The first battle after the establishment of the special combat brigade was something Gu Hang still cared about.
He read the complete battle report and felt quite emotional.
A combat team of thirty people, six died, but they completed the mission and possibly eliminated a high-value enemy target.
What more was there to fuss over?
Especially for Lacroix and Kuchi, Gu Hang personally issued commendations.
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The former goes without saying, he was a ‘hero’ activated by Gu Hang with favor points, the currently unique character specialized in combat on the system interface. What’s restricting his combat power now is his equipment.
If given even better gear, like upgrading the LR5 laser rifle to a Hellgun, bomb launcher, plasma or thermite weapon… he might even be able to match up with a Rage Owl Star warrior.
Still comparing to Rage Owl Star warriors, if instead of the special combat brigade, it was Phoenix fighters deployed for this mission, the completion would indeed have been smoother.
But now, there are only four Rage Owl Star warriors left, ‘irreplaceable resources.’ Whereas the soldiers of the special combat brigade… although it sounds a bit harsh to say, they indeed qualify as consumables.
Despite the sacrifices, even with a Soldier King like Lacroix leading, and the mission’s rough completion… as long as they can accomplish similar special operations, that was already very good.
How much is a Rage Owl Star warrior worth, and how much is a special forces soldier?
Gu Hang did not like to measure the lives of warriors in cold numbers. However, as a leader, as a ruler, sometimes he had no choice but to make such cold calculations.
Of course, the compensation for the six fallen soldiers would not be short; those who lived and completed the mission should get enough combat allowances and bonuses, as well as honor.
These matters would be handled by Tadeusz’s military administration department, so Gu Hang didn’t need to worry too much about them.
His attention returned to the report submitted by researcher Hu Ke.
The engine Prophet had inspected the spoils brought back by Wind Falcon and submitted a report.
He said the materials picked up this time were of great value, and there was a chance to decipher some important information from them.
For example, to verify whether the Nature Salvation Society really found a complete, undamaged Spiritualized Gas Field as he had previously guessed; to check what they were actually using the Spiritualized Gas Field for; to attempt to calculate the location of the Spiritualized Gas Field…
Hearing this statement, Gu Hang felt a surge of great expectation.
Gu Hang greatly cared about the deranged Cult and the Spiritualized Gas Field.
Dealing with the Cult was greatly linked to solving the problems of the Green Valley Region. However, it seemed that relying solely on the military would be difficult.
Once the Nature Salvation Society concealed themselves in the jungle, what could the military do to them? The Central Group Army claimed to have approximately sixty thousand troops, with over a hundred thousand militia available for deployment, but such numbers tossed into the jungle would not even make a splash.
Rather, it depended on precise intelligence, special operations teams for accurate strikes, guiding the orbital fire support from the sky for bombing, or at worst, dispatching the globally-deployable Wind Falcon for bombing.
Of course, this didn’t mean that the current strategy for Green Valley was to be abandoned.
As for the jungle, Gu Hang had already made up his mind to eradicate it completely.
But he also had no intention of trapping his main forces there for a long time.
Total eradication was possible, but it would take too long.
He ordered the Central Group Army to completely stabilize the situation in the Beiqing Valley Region, then proceed south along the established roads, helping as many survivors from the South Green Valley Region to move north as possible, and set up a defensive line between Beiqing Valley and South Green Valley. With that, their mission would be considered complete.
In the meantime, the militia would receive more effective training and better equipment. Subsequently, the task of maintaining the defense line between Beiqing and South Green Valley would be handed over to the local militia, and the main forces would withdraw.
Indeed, according to Gu Hang’s strategy, he was prepared to relinquish control of the South Green Valley land.
It wasn’t necessary; even if it was conquered, there wasn’t enough population to develop it. As long as the remaining few million people in the direction of South Green Valley could be brought back, that was enough.
The Beiqing Valley Region, with its estimated two to three million square kilometers of land, mostly fertile arable land, could not only feed ten million people, but the grain produced here alone would suffice for the entire population of Rage Owl Star, with surplus for grain exports.
Truth be told, the ten million people might struggle to properly develop Beiqing Valley.
So, let the South Green Valley Region remain as is for now; wait until the future, when Rage Owl Star’s population grows significantly and there is greater demand for land and food.
Gu Hang now realized more profoundly that Rage Owl Star didn’t lack land, it lacked population; his pace of unification wasn’t for those many worthless lands, it was meaningless; expanding the ruling population was the core matter.
If the ten million people of the Green Valley Region could be incorporated into his rule, then he would have achieved his desired Green Valley strategy.
Gu Hang gave Yan Fangxu six months for this process.
As for the Nature Salvation Society, Gu Hang needed to treat it as another separate issue.
He hoped that Hu Ke could decipher more information; he hoped for Wind Falcon’s normalized patrols and air strikes; he hoped for the special combat brigade’s special warfare operations in the south.
