CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67 INSUFFICIENT EQUIPMENT

"Hello, comrade! We have been ordered to escort three sets of large bio-oxygen machines and five sets of medium bio-oxygen machines. The goods are intact, please accept them!" The officer saluted the city’s representative, and after verifying the counterpart’s identity, he handed over the documents.

Watching the officer’s formal and precise actions, the city official finally breathed a sigh of relief after taking the documents. The pressure from these soldiers on duty was immense.

Fortunately, once the documents were handed over, the officer in front of him toned down his demeanor a bit, which made the city official feel less pressured and he turned around to instruct his team to start unloading.

Li Tou had just learned from the city official how crucial the equipment was, and now watching the city’s staff begin to unload, he curiously peeked inside the carriage to see what the equipment that concerned the lives of over 200,000 people in the city looked like.

But to Li Tou’s disappointment, what was being unloaded from the carriage were tightly sealed boxes that gave no glimpse of what was inside.

Yet, as Li Tou watched the equipment being unloaded, he understood why the city official earlier mentioned the insufficiency of equipment.

The three sets of large equipment, without needing much explanation, were obviously destined for the three major shelters, as the stakes were too high with tens of thousands of lives depending on them.

Moreover, to put it harshly, as long as those three major shelters are maintained, even if all other shelters in the city were lost, at least half of the population would be preserved.

But even if just one of the three major shelters were compromised, it would mean tens of thousands of lives.

If all three major shelters in the city were lost, even if every small shelter was preserved, only half of the population would remain.

Li Tou believed that the city authorities would know how to make the decision as long as they had any sense.

However, besides the large equipment, there were only five sets of medium equipment.

This issue was also noticed by Qin Lan, who overheard the conversation between Li Tou and the city official.

She couldn’t help but mentally count the city’s large shelters besides the three major ones: the city government, the police station, the waterworks, the thermal power plant, the Lakefront District, and the Polytechnic College.

In addition, Qin Lan, being a SWAT officer, knew well that the city also had eleven smaller shelters.

And this count didn’t include private shelters like those of Chen Xin and Mo Qingyan, which weren’t necessary to account for.

Apart from the three major shelters, there were so many shelters in the city, but only five sets of equipment... even if only allocated to the six larger shelters, it was insufficient.

Realizing this, Qin Lan finally understood why the city chose the SWAT team instead of the armed police for this mission.

The number of armed police stationed in the city wasn’t many. Although organized as a regiment, only three companies with over 400 personnel were actually stationed in the urban area.

So, even before doomsday, when the local army and armed police were grouped together, the shelter they were in, even including the families of the local army personnel, totaled less than 3,000 people.

Among them, more than 400 armed police officers, due to the national armed police system, weren’t locals, and their families were elsewhere.

Initially, the three major shelters were designed to accommodate 50,000 people, and although the city government and five other shelters were designed with varying capacities, each now housed over 10,000 people, with some like the police station accommodating up to 20,000 people.

Altogether, this accounted for 240,000 lives, the main survivors in the city.

Three sets of large equipment for three large shelters, five sets of small equipment couldn’t even cover an entire set for six shelters.

If the armed police were to escort, allocating one set of equipment to them would leave only four sets of small equipment for the city government to distribute, further complicating an already difficult allocation issue.

Especially when there was a need to consider a hospital centralized with all medical resources.

Prior to the disaster, there would have been no need for the city to consider these issues, as both the armed police and military had the primary duty of protecting the people.

But now, the city had to consider all possibilities.

"Load up!" Seeing that all equipment had been unloaded, the city representative, after ensuring accuracy, ordered the loading.

Meanwhile, Li Tou heightened his vigilance, instructing all SWAT members, "Everyone stay alert! Increase the guard!"

The atmosphere on the platform immediately grew more tense, and the workers responsible for loading hastened their actions.

Fortunately, since there weren’t many pieces of equipment, the large boxes were quickly loaded onto the transport vehicles specially prepared by the city.

The officer on the platform, seeing the materials being transported away, saluted the city representative and Li Tou before leading the soldiers back onto the Armored Train. With the doors closed, the steel beast, never having shut down, blew its whistle and slowly charged out of the station.

Both Li Tou and the city official walked out of the platform together, ready to escort the materials away.

Qin Lan and the other SWAT members maintained a guarded formation and swiftly evacuated the platform.

Outside the station, every material transport vehicle was escorted by a SWAT patrol car. Apart from one large piece of equipment left at the train station shelter, the other equipment was to be transported away.

Onboard, Li Tou commanded the convoy to move out. Feeling the vehicle start, the city official felt slightly relieved, but not completely until the equipment arrived at each shelter.

"Comrade, which shelter should we deliver to first?" Li Tou inquired of the city representative. While he had accepted the escort task, Li Tou was unaware of the city’s allocation plan for the equipment, having only calculated the route to reach each shelter during the operation planning.

"First to the pedestrian street, then the city government, police station, and shopping center," the city representative answered Li Tou, also specifying the last set of equipment’s destination: "The operation of the water plant and power plant must be ensured, with the last set of equipment going to the city’s First People’s Hospital."

"Understood, everyone stay alert! Keep an eye on road conditions at all times!" Li Tou nodded in acknowledgment, issuing instructions to all personnel.

Receiving Li Tou’s orders, everyone in the convoy heightened their alertness. Despite it being pitch-black outside the windows, they vigilantly kept watch.

As a sniper, Qin Lan’s gear included a pair of night-vision goggles, allowing her to see the surrounding situation in such an environment.

Naturally, she became a crucial set of eyes for the entire convoy at this moment.

With her sniper rifle, Qin Lan diligently monitored everything along the convoy’s route, guarding against any possible dangers.