When Wang Bin heard this, he immediately understood. No wonder there were so few people left after four or five years; they had all been relocated.
For humanity to continue, survivors must be gathered together, and human settlements are the hope for mankind.
"Oh, Platoon Leader Liu, can you tell me about the situation in the human settlements?"
"No problem, we can talk as we walk. Currently, there are five major settlements in our country: two along the coast, one in Shangjing, another in the Central Plains, and one more on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau."
"These places seem to be the locations of the five major military regions, right?"
"You're quite sharp, you got it right away."
"Oh, so how do you get civilians to Fuzhou?"
"Every year, a unit from the settlement is dispatched to pick up civilians by car."
"Do the settlements have gasoline?"
"Yes, not only gasoline but also electric lights. Basically, everything that existed before the apocalypse is there, though some resources are restricted and not available to ordinary civilians."
"Don't you have vehicles?"
"We do, but extracting gasoline is very difficult, and during transport, we often face zombie attacks, so we don't have much gasoline here and won't use it unless absolutely necessary."
"I see!"
"Some civilians, upon learning that Fuzhou is a settlement, sneak over there. But let me tell you, you absolutely must not go there alone with your people. There are countless zombies along the way, and without military escort, it's a death sentence!"
"Understood, thank you for the warning!"
"You're welcome!"
Wang Bin and Platoon Leader Liu chatted as they walked, and Wang Bin gathered a lot of useful information from him. It seemed that as long as they reached Fuzhou, they would be safe.
After all, there was an army group defending it, so no matter how many zombies there were, they wouldn't be afraid.
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They had only walked halfway when the base sent a company to meet them. When the civilians saw the troops coming to pick them up, they rushed into the soldiers' arms, crying with relief.
"Folks, you're safe with us now. Hurry and follow us back to the base!"
Company Commander Li shouted, and the soldiers began leading the civilians towards the base.
Once the civilians started moving, he found Platoon Leader Liu and asked, "Where is your Company Commander Zhao?"
Platoon Leader Liu's eyes reddened, and he started to cry.
"Why are you crying? Quickly tell me what happened. Who is he?" Company Commander Li noticed Wang Bin standing beside Platoon Leader Liu and, seeing that they seemed to have a good relationship, asked.
"Oh, his name is Wang Bin. Without him, we would've been killed by zombies long ago!"
"Comrade, hello, hello, I'm Li Aiguo. On behalf of the 89th Division, I thank you for your help!" Company Commander Li was very excited, shaking Wang Bin's hand vigorously.
"You're welcome. I was saving myself too. If we hadn't helped, we wouldn't have survived either!"
"We?"
"Yes, on the way here, I met many great friends, and we formed a team. We've weathered storms together to make it this far!" As Wang Bin spoke, he turned and pointed to Guan Xiaoyue, Officer Miao, and the others following behind him.
"Well done! Platoon Leader Liu, quickly tell me about Company Commander Zhao. Rest assured, I'm prepared for anything, just like him, ready to sacrifice for our country!"
Hearing Company Commander Li's words, Wang Bin admired him greatly. He was a true soldier.
"Company Commander Zhao, along with our first and second platoons, have all sacrificed themselves!" Platoon Leader Liu choked out.
"How could the casualties be so severe? Quickly tell me the details!" Company Commander Li gasped, knowing that there would be casualties whenever they went out, but he hadn't expected them to be this severe.
Platoon Leader Liu then recounted the events in detail, and Wang Bin and the others listened to what had happened before.
"It seems the zombies are becoming more dangerous. You need to return with me quickly to report this to the division commander! Comrade Wang Bin, follow the main force slowly; Platoon Leader Liu and I will go ahead!"
"Alright, take care!"
Company Commander Li sensed the urgency of the situation and hurriedly took Platoon Leader Liu back to the base.
Watching Company Commander Li and Platoon Leader Liu run ahead, Wang Bin admired Company Commander Li's decisiveness.
Wang Bin approached Officer Miao and the others, sharing the information he had gathered from Platoon Leader Liu. Everyone was excited to hear that they would be safe once they reached Fuzhou, but Wang Bin poured cold water on their enthusiasm.
"The next time the base sends vehicles to transport people is in half a year, and supposedly, they can only transport 30,000 people at a time. This means we might have to stay here for a year and a half. Even though there's a division's worth of troops here, you've seen how the zombies are becoming more aggressive. I'm a bit worried whether the 89th Division can hold out that long!"
"Since we know where the settlement is, why don't we go ourselves?"
"Company Commander Li said it's ten thousand miles to Fuzhou, a long and dangerous journey. We can't act alone unless absolutely necessary. For now, we can only stay here and observe the situation before making any decisions!"
There was a plane in the system space, but it was too expensive for him to afford, and even if he could, he didn't know how to fly it. For now, they could only take it one step at a time.
Fortunately, there was a division's worth of troops here, making it difficult for zombies to break in, so everyone was safe for the time being.
Wang Bin shared these thoughts to remind everyone that they weren't completely safe and needed to remain vigilant.
Afterwards, Wang Bin and the others followed the main force to the base. The surrounding area was enclosed by walls to keep zombies out, but if faced with a large number of zombies, those walls could easily be toppled.
The base's defenses were decent, with trenches and many bunkers, and the walls had places for people to stand and shooting holes. He guessed the division commander's strategy was to concentrate the troops inside, likely due to insufficient manpower.
The civilians inside the base, hearing that more survivors had arrived, put down their work to come and see. Wang Bin looked over and saw a sea of people.
Seeing so many people, Wang Bin finally felt a sense of human society again.
Upon entering the base, everyone queued up to register. After registration, soldiers led them to the rest area.
In recent years, a few temporary buildings had been erected, but housing was still tight. The twelve of them were assigned to a ninety-square-meter house with only three rooms, so they had to squeeze several people into one room.
For those accustomed to living in the apocalypse, having such a clean and safe place to stay was already satisfying. As for the lack of beds, they could just sleep on the floor.