t wait for that long.” Jiang Chen paused then asked, “What about you? What’s your plan for the Month of Disaster?”
“My original plan was to go where survivors live in the province of Minnan until the summer solstice, but my s.h.i.+p is out of shape this year. If there’s n.o.body willing to give me a ride, I might choose to go to Taipei Fallout Shelter No. 79. Only 50 crystals are needed to stay until the summer solstice; the price is relatively fair,” Chen Guangning replied.
“Okay Mr. Chen, we happen to need a guide. Are you interested in staying with us?” Jiang Chen asked with a smile.
Upon hearing this invitation from Jiang Chen, Chen Guangning was rejoiced and immediately said, “I am very interested. If there’s anything I can do, I’m more than happy to help!”
“Just be a good guide; there is nothing more you need to do. Go out and talk to the guards. They will arrange a place for you. I will pay you 10 crystals a day. If you have nothing else to add, you can go now.”
“Thank you, General!”
Chen Guangning changed the manner he addressed Jiang Chen immediately, but Jiang Chen himself wasn’t very strict with formalities.
“Go ahead.”
After Chen Guangning left, Jiang Chen thought for a moment, tilted his head slightly and looked at w.a.n.g Li, who was standing by his side.
“What do you think?”
“According to the intelligence collected by our reconnaissance team, we can use cement to build defence lines on the northern Desperate Beach and block the Mud Crabs in shallow water,” said Li w.a.n.g.
Jiang Chen nodded.
This was indeed a viable plan. The only flaw was that if they wanted to build a line of defense that enclosed the entire Desperate Beach, they would need an enormous amount of cement and ammunition. Sand could be sourced locally, and the graphene tubes used as skeletons and cement could be transported by supply airs.h.i.+ps. The only troublesome aspect was that it was February 18, and there was less than a week until the arrival of the Month of Disaster.
There wasn’t much time left for the expeditionary forces.
“The ammunition and cement needed will be delivered as soon as possible. Immediately start construction and do everything possible to build the line of defense before the Month of Disaster.”
“Yes!” Li w.a.n.gli saluted and headed out.
After Li w.a.n.g departed, Jiang Chen activated his watch and entered the communication channel and channel code left by the Beluga Whale Submarine Inspection Station. He hosted a holographic video conference with them.
Their contact for him was still Wu Yue. Judging by the background behind him, he was probably on a wars.h.i.+p.
After contact was established, Jiang Chen was direct.
“Can the sonar on your s.h.i.+p drive away Mud Crabs?”
Wu Yue seemed to antic.i.p.ate Jiang Chen would ask this question, but he still shook his head regretfully.
“Unfortunately, our sonar can’t do this. It’s a real headache to run into Mud Crabs in the shallow sea – they’ll try to climb onto the boat… Do you want to delay the delivery of s.p.a.ce elevator parts?”
Jiang Chen shook his head.
“Go with the originally planned date. You are responsible for sending our transport vessels to the shallow seas. I’ll try to resolve the problem of the Mud Crabs.”
“As you wish.” Wu Yue bowed slightly.
Desperate Beach was located on the northernmost tip of Yizhou and lowest point in the northern part of the island.
Before the war, there used to be a water park with a total area of several thousand acres. It stretched from the beach along the shallow sea to the edge of the deep ocean. However, now it had been bombed to ruins, and a freighter’s ruin was left on the beach.
Staggered steel skeletons and debris formed a wetland-like environment within the shallow beach. The uncontrolled growth of algae and seaweed in the wet shadows was a paradise for scavengers and a breeding ground for mutated organisms.
Even experienced adventurers didn’t dare to enter this dangerous territory. Even if people had power armor on, it would still be difficult to gain an advantage against sharp Mud Crab claws and teeth, not to mention the other mutants hiding in the shallow seas. With the complex terrain, the means of attack were unpredictable.
This was why this place was known as Desperate Beach – it made everyone who entered this place desperate.
Li w.a.n.g’s execution efficiency was high. The day he received the order, he started construction of the defense line. One hundred engineering robots drove around Desperate Beach and laid the foundation for the walls. At the same time, the local survivors employed by the Expeditionary Force worked at the frontlines, earning 5 crystals per day.
Not all people had the money to live in a fallout shelter, not to mention the limited capacity of the fallout shelters. When the Month of Disaster arrived, most people still chose to hide in the temporary bunkers they made themselves and anxiously live in terror with their family for months.
In the beginning, the arrival of the expeditionary forces made them feel wary. After all, these people didn’t seem to be lawful at all, judging from their excellent armed forces, but when these survivors saw them starting to build fortifications along Desperate Beach, they changed their minds completely.
Even if they didn’t think these people could block the tens of thousands of Mud Crabs that came ash.o.r.e to lay eggs, they still had a faint hope in their hearts.
In the unlikely event that these people would repel the Mud Crabs on Desperate Beach, the Month of Disaster that had plagued the island for more than a decade would be completely eradicated. Hopefully, if the Mud Crabs were beaten up by the NAC and failed to lay eggs in Yizhou, they might be forced to change their living habits in the coming year and start migrating to other places.
As a result, there would be one less season these survivors had to suffer through.
Therefore, when the expeditionary forces recruited people from survival camps near Taipei, the survivors were also very cooperative or at least didn’t cause any trouble.
On the other hand, Jiang Chen had already made contact with Fishbone Base and had drawn 1,000 troops from the Third Corps into the ranks of the expeditionary forces.
At present, there were only five hundred expeditionary soldiers stationed in Taipei. It would obviously be unrealistic to fill a battle line several kilometers long with so few people. If they couldn’t recruit many soldiers from the locals, they had to draw forces from w.a.n.ghai as reinforcements.
According to the plan proposed by the Expeditionary Army’s engineering soldiers, the battlefield would have a total length of 5.1 kilometers with 52 five-meter-high defense towers first built along the edge of the battlefield then three-meter tall and half-a-meter wide cement walls would connect the towers. Sandbags would be placed behind the cement walls, and trenches and stakes would be placed in front of the cement walls to prevent Mud Crabs from entering.
A total of more than 1,400 laborers would be involved in the building of the defense line. With the a.s.sistance of construction robots, this defense line should be completed without any problems.
With the arrival of a new batch of supplies, heavy machine guns were put on the wall, and orange-yellow ammo chains filled the armory, dazzling like gold. Missiles were placed in the open s.p.a.ce of the expeditionary fortress. The artillery skilfully installed launchers and completed the deployment of the “Fireball-1” system.
When the survivors working at the frontlines saw this scene, that immediately eliminated their last remaining doubts and worked even harder.
With such powerful arms, perhaps these people could really do it…