Yu Xiangyang left to attend classes at the military academy on Jiang Ye Star.
However, he left behind a colossal mess.
Jiang Ye's officers took full command of Yu Xiangyang's troops and began investigating the situation in various regions.
The reported figures from the investigations shocked everyone.
There were currently over 144,700 Gaunt military prisoners of war. Of these, 20% were in POW camps, 40% were laboring to build fortifications, 30% were incorporated into labor detachments of frontline armies, following major units for labor and transport, and 10% were involved in evacuating civilians or were temporarily missing.
Across a mountainous area of twenty thousand square kilometers, Yu Xiangyang's troops had secretly constructed over a thousand military facilities, including offensive fortresses, command posts, POW camps, and automatic weapon emplacements, most of which were still under construction.
One hundred thousand local young adults had been forcibly conscripted as laborers to build military facilities and transport supplies for passing troops. The most troublesome aspect was that, to prevent these forcibly recruited locals from escaping and to prevent Gaunt military spies from leaking information, the laborers' faces were covered with blindfolds, and they were transported by truck at night, traveling thousands of miles to distant locations. Now, it was necessary to re-register the original residences of these laborers, contact their families, and transport them back. Their home cities might have already begun large-scale evacuations, making contact with their original locations extremely difficult.
Food supply had also become a major problem, with the primary responsibility lying with the Gaunt military.
To slow down Yu Xiangyang's lightning-fast assault, the Gaunt military had implemented a scorched-earth policy externally and a scorched-earth approach internally.
The scorched-earth policy externally primarily involved burning farmland in rural areas, killing edible animals, poisoning wells and rivers, and setting fire to rainforests in critical locations.
The Gaunt military hoped that Yu Xiangyang's troops would be unable to secure supplies from the wilderness, but this approach had little impact on Yu Xiangyang, as the Jiang Ye army's supplies were transported from other regions of the planet or directly from outer space, in vast quantities that were more than enough.
The scorched-earth approach internally involved the Gaunt military confiscating the grain and supply depots of cities, carrying them with their troops, and temporarily requisitioning large amounts of civilian supplies and food for redistribution. The Gaunt military attempted to force all cities into a state of total mobilization through this method: if a city did not fall, food would be distributed daily; if it fell, there would be no food.
However, during the fierce fighting, many concentrated military rations and supplies were hit by artillery fire, igniting uncontrollable fires. Some Gaunt military units also voluntarily destroyed supplies before their ammunition ran out, to prevent them from being captured by Yu Xiangyang.
Similar photographs were displayed on Jiang Ye's desk. Soldiers of the Jiang Ye army stood in waist-deep ashes, and when they sifted through the ashes with their hands, they could still find husks, corn cobs, and the remains of dead chickens. Such waist-deep food ashes were found everywhere on the Gaunt military positions, and occasionally, charred bodies could be unearthed from the ashes.
Therefore, even though many Gaunt military units in various regions had lost their ability to resist, being annihilated or captured in their entirety, they had simultaneously consumed all the food and supplies in these areas, leading to an impending famine in each region.
To save time, Jiang Ye quickly began to promote the "Three-Step Supply Plan."
The first step of the plan was to purchase grain and supplies at high prices from other regions of Wheeler Star and transport them rapidly via the railway. The trains would deliver prisoners on the outbound journey and supplies on the return, ensuring that they were never empty and saving costs.
The second step was to purchase grain and supplies from nearby planets and use commercial transport from those planets to deliver them directly to Wheeler Star.
The third step was to purchase from the markets of Jiang Ye Star, Bi Rong Star, and Exile Star, while also drawing from a portion of military reserves. This was a good opportunity to consume the nearly expired military reserves and replenish them with fresh ones.
The first step of the plan could deliver grain and supplies to the major cities in the occupied areas within just six hours. The second step could begin supplying within two days at the earliest. The third step would begin supplying in four to six days. The costs would decrease sequentially, and the quantities would increase sequentially, forming a chain.
Jiang Ye provided preferential treatment to prisoners of war and civilians, initiating free distribution.
First, one had to obtain a Wheeler Star identity card. Upon completion, with the identity card, one could receive various daily necessities, medicines, and food for free.
However, after only a few days, problems arose.
Jiang Ye's intelligence officers dispersed to the various evacuated cities and discovered utter chaos.
The personnel distributing free supplies were accepting money, and at exorbitant prices. Half of the free supplies flowed into the black market, quickly being resold at sky-high prices.
Beef cans were sold for a thousand yuan each, whereas before the war, a thousand yuan could buy a large box of beef cans locally.
Insect repellent was sold for four hundred yuan a box. Soda drinks were thirty yuan a bottle.
The most outrageous thing was that these supplies, sold on the black market at prices tens of times higher, still had their "Free Supply" labels attached when sold, without being torn off.
Some Gaunt military prisoners of war had secretly formed black market guards. With just seven or eight machine guns, they could control a black market with tens of thousands of people.
The evacuees responsible for evacuating city residents were mostly hired local officers, a considerable number of whom were even selected from Gaunt military prisoners of war.
Jiang Ye's original intention was that these individuals, being familiar with the local situation, would be given work to evacuate civilians. This would not only facilitate the reform of the prisoners of war but also help speed up the evacuation process.
However, the evacuees began to engage in rampant profiteering. The number of trains evacuating civilians each day was limited. The evacuees first evacuated their confidantes, then sold evacuation tickets at high prices, not accepting cash, as the currency of the Gaunt region had collapsed due to the war, and only physical items like gold bars were accepted.
Thus, the wealthy evacuated rapidly, while the poor in the cities could only wait temporarily, hoping that the price of evacuation tickets would drop in a few days. While waiting, they had to grit their teeth and purchase supplies from the black market. Some who were truly penniless banded together to storm the black market and supply distribution points, only to be repeatedly arrested and suppressed with gunfire.
Upon learning of the situation, Jiang Ye was furious.
He immediately dispatched troops to the various cities, arrested numerous officials at the supply distribution points, sealed off the black market, and apprehended black market vendors.
After simple interrogations, mass public executions were carried out.
In Ivry City, 280 black market guards and 114 black market vendors were executed over two days, and over a thousand people were arrested and imprisoned.
In Alvin City, five hundred black market vendors were executed in one day, four companies of prisoners of war were captured, and over two hundred light and heavy machine guns and more than three hundred submachine guns were confiscated.
Following the public executions, the veteran troops of the Jiang Ye army took full control of the major cities, continuing the distribution of supplies and the evacuation of civilians.
Che Zhen personally inspected four cities and reported back to Jiang Ye. The veteran troops of the Jiang Ye army were clearly of higher caliber and more trustworthy. Black markets and the sale of evacuation tickets no longer occurred in any of the regions, and order was rapidly restored. It was estimated that the evacuation of all civilians in the occupied areas would be completed within a week.