Shen Feng returned to the encampment and quickly fell asleep. He had to face the upcoming battles and couldn't spend his days worrying about Li Keyi's issues. As for Li Keyi, she was contemplating how to obtain the Corpse King's head from Shen Feng. Currently, only Shen Feng possessed a Corpse King's head. If she could get her hands on it, she could create ability-enhancing potions.
In the following days, the battle situation became extremely tense as the number of attacking zombies increased. Mutated zombies also joined the assault. Tank-like zombies, carrying stone slabs, were frequently seen charging the city walls. The stone slabs could block bullet attacks, but for such zombies, the defenders on the walls typically used artillery shells. Stone slabs that could block bullets could not block artillery shells.
The zombies also played feints with masterful skill. There were frequent decoy attacks. While one area was fiercely engaged, speed-type zombies in another area would seize the opportunity to advance. They actually managed to breach the city walls. Although they were shot dead afterward, being able to reach the city walls indicated a danger of the walls being breached. Once a spray-type zombie reached the city walls, it could spray acid to dissolve the marble. While it might not achieve this in a short time, prolonged exposure could create a gap in the walls.
During the war, the Corpse King's intelligence was fully unleashed. In the midst of battle, the Corpse King learned to control ordinary zombies to attack in a patterned manner. Especially when it discovered that the army on the city walls would rotate shifts, the Corpse King would control zombies to fiercely attack the walls, charging forward fearlessly even in the face of artillery fire.
During the battle, the most eye-catching zombies were the digging-type zombies. These mutated zombies had large upper bodies and small lower bodies, seemingly born for digging. These zombies excavated tunnels underground, attempting to enter Yanjing from below. Currently, the most difficult aspect for the zombies to breach was the city walls. Once they entered the city, it would inevitably cause immense chaos.
Fortunately, there were many detectors on the city walls, including instruments specifically designed to detect underground seismic waves. By analyzing the changes in seismic waves, they could infer whether zombies were digging tunnels. When the detectors sounded the alarm, headquarters instantly had a countermeasure: sonic weapons!
Sound travels very quickly through air, but it travels even faster through solid materials and can possess destructive power. By emitting sonic waves towards the tunnels, the digging-type zombies within the tunnels could be instantly killed by the vibrations. Even if they weren't killed, they could be deafened. Once deafened underground, the digging-type zombies would instantly lose their target.
If the sonic weapons proved ineffective, Yanjing could also use drilling tools to break through the tunnels and directly flood them with water, rendering the tunnels useless.
Since they couldn't tunnel into the city, the Corpse King devised a new plan: digging trenches to advance. Digging-type zombies were deployed to work on the surface, digging trenches every ten meters. The zombies would then advance within these trenches. The zombies intended to advance in this manner, and once they reached the city walls, the numerous zombies could quickly build ramps using their numbers, creating an opportunity to charge onto the walls.
It had to be said that the Corpse King had utilized its intelligence to the extreme. However, even when facing the method of advancing through trenches, the defenders on the city walls had a countermeasure: Molotov cocktails. Since the zombies were advancing in trenches, why not throw Molotov cocktails? Once the Molotov cocktails entered the trenches, the entire trench would instantly ignite.
Even if the Molotov cocktails didn't land directly in the trenches, the gasoline would consume the oxygen in the air, leaving the zombies hiding in the trenches with no escape.
Whether they were burned to death or suffocated, the zombies had the freedom to choose. Of course, the outcome was the same.
For many days, the zombies attacked the city walls with frenzied assaults, but the walls remained impregnable, showing no signs of being breached. If things got desperate and the zombies got too close, aerial support would arrive instantly. Dropping a few fuel-air bombs on densely packed zombies would instantly scatter them.
On this day, the temperature plummeted. Shen Feng, wearing a padded jacket, stood on the city wall, diligently sniping mutated zombies.
At this moment, Chu Chaoyan also walked up to Shen Feng. She wore a jacket and a wool sweater on her upper body and two layers of fleece-lined pants on her lower body. She also had a scarf around her neck. It was clear that Chu Chaoyan was particularly sensitive to the cold, so she wore more clothes, her graceful figure hidden by the layers.
"Hey, why does Li Keyi come to find you every day?" Chu Chaoyan asked directly.
It turned out that in the past few days, Li Keyi had appeared before Shen Feng every evening, constantly pestering him and demanding that he fulfill their agreed-upon transaction. Chu Chaoyan felt something was amiss, so she came to inquire directly.
Shen Feng felt embarrassed to reveal the truth. After all, Li Keyi's pestering was due to his constant rambling. If he had said less back then, wouldn't he have avoided this trouble?
Unfortunately, it was too late to regret it. Shen Feng could only find a casual excuse and said, "Li Keyi wants my precious treasure, and I refuse to trade, so she's been bothering me. You understand, it's like I'm being pestered."
Upon hearing this, Chu Chaoyan immediately felt displeased and said, "That woman is truly shameless! If you don't want to trade, fine, but does she have to force a sale? Next time she comes, tell me, and I'll handle it personally. I won't hold back this time!"
As she spoke, a ball of yellowish-green gas appeared in Chu Chaoyan's palm. It was clear she didn't intend to hold back. If Li Keyi came to cause trouble again, she would directly use her ability to beat her. She didn't believe Li Keyi wouldn't retreat. Speaking of which, it was unfair to expect her not to use her abilities.
To prevent the situation from escalating, Shen Feng quickly said, "You don't need to worry about this. If Li Keyi appears, I'll handle it. I promise to make her leave!"
Chu Chaoyan looked at Shen Feng suspiciously, feeling something was not quite right, but she couldn't pinpoint it. Just then, the zombies began their fierce assault on the city walls again, and Chu Chaoyan had to quickly respond.
After many days, the soldiers were exhausted. While the zombies died and were gone, the soldiers had to fight continuously. Fortunately, the personnel arrangements here were on a three-shift system; otherwise, the soldiers would have been unable to endure. Especially in this cold weather, standing in the wind was pure suffering.
The zombies attacked day and night for six consecutive days. During this period, the guns and cannons never fell silent. The most severely damaged items on the battlefield were the gun barrels, especially those of the machine guns. Due to the excessive number of shots fired, the gun barrels became so hot that they could fry an egg. If an egg were broken and poured onto it, the egg white would solidify instantly. If not flipped, it would quickly burn.
Even though gun barrels were made of steel, they had a lifespan. If used too many times, they would become scrap.
Fortunately, with Yanjing at their back, the soldiers could replace gun barrels at any time, and they had plenty of ammunition, so there was no need to worry about ammunition consumption. If necessary, they could travel to Jinmen by train, and Jinmen could deliver scarce supplies to Yanjing. In terms of logistics, humanity was already leagues ahead of the zombies.
Chu Chaoyan was diligently gathering mutated zombies. She had become quite adept at using firearms, and her accuracy was continuously improving. If there were awards for such achievements, she would likely earn the title of sharpshooter. Many people on Shen Feng's side could also achieve such results.
As Chu Chaoyan was observing the enemy through her scope, she suddenly felt a cold sensation on the bridge of her nose. She quickly sat up to check and suddenly discovered that a snowflake had landed on the bridge of her nose.
Instantly, Chu Chaoyan cheered, "It's snowing, it's snowing!"
The soldiers also cheered in unison. This was arguably the only good news recently. Everyone had been fighting continuously for many days, feeling both physically and mentally drained. They had even gone out to clear zombie corpses from outside the city gates three times. Now, it was finally snowing, and with the snow, victory was within reach!
The soldiers' cheers grew louder and louder. Soon, everyone in Yanjing knew the news, and countless people began to cheer. They all knew that snow meant victory. Now that they had persevered until the snow fell, victory was not far away.
Therefore, the soldiers who resumed fighting were particularly excited, and their previous fatigue seemed to have vanished. They knew that victory was imminent.
Conversely, the zombies were in disarray. The moment it started snowing, countless zombies began to roar, and within these roars, there was more fear. What were the zombies afraid of? They weren't afraid of the snow itself, but of the fact that after the snow, they would have only death awaiting them.
At this moment, the zombies charged frantically towards the city walls, seemingly wanting to break into the city at this time. The humans watched this frenzied behavior with indifference. It was just a desperate struggle, a final act of defiance. After the struggle, things would return to how they were; the situation would not change due to the zombies' anger.
Angry zombies charged towards the city walls in an endless stream. At this time, whether they were speed-type or strong-type zombies, they were all desperately pushing forward. When the strong-type zombies reached the base of the city walls, they would use their last strength to throw the speed-type zombies onto the walls, seemingly placing all their hopes on their companions.
Unfortunately, even if the speed-type zombies were thrown onto the city walls, it could not change the tide of battle. A single bullet was all it took for a speed-type zombie to fall dead on the city walls.
The weather was cold. In such severe cold, people's hearts were warm because they saw hope, the dawn of victory. As long as they held on and could withstand the zombies' final counterattack, victory would come. And after eliminating these zombies, it would mean that north of the Yellow River, there would be no zombies capable of threatening humanity!
The zombie offensive continued until nightfall, and the snow fell heavier and heavier. There was at least twenty centimeters of snow on the ground. Under these conditions, the zombies' attack speed slowed down and became increasingly feeble. Initially, the zombies could still reach the base of the city walls, but later, they could only walk up shakily. In such severe cold, the zombies also felt the chill and trembled. Their ability to still walk was their last stubborn resistance.
"Bang," a zombie approaching the city wall suddenly collapsed, falling directly into the accumulated snow, splashing countless snowflakes. This zombie died in the severe cold.
Then came the second, the third, until countless zombies fell. In the years of heavy snowfall, even ordinary people wearing padded jackets found it difficult to resist the cold. These zombies, however, were only wearing thin summer clothes. Now, facing the heavy snowfall, how could they possibly endure? Thus, the zombies standing on the ground simply fell one by one.
In the dead of night, the zombies finally ceased their attacks. At this time, the ground was covered by a thick layer of snow. Both the filthy earth and the grotesque corpses were covered by the snow. Snow was devoid of human emotion; it did not change its actions based on whether the corpse belonged to a good person or not. It was precisely this kind of snow that brought infinite hope to everyone.
The zombies slowly retreated, leaving without a sound. The zombies left behind, whether sitting or lying down, were all frozen to death in the weather. The battle that had lasted for six days thus concluded, ending in victory for humanity.
The snow in the sky became denser and more frequent. This was the heaviest snowfall in recent years, covering everything on the ground. This gave Shen Feng a great sense of security. That night, many people slept soundly. Now that victory had been achieved, everyone could get a good night's sleep.
Not only were the frontline soldiers at ease, but the residents who had been living in fear and anxiety in the city also felt relieved. They knew that with the snow, the zombies could not break into the city, and they would not be attacked in their sleep. That was enough.