Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Base Site Selection
The troops and survivors went out to eliminate zombies and gather resources. After issuing orders, Ye Fan did not follow along.
The radar screen already reflected everything in Chengguan Town.
There are still twenty thousand zombies here. With the current strength of the hundred-person team, they can wipe them out in two days. There is no need for him to be on the front line commanding.
Ye Fan stayed at the police station, discussing the construction of the base vehicle with four Engineers.
Engineer Luo Jiaxin proposed a plan.
"Officer, the preliminary materials for the base vehicle have been determined. We currently need a large amount of steel. Please prepare 500 tons each for us and give us a warehouse with a length of no less than 80 meters and a width of no less than 50 meters. This will facilitate our construction."
"Is such a large warehouse necessary?"
"Yes, we need internal workspace, and you should assign soldiers for guard duties, as well as deploy at least fifty warriors to help with some basic work, which can improve work efficiency."
"Okay, I understand. I’ll arrange it now."
Ye Fan indeed knew of such a warehouse, and it’s right in Chengguan Town.
It is the grain depot located in Chengguan Town, originally used for spreading out and cleaning grain. However, with the grain department’s downturn and downsizing, this grain depot was outsourced.
But the private owner later went bankrupt, disposed of all the grain, and disappeared, leaving only two gatekeepers, and the place was abandoned.
No good solution was found, and then the apocalypse broke out.
Given these circumstances, this warehouse becomes a ready-made production facility for the base vehicle.
As for steel, there are several factories nearby, which should likely meet the production requirements.
A thousand tons of steel, even if there is a lot of waste, suggests that the base vehicle will indeed be large.
He notified the troops preparing for battle that they must take control of the grain depot area today so that Engineers can start working.
Of course, many other things are needed, such as generators, lighting equipment, lathes, and other metals, so he instructed the troops to collect these as well.
In Chengguan Town, some small lathes can be found. They can be used temporarily to make detailed items. With larger troop numbers, he could hit a factory in the outskirts of Lingshui County.
He needs to assign personnel to the Engineers. This task is not suitable for survivors’ participation.
One company of people is clearly not enough for these tasks, and he needs to reinforce quickly.
After the Engineers presented their requirements, they estimated they could start work in the warehouse today.
The construction of the base vehicle is on track, and if everything goes smoothly, Ye Fan could see the vehicle in half a month, bringing along an important task.
And that is determining the location for the base construction.
On the wall of the station chief’s office, there is a large, detailed map of the province’s terrain.
Picking up a pen, Ye Fan began marking suitable spots on the map.
The troops couldn’t be stationed in Chengguan Town indefinitely, as it doesn’t meet Ye Fan’s requirements for establishing a base from all aspects.
The plan for base construction had been considered for a long time. Today, Ye Fan finally organized his thoughts, and aside from a plain, a nearby mining area would be ideal.
Whether from the jewelry collected from zombies, residents’ homes, or future ventures to jewelry stores or banks, these are temporary measures and can’t meet the development needs of the Red Alert System.
He already learned from Nana that in the future, tangible buildings, and items like tanks or planes, would be incredibly expensive.
An armored vehicle equipped with a driver and machine gunner costs 4,000 Gold, and a tank could cost over ten thousand.
If it were an Apocalypse, land combat king, perhaps even tens of thousands couldn’t secure one.
Physical buildings are also very expensive. He even asked Nana about this issue.
Nana’s answer was that tangible buildings are all very large, and the Red Alert System’s fees aren’t an unreasonable charge compared to normal construction. It’s much cheaper and the construction period is very short, but it’s still not cheap.
So while Ye Fan is finding ways to make money, mining is an important source of funds.
He’s in the northern region where there are mining areas, but not many.
Having mines is a choice, but a water source is also needed.
They’re currently using collected bottled water and barrel water, as the city’s water plants are unusable.
The water from reservoirs isn’t very clean, and he doesn’t yet have water purification equipment.
Choosing a location near a river’s flow is feasible, preferably upstream, where the river hasn’t flowed through cities to minimize pollution.
Another reason is to avoid being too remote.
Remote areas have fewer people and fewer zombies. Ye Fan’s troops need constant training and zombie kills to grow. He aims to build an elite corps of Three-star Soldiers, not a group of newborn No-Star Soldiers.
Meeting all these requirements is difficult, but after much consideration, Ye Fan finds only two places in the province to choose from: one near the Rakshasa border, with mines, plains, but fewer people.
The other is on the Jianghu Plain’s Kao Mountain Farm. There’s a gold mine nearby, though the gold reserves aren’t substantial.
The water of Star River flows through here, it’s at the upstream source area, and hasn’t passed through any cities.
It has mines, water, but also drawbacks.
This plain is at the junction of three cities.
To the south is Ice City, west is Coal City, and east is Huajiang City.
There are also several small scattered towns nearby, with quite a few zombies.
But weighing all options, Ye Fan thinks Kao Mountain Farm is preferable. Despite the number of zombies, the construction of walls makes it defensible.
"Strategic location, attack and defend, close to any city, let’s go with this!"
"Once the base vehicle is built, we will migrate. I should save some money in the coming days to first construct walls and defenses for the base there, then come back to relocate people."
It’s not feasible to bring a large group of survivors there and start immediately, as Red Alert walls and such require prior construction and can’t appear out of thin air, so he must go alone.
Ye Fan picked up the pen and marked a check on the map at Kao Mountain Farm, confirming the base construction site.
According to his budget, he must accumulate at least 100,000 units of Money before considering base construction, and even then, it might not be enough.
"Time is tight and the task is heavy. I wonder what gains today’s battle will bring to me?"
Listening to the gunfire echoing outside, the battle has been ongoing for several hours. The delivery trucks have returned five or six times, bringing back many supplies: food, gasoline, medicine, clothes, countless daily necessities, all piled into two newly developed apartments nearby, which have become temporary warehouses.
However, Gold hasn’t been delivered yet. Today, he should definitely advance to the Battalion Commander, but it depends on the amount of Gold.
Just as he was thinking, Nana suddenly reported: "Officer, a supply crate has been spotted on the map, located at the town government building."
"Oh! Immediately get it for me."
Ye Fan instantly perked up; a supply crate appeared. What good stuff could it contain?
Second platoon leader Shen Ruihui was dispatched, but ten minutes later, he requested Ye Fan to tap into his vision.
Ye Fan connected and was shocked by the scene in front of him.
The view was of the town government building, this was the first time Ye Fan saw its structure post-apocalypse.
Other buildings hadn’t changed much, but this one had collapsed.
It wasn’t a normal collapse; something had blasted it down!
The troops walked into the ruins, feeling the scorched ground beneath their feet.
After trudging for a bit, at the center of the ruins, he saw a huge crater.
The radar indicated that the supply crate was in the pit.
A green light point, yet there was also a scarlet light point overlapping with the green one.
"Why is there a pit here?"
"There’s even a Mutated Zombie here. I have a hunch, this might yield a big one!"