End of the World

"I'm very happy that everyone did not desert and gathered on time!" After counting the number of people, the second battalion commander White was very satisfied. While other battalions had soldiers who went out and did not return, his battalion did not.

"As a soldier, the first thing you must do is not to be afraid of fighting. You have done a great job. Now let's talk about our main tasks!" White's face turned serious.

All the soldiers of the Second Battalion straightened their backs and listened carefully to the content of the mission. Now they had a bit of the demeanor of a soldier.

"Everyone heard the artillery fire today. The artillery is clearing the way for us. Tomorrow we will set off on the Army Aviation transport helicopter. Setting off with us is the Sixth Battalion of the shelter!" Taking into account that the new regiment had no combat experience, the shelter temporarily changed the plan to have the Sixth Battalion take the lead. In fact, the Sixth Battalion's mission was only to clear the landing site, and the main task was still the responsibility of the new regiment.

The operation was called the "Air Force Base Plan," and the military top brass planned to retake the lost southeast airport, where air force equipment and a large amount of supplies were located.

Southeast Airport, also known as Nanhu Air Force Base, is located in the southern suburbs of Dongzhou, close to Nanchong Lake Reservoir. Nanhu Air Force Base fell a week after the disaster, and the defenders suffered heavy losses. Some air force fighters were transferred to the base in the north. In the early days, the shelter wanted to gather troops to retake the base, but a large number of zombies besieged the shelter, causing the plan to be postponed again and again. Now the shelter has restarted the plan.

The main task of the new regiment is to reach the airport and clean up the remaining zombies in the airport. Due to concerns about destroying the airport facilities, artillery fire intentionally avoided the airport. According to reconnaissance by the Army Aviation helicopter, there are at least nearly 20,000 zombies in the hangar and runway. This will be a tough battle.

According to the plan, the Second Battalion of the New Fourth Regiment where Wu Bin was located was the third batch of troops to depart. Their goal was to clear some warehouses on the south side of the airport. The first phase of the battle would basically be the responsibility of the New Regiment. The shelter would send troops including the Sixth and Seventh Battalions to assist. Although it was called assistance, Wu Bin felt that it was more like supervising the battle.

While the difficult battle to attack the air force base is underway, the Shelter Tank Battalion will escort two more infantry regiments from the ground to the air force base. Therefore, after taking the air force base, the new regiment must hold out until the arrival of reinforcements. At that time, the troops holding out at the air force base will receive all firepower support including the missile battalion.

"Go back and have a good rest tonight. It will be our turn to go out tomorrow at noon!" White finally said loudly to everyone.

"Yes!" Everyone from the Second Battalion of the New Fourth Regiment answered loudly.

The artillery fire of the shelter subsided around eight o'clock in the evening. The artillerymen were a little exhausted from firing for a long time, but their hard work paid off greatly. The artillery fire eliminated most of the zombies around Nanhu Air Force Base and created favorable conditions for conquering the base.

At four o'clock in the morning, the helicopter landing field of the Army Aviation was brightly lit, and ground crews were busy checking and refueling the aircraft. They had to be ready for takeoff before the first ray of sunlight rose.

The first batch of troops to be dispatched all got up early. The troops of the New 1st Regiment were in the same batch as the 1st and 2nd Companies of the 6th Battalion. The troops of the 6th Battalion were dispatched first. They had to open up a landing site so that the Army Aviation transport helicopter carrying the troops could land.

Before the sun rose completely, the military camp became bustling with activity, and everyone felt a sense of nervousness and uneasiness before the great war.

The Army Aviation's armed helicopter took off first and flew to Nanhu Air Force Base to ensure the safety of the air route.

As the advance force, the New 1st Regiment began to board the plane nervously. It was obviously unrealistic to transport more than 900 people in the regiment at once, not to mention the two companies of the 6th Battalion. The Army Aviation was unable to provide so much transportation capacity for the time being.

The scene of dozens of transport helicopters taking off was truly spectacular. The people in the tent area looked up at the sky, knowing that there would be a major operation in the shelter. Those who had relatives and friends in the army prayed for them.

The New Fourth Regiment where Wu Bin and his two companions were located got up as usual. After breakfast, they all gathered together to distribute ammunition. It was expected that it would be their turn to board the plane around noon.

Time passed slowly in the tense atmosphere of the crowd. Even the two calm battalion commanders could not help but go back and forth to the regiment headquarters several times to get the latest situation.

The vanguard of the Sixth Battalion successfully arrived at the Nanhu Air Force Base. They chose an open space where zombies were not so concentrated for tactical rope descent and successfully cleared an area. The New 1st Regiment behind them had no experience in rope descent and could only use airdrop, which took a lot of time. The huge noise generated by the transport helicopter engine attracted a large number of zombies. The First and Second Companies of the Sixth Battalion paid a certain price to hold the defense line.

The New 1st Regiment, which had landed successfully, immediately joined the battle. The addition of fresh troops reduced a lot of pressure on the 6th Battalion, and with the support of armed helicopters, they stabilized the front.

The first batch of helicopters returned to the shelter, and the 1st Battalion of the New 4th Regiment and the supplies set off as the second batch. Watching the 1st Battalion leave, the people of the 2nd Battalion became more nervous. The waiting was the most torturous. The commander of the 2nd Battalion suppressed everyone's restlessness. He could understand everyone's feelings about going to the battlefield for the first time.

"The Second Battalion of the New Fourth Regiment, get ready, and the remaining troops of the Sixth Battalion, get ready!" A hoarse voice came from the radio. Many people breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the shout. No one could stand that atmosphere.

Second Battalion Commander White led the team to the helicopter landing pad and organized everyone to board the plane in an orderly manner. Every member of the firepower group must be on the same flight.

Wu Bin and the other two looked at each other, nodded, and clenched their fists at the same time. It would not be easy to come back from there, so they should be prepared to fight for the ones they loved the most!

The three of them boarded the same transport helicopter. Wu Bin looked inside the helicopter. It was the same as what he saw in the movies. He never expected that the first time in his life would be to ride in a transport helicopter, and as a soldier. He wondered if he would have the chance to appreciate the feeling of riding on an airplane for the first time in the future.

Helicopters that completed the boarding procedures took off one after another. The shelter was about half an hour's flight away from Nanhu Air Force Base.

When the Second Battalion of the New Fourth Regiment was about to set off as the third batch of troops, the gate of the shelter slowly opened. The tank battalion escorted the two regiments of troops towards the Nanhu Air Force Base. It was estimated that they would spend seven or eight hours on the road. It should not be difficult for the troops composed of four new regiments plus the Sixth and Seventh Battalions to hold the defense line, and they should be able to hold out until the arrival of the tank battalion.

The battle went smoothly. The vanguard troops successfully established a stronghold at the airport and cooperated with the armed helicopters to repel several attacks by the zombies. The first batch of support armed helicopters returned to replenish ammunition, and the second batch of armed helicopters will follow the third batch of transport helicopters.

As we approached the outskirts of Nanhu Air Force Base, the atmosphere inside the plane became more tense and depressing. Everyone held their breath, beads of sweat appeared on everyone's forehead. The cabin was quiet and eerie, with only the sound of the helicopter engine echoing in the cabin.

When the helicopter arrived at the landing site, the pilot saw a group of zombies gathered below, but no ground troops.

"Where are the troops?" The pilot was very sure that they did not fly to the wrong place, but there were no troops on the ground now, only a large group of zombies.

"Report to the command center!" The navigator flew around the landing point and said to the co-pilot. The co-pilot nodded and switched the communication channel.

The pilots of the helicopter that came later were bewildered. According to the plan, they should have been able to land directly, so they deliberately lengthened the take-off time interval. But now the helicopters in front were still in the sky and had no way to land.

"We can't go on like this!" The pilot became anxious when he saw more and more helicopters arriving. All plans were disrupted.

"The command center is in contact with the ground!" the co-pilot replied. Since the Army Aviation had not established communications with the ground forces, it was unable to contact the ground directly.

"How could this happen!" The pilot in command was distressed. If there was no way to land, they could only cancel the landing plan.

"Notify the base, ask subsequent aircraft to hold off and ask aircraft that have already taken off to slow down!" said the pilot in command.

Wu Bin's crew soon received instructions from the base to maintain altitude and keep circling outside Nanhu Air Force Base.

Everyone in the cabin noticed something was wrong. The helicopter suddenly slowed down and seemed to be circling.

"What's going on?" Someone in the cabin couldn't help but ask, but no one could answer.

"Maybe something happened?" Some people speculated, but most people kept silent. They were not familiar with each other and had no desire to talk.

The forward pilot was still trying to find any trace of the ground forces.

"Whoosh!" A red flare rose from the warehouse on the west side of the base. The helicopter in the sky immediately noticed it and flew closer to see several figures standing on the roof of the warehouse.

When the people on the roof of the warehouse saw the helicopter flying over, they immediately took out a searchlight and pointed it at the cockpit. The other people were alert to their surroundings, as if they were worried about being ambushed.

"What are they doing?" The pilot in command was puzzled by their reaction.

"They are communicating with us using lights!" The co-pilot saw people on the roof of the warehouse shining lights at the helicopter in a very regular pattern of flashing lights.

"Leave quickly... there are... there are... moth... insects here!" the pilot of the lead plane repeated, and then his face changed drastically.

"All aircraft immediately withdraw from the air base!" The navigator shouted into the communicator, then stepped on the throttle to increase altitude.

However, it was still a step too late. The loud roar of the engines of the five transport helicopters near the landing point attracted the attention of the corpse moths lurking nearby. They swarmed towards the helicopters. The transport helicopters were not armed helicopters. They were huge in size and not flexible in flying. Their speed and altitude could not be increased immediately.

Seeing the corpse moth flying towards them, the five transport helicopters were like frightened birds and immediately scattered, but they were unable to react due to the weight of the insect.

The corpse moths flew to the nearest transport helicopter and rammed the fuselage frantically. Some unlucky ones were directly smashed into pieces by the propeller on top. However, the tail rotor of the helicopter was not that strong. Two corpse moths attacked the tail rotor of the poor helicopter. Although they were beaten to a bloody mess, they also successfully damaged it.

"Help! Unit 8's tail rotor was hit and is out of service!"

The pilot of the helicopter tried hard to stabilize the aircraft, but the failure of the tail rotor made all this in vain. The aircraft inevitably spun in the air and could not even maintain its flying direction.

Plane No. 8 ultimately did not escape the fate of crashing and landed near the Nanchong Lake Reservoir not far from the Nanhu Air Force Base.