Tomorrow's Ark, the journey of hardcore and ruthless people

Huge tracked and wheeled vehicles and engineering vehicles passed by not far from the convoy, and the small mounds on the fixed route had been smashed and flattened by them during the long-term driving.In the eyes of the Lateran agents, the mighty and majestic armored convoy of space fighters is like a wriggling matchbox in front of those giant vehicles that are often tens of meters wide and tens of meters long.The armored vehicles and their occupants trembled as the convoy passed by.

Two black dots leaped from behind the distant hills, and a rocket-jet compound engine powered by a subatomic reactor roared low and loud.This time the Rutlanders felt their souls tremble.Andorn stuttered for the first time: "That, that's—"

"Thunderhawk gunship!" Comand replied loudly.

The gunboat passing by at low altitude set up a lot of wind and sand, blowing in from the side door and the top door that the armored vehicles specially opened for the Lateran agents to observe.But Andorn didn't even have the intention to blink, and watched with all his attention.

"Atlas has advanced technology. The whole land is gradually aware of this. Observers and spies from all over the world have more or less noticed the Kazdel civil war that has just ended, and Atlas' products are also Gradually spreading everywhere. Like the 'guns' in Rutland."

Comand said on the side: "Mr. Andorn, as an employee of Atlas, I would like to ask you, as a user, what is your opinion on our products?"

Andorn's answer was succinct: "Under the similar appearance, there are completely different cores."

Indeed, unlike firearms that release and use gunpowder gas through mechanical structures, the operation principle of firearms is highly complex: each etched bullet made by Lateran contains a tiny surgical unit, which is related to the pull The structure of the Telan gun corresponds to each other.Not only the firearms themselves, but every etched bullet they fire is equivalent to a magician's staff, so the etched bullets are expensive to manufacture, and the corresponding origin stone skills are also complicated and profound.

Controlling firearms requires highly sophisticated Originium skill control technology. Sakota has a very high talent for firearms, and can use multiple large firearms with ease, while other races have difficulty controlling them.Correspondingly, Rutland monopolized the core technology of gun weapons in the world of Terra, and its manufacturing and usage technologies were too advanced and complex.

Andorn added: "It is difficult for the best craftsmen to conquer the monopoly of Cratland... and firearms evade all the inherent characteristics of firearms."

"Yes, two weapons entirely... The ease and utility of firearms greatly enhances the strength of mortals; Sakota's combat advantage when using gunfire is greatly weakened by comparison. .For you, a gun is an existence that greatly reduces the mental stress during combat and improves combat effectiveness; but it has a single purpose and cannot produce all kinds of strange effects like gunfire."

Comand paused and smiled: "So the Holy See is lukewarm to us, right?"

Andorn curled his lips: "Not all of them, but there is nothing wrong with it."

"We still have a lot of technologies that can have this effect. However, people are the most important factor in war and all social activities. Only when technology is integrated into the vast majority of people on this land can it play its role. It offers real possibilities to change the landscape."

Andorn turned his head suddenly, staring at Comand.

And Comand just smiled.

**

The communication with the Lateran agents was just a short moment.As the convoy arrived at the base, several Rutlanders were dispersed to the hospital and observation room, while Command returned to his rather shabby office and devoted himself to new work non-stop, dictating his ideas to Tallulah. :

"Let me just say this. The initial plan is to directly add a Kazdel Army to Ursus within a year."

The founding of the Republic of Kazdel is not a celebration of success, but the beginning of jumping from the "civil war" pit to the "construction" pit.

The central government of the Republic—or Atlas—now has the largest and strongest mobile combat force in Kazdel that can overwhelm local forces across the country, enough to overwhelm all localities.

However, this cannot turn the government of the Kazdel Republic from a separatist state and even a tribal chieftain system into a "modern government", and let Kazdel change from a broken land that lacks everything but illiteracy with mercenaries as the financial support to a " At least as good as it is”, so that the living standards of the people and the comprehensive national strength of the country start to rise from the bottom, and even contribute to world peace and development.

Even from the most vulgar and unrighteous point of view, if the government of the Republic wants to effectively take back the local powers, it must at least build a new type of transportation and communication network... There are only political tricks and strong claims. For an egg?

Counting and counting, Teresia, Teresis, and Thalmann found that there were very few cards they could play: in terms of industrial strength, there was nothing or nothing; in terms of agricultural development, self-sufficiency should be a joy Forget it; talk about technology... Forget it, let's continue digging Originium skills based on reality.

After counting and counting, there are only two things that Kazdel can export: one is the origin stone, and the other is force.

The origin stone is easy to understand, after all, the Sarkaz are playing with origin stone skills, witchcraft is well-known in Terra; as for the export of force, it is easier to understand - mercenaries are the same as prostitutes, the oldest profession of human beings .

However, the countless small-scale free mercenaries in the past who used to rob Sakota caravans in normal times, and divided into camps and gathered under the king's banner during the civil war, are currently the largest and even the only partner of Kazdel. As far as Atlas is concerned, it makes no sense.Kazdel literally offers nothing but people.From training and education to weapons and equipment, to military theory and troop building, all have to be handled by the 113th Division and their Taila comrades.

To put it bluntly, Kazdel's road to industrialization and modernization belongs to picking up a man-han banquet that fell from the sky.Throughout the history of the "here" that you are familiar with, industrialization has never been an easy task, whether it was launched first or later.Every country has a painful experience of this moment.Now, the 113th Division urgently needs the allies of Terra to evolve and iterate to the level of "at least able to cooperate" as trumpets. The country of national power.No matter from any point of view, it is necessary to let Kazdel develop to establish a preliminary and relatively complete basic industrial system as soon as possible.

From a certain point of view, industrialization is a process of capital enrichment.First-mover countries can complete this process by plundering other countries' resources, while late-mover countries can only rely on scissors to exploit themselves to save capital.Late-developing countries want to industrialize, even if an industrial country is willing to help wholeheartedly, they have to sell their pants to raise money.And if there is no foreign aid... it is not enough to be a pair of pants, young girls have to be considered women who have lost their way, and young men have to go abroad as cannon fodder.This is still an example of successful or near-successful industrialization in East Asian countries. South America, for example, sells children and sells daughters...

Looking further ahead, in the era of great voyages in Western Europe, more than 50% of the mortality rate was voyages to explore new routes, and the extremely harsh living environment in the early days of British industrialization...

If there is neither the opportunity to plunder other countries nor the willingness to eat itself, where can the resources needed for capital enrichment come from?That can only fall from the sky, no joke.If a first-mover country is willing to import resources from outside to a backward country, and the country is small enough, then this backward country can rely on external support to complete industrialization.

Fortunately, compared to the 113th Division of the Extraterrestrial Corps of the People's Federation, Kazdel is small enough.

Therefore, Kazdel's personnel dispatch is to "exercise" Kazdel from a certain point of view, so that they have some impression of crossing this threshold.After all, charity is always easy to take for granted.

The Republic of Kazdel didn't know how much money they had taken, but they knew that hugging Atlas' thigh was the only option.So far, Atlas has not actually used the Kazdel Defense Forces in its possession, and even tried its best to avoid anything that might cause such associations when dealing with the Republic, and tried to push the Defense Forces to transfer the command and personnel to the Republic government as soon as possible.

However, this largest and strongest armed force in Kazdel is really a hot potato - Kazdel's industrial foundation simply cannot support the material consumption of these infantry divisions, even if these former National Self-Defense Forces are only initially turned into mules. Heavy firepower is no more than 105MM howitzers and 120MM heavy mortars.

As for living standards and personnel treatment, let alone, from allowances to meals to accommodation, it is even more impossible for the current republic government to provide the same conditions as Atlas.So much so that even the National Guard with a bunch of red heads expressed deep dissatisfaction with leaving the Atlas system and returning to the Republic's armed forces system during internal investigations.

This is not a small matter, if not, they will have to stage the army's traditional performing arts to ask for salary.After thinking about it, Teresia conveyed to Comand the opinion of suspending the transfer of the seven divisions.The recruitment of Atlas in Kazdel will also start with priority from the former National Guard troops.

"But even so, the first batch is a group army too..."

Seeing Tallulah's frown, Comand replied calmly: "Why are you so surprised? Our support capacity is even more exaggerated than your wildest imagination. And several soldiers and officers of the group army, for the proposition of Kazdel's industrialization Said it was too cheap.

"Of course, this is not a free gift. This group of troops will fight under the Atlas organization and receive our training, equipment and education. Spread throughout Kazdel.

"What's this called? Yangmou.

"Unless the Republic of Kazdel does not want a modern army, then this army must become the backbone of Kazdel's national defense construction; and in the modernization of the entire country of Kazdel, the backbone of personnel must also be retired veterans. We are sellers in the seller's market, and the price we offer is favorable enough. If Teresia and Teresia are willing to give up this opportunity, then they call on the people of Kazdel to continue to be mercenaries, miners, and women's collectives Go out and sell yourself."

Chapter 4 The Road to the Future

When the "Rhode Island" land ship stopped at the berth specially prepared for it outside the base on the Ord River, the Rhode Island employees on the ship were amazed.

A prosperous city!

Of course, this is just an exaggeration for the Oder Riverside area, which stretches for dozens of kilometers and has a large number of prefab and quick-build houses.After all, the main functions here are military bases and industrial bases.

However, in the barren Kazdale northern wilderness, in Kazdale, which has always been known for its barrenness, a settlement of this scale, no matter what type it is, is one of the best or even unprecedented.

However, he hadn't seen enough of the military garrison and production facilities stretching in the distance, and the attached living area had just been seen. Rhode Island followed the guidance drone and the map received in advance and drove to the land cruiser port area. According to the regulations The action entered the parking area.

The berthing area specially prepared for Rhode Island is a flat open space with an unobstructed view, covering an area of ​​tens of square kilometers.

A professional land engineering ship came slowly, and its appearance was unremarkable.However, when this shape is combined with a larger size than amphibious assault ships and land battleships, it becomes a shock.

The crew of Rhodes Island have traveled far and wide and experienced a lot. They have never lost to anyone in the matter of bigger ships. The only thing that can compare with Rhode Island in size is the module of the mobile city.Although the ship in front of him was huge, it was still a circle smaller than Rhodes Island.The unlucky ones in Rhodes Island are still trying to maintain their crumbling self-esteem - the white painting on the opposite side of the ship combined with the simple shape makes it a mess of handsome; The budget has been tight since the time of the Tower of Babel, and the exterior shape... Anyway, some personnel in the base suspected at first sight that it was a green leather thing.

The two ships began to dock.

The welcome ceremony was rather austere, with nothing but a line of Atlas cadres in charge of docking.

Among the large group of people in front of Comand, none of them are easy to mess with:

Theresia, the Supreme Consul of the Republic, who is responsible for negotiating the "Oder Economic and Technological Development Zone"; Hai, the acting commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces and former commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the National Guard, who is responsible for negotiating the "Oder Military Training and Military-Industrial Complex" Inz. .

Commander simply said, "Welcome to the Oder Riverside Base," and then turned around before Theresa could respond: "Come here to collect people from all departments!"

The receptionists in all kinds of uniforms rushed over, and after the noise, the bustling became scattered again.The only difference is that Theresa and Kelsey, who were greeted by Commander, were still standing still;

The Interstellar Warrior system of the Human Federation is inherited from the Astartes Order in the old empire era, which is essentially the same.And the red sickle hammer, which has many advantages such as quantity, has almost turned its image into a synonym for space warriors.

However, unlike the Adeptus Astartes, which generally has a strong religious atmosphere, the space fighters of the Red Scythe Legion, from Primarchs to ordinary fighters, all have cement gray power armor without any decoration, and this set is the same for even the largest ceremony. , Even the comrades in the auxiliary army have almost no accessories.When it comes to the thinnest book in the galaxy, "Red Scythe's Uniform Regulations" certainly has a rival.

And among these armor coatings that avoid all external decorations as much as possible, technical sergeants are the most conspicuous-although they don't have the more gaudy appearance like their counterparts in other branches, they still have mechanical auxiliary arms and the like. External work equipment.Just like this comrade who is also quite conspicuous among the star warriors in the welcoming queue: when he waved, he waved with his right arm and the three mechanical arms on the right side of his back...

Others disembarked with the docking party, but this technical sergeant walked directly to Ke Luxie, and said at the beginning: "Go, show me!"

"......you are?"

"Bai Ye, Space Marine Technical Sergeant, Atlas Special Technical Observer, responsible for contacting you on technical issues during the renovation project of the USS Rhode Island."

But Lucille looked confused: "Ah... this is the beginning?"

"if not?"

"Uh, well, please come with me..."

"But at the same time, we will also conduct a preliminary survey and a small amount of repairs on your ship first. Have you already known?"

"Ah, yes, there is indeed this." But Lucille heaved a sigh of relief, and indeed followed the procedure——

Before Lucille could finish her sentence, the pale yellow tractor beam for remote maintenance swept across the port side of Rhodes Island.

Atlas, then, once again gave the people of Terra the feeling they're used to when dealing with themselves:

Shock.

The engineers of the People's Federation had long been uncomfortable with the appearance of the green-skinned garbage dump in Rhodes Island. After receiving the notification from the other party, they immediately began to deal with the large mobile garbage dump in front of them.

Rhode Island, as a third-party vehicle with almost completely unknown blueprints and structures, is the best experiment to test the emergency repair capabilities of engineering support ships.If it is the relevant vehicles of Renlian itself, the computer equipment of the Thinker of the engineering support ship has quite a lot of automation programs stored in it, which can basically fully automate the maintenance and repair workflow.Of course, Rhodes Island has no mature plan. The maintenance beam control team must personally survey and model with the assistance of limited automation equipment, and establish a complete and correct ship model for remote maintenance.

This is a test of the operational skills of the maintenance beam operation team.However, the professional level of the People's Federation Army is trustworthy.

The maintenance beam with mechanical properties, wireless energy supply and remote printing functions began to process the Rhodes Island hull it irradiated.The holes and pits left over due to tight funds and insufficient materials are filled and smoothed at a speed visible to the naked eye.Whether it's the relevant personnel of the control center or the passers-by watching the excitement near the ship, they all freeze like stone sculptures, staring dumbfounded at the damaged area of ​​the hull that is being repaired.Rhodes Island also has an auxiliary maintenance drone that can be controlled by Lucille's intellectual property rights. It has been seen in the world, but it has to be "repaired"; this kind of technology that allows the damaged parts to "grow" themselves... ...It's really not like science fiction, it looks like fantasy.

When Teresia and Kelsey finally recovered from their astonishment, they found Comand waiting quietly beside them.The two quickly apologized, but Comand just nodded slightly to indicate "Got it", and then started to walk again, talking about the subsequent operations: "I heard that the doctor has been placed in the 'sarcophagus' of Chernobog, the former civilization Physiotherapy device?"

Kelsey said in a low voice, "Yes."

Atlas, as always, used only the tip of the iceberg for their partners to make a comeback.And Rhodes Island declined due to various factors... Since it is dependent on others, it can only cooperate with others to pretend to be X.

"We can't count on him for a while... Next, the initial modification of Rhodes Island will be carried out in the Oder River area, and the in-depth modification will be carried out in the Ursus liberated area." Commander, slightly to the left The head turned slightly to the right, and the conversation partner changed from Kelsey to Theresia, "And the training troops of the Kazdaele Defense Force must also arrive as soon as possible. We have already prepared an armored division and an armored missile launcher." Grenadier... Oh, the preparation of the mechanized infantry division, starting from the arrival of your personnel, is enough for the entire army to complete training and enter actual combat. The tentative designation of this unit is 'Katzdale First Army', we This regiment will be deployed on the battlefield of the Ursus revolution. As for the training of various small-scale mercenary units, we will not say more."

The three of them and their respective small entourages walked into the meeting room on the land ship, and sat down one after another on the few chairs in a circle specially prepared for the meeting.

Command continued: "As for the issue of the Ord River area, it is very complicated. On the one hand, the local political, economic, and social environment in Kazdale is not very good. Poor and so on. Let me bluntly say that the industrial and commercial environment here is very bad. Whether it is the local state-owned or private enterprises in Kazdale, it is impossible to effectively cooperate with us. Or, our projects will be wiped out Or, we cause trouble everywhere and cause 'chain explosions.' There are also many troublesome issues of sovereignty, garrison, etc.

"So, our proposal is to establish a 'Development Zone Management Committee'. It will be led by Atlas and the Central Government of the Republic, and it will be connected separately."

Teresia's eyes brightened, and Kelsey frowned slightly at the former's reaction.

"Cazdale's enterprises, whether they are state-owned enterprises or private enterprises, want to cooperate with Atlas, they all do so in this development zone, from point to area, from big to small. The security forces here are managed by Atlas It is jointly responsible with the Kazdel Defense Force; and in principle, the Ord Riverside is of course the legal territory of the Kazdel Republic.

"We strive to achieve such a result: Atlas has successfully invested; Kazdare has obtained tax revenue and jobs to improve the social form of the local area, while also avoiding excessive interference of foreign capital in local political affairs and social management."

A very beautiful blueprint has been sketched out a little bit.Comand rubbed his temples, and continued: "Now is the time for general ventilation, and we will omit the details for now. In a recent letter, the two of you asked me such a question: As an emerging underdeveloped country and a medical compound enterprise Leaders, the forces under your hands are neither strong nor in line with our ideology. Rather, there are no high evaluations in our evaluation system. Then, why did we choose you as the partner of cooperation? ?”

The titles in the mouth of Command have been beautified. In the letter, Teresia and Kelsey respectively called themselves "a false monarch with strong feudal remnants in both individuals and the country" and "a fragile enterprise that is neither medical nor military". .....

"The truth is actually very simple, and you all know it well, but I need to confirm it. Then I won't make a fool out of it—we need to change this land, and Kazdel needs to change himself to survive. In the 'change' On the matter, we have a common discourse; on the issue of 'enemies', we also have a lot of common discourse. Then, it is only natural to reach cooperation. As for when we will part ways, it depends on your own choice.

"After all, it will take time for Kazdel to complete the transition from initial modernization to the average development level of the People's Federation; or for Rhodes Island to expand its business to the whole of Terra. It will take five, ten, or 20 years And by that time, the coalition government of Terra may have already been established. I guarantee that you can’t understand the things at that time.” To put it bluntly, Ms. Teresia has simple but lofty ideals , but from personal ability to methodology are still limited to the feudal monarchy, and your ideal is pure humanitarianism, lack of combination with the specific background.It's one thing to build a following with charisma, but quite another to achieve results.

"As for Ms. Kelsey, as an immortal, your abilities come from the accumulation of bits and pieces over a long period of time. So - in our evaluation system, both of you have what we call 'historical limitations'. And it was extremely restrained.

"However, this is not insurmountable. On the contrary, you do have outstanding shining points."

Amid the surprised expressions of the audience, Command smiled slightly awkwardly: "It is true that we are more or less arrogant, obviously or covertly. But we still have a clear self-understanding of ourselves. As for As for me personally, to be honest, if you put me directly in your position, I will definitely be inferior to you."

Theresa and Kelsey's expressions eased slightly for the first time.

Comand went on to say: "I have a clear understanding of myself. I am just a member of Atlas and a larger group. I have many beautiful titles. But what I do is only in the organization. Complete tasks within the framework, play a role, and get treatment. To be honest, in terms of character, determination, and learning ability, you are very good in many aspects of your individual.

"However, you have also seen that when you as individuals feel powerless in the face of your destiny, the power of the collective is fighting against the sky and can destroy the dead, and people like me, who are actually much inferior to you, use power to a certain extent. Such an astonishing effect has been achieved. Then you are all excellent in resilience and learning ability, as long as you can meet the standards of our acceptance, why can't you also use this power?"

Under people's sharper eyes, Comand finally said:

"On this land, you are the pioneers in contact with us. The Human League is an organization that embraces all rivers. You, and even the entire Terra, can definitely become a part of it.

"And this depends on your performance. For example——"

Commander waved his thumb back, and everyone's eyes turned to Tallulah, who was acting as translator and secretary on the chair behind him, with a look of shock on her face because she was caught off guard.