After three regiments were transferred out and two new regiments arrived, the military strength on Rostov II did not decrease but increased.
After all, the Rostov regiments were just ordinary infantry regiments, while the two new regiments were a mechanized infantry regiment and an armored regiment.
On the front lines, two such regiments each had the strength to independently defeat three infantry regiments.
Especially since they came from two rather famous Astra Militarum meritorious units.
Although the Astra Militarum indeed has a vast numerical base, and in a crucial battle, the Department of Military Affairs might throw in billions of Astra Militarum soldiers and watch them all perish, there aren't that many units within the Astra Militarum that have their own unique designations.
Any army that has left a resounding name in the Astra Militarum is either highly decorated, has a long history, or has a rather legendary combat record.
Taking the two regiments transferred to Rostov II as an example, they are both famous legions with long histories dating back to the Great Crusade, and they have even produced quite renowned figures.
Among them, the Armageddon Steel Legion comes from Armageddon, an important Imperial World located in the Solar System, and is itself one of the main production sites for Imperial chimera armored vehicles.
This also makes the Armageddon Steel Legion very proficient in the use of chimera armored vehicles, making it one of the few mechanized legions in the Imperium.
The history of this planet dates back to the Great Crusade Era, where it was once the capital of the Ork Empire, and the Emperor himself almost fell on this planet.
After the Ork Empire was destroyed by the might of the Imperium during the Great Crusade Era, this planet became an important industrial world for the Imperium, producing a large number of industrial goods and mobile vehicles such as the chimera and leman russ.
At the same time, this planet also recruits a large number of people annually to serve in the Astra Militarum; during the Second Armageddon War, the number of Astra Militarum recruited from this planet even exceeded the sum of any two planets in the Solar System.
Of course, when mentioning this Astra Militarum legion, one cannot help but mention their famous legendary Grand Commissar, the chosen of Gork and Mork, the lifelong enemy of Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, the savior of Armageddon, the one who turned the tide in the Second Armageddon War, the insurmountable wall of Hades Hive City, the one who stared down Orks, and one of the three chosen Commissars of the Imperium, Commissar Sebastian Yarrick.
Although in GW's latest stuff, Commissar Yarrick has already returned to the Golden Throne, at present, this old Commissar is still serving the Emperor.
(The invincible old eye, who tore apart an Ork Warboss with his bare hands as a human)
It is easy to imagine what kind of elite the Armageddon Steel Legion, having experienced the Second Armageddon War and trained by Commissar Yarrick, truly is.
As for the other unit, the Tallarn Desert Raiders, their fame is not as resounding as the Armageddon Steel Legion, but their history also dates back to the Great Crusade Era, ten thousand years ago.
At that time, Tallarn was still a beautiful, verdant agricultural world, but the fires of the Great Rebellion swept through it, and the virus bombs dropped by the Iron Warriors on this planet completely destroyed its ecology, turning it into a desert.
But the Tallarn people did not yield; they still put up stubborn resistance when the Iron Warriors landed on the planet.
Until the loyalist legions of the Imperium arrived as reinforcements, and the largest armored battle in Imperial history erupted on this planet.
During the Tallarn campaign, which lasted for several months, loyalists and rebels collectively committed over ten million armored vehicles to mutual combat on this planet, with ultimately more than one-tenth of the armored vehicles perishing on the planet and being buried by the yellow sand.
Finally, the Iron Warriors withdrew from this world, which was too costly for them, leaving the shattered remains of vehicles scattered throughout Tallarn's desolate desert.
The Tallarn people eventually got a chance to rebuild and have stood strong against numerous enemies of the Imperium in the ten millennia that followed.
Even today, the Tallarn Desert Raiders remain renowned for their armored warfare.
Such two units would be too much of a waste if they were merely treated as general garrison forces.
Alex plans to use these two units as blueprints to establish Rostov's own mechanized and armored forces.
He has already communicated with the two regimental colonels about this matter, and they do not oppose Alex's plan. They also expressed acceptance of seconding some officers to assist the Rostov Astra Militarum in training new recruits.
In fact, the five new Defense Force regiments have already completed their recruitment of new soldiers.
Three of these five regiments will be trained as mechanized regiments, while the remaining two will be armored regiments.
The population on Rostov II certainly supports Alex's expansion of this scale, but the problem has never been the population.
The population of Rostov II is indeed not large; a few hundred million people are hardly worth mentioning for an Imperial World, but recruiting several hundred thousand Astra Militarum soldiers is still not a problem for a population of over a billion.
What truly restricts the expansion of Rostov II's military strength is the military equipment itself, as well as the planet's economy.
Before Alex arrived, the output on Rostov II was insufficient to support large-scale military expansion, as the economy simply couldn't bear it.
But now, Rostov's economy has not only significantly improved, but it can even produce its own military equipment and supplies, which undoubtedly provides a foundation for large-scale military expansion.
If it weren't for the consideration that Rostov's factories are currently unable to mass-produce military equipment, and the various problems that large-scale conscription would bring, Alex could now raise an army of a million.
However, even without considering large-scale expansion, Alex is prepared to increase the number of Defense Force regiments on Rostov to at least 20, and the number of Astra Militarum units to at least 10.
A total of thirty regiments, adding up to roughly two hundred thousand troops, is already sufficient to defend a planet that is not a particularly important world.
Especially since the planet also has thousands of Battle Sisters and over a hundred Astartes, as well as several cruisers in orbit.
This level of defense certainly cannot compare to the famous worlds of the Imperium, let alone a Fortress World, but the potential for conflict here in Alex's area is not that frequent, so maintaining a massive army is not a necessity.
In fact, even based on Rostov's current army size, the annual military expenditure alone is already putting considerable pressure on the economy.
Before other planets in the Sub-Sector are developed and can provide income for Alex, he will likely not expand the army on a large scale without major conflicts, only increasing the size of the army at a rate proportionate to economic growth.
After all, Alex hasn't forgotten how bad the Imperium will become after the Great Rift opens.
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