In the apocalypse, I hoarded goods and handed over my storage space to the government.

Zhang Qian's words, "Be prepared to accept reality," still echoed in the hall.

No one responded.

The oppressive atmosphere was like a waterlogged sponge, heavy and blocking everyone's airways.

Li Guodong took a deep breath and rubbed his face vigorously with both hands.

The commander has been keeping a low profile recently, and the entire burden of the Kunlun base rests on his shoulders.

He glanced at the generals on both sides of the long table and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Just sitting here arguing won't solve anything."

Li Guodong slammed his fingers on the table. "One meeting won't get us anywhere. I need concrete data."

All eyes turned to them.

"The General Staff is going to pull data."

Li Guodong pointed to the seemingly impressive global safe zone map,

"Don't try to fool me with the figures on paper."

"Draw up a cross-reference table showing the area of ​​the safe zone we claim to have captured, the actual troop coverage, the completion rate of engineering defenses, and the effective patrol radius of each patrol team."

The head of the staff immediately straightened his back and said loudly, "Yes, sir!"

"And the Supply Department."

Li Guodong turned to look at another empty seat.

"Qian Liye isn't here today?"

Inform him that he must attend the second meeting.

I want to know, if we completely occupy all those safe zones we've captured overseas, will our logistics be able to keep up?

That's all for today.

Li Guodong waved his hand, somewhat irritably tugging at his top button.

"Meeting adjourned. Let the data speak for itself in three days."

One by one, the people stood up, their faces growing increasingly grim.

No one whispered to each other; everyone hurried away from the hall.

Su Ran sat at the end of the long table, quietly watching the now empty meeting room.

He only stood up, supporting himself on the table with one hand, after the last person had left the door.

"Xiao Su."

Li Guodong called out to him from the seat of honor.

Su Ran stopped and turned to look.

Li Guodong pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and tossed it over.

"Have a cigarette with me."

Su Ran reached out and caught it, walked to the front row, pulled out a chair and sat down again.

Su Ran casually pushed the ashtray in the middle of the table over there.

Li Guodong looked exhausted, with bloodshot eyes.

"Xiao Su, what do you think?"

Li Guodong, with a cigarette between his fingers, stared at the sand table in mid-air.

Su Ran twirled the unlit cigarette in her hand.

He knew what Li Guodong wanted to ask.

When the entire territory of Great Xia was recovered, I was the first to stand up, defy public opinion, and forcefully push this national machine to embark on a global expedition.

The battle lines are now stretched too thin, and fires are breaking out everywhere in the rear. This strategic direction of "using war to sustain war" seems to be failing.

He had to tell Li Guodong the truth.

Before Su Ran could speak, Li Guodong's fingers, which were holding a cigarette, trembled slightly, and his voice became hoarse.

"Tell me, is there any chance we can really wipe out these beasts?"

Su Ran leaned back in her chair, staring at the burning cigarette butt.

There is no way out, nor should there be.

"no."

Su Ran looked into Li Guodong's eyes with unwavering resolve.

Li Guodong's hand holding the cigarette paused, and the ash fell onto the table in a flurry.

Su Ran did not evade the question and continued speaking.

"Those underground fissures, primeval forests, and even the city's sewers."

Even if we emptied the entire nuclear arsenal of the Great Xia, we still couldn't eradicate them.

As he watched the red light on the sand table dim, he understood what the Great Xia Dynasty truly needed.

"But I'm certain that sending the Great Xia's ten million-strong expeditionary force abroad to fight was absolutely the right thing to do."

Su Ran's tone was firm and unwavering, without any hesitation.

Li Guodong remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"If we don't fight our way out, the Great Xia mainland will be an isolated island."

By launching an offensive, we at least regained strategic depth and resource-rich mineral areas.

He put down the cigarette butt from his hand and tapped his finger on the sand table.

"No matter how big the mess outside is, it's better than being trapped at home."

Even if we're wallowing in the mud, at least we're still eliminating the mutated creatures' living force.

Li Guodong slowly lowered the cigarette from his hand.

The hesitation in his eyes faded, and his ruthlessness returned.

Su Ran's words struck a nerve.

"it is good."

Li Guodong stubbed out his cigarette butt in the ashtray.

"That makes sense, and we have preserved the main base of the Great Xia."

But the front lines can't afford to drag this out any longer.

The meeting in three days is going to be very difficult to hold.

……

three days later.

Second strategic summary meeting.

The hall was filled again, with all the bigwigs from various departments gathered.

Zhao Ming, the head of the intelligence department, stood on the stage, holding a laser pointer in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

"In the past three days, the number of incidents of out-of-control situations in overseas security zones has reached a new high."

From 72 cases previously, the number has surged to 149!

Zhao Ming speaks extremely fast.

"The African theater reported seventeen second-order insect swarms, and the Eastern European theater reported fifteen outbreaks of underground rodent populations."

The situation in the South Asian subcontinent was the most severe and dire, with some newly built defensive lines even being breached by herds of wild animals from within.

A commotion immediately broke out below.

Several theater commanders, their faces ashen, sat bolt upright.

"One hundred and forty-nine cases?"

Zhang Xiao slammed his hand on the conference table. "What are the frontline mopping-up troops doing?!"

"Quiet!"

Li Guodong gave a cold shout and continued to give orders without expression.

"Zhao Ming, continue."

Zhao Ming quickly switched the screen display.

"This is a cross-comparison table prepared by the General Staff."

The blue blocks representing the safe zone spread out on the screen, incredibly large, covering almost two-thirds of the blue planet.

"The area on paper, which is the area our army has pushed over, has increased by thirteen percent compared to last month."

Zhao Ming paused for a moment, his tone becoming extremely heavy.

"However, the actual troop coverage rate has fallen below the minimum safety threshold, reaching only 22%!"

The completion rate of the engineering defense is less than 30%!

In many areas, troops would win a battle and then leave, leaving behind defensive structures that couldn't even withstand a single attack from a second-tier beast horde.

He pointed to several glaring red circles.

"The effective patrol radius continues to shrink, and many so-called safe zones have become completely unguarded blind spots!"

The theater commanders' faces turned ashen, and no one uttered a word of rebuttal.

The facts speak for themselves.

The territory we conquered was too small to defend with our troops, and we couldn't afford to build fortifications.

Su Ran coldly stared at the fluctuating data.

This is the inevitable price of overexpansion.

The total number of troops in the Great Xia Dynasty is constant; the larger the territory, the sparser the troops can be.

Originally, a company would monitor ten kilometers, but now a squad has to monitor fifty kilometers.

This defense line is leaky on all sides.

The apparent victories were nothing but empty bubbles, easily burst with a single prick.