1,208 Layout of the Asteroid Belt

Gao Kai was speechless: "I say Ye Han, do you have to focus on this little profit in front of you? Can't you look further ahead?"

Ye Han was startled: "What's wrong with my eyesight?"

"What are you saying? You can't have some strategic vision? Do you think that grabbing asteroids is just to avoid trouble with aliens?" Gao Kai's eyes were filled with surprise, "You haven't thought about it. What's important?"

Ye Han was confused: "Why is it related to the great voyage again..." At this point, he slapped his forehead suddenly and suddenly realized what he had overlooked, "I understand, supply base!"

Some people may say that the most important thing in great voyages is the ship, but is this actually the case?

Of course not, ships are indeed very important, but the most important thing in a great voyage is the port, which is a ubiquitous supply point! Only with the support of supply lines can routes on the ocean continue to extend into the distance!

Gao Kai finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately you didn't come to the fleet. Just for a moment, my IQ dropped. Will it happen after a long time?"

Ye Han's face twitched: "You are so smart, didn't I just go astray?"

"Where did you want to go?" Gao Kai asked curiously.

"What else could it be? Cost." Ye Han said matter-of-factly, "How did we build Beiyuezhou in the first place? You know better than me how much resources we invested in it. This is still on the moon. If it were replaced by the asteroid belt, it would cost a lot of money." How much does it cost to build a base? That doesn’t include maintenance costs!”

Both of them have experienced the hardships of Beiyuezhou's start-up, and they know very well how much investment is required to build a space base.

But this is not the point. The point is that the base cannot be left alone after it is built. Instead, a lot of manpower and material resources must be invested in continuous maintenance.

Take Beiyuezhou as an example. As the scale of the base continues to expand, the maintenance costs of the base have increased every year. Last year, the maintenance costs of the base alone were tens of billions.

It's just that the situation in Beiyuezhou is that the more it consumes, the more it produces. After the two are offset, the maintenance cost becomes very inconspicuous, and no one pays attention to it at all.

This sustainable development model will also be applied to Nanyuezhou in the future.

But the asteroid belt is different. There are many small celestial bodies there but few. The largest Ceres is less than a thousand kilometers in diameter. The available resources are very limited. After the space base is built, it is impossible to be as self-sufficient as Beiyuezhou. , the earth must continue to receive blood transfusions to ensure the normal operation of the space base.

“That’s not how the account is settled.

Gao Kai shook his head in disapproval, "The space base does cost money, but compared with human safety, what is money?" You don’t even think about what we were like before Beiyuezhou was built, and what we were like after Beiyuezhou was built? "

Beidu is determined to develop the moon, not only because the moon has a very important strategic position, but also because the moon contains massive strategic resources!

Before the moon base was formed, the global material supply was very tight. In order to fight against aliens, mankind was forced to invest limited resources into a bottomless pit-like aerospace project, which almost wiped out the wealth of all countries. The warships used to fight against aliens were actually made of The space shuttle was modified. Now that I think about it, it seems like a joke.

If the aliens themselves had not solved some problems, I am afraid that humans would have been extinct for many years.

What about after the Beiyuezhou base is completed? The massive resources on the moon can be used, and the launch cost is much lower than that of the earth. Within a few years, space cities and space fleets have been built. Humanity's military strength has been rising. The fleets have even launched expeditions to Jupiter one after another, directly We hit the alien's lair!

Before Beiyuezhou was built, an expedition to Jupiter was simply a pipe dream that was unthinkable!

Gao Kai's grab for the prize made Ye Han roll his eyes and said angrily: "I said I was mistaken. Are your ears stuffed with donkey hair?"

Gao Kai suddenly suffocated: "Okay, let's not talk about costs, let's talk about strategy. From the time Beiyuezhou was built to now, the fleet has only one supply base on the moon. No matter what it does, it has to return here to supply. You have participated several times. People on the expedition, have you never thought about the significance of having a supply base in the asteroid belt?”

Ye Han shook his head: "I really haven't thought about it, but I can think of it." He was not kidding, he could indeed think of the meaning.

When the human fleet was at its largest, there were hundreds of large and small battleships, but the fleet's supply base was only the moon.

Whether it is an expedition to Jupiter or an alien fleet, the starting point for all battleships is the moon, and after the battle, the fleet returns to the moon.

At first glance, there is nothing wrong with this, but in reality?

Take the recent expedition as an example. When the fleet returned, the earth had already turned to the side of the sun. After reaching the earth's orbit, the warship had to hang behind the earth and pursue it until it caught up with the earth.

If you don't chase it, you will have to wait for more than half a year, waiting for the earth to complete more than half of the circle around the sun, and then merge with the earth.

Not to mention anything else, several months were wasted along the way.

What if there were several human military bases in the asteroid belt?

It doesn’t take much. As long as there is a space base in the southeast, northwest and northwest, the fleet can park nearby, replenish supplies and ammunition and repair the warships. It won’t take long to return to Jupiter and have another big game with the aliens.

In the past, expeditions took a whole year or even more than a year. With a space base, the expedition period can be shortened to half a year or even three to four months!

By then, the strategic situation facing mankind will have undergone qualitative changes, greatly easing the pressure faced by mankind.

Gao Kai raised his eyebrows deliberately: "Really?"

"Believe it or not!" Ye Han wanted to flip the table, "You are so long-winded, why didn't I notice it before?"

"It means you don't know me well enough!"

"I would rather not know!" Ye Han looked very disgusted.

"It's too late!" Gao Kai laughed, "You want to get off the pirate ship?"

"If I can get on, I can get off!" Ye Han pushed back unconvinced.

The two people refused to give in to each other, and they argued back and forth for several sentences. Ye Han finally brought the topic back to the point: "How much did you send over? You chose Ceres, right?"

The role of the base is to provide various support. If it is too small, it will not work at all. Ceres is the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, with a diameter of nearly 1,000 kilometers. There are some resources on it, which is of great significance to the construction of space bases and reducing maintenance costs.

Gao Kai shook his head and said, "You guessed wrong!"

"Isn't it Ceres?" Ye Han looked at Gao Kai with doubt in his eyes, "You are not lying to me, are you? Such a good place, don't hurry up and occupy it, don't let the aliens take it away again."

Forty percent of Ceres is water, and it is not far from the sun. There is probably a liquid ocean under the ice. These are all very favorable conditions for construction. Ye Han can't think of any reason why the military would not choose it.