Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 816

Chapter 810, a little sad

To support the Dark Side Expedition, not only did Gu Hang spend his Gift Points almost immediately, but the Alliance itself was also under immense pressure.

For many years, the Alliance’s domestic livelihoods had stagnated, and indeed were regressing.

This didn’t mean that the Alliance hadn’t made progress. On the contrary, despite the devastation of war, the Alliance had maintained rapid economic growth over the past 27 years.

But this growth was entirely in the military.

More and more ships were being built, and production of major energy resources like ammunition and energy increased by dozens of times. Production lines for other types of weaponry were also ramping up one after another.

Everything else was retreating, giving way to the war effort.

Regarding military personnel, the size of the Alliance’s army and navy had increased by over twenty times compared to pre-war levels, currently reaching nearly one hundred million.

Compared to the mobilization rate of the Alliance’s total population, this number was less than 1%, but the difference was not significant.

And this only counts the Alliance’s army and navy, not including planetary defense forces. If the latter were included, the figure would inflate by more than five times.

If necessary, the Alliance is certainly capable of raising the mobilization rate far higher than this. The simplest approach is to recruit and assemble the uncounted planetary defense forces and infuse them into the Alliance Army.

In fact, the defense forces were originally the Alliance Army’s reserve forces. At least 70% of the current Alliance Army’s troops were originally drawn from the defense forces.

New recruits from various planets were drafted into the defense forces, and the best were transferred to the Alliance Army for reorganization and training, and then joined the grand cause of the Dark Side Expedition.

Even after the pressure reached a stage where Gu Hang no longer had enough Gift Points to invest in standard T5-level recruit training for the Alliance Army. It

was simply too much to afford.

Spending tens or even hundreds of millions of Gift Points was simply too much for Gu Hang, given the large amount of Gift Points he had to spend.

Training ordinary people into T5-level soldiers was a very cost-effective and profitable endeavor. Gu Hang was definitely not the type to throw newly conscripted civilians into boot camp for a few weeks before sending them to the front lines.

In such cases, the necessary grace points for branch training must be paid.

However, under the Alliance’s current conscription system, the Army’s “new recruits” have all undergone years of training in the Defense Forces. A significant number of them have already reached T5 level. Those who haven’t reached that level are probably not far behind.

Given this, it’s completely unnecessary to spend tens or even hundreds of millions of grace points on new recruit training. The improvement is minimal, and the cost-effectiveness is low.

The Alliance must stick to its original conscription plan.

Even if frontline headquarters constantly complain about insufficient troops, they won’t waver.

If they’re short on troops, they can find other solutions. If all else fails, they can just go slow.

Stability is paramount.

Anyway, the casualties on the front lines were one thing, but their cries for more soldiers were primarily due to the rapid advancement of the battlefront and the expansion of the occupied territories. Each planet would need to dispatch a certain number of troops to garrison and help stabilize the situation on the ground.

This area of troop demand was relatively the greatest.

Here, Gu Hang seemed to be in a state of ambivalence.

There was a clear sense of urgency, yet

Gu Hang prioritized stability. In reality, these two principles didn’t conflict at all.

Precisely because time was of the essence, stability was paramount.

His greatest support now lay in the Alliance’s foundation. No matter how fiercely the Dark Side Crusade raged, it relied on this foundation for support.

His priority was to ensure its stability.

The current situation might not have reached its limit, but Gu Hang had no desire to push the Alliance to that point—unless the broader environment took a turn for the worse.

Local officials in many areas reported that years of stagnant, or even slightly declining, living standards and allowances, coupled with increasing workloads, were fostering public discontent.

Under normal circumstances, this discontent would be easily suppressed, perhaps even kept from becoming public.

However, in the current climate of Chaos, things were different. Even with Gu Hang at the helm of the Alliance, the pervasive whispers of the Warp were impossible to prevent. It always whispers in a disgruntled individual’s ear at a crucial moment, corrupting their mind and fostering discontent.

Most often, this is quelled by therapists, church ministers, and the alliance’s propaganda apparatus. But the few that remain unquenched, over time, become “hidden dangers.”

If these “hidden dangers” erupted individually, it would be a good thing. Imprisonment or execution were both solutions. However, these “hidden dangers” often don’t erupt so easily. Instead, they lurk, spreading chaotic ideas in various ways. They

seek out similarly disgruntled employees, channeling and amplifying their discontent; forming private gatherings and associations, expanding their influence under the guise of fighting for workers’ interests; organizing strikes and violent factory sabotage; forming rebel groups and openly occupying areas…

This set of tactics may seem familiar, but in reality, it’s just a veneer of deceptive tactics. The fundamental difference between Chaos Corruption and genuine discontent seeking personal gain lies in the fact that Chaos Corruption is driven by employee benefits, which can be resolved through negotiation; Chaos Corruption, on the other hand, is driven by pure sabotage and cannot be resolved through negotiation.

However, within the Alliance’s internal review bodies, distinguishing between the two is, admittedly, extremely difficult.

In urgent situations, they must suppress everything.

Gu Hang, observing the numerous reports emerging from within the Alliance, couldn’t help but feel a constant sense of worry.

The Dark Side Expedition was raging outside, but he must not let a fire start in his own backyard.

The strongest fortresses are often breached from within, and the most glorious undertakings often begin to rot from within.

Gu Hang must remain vigilant to this issue.

He must ensure the stability of his base, and even expand it; that is the greatest support for the Dark Side Expedition.

This forced Gu Hang to invest more of his Gift Points and social resources in internal control.

Inevitably, review and religious institutions were strengthened in this process.

Honestly, Gu Hang felt a sense of sadness about this.

(End of Chapter)