This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 342.2: Reform

As the leader of the Snake Clan gazed at the map hanging on the wall, a sense of despair gradually crept onto his solemn face.

West Continent City was less than 20 kilometers away. All his enemy needed to do was move their artillery a bit forward along the tributaries of Heavenly Water Municipality. They wouldn't even need to move the artillery too far to rain shells down on their adversaries.

The staff officer standing beside him advised softly, "... We've been unable to break through in the south for a long time, and there's trouble emerging in the west. We can't stay here any longer."

"Then where can we go? Should we raid the north again?" The leader of the Snake Clan said irritably.

The staff officer fell silent for a moment, sighing lightly, "The mine owners of Red River Town have united. Even if we concentrate all our forces and make a desperate attempt to capture it, it will exhaust us, and in the end, the New Alliance will reap the benefits."

"... Let's head east. Although the most fertile soil is out of reach, the eastern provinces can still offer us a place to settle. We should retreat now while the New Alliance is still busy with other matters."

"Otherwise, we might fall into a perilous situation of being attacked from both sides."

The leader of the Snake Clan fell into silence.

Despite the myriad of reluctances in his heart, he had to admit that this was probably the only way out...

...

Red River Town.

Positions on the southern side of the Antler Mountain.

The frontline commander standing beside the artillery bunker, holding binoculars, gazed at the mountain repeatedly captured by the opponent. A hint of surprise gradually emerged in his eyes. "... The marauders have withdrawn."

The deputy standing nearby was stunned for a moment and then quickly asked. "They left? What's going on?"

"I don't know..." The commander shook his head and handed the binoculars to his deputy, saying, "See for yourself."

Taking the binoculars, the deputy gazed at the mountain on the other side for a while and realized there wasn't a single soul there.

On closer inspection, several bayonets stuck outside the trench were still mounted on wooden sticks.

Setting down the binoculars, he looked at the commander with a puzzled expression. "... Could this be a trap?"

"Send a team of scouts up there to check." After pondering for a while, the commander continued, "And report the situation here to the Mining Association... I mean the headquarters."

The deputy nodded and promptly responded. "I'll arrange it right away!"

The term ‘Mining Association’ was already a historical term, but most locals hadn't yet adapted.

Ever since news spread about the great victory in the Pinewood Forest Valley some time ago, the mine owners and business leaders of Red River Town quarreled almost twice a day, often surrounding the association every few days, making it seem like the end was near every day.

Of course, it wasn't the actual doom. Typically, when things got critical, they wouldn't make such a fuss. At most, they'd give a final struggle in their last moments.

Arguments aside, deep down everyone knew well that their relationship was mutually dependent. In this wasteland world surrounded by death and despair, no one could truly leave each other behind.

In the midst of these intense debates, what were initially irreconcilable issues led to a consensus.

Merchants agreed to reduce the number of mercenaries and establish a well-trained standing force, with the mine owners bearing 70% of the military expenses while they themselves only carried 30%.

In exchange, the mine owners made more concessions regarding the establishment of a more centralized management institution and allowed the merchants associations operating in various survivor settlements to have more seats in that institution.

After all, in places with more free citizens, there was also a higher population of educated individuals.

However, comparatively, the major settlements in the Red River Town would bear more public expenses than the major mines.

At the same time, all major mines and merchants associations would be required to allocate 10% of their profits as taxes to the unified institution.

From this moment onward, Red River Town was officially renamed as the Red River Alliance, no longer identifying itself by its old name.

While staying vigilant against the expansion of the New Alliance, they eventually turned into what they least wanted to become...

...

The next morning.

Chu Guang, who was inspecting work for the Traveling Merchants Association, received a call from the New Alliance's military base stationed in Red River Town.

From Xu Shun, the head of the military base, Chu Guang learned about the recent events in Red River Town, which surprised and somewhat amused him.

Wow.

Red River Town straight up turned themselves into the Red River Alliance?

Chu Guang never expected that the epic victory of the New Alliance in the Pinewood Forest Valley would cause such a stir, even unexpectedly driving changes among the surviving forces in Red River Town.

Perhaps envious of the New Alliance's development achievements, they simply copied their work.

But... They didn’t go all the way. They selectively copied only a portion of what the New Alliance did.

"... The Snake Clan has already withdrawn, so they submitted a written request to us, hoping that we reduce our troops in the Red River Alliance. They said that they won't need mercenaries for a very long time in the future."

Listening to Xu Shun's report over the call, Chu Guang quietly contemplated for a while before speaking. "Tell them we plan to withdraw from their area after completely eliminating the threat from the Bonechewer Clan, but not right now."

"We've already eliminated the Fang Clan, but there are still 2 that haven't been eliminated. The marauders can return at any time. Now is not the time to discuss this matter."

"Assure them that we won't interfere in their internal affairs, but we must ensure the safety of our residents engaged in local production and business activities."

Wanting to send away his players after the marauders had been driven away?

Did he seem like the kind of person who would just come and go as he pleased?

They wish!

From a practical perspective, the New Alliance couldn't possibly give up stationing its troops in Red River Town.

Currently, it would take at least 3 days to get from Dawn City to there. If the military base was removed, it meant that his players wouldn't be able to save their progress in Red River Town, receive missions normally, and also implied that his player might be exploited by others.

That was something Chu Guang absolutely could not accept.

On the communication channel, Xu Shun gave a crisp response. "Yes, sir!"

After the call ended, Chu Guang looked at Charlie who had been quietly waiting nearby.

He cleared his throat and continued speaking. "There's a small issue in Red River Town, but it's not a big problem... Where were we?"

"We were discussing our neighbors to the south."

Charlie, with a gentle tone, patiently continued the topic interrupted by the phone call.

"Based on the information from the office you set up in Boulder City, the city hall of Boulder Town recently passed a law requiring weapons shops and merchants to stop selling the LD 47 series weapons."

"It's obvious they've realized that we're taking away their market share."

The LD 47 was powerful and affordable, hence popular among many mercenaries.

The reason for the previous low sales was solely due to the unavailability of bullets.

But now, the bullets from New Alliance were becoming cheaper, especially after the copper mines in Bluestone County started production, causing the wholesale prices to be halved.

Driven by a vast profit margin, more and more merchants preferred to import those high-quality and inexpensive bullets produced by New Alliance, causing a significant drop in sales data for the Hornet series assault rifles produced by the Boulder Town Arsenal.

Chu Guang furrowed his brow, pondering for a moment, and suddenly had a whimsical idea. "What if we rename it? Like changing LD to AK?"

Charlie was taken aback, then smiled wryly. "... Do you think they're fools?"

Chu Guang chuckled apologetically. "You're right."

Continuing to sell under a different name would indeed only deceive the gullible.

Those merchants who still wanted to do business in Boulder Town would have to listen to the factory owners' words, even if they didn't heed the outer city hall's advice.

Seeing the administrator lost in thought, Old Charlie paused for a moment before continuing. "... Actually, even if we lose this portion of the trade share, it's not a big deal. Mercenary groups with demand will naturally come to our territory, and even the slums and black markets outside the city can still buy our products... It’s beyond the jurisdiction of the outer city hall."

"What we should truly be cautious about is that our neighbors' attitude toward us is changing, and our development has alerted them."

Chu Guang nodded slightly with a slightly solemn expression. "Indeed, this is a problem."

The New Alliance's rapid industrialization was partly due to the players bringing production experience from reality and partly due to the advanced tools provided by the Pioneer. However, the benefits brought by the trades with Boulder Town also couldn't be ignored.

For instance, many production lines related to solid hydrogen batteries and KV-1 exoskeletons were introduced from Boulder Town’s second-hand equipment auction market.

Moreover, numerous engineers employed by the Liszt Factory also come from Boulder Town’s talent market.

Apart from the products themselves, these businesses from Boulder Town had spawned a large number of ancillary industries.

There were things such as advanced electrodes, control components, micro-motors, and so on.

Some of these parts were exported to Boulder Town, while others were absorbed by the New Alliance's domestic businesses.

Objectively speaking, these had provided significant help to the New Alliance's industrial development.

If the relationship with Boulder Town continued to deteriorate, it would undoubtedly impact the New Alliance's industrialization.

Of course, this wasn't without implications for Boulder Town itself.

For instance, Boulder Town factories hadn't imported any less of the A3-Type Aerospace Aluminum from Bucky’s Aluminum Factory.

During the New Alliance's development, they'd gained some core technologies.

Chu Guang looked at Charlie and asked, "Do you have any good suggestions?"

Charlie continued, "The likelihood of direct conflict with them is minimal, but it's not nonexistent. The New Alliance isn't the small village it used to be. Our expansion has already alerted the neighbors. In the long run, we still need to pay attention to our relationship with them."

"For example, we can send diplomats for more official exchanges with our neighbors. Not just Boulder Town, but also Red River Town, and even places further away like Garbage City... We don't necessarily need them to remain friendly, but at least we should avoid them uniting against us."

Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully. "What you say makes sense. This issue needs to be handled delicately.”

Previously, diplomatic affairs were always handled by the Traveling Merchants Association.

After all, at that time, the size of the New Alliance was too small, and relations with other settlements were merely trade-based, with even the tariffs being established only 2 months ago.

Now things were different.

The New Alliance's population had already exceeded 10,000, expanding northwards to West Continent City, and its logistics were no longer just a few workshops and warehouses. So naturally, its relations with the neighbors could not remain as simple trade exchanges.

This also involved geopolitical security and strategic needs.

In fact, it was not just diplomacy; various sectors like economy, industry, transportation, energy, trade, education, and more required dedicated departments for management, rather than having every directive personally given.

Although having Little Seven's help made it quite easy, and if he wished, he could even make a frontline player move a machine gun position forward by 5 meters...

Taking advantage of the victory in the northern expedition, Chu Guang planned to conduct a second reform on the management of the New Alliance.

The previous reform was with the guards, and this time it would be home affairs.

The excessively bulky Logistics Department would be split. Chu Guang would further define the specific responsibilities of each department and their respective tasks.

That way, he could reduce micromanagement and ease his own burden a bit.

Seeing Chu Guang falling deep into though, Charlie smiled, nodded respectfully, and said softly, "It seems you've realized what the solution is."

"Earlier you asked for my suggestion, and now my advice is that the time has come for us to act."