Chapter 40 It's always good to use your brain.

Xiao Lin, the machine gunner in Gao Chenglin's team, may seem simple-minded, but he is exceptionally diligent and inquisitive.

Unable to understand why there were worms in the deep mountains, he kept asking them all the way.

"Have you looked at the information? What resources are there in these mountains?" Su Qingran was annoyed by his questions and angrily asked while washing her face by the swamp, shaking off the water droplets.

Xiaolin blinked, looking confused.

He gets a headache just looking at those densely packed words.

Chen Chuan, on the other hand, grabbed a water snake as thick as a baby's forearm in the swamp, and while he slammed it hard against a tree trunk, he seemed to be deep in thought.

The altitude is too high, and the damp cold in the forest at night is unbearable. Most of the trees in the forest are sea buckthorn and spruce, with no branches to shelter from.

When camping, the squad could only try to find dry, flat areas and make do with their camp blankets to rest.

The conditions were extremely harsh, but before the drone and locator disappeared the next day—presumably after the deer were roasted—they located a valley.

The second drone flew extremely carefully over the ridgeline, cautiously peeking out its camera from the dense coniferous forest...

Before the sun rises, the valley is shrouded in a mysterious, deep blue morning mist, painted by the azure sky.

However, in some distant places, the morning mist was thicker, a faint, lingering warmth.

"Geothermal resources! This mountain has abundant geothermal resources, doesn't it?"

Chen Chuan moved closer to Yu Shuang, staring at the video feed from her tablet, and lowered his voice.

On that deep green hillside, mirror-like ponds spread out in layers—those are hot springs!

......

When Qin Tianshuo and the others set off, Yang Suning's team had already returned to base.

The team had visibly reaped a great harvest. After resting for a few hours, they couldn't wait to come to Chen Yuezhou's office to report.

However, Chen Yuezhou was in the Commander-in-Chief's office.

"The project to open an east-west waterway has been approved. Have you sent the exploration report to the headquarters as well?" Ye Xuanming asked Chen Yuezhou.

Chen Yuezhou clearly felt the pressure of that gaze, but his voice remained steady:

"Yes. But I sent the email to the General Headquarters' initiative regarding the defense and construction of the new base, which is aimed at all mid- to high-level administrative, engineering, and military personnel."

Ye Xuanming raised an eyebrow.

In order to motivate all parties to build the new base and embrace the new future, the headquarters did indeed make several email addresses public.

However, among the numerous announcements, this could only be considered a minor, obscure piece of information, yet it was noticed by the person in front of him?

Chen Yuezhou pulled out the email sending records and placed them on his desk.

The email attachment is indeed the report, but it's only a text version with fewer pictures, which is acceptable for sending.

Ye Xuanming didn't look at it.

Since the sending record was kept, it's clear that they anticipated she would be wary of subordinates having channels or behaviors that allow them to report to higher levels without authorization.

The young people from this new training base are meticulous and thorough in their work.

"Does the 3rd Regiment want to take the lead in this water transport project?" Ye Xuanming took a sip of water and asked casually.

“Opening an entire shipping route requires dredging the river, repairing the dam, building wharves, and so on. The workload is too large, and this is not a task that the 3rd Regiment can undertake,” Chen Yuezhou said without hesitation.

As Yeh Hsuan-ming raised his eyebrows again, he added, "But the Commander-in-Chief can rest assured that the task of repairing the Fenghe Bridge can be entrusted to the 3rd Regiment."

A hint of a smile finally appeared in Ye Xuanming's sharp eyes.

He had ideas and the drive to take action, effectively advancing the establishment of a project with great ambition, yet he did not seek excessive credit.

There must be some hidden story behind this young man's defection from the original base.

"Actually, you're right. There used to be a saying: 'If you want to get rich, build roads first.'"

With more secure access routes to and from the base opened, the workload of the 3rd Regiment's long-distance escort missions may seem to have increased, but it will actually decrease. Ye Xuanming's tone softened noticeably as he said this, as if in conversation.

Because the number of personnel and supplies that can be added to the new base will increase and the replenishment speed will increase.

The base used to have a tank production line!

There are also many building material factories, chemical plants, and one of the largest steel mills in the country before the apocalypse.

Once there are more people and materials, the industrial line can be restarted quickly, and naturally all the pressure will be reduced.

“Since this project was proposed by your team, it’s reasonable for the Army Defense Force to take it over entirely.” Ye Xuanming even said this with a smile:

"The 3rd Regiment will be fully responsible for the bridge repair."

There's a concrete plant and a waste building materials recycling warehouse in the engineering corps area. You can ask them directly for whatever you need; you don't need to go to the planning department.

Even under difficult conditions, if you can successfully repair the bridge and road, I will personally report your achievement!

You should also keep an eye on the construction of outposts along the waterways.

She then promptly issued the order to the commander of the engineering corps.

Chen Yuezhou then smiled and nodded in agreement.

They talked about some miscellaneous things. The atmosphere in the office was excellent. Ye Xuanming gave Chen Yuezhou a batch of the latest batch of breathable summer military uniforms and boots, as well as two large truckloads of canned pork and beef.

......

The Chilong Squad waited in the office for nearly an hour before seeing their new leader return with a brisk pace and a smile on his face.

Upon seeing that smile, Yang Ying felt all the hardships she had endured on the journey—the sun and cold, the wind and sand—vanish into nothingness.

She pressed her lips together tightly to suppress the urge to turn up her cheeks and the scream that was about to burst from her throat!

Yang Suning was in a good mood and wanted to report.

But after telling them how hard they had worked, Chen Yuezhou first called Liu Mingzhe:

"Go to the engineering corps and coordinate with the regimental commander there about the bridge construction."

Find out exactly what building materials and tools they can provide, and you can create a list.

"Yes!" Liu Mingzhe answered crisply, standing at attention, though his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

He completely let go of his last bit of concern, and with light steps, he was off to work on that monumental project that would benefit generations to come!

But Yang Suning paused for a moment and asked, "Are you really going to build a bridge?"

Chen Yuezhou nodded slightly, intending to ask about their gains from the trip, but Yang Suning raised his voice:

"How could the Commander-in-Chief agree to build a bridge?!"

Liu Mingzhe was taken aback, but immediately quickened his pace to leave the office.

A long rant was churning inside him.

Why would the Commander-in-Chief disagree with building the bridge?

Could the Commander-in-Chief, a former commander of the 1st Division of the Northern Army, not see the benefits of building bridges and roads?

Moreover, the new commander and that strategist from the Stars team are truly intelligent.

A detailed report was first sent to an engineer I knew in the North 2 area, and only after receiving his approval was it sent to the command headquarters.

The engineer was interested and, around the same time as the regimental commander, made a proposal to the general headquarters.

The command headquarters always has a high perspective; seeing a large river on the map, they must have had the idea of ​​opening up water transport.

The proposal, accompanied by a professional survey report and endorsed by experts, was quickly approved, and the waterway project was launched.

To build a sea route connecting East and West under apocalyptic conditions! What a grand and magnificent project that must be!

If human civilization continues, the leaders of these projects will surely be recorded in history!

Those involved in the project will also feel proud.

This is a golden opportunity to enhance the legion's cohesion! It also involves the unspoken power struggles between the military and political spheres of the base during its initial development...

Now that the waterway project has been approved, the North First Engineering Corps will definitely send an engineering team, which will solve the problem of insufficient technical personnel in the engineering corps.

The base's close-in defense forces are currently under less defensive pressure and have plenty of manpower, so why wouldn't the commander-in-chief be happy to take on this project?

What the regimental commander did was a great thing for the military!

How could the Commander-in-Chief not be pleased? How could he not give this young regimental commander a big credit in his heart?

Besides, the Commander-in-Chief herself has already contracted such a large project, which involves occupying a river. Would she be stingy in supporting the construction of a bridge?

After all, bridge construction is also part of waterway engineering.

Before deciding to do this, the group leader and his team had considered all sorts of difficulties and taken into account the reactions of all parties.

Yang Suning and his team, their vision and perspective, how can they compare to this team!

Perhaps we can still test our strength?