The overture to the great decisive battle of the Hive Nests soon sounded.
The Hive Princess's Owl Dragon hive-race fleet group formed the first attack echelon.
It launched the attack on the 30,000,000 Order hive-race.
By now, the Owl Dragon hive-race fleet the Hive Princess had bred had, of all things, not fallen but grown since the start.[1]
Its number had broken past ten million!
The two sides were still one to three.
But the Owl Dragon legion fleet groups were not idle either; they too were giving fire support to the front line ahead.
On this coordination in battle,
the Owl Dragon Empire's fleet groups entered the first phase of this great decisive battle with almost no losses at all!
On the other side, the 20,000,000 Order hive-race between the northern hive line and the Angel City Fortress had now done just as Zhao Chen expected.
They turned their line of attack about and gave up attacking the northern hive line.
They swung around to attack the Angel Line of the Angel City Fortress,
trying to join up with the Order hive-race behind.
But such a notion, neither the northern hive line nor the Angel Line would allow.
These 20,000,000 Order hive-race had to be pinned down here!
Galactic Star Calendar, year 3037, June 10.
It happened also to be the tenth day of the great decisive battle; in these ten days, this stretch outside the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's northern territory had become nothing less than a meat grinder of war.
In these ten days, the Order hive-race lost at least a million Hive Motherships a day, and as many as two million.
And to attack, the Owl Dragon hive-race fleet group paid a loss of at least two hundred thousand a day as well, not counting the bio-infected Hive Motherships.
So, by the real figures,
it was the Order hive-race that was losing far more.
As for the Owl Dragon legion fleet groups, their losses in these ten days did not come to even a thousand interstellar warships.
But the strategic supplies they consumed came to a very great figure; after all, who knew how many interstellar missiles had gone into fire support.
"At present the Order hive-race before us number something above ten million remaining. Our losses are within a controllable range."
"On strategic supply consumption, it's for the most part ten used, eight resupplied; Secretary Lilith's logistics system is very thorough. And with the Star Gate opened by the starship Southern Heaven Gate within the Angel City Fortress's range, our logistics lines are very secure indeed! Nothing at all to worry about behind us!"
"The Owl Dragon hive-race fleet group is doing very well too. Of Hive Motherships alone there are still about fifty thousand, and three million bio-Hive Motherships besides. The number will dwindle with time, but holding out until this great decisive battle ends is no problem."
Zhao Chen looked over the reports of the several marshals and commanders before him.
Everything was going very smoothly.
"The enemy has still cost us a fair amount of time. Next, as for the ten-million-odd Order hive-race remaining, the Owl Dragon hive-race fleet group will leave a part behind to clean them up, and the Owl Dragon Empire's fleet groups will leave fifty to a hundred thousand interstellar warships too. Chiefly those interstellar fleets in poor shape but still able to fight. The remaining combat fleets, make ready to enter the second phase of this great decisive battle."
Zhao Chen looked at the positions of the two Hive Nests on the interstellar holo-table.
"Prepare to advance, on the Hive Nests!"
The ten million or so Order hive-race left could no longer check the advance of the Owl Dragon Empire's fleet groups.
The main fleet groups slipped through the battlefield before them without trouble and headed toward the two Hive Nests.
……
"Still no movement at all from the two Hive Nests?" Zhao Chen asked, looking at the two Hive Nests drawing ever nearer on the interstellar holo-table.
Chu Xuan, in the video window beside him, said, "So far, the T5 Phantasm-class Light Interstellar Stealth Scouts we sent out to keep close watch on the two Hive Nests have found nothing unusual. The two Hive Nests are just as they were before. As if… they have not noticed at all the upheaval on our side. Or else… they have no way of doing anything about it."
Zhao Chen frowned slightly.
Of those two possibilities,
Zhao Chen was more inclined to believe the enemy still had some trump card.
After all, behind them stood the mighty existence of a fabled T7 technological civilization; anything at all might happen.
"Do not take this lightly. Be ready for every possibility. Be ready to withdraw at any moment, even," Zhao Chen said in a low voice.
"Yes," the marshals and commanders said together.
"Are the two Supernova Ultimate Bombs in position?" Zhao Chen asked.
"The two Supernova Ultimate Bombs were in position before we crossed the Second Battlefield," the Panda-Girl commander said.
The region between the northern hive line and the Angel Line, Zhao Chen and the others called the First Battlefield.
And the battlefield now outside the Angel City Fortress was naturally called the Second Battlefield.
And next, they would open a Third Battlefield.
"The two Supernova Ultimate Bombs are each carried by a T5 Lightning-Wraith-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Cruiser. They travel with our Emperor's Guard Fleet," the Panda-Girl commander explained.
With T6 interstellar warships on hand, why assign T5 interstellar warships so important a task?
Naturally because the T5 Lightning-Wraith-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Cruiser, being an interstellar cruiser, was extremely mobile.
Very well suited to combat work such as this 'bomb delivery'.
"Then our next target is Hive Nest No. 1." Zhao Chen swept his hands across the interstellar holo-table.
The image of a star system was enlarged.
Only, this star system was very peculiar.
It had the form of a great pitch-black ball of flesh.
This was a Hive Nest.
One Hive Nest was as large as a star system.
And only a Hive Nest this vast could have bred a hive fleet of over a hundred million.
And this great decisive battle was to clear away these two great tumors of flesh once and for all.
"Work out the best point of detonation. We are to break into Hive Nest No. 1, place the Supernova Ultimate Bomb, withdraw safely, and then detonate it. With that, cripple this great tumor! By our calculations, it will be hard to destroy a Hive Nest in one go with a single Supernova Ultimate Bomb alone. Destroying two-thirds of it will do. After that it rests on our conventional fighting, or on the second batch of two T6 Supernova Ultimate Bombs arriving at the end of the month. Once the first Hive Nest is destroyed, if all goes smoothly, we can destroy the second Hive Nest. Until then, all fleet groups, make ready for battle. Ready to meet anything that may happen!" Zhao Chen pointed at the interstellar holo-table, looking at the marshals and commanders before him!