Chapter 2 The Machine Star Intensifies its Offensive
The second week saw the Machine Star intensify its offensive.
They changed their attack strategy, attempting a "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao" tactic. Instead of landing near the main base, they directly airdropped into Jiang Ye Star’s territory, attacking major military bases.
After a few unsuccessful attacks, finding the defense personnel at Jiang Ye Star’s military bases to be well-staffed, the Machine Star changed its strategy again, preparing for guerrilla warfare.
Large numbers of robots were scattered into uninhabited dense forests, and even into the sea, forcing them to land and maneuver, attacking Jiang Ye Star’s passing troops, signal stations, industrial zones, and military bases.
In just one week, an estimated twenty thousand robots formed an unknown number of guerrilla teams.
Jiang Ye was completely overwhelmed.
He finally understood the power of guerrilla warfare; it was simply impossible to deal with.
If forces were divided for defense everywhere, it would lead to thin troop deployment, making them unable to withstand concentrated attacks from a large number of guerrilla teams.
If some secondary strongholds were abandoned to concentrate forces on the main strongholds, the guerrilla teams would undoubtedly seize the abandoned territories, establishing their own bases.
There was no other way but to achieve miracles through sheer effort.
Reinforce troops!
Jiang Ye Star’s military factories operated at full capacity, mass-producing mechanical soldiers without regard for cost.
Jiang Ye borrowed heavily to purchase androids and robotic workers from Daughter Star multiple times, and imported several robot production lines to Jiang Ye Star, increasing production capacity.
He dared not place more robot production lines on Bi Rong Star for fear that if the enemy’s guerrilla teams controlled the factories, they could reproduce themselves.
Led by Tian Rao, the Jiang Ye Star Wealthy Club also pooled funds to purchase 40,000 androids and donate them to Bi Rong Star. These androids would obey military command during wartime. After the war on Bi Rong Star ended, when Jiang Ye Star’s wealthy elites came to open branch companies, the androids would preferentially serve as their labor force, which was a gesture of loyalty and a long-term investment.
Additionally, the citizens of Jiang Ye Star also donated some money, though not a large amount, as everyone was still poor. However, even an extra cup of water was helpful during a fire.
The biggest reinforcement surprisingly came from his wife.
Cen Yemeng, knowing her husband was short on money and troops, called her father.
Jiang Ye had no hope, as his father-in-law had too many children, how could he possibly manage them all? Moreover, with the Mill War over, arms dealers' incomes must have plummeted, and his father-in-law's situation wouldn't be easy either. Could he have spare money and leisure to manage such a small matter here?
But to his surprise, three days later, his father-in-law arrived at Bi Rong Star on a special transport.
Jiang Ye, with his wife and child, went to the space station to greet him.
The temperature had dropped to zero degrees, and the whole family was dressed warmly. Cen Yemeng wore a mink coat, while Jiang Ye and Jiang Senlin both wore thick plush coats.
As the spaceship hatch opened, his burly father-in-law descended, surprisingly wearing a thin tracksuit. Compared to their last meeting, he seemed to have more energy, and had grown a medium-length beard, which shone with black luster.
Jiang Ye quickly took off his own coat. "Dad, please put on some clothes, it's cold here."
"No need, this little bit of cold is nothing. I can swim naked in ten degrees below zero," his father-in-law said with a kind smile, squatting down to meet Jiang Senlin’s gaze.
"Hello, Grandpa," Jiang Senlin said softly.
"My eldest grandson is promising," his father-in-law said, directly picking up Jiang Senlin. The size difference was too great, making him look like a small kitten. "He's become a painter before he's even grown up."
Jiang Senlin reached out his small hand and played with his grandfather's beard. After all, he was still a child.
Jiang Ye accompanied his father-in-law, beginning to inspect the situation on Bi Rong Star and explaining the current war situation.
After a full day of inspection, they returned to the military base for a family dinner in the evening.
His father-in-law was very fond of his grandson, holding Jiang Senlin on his lap and feeding him bite by bite. He didn't rush to eat himself, instead talking with his son-in-law.
"A lot of the arms supply to the Machine Star is handled by people I know. If I say the word, they should be able to stop it," his father-in-law said. "But looking at Bi Rong Star's situation, they haven't used much military hardware, and I don't even see any thermal weapons, so blocking their weapon imports wouldn't be useful."
Jiang Ye nodded, secretly astonished. He knew his father-in-law had great influence, but he hadn't expected him to be able to casually block a planet's weapon imports.
"Robots are quite dull and won't show any respect. If I go to negotiate with them, I'm afraid I'll be shut out," his father-in-law paused. "So, what I can do for you is to strengthen your forces."
"Dad is the best," Cen Yemeng said with a smile.
"Guerrilla warfare is indeed difficult to deal with. It has been a major problem throughout history, especially since you can't fight with spaceships, and they are increasing the number of guerrilla teams every day," his father-in-law analyzed. "Do you have any plans now?"
"I've been reinforcing my troops, defending my strongholds, and trying to capture their main base as soon as possible," Jiang Ye said. "I'm also considering a scorched-earth policy, burning the forests where the guerrilla teams operate, so they have nowhere to hide. But the work of burning mountains and destroying forests is too much, and it might even kill enemies, so I'm assessing the feasibility of this plan."
"I'll help you build several air force bases," his father-in-law thought for a moment. "Using a large number of aircraft, they can constantly patrol various areas every day, conducting carpet searches, combined with satellites and ground troops, to understand the movements of those guerrilla teams. Guerrilla teams are difficult to deal with precisely because they are elusive."
"After the war is over, the air force bases will still be useful. They can serve as air combat forces, or be repurposed for cargo and used as transport bases," his father-in-law said. "The forest coverage on your territory and the enemy's territory is vast. Instead of burning forests, it would be better to bury detectors in the forests, millions of them, covering the entire area, so wherever they hide, they can be monitored."
Jiang Ye agreed with his father-in-law's plan, as there were no better methods at the moment.
His father-in-law stayed for another day and finalized the aid plan with the accompanying staff.
When Jiang Ye saw the final aid list, he was dumbfounded.
[1. Six large air force bases and their aircraft, each capable of accommodating 1,000 patrol reconnaissance aircraft, 7,000 flapping-wing aircraft, and 2,000 other aircraft.]
[2. Two forest detector factories.]
[3. Two aircraft islands and their supporting aircraft, 500 patrol reconnaissance aircraft, 4,000 flapping-wing aircraft, and 1,000 other aircraft.]
[4. Residences and five years of salaries for relevant staff, maintenance personnel, operators, and technicians.]
[Total aid amount approximately: 140 billion.]
"If you were to buy these on the market, it would cost at least 280 billion. But I'm in this business, so these are at cost price. This money is not much, you don't need to refuse. It's family spending, money from one pocket to another," his father-in-law stated. "Mengmeng told me you plan to have another child. Each child will have a planet. I, as their grandfather, am too busy to pay attention to them usually, so I'm spending some money to help you build your empire."
His father-in-law departed by spaceship in the morning, and in the afternoon, engineering teams began landing to construct the aided air force bases.
Jiang Ye secretly sighed, thinking how wonderful it was to be supported by his in-laws!