Chapter 1477: A Depression
Whether Trump was alive or not was no longer relevant to the UA.
Even if Was.h.i.+ngton and Lincoln crawled out from their coffin, it would be difficult to save the situation faced by the country at this moment, let alone someone with no experience in politics.
However, the situation was different for Celestial Trade.
A reasonable explanation or excuse could legitimize the aggression and settle the sequelae left over from the war.
While it was not difficult for Celestial Trade to use its technology to create an identical Trump, humans after all were inseparable from society. Even a perfect AI would face many obstacles during the integration of society.
In the short term, this proposal could be flawless, but it would inevitably create problems down the road. In Jiang Chen’s blueprint of Earth Federation, this kind of risk could not be tolerated. He didn’t want to solve a historical problem during the final battle with Harmony.
Jiang Chen required a “Zhang Yaping-like” president to manage the “trophies” of this war for him.
Based on Trump’s answer, he could consider sparing him.
Just when Jiang Chen’s helicopter took off to Coconut Island, Nouveau York, on the other side of the globe, was plunged into an unprecedented depression due to the war. Even the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007 did not make people living here feel so much despair.
The tunnels, bridges, and highways that connected to the outside were all blocked by the military checkpoints of Celestial Trade. Now the entire city of Nouveau York was under martial law. Everyone was ordered back home. Except for a short period of time during the day to go to the nearest rescue station to receive necessary food and medicine, no one was allowed to stay outside for a long time.
Offenders would be detained for espionage.
The martial law would last for one month, but everyone knew that it was unlikely to be lifted before this war ended…
Long Island Port, Nouveau York, cargo s.h.i.+ps slowly approached the port.
After the s.h.i.+ps docked, the ladders were lowered.
Groups of soldiers walked off the deck with large backpacks on their backs.
Although there were some white soldiers, most of them were Asian. They also all carried different equipment. For example, some people were equipped with the S1 kinetic skeleton as well as a quadrotor drone in their backpack. And some people just had an urban camouflage on, not only did they not have any body armor, but they also only brought the outdated AK-47s.
Excluding the enclave of Hawaii and Alaska, the forty-eight states on the mainland of the UA would require at least 48 divisions of Celestial Trade.
Even if Celestial Trade disregarded the spa.r.s.ely populated inland states with weak industrial capabilities, it would be difficult to occupy the entire country by just relying on Celestial Trade’s own force. This was also taking into consideration the 50,000 reserves Xin injected into the army more than a week ago.
From the beginning, Ivan adopted a blitzkrieg strategy.
The air force, paratroopers, and amphibious a.s.sault forces were all concentrated together on an a.s.sault against East Coast. With air superiority, air raids were launched against military factories, oil fields, and electric power plants, then armored units swept across the country at the fastest speed to disintegrate the remaining forces and prevent the states from completing war mobilization.
As for occupation.
It could be left to Celestial Trade’s tributaries.
As early as two months ago, Santos mobilized a national reserve of five hundred and twenty thousand and gathered all the troops across the country to respond to the call for war from Celestial Trade. And the 100,000 force that just landed was only a small fraction of the more than 600,000 troops from Moro, and two of the divisions were from Madagascar.
Moro 12th Reinforced Brigade was responsible for the occupation of Nouveau York City. After the defense handover, apart from leaving a guard battalion station on Manhattan Island, the majority of the Celestial Trade force was sent southward along the highway. The goal was to create a route from Nouveau York to the Capital.
For the people of Nouveau York City, being occupied by Moro soldiers was definitely a nightmare…
Cypress Hill Cemetery was the bloodiest part of the city.
The people with their heads covered by paper shopping bags and their hands and feet tied up with twine were dragged along by Moro soldiers. They crouched in a row in front of the pit with their hands on their head. After a series of gunshots, one body after another fell in the pit and was then buried on the spot by the trembling prisoners.
For the prisoners of war, Celestial Trade had always treated them with dignity. But for those who resist, naturally, there was punishment.
Although guns were banned in the city, guns that circulated in the black market still caused a lot of trouble for the troops stationed there. The endless sneak attacks and Molotov c.o.c.ktails constantly disturbed the troops. In the beginning, Celestial Trade went through the ha.s.sle of arresting, but after Moro soldiers took over the city, these guerrilla patriots were not so lucky.
…
The guerrillas were directly shot. All those who were suspected of a.s.sisting the guerrillas were arrested. The prisons in the city were emptied for those suspects. The criminals who regained their freedom, especially those with severe penalties, were formed into a gendarmerie to a.s.sist Moro to maintain law and order.
For Santos, he didn’t care about his reputation.
Before independence, the Moro guerrillas were suppressed by the fighters and special forces from the UA for many years. Now his people were fortunate enough to set foot on the land of the UA, he was eager to vent his rage…
Had it not been for Jiang Chen’s warning to not make trouble, maybe he would have been more extreme.
The Empire State Building on Manhattan Island was temporarily expropriated as the headquarters of the Celestial Trade North American Theater Command, but the real command center was in the underground vault of the Federal Reserve. All the intelligence was gathered there and then sent to each combat unit. Then, together with the general headquarters located on New Moon Island, they const.i.tuted the Celestial Trade Army command system.
In front of the unfolded map of North America, Zheng Yufei, the commander-in-chief of the North America Theater, discussed the next steps with the officers from General Staff.
“P State National Guard has evacuated from the city and retreated. Our main force has joined forces with the orbital airborne brigade airdropped into the Capital. The 27th and 28th Infantry Brigade of Moro are heading towards the Capital. We have two options; one is to advance toward P City, where the large inland cities are located, as well as the Great Lakes industrial zone…”
“The other plan is to head down East Coast to F State and open the channel for our allies to land. This will form a front extending from Nouveau York to the F State peninsula, and then we can push inward.”
The essence of the first plan was fast, accurate, and deadly, and the key of the second plan was stability. However, for Celestial Trade, the biggest advantage was its speed. Going deep into the hinterland certainly carried risks, but if the UA completed war mobilization, the risks would no longer just be risks.
After Zheng Yufei listened to the Chief of Staff’s opinion, he was silent for a moment, then he said.
“The headquarters does not want this war to drag on for too long. We will adopt the first plan.”
The Great Lakes Industrial Zone was known as the “manufacturing belt” of the UA, where heavy industrial bases such as steel, coal, and chemical industries were cl.u.s.tered together. If this place was occupied, it was equivalent to removing the hope of resistance.
“The 2nd Armored Brigade will pursue the P State National Guard,” Zheng Yufei cast his gaze on the map and stopped on C State, the heart of North America, with his eyes slightly narrowed.
Cheyenne Mountain Complex.
It was the last fortress of UA.
As long as Celestial Trade could tear apart the last sh.e.l.l and occupy the Great Lakes Industrial Zone, it would be enough to force the UA to sign the surrender agreement.