The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1652

Chapter 1652 Deteriorating Economy

The first battle of Bentheim shocked the Bright Republic and everyone who lived in the Bentheim region.

Though plenty of people warned that the sandmen would descend upon Bentheim like moths to a flame, they never thought that a single breach at the frontlines would result in an immediate deep incursion!

The same reason that made Bentheim such an attractive star system to travel towards also encouraged many sandman fleets to flock to it. This was because traveling to Bentheim as opposed to a regular star system was akin to travelling along the path of least resistance to the sandman fleets.

The outcome that many Brighters feared but expected had come true!

"This will be the first of many attacks, Ves." Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson cautioned. "And when Bentheim is within reach, Cloudy Curtain might also welcome the sandmen in time."

Ves rapped his fingers against his desk in thought. "I'm not entirely comfortable with the amount of forces ready to defend our star system. I know that we don't merit much priority due to our lack of development, but it still seems as if we're being neglected."

"The Mech Corps and the Starfighter Corps can't be everywhere. They have to allocate their forces as prudently as possible. From what Benjamin has told me, the military has made some very unpleasant choices. The reason why the Mech Corps only stationed a small detachment at Cloudy Curtain so far is because it isn't important."

"It isn't important?!" Ves looked offended. "Cloudy Curtain is no longer the sleepy rural planet that no one has ever heard of! We've settled billions of refugees here! We're an important center for food production!"

"The brass are aware. The difference is that they don't value them very much. When you have to make a lot of difficult choices in a very short amount of time, you'll resort to the most pragmatic solution instead of the more compassionate alternatives."

The implications of Raymond's words were clear.

"You mean.. the Bright Republic is more than willing to sacrifice Cloudy Curtain to the sandmen?"

"Yes. This is the tradeoff the higher ups have made after analyzing the reasons for the fall of the border states. The analysts have discovered that the more compassionate a state tries to be, the faster the sandmen manage to dismantle it. Unlike us, the sandmen are completely unfeeling. While their coordination and intelligence are lacking, their choices are often the most harshest one at hand because they don't care about their lives."

"So the Bright Republic has essentially decided that the strategically-important star systems such as Bentheim, Rittersberg and New Foundation have to be preserved at all costs. Less important star systems like Cloudy Curtain can just be left to their own devices because it's too costly to defend them, is that right?"

"There's no point in harboring any resentment against the government. Bentheim truly needs the protection, as the sandmen love to batter port systems."

Ves sighed. "I know that there is also an enormous economic incentive to preserve our only port system.

They all had to accept that the government was unlikely to weaken Bentheim's defenses in order to reinforce weaker star systems.

The people in charge only wanted the Bright Republic to survive. The fall of a lesser star system didn't weigh in their minds at all. Why should they care over losing a relatively insignificant planet when they can sleep peacefully with the comfort that Bentheim was so well defended that the sandmen had to invest enormously to crack open its shell!

"What response do you wish to make in light of this development?"

"Reinforce the Silver Sentinels as much as you can. Also.. make some preparations for evacuation. I know we don't have as many ships as we like, but make sure we can cut and run within a day."

"We're already in the process of bolstering the Silver Sentinels. As for the latter, it's impossible to get our hands on more ships."

Ves frowned. "A lot of refugee ships should have fallen in the government's hands, right? Why hasn't the state employed them to evacuate the Sydney Superior System and other star systems in the crosshairs?"

"The same reason that applies to the lack of forces at Cloudy Curtain also applies to the lack of mass evacuations Sydney Superior. The government doesn't value the lives of the citizens who used to live in Sydney Superior high enough. Many of the ships that have fallen in the government's hands are mostly employed to support the infrastructure related to the production and shipping of starfighters and related goods."

"Ah." Ves understood. "A massive quantity of starfighters are being produced throughout all of the Bright Republic. While they are individually cheap, they all require a lot of materials to produce. Once they are built, they all have to be shipped to the appropriate destinations."

There was a price for resorting to quantity. The increased logistical burden of employing other weapon platforms was the main reason why they fell out favor. Mechs were much more convenient in most cases because it was possible to invest in an expensive, high-quality mech unit that did not take up much logistical capacity while still offering excellent battle performance.

Ves and Raymond continued to discuss the security and defense arrangements, though there wasn't much to talk about. All of the necessary decisions had been made before and Commander Magdalena could tell them a lot more about the readiness of their forces.

They also discussed the other changes that occurred. _{freewebnovel.cσ๓}

Raymond passed on some bad news. "The fall of Sydney Superior ripped a hole in the Bright Republic's defensive lines. A large amount of star systems that aren't very important but also aren't negligible are under threat. Some of those star systems supplied valuable exotics and minerals to Bentheim. While the disruption so far has been slight, we're not sure if it will remain that way as the sandmen keep encroaching into Brighter territory."

"What does that mean to us in the short term and the long term?"

"Our profit margin will diminish as the supply of exotics and raw materials is impacted. Fortunately for us, your connections to the Tovar Family allows us to buy from their material suppliers. Only until the Tovars are starting to feel the pinch will they draw back on external commitments. Our analysts believe that price hikes are unavoidable in the near term and getting cut off from several important materials is a very real possibility in the long term."

At first, it sounded bad, but Raymond didn't appear very distressed.