The three weapon production lines within the base and the small underground arms factory are designated as off-limits areas, and the personnel responsible for internal operations, transportation, and guarding are all carefully selected core soldiers under the command of Yan Wei Guo.
With no farmland or pasture work, most of the idle personnel within the base have no work to do. Han Ya waved his hand and ordered all personnel without clear jobs to join the construction of the perimeter outside the base.
The current boundaries inside and outside the base are still the walls built after they decided to station here. Although the number of personnel in the base has slowly increased, even if the survivors brought back by the small teams that went out to collect supplies are added, there are less than 7,000 people in the entire base. If they live normally, the space inside the walls is enough. However, whether it is the weapon production equipment still idle in the Wenle Space or heavy equipment such as tanks and fighter planes exchanged by the military district this time, they all require the expansion of the base.
Apart from soldiers with assigned tasks such as weapon production and patrolling outside the perimeter, the remaining soldiers are few. Under the orders of Yan Wei Guo, Bai Yang and Li Ran began to recruit new soldiers within the base. The recruits are men between the ages of 16 and 35 who are healthy and have excellent physical fitness. As for middle-aged people between the ages of 35 and 50 who still have abundant physical strength and women with excellent physical strength, they are divided into the main force for base construction.
Both the survivors who joined later and the original Tibetan residents understood that although the location of the base seemed like a paradise on earth, unless everyone had the ability to encircle the entire Tibetan region with walls, someday the zombies would not spare this place. So when they heard about the recruitment of new soldiers, everyone within the age range actively signed up and tried to join the army after passing the physical fitness test. There was still plenty of time for training before the zombie invasion. Those who had undergone training would undoubtedly have better survival skills than those who had not.
Therefore, joining the army was not only to contribute to the base but also to increase one’s own survival ability.
After this recruitment, the army was completely expanded to 4,000 people, not including soldiers with tasks. Therefore, the number of military personnel in the entire base far exceeded that of civilians.
After four days of reorganization, Bai Yang shuffled and reorganized the new and old soldiers, with the old soldiers leading the new ones, and began daily training on the grassland outside the base.
The newly expanded perimeter of the base was mainly measured and cleared of weeds by civilians, and the land was leveled. When it was almost leveled, the soldiers who trained outside the base every day would take turns to become the main force in construction.
This time, Lu Jianye and Ren Cheng were still in charge of the base expansion and construction. After discussing with Xiao Wen, they finally determined to use the current location of the base as the center and expand outward in a circular shape again, positioning the existing base as the inner city and defining the new area as the second ring road
In the previous construction, the radius of the inner city wall was one kilometer, and this time, the radius of the second ring road wall was set at three kilometers.
This area could be completed before the arrival of winter and ensure that the current number of personnel in the base could defend the entire base in case of accidents.
If it was any larger, the personnel in the base would not be able to handle it.
The construction of the second ring area is mainly for military purposes. In addition to soldier dormitories and infantry training grounds, there will also be training grounds for tank and armored units, as well as a small airport.
Although the tanks and other equipment received in the exchange are not enough for a full armored division, they can barely form a semi-armored company with the addition of armored vehicles. However, such heavy equipment will continue to be added in the future, and if not prepared in advance, there may not be enough space to store and use them.
Putting aside whether the military district will come again to exchange supplies, even if they do not, when the production of several weapon production lines in the base reaches a certain level of reserve, the production of tanks and armored vehicles will be put on the agenda.
I don’t know why the First Arsenal had production lines for tanks and armored vehicles in the beginning. Generally speaking, these two items, like fighter planes, belong to separate categories of production. Although there is only one production line for each, it just happened to be cheap for them.
As for fighter production, even if Xiao Wen and the others were arrogant, they did not believe that they could produce them without sufficient technology.
However, agricultural production such as farming and food supplies were not included this time. Initially, before the base was constructed, everyone wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible in every aspect in the future, but it is not necessary at present. Even if Wen Le’s previously stored food is consumed, the rate of growth of food and vegetables in the space is enough to feed everyone, not to mention the breeding speed of livestock.
When the number of base personnel increases again, enough to support the construction and defense of the Third Ring City, the agricultural production will become the main focus, and other materials will become supplementary, making it a food supply reserve area. However, this is all a story for later, for now, it is just a rough idea.
Wen Le stood on the inner city wall and looked outwards. As far as the eye could see, it was no longer an endless grassland, and the walls of the second ring road were rising from the ground in the distance.
The construction this time was still building the walls first, then the interior. After more than half a month, the foundation of thesecond ring road wall was completed, and many sections had already built walls over one meter high. After the wall is completed, it will still be three meters high, but the thickness will be increased to three meters. However, the interior will no longer be a solid cement structure but rather a small space reserved at intervals on the wall facing the outside, providing an attacking opening. Some details have also been adjusted based on the suggestions of Bai Yang and others. Even the walls in all four directions of the city are expected to be able to allow tanks and armored vehicles to climb onto the walls from inside the base without opening the base gate and then descending to the outside of the base on a slope.
However, both the inside and outside slopes are movable and portable to prevent zombies from climbing in before the tanks have gone out.
“The design of the wall this time is entirely based on the militarization of increasing defense and firepower output. We have fully adopted the suggestions of Captain Bai and others under the premise of being able to construct them,” said Lu Jianye, accompanying Wen Le on the inner city wall.
Wen Le nodded. “In the future, they will still have to defend this wall. As long as it is strong enough, they can come as they please.”
“Should we go see the outer perimeter?” Lu Jianye asked.
Wen Le shook her head and said, “No need, I went for a tour yesterday evening, and the progress is good. Can it be completed before winter?”
“If the winter in the Tibetan area is similar to that in the Central Plains, then the construction of both the city walls and the second ring road can be completed before winter. I’m afraid that if winter comes early this year, we may not have enough time. After all, prolonged cold weather is not conducive to construction.”
“Did you ask the local Tibetans about when winter started last year?” Wen Le asked.
Liu Jianye nodded, “Yes, I did. However, summer came early this year, and the temperature was extremely high. So, I’m worried that winter may also come early this year, and the temperature will drop very low.”
Wen Le pursed his lips. Liu Jianye’s worries might come true because now we cannot make predictions based on pre-apocalypse norms.
“If winter comes early, then we’ll stop the construction. I’ll let Xiao Wen and the others know when I get back. The construction deadline will be set to the first heavy snow. Even if it is completed, the army cannot move into the second ring road if the temperature is too low. Moreover, after the heavy snow, we don’t have to worry about the zombies in the Central Plains. Low temperatures will affect their movement, so at least the base will be safe this winter.”
Liu Jianye looked at the sky and then at the busy construction workers in the distance. Hopefully, they’ll have enough time because if they finish building before winter, the army can move in and use it directly in the spring.
“By the way, do you have enough materials for the base construction?”
Liu Jianye thought for a moment and then opened the folder he was holding under his arm, saying as he flipped through it, “I’ve looked at those materials, and I’ve calculated that, according to our previous plan, they are just enough to build the second ring road. However, materials such as cement and bricks will be used up after this construction. The other materials may have more or less remaining.”
Wen Le sighed inwardly. The construction materials collected during the sweep in X City and the building materials gathered by various teams later have all been handed over to Liu Jianye. After the second ring road is completed, building materials may be scarce. Of course, glass must be excluded from the scarce materials. Remembering the various glass items still piled up in the space, Wen Le didn’t know where to put them other than throwing them away.
“By the way, since it’s uncertain whether we can finish the construction before the heavy snowfall, why don’t we allocate some manpower to build the roofs of the inner city like those of the traditional courtyard houses. During the hottest time this summer, people can only move around in the buildings with air conditioning or in the courtyard, so when the roofs of the inner city are all finished, the winter activities in the base will not be greatly affected.”
Liu Jianye turned his head to look at Wen Le, hesitating a bit. “Actually, our winter activities are minimal. If it’s just for activities, we can build some closed corridors connecting the buildings first, which will also increase our activity area. There’s no need to spend a lot of manpower and resources building roofs over the entire inner city.”
Wen Le shook his head. “We’ve wasted most of the time this summer due to the weather, and although we can endure the heat with air conditioning and ice, it’s not so easy to cope with the cold. If frostbite and colds sweep through the entire base, it will be uncontrollable. Although we have plenty of medicine, we don’t have the ability to produce it ourselves. Even if we use Chinese medicine, planting still takes time. Moreover, I plan to go out and collect some machinery and equipment so that when winter comes and we can’t go out, we can still produce things with the entire base personnel. Apart from clothing and bedding, which are consumables, the consumption of hygiene products such as soap and toothpaste among our 7,000-plus people is also alarming. My reserves alone won’t last long.”
After listening to Wen Le’s words, Liu Jianye had nothing to say. Although the survivors have everything they need in terms of food in the apocalypse, various small items are also indispensable for maintaining the operation of the entire base and people’s lives.
“Then I’ll arrange it now. The existing buildings in the inner city have different heights, and we also need to consider the load-bearing capacity of the roofs after winter snowfall, as well as other factors like hail. The design and calculation will also take some time.”
“It’s not just snow, but also hail that needs to be considered. I still have a lot of tempered glass left, which should be enough to support the construction of the roofs in the inner city. Apart from the glass, I have nothing left from the building materials I gave you before.”
Liu Jianye smiled, “Okay, got it. If it’s really not possible, we’ll slow down the construction of the second ring road and focus on the inner city first. Also, because it’s winter, the reflective panels can wait until before next summer to be installed. If we want to ensure the activities in the entire inner city, we may need to build some heating equipment outside the buildings that can heat up and warm up.”
“‘Alright, you go ahead. I’ll put the glass on the empty ground in the inner city isolation zone later. By the way, make a rough list for me before I leave. I’ll try to collect some building materials on the way out. After the second ring road is completed, we still have the third ring road to deal with!” As he spoke, Wen Le and Liu Jianye descended from the city wall together.
Liu Jianye laughed and waved to Wen Le before running towards the city wall under construction in the second ring. In the base, a few professional designers and experienced builders selected by him and Ren Cheng were assigned to the construction department, and they were currently supervising the construction at the city wall. Since the inner city was going to have a roof, everyone has been busy these days.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the update! 🤗🤗