Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 800: Yiming’s Retirement

As the dust settled, the entire protest was later broadcast on TV, albeit after Shen Wen gave the footage to Yuqi first.

Unsurprisingly, the public sentiment was fully behind the protesters’ demand, wanting to put those soldiers and former soldiers alike into prison.

A formal investigation was launched the next day, with Yuqi directing Yueyue’s intelligence department to create a special investigation unit.

The entirety of the 4th Army Corps was recalled to Luoping, with the Shaoguan gap being filled by Lingang’s 3rd Army Corps instead.

Even as half of his army is technically still under Han Bang to help with Jiangmen, it was still better than leaving it undefended.

Shenzhen and Dongguan’s responsibility fell to Wuli’s newly composed 5th army corps, with her troops recalled from Zhongshan as soon as they finished clearing it.

---

"Yiming, you don’t look annoyed by it."

As Xiaoyun and Yiming sat across from each other in the command room, Yiming’s face remained cool and collected.

"I don’t see the issue. If the soldier had committed a crime in the past, then they should be held to the same standard as civilians."

"I understand that. But aren’t you annoyed to be recalled back to Luoping? And having your unit break up again after training together for almost a month?"

Yiming’s face flinched a little, but he mostly remained the same as he looked back into Xiaoyun’s eyes.

"A soldier’s duty is to listen to orders."

"Very well then... You can enjoy a short break until the investigation is over. The soldiers who are fired will be replenished from the reserve."

Yiming nodded his head in silence, accepting the terms that had been laid out. However, he soon noticed something in Xiaoyun’s face.

"Is there something wrong?" Yiming curiously asked.

"Yiming, I was wondering about something... Do you want to go on a trip with me?"

"A trip?"

"Yes, a trip to the capital... I had been invited by the army to talk about a united front against the zombies."

Xiaoyun could see Yiming’s face changing from shock to confusion to clarity. All changing within a matter of seconds.

"I’m afraid I can’t go with you," Yiming answered.

"Why not?"

"I’m too old. The last time I took a transport plane across the country, the swelling on my body almost killed me."

As Yiming raised his arm, Xiaoyun was a little shocked. He could see a visible bump behind his shoulder through the clothes.

"I was already thinking about asking for a retirement. This gout on my body is already making it hard for me to sit in a car."

"Why haven’t you told me this before?" Xiaoyun questioned, his heart starting to feel guilty for sending him on so many duties.

"I don’t want to leave my fellow comrades... But now that they’re under Han Bang, I’m too tired to keep going."

Seeing the sudden exhaustion on Yiming’s old, wrinkled face, Xiaoyun couldn’t bring himself to keep him on active duty.

"I understand... I’ll tell Houqin to prepare a retiree ceremony for you—"

"No need. I just want to go quietly. I don’t want to make such a fuss over something like this."

"But... I can’t do that. I have to give you the honor that you deserve. You had done too much for humanity."

Yiming still shook his head, waving his hand to signal him to calm down as he spoke up again.

"Don’t make it sound like I’m fully retiring. I had been having an idea that I wanted to show to you."

The prospect instantly intrigued Xiaoyun, as hundreds of different possibilities already appeared inside his head.

"I had been noticing how the army lacks officers, especially high-ranking officers who can direct more than a thousand people.

So I had been thinking, why don’t we open a military academy? Formalizing it and letting it work alongside the current promotion system."

"That sounds a little familiar..."

"Because we had done something similar in the past. Remember how I was teaching you and ten other soldiers every day?"

Within seconds, Xiaoyun nodded his head. Memories started flooding into his mind as he thought back to all the things Yiming had taught him.

"We never really quantified it, and most of the time, we had been just letting the soldiers become officers by using their field experience.

But field experience can only go so far. Unless they’re naturally talented like Han Bang, it starts to become more and more difficult the more soldiers there are to manage. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

So that’s why we need a formal military academy. Teach those fresh recruits who show early capability to be officers right off the bat."

"How much money do you need?" Xiaoyun questioned, not doubting Yiming’s idea at all.

"I don’t know yet. But it shouldn’t be that much... Once we get this established, the reward from it will be generational."

"No doubt about that. I’ll get Yuqi to agree to allocate funding for this. You’re going to be the head of this project, Yiming."

"I’m fine with that."

As the two of them reached a consensus, a problem soon appeared before Xiaoyun. One that didn’t really have a clear answer.

"Yiming, do you have anyone in mind?"

"In mind?"

"To replace your current position. If you’re retiring, then someone else would need to take over your spot."

Yiming sat there in silence, his hand rubbing his chin as he thought about a potential successor to his army group.

"All of the soldiers in my unit are new, so it has to be another officer from another unit, and someone who’s ideally a man."

"Why men?" Xiaoyun curiously asked, looking a little surprised by Yiming’s condition.

"I doubt any of the fresh recruits is willing to respect a woman, especially when the entire unit is composed of men."

"You aren’t wrong... Hmm. Yiming, do you have anyone in particular that you want to be promoted?"

"I want to say Jixi, but he’s way too low of a rank. He’s better off as an assistant to a high-ranking officer than leading an entire army."

"How about Zhen Ren? Or Li Miao?" Xiaoyun suggested.

"Zhen Ren is way too rash in his decision. His highest rank will always be a Colonel. Li Miao isn’t a bad idea."

Yiming paused for a second, then continued.

"But Li Miao is too unwilling to cut losses when he needs to. He’s more like you, but without the ability to pull off miracles."

Xiaoyun felt a little insulted by the words, but he didn’t argue back as he waited for Yiming to list out the next potential candidate.

"Fei Gan hasn’t really earned it either, and Li Qing, she... she’s completely out of the picture."

"Leaving us with Yan Lin?"

Xiaoyun murmured, as his mind instantly thought back to a middle-aged man who had been mostly silent every time he had met him.

"I wouldn’t promote Yan Lin. He got too many secrets and... He’s the only Colonel in the army who’s single."

"Who doesn’t have a little secret about themselves before the outbreak? And what does single have to do with commanding troops?"

"He doesn’t have anything tying him down."

This time, Xiaoyun immediately understood what Yiming was trying to imply. He instantly threw Yan Lin out of the window as a choice.

"Are we going to promote someone from Yezi’s army instead?" Xiaoyun questioned, his mind starting to feel like he was running out of options.

"If you want to upset the army’s balance, you can go for it... Han Bang has always been supportive of Yezi, and he’s currently leading my former unit."

"Then who are we picking? If it isn’t from Yezi’s army, then it has to be from a colonel from Han Bang’s army.

All the officers in other armies are way too inexperienced, or don’t have the reputation to back up their promotions."

"How about you?"

"Me? What? I’m the commander in chief. I’m too busy to be managing a whole army while needing to go to a meeting with civil servants."

"When was the last time you led an army?"

The question made Xiaoyun fall silent. In his mind, the last time he directed a military operation was when he was saving Houqin a few months ago.

But for something that involved an actual large-unit combat mission, it was all the way back when he was fighting at Humen Bridge half a year ago.

"Do I really need to direct an army?"

"It’s hard for troops to be convinced of your capability if you never led them, especially for a new army composed of fresh recruits."

After a long consideration in his head, Xiaoyun eventually nodded his head.

"I can lead it for a bit. But I have to go on a trip by the end of November... And are the troops even ready to go out on a mission yet?"

"After the investigation, they are more than ready to take on a city," Yiming answered with confidence in his voice.