Ch.113113. Winter (2)

However, the problem at Ulsan Airport wasn’t just that.

It was now the dead of winter, with freezing temperatures and blizzards maintaining below-zero weather.

The soldiers operating in the field were all Awakened, which allowed them to endure the cold and continue fighting, but the fact remained that the cold caused enormous physical strain on the combatants.

After each battle, the sweat that had evaporated as steam or dripped from their bodies froze in the bitter cold, covering them in frost that chilled them to the bone.

“Damn it. Those undead move just fine even in this freezing weather.”

“This place is better off. I heard other regions have lost survivor camps to heavy snowfall, or even lost entire strongholds.”

“Was it heavy snow?”

“Yeah. It’s the worst.”

The problem was that the undead army they were facing didn’t need to worry about the cold or snowfall like the Allied Forces did.

In fact, the severe cold actually benefited them by hardening their bones. The undead legions didn’t need to prepare for the cold like the Allied Forces, nor did they consume any food.

“Hey, let’s spray water on the roads and streets we’re not using.”

“We’ll test how well you can walk when the path is slippery like this.”

“Hope you fall and crack your skulls open, you undead bastards.”

The Allied Forces wanted to implement delaying tactics using the weather to force attrition on the undead army. Their solution was to spray water on major roads and passages not used by the Allied Forces.

The moment water was sprayed, it instantly froze in the extreme cold, making the roads incredibly slippery. For the undead, who already had difficulty maintaining balance, this caused many to fall heavily on the ice or, in severe cases, smash their own heads.

This meant the undead suffered some losses every time they moved.

“Oh, it’s working.”

“Let’s do it right away.”

Once they realized that making roads icy and slippery was effective, the Allied Forces openly began spraying water on roads everywhere to transition to a defensive strategy for the winter. The undead army’s response was remarkably simple.

“Wow. The undead are breaking the ice.”

“They’re even shoveling.”

“Looks like they have some kind of foreman or work supervisor over there.”

As always, if one side used Korean military solutions, the other side responded with Korean military solutions as well.

The undead began using their more agile and nimble members to break up the frozen ice on the roads with shovels and pickaxes.

In response, the Allied Forces secretly sprayed water at night with hoses or used unmanned drones to spray water and freeze the roads, and the undead would once again break up the frozen ice.

As both sides continued this back-and-forth using the weather to their advantage, preparations for full-scale combat were underway.

“It seems the fight will be longer than expected.”

However, that statement meant this battle would drag on even longer.

If the undead needed to solve the road problem that was causing them casualties, the Allied Forces needed winter equipment and supplies to properly deploy soldiers in this severe cold, as well as preparations for the upcoming heavy snowfall.

The most urgent concerns for the Allied Forces were:

“Evacuating refugees and restoring the combat effectiveness of our soldiers.”

“It’s a slow process. The former will be resolved soon, as we’ve rescued the last survivor camp.”

The evacuation of refugees still inside Ulsan Airport and the recovery of soldiers’ combat effectiveness, which had been reduced by the cold.

In the case of the former, refugee evacuation was still ongoing, and they had successfully rescued all the survivor camps that had been holding out at Ulsan Airport. They just needed to transport the civilians who couldn’t fight to evacuation sites.

“But the second issue can’t be resolved in a short time. We’re definitely looking at about three months of fighting in the cold.”

The second issue was more difficult.

Winter had just begun, and the severe cold would continue to plague the Allied Forces for about three months.

At least the armored forces were designed to operate well even in cold weather, so that wasn’t a problem. The Balhut Cult headquarters also seemed to recognize the combat effectiveness drop due to the cold and was quickly supplying winter gear, showing concern for the Allied Forces’ supplies.

“At least the cult is quickly supplying what we need right now. It’s just a matter of time before all our Allied Forces receive supplies.”

From high-calorie food to warm combat uniforms that wouldn’t hinder fighting, to reliable weapons that wouldn’t malfunction in the cold—the cult was making every effort to support the Allied Forces without any shortcomings.

“Then the decisive battle will have to wait until after winter passes.”

“Commander Jeong Dong-geon, is the cult in a position where they need a quick decisive battle?”

“No. We have plenty of leeway. The cult’s governance is stable.”

If that was the case, the Allied Forces didn’t need to engage in a decisive battle during an unfavorable season.

They could take a defensive stance against the Cult of Immortality’s attacks and wait for the winter weather to break.

The best approach was to drag out the battle, forcing the enemy to expend resources until they made mistakes or overextended themselves.

The biggest problem in such cases would be political circumstances demanding a quick resolution, but the current Allied Forces were far removed from such political pressures.

As long as the Dragon God’s trust continued, there were no political forces that could demand a short-term engagement from the Allied Forces.

“Then we don’t need to fight at a disadvantage. We’re in a position where supplies keep coming in, but their leadership isn’t a group that needs food, right?”

“Correct. The undead don’t need food, but the necromancers controlling them are living humans. From our perspective as Allied Forces with intact supply lines, there’s no reason to rush into battle. The concern is… the civilians under the Cult of Immortality.”

They weren’t politically pressured, and as long as they could trade with the United States and had farmland capable of food production, a prolonged war was now practically a specialty of the Balhut Cult.

While the undead certainly didn’t need food, the Cult of Immortality controlling them were living people who did require sustenance.

Moreover, they needed food to distribute to the civilians supporting the Cult of Immortality, so their food consumption would be astronomical.

Rather, the concern was what the cornered Cult of Immortality might do to civilians.

“If we consider civilian casualties and need a quick decisive battle, and if a land approach is difficult, we could use the navy.”

“By navy, do you mean we could use the marines stationed in Pohang, Commander?”

“Yes. If we really need the navy, I’m considering focusing our attack on Ulsan while avoiding a decisive battle with the ghost fleet in the East Sea.”

When the conversation reached this point, Jeong Dong-geon suggested that if they were considering a quick decisive battle, they could also mobilize the navy.

Han Seong-geun was surprised at the mention of having naval forces available and asked if they could really use them. Jeong Dong-geon replied that they could certainly use them if they avoided a fleet battle.

If they could secure a port and execute a landing operation, the Allied Forces wouldn’t need to conduct a river crossing operation—they could transport troops using just the navy.

This meant they could bypass the Cult of Immortality’s defensive line that had established itself on the bridge to defend their main base.

“If we have the navy too, we could retake Ulsan through a decapitation operation to eliminate the Cult of Immortality’s leadership. If we could just deal with those damn necromancers… deal with them… deal… hmm.”

Han Seong-geun was greatly pleased by Jeong Dong-geon’s words and began suggesting a decapitation operation to retake Ulsan, when suddenly his expression darkened.

His voice gradually grew quieter as he began to worry, and his face started turning pale.

Though uncertain what was wrong, it seemed he had a bad premonition while speaking.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Han Seong-geun?”

“No, it’s just… if the head controlling those zombies—I mean, if the Cult of Immortality controlling the undead loses its leadership, how will the undead behave?”

When Jeong Dong-geon asked what was wrong, Han Seong-geun shared the doubt he had just considered.

Currently, the undead were controlled because most members of the Cult of Immortality were necromancers who could directly dominate and rule the undead.

But if they captured or killed the upper echelon of the Cult of Immortality—the necromancers—through a decapitation operation, who would control the undead currently deployed in Ulsan?

If they captured them, would they entrust control to imprisoned necromancers?

Is that even possible? It would be like giving them troops they could easily use to escape.

“What?”

“If they simply return to being skeletons, that would be fine. But what if they lose control and go berserk? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

If the undead simply returned to being skeletons or dirt when their magical energy was cut off, they could proceed with the decapitation operation without worry.

But if they didn’t return to being ordinary skeletons or dirt and maintained their undead state, the undead who lost their controllers would go berserk.

The Allied Forces had already estimated the number of undead stationed in Ulsan, and that number was…

“If a force of at least 500,000 goes berserk… Ulsan is finished.”

They were estimating a minimum of 500,000.

And nearby was Busan—if the Cult of Immortality had extended its influence to Busan, they would need to add Busan’s undead to that number as well.

At Han Seong-geun’s warning, Jeong Dong-geon briefly imagined the scene of over 500,000 undead going berserk.

“Indeed. I understand. That would certainly be dangerous.”

Shortly after, he realized with horror how absurd and unacceptable such a scenario would be, and carefully heeded Han Seong-geun’s warning.

If over 500,000 undead went berserk all at once, the survivors still in Ulsan’s Nam-gu and the civilians under the Cult of Immortality’s management couldn’t possibly survive.

The number 500,000 was no small matter—the Allied Forces currently facing the Cult of Immortality numbered only about 3,000 soldiers.

If asked whether 3,000 soldiers could control over 500,000 undead…

“If they’ve gathered zombies or undead beyond our capacity to handle, the moment they lose control, Ulsan will instantly become a city of death. If we’re not careful, the impact could spread from Ulsan all the way to Busan.”

It was a terrifying statement.

Han Seong-geun mentioned the possibility of Ulsan becoming a city of death while suggesting that if that happened, nearby Busan would inevitably be greatly affected as well.

Common sense would suggest this couldn’t happen, but considering the Cult of Immortality’s irrational behavior and past experiences, Han Seong-geun’s opinion seemed plausible.

Jeong Dong-geon also responded seriously to Han Seong-geun’s opinion, sighing before speaking.

“If this prediction really comes true, our Allied Forces couldn’t handle it. Then there’s only one answer—we’d have to borrow the power of Dragon God Bahamut.”

“Dragon God Bahamut… you mean he would intervene directly?”

He had just suggested that the Balhut Cult might use their trump card first.

This meant the Allied Forces admitted they lacked the ability to deal with an undead army that had lost control, and therefore needed to consider deploying Dragon God Bahamut.

“Yes. Though Ms. Yu-na or Ms. Seol-hwa would need to come here… if we summon the Dragon God here, the undead army they’ve gathered would be no match for us.”

He was confident that if the summoning succeeded, victory would be certain.

In both Gyeongju and Pohang, enormous numbers of zombies—no, undead—had charged at them, but couldn’t even scratch the Dragon God’s scales.

Considering the Dragon God’s invincibility demonstrated so far, even the undead they were currently facing would be nothing more than a slightly tougher army.

“Hmm. That sounds good, but didn’t I hear last time that this Dragon God is so powerful that even summoning him requires caution? If he’s summoned, couldn’t Ulsan be devastated?”

The problem was that if the Dragon God were summoned, Ulsan would be devastated.

Jin A-yeon pointed this out, and Jeong Dong-geon nodded as if she wasn’t wrong before speaking.

“In that case, we either prepare a place in advance where Dragon God Bahamut can operate, or we have no choice but to sacrifice part of Ulsan.”

If necessary, they would sacrifice part of Ulsan.

This showed a strong determination to prevent a city of death, even if it meant accepting the destruction of part of the city.

“Better to sacrifice part of the city to save the rest than to let it all become a city of death.”

“Then we need to prepare a place where the Dragon God can fight in advance. But what about that person the cult talks about? What are we going to do about that?”

Both Han Seong-geun and Jin A-yeon sympathized with this resolve.

If the city really did become a city of death, it would be better to sacrifice part of the city to prevent it.

Considering how many undead were currently converging on Ulsan Airport, they were convinced the Cult of Immortality must have at least twice as many undead at their disposal.

The problem was… the one the Cult of Immortality referred to as “that person.”

“I’ll ask Bahamut about that.”

He declared that he would ask Dragon God Bahamut directly about this matter, not the Allied Forces.

“…Jeong Dong-geon is struggling.”

That meeting soon reached the ears of Bahamut, who was in the temple.