Monster Dismantling Company

Chapter 53 Self-Help Committee

The captain's name is Luo Yinchang, and he comes from Changzhou. The troops currently gathered in Runzhou are from the vast area south of the Yangtze River.

Specifically, it refers to the troops from Jiangnan East Circuit, Jiangnan West Circuit, and Lingnan Circuit.

This is the current troop deployment structure of the coalition government. Dividing administrative regions according to land boundaries has become meaningless, as the land is not contiguous at all, with scattered cities nestled across malaria-ridden, decaying land.

A united government requires "unity," and therefore mobilization is essential. So, when mobilization based on region fails, the best approach is to revert to the ancient method: mobilization based on the Dao.

That is, the mobilization areas were divided according to the railways that originated from Guanzhong.

The core of Gangnam East, Gangnam West, and Yeongnam provinces was the railway. The coalition government's management and mobilization were only effective where the railway reached; otherwise, they were ineffective. The railway bureau, not a government agency, was responsible for managing these areas on behalf of the coalition government.

This is why the Silver Dragon became a national treasure. A large part of the coalition government's power in Gangnam East Province was concentrated on this one vehicle.

Now, the car has been blown up.

"So, one thing is for sure: they won't abandon us," Luo Yinchang said to Li Lin. "You can rest assured here. Nothing will happen."

It was unclear whether he was comforting himself or Li Lin. The captain, who wasn't very old, had been forcibly dragged into this position. Besides taking care of himself and others, he also had to look after the two civilian passengers on the train.

Li Lin nodded. He could also sense the pressure Luo Yinchang was under—he was only a captain.

Although the rank of captain is quite high, generally speaking, captains are only military commanders at the company level, and there are usually only about one hundred of them.

Management at this scale typically doesn't require indirect institutions; the company commander only needs to know everyone. This is because, according to some pre-war studies, the maximum number of people in a directly established social network is around 150. The closer to this number, the more difficult it becomes to maintain social interaction—this is generally known as Dunbar's number. A company is an organization with fewer people than Dunbar's number, while this train carriage already contains nearly a thousand people, far exceeding the 150-person limit.

Managing such a large number of people to save themselves all at once made Luo Yinchang feel uneasy.

"May I ask, Captain Luo, what was your previous military rank?"

Luo Yinchang lowered his voice: "Actually, I'm a pilot... I'm a captain pilot. I've never been in charge of anyone. I only take care of myself and my plane. God knows why there's no one with a higher rank than me in this carriage, even though our airfield commander is in this carriage. But it seems he went to the dining car for lunch."

"Ah..." Li Lin said helplessly, "It seems like a lot of people are over there in the dining car. I know a few of them, and they're in the dining car too."

"The Silver Dragon's food cart is famously delicious. Tsk, let them eat there, and now they've gotten sick."

After exchanging a few words with Li Lin, his mood improved slightly.

"By the way, what's our next step?" Li Lin asked. "We're looking for the drone pilot right now, right? If we find a road ahead, should we move to another place to hide, or stay where we are and wait?"

"That's hard to say." He shook his head. "Let's find the person first—I've already gone to look for the person you just mentioned."

When Luo Yinchang asked him if he had a drone, he immediately recommended Private Chen Feiran, who was sitting next to him, because he happened to have a drone in his bag.

But during the descent, the whole car was shaken, and now we can't find him or his bag. We just sent someone to shout, and if he's awake, he should arrive soon, and then we'll find where he put his bag.

After that, Chen Feiran or someone else would have to pilot the drone to scout the way.

The sign at the car door reads "Little Dragon Palace," and we need to explore that direction.

After that, a choice was placed before everyone—if there was a road ahead, should they wait for rescue in place, or go out and find a way out themselves?

"What do you think?" he suddenly asked Li Lin.

"You're asking me? My answer is definitely to stay where you are. When I was little, my family used to tell me that if you get lost, don't run around, it's best to stay where you are."

"But we have enough manpower; perhaps we can organize an expedition..."

Li Lin didn't follow his lead, but instead asked, "Under normal circumstances, what should we do here? I mean, what should we do if we were scattered on the battlefield?"

"According to military regulations, we stragglers who cannot return to our units should form a temporary military committee to bring together officers, soldiers, and technical personnel to decide on our course of action through a military meeting."

That's why he came to listen to Li Lin's opinion. From their conversation, he learned that Li Lin worked for the Monster Disassembly Company, meaning he was an expert.

In such situations, experts should also be included in the committee.

"So, Li Lin, do you want to join us?" he asked. "Although you're not a soldier, we need the advice of professionals. Exploring in such an unfamiliar environment should be your area of ​​expertise, right?"

"Then you've come to the right person."

"You agreed?"

Li Lin nodded.

"Okay, okay."

This finally put Luo Yinchang's mind at ease. Although he was alone and lacked experience, if he could gather everyone together using his military rank, he could greatly improve decision-making efficiency.

A thousand people isn't a lot, but it's not a small number either. After all, we all speak the same language and have come together for the same world and the same dream, so it's unlikely that we'll start fighting amongst ourselves so quickly.

Soon, within 5 minutes, the "Temporary Management Committee of Carriage No. 4" was established in the hot water area at the front of the train, located between the washbasin and the train crew's rest room.

The chairman of the committee was, without a doubt, Luo Yinchang, the highest-ranking officer present—that was the rule. After becoming disbanded soldiers, whoever had the highest rank would be in charge.

Under Luo Yinchang's appointment, the 900 people were temporarily organized into 10 groups, each led by at least one junior officer and a senior sergeant. The committee also included technical personnel, such as those who could operate drones, cook, and perform first aid, forming temporary logistics and medical working groups. Li Lin was selected as a "technical advisor" to join the committee's decision-making body, directly liaising with Luo Yinchang himself.