Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 1020

Chapter 1011, Military Construction

The initial expenditure of Grace Points on Holy Terra for military development seemed somewhat forced.

After all, there were certain considerations: the area’s unique status and complex situation meant it wasn’t completely under the Alliance’s control. Although the system allowed for the use of Grace Points to develop the region, Gu Hang worried that subsequent changes and setbacks would render his investment wasted.

But the situation had reached its current point, and Holy Terra couldn’t recover without it. All Gu Hang could do was increase his investment.

Whether it was direct funding, resource investment, or Grace Point investment, the goal was to boost Holy Terra’s development.

The greater the reconstruction, the greater the stability; the two complement each other.

As for the risk of loss of control, that depended on the New Imperial government’s ability to manage it.

Currently, the situation was positive.

The dismantling of the local powerful families on Holy Terra had been relatively successful.

On the one hand, it eliminated a potential threat, or rather, it stimulated and swiftly suppressed some of it. On the other hand, it extended the New Imperial government’s control to the grassroots level of Holy Terra.

Only after gaining grassroots power could the various development strategies truly unfold.

And as for Holy Terra’s construction—actually, it shouldn’t be called construction, but restoration.

Once restored to its former size, this single planet could rival the entire Pegasus region, the Alliance’s richest sector. It

boasts a large population and a strong foundation. And

that’s not even counting the neighboring Forge World of Mars.

The eight hundred worlds surrounding Holy Terra and Mars, belonging to the Solar Region, also have excellent foundations. While some are even worse off than Holy Terra due to decades of turmoil, they still have the foundations and a large population. With sufficient investment of resources and grace points, this entire region could rapidly develop again, drawing on the influence of Holy Terra and Mars.

So far, we can even say that initial results are showing. While it’s not yet payback time, looking further ahead, the potential is already being realized. In three to five years, another powerful engine for the Empire’s expeditions will be formed.

At this point, Gu Hang felt quite happy with his investment in this region.

…

Besides exchanging points for factories and schools, and cultivating talent, another major source of Gift Points is also closely tied to “people.”

Military development.

Six Expeditionary Fronts, plus a Central Front garrisoning the homeland and relying on Comoros for rapid mobility, require not only massive resources and financial investment to maintain, but also a significant manpower support.

War losses are one aspect, but another, even greater cost, is the normal retirement of soldiers.

Firstly, the Alliance’s military laws are generally much more lenient towards soldiers than those of the former Imperial Astra Militarum. Unlike the old Empire, where conscripts were conscripted and, unless stationed locally, were never allowed to return home,

this situation stems primarily from the Empire’s inhumanity.

Secondly, there are objective reasons.

Cross-stellar travel is difficult and costly, and with frequent fighting, veterans are naturally not easily released. Even the wounded, disabled, or extremely elderly, whose combat effectiveness is affected, are preferred for local resettlement. Only the lucky few, caught on a supply ship returning empty, could return home.

The Alliance, on the other hand, prioritized the treatment of veterans.

The Alliance’s Dark Side expeditions had been going on for over a hundred years. Recruits began at twenty, and by their thirties and forties, their physical strength was already declining. However, they managed to maintain a relatively strong fighting capacity, thanks to their increased experience. But after fifty, the decline in strength became truly unbearable.

With the exception of a few officers and generals who assumed command or management positions, even those with minor injuries had to retire in order to maintain the unit’s combat effectiveness.

In fact, many Alliance soldiers retired in their thirties and forties.

The Alliance preferred local relocation, believing it was more convenient and cost-effective.

Unlike the old Imperial army, however, the Alliance’s local relocation approach didn’t rely on coercion, simply dumping soldiers where they couldn’t leave anyway. The Alliance relies primarily on incentives to resettle veterans.

Alliance veterans receive retirement benefits based on merit, medals of honor, rank, and military rank.

Those who choose to retire nearby receive even higher benefits, above and beyond the stipulated limits.

This translates to better career options, such as instructors, logistics officers, and officers in the local planetary defense force; local transfers to police stations under the Ministry of Justice; or local security companies—

all relatively relevant positions. Furthermore, other government and corporate sectors offer a wide range of good positions for veterans.

The more challenging the environment, the closer to the front lines, and the closer the resettlement location, the better the retirement conditions.

Those who truly prefer not to remain in poor conditions or too close to the front lines can opt for resettlement in more convenient locations along transport ship supply lines, thus qualifying for the preferential “nearby resettlement” option.

Of course, the Alliance’s annual number of veterans is enormous—after all, given the sheer size of its military, this is a significant factor. Relying solely on government-specific positions isn’t enough to accommodate everyone. Officers at all levels are primarily resettled through this method.

However, ordinary soldiers and non-commissioned officers fare relatively well. Upon discharge, they often receive a relatively high social rank, which translates to a decent monthly stipend. Even without a good position, they can still make ends meet.

For young and strong individuals without significant achievements or high military rank, the Alliance’s Veterans Resettlement Bureau tends to place them in technical colleges, where they can pursue specialized training. Successful graduates can become engineers, while less successful graduates can become skilled workers.

Alternatively, if the resettlement planet is agricultural, where there aren’t many labor positions, more land is allocated. On the Empire’s agricultural planets, land is state-owned, and rather than farmers, farms and agricultural workers lease state-owned land. However, due to the differences between agriculture and industry, farms often receive leases of ten, twenty, or even fifty years. Rents are affordable, but they must pay taxes and sell their crops at a standardized price.

But generally speaking, large farms, large-scale mechanized production, and procurement targets ensure that farmers generally avoid losses unless faced with extreme circumstances.

Being a small farmer subcontracting land is even more comfortable than being a skilled worker or engineer.

If all else fails, they’ll receive a generous retirement package and some guidance on employment and entrepreneurship. They’re not rip-offs, and generally offer jobs in residential convenience stores, restaurants, construction—in short, anything they want.

For those who truly don’t want to be resettled nearby, have family in their hometowns, or simply want to return for no other reason, the alliance also supports them.

It wasn’t very convenient before, but it’s become increasingly manageable.

The Alliance’s shipbuilding industry is booming.

This is driven by both the Alliance government and the active efforts of local administrators.

Shipbuilding, with its large scale and capacity to employ a large workforce, many of whom are skilled workers and engineers, is a truly essential industry. The introduction of a single shipyard often leads to a dramatic economic boost for the entire planet.

Its characteristics are technology-intensive, high value-added, strong growth potential, strong interdependencies, and significant impact. As the core of the production chain, it can drive the development of a wide range of industries and create numerous high-level positions.

Administrators who introduce shipbuilding to their planets, star regions, or even regions often see promotions. This is a direct evaluation metric for administrators, but also because the development of the shipbuilding industry often drives significant economic growth in the region. This latter aspect is the core achievement of local administrators.

Of course, this also raises some issues. Some individuals, with unrealistic ambitions and incompetent skills, have rushed projects into existence without considering the region’s realities, leading to negative consequences.

If a project is ultimately successful, that’s still a positive development. Even if the local industry lacks the necessary infrastructure to support shipbuilding, resulting in a large number of components being imported from abroad, resulting in extremely high production costs and insufficient revenue, the necessary infrastructure can be improved, and if

some of it is added, it will ultimately be useful. However, in some cases, projects ultimately fail to materialize, resulting in enormous waste.

In either case, the officials involved will face severe disciplinary action.

Regardless, the Alliance’s shipbuilding industry has developed at a remarkably rapid pace. This extends beyond building warships; even lower-tech vessels like ordinary merchant ships and transport vessels are valuable.

The core issue limiting interplanetary trade is a shortage of ships.

Given the sheer size of the Alliance, and indeed the entire Empire, a large number of interstellar spaceships is never too many.

The military requires numerous transport ships for supplies; trade requires numerous ships; and even the most basic interstellar flights for personnel exchange are valuable.

The so-called shipbuilding industry being launched in many places is actually just building ships of the “Traveler” class. There

are even smaller craft, capable of carrying only a few dozen people.

Yet, these very ships support a vast number of interstellar flights.

The Alliance’s official interstellar shipping company has aggressively purchased these ships and established numerous fixed routes for the transport of supplies and personnel.

Veterans who wish to return home can board empty supply ships and then, through the Alliance’s well-developed interstellar shipping network, return home.

While this journey can be lengthy, not only due to the journey itself but also the waiting time for flights, for many veterans eager to return home, the wait is worth it.

Upon their return, they are often treated like heroes.

Their stories, including those of those who chose to settle nearby and whose lives have been transformed, who, if not becoming wealthy, at least enjoy a comfortable life in their other worlds, have inspired generations of recruits to approach the Alliance’s recruitment offices, hoping to achieve honors.

They were also the last group Gu Hang would spend a significant amount of grace points on.

Soldier training.

He didn’t aim to train every soldier directly through T5 or T4 training. Soldiers typically served in the Planetary Defense Force for one or two years. The Alliance Army, and now the Imperial Army, only recruited from the Planetary Defense Force.

At this stage, the percentage of soldiers reaching T5 was between 20% and 40%. The exact percentage depended on the local military development of the planet, a key assessment metric for Alliance planetary governors.

On some special planets, Planetary Defense Force training could even raise this percentage to over 80%, yielding soldiers at T4 or even higher levels. This included the Death Legion’s homeworld, Krieg, now under Alliance control; or the Jungle Legion, which emerged from the Death World of Catachan.

The Alliance respected the traditions of these specialized units, establishing them as independent units and integrating them into various fronts. They were often deployed as ace troops.

After recruiting the best from the regular planetary defense forces, the Imperial Army would then subject these recruits to a year of more intensive training.

After completing the Army’s training, the concentration of T5-level soldiers would reach over 60%.

Gu Hang then used his grace points to increase the number of soldiers by approximately 20%, bringing the proportion of T5-level and above to over 80%, thus completing the Alliance Army Reserve.

Sometimes, these troops would join the front lines as brand new units, but more often, they would be shipped to the front lines, assigned to existing division-level units that had recently withdrawn from the front lines.

These frontline units were often resting after combat. Soldiers killed in action, wounded, or retired due to age had just departed, and new recruits who had completed training would fill their vacancies.

After a period of rest and replenishment of personnel and equipment, they would return to the battlefield.

Many divisions had decades or even centuries of history, accumulating countless honors.

This is how the Dark Side Expedition’s front lines have sustained war for over a century. The entire process is well-established and relatively robust, ensuring the well-being of veterans, thereby guaranteeing the quality of recruitment and, ultimately, the combat effectiveness of frontline troops.

This entire process, combined with Gu Hang’s monthly expenditures on training grounds redeemed from the [Buildings] interface and new recruits directly trained through the [Training] interface, often costs hundreds of millions of Favor Points.

This is enough to redeem training slots for tens of billions of new recruits. According to the Alliance’s training methods, this translates to over fifty billion new recruits for the front lines.

Of course, the actual number is not that high.

After all, the Alliance has long since moved beyond the days of prioritizing quantity over quality. The army is becoming increasingly elite, with not only increasingly advanced weaponry and equipment, but also a demanding recruitment of a large number of T4-level soldiers and above.

The price, then, is no longer one Favor Point for a hundred soldiers, but only ten, or even just one.

Gu Hang poured in 100 million grace points every month, but the Alliance actually only sent about 10 billion troops and naval personnel to the front lines each year, roughly enough to maintain the size of the seven fronts.

The total size of the seven fronts was less than 80 billion, and the total number of soldiers killed or retired during the expeditions each year was also roughly 10 billion. The specific ratio depended on the severity of the war. During periods of turmoil, the majority of soldiers were killed or injured; during periods of relative peace, the majority were retired. The fluctuation was quite large, so it was difficult to generalize.

Except for some senior officers and generals who are elderly and eligible for life-extending surgery, the entire expeditionary force’s combat personnel will basically be completely replaced every 13 years or so.

(End of this chapter)