Starting from the Planetary Governor

But the Alliance now also has two battlefields that need manpower.

They are Korolya III and Heijian Star.

Gu Hang thought for a moment, then decided he could throw the entire Wind-Extinguishing Brigade onto Heijian Star.

Lately, there had been fighting there.

He would discuss the specifics later, as Gu Hang’s attention was still on building up his forces.

To establish six new brigades, upgrade another nine composite brigades, and significantly strengthen the Wind-Extinguishing Brigade, a total increase of over sixty thousand soldiers was needed; the additional military budget for equipment would require an increase of almost six million Tax Currency.

The shortage of equipment was a separate issue. Given the Alliance’s current production capacity, the pressure was considerable. However, as the Alliance developed, this pressure should be rapidly relieved. At the same time, the substantial military orders would stimulate the development of the Alliance’s industry.

As for manpower shortages, with new units being formed and the replenishment needed for previous units’ losses, Gu Hang would need to recruit nearly one hundred and forty thousand people into the military in total.

The former Alliance definitely couldn’t have handled such recruitment, nearing the limits of a second-level mobilization order in terms of available manpower.

The Western Desert, the three western provinces, the population migrating to the Alliance... The Alliance’s total population had soared from twenty-five million to forty-five million. The newly added manpower could now be put to good use.

After the mobilization order had been lifted, the expected available manpower was also more than eight hundred thousand.

The current Alliance Army, including the Rage Bear Legion, had so far only used six hundred thousand people.

For those who had recently joined the Alliance, enlisting was not a bad choice. As soon as they joined, a private’s treatment was equivalent to an E6 level. If they stayed for a while, performed well in training, or gained some military tenure, it wasn’t unlikely for them to be promoted to officer or non-commissioned officer rank. At the very least, reaching the level of veteran soldier was not a bottleneck.

Veteran soldier treatment was equivalent to an E9 rank, and the transition to this level was direct upon retirement.

As for injuries, sacrifices... these were inevitable fates for a military career. However, the Alliance’s compensation policies had always been relatively generous, mitigating many people’s worries about their future.

These one hundred and forty thousand people would enter the training camps established all over the world by the Alliance Military and Political Department for initial training.

After that, Gu Hang would work his ’magic’ among them.

The training costs for one hundred and forty thousand people, even if all were only trained to the T5 level, with a favor granting training to one hundred people, would still consume fourteen hundred points.

Adding the approximately thirteen hundred points needed for the Wind-Extinguishing Brigade, the total cost would be two thousand seven hundred points.

As the military scaled up and higher standards were required for troop quality, training costs, once thought negligible, began to feel significant.

Still, all things considered, this was not the main expense.

The real expense lay in the cultivation of the Starfighters.

So far, the number of Phoenix warriors remained around thirty people.

Commander Matins was already quite satisfied with this.

When he was wandering in the past, he had never dared to hope that in less than three years, their numbers could swell from seven to thirty-six.

As for Gu Hang, not continuing to increase the number of Starfighters wasn’t because he didn’t want to; it was mainly because it was too expensive.

Gu Hang had calculated that the average cost of training a new Phoenix recruit, taking into account the initial selection and training, as well as the exchange for seeds, was about six to seven hundred favor points per person.

This was quite an expensive feat, and using Starfighters in war was unquestionably a luxurious act.

Beyond the expense of favor points, the Powered Armor and other exclusive equipment for Starfighters also represented a considerable outlay.

The reason for not having previously increased the number of Starfighters further was also due to a shortage of Powered Armor. Experience tales at

Currently, the Powered Armor used by the Phoenix, aside from their original seven units, were all ordered by Gu Hang from the Gu Commercial Firm.

Fifty thousand tax currency per unit, not including any other equipment.

And if we include other equipment, not to mention cheaper bomb guns and chainsaw swords, then there are thrusters, plasma guns or thermoguns, powered swords, missile racks, and even Terminator Armor, Dreadnought Mechs... all of these cost a fortune.

Buying them just isn’t feasible.

Not to mention those other pieces of equipment, just to get another twenty powered armors would drive the price up to a million tax currency. At that time, it was Gu Hang who, in order to tie these Starfighters to his own battlefield, and given the commitments made to Phoenix amidst the onslaught of the Green Skin pirates, gritted his teeth while his cousin directly paid the sum as a gift to cope with the situation.

Subsequent purchases would be too costly.

And the channels for buying are very difficult.

Not only are Interstellar Warrior Powered Armors expensive, but their production capacity is also low. Usually, only some Sect of Mechanics’ Foundry Worlds possess the technology to produce them. But the key point is that the demand isn’t high.

A standard Starfighter Battle Group, when fully staffed, consists of only about a thousand people. Even factoring in a surplus for reserves, the total demand wouldn’t exceed fifteen hundred to two thousand suits at most.

And these powered armors can only be worn by Starfighters.

The Regular Powered Armor that regular people can use is not the same thing.

Given such limited demand, many Foundry Worlds capable of production don’t manufacture in high quantities. If you only buy a small quantity, they can’t be bothered to produce it for you; you can only hope there’s surplus stock. If you buy in bulk, they’re willing to start up production, but then the price is unaffordable.

Ultimately, when it comes to powered armor, the notion that "it’s better to buy than to build" is entirely inapplicable.

The production of powered armor, as well as other Starfighter-specific equipment, must rely on in-house manufacturing.

It’s simply a matter of spending more Grace Points.

In fact, Gu Hang had already made up his mind to extract some Starfighter-related technologies. After completing the "Phoenix in Peril" storyline, he could specifically choose to extract Starfighter technologies during the tech draw, which greatly reduced the element of chance.

Putting the tech lottery aside for now, Gu Hang also planned out a sum of Grace Points, about fifteen thousand or so, estimating it would be enough to train twenty new members of the Phoenix Newblood.

They themselves would also require at least six months to two years of growth, and during this time, the Alliance’s self-produced powered armors should be available.

Even if they can’t be made, or it’s not cost-effective to do so, drawing out technologies and pulling out Black Boxes to distribute them would also be feasible.

And the fifteen thousand Grace Points spent would bring additional benefits besides the twenty new members of the Phoenix Newblood.

That would be a large number of elite soldiers at T2, T3, and T4 levels.

T4-level soldiers would be distributed among various units. These are the first batch to be eliminated during the Starfighter training process—those with the weakest potential. In regular units, they are also top-notch soldiers and their arrival would be warmly welcomed by those units.

As for T3 and T2 level soldiers, they all went to the Tenth Brigade.

This special combat brigade now had a size of over four thousand, all of whom were filtered out during the process of Starfighter training. With the Alliance’s self-produced Exoskeleton Armor, they could also operate bomb guns and chainsaw swords individually. Their combat power might be far less than that of the genuine Starfighters—in a real confrontation, they might be easily slaughtered.

But against other regular infantry units, they could inflict just as much chaos.

The difference in numbers was significant.

After all, there are only a few dozen Starfighters; they aren’t available for every mission.

The special combat brigade of several thousand, on the other hand, was different.

In fact, during the previous Blackbird Campaign, the Tenth Brigade had already demonstrated outstanding performance. They frequently led the assaults on key targets, often fulfilling their missions without tarnishing their reputation and reducing heavy casualties for regular units; they also conducted special airborne operations, infiltrations behind enemy lines, decapitation tactics against enemy data transmission and command nodes, and sabotaging enemy logistics centers...

At that time, the special combat brigade with only two thousand men had proved more useful than several divisions.

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