Five minutes later, the officers' faces collectively turned pale.
Just by looking at the data and photos, they felt immense pressure.
The reproduction rate of the venomous moths was too fast; once they appeared, it was almost a case of more fighting, more appearing.
The key was that they hadn't yet devised an effective way to deal with the venomous moths.
Use bombs? But these things could fly, and once at a high altitude, they would be difficult to hit with explosions.
Use guns? Even more unrealistic. How many moths could bullets kill?
The only effective method might be flamethrowers, but soldiers would have to be in the midst of the venomous moth storm, which was extremely lonely and dangerous.
"Everyone should realize the gravity of the problem. Venomous moths must be swiftly eradicated in the early stages. If they are allowed to develop to the later stages, with hundreds of billions of venomous moths sweeping in like a typhoon, it will be unmanageable," Jiang Ye said with a stern expression.
"The troops on duty every week must closely monitor satellite data. The metal moth nests erupt with high heat over a large area when they are working. Once a heat source is detected in a certain location, report it immediately, without a moment's delay!"
"The destroyer factory has already begun construction, and the first destroyer will be launched within ten days. Destroyers cooperating with frigates are our most effective weapons against moth nests at present."
"However, a single destroyer cannot reach all locations globally in time, nor does it have sufficient range."
"Therefore, our army plans to build overseas naval bases!"
Jiang Ye switched to the holographic projection, and the entire planet hovered on the table, slowly rotating.
Dozens of landmasses of varying sizes were surrounded by seawater.
On the edges of some landmasses, small red dots had already been marked. The intervals between each dot were roughly the same, perfectly scattered across the globe.
"These dots are the planned locations for building overseas naval bases. A total of ten naval bases. Once completed, they will allow warships to patrol the globe and strike globally," Jiang Ye revealed the answer.
Led by Che Zhen, the officers burst into applause.
More overseas naval bases meant more military spending and more personnel. As the army grew larger, they, as officers, were naturally pleased.
"However, overseas naval bases cannot just be left there unattended; they must be guarded by troops. Each naval base requires at least two hundred people, so ten naval bases will require two thousand people," Jiang Ye stated. "These two thousand people will be stationed in desolate areas far from cities, and their lives will surely be difficult."
Che Zhen raised his hand, his face full of worry, "Our troops are only a little over three thousand. If two thousand people are deployed, won't our headquarters be left empty?"
"We will expand our forces in the future, with the next step being to expand to a scale of five thousand. However, we need more alien immigrants to arrive. With a larger population, we can have more soldiers," Jiang Ye said, his expression unfazed, clearly having considered this long ago. "What I need everyone to do now is to do some ideological work with your subordinates and prepare them in advance."
Another officer raised his hand, "Can there be rotations? How long will each unit stay overseas before returning?"
"There will be permanent stations and rotations. Personnel deployment will be arranged specifically later. Overseas naval bases cannot be built yet; this is just a preliminary plan. We will decide based on the maximum range after the destroyers are launched," Jiang Ye explained. "Destroyers will go as far as they can, and naval bases will be built there. This way, warships can replenish supplies within the naval bases and sail further."
The meeting continued for another half hour, discussing some trivial matters.
The army decided to continue expanding outwards, to occupy the second continent as soon as possible. If nothing unexpected happened, more resources should be discovered.
Jiang Ye left the military base and drove directly to Oil City.
Just as the sun began to cast its rays through the clouds, Jiang Ye saw the cluster of buildings on the horizon.
The vast oil fields already had over a hundred oil extraction machines set up. These giant black cylinders had red lights flashing at their tops. Cracks appeared at the base of the cylinders, as if the extraction machines had roots growing underground.
Jiang Ye deliberately raised the altitude of his flying car, passing over the tops of the oil extraction machines.
He saw the glass windows at the top, which were furnished like hotel rooms, with beds, carpets, sofas, and so on. A few workers were leisurely eating breakfast, napping, watching holographic projections, or embracing each other without clothes inside.
Times had changed. The lives of oil workers had become incredibly leisurely; they only needed to live in the upper parts of the oil extraction machines and occasionally adjust their operating status.
Jiang Ye's flying car descended and parked outside the new police station in Oil City.
The city was only half-built, with the other half still under construction.
There were some pedestrians on the streets, walking in twos and threes, their attire suggesting they were from different centuries.
Upon seeing Jiang Ye, many people immediately gathered around to greet him, each with a cheerful smile, as if seeing a celebrity.
Jiang Ye had intended to walk around and inspect the new city, but as soon as he reached the first intersection, he was surrounded by residents of all kinds.
An old white man in a black trench coat and black pants grabbed Jiang Ye's hand and shook it vigorously. "Mr. Jiang Ye, on behalf of the elderly residents of Oil City, I express my heartfelt gratitude. The quality of the housing is better than we anticipated, and the city's appearance is prosperous. Living here makes us feel happier and more hopeful about the future!"
Jiang Ye thought to himself that this old man must have held some official position in his youth; his way of speaking was quite formal.
A young man with a trendy hairstyle grabbed Jiang Ye, "This is the first time I've seen such a high-ranking official. Can I get a photo with you?"
Jiang Ye was taken aback. "Sure."
Immediately, a group of young people rushed forward, vying to take photos with Jiang Ye.
A girl with short red hair in a red down jacket jumped over and unzipped her down jacket with a zip, revealing a full white bra underneath.
"Sign it, sign it here!" The red-haired girl handed Jiang Ye a marker and proudly puffed out her chest.
Jiang Ye's face immediately turned red. "That's not very appropriate. I'll sign it on paper for you."
He took out a notepad from his pocket, scribbled "Jiang Ye" in a messy handwriting, and handed it over.
The red-haired girl grabbed his hand, her large eyes shining brightly, "We're about the same age. Want to date?"
"No, no, it's not suitable. I'm not single," Jiang Ye said, greatly embarrassed, and quickly withdrew his hand.
The crowd was boisterous, saying all sorts of things and doing all sorts of things. Jiang Ye felt dizzy and was surrounded for over an hour before he managed to extricate himself by pretending to make a phone call.
He scrambled back to the police station, sat down inside, and drank some tea, letting out a sigh of relief with lingering fear, his emotions a mix of feelings.
The alien immigrants were indeed different. They were all very bold and showed no fear in the face of the commander. They would flirt and touch as they pleased.
This situation would never happen in other cities. Other city dwellers showed some apprehension when they saw Jiang Ye, at least not daring to approach and strike up a conversation so casually.
Jiang Ye changed his clothes, put on a mask and sunglasses, and walked out onto the street again.
This time, no one recognized him, and he could finally begin his inspection in peace.
After circling the city, the problems he discovered were simply shocking.
On the main street in the east of the city, scantily clad women stood by the roadside smoking, heavily made up, and there were quite a few of them. There were one or two on every street.
He encountered several men digging holes by the roadside to bury guns. They brazenly buried a sack of bullets, likely to evade police searches for weapons.
Below the residential buildings in the west of the city, a black girl lay on the ground, her limbs convulsing, frothing at the mouth, her expression clearly indicating she had taken strong drugs.
Several old white men were using chainsaws to cut down half a street of ornamental trees, with sawdust flying everywhere. Jiang Ye went over to ask what they were doing, and the old men replied that they were chopping firewood to sell for money. They were cutting as fast as they could before the police came to catch them, and each tree could sell for enough money for several drinks.
Over twenty drunk men and women were urinating near a construction site. After urinating, they had a competition licking the iron railings, resulting in their tongues getting stuck, and they were crying out in pain.
On his way back, Jiang Ye stepped on a hamburger box. The inside of the box was sticky. He bent down to open it, and was disgusted to see a sticky, bloody mass of excrement lying in the hamburger box, still steaming.
Returning to the police station, Jiang Ye angrily called Shao Wan.
"Send a thousand police officers to Oil City! Make sure they all wear bulletproof vests and bring their gear! There's an operation tonight!"