54: Kyoto requests assistance

Inside the Governor's office, the air was as heavy as solidified mercury. General Wang paced back and forth anxiously on the worn carpet, his military boots echoing dully with every step. He did not come from a command background and, at this moment, had to entrust the heavy responsibility of frontline command entirely to the Chief of General Staff of the Yuzhou Military Region. This sense of powerlessness gnawed at his heart like a poisonous snake. He suddenly grabbed the red encrypted phone that connected directly to the Central Military Region, his fingers trembling slightly from the force.

"Commander Qin! This is Wang Yao!" His voice was hoarse, carrying a near-suffocating urgency. "Xingyang Base... is under siege by a million-level Zombie Tide! The vanguard of the Zombie Horde has broken through to within 50 kilometers of the base! We... we have confirmed it! There is a Corpse King within the Zombie Horde! It is directing the entire operation from the Luocheng TV Tower! We... we lack high-power precision-guided missiles! We lack fighter jets capable of carrying heavy missiles to execute decapitation strikes! Commander Qin! Tens of thousands of military personnel and civilians at Xingyang Base are in imminent danger! Requesting Kyoto... requesting support! Immediate support!" Every word seemed to be squeezed out of his throat, filled with desperate pleading.

From the other end of the line came the steady but equally grave reply from Commander Qin of the Central Military Region: "General Wang, calm down! I am already aware of your situation. But now... we are facing a huge dilemma. The global satellite network has completely collapsed and lost contact! Without satellite navigation and guidance, relying only on ground-based radar signals... we cannot conduct precision strikes on a 'small' target like the Luocheng TV Tower from a distance of over 1000 kilometers! The margin of error is too great; it is impossible to ensure a hit on the Corpse King!"

Wang Yao's heart sank, as if falling into an ice cellar, but he was unwilling to give up: "Commander Qin! Is there... is there really no other way? Any method will do! We cannot just sit here and wait for death!"

Commander Qin was silent for a moment, his voice revealing a hint of determination: "There... must be a way! The most direct method is to dispatch fighter jets carrying precision-guided weapons to conduct close-range strikes! You must hold on! I will immediately report to the Military Commission and convene an emergency meeting to discuss a specific support plan! At all costs, we will get support to you! Hold on, General Wang!"

"Yes! Commander Qin! We... will defend with all our might!" Wang Yao hung up the phone, his palms covered in cold sweat. He looked out the window; on the distant horizon, he seemed to be able to feel the dull atmosphere of the surging Zombie Tide.

Xingyang Base

On the outskirts of the base, the sky was stained with an ominous leaden gray. The armed helicopter formation that had executed the interception mission returned, covered in smoke, like weary eagles returning to their nests, wobbling as they landed on the landing pad. They had just used autocannons and rockets to tear open a brief corridor of flesh in the middle of the Zombie Tide, temporarily delaying the influx of subsequent zombies.

However, the second, even more surging wave of the Zombie Tide, carrying a nauseating stench of rot, had already become like a black torrent of asphalt, ruthlessly sweeping over the area the helicopters had just plowed, heading straight for that silent land of death ten kilometers outside the base—the minefield!

"Boom—! Rumble—!!!"

It was as if the drums of hell had been suddenly struck! A series of deafening explosions erupted violently! The preset anti-personnel mines and claymore mines were ruthlessly triggered by the surging Zombie Horde! Flames shot into the sky, and soil, gravel, and fragments of rotting limbs were thrown into the air by the violent shockwaves, forming patches of filthy "rain of death"! In the core area of the explosions, zombies were instantly torn apart and vaporized; wherever the shockwaves reached, swathes of zombies were harvested as if by an invisible scythe, their limbs severed, torsos shattered, and dark, filthy blood stained the earth a bizarre ink color.

Smoke filled the air, and the stench of burning flesh rose to the heavens. This round of cruel "baptism" had once again turned tens of thousands of zombies into dust. Thus far, the number of zombies that had fallen under the long-range firepower of Xingyang Base exceeded one hundred thousand!

But the Chief of General Staff's face showed not a hint of relief, only deep exhaustion and gravity. He stood before the command console, his gaze sweeping over the chilling red numbers representing ammunition reserves, his voice as low as a sigh: "Bring out... the last 125mm heavy artillery. This is one of the few pieces of heavy firepower we have left... that can barely reach the Zombie Tide." He paused, a flash of determination in his eyes, yet accompanied by an indescribable sense of powerlessness, "If... if Kyoto's support hasn't arrived by the time the next wave of the Zombie Tide surges... we will have no choice but to..." He swallowed hard, as if saying these words required immense courage, "...let the zombies get within five kilometers and use tank cannons... or even... use armored vehicles and infantry for hand-to-hand combat. Once they charge to the base of the city walls... all that will be left are light and heavy machine guns and bodies of flesh and blood..." He recalled the heavy equipment abandoned during the hasty retreat from the provincial capital, Xinzheng, and his heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife. Yuzhou's heavy firepower had never been abundant, and now it was stretched even thinner.

Kyoto Base Command Room

In the strategic command center deep underground at Kyoto Base, huge screens were transmitting real-time drone footage from over Luocheng. The footage clearly locked onto the Luocheng TV Tower area. The Corpse King—the "Winged Bat King," with huge bat wings on its back and wrapped in eerie black mist—was still circling and roaring at low altitude around the TV Tower like a sentinel from hell. Each diffusion of its sound waves seemed to urge the million-strong Zombie Tide below to rush even more frantically toward Xingyang.

The atmosphere in the command room was grim. Senior officers and operational staff officers gathered around the massive electronic sand table, the sounds of argument rising and falling.

A young, capable lieutenant colonel staff officer pointed at the Winged Bat King on the screen, speaking rapidly: "Commander Qin! Drone real-time imagery confirms the Corpse King's coordinates are stable in the airspace around the Luocheng TV Tower! I suggest we immediately dispatch the Weilong-1 supersonic stealth fighter! Carry four 'divine eagle-23' anti-ship missiles! Utilize the fighter's own powerful electro-optical/infrared detection system and laser designation pod to approach within 20 kilometers of the TV Tower for laser-guided targeting! The 'divine eagle-23' has a terminal speed of up to Mach 10 and a CEP (Circular Error Probable) of less than 5 meters! It is sufficient to execute a precision decapitation strike on the Corpse King!"