Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 779

Chapter 774, Class Three Division

Class A Army unit, has achieved the desired effect when it was first established.

How many units in the Empire possess the combat effectiveness of a Class A Division?

Perhaps there are, such as the Kashejin.

However, the difference lies in the fact that other Imperial units capable of achieving similar combat capabilities are small-scale units, precious elite units, deployed as spearheads in critical moments.

How could anyone, like the Alliance, develop such a force as a regular army?

Of course, the strength of a Class A Division comes at a premium. A single infantry division costs upwards of 50 million, the most expensive of which is the hundreds of units of regenerative power armor.

Even a single infantry division like this would be a long, drawn-out battle for a Space Marine company, with heavy casualties.

Even a Space Marine company would struggle to win, let alone any other ordinary unit.

Having such an infantry division deployed in a key position is a vital safeguard for the battle line.

The cost of an A-class Armored Division soared to 120 million. The most expensive components were two Warlord-class Titans and eight Warhound-class Titans. Coupled with hundreds of tanks, including hundreds of Lion Kings and over fifty Excalibur tanks, an A-class Armored Division could attempt to attack even a position manned by a single Space Marine company.

Of course, this assumes the enemy doesn’t have too many Terminators and Dreadnoughts, nor too many Space Marine-specific armored vehicles. If that were the case, the battle wouldn’t be very promising.

However, this is just one division, compared to transcendental warriors like the Space Marines.

In a major battle, a single Alliance A-class Army could deploy eight such A-class divisions, with numerous B-class divisions supporting them.

Even Space Marines wouldn’t be able to withstand such an onslaught.

Furthermore, at that point, the Alliance would inevitably deploy Space Marines or even the Honor Guard.

They had to fight on equal terms; they wouldn’t let mortal warriors die in vain in a bloody battle with the Space Marines.

The Ministry of Military Affairs plans to maintain the Alliance Army’s total strength at 150 Army Groups, a reduction of half compared to the Ironclad War.

The ratio of the three categories, A, B, and C, will be maintained at 1:1:1, with 50 each.

This total strength will be approximately 3 billion troops, with a total cost approaching one trillion.

While this may seem substantial, it is woefully inadequate compared to the Alliance’s controlled territory and the potential demands of future wars.

The Alliance already had a total strength of 5 billion troops during the Ironclad War. The area under its control is now more than double that size, yet its strength has been drastically reduced. How can this be enough?

Even the Planetary Defense Forces are included, and there are limits on the number of B and C units within these forces to facilitate the rapid recruitment of troops from these forces to fill the needs of the Alliance Army when needed. However, even this is still insufficient.

Furthermore, the current 150 Army Groups are not even the actual number. Many units are organized as Army or Division units, but lack both personnel and equipment. Veterans are constantly discharging. While recruits are pouring into training centers across the alliance, very few are actually being added to the army. Most are transferred to the reserve force after completing their training and returning to service.

For the past fifteen years, the alliance has focused on economic development, and coupled with the generally peaceful environment, it hasn’t been possible to invest large sums of money in army development. Thanks to the exceptional efforts of the Army General Staff, the Army Organization Department, the Military and Political Department, and other related agencies, they have managed to establish the framework for 150 group army groups within a limited budget. This is already a significant feat, and one could hardly ask for more.

However, these frameworks are highly significant.

As long as the budget is in place, General Yan Fangxu confidently stated that within three months, he could complete preparations and bring half of the troops to peak combat effectiveness; within five months, all 150 group army groups would be back to normal combat effectiveness.

Furthermore, if the need arises, the large number of mid- and low-level officers trained in excess can be quickly deployed to form new units. The third-class divisions, already well-trained and experienced, have a completely replicable approach to their development, and they have made the necessary preparations.

Gu Hang expressed his approval and also made a request.

Thaddeus from the Ministry of Military Affairs must fully cooperate with Yan Fangxu to do a good job in building the army. The alliance needs to be able to quickly expand the army’s strength to more than 300 army groups within a year, and strictly ensure that the ratio of the three types of divisions, army groups, and army groups remains unchanged, so that the combat effectiveness of the army can be guaranteed.

Of course, this is under the premise of sufficient funds. Gu Hang requires that the alliance must have this level of mobilization and organizational capabilities.

It is still a very arduous task. Yan Fangxu smiled bitterly after hearing this, and Thaddeus frowned after hearing this.

It is quite challenging.

But there is good news.

In the future, the army’s budget will be increased, and it is important to build this kind of mobilization capability, which will come in handy at critical moments.

After a brief discussion with Yan Fangxu, Thaddeus took on this task.

This will be the direction that the army will take in the next one or two years.

In reality, their work over the past fifteen years has been similar: building a military framework, developing organizational and mobilization capabilities, maintaining combat effectiveness within limited resources, and ensuring rapid expansion when needed.

The next step is simply to strengthen these areas further.

…

With the navy, the situation is different.

If the army has been like a hibernating bear for the past fifteen years, despite lacking food, it has been diligently maintaining and even expanding its skeleton, waiting for a chance to fatten up when food becomes plentiful.

The navy, on the other hand, has been methodically upgrading its fleet and developing with a long-term perspective.

The overall size of the naval fleet has not actually increased over the past fifteen years, remaining at around 2,000 ships.

However, the navy’s core combat capability lies more in the quality of its ships than in their sheer number,

particularly in the number of large ships and artillery.

In this regard, the Alliance has made progress.

When it comes to naval operations, the ability to produce large numbers is undoubtedly crucial. However, it takes time to build a ship, especially a battleship-sized ship, and the construction cycle can easily be three to five years. The army’s approach to shipbuilding is simply not feasible. If they wait until a war breaks out before starting construction, by the time the ship is finished, the war will have reached its full potential.

The navy must maintain a strong fleet, and saving money on this is simply not an option.

———

One more chapter, then off to sleep…

(End of this chapter)