Invasion of America

Chapter 136 Peacekeeping?

Because of his outstanding performance in installing oil refining equipment, Nedved, as an important technician, was granted two days off per week so that he could rest with his wife and daughter.

Since it was a rest day, they couldn't stay at the camp in Awoni town. A Warthog delivered supplies to the camp, and on its return trip, it took several specially treated technicians with it.
The living conditions in the shelter are much better than those in the camp. The shelter has a large area and complete facilities, including a cinema, ice skating rink, and restaurants, making it the first and only choice for vacations.

The vacationers had barely landed when they saw another, even larger and stranger-looking plane parked on the nearby highway runway. Nedved exclaimed, "My God, how did you get your hands on this thing?"

The Catalina seaplane is an old piece of equipment from World War II. The United States produced more than 3,000 of them, and they were still in use before the outbreak of the virus.

When Zhou Qingfeng was considering what kind of aircraft to use in the apocalypse, the electric 'Warthog' became the first choice for short-haul transportation, but what about long-haul transportation?
There are many aircraft capable of flying over a thousand kilometers, but those that are robust, easy to maintain, and highly adaptable are very limited. After much deliberation, the 'Catalina' was ultimately chosen.

As a wealthy man, Zhou Qingfeng didn't choose those antiques produced during World War II and maintained for decades—the US aircraft modification market offered him a better option.

The Vault's "Katrina" is a brand new creation, with a complete modernization upgrade while retaining its classic appearance.

The fuselage frame is made of high-strength aluminum alloy, while the outer skin has been replaced with a lighter and stronger carbon fiber composite material, reducing the empty weight from more than nine tons to less than seven tons.

Inside the cockpit, a full suite of modern control and navigation equipment replaced the outdated instruments from World War II, greatly improving flight safety and convenience.

To accommodate long-haul flights, the cabin is thoughtfully equipped with beds, a portable kitchen, and a toilet.

In terms of power, the new "Catalina" still opted for a piston engine to adapt to the low-quality fuel in the post-apocalyptic world.

However, the new engine uses modern technology, which doubles the power output and increases the cruising speed from 220 kilometers per hour to 340 kilometers per hour.

Most importantly, the new "Katrina" perfectly inherits the ability to take off and land on water, which makes it more widely applicable in the complex environment of the post-apocalyptic world.

Its wing fuel tanks have a total capacity of over 7,000 liters, a maximum payload of over 3 tons, and a maximum range of 6,000 kilometers, enough to easily traverse the entire North American continent.

This modern replica of the "Katrina" costs over 15 million US dollars, making it quite expensive.

With his deep pockets, Zhou Qingfeng ordered five aircraft in one go, and also requested ten times the amount of repair tools and spare parts, bringing the total value of the expedited order to over one hundred million US dollars.

The aircraft manufacturing company that received this huge order was overjoyed, thinking it had encountered a super-rich person who didn't know the market, so it worked overtime to rush the production.

However, just after the manufacturing plant completed and delivered four Catalina aircraft, the global virus crisis broke out.

These four brand-new Catalina seaplanes became Zhou Qingfeng's only valuable tool capable of performing long-range transport missions.

Today, the Catalina, parked on the runway, has five tons of homemade kerosene in its fuel tanks, while its spacious cabin is stocked with two tons of flour, fruits and vegetables, and cooking oil.
It is about to take off, heading to the Bahamas, 1,200 kilometers away—the refuge prepared by Zhou Qingfeng. The cruise ship in the Bahamas, weighing over 100,000 tons, is the most expensive one.

When the virus broke out, more than two thousand people boarded a cruise ship to seek refuge. These people had also suffered through a year of apocalyptic hardship and urgently needed to exchange people and supplies with the outside world.

A cruise ship weighing over 100,000 tons is like a small city, with thousands of tons of fuel stored inside. It is a super piece of equipment and a huge asset that cannot be abandoned.

Xiao Jinlang intends to use the cruise ship as a continuously expanding maritime base.

Raising pigs and chickens on land is actually not easy due to a lack of feed and agricultural technicians. The ocean, however, is a natural pasture, and fish are an excellent source of protein.

The four Catalina aircraft are currently assigned to different shelters, and the eight two-person crews fly more than a dozen flights a day, covering all parts of North America, with a total transport volume exceeding two hundred tons.

The 'playground' provides its own agricultural products to the public, while also accommodating more than two hundred surplus personnel from other shelters.

Nedved, on vacation, discovered that the 'amusement park' was far more crowded than he had imagined. A 'Catalina' had just landed, bringing six or seven muscular men with crew cuts.

Xiao Jinlang, beaming, strode forward and warmly shook hands with the group of leaders, pulling them directly into his office. "That's wonderful! Your arrival is just in time!"

In his early days, in order to expand his low-altitude aircraft business, Zhou Qingfeng not only acquired 'Electric Flight', but also recruited a group of young men with short haircuts from China at high salaries to serve as salesmen.

He was rich, and getting richer and richer, able to offer annual salaries of two or three hundred thousand. He recruited seven or eight thousand "crew cut" men and sent them all over the world to promote "warthogs".

However, 'electric flight' has not been able to expand its business in the United States smoothly, and there are not many sales staff left in the country. Many of them have moved to the Bahamas and other Latin American countries.

When the virus broke out globally, these "crew cut" men in foreign countries quickly organized themselves, and the vast majority of them entered local shelters, where they endured a year of difficult conditions.

But this group of "crew cut" guys was a bit special. They were Lao Xiao's colleagues. In the year of the apocalypse, they did not hide in shelters to eke out a living. Instead, they took great risks to travel around the world.

The leader, a man named Lin Anquan, had secretly returned to China six months ago. This time, he traveled in the "Catalina" to conduct a detailed investigation of various survivor settlements in North America before finally arriving at the "playground".

Xiao Jinlang personally poured water and took out some dried fruit and melon seeds, placing them on the table, eager to understand the current global situation.

Lin Anquan took the water glass and said with a solemn expression, "You should have seen the top-secret report from 'Holy Light' before. The current global situation is basically consistent with the predictions in the report."

The so-called "top secret report" was a memorandum written by Zhou Qingfeng during his activities in Washington, D.C., based on some internal data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regarding the evolutionary trend of the virus.

It's called a memoir, but it's more like a diary.

Lao Xiao had naturally read the report. At the time, he thought Zhou Qingfeng's predictions were too pessimistic, but now it seems that almost all of the prophecies have come true.

“Overseas, there is truly widespread suffering, and many places have fallen into anarchy and chaos.”

The situation domestically is much better; things have recovered, and peacekeeping personnel are actively preparing to provide humanitarian aid to neighboring countries.

Peacekeeping? Humanitarian aid?
Old Xiao gave him a look that said, "We're all on the same side, you can be more direct." He asked with a smile, "Are all our peacekeeping personnel 'crew-cut' guys wearing combat uniforms and carrying guns?"

Lin Anquan replied with a serious expression: "It is international practice for peacekeeping personnel to carry necessary weapons when carrying out rescue missions."

After all, the situation overseas is complex and unpredictable. What if we encounter unreasonable criminal gangs? We can't just stand there and suffer losses empty-handed, can we?

This is true.

Lin Anquan continued, "The domestic situation has just recovered, and we dare not let our guard down. At present, we have some spare capacity to maintain peace in Southeast Asia and Japan and South Korea, but we are temporarily unable to reach North America."

However, China has not abandoned providing humanitarian aid to the American people. My purpose in coming here is to assess the specific situation in North America and lay the groundwork for future actions.

He paused, then continued, "Based on my recent observations while traveling around the world in the 'Catalina,' there are scattered forces rising up in various parts of North America, and they are showing a tendency to reunite."

However, these forces operate in a very undemocratic and unfree manner, and we cannot stand idly by..."

Old Xiao nodded thoughtfully, having already grasped the general intentions of the domestic authorities. Simply put, the domestic authorities were willing to shoulder the responsibilities of a major power and safeguard world peace and development, but were currently more focused on resolving issues in their surrounding regions and were temporarily unable to attend to distant North America, yet they could not simply abandon it.

"Therefore, we still have to rely on ourselves to handle things here in North America," Xiao Jinlang said slowly.

"That's not entirely true. We're here now, aren't we?" Lin Anquan smiled, his tone becoming more relaxed. "What trouble do you have that you need our help with?"

"Please help improve the security situation."
-
The day after Lin Anquan and his group arrived, Sani and his gang in Awoni Town began planning to escape from this place that had been exhausting them.

Under the guise of scavenging, they carefully avoided the surveillance cameras installed by the exploration team in the town and quietly slipped out of town.

Over the past two weeks, seven or eight "basic laborers" have finally been able to barely fill their stomachs, and their physical strength and stamina have recovered somewhat.

Sani felt uneasy, as if someone was chasing after him, so he quickened his pace.

When they walked several kilometers to the outskirts of town, they began to feel dizzy and their stomachs rumbled with hunger, and a wave of acid reflux surged up.

“Those yellow-skinned monkeys are doing it on purpose!” Sani cursed under his breath through gritted teeth. “They just won’t let us eat our fill.”

The food provided each day is precisely calculated to meet calorie requirements; not a single calorie more is given. How could they be so cruel?

His men following behind him were also panting heavily and drenched in sweat. They now fully understood just how ruthless the "Holy Light" team was in managing them.

Without transportation, relying solely on two legs, the range of human activity is actually very limited.

If you're just staying within town, you can always return to camp to replenish your meager food supply when you get tired or hungry.

Food was rationed per person and consisted of boiled potatoes in salt water, which were difficult to store. If people didn't eat, they would not only go hungry, but the food would also spoil and turn sour within a day.

Without enough food and energy, where could these "basic laborers" go if they wanted to escape?
"Boss, something bad has happened!" one of his men suddenly exclaimed. "Omar has escaped."

Sani turned around abruptly and saw Omar, the black man who had been the most active instigator, staggering back towards the town.

The guy was clearly exhausted, so he wasn't running fast and wasn't far from them. He would occasionally glance back at Sani before continuing to move back.

This shows they're determined to continue being lackeys of those "yellow-skinned monkeys."

Sani was furious. He yelled at Omar's retreating back, "Idiot! We've already left town. Someone will come to meet us soon. Why are you going back?!"

Omar ignored his roar, looked up blankly at the sky, and continued running toward the camp.

Sani also subconsciously looked up at the sky, his face instantly turning deathly pale, a chill running from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

A drone hovered at a height of about 100 meters, its onboard camera like cold eyes, staring intently at these "basic laborers" trying to escape.

It’s over! All is lost!

"Run! Run now! Going back now is certain death, we have no choice but to keep running!"

Sani let out a hoarse shout and, with the last of his strength, continued running frantically out of town. His only hope now was that his accomplices in nearby towns would arrive in time to rescue them.

About four or five kilometers from the town of Awoni, the loud roar of machinery grew louder as it approached.

A convoy of roughly modified wheeled tractors led the way, followed by fifty or sixty other vehicles of various kinds, forming a formidable procession that was heading menacingly toward the town of Awoni.

If Zhou Qingfeng could come up with the idea of ​​"traditional oil refining," then others could naturally do the same.

However, unlike him, others did not make sufficient preparations in advance, and spent money to purchase several sets of relatively professional oil refining equipment from China.

But this doesn't stop them from using more primitive methods—after all, the reason "traditional methods" are called "traditional methods" is because they are simple enough.

Atmospheric distillation is not a high-tech process; on the contrary, it is quite simple.

A semi-enclosed gasoline drum can serve as an oil refining vessel, and the condenser can be made up of a few crooked pipes.

The "primitive oil refining" method that Guo Yi and his team came up with could at least roughly separate kerosene, gasoline, and diesel, and the refined oil was relatively clear in color.

Lynch and his group clearly lacked the technology; the oil they refined was dark and of unbelievably poor quality.

But that doesn't matter. As long as it works, it's better than nothing.

Five wheeled tractors, billowing black smoke, rattled along the rugged road at surprisingly fast speeds.

This thing has huge wheels and surprisingly good off-road performance. The cab and engine and other key parts are welded with thick steel plates. It looks strange, but it also has a bit of the intimidating power of a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Behind the modified tractor followed a line of pickup trucks reinforced with steel plates. The bodies of these vehicles were also crudely welded with steel plates, making them difficult for ordinary bullets to penetrate.

Some vehicles had grotesque skulls hanging from their front, some were covered in bizarre graffiti, and some even had makeshift flamethrowers installed on their roofs.

This is just like a group of primitive people who like to get tattoos and make a lot of noise, deliberately making all sorts of weird shapes just to scare their opponents.

Lynch sat in a blood-red pickup truck, holding a walkie-talkie, and excitedly gave instructions:

"Release our drones and thoroughly search for those yellow-skinned monkeys' cameras and remote-controlled machine guns. Once you find a target, destroy it first!"
Oh, and we also have robotic dogs. Let those lumps of metal be at the front, cannon fodder for mine clearance—don't underestimate those yellow-skinned monkeys, it would be best to wipe them all out!

The entire attack convoy numbered three to four hundred people, almost including most of the survivors near the town of Awoni.

Many survivors joined the group because they saw that the group was large and powerful, hoping to take advantage of the chaos and think that they would be safe with so many people working together, and that they might even be able to get a share of the spoils.

At that moment, Zhou Qingfeng was sitting in the command post of the camp in the town, handing over command to Lin Anquan, who had only arrived yesterday.

"In a one-on-one fight, none of you are my match; but in battlefield command, I am no match for you. You are in charge of this battle. I am willing to be a foot soldier."

Xiao Jinlang, standing nearby, glared at Zhou Qingfeng aggressively, saying, "With me here keeping an eye on things, don't even think about rushing to the front lines."

(End of this chapter)