Chapter 434: The fragile defensive perimeter
New Obbo City in Niger, the rear-area refuge city closest to the world's largest contact point, had grown out of the original Obo City.
Only two or three places in Niger, including its capital, could really be called cities.
Yet in just a few months, New Obbo City had developed a strange kind of prosperity amid this global crisis.
The hundreds of thousands of Nigerien soldiers guarding the contact point and refugees converging from every direction had steadily swelled its population and size.
Niger's transportation capacity meant that this new city of several million people had to shoulder much of the west's industry, including ammunition production and food supply.
And, of course, the indispensable construction industry.
The old city naturally became New Aobo's central district, surrounded by vast numbers of temporary prefab homes and an increasing number of permanent buildings.
There were no skyscrapers or artistic designs. Many residents used methods that consumed the least cement and building materials to erect more and more two- and three-story earthen houses, while also helping the army build simple fortifications.
New Aobo was now a densely populated new African city composed of old buildings, prefab houses, crude new structures, and a considerable number of proper tents and makeshift imitations.
With Dawn doing what it could in the surrounding area, security around the city was well assured. Gathering nature's bounty of fruit and vegetables in the new forest areas, along with crops planted beforehand, was not difficult. Combined with supplies from other parts of the country, this kept famine at bay for the time being.
The city had developed its own division of labor suited to the circumstances. Most people could survive by selling their labor, or simply enlist.
But those few months of stability ended today.
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