Doomsday Pillars

Chapter 290 - The Battalion

Dday #423

New Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Inside the command center of the Sydney military and government headquarter.

A soldier's transmission was heard over one of the radios as the soldiers that were tasked to watch and pay attention to the horde's movement reported their findings.

"The horde is on the move, sir. They are approaching the area just before the Iron Cove bridge!"

Not long after, another report came from the front line of scouts.

"The horde is coming, sir. They quickly approached Endeavor bridge!"

Two other similar reports echo simultaneously in the room as the other front line scouts, reporting the horde's movement as the massive horde split up and headed for the 4 bridges at once, intending to seize these important choke points.

An anxious voice of the Prime Minister could be heard in the room.

"Have the evacuation process finished? When will the citizens reach the second layer?"

One of the officials in the room quickly opened his mouth, "Evacuation is still in progress, sir. Unfortunately, the evacuation speed of residents outside the second layer was slowed down due to the panic caused by the zombies."

Colonel Angus quickly looked at the map on the table, and used the new intel to calculate the time they had before the zombie hordes could cross the distance between their assembly point and the border of second layer defense.

He slowly said his calculation to others in the room, "We only have a maximum of 45 mi-, no, 30 minutes at max before the hordes reach the border." Colonel Angus paused for a moment before he continued his words with a sigh "And the worst news is the evacuation is still ongoing."

Malcolm felt a lump in his throat, making him hard to breath when he heard the colonel's words.

Hands shaking, the stressed minister quickly spoke, "We need to do something, now!"

The other people in the room could only stand there dumbfounded, not having any ideas. Exasperated, frustrated, and depressed, all of these emotions swirled through Malcolm's minds as his eyes wandered across others in the room.

Finding nothing but the same expression he had plastered across their faces, Malcolm could only sigh helplessly and say. "As the wise old man said, drastic situations require drastic measure."

He then turned towards Colonel Angus. "Colonel, I grant you my permission to blow up the Iron Cove Bridge and the Canterbury Bridge, making only Endeavor Bridge to the south and Sydney Harbour bridge to the north our focal defense point."

Someone in the room interjected the minister's decision. "But, Mr Prime Minister, those are our proud bridges! The pride of our city!"

Irritated, Malcolm slammed his hand against the table again as he angrily turned his gaze towards the person who spoke earlier. "Then tell me your damn brilliant idea!"

"I-I…" The man quickly fell silent, shutting his mouth.

Seeing his reaction, Malcolm ignored him and turned to Colonel Angus again. Calming his rising heart rate, he then spoke. "We can then focus our defense on those two choke points with the Sydney Gate as our last and most important line of defense. As for troop arrangements, I will leave all of it to your judgment, Colonel. "

"I understand, sir. Then we will be going because we need to immediately arrange the defenses."

"Please protect our citizens, Colonel." Malcolm said seriously.

"We will do our best, sir." Colonel Angus nodded then brought his officers and quickly left the room

The meeting room was rather quiet as Colonel Angus and his officers left, leaving Malcolm, Arief, and government officials in the room. Malcolm shifted his gaze towards Arief as he watched the man closely.

"As for you Colonel Arief, I hope you can help us to set up the barrier that we get from the pillar."

Previously, Arief had explained the key element that might be a crucial factor for them to successfully defend the city. Since Arief and his team have cleared the 40th floor of the Doomsday Pillar, they can now access and use the Spirit Monolith as a means to further strengthen their defenses.

Arief nodded. "I would be glad to do it but I would need some manpower."

"Of course!" Malcolm hurriedly said. "Don't hesitate and just say it. My officials here will help you with whatever you need to make it happen. I'm counting on you, Colonel."

"Very well then .. If you say so, Mr. Malcolm." Arief then turned to the officials and said. "I will need 5 thousand civilians to mobilize and 50 thousand spirit stones now." He paused for a moment before saying, "I also need 5 hundred of your Earth realm fighters,"

Malcolm and his officers were stunned by Arief's request, one of the officers who was about to open his mouth when Malcolm swiftly waved his hand, silencing the man. "Yes, Colonel. You can have it. "He then turned to the officials who were still dumbfounded." Please cooperate with Colonel Arief to ensure the smooth running of the plan. "

Malcolm and the officials were stunned by Arief's request, one of the officials could not help but say. "Sorry, Colonel Arief. Is what I just heard was right? Can you repeat that again?" the man said carefully.

"That's what I said." Arief nodded with a faint smile, clearly not knowing how extraordinary his request was. That man had just asked for a tenth of Sydney citizens and a third of their spirit stone reserves! Excluding the request for 5 hundred Earth realm fighters. Malcolm and the others could only smile wryly.

The other officials just about to open his mouth when Malcolm swiftly waved his hand, silencing the man. "I understand, Colonel. You can have it." He then looked at the officials who were still dumbfounded. "Please cooperate with Colonel Arief to ensure the smooth running of the plan."

The officials could only helplessly nod at Malcolm's instructions. They then finished the meeting as they immediately left to do their task.

At that time, under Colonel Angus' direction, the 12 thousand Australian troops were separated into 12 battalions and deployed to various areas.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions are stationed on the Sydney Harbor bridge to guard the north side of the city. The 3rd and 4th Battalions are stationed on the Endeavor bridge at the south to guard against the zombie hordes there. The 5th to 10th Battalions were assigned to defend the 3 kilometer line of the Sydney Gate buffer zone. With the 11th Battalion assigned to assist Arief's work of setting up the barrier while the last 12th Battalion would guard the command center.

Tanks and armored fighting vehicles owned by the military are stationed at 3 important points, the Sydney Harbor bridge, the Endeavor bridge and the Sydney Gate. The battle then began immediately, with the Battle of Sydney Harbor bridge starting first.

Tank cannons, assault rifles, artillery, and other firearms aimed and fired at the oncoming zombie hordes. The shower of bullets accompanied by the occasional blasts of explosive rounds fired by tanks and artillery raining down on the swarming zombies, killing and injuring the zombies. 

Unfortunately, these weapons are only effective against the stage 1 and stage 2 zombies. Because on the other hand, there are at least ten black zombies in each wave of a thousand zombies.

The soldiers continued firing their guns and firearms from the rear, unleashing every ammunition they had while the Sky realm fighters were fighting against the stage 3 zombie at the front.

Tretetetetetete Boom! Boom! Tretetetetete Booomm!!

Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the air as the situation turned chaotic due to the unfinished evacuation. Dozens of unlucky civilians die every minute, either from stray bullets or the zombies themselves because they can't escape the war zone.

At one of the posts within a 3 kilometer line of the Sydney Gate.

"Keep firing!! Keep firing at the damn zombies!!"

One young soldier noticed something in the distance and reported to the captain, shouting "There are survivors three hundred meters ahead of us, sir!!"

"Stand your ground and ignore them! We must hold the line!!"

"Permission to let my unit to save the survivor, sir!"

"Permission denied! Get back to your position and keep firing!"

"Please, sir. I beg you!"

"No! Get back to your damn position! They are already a lost cause!"

The soldier then turned around and shouted, "I need volunteers to come with me and save the survivors!"

The captain was annoyed. "Soldier! How dare you disobey my order?!"

"I'm sorry, sir. You can do whatever you want to me when I'm done!" 

The young soldier then rushed into the war zone with few other soldiers accompanying him. Due to the soldiers reckless charge, the captain was forced to stop the barrage of bullets. 

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