Chapter 137

  Under the orders of Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, the fleets configured under her command to resist the Alliance's major offensive were dispatched to several star systems located in the Imperial corridor outside the Ischer system, where they engaged in activities to gather local supplies, especially food.

  Fawneuil's fleet, under his command, also included the scorched-earth operations of the Xanthea and Tralbah systems. "Remember! To conduct looting activities in an organized and disciplined manner! Prohibit all disorderly conduct towards women! Those who want to be shot by the marshal can't control their own **!"

  "The Fahnern fleet has thoroughly plundered Shantou and Traba!" This report was soon placed on Reinhardt's desk. Just as Reinhardt was about to issue a punitive order, he was stopped by his trusted aide-de-camp, Colonel Oberstein: "Your Excellency Rozenkranz, please do not issue this command. Because Excellency Fahnern will not listen at all. His actions have the legitimate status given by Your Excellency."

  "Then! I'll have to watch this scoundrel plunder in my name! Alright, Aubestain! I won't give a stern order, but I can dispatch the gendarmes for military discipline!"

  As usual, the Imperial Guards dispatched by Marshal Rozenkranz in the name of the Imperial Guard Command were placed under house arrest by Fafnir within the fleet. The organized and orderly looting activities on the ground continued, and interestingly, they were faster and more powerful than the fleets commanded by the generals in Marshal Rozenkranz's own headquarters.

  While the Meklering fleet and others were still carrying out their collection actions in an orderly manner, Favniel had already completed the "plunder" mission of two star systems, throwing aside the resentment of civilians on the ground, and escorted the local nobles who withdrew from the planet's surface.

  "Rudolf, you think the Golden Hair's strategy will succeed? I somehow feel it's not very reliable." said General Shuttekhou.

  "Come on, just basic math. The transport ships from the Alliance are over 2,400 meters long, with a square cross-section, so they're roughly 400 meters high and wide. That's almost 3.9 billion cubic meters of volume. If we subtract the propulsion system, outer armor plating, control systems, and other things, there's still at least 3 billion cubic meters of space left for cargo. One cubic meter of flour weighs about 520 kilograms, so if we account for storage space and shelving, we can fit over 2 billion cubic meters of flour on one ship. That's 1.04 trillion kilograms, or over 100 million tons. The Alliance has 30 million soldiers, and we estimate there are around 60 million civilians who will be left starving. Even if the entire fleet had no food at all, it would only take one standard transport ship to feed this population of 100 million people. I mean, come on, do you really think each person needs to eat a ton of grain every day? This whole strategy is based on elementary school math and unrealistic appetites..."

  "The halo of brain damage is indeed boundless." thought Favniel after saying those words.

  For the first month, all personnel of the Imperial Expeditionary Force's space fleet were friendly with the excited atmosphere surrounding them, but this pleasant friendship soon cooled down, leaving only a depressing mood and anxiety. Officers asked questions in places without soldiers, while soldiers asked questions in places without officers, holding the same doubts - why did they never see any signs of the enemy?

  The Allied Forces, with Admiral Wulang's 10th Fleet as the vanguard, invaded the Imperial territory within a range of 500 light-years. More than 200 star systems fell into the hands of the Allied Forces, including 30 low-development but inhabited star systems. A total of 50 million people were under their control. The governors, border earls, tax officials, and military personnel who originally ruled them all fled, and it can be said that they were occupied without encountering any resistance.

  "We are the Liberation Army!"

  The Allied Forces' pacification officers said this to the peasants and vagrants who were left behind on these planets.

  "We will bring you freedom and equality, you will no longer suffer from the tyranny of despotism. We will give you all sorts of political rights, you will start a new life as free citizens!"

  But what greeted them was not the thunderous applause and cheers they had expected. The peasant representative, seemingly impervious to the officer's passionate words, said: "Before any political rights, I want to be given the right to live! There is no more bread, not even milk for the babies, the army took everything away. So before freedom and equality, can't we have some bread and milk first?"

  "That's for sure."

  In response to this utterly unrealistic demand, the commissar endured inner disappointment and replied. After all, they were the Liberation Army. Providing a guarantee of life for the poor masses who had escaped from the heavy shackles of imperialism was one of their sacred duties, just like fighting.

  They demanded from the General Staff of Iscandar that, in addition to food supplies from each fleet's commissary, they be given ninety days' worth of food for five billion people, seeds for over two hundred varieties of edible plants, forty protein-manufacturing factories, sixty hydroponic equipment sets, and ships to transport all these resources.

  "Our chance has come!" Cheers erupted in the distant Hainessen Alliance logistics headquarters and general staff, as well as in the forward supply command post at Iselrun Fortress.

  In the century-long war, the allied military had accumulated countless hollow and black accounts, most of which were materials that should have been on the books but did not actually exist, or things that had already been divided up. In order to make everything look good and to get appropriations from Congress, reports about logistical supplies and losses sometimes exaggerated and sometimes downplayed them, with no situation ever matching what was on the books.

  Now there is a great opportunity in front of the logistics department and the general staff, they finally have the chance to wipe out all the loopholes and holes that have accumulated over the past century, just need a little "mistake" to do so. They have plenty of opportunities...

  "To thoroughly rescue the inhabitants of the liberated areas from a state of starvation, at least this much resources are needed. As the liberated areas gradually expand, this value will also swell!"

  Seeing the appended note on the request document, General Kaidiren, as the chief of staff of the expeditionary force's rear headquarters, couldn't help but smile with pleasure.

  For the 50 million people for 90 days, just grain alone would be as high as 5 billion tons. Five hundred thousand-ton transport ships are needed. And first of all, this has already far exceeded the food production and storage capacity of the Isoleren fortress.

  "By the way, do we have such a small transport fleet? And that guy in the back actually dared to settle accounts! In one breath, it's 50 billion tons... To think that in the Western era, feeding a population of 1.4 billion people only required 500 million tons of grain... " Colonel Cai Jilun said seriously. "Just right, let's fill in the gaps in our warship fleet here too. The hole I have here is about 1,000 destroyers, add them to the transport fleet's roster."

  One of the Imperial scoundrels who had connections with Fishtank hastily walked out, and soon a telegram was placed on General Shuttker's desk.

  "Lord Fawkes, this is intelligence from over there."

  "Oh, transportation plan. Right, did we give them our strategic plan here? What price did they come up with?"

  "One hundred million Empire Marks, sir."

  "Oh, let's share this with the high-ranking officers who know about it. And also, find an excuse to hand over this transportation plan to Jin Mao. We should fulfill our duties as Imperial soldiers too."

  In the capital of the Free Planets Alliance, Heinessen, a fierce debate is unfolding between the two factions over the massive material request from the expeditionary force. However, the debaters are either well aware of the behind-the-scenes manipulations and ignore rationality, or they are just elementary school dropouts.

  The affirmative faction argued that the original purpose of the expedition was to liberate the imperial people from the heavy pressure of the empire. It is only natural to rescue the hunger of 50 million people in a humanitarian way. Moreover, after receiving relief from our army and adding their dissatisfaction with the empire, the hearts of the people will inevitably tend towards the alliance. Whether it is for military reasons or political significance, the demands of the expeditionary force should be met to provide food for the inhabitants of the occupied territories...

  There are also counterarguments that this expedition was a reckless move from the start. Even with the initial estimates, the cost would be over 200 billion yuan, which is 5.4% of this year's national budget and more than 10% of the military budget. In any case, it is certain that actual fiscal expenditure will far exceed the original budget, and on top of that, ensuring food supplies for the occupied territories will lead to glaring financial vulnerabilities. Therefore, it would be best to stop the expedition now, abandon the occupied territories, and return to Iselren. As long as Iselren can be secured, it should be enough to deter imperial aggression...

  Some people also think that this debate will go on endlessly, but - "Give me the chance to die in battle! If we just sit here and do nothing, there's only the shameful path of starving to death."

  This report from Isherun says that it's a cry of despair - the situation has worsened. Just when we had barely collected the requested supplies and started transporting them, an additional request for almost the same amount as last time arrived again. The occupied area has expanded, and the population of the occupied area has exceeded 100 million. Of course, the necessary quantity of supplies also had to be increased...

  Even the pro-government faction was intimidated this time.

  The opposition said: "Looking at this, won't it be endless in the future? 50 million becomes 1 billion. Probably later it will become 2 billion from 1 billion? The empire wants to destroy my alliance's finances, and the government and military that fell for its strategy cannot shirk this responsibility! Now there is no other way. Withdraw troops!"

  "The empire is using innocent civilians as a weapon to counter our military's attack. Although it's a despicable tactic, since our army is bearing the name of liberation and relief, we have no choice but to admit that this is an extremely effective strategy. It's time to withdraw now. Otherwise, our army will be advancing with starving civilians in tow, and at the moment when we are exhausted, we will be defeated under the enemy's general counterattack."

  Minister of Finance, Jan Egel?v, said this in the High Council.

  Those who were in favor of sending troops had nothing to say and sat silently in their seats.

  Intelligence Traffic Commissioner Lady Windsor stared rigidly at the icy computer display screen devoid of any images.

  At present, apart from withdrawing troops, there is no other way out, and Mrs. Windsor understands this very well. So far, what has been spent has already been spent, and if there are any more expenditures, the finances will not be able to support it.

  But to withdraw troops without any results would make it impossible for her, who had supported the deployment of troops, to maintain her position. The initial opposition party didn't need to be said, even the pro-war faction that supported her would also hold her politically accountable. And the highest speaker of the House of Councillors' seat, which she had been striving for since she entered politics, would also be far away from her.

  "What are those incompetent fools at GHQ doing?! Windsor's wife was driven by gritted-teeth anger, her hands clenched so tightly that the beautifully coloured nails were almost digging into her palms."

  The withdrawal is inevitable, but before that, just one time would be enough, as long as there was a military victory over the Imperial Army. This way, her face could also stand up, and later generations would not criticize this expedition as a symbol of foolishness and waste...

  She looked at the elderly president of the assessment meeting - an old man who was dull and indifferent, occupying the highest position of power.

  This national leader, ridiculed as "nobody's choice", emerged from the low-level games of interaction among various political forces to become a transitional figure who benefited from the situation. It was he who mentioned the next election, which made us follow suit - she hated the Speaker from the bottom of her heart for putting her in this predicament.

  On the other hand, Defense Commissioner Troni was satisfied with his own foresight.

  I knew it would be like this. With the current national power and military strength, it is impossible to successfully attack the empire. In the near future, the expeditionary force will end in defeat, and the current government will also lose the support of the citizens. However, I will be seen as a brave and insightful person because I opposed this reckless deployment. At a time when the country is suffering, my value will actually increase! Although there are still rivals like Lebero and Hwang, they do not have the support of the military and defense industry, so in the end, I will ascend to the position of Chairman of the Supreme Council.

  A faint smile floated in his heart. The title of "the wisest leader in the history of the alliance that overthrew the empire" should be awarded to him. No one other than himself could match this glorious honor...

  As a result, the proposal for withdrawal was rejected once again.

  "No restrictions should be placed on the actions of the army until results appear at the front."

  This is the main war faction's argument made in a tone of guilt. The so-called "result" was exactly what Tronchin had been hoping for, but the result that the war faction and he expected were two completely different things.

  For this result, the military is welcoming with both hands.

  The situation at the front was much better than what had been passed on to the rear, with no fierce battles taking place and ammunition and energy being relatively abundant. The food problem that Ragnvald Krekram and his subordinates had pinned their hopes on did not occur at all... The alliance only needed to use standard transport vessels from the fortress to follow the fleet's advance in order to send enough military rations for them to eat until Odin, with some extra left over to provide relief to civilians.

  What Luo Yanke had been expecting never happened. On this day, Rudolf von Favril, a first-class general, entered his marshal's mansion and calculated the numbers in front of Oberstein Colonel, Shuangbi, Heiqiang and others... The faces of all the people in the marshal's mansion were extremely colorful.

  "You're just a moron, Marshal." These were the original words of General Fafnir, who laughed loudly and walked away. "We should launch a surprise attack as soon as possible. At least now the enemy is scattered, we have an advantage in terms of interior lines and troop strength."

  What happened next in the marshal's mansion, Favniel didn't know, but even if he hadn't seen it, he could imagine it. "Golden hair, I'm a good person. This time I won't turn this joke into a story to tell in the Imperial Square and the noble salon." Favniel thought to himself, laughing uncontrollably.

  Orders were given quickly. It seemed that the fleets under the marshal's command had launched a counterattack against the previous Allied fleet. "It seems that blondy is indeed an idiot! Doesn't he even know how to concentrate his advantageous forces? Was my blow to his IQ too severe?" Fafnir said, looking at the list of those who had launched the attack.

  "Rudolf, what about that Allied fleet?" said General Shutekhou, his face covered in snot as he laughed so hard he was crying after hearing the story of Favnir's visit to the Marshal's residence.

  "Wipe that damned snot off your face! Hah, I couldn't help but laugh! You didn't see the look on that blonde's face? Alright, let's take on the Third Fleet directly! Shutekkuhājan! Order all ships to set sail! Prepare to annihilate the Third Fleet!" Fafnir stood up with a sly grin and gave orders to Shutekkuhājan.

  The massive flagship "Rokki" began to radiate a brilliant glow, with the rear being dotted with warships like stars, and the 17th fleet's total of 18,000 ships officially started accelerating forward, preparing to engage the enemy.