At Gangkai City, there were seven merchant teams specifically responsible for transporting supplies from there.
"The supplies from Gangkai City have mostly been transported."
"The merchant teams over there can be transferred to the vicinity of Yushan City."
With the capacity of the seven merchant teams, they could transport over 40,000 tons of supplies from Gangkai City to the rural courtyards every day.
After more than half a month of continuous transportation, the metals and chemical raw materials from Gangkai City had basically been moved out.
Even second-hand household appliances that were still usable were not spared.
They were all packed up and sent to Jianghe City.
These would be the goods available for residents of the shelters to choose and purchase once the market opened in the future.
Currently, what remained were large amounts of fuel, buildings in the urban area that were not severely damaged, and a dozen or so mines that had just begun to resume operations or had just been discovered and not yet excavated.
"Those mines are currently producing only about one to two thousand tons a day."
"Although as construction continues, production capacity can grow, potentially reaching a daily output of ten thousand tons."
"But that is ultimately a matter for the future."
"For now, at least within the next month, there is no need to focus specifically on Gangkai City."
"The focus can shift entirely to Yushan City."
The total population around Yushan City exceeds thirty million.
With Jianghe City just surpassing ten million in population, wanting to fully absorb that population feels a bit like a snake swallowing an elephant.
Moreover, the straight-line distance from Jianghe City is generally over seven to eight hundred kilometers.
Even before the apocalypse, relocating that population to Jianghe City would have been extremely difficult.
Let alone in the current post-apocalyptic situation.
The difficulty is akin to moving mountains and seas.
"As for the strategy for the area around Yushan City."
"The overall approach remains to first occupy and declare sovereignty, then prioritize the transportation of high-end resources and basic resources, followed by the transportation of the population, gradually proceeding with the transfer."
The trade with Yushan City is, after all, just a private negotiation.
The benefits are merely obtaining their tacit approval.
In the chaotic environment of the apocalypse, the actual binding force is extremely weak.
To ensure nothing goes wrong, Su Wu must obtain control over those shelters as quickly as possible.
He needs to bring them under his military protection.
To achieve this, it is not just about increasing the transportation capacity of the merchant teams; he also needs to appropriately expand military strength.
"To stabilize control over thirty million people."
"At least tens of thousands of Spider Robots and humanoid service robots are needed."
"A certain number of Heavy Main Battle Spider Robots and multi-wing drones as the main combat force."
"And for such a large production task."
"Relying solely on the current manufacturing center and its associated ordinary industrial production areas."
"The time required would be far too long."
"So next, the manufacturing center cannot focus entirely on producing Icebound-class Land Battleships and snow transport vehicles."
"At the very least, half of the production capacity must be freed up for producing production line equipment."
"To improve overall productivity."
"Then the increased productivity can be applied to manufacturing robots."
This still follows the principle of sharpening the axe before chopping wood.
After occupying and plundering shelters, obtaining a massive amount of finished resources in a short time.
The conditions limiting Su Wu's development speed have once again reversed.
It has reverted back to the issue of insufficient productivity.
And this time, Su Wu does not intend to continue with small-scale measures, casually adding a few production lines to get by.
Instead, he is preparing to establish a fully automated super manufacturing factory.
To elevate the overall industrial productivity of the rural courtyard to the maximum limit currently achievable in one go.
Next to the control panel, he opened the holographic 3D map of the underground shelter of the rural courtyard.
A massive superstructure projection appeared before Su Wu.
The labor force of nearly half of the population of Jianghe City, over ten million people, along with more than eighty percent of the engineering machinery, has been working day and night for over a month.
Now, they have finally completed about three-quarters of the construction of the seventh underground level of the rural courtyard, from the innermost second ring to the outermost seventh ring.
The total construction area has reached 29.6 million square meters.
Just this completed space alone exceeds the combined size of the former official No. 1 and No. 2 shelters in Jianghe City.
It is large enough to accommodate the current population of over ten million in Jianghe City.
Moreover, the remaining space can fully satisfy the recreational and relaxation needs of this population.
In other words, as long as the supply of basic living materials is not an issue, this already constructed three-quarters of the seventh underground level can allow over ten million people to live and reproduce there stably for generations.
The primary goal Su Wu initially set for building a super shelter, to accommodate the entire population of Jianghe City, has now been basically achieved.
"According to the current construction speed."
"The remaining quarter of the area can be excavated within ten days at the latest."
"By then, there will be an additional new space of about ten million square meters."
"That should be enough to build an initial super factory."
"Then, the various equipment needed for the super factory will also require some time."
"Both sides can proceed simultaneously."
"Calculating this way."
"In ten days, on the day the excavation of the seventh underground level is officially completed."
"The super factory should also be nearly ready for construction and can officially start operations."
For Su Wu, this will be a significant advancement.
It will truly transform the entire rural courtyard shelter into a large industrial production base.
By then, with the explosive increase in production capacity, it is possible to digest a large portion of the massive resources plundered from various shelters in a short time.
Producing tens of thousands of robots and hundreds to thousands of merchant teams.
Truly possessing the capability to swallow the population and resources of one or even several provinces.
Of course, during these ten days of building the super factory, Su Wu will not be idle.
Among the seven merchant teams in Gangkai City, four will use this time to conduct simple repairs on the nearly 800-kilometer road from Jianghe City to the vicinity of Yushan City.
Although even without repairs, it would not affect the passage of the merchant teams.
There is still a difference between a rugged road filled with cracks and a smooth one.
The latter can somewhat improve the speed of the merchant teams.
And this speed reflects on transportation efficiency.
It is equivalent to increasing the scale of the merchant teams by several dozen percentage points.
The other three merchant teams will act as vanguards, first going to take over the shelters around Yushan City that are still under official control.
Then, using these as bases, they will strengthen defenses on-site, integrate the internal order of the population, and scout the situation of surrounding forces to formulate combat plans.
This will facilitate the subsequent arrival of the main force, allowing them to eliminate all resistance forces in the shortest time possible.
These tasks may seem simple.
But due to the long distance and the astonishing scale of the shelters to be taken over, the process is bound to be exceptionally complicated.
It might take ten days and still not be completely resolved.
"Whatever can be completed, will be completed."
"If necessary."
"More than half of the 26 merchant teams active in the southeastern region can also be diverted to support."
"And for the remaining parts that are still not resolved, they can be gradually handled once the super factory is completed and there is a sufficient number of robot legions."
To digest the population and resources of tens of millions in a province, Su Wu is willing to invest enough patience and upfront costs.
"Additionally, three more communication signal towers need to be built."
"To cover the main areas around Yushan City."
"This is a prerequisite for all actions."
"Otherwise, when the robot legions move in later, it will become even more troublesome."
Communication has always been Su Wu's greatest weakness.
Once the connection with the Jianghe City headquarters is cut off, all robots operating outside will lose more than half of their combat effectiveness.
They can only operate according to pre-set fixed procedures.
The risk factor will be maximized.
Therefore, before launching large-scale external operations, it is essential to eliminate temporary communication lines and lay down more stable communication signal towers.
Of course, even communication signal towers are not absolutely safe.
The best communication method is to use communication satellites located in planetary orbit.
On this point, Su Wu has already made some breakthroughs in his current research.
Once the super factory is completed, he can begin related attempts.
Having determined the main development plan for the future, Su Wu cannot afford to be idle; there are still many less critical matters waiting for him to handle.
For example, for the southeastern region, which has developed over 200 small mines, he needs to allocate different labor forces for graded development based on mining difficulty and value.
Further perfecting the already massive underground city of the rural courtyard's seventh level.
Increasing greenery and constructing rail transit for short-distance commuting within the shelter through the ceilings above the streets.
Preparing to increase generator units in small nuclear power plants to meet the enormous electricity consumption required by the super factory, and so on.
These matters also have far-reaching implications.
Ordinary people, even Chen Xin, cannot make decisions on them; Su Wu must personally make the final call.
As these matters progress, Su Wu's overall strength begins to grow rapidly at an unimaginable speed, inching closer to and surpassing other super cities in various fields.
In January 2035, after the first New Year in the apocalypse, on the surface, the cold wind still raged.
The temperature slowly dropped from an average of over minus 40 degrees to minus 50 degrees.
Gradually pushing the world, which was withering, into an even colder abyss.
But during this time when everything should be silent, the vast plains surrounding Yushan City became unusually lively.
On average, several to dozens of battles of varying intensity erupted every day.
Rockets and missiles carrying third and even fourth-generation high explosives created earth-shattering explosions.
They shot scorching heat waves deep into the snow-covered ground.
Hundreds to thousands of people lost their lives, and many shelters collapsed as a result.
Many lived in fear, yet felt powerless to change their fate.
Because the Yushan City they once viewed as a pillar remained indifferent.
As if they did not see the robot legion that had already reached their doorstep.
Yushan City's indifference, in turn, accelerated the disintegration of the resistance's will to fight.
Soon, after several days of large-scale and high-intensity battles, the frequency of battles on this plain gradually began to decline.
Large numbers of civilian shelters began to either voluntarily or involuntarily submit to the banner of the robot legion claiming to be from Jianghe City.
Countless former powerful figures who once held sway in the shelters lost all their capital overnight.
Some notorious criminals were secretly executed.
Some who were not deserving of death were burdened with heavy debts of contribution points.
They were integrated into the groups of ordinary people, laboring under the command of Artificial Intelligence.
In Jianghe City, in the rural courtyard.
In the control center on the first underground level.
[Special Team 037 mission completed.]
[Taiping Prison Shelter has been captured.]
[Detected that the last human member of Team 037, Qin Kai, was killed in this battle.]
[According to preset rules, Team 037 is permanently disbanded.]
[Remaining surviving robots will be assigned to other combat units nearby.]
Lines of inconspicuous text appeared on the constantly refreshing battlefield log.
Su Wu's gaze lingered on it for a moment.
He remembered the name Qin Kai.
He was a special team leader from the Snow Wind Mercenary Group whom Su Wu had personally persuaded to surrender.
At that time, to minimize unnecessary losses, Su Wu promised that as long as they surrendered, he would pardon all crimes committed by Qin Kai and his special team.
He would also provide them with treatment exceeding that of ordinary personnel.
In the aftermath, Su Wu did not go back on his promise regarding their treatment.
He did not pursue their past crimes openly.
But secretly, Su Wu had incorporated them all into a unit called a special team, which was essentially a death squad.
They were specifically responsible for executing the most dangerous combat missions.
Under this targeted approach, the special team led by Qin Kai suffered rapid attrition.
With Qin Kai's death today, the last member left from the former Snow Wind Mercenary Group has completely vanished from the world.
"Regardless of the circumstances."
"It ultimately counts as a breach of promise."
Su Wu sighed silently.
His mood was somewhat melancholic, yet he did not regret it.
Everyone must pay the price for the sins they have committed in the past. The Snow Wind Mercenary Group must, and so must Qin Kai.
Retracting his gaze, he operated a few commands on the console.
Permanently deleting a previously preset instruction.
[Pardon Order: When the special team members reach 500 merit points, this order will be automatically triggered and
exchanged for retirement qualification.]
[Name: Qin Kai]
[Position: Team Leader of Special Team 037.]
[Merit Points: 497+4.]
[This battle's settlement awarded 4 merit points. The trigger condition has been met, automatically exchanging for the pardon order.]
[Pardon Order in effect.]
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