Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 1678 - 951: Unequal Treaty

The progress of the offensive on Comoros isn’t stagnant; it’s characterized by a slow advance.

However, this isn’t the core reason prompting the Alliance to compromise.

The most critical reason lies in the internal turmoil.

Raiding teams from the Dark Spirit Race have departed from their controlled ports to the real universe. The Alliance governs tens of thousands of worlds, with each of the five main armies having their own war objectives, gathering in various strategic directions. Yet, the internal territory of the Alliance isn’t devoid of military power.

Firstly, there are the Planetary Defense Forces of each planet. Despite being under the overall strategy of the Alliance Military Department, the training level of local defense forces on each planet is much stronger and better equipped than during the era of the Empire. However, they still don’t compare to the regular Alliance Army.

In confronting the Dark Spirit Race, these Planetary Defense Forces become ineffective.

Nevertheless, the sheer number of defense forces across various planets is still notable. With some equipment eliminated from the Alliance Army and the nobility on the planets, for their own security, industrial safety, and the relatively responsible Planetary Governors appointed by the Alliance, there’s an attempt, when possible, to gather funds and assemble a select elite guard.

Though the numbers may not be great, the raiders from the Dark Spirit Race are often fewer, providing some level of resistance.

The situation is worse in terms of naval forces.

The Alliance Navy is certainly strong, but most are deployed at the front lines of the five major armies or tasked with escorting transport ships delivering supplies to the front lines of those armies.

There are some weaknesses in outer space defense forces within the Alliance’s internal territory.

Of course, there are some forces present.

Generally, they can be divided into three categories: planetary defense navy, star domain defense navy, and armed merchant ships of the Alliance convoys.

The first category, the planetary defense navy, follows the concept of the Planetary Defense Forces, being navy units that each planet funds and constructs independently. However, many restrictions apply to these planetary navies. Firstly, their establishment requires approval by the Alliance Navy Department and must be under the jurisdiction of the Navy Command.

In theory, the Planetary Defense Forces must also fall under the jurisdiction of the Alliance Military Department, but the differences are significant. Generally, the Alliance Military Department doesn’t bother to manage the Defense Forces beyond recruitment. It is seen as the achievement of the Planetary Governor and the Defense Forces Command, perceived as a path to promotion and wealth that they don’t resist.

Alliance planetary officials are generally transient officials, which differs greatly from the old Empire where planets were practically the private holdings of the Planetary Governor.

However, it’s different with the navy. The Alliance Navy Department not only directly conscripts planetary fleets for frontline combat sequences but also directly issues operational tasks, even appointing and assigning commanders to the planetary fleets.

Moreover, the Alliance Navy Department imposes limitations on the scale of planetary fleets.

Primarily to prevent corruption, and secondarily to guard against rebellion.

After all, the situation on planets is the most unpredictable. Although the likelihood of such situations occurring under the Alliance’s rule is lower than elsewhere, it’s not negligible. If an incident does occur and a planet’s army and navy are well-prepared and strong, the losses could be significant.

Of course, even disregarding these factors, based solely on a planet’s financial capacity, it is unrealistic for them to maintain a large-scale naval fleet. Usually, managing a few destroyers with some escort ships to guard against alien pirates is already quite an achievement.

The main defensive power within the Alliance’s internal territory still relies on the second category: the star domain navy.

The nature of the star domain navy is similar to that of the planetary fleet, being under the management of the Navy Department, even more strictly than planetary fleets. However, the difference lies in that star domain governments have financial resources to support larger fleets; additionally, the Alliance Central Government’s finances provide some support. Some retired or refurbished second-line ships are sometimes directly allocated to the star domain fleet.

After all, having a standing fleet with considerable combat power within a star domain is quite necessary.

Planetary fleets don’t exist on every world, but star domain fleets are present in every star domain, differing only in size based on the star domain’s importance and pressure faced.

Moreover, a star domain is vast.

Smaller ones have two to three hundred worlds; larger ones have five to six hundred.

Even at full speed, crossing it takes at least half a month to two months; a full tour of the star domain would take two to three years. When focusing on specific key planets or engaging in certain actions or activities, it becomes even more challenging to manage; slowing down makes it onerous to resume quickly, and completing a full tour in ten years isn’t unlikely.

Thus, the fleet cannot act as one whole unit; similarly, it must be divided into several smaller sub-fleets for operations.

The combined forces of planetary and star domain fleet constitute a basic defensive measure with the star domain as the unit. When it comes to the Cosmos Domain level, there are no specialized fleets, as the security of the entire Cosmos Domain is managed by the Alliance Navy Headquarters. If there occurs a war at the Cosmos Domain level, fleets from the Central Army are deployed. The Cosmos Domain Navy Commander’s responsibility is akin to a coordination center, attempting to resolve any issues within a star domain by deploying forces from other star domains for support before the Central Army arrives.