Chapter 146: Do You Know How Expensive Orbital Strikes Are?
“The Greenskins are born for war. As long as they keep fighting, the spores from the same tribe will develop faster, creating more Greenskin mutants. It’s not just a matter of numbers; even their technology will advance rapidly through this process.”
Martins carefully supplemented Gu Hang’s knowledge about the ‘Cancer of the Universe.’
“Fortunately, you didn’t lose. If they had won a key battle, their growth rate would have sped up even more. In fact, those guys in Garbage Town have already given these Greenskins a victory, which is like stepping on the gas pedal for their clan’s development.”
“Fortunately, this Greenskin tribe hasn’t had enough time to grow yet, and its starting point was in the city ruins, where Waste Energy Storms are frequent. If they had started in a warm forest area, with fertile soil, we might be facing millions of Greenskins.”
“In dealing with this kind of enemy, it’s unwise to drag things out in a war of attrition. It takes twenty years to raise a human soldier from birth to a qualified fighter; those Greenskins, on the other hand, are born ready to fight.”
“If we don’t resolve this quickly, we might not only face twenty thousand Greenskin Orcs but double that number, along with ten times as many minor Greenskin creatures. Their technology might even make greater strides; artillery may become stronger and reach farther, and armed trucks may become larger and more fierce. It wouldn’t be surprising if even more monstrous things appear. Among the Greenskin race, there are individuals who, through sheer physical strength, can match a Star Warrior.”
…
After listening to all the information Martins provided about the Greenskins, Gu Hang’s face darkened completely.
Some of his previous plans had to be scrapped.
Just like Martins had said, the best way to deal with these Greenskins was to flatten them all at once, rather than expecting to reduce their numbers in a war of attrition. Even if one blow couldn’t wipe them out, their numbers had to be reduced to an extremely low level.
Otherwise, the ensuing troubles would be endless.
“I understand your point. Thank you for the intel,” Gu Hang thanked Martins and then made a request, “I will immediately contact the ‘Quintet,’ and Commodore Alicia will provide us with orbital strike support. Once the orbital firepower coverage is complete, we will launch an attack. Let’s set it for three days from now.”
Martins nodded. “Three days should be fine.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll still need your assistance by then.”
…
Three days was the time Gu Hang needed to distribute equipment to the garrison divisions, spend his Grace Points, and train them to the T5 level.
This was essential for troop preparation.
Meanwhile, he also used this time to have an in-depth conversation with Alicia in orbit.
When Alicia’s holographic image appeared before him, he saw the golden-haired lady captain elegantly slicing a piece of steak, with a glass of red wine by her side.
The corners of Gu Hang’s mouth twitched slightly.
All these items were supplies he had sent up to the Quintet.
The Quintet had its own synthetic starch production capabilities and was stocked with military logistics supplies before it left for Fury Owl Planet. Even without any additional resupply during these two years of operations, it wouldn’t starve, though meals wouldn’t be particularly luxurious.
Since they had helped him a lot, Gu Hang felt he ought to show his appreciation.
Even when he was poor, he had always remembered to load a few consumable supplies on the returning transport ships after taking some resources from Alicia, so it was all the more so now.
Of course, the Quintet would not dispatch a ship solely to transport supplies. Otherwise, the cost of fuel for transporting a few provisions wouldn’t even match the cost of a single round trip.
The last time a transport ship arrived was on an official mission.
It had delivered a team of Battle Sisters from the Sisters of Saintly Lily, called in by Sister Superior Gretel. A squad of twenty Battle Sisters from the convent headquarters on Koroga-3 had arrived on Fury Owl Planet.
Counting the two who had previously fallen, they now numbered twenty-nine.
Gretel was entirely determined to confront the Original Owl Beast Sect. Recently, they had completed their investigation within Revival City, exposing and arresting several deeply hidden cultists.
And just recently, all twenty-nine Battle Sisters had left Revival City, following the clues they had gathered, heading northward.
Gu Hang wished them luck.
If they could single-handedly solve the cult problem on Fury Owl Planet, it would be the best outcome. If they needed any help, Gu Hang wouldn’t hesitate to offer it.
After all, they were doing his work for him.
The transport ship that brought the twenty Battle Sisters down had also taken something extremely valuable to Commodore Alicia on the way back: a commendation letter.
Gu Hang had written the commendation letter himself, expressing his gratitude as Governor of Fury Owl Planet for Alicia’s outstanding contributions in combating and eradicating the followers and projections of heretical gods.
Of course, if Gu Hang had simply written it himself, the letter would have held little value.
A commendation letter from a planetary governor could indeed serve as a reference for a military commander’s achievements. In other words, Alicia could submit this commendation letter, and it would be recognized by the Imperial military.
However, the level of recognition would vary.
A strong governor, or even a forge general from a Foundry World, could get promoted with a single letter; someone like Gu Hang… not so much. His authority wasn’t enough to make it valuable.
However, if the commendation letter was signed and stamped by a Star Warrior battalion leader and a sister superior from the convent, it would be a different story.
Gu Hang wasn’t sure exactly how valuable such a commendation would be, but at least judging by Alicia’s pleased expression, he knew it was worth something.
Of course, that returning transport ship didn’t only carry the commendation letter. While the commendation letter was the main item, the cargo hold couldn’t be left empty, so he sent some rare supplies as a token of appreciation to this “wealthy lady” up there.
The cargo included a selection of red wines, confiscated from the estates of Revival City’s aristocracy, said to be crafted in the Qing Valley Region.
As for the steak, it was sourced from Bull Beasts. With the production of trucks in Weihsing City reaching around 200 units per month, the demand for draft animals had sharply decreased.
Many of the bullocks used by the merchants in Revival City’s caravans were now returning to pastures, repurposed as beef and dairy cattle.
And the steak that Alicia was now enjoying was from such a source.
“Commodore, you seem to be in a good mood.”
“Not bad,” Alicia calmly swallowed the beef and took a sip of red wine. She commented, “But the quality of your beef isn’t great, a bit too tough; the wine is also somewhat mediocre.”
“You’re picky.”
“Just an observation,” she said, as the attendant cleared the tableware. Alicia continued, “This is the hardest period of my life. Actually, I’m grateful for the supplies you sent up; without them, my stored reserves wouldn’t have lasted two years.”
“…”
Gu Hang cleared his throat twice, not wanting to linger on Alicia’s luxurious lifestyle. He turned to the main topic: “I need orbital strike support.”
“What specifications?” Alicia asked leisurely.
“Full power.”
“What?” Alicia was no longer calm. “What kind of enemy are you facing that requires a full-power orbital strike?”
“Greenskins.”
Gu Hang’s answer was concise, and Alicia furrowed her brow deeply.
“Still those Greenskins? Has there been a significant change?”
Alicia asked this because she had been following the Greenskin threat on Fury Owl Planet. Relevant information was periodically compiled and sent to the starship as the war progressed.
She understood the ground situation, which was why she was questioning it.
According to the latest information she had read, the battle was tough, but it hadn’t escalated to a critical level.
Gu Hang cleared his throat and said, “We can’t keep fighting a war of attrition with these Greenskins. If we don’t resolve this completely, as they reproduce, we’ll eventually face a larger, more resilient enemy. By then, we may not win.”
“I understand, but… do you know how much a full-power strike from the Quintet costs?”
Gu Hang hadn’t expected this to be her concern.
He remained silent, waiting for Alicia to continue. Clearly, she wasn’t asking him directly; it was more of a rhetorical question.
Alicia went on, “Last time, you asked me to help with precision strikes. That was the least powerful and least costly strike option on the Quintet: the ‘Scalpel’ ship-based missile. One missile of that type costs 300 tax units; a full round of bombardment involves hundreds of ‘Scalpels.'”
“The next level is the ‘Heat Hammer’ macro cannon. This is a small macro cannon, and each shell costs 4,000 tax units, with twenty shells per volley.”
“At the highest level, we have the ‘Fury of the Loyalists’ macro cannon, and each shell costs 50,000 tax units. My ship only has two of these cannons.”
“Now you know how expensive it is?”
The more Gu Hang listened, the darker his expression grew.
He knew it was expensive, but not this expensive.
A ‘tax unit’ wasn’t a standard currency. It was a value measure used by the Imperial tax department to assess the value of goods from planets. One tax unit roughly equated to what the Empire deemed the lowest annual productive output of a person in a standard world.
A healthy adult was worth five tax units, and a trained soldier with full gear was valued at ten.
For the Empire’s tax records, Fury Owl Planet was listed at the lowest level—10 million tax units every two years. Additionally, Gu Hang had the advantage of only paying a quarter of that amount for his first term, meaning just 2.5 million tax units.
And according to Alicia’s breakdown, a single bombardment volley would cost a total of 210,000 tax units.
Firing fifty rounds would cost enough to cover the full Empire tax for Fury Owl Planet; firing twelve rounds would be equivalent to Gu Hang’s first tax payment; firing four rounds would match the worth of all nine of Gu Hang’s division-level soldiers combined.
He caught the unspoken meaning in Alicia’s words: orbital strikes could be authorized, but was saving these soldiers worth the price of her cannon rounds?
This was the way of the Navy: the value of cannon rounds was measured in human lives.
Each round could substitute for the lives of 20,000 fully trained soldiers. If you could cover the cost with those lives, there was no need to trouble the honorable Navy.
However…
A sly grin appeared on Gu Hang’s face as he grasped a simple truth: the Navy’s funds weren’t his own, but those soldiers were his men.
He responded, “We still need the bombardment.”
Alicia sighed and shook her head. “I knew you’d say that. If you insist, I’ll help.”
After all, it wasn’t her money either.
Of course, there had to be a limit.
So Alicia added, “However… there are two conditions. First, you need to specify your target. After looking over your initial plan, I won’t allow such costly firepower to be used indiscriminately across the entire city ruins. That would be too wasteful. You must provide me with precise targets to improve strike efficiency; this is for your own benefit. Against a target of this scale, a full-power strike can only happen once, so make the most of it.”
“Second, I need a post-strike report. The War Department will review this later, and the results need to justify the expenditure. If it’s too unreasonable, you may end up paying for those rounds, and there are precedents for this. I’ll also be held accountable, so don’t make it hard on me.”
“I understand. Thank you, Alicia.”
This time, Gu Hang dropped the formal title, making his thanks more personal.
He knew Alicia was genuinely helping.
Otherwise, if she had been rigid and strictly by the book, this orbital strike request wouldn’t have gone through. He might have received only minor support at best.
Since she was lending a hand, Gu Hang had no intention of making things difficult for her.
After all, accurately locating strike targets wasn’t a problem.
The brothers of the Phoenix Battalion would lend a hand.
These Star Warriors, more elite than any special forces, could infiltrate enemy lines and mark key strategic targets, facilitating the orbital strike. This was a standard tactic for them.