"Reporting, the undead host's follow-on reinforcements will enter combat range within ten minutes. They will then threaten our defense line!" a staff officer reported.
"Notify the fleets on every line to be ready for the worst. Remember. Without my order, no one pulls back!" Chu Xuan said, flat and final.
At this moment the Emperor's Guard Fleet, led by Zhao Chen, stood toward the rear of the line, second-line ground, as it were.
But every interstellar warship of the Emperor's Guard Fleet had already made ready for battle.
Every gun muzzle faced the same way.
Every interstellar missile launcher was open.
Every interstellar fighter and interstellar drone was ready to launch.
"Your Majesty, every starship of our Emperor's Guard Fleet is ready for battle." A video window appeared to Zhao Chen's left.
It showed a woman officer in the Emperor's Guard Fleet's own uniform.
Only, her standing was rather special.
Two-star brigadier general of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, deputy fleet commander of the Owl Dragon Emperor's Guard Fleet.
She was also one of those chosen for the new round of the senior-officer training program.
And being an officer Charlotte trusted a good deal, she had been specially posted to the Emperor's Guard Fleet as its deputy fleet commander.
Some may wonder, then, who served as this fleet's commander.
It was a rather special arrangement.
The fleet commander of the Royal Guard Fleet was in fact Zhao Chen himself.
Zhao Chen looked at this beast-folk girl before him, with her pair of panda eyes.
There was, when it came to it, a small bond of fate between them.
Xiong Xiangxiang, now president of the Owl Dragon Royal Military Academy, the same Xiong Xiangxiang who had long served as general president of the Goddess Academy-class starships.
Was in fact this panda girl's elder sister.
"Work with the First Legion on this line. On condition that you hold back the 500,000 of the undead host coming at us, do them the greatest damage you can, without fail! Make ready for our next step." Zhao Chen gave the order to the Panda-Girl commander.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty the Emperor. This counts as the first battle of our Emperor's Guard Fleet. The first battle must be won!" the Panda-Girl commander vowed.
What she said was quite right.
This counted as the first battle since Zhao Chen's former Owl Dragon Guard Fleet had been renamed the Emperor's Guard Fleet.
As the Emperor's own guard fleet, this first battle naturally mattered a great deal.
Zhao Chen nodded.
The Panda-Girl commander went off at once to make ready.
Aboard her own flagship, the Panda-Girl commander looked at the interstellar battlefield holo-table before her, her eyes seeming to burn with blazing flame.
She clenched her fists.
In this battle she would never let His Majesty down, nor Marshal Charlotte, nor her sister!
"Emperor's Guard Fleet, all squadrons…"
The Panda-Girl commander's orders went down one by one, instruction after instruction carried out through the data stream.
From outside, these Emperor's Guard Fleet ships showed no great stir.[1]
But in fact every interstellar warship had already received its orders.
Soon.
The forward part of that fresh 500,000 of the undead host had already joined the battlefield.
All at once it swelled the undead side's offensive a great deal.
Traces of several T6 undead combat units could even be seen among it.
At this, every squadron of the Emperor's Guard Fleet joined the front-line battlefield, one after another.
These T5-grade interstellar warships were not many, but joining the front-line battlefield, they beyond doubt greatly eased the pressure on the Owl Dragon Second Fleet Group's First Legion.
And they were, every one, among the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's finest warriors.
The T5 Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ships gave heavy-gun fire support; the interstellar fighters and interstellar drones of the T5 Fire-Qilin-class Heavy Carrier Starships patrolled over the line, forming another airspace line of defense.
The T5 Lightning-Wraith-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Cruisers and the T5 Frost-Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Battlecruisers stood ready at any moment to go on the attack, cross the line, and destroy high-value combat targets.
And the T5 King-of-the-Hill-class Heavy Interstellar Comprehensive Strategic Escorts would together build up the defense system on the line.
Even though their star-shield defense was much weakened by the enemy's peculiar nature,
they were still the Owl Dragon's sturdiest shields.
The T5 Chaos-Knight-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Destroyers and the T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleships would serve as key single-point firepower.
Killing high-value combat targets and forming the main firepower modules on the line!
The arrival of what looked like a mere few hundred interstellar warships raised Undead Defense Line No. 1, built up until now by Chu Xuan's Owl Dragon Second Fleet Group First Legion, to a higher plane.
Besides this, the T5 Crimson-Reaper-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ships behind the line had made ready too, prepared at any moment to support the battlefield with super-heavy fire.
Soon the two sides clashed.
Shield and spear had both been strengthened.
For a time, of all things, neither side gained the least advantage.
Instead, the intensity of the fire rose to a level never seen before.
Suddenly a red alert appeared at one point of the line on Chu Xuan's interstellar war holo-table.
For there, ten T6 undead combat units had surged forth at the same moment.
"Bringing out their trump cards right at the start. It seems this undead host means to take our line in one go!" Chu Xuan said with a frown.
Against these ten T6 undead combat units, Chu Xuan's own legion fleet could for the most part do nothing.
She could only pin her hopes on the Emperor's own Emperor's Guard Fleet.
And the Emperor did not disappoint her.
Almost on the heels of it,
ten T6 interstellar warships of the Owl Dragon Guard Fleet went in support toward the point of the line that had raised the alarm.
These ten T6 Owl Dragon-series interstellar warships were not all alike, either.
The ten were of three models.
One, naturally, was the T6 Wrath-of-Heaven-Goddess-class Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship everyone knew best, but there were only three of them.
Of the other seven interstellar warships, one kind was plainly an interstellar destroyer, five of them.
The other kind was rather special in shape, and there were only two.
But Chu Xuan's side soon received refreshed database records.
The combat data of the two newly appearing T6 Owl Dragon-series interstellar warships were within what she could look up.
The T6 Lord-of-Thunder-class Heavy Interstellar Destroyer and the T6 Seraph-Ballista-class Interstellar Long-Range Hunter-Killer Ship!
This was the first battlefield appearance of these two new T6 interstellar warships.
Zhao Chen folded his arms and calmly enjoyed the scene, the two leading players' debut performance.