Chapter 553: Preparing for Battle

Xia Qing also stood up, her voice ringing with conviction. "I'm the same. I will never give up my territory."

Once the six members of the Territory Alliance reached a consensus, Xia Qing began laying out the territory defense plan. "Brother Yue, from this moment on, you are the commander of this territory defense mission for our alliance. All alliance members will follow your command. For each territory's farmland and housing, defend them if you can; if you can't hold them, abandon them. As long as the people are alive, everything can be rebuilt. While ensuring everyone's safety, you may take swift, accurate, and ruthless counterstrikes. Let everyone know: invading our territory is a dead end."

Before retiring from Yuehai Camp, Yue Haiying had been a squad leader commanding five main combat squads to carry out dangerous missions in the Evolution Forest. He had rich command experience and was better suited than Xia Qing to serve as commander for this territory defense mission.

"Understood." Yue Haiying accepted the mission, his face grim with killing intent.

"Each territory, report the number of people who can take part in this defense mission, their abilities, and their weapons and equipment."

Xia Qing spoke first. "Besides slingshots and knives, I have two guns, one shoulder-fired light grenade launcher, and 120 grenades."

After saying this, Xia Qing took out three wooden boxes, one large and two small, and a plastic bag from the backpack beside her. "Inside are the grenade launcher, 30 shells, and 70 grenades. Brother Yue, hand these over to you for unified deployment. This bag contains the filter cartridges for the Level-3 protective masks Third Brother provided us. The Fierce Flame people like to use poison. From tonight until noon tomorrow, no matter when, you must not take off your protective masks."

How do you eat while wearing a protective mask? Drink nutrient solution!

Yue Haiying disagreed with Xia Qing handing over her weapons to support other territories. "Your territory has the heaviest defense burden. Keep the grenade launcher."

If the Fierce Flame Squad strikes during the chaos, their target is most likely Xia Qing. Because among the alliance members, the person Fierce Flame hates most is Xia Qing. They won't just rob her supplies; they'll take her life.

Xia Qing shook her head. "Since I got the grenade launcher, I've only test-fired it once. I'm not skilled with it. Only in your hands can it truly perform."

The squad Yue Haiying once led was equipped with heavy weapons. Although Yue Haiying himself only has one usable arm, there must be someone in Territory Fifteen who can operate the grenade launcher.

Only then did Yue Haiying nod.

Zhao Ze, seeing the weapons Xia Qing had brought out, said with great embarrassment, "I have three homemade muskets, 35 rounds of ammunition, two chainsaws, and over twenty machetes."

Kuang Qingwei took over. "I have five homemade muskets, 74 rounds of ammunition, six chainsaws, and over thirty machetes."

Qi Fu's equipment was similar to Kuang Qingwei's. Territory Ten had few people, but plenty of weapons. Shi Zhong reported the count. "We have one handgun, two homemade muskets, over 60 rounds of ammunition, two chainsaws, and five machetes."

Finally, Yue Haiying reported Territory Fifteen's weapons. "We have three handguns and over 180 rounds of ammunition. I'll go out today and bring back two more guns and a box of landmines. Combined with the grenades Xia Qing brought out, we'll distribute them to everyone. Now, each territory reports the number of people who have used guns and grenades. Pay attention — they must be people you can trust. Otherwise, these weapons won't kill the enemy; they'll only take your own lives."

Half an hour later, the territory defense plan deployment was complete. Territories Four and Six, which had the weakest defense capabilities, were each assigned a "sniper" from Territory Fifteen. Hu Ningsheng carried the grenade launcher, ready at any moment to reinforce any territory in crisis.

Of course, external support was only supplementary. Each territory's defense had to rely on the people within the territory itself.

Finally, Xia Qing gave everyone one more reassurance. "During the territory defense period, take good personal protection. Even if your arms or legs get chopped off, you get shot, or even your guts spill out, don't give up. As long as you cling to your last breath, Third Brother can pull you back from the gates of hell. The rice seeds Fierce Flame compensated us with have already reached Captain Yang's hands. Half a mu of Yellow Lantern rice per mu of crops. Once we finish this battle, we'll collect the seeds and start raising seedlings."

When leaving Territory Five and heading back, Zhao Ze glanced at Xia Qing several times. As they neared the north gate of Territory Four, he finally spoke up. "Xia Qing, why don't you go to Territory Seven tonight? Anyway, you don't have much planted in your territory. If they destroy it, they destroy it. In March, we'll help you put the greenhouse frames back up. Like you said, life is what matters most. After enduring for ten years, life finally has hope. We absolutely must survive."

If there was one person among the Territory Lord Alliance members that Zhao Ze least wanted to see harmed, it was his good neighbor Xia Qing. If something happened to Xia Qing, the alliance would fall apart.

Xia Qing knew Zhao Ze meant well. She gave a slight smile. "Don't worry, Brother Zhao. Captain Hu and the others will be inside my territory, so my territory's defense force is the strongest."

Zhao Ze said quietly, "If Territory One comes under attack and an emergency arises, they'll definitely be called back."

Xia Qing understood what Zhao Ze meant. She didn't mention that Hu Zifeng's squad had taken on the mission of protecting Territory Three, and only replied softly, "If they get recalled, I'll go to Territory Seven."

Hearing Xia Qing say that, Zhao Ze felt reassured and returned to Territory Four, actively preparing according to Yue Haiying's deployment.

Xia Qing also returned to her territory to prepare. Based on the beast tide's advance speed, it would pass through the Evolution Forest between the northern District One and District Two territories tomorrow afternoon and evening. The lurking enemies were very likely to act around then.

It was almost dark. She still had half a day and one night to prepare.

Walking into her courtyard, seeing the light shining through the window and the sick wolf standing in the yard to welcome her, Xia Qing felt a warm glow in her heart.

Bringing the sick wolf back inside, Xia Qing took off her protective mask, greeted Sheep Boss who was generating electricity, washed her hands, and began making dinner.

The family of three still ate an all-green-light diet.

After dinner, Xia Qing discussed with her two companions. "Tomorrow afternoon and evening, people might invade our territory. Boss protects the food in our underground storage room, Lao Er guards the territory with me. How about it?"

Although Sheep Boss was very strong, it wasn't an aggressive beast and could only butt people with its head. Facing invaders directly would be very dangerous. So Xia Qing planned to feed it some medicine tomorrow noon to make it sleep in the underground food storage room.

The two underground food storage rooms were built of brick and cement. The interior wall panels were exchanged by Xia Qing at great cost from Zhang San. Even if invaders used shells to blow her house down, the storage rooms would remain intact. Not just Sheep Boss, but the Green Light chickens, spring water fish, yellow mealworms, and rabbits all had to stay in the storage rooms.

After this period of recuperation, the sick wolf's condition had improved greatly compared to before, and its combat ability had somewhat recovered. Tomorrow night, Xia Qing would rely on its excellent vision, hearing, and sense of smell to accurately pinpoint the invaders' locations.

The sick wolf's task was to judge the invaders' positions. Eliminating the invaders was the territory lord Xia Qing's task.