Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

"Is it really that bad that it's becoming a problem during combat?" Xiaoyun questioned.

"Not that far... But outside of combat, it's becoming a stark contrast that hinders comradeship."

Han Bang's point intrigued Xiaoyun a little, but he waited for him to take a bit of the food before asking again.

"Can you give me some examples?"

"Like during the off-times, the female and male units don't interact with each other at all. They live in completely separate camps and set strict borders."

"Doesn't seem that bad to me," Xiaoyun murmured as he imagined it inside his head.

"It doesn't sound that bad until General Yezi's original order was to operate in a mixed environment, not to create special zones."

"Then what's the reason for this divide?"

"Colonel Ningjing. She has openly disobeyed Yezi's order and made special arrangements for her female troops."

"Does Yezi know about this?"

"He later readjusted his order to allow it... But she didn't ask him for permission at first. That's disobedience."

Xiaoyun thought for a second before coming up with the conclusion that it wasn't really that big of a deal.

"If Yezi is fine with the change, I don't see the issue... Besides, is there no other reasoning behind why the female soldiers are so reluctant to have mixed camps?"

Noticing Han Bang eating the noodles rather than answering his question, it instantly became clear he was hiding something.

"Han Bang, be honest with me. What was the reasoning for Ningjing to set up separate camps?"

After a short moment of silence, Han Bang finally confessed.

"One... One of the male soldiers got drunk and forced himself onto one of the female soldiers."

"There you go. I don't see any issue with them having a separate camp. How did the soldiers even get alcohol to get drunk in the first place?"

"It's a hard job. Soldiers couldn't help themselves when they found one when they cleared the city."

"That's not a valid excuse. A crime is a crime. Don't tell me you forgive that soldier's crime."

"Of course not. I already discharged him from the military and transferred him to Guangzhou's police force for assault."

Han Bang's answer relieved the worry on Xiaoyun's face, but the problem clearly remained.

There was a gender divide in the military that was brewing, whether Xiaoyun liked it or not. It was an issue that he needed to tackle.

"Commander, I have one important question... It's one that had bothered me and many of my comrades."

"What is it?"

"Why do we have female soldiers at all? Call me old-fashioned, but I really don't see the need for them to be a part of combat duty."

Xiaoyun fell into silence this time. In his mind, he didn't really know how to answer it. He understood Han Bang's point.

At the same time, he couldn't bring himself to restrict an entire gender from joining the army, especially considering how many of them had actively signed up.

It would be cruel for him to prevent them from fighting the zombies when many of them were also a part of people who lost their loved ones.

There was clearly a demand, a drive of people who actively sign up for reenlistment and stay through all of the same military training as men.

"Han Bang, let me ask you a question... Can you beat an arm wrestle against Colonel Ningjing?"

"I... No, sir."

"Then can you tell me if the female soldier doesn't fight as hard as men against the zombies?"

"No, sir... But——"

"There is no but. Just because women weren't in an active role in the past doesn't mean they can't be a part of the active role now."

Before Han Bang could speak up again, the conversation was quickly interrupted as a worker came up with a bowl of Shandong mian.

"Your noodles, sir."

"Thank you."

After the worker walked off, Xiaoyun quickly added one more point.

"Don't bring up the whole argument that women are inherently not fit for combat. Most of the population before the outbreak was not fit for combat.

And one last thing, you might want to read up on the newspaper. There's already a study showing the physical gap between the two genders has been closing."

"I get it, Commander. I understand your point."

Han Bang murmured, his face seemingly still a little hesitant to accept Xiaoyun's perspective.

"I hope you really do... I don't want to hear any more comments that divide the army from my officers, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now, are there any other examples of unfairness? Tell me the whole story and don't try to half-bake one side."

"There is one more thing... Commander, do you know how many of the workers in the logistics office are women?"

"Oh boy, don't tell me you're bringing this up. I know the majority of the office jobs are held by women.

But unless you can bring solid proof, I might seriously consider you as holding in contempt as inherently biased towards women."

"I'm serious, sir... I have gathered a few evidence that—Ahem, shows how the logistics department had favored the women's unit over the men's unit."

"Tell me about it."

Han Bang quickly took out a small notebook from his pocket, showing a list of what appeared to be some sort of violation.

"When Mingxu and I asked for two full crates of ammo each, we were given 1. Meanwhile, Ningjing requested 2, and they got 2 all for herself."

"You reported this to Yezi?" Xiaoyun asked the same question again.

"I did. He just told me the logistics office was running short of supplies. But the next week, it was the same thing.

They were given priority, despite both of our divisions being right on the frontline every single day just like them."

"It's just small things," Xiaoyun argued.

"Small things that could be life or death. Why are they being treated with speciality over us when we are supposed to be all equals?"

As Xiaoyun took a bit of the noodles, he already knew the answer to Han Bang's question.

There was an undeniable slight favor towards female units over male units in the logistics department. But if he saw it through a female officer's len, it felt normal.

He knew it was unfair to the male units. But it leaned more towards an equity over equality kind of debate rather than a fairness question.

Perhaps it was just his machismo influencing him, or how society has functioned in the past decades of female empowerment.

The trend of women deserves some sort of compensation in society. Or maybe he just felt empathy and guilt when he should have been more rational instead.

"I'll seriously consider this issue... Send me a full list of the violations next week, and I'll investigate and talk to Houqin myself."

"Thank you, sir."

---

As Xiaoyun left the Shandong restaurant, his mind was a little conflicted. Deep inside, it made sense in his eyes to treat women better.

Especially considering he had nine lovely wives back home that he wouldn't dare to hurt, or have anyone put them in harm's way.

At the same time, as a man himself, it would be almost traitorous to ignore men's demand for a 'correction' on the 'over-correction' issue.

It was a societal issue.

One that he felt his hands were tied, considering almost every part of his government had both men and women.

If he handled it wrong, it could spell disaster not just militarily, but domestically as well. Even his marriage could be at stake.

Ideally, the best solution was to give it a cold treatment, the more he thought of it. Letting it die down on its own and hoping for the best.

Just taking any side, even a neutral side or a side based on truth and fairness, was going to lead to biases in his eyes.

"Why don't these stupid problems just go away? Why does it always have to be so hard to deal with?"

Xiaoyun murmured as he continued walking down the street. His mind too preoccupied as he struggled to come up with an answer.

After walking through the entire commercial district, he soon ended up back at the doorstep of the logistics department.

"Maybe a different day."

Heading over to the parking lot, Xiaoyun quickly got into his car before starting it up.

Driving down the road, he could see people walking on the streets, with many of them standing at the bus stop.

Both men and women alike were waiting at the same place to head back to work. Everyone was just living their lives as usual.

"Maybe the issue isn't that big of a deal... Yezi and Yiming themselves haven't brought this up as a problem at all."

The more Xiaoyun drove down the road, the more he felt the problem in hand had been blown out of proportion.

At the very most, it was a few bad apples in a big basket. One that just needs a small tweaks and fixes.