Chapter 1030 Northwest Wind Rises

"Comrade Yifeng, how is the progress of collecting the 'return gift' prepared for the Zhongzhou War Zone - those zombie brain cores?" After a brief excitement, Wei Jingfang, commander of the Western War Zone, quickly regained his composure and asked in a deep voice.

His knuckles tapped unconsciously on the table, and his tone was serious and unwavering.

The other party's assistance has arrived like thunder. There must be no mistakes in what we promised. This is credibility and the cornerstone of subsequent cooperation.

Upon hearing this crucial question regarding the sincerity of cooperation with the Zhongzhou Theater, Deputy Commander Zhou Yifeng, who had just been beaming with joy over the arrival of the supplies, instantly stopped smiling. His expression froze, and he subconsciously sat up straighter. He reported in a clear and affirmative tone:

"Please rest assured, Commander! Three days ago, the war zone issued an emergency order, instructing all garrison troops and survival bases to transport all zombie brain cores in stock and send them to the assembly point in Lan City."

"According to the distance and feedback, the latest batch can definitely be delivered before midnight tonight, and there will be no delay in delivery!"

"Okay! That's good!"

Upon hearing this, Commander Wei Jingfang's slightly furrowed brows finally relaxed a little, and the corners of his tightly pursed mouth also relaxed, as if a stone had been lifted from his heart. He nodded slightly, revealing a relieved expression.

"How much can we collect in total this time?" he asked immediately, looking at Zhou Shouzheng sharply.

"Report to the Commander!" Zhou Yifeng clearly understood this and without any pause, he immediately reported a number accurate to the last digit:

"After summarizing and counting from all directions, the total number of zombie brain cores shipped to the Zhongzhou war zone this time is 3,618,367!"

Upon hearing this specific number, Theater Commander Wei Jingfang simply nodded slightly.

He didn't have much sense of reality about this number itself - after all, the war zone had never intentionally collected these "trophies" from zombies before.

The fact that the various troops can gather this number nowadays is purely a "good habit" forced by poverty in the past. When the soldiers were cleaning the battlefield, they wished they could squeeze two ounces of oil out of even the zombie bones, not to mention these obviously abnormal zombie brain cores.

But what is unexpected is that the frugality that was expressed out of helplessness in the past has actually come in handy now. These "junks" that were once ignored have actually become hard currency that can be exchanged for life-saving supplies.

Seeing the commander's satisfaction with the figure, Deputy Commander Zhou Yifeng and Chief of Staff Dong Ping exchanged a meaningful glance. Then, Dong Ping leaned forward slightly, his tone becoming more serious as he spoke carefully:

"Commander, thanks to our cooperation with the Central Plains Theater, we've successfully resolved the zombie brain core issue. However, we're now stuck at another critical point—the fuel supply. We've... encountered some practical difficulties."

Wei Jingfang immediately caught the hesitation in his words and frowned again: "Difficult? Are you saying that the few small oil fields we have are simply not enough to feed the giant beast in the Zhongzhou War Zone?"

"That's right, Commander." Dong Ping's response was crisp and clear, with obvious pressure. "We currently control only scattered small oil fields, and our production capacity is barely enough for our own use. If we want to export on a large scale, especially to meet the requirements of the Zhongzhou Theater..."

He paused, then emphasized his tone. "The Operations Department has been conducting preliminary calculations overnight these past few days, and the shortfall is enormous. So large... even if we completely shut down all of our fuel-burning equipment in this theater, the fuel saved would still fall far short of their expected demand."

"Just tell me the solution!" Wei Jingfang interrupted him, his tone firm. He knew his chief of staff too well, and this kind of preparation meant that there was already a plan.

"Currently, cooperation with the Zhongzhou Theater has the highest priority. All resources and actions must give way to this! If you have any ideas, speak up!"

Dong Ping took a deep breath, looked at the war zone map on the table, and pointed his finger heavily at a vast area in the northwest direction.

"New Province!"

"Commander, the only way to break the impasse is to capture Xin Province! Only by controlling the large oil fields there can we simultaneously meet our own needs and our appetite for cooperation with the Central Plains Theater!"

"New Province?"

The moment this name was spoken, the air in the conference room seemed to freeze suddenly, weighing heavily on the hearts of every participant.

The slightly relaxed atmosphere brought by the assistance received just now disappeared without a trace, replaced by a more complicated and undercurrent silence.

The friction caused by the last Hami wind power base incident is still fresh in people’s minds, and the two sides are still arguing and deadlocked.

In this tense atmosphere of near-confrontation and refusal to compromise, if the Western theater still wants to demand the oil fields through peaceful negotiations, the other side probably won't even let them smell the oil.

All the members of the Standing Committee present were well aware of this. Therefore, the subtext of bringing up the new province at this moment had already transcended the scope of negotiation.

The reason why they were able to maintain superficial restraint and adopt a conciliatory policy in the past was, on the one hand, because they belonged to the same Zhou state system and were considered brother units, so they had to maintain superficial harmony.

But the deeper and more realistic reason is - there is no need!

Although energy and food were in short supply at that time, the Western War Zone could still barely be self-sufficient. The resources of the new province were just icing on the cake for them, not a life-saving measure, so there was no need to tear their faces apart.

But now, everything is different.

The new province was no longer just a piece of land on the map for the Western Theater; its significance had undergone a fundamental transformation.

It represents a steady supply of combat supplies, is the "fuel" that keeps the huge war machine of the entire Western theater running continuously, and is a hard guarantee for survival!

Only with the oil from the new province can we exchange it for goods from the Zhongzhou war zone!

So at this point, even the most conservative and procedural members of the theater standing committee would never say a word of easing the situation on behalf of the New Province Construction Corps.

In the face of huge common interests, previous concerns seem pale and powerless.

As expected, as soon as Chief of Staff Dong Ping finished speaking, all the Standing Committee members' eyes turned to Commander Wei Jingfang. The meaning contained in those glances was highly consistent, sharp and urgent, almost condensed into substance:

Commander, give the order!

Faced with such a highly unified collective will that concerns the core interests of the entire war zone, Wei Jingfang, as the supreme commander, naturally had no reason to hesitate.

His determination was forged almost instantly. His eyes suddenly became sharp as a knife, and his voice was steady and resolute, breaking the silence in the conference room:

"Comrade Dong Ping, tell me, how much mobile force is still available in our war zone?"

"Report to the commander!" Dong Ping, who had obviously prepared a plan, immediately replied:

"In addition to the necessary garrison troops, we can also mobilize four established border defense regiments, as well as some base garrisons and personnel and equipment that can be transferred from small garrisons."

"Okay!" Wei Jingfang waved his hand and gave a decisive order. "Immediately issue an order: From the border defense forces of Qing Province and Ning Province, dispatch two fully equipped border defense regiments each. Move them secretly to the designated area on the border of Xin Province as quickly as possible and assemble on standby!"

"Yes!" Dong Ping responded in a deep voice with sharp eyes.

"Comrade Yifeng!" Wei Jingfang turned to Deputy Commander Zhou Yifeng, "Arrange communication immediately. I need to negotiate personally with the commander of the New Province Construction Corps!"

"I understand!" Zhou Yifeng nodded heavily.

...

After the meeting, encrypted commands spread rapidly to every corner of the Western Theater like invisible radio waves.

The huge war machine began to slowly adjust its direction according to the new instructions, and its heavy tracks and wheels began to roll.

Suddenly, the relatively peaceful northwest of Zhou State became turbulent, and the dark clouds of war quietly spread along with the mobilization of troops...

...