Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 594

Chapter 592: Everyone has a bright future

Gallardo’s becoming one of the High Lords, entering the highest decision-making body of the Empire’s central government, was naturally a matter of great joy to Gu Hang.

Although, during his last personal visit to Holy Terra, Gu Hang had sensed that the psychic seed he had planted in this “close friend” had vanished, he preferred to believe it had been naturally absorbed. The seed, once subtle and exerting only a minor influence, had become a complete part of Gallardo’s personality. This

had its pros and cons.

The con was that the coercive force of psychic power was gone. If the relationship wasn’t carefully maintained, a falling out could occur.

The pro was that there was no further potential for conflict. If no one had discovered it until now, no one could claim in the future that Gallardo had ever been controlled by Gu Hang.

Gu Hang preferred the current situation.

He wasn’t worried about a falling out with Gallardo,

at least not in the short term.

On the contrary, their relationship was growing closer. Personal friendship aside, what was more important was their close political alliance.

Prosperity and loss were shared.

Gallardo’s ascension to power would be a significant benefit to Gu Hang, especially with his position as Chancellor of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

What does the Ministry of Military Affairs do? Armaments and logistics, military development, military planning and execution… Besides directly commanding troops in combat, their responsibilities encompass nearly every aspect of the Empire’s military operations.

Of course, with this vast authority, there are also significant checks and balances.

Because of the relatively independent Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy, as well as even more independent Chapters, their ability to mobilize troops and issue orders is limited.

Due to the existence of the Ministry of Taxation, financial allocations and expenditures also require funding and approval.

Despite these numerous restrictions, however, they remain a powerful and influential department. Granting the Alliance more quotas for the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy would significantly reduce Imperial tax revenue. These units, upgraded to the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy, could be used not only for local defense but also for offensive operations, interfering in military affairs in surrounding star regions and the cosmic realms, as Gu Hang wishes. As long as Gu Hang can secure a transfer order from the Ministry of Military Affairs, his actions would be legal.

Furthermore, another crucial point is that Gallardo’s political role within Holy Terra, as High Lord, strongly bolsters the legitimacy of Gu Hang’s Alliance regime.

Without a powerful political voice within the central government, a regional political entity like the Alliance, spanning multiple star systems and potentially even the cosmic, would be impossible to exist. It would inevitably draw the attention of the Imperial Central Government and lead to its destruction.

Consider the Iron Fury Stone after the fall of former Minister of Military Affairs Norberto.

Gu Hang is also crucial to Gallardo.

His support for the southern front has finally paid off.

Gallardo has been under immense pressure since his inception, his position precarious and unstable. He even clashed with Ou Juren over the timing of the Alliance’s offensive.

The Alliance’s rapid advance in the Proud Claw Sector significantly alleviated the political pressure he faced.

While no key victories were achieved, the continuous advance on the front was invigorating and helped Gallardo win over the support of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

Without this, he wouldn’t even be able to hold onto his position, let alone High Lord. Internal unrest could bring him down, let alone cling to the Prime Minister’s patronage.

Could he just cling to him whenever he wanted?

Once the news of Alfonzo’s fleet’s destruction arrived and was confirmed, his prestige soared to its peak.

He no longer needed to cling to Zibodu; instead, Zibodu was the one seeking to win him over.

This made him fully realize that the Alliance’s victory was his victory, and the prestige earned by the Alliance was his.

The two sides were now so strongly bound by interests that it was far more reliable than mind control through psychic power.

After all, strong mind control was easy to detect, while weaker ones were easily evaded. If either of these scenarios occurred, the two would become sworn enemies, a political taboo that would earn them the scorn and hostility of the entire empire.

A close alliance, on the other hand, presented no such problems. While there was still the possibility of an alliance rupturing due to interests, the consequences were significantly less severe than mind control.

Gu Hang was very satisfied with their current relationship.

The two then turned to discussing the war on the front lines.

The laughter and chatter faltered at this point.

Granted, the collapse on the Western Front had given Gallardo an opportunity to overthrow Ojuren. Not only had he eliminated a political enemy, but he had also secured himself the position of High Lord.

But ultimately, this was merely exploiting the chaos. The collapse of the war itself would remain unchanged.

From the perspective of the entire Empire, shifting to the southern front and the Alliance, the impact would be significant.

Gu Hang stated that he would also send personnel to the Western Front to try to determine what had happened and the current situation.

Meanwhile, the Alliance must prepare for a formidable challenge.

It was now February 10328, a full eight years since the outbreak of the Princess’ Rebellion and two and a half years since the Alliance officially entered the war.

Gu Hang had originally planned to wait another year and a half before continuing his offensive.

This timeframe was based on shipbuilding time constraints.

The ships acquired from Alfonzo’s fleet had generally been repaired, and the relevant crews were quickly deployed under Gu Hang’s watchful eye. The Alliance Navy’s combat effectiveness had already reached a new level.

But it wasn’t enough.

In another year and a half, the Alliance’s new shipbuilding cycle would be over. At that time, the Alliance would be able to acquire four more battlecruisers: one Zhuge-class and one Retribution-class.

With the addition of these six massive ships, the Alliance fleet would be even more formidable!

By then, with a total of sixteen warships, it would be a force to be reckoned with. With the added power of Gu Hang’s psychic abilities, the Alliance might even be able to go toe-to-toe with Iron Armor’s main battleships.

Under these circumstances, Gu Hang was reluctant to engage in war too soon.

He had originally planned to use the Proud Claw star field as the battlefield. If Iron Armor decided to move its main force south, he would hold off here. He could wait for a year and a half, wait until the fleet was more fully formed, and then fight a desperate battle.

However, things did not go as he wished.

Gu Hang was forced to accept the sudden change in the strategic situation.

But this matter is not really that bad.

Will Tiekai really go south with all his strength?

Not necessarily.

However, Gallardo also raised the question of whether the Alliance could initiate an offensive.

After all, rather than the threat of the Iron Armor’s main force advancing southward, the Imperial Central Government was actually most concerned about their reckless westward advance.

The Empire no longer had any strong enough defenses in the Magray Space. If the Iron Armor’s current military strength was still strong, and if their losses in the bloody battle with Phoenix were not so severe, then they could very well replicate in the Magray Space the results they achieved in the Spider Web Space during the early stages of the war.

That blitzkrieg, that aggressive stance, was terrifying.

Remember, when the Iron Armor launched their rebellion, they penetrated the Spider Web Space in just ten months!

Even according to the star map, they could have directly penetrated the nine cosmic realms of the Imperial Central Territory!

This was a matter of star map fragmentation. The two worlds drawn together by the star map must have been connected by a star tunnel. Based on this, star regions were divided, and star regions were further divided based on star regions. The reason a star region is considered a star region is not only because of the clustering of nearby star regions, but also because it often encompasses hundreds of worlds. Connections between star regions are rare, often linked by only one to three pathways.

This means each star region is a relatively isolated cluster.

So far, this is relatively straightforward.

While there’s no concept of east, south, west, or north in the universe, star maps do exist. With Holy Terra at its center, the four astral tunnels extending outward from the solar system divide the regions into east, south, west, and north, evolving layer by layer.

From these four directions, continuous divisions are made according to this principle, forming the four closest regions to the Solar Region. Adding these four adjacent regions and the Solar Region itself, these form the nine central regions.

These nine regions, or the Central Region, are the core governing area of the Empire.

Beyond the nine central regions, all other regions are called “Frontier Regions.”

The division of these border regions no longer adheres to the principle of proximity. In addition to ensuring that star regions within a single universe could be interconnected, all interconnected universes were grouped together. Furthermore, each universe had at least one planet with direct access to one of the nine universes in the central realm.

This division was intended to ensure that reaching any universe from Holy Terra would not require more than four voyages, limiting the journey to less than two years and maximizing the empire’s central control over the borders. This division

was indeed effective.

However, any universe on the empire’s borders could directly reach the central universe.

The thirteen universes in the eastern empire, all connected to the central realm, were known as the “Tianwang Universe.”

The western front was the primary battlefield not only because the Phoenix Lord’s Magre universe, which was west of the Spider Web Universe, but also because they controlled Shockstone, which connected to Embroidered Stone in the Tianwang Universe.

The masters of Holy Terra now feared nothing more than Iron Armor seizing Shockstone and invading the Tianwang Universe.

That was extremely shocking.

Is Holy Terra afraid that Tie Kai will go south?

No, they are afraid that Tie Kai will not go south.

They are testing Gu Hang to take the initiative, hoping that Gu Hang can show his presence, show his sword, and tell Humphrey Paul that if you dare to enter the central territory, you will get hurt.

But Gu Hang thought about it and decided to brush it off.

Of course, he was not being perfunctory to Gallardo.

He was still very frank with this good friend.

“Tie Kai has the ability to break into the Tianwang Universe, but can he break into the Sun Universe? Can he break into Holy Terra?”

Gallardo was stunned and shook his head hesitantly.

It is indeed unrealistic.

Do you really dare to push the imperial center into a corner?

The affairs of the border universe are always limited to the border universe. If the battle really reaches the Tianwang Universe, the forces directly threatened will not be so easy to deal with.

On the one hand, the defensive facilities along the way were well-prepared, making an attack a formidable challenge. On the other hand, the anxious imperial center demanded “support for the emperor,” and a large force would be gathered.

The empire claimed to be engaged in wars and deploying troops everywhere, and military forces in various regions were stretched thin. However, given its vast size, if they insisted on deploying troops regardless, they would surely be able to squeeze out the necessary manpower.

“That’s all right, no need to worry,” Gu Hang said. “Attracting Humphrey Paul’s attention won’t benefit us at all. Without victory, we can’t gain any benefits.”

“On the contrary, what if the Iron Armor enters the Tianwang Realm? They can’t truly influence Holy Terra, nor shake the rule of the Imperial Central Government, but they can severely intimidate the leaders at the center, instilling fear and insecurity in them. The more this happens, the more precious our victory will be.” “

The person responsible for the collapse of the Western Front has already been identified. There’s no need to worry about the responsibility falling on us.”

“The reason the Alliance can’t initiate an offensive is very practical. If we rush out rashly without sufficient strength and are annihilated, what will happen?”

Gu Hang said this, and Gallardo actually thought about what he said.

By then, with the entire Spider Web Realm surrounded by the Zerg and unable to escape, the Northern Group would no longer have a military force capable of counterbalancing the Iron Armor’s main force.

The trouble would be even greater.

For him, a High Lord who relied on the Alliance’s military exploits to secure his position, or even rise to a higher level, it would be a true doomsday.

Becoming a high lord is not about sitting back and relaxing.

After thinking it over, he replied, “You’re right, we really can’t act rashly.”

Then, the two of them talked about the support and supplies that the southern battlefield should receive.

In this regard, Gallardo patted his chest and gave a guarantee.

In the next two years, the Alliance will not only continue to be exempt from imperial taxes in the controlled areas, but will also receive a total of 500 billion in military aid.

This includes troops, weapons and equipment, ships, energy, materials… almost all categories.

Part of the money will come from Holy Terra, part from other star fields in the Eastern Universe, and even the neighboring Adan Universe is unlucky and has to pay a little at the request of the Imperial Center.

Gu Hang is basically satisfied with this figure.

250 billion in aid per year is higher than the Alliance’s annual fiscal revenue.

And Gallardo will also receive stronger support from the Alliance.

Those who make money will make money, those who seize power will seize power, and those who develop will develop… everyone has a bright future!

(End of this chapter)