Zhao Chen ran his eye over the commanders of the four legion fleet groups as well.
Shen Bing, Chu Xuan, Medusa, Xue Xiaoxiao.
Every one of them a founding figure of the Owl Dragon Empire, one might say.
And each legion fleet group had three deputy commanders, who were likewise among the candidates to be supreme commanders of the Owl Dragon Empire's legion fleet groups in the future.
Zhao Ruyue, Midai, Leona the dragon-girl, Qingman the snake-girl, Pei Shengnan, Hu Xiner, Wei Shishi, Huang Xiaoting…
Having gone through how the four imperial legion fleet groups stood now,
Charlotte brought up the state of the six[1] ace fleet groups.
Because each ace fleet group was something out of the ordinary, there was no single pattern for them as there was for the corps-grade fleets before.
Each was built instead to its own ace fleet group's design.
For example.
The most distinctive of them, the Hell-Angel ace fleet group commanded by Baixue the wolf-girl.
The whole fleet group now totaled seventy thousand interstellar warships.
Of which thirty thousand were interstellar missile ships, twenty thousand interstellar escorts, and twenty thousand interstellar supply ships.
It too used the establishment of three thousand warships to a corps fleet.
But each such corps was made up of two thousand-odd interstellar missile ships and a thousand-odd interstellar escorts.
When needed in battle, these corps fleets could also form battle squares large and small.
The interstellar escorts on the outside, the interstellar missile ships within, with dedicated logistics and supply channels besides; these not only made sure the fleet group's interstellar supply ships could restock every missile ship in every sector with missiles in time,
but also let logistics and supply fleets or transport fleets from outside come into the square.
Every side of it had been thought of, one might say.
"Baixue the wolf-girl's thirty thousand interstellar missile ships are now made up of twenty-five thousand T4 Hell-Angel-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships, five thousand T5 Crimson-Reaper-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ships, and ten newly commissioned T6 Holy-Blood Hell-Angel-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ships. These thirty thousand interstellar missile ships can, in a short time, put out the firepower of five hundred thousand interstellar warships. Enough to shatter any legion fleet. Only, even the ammunition reserves of our whole Empire as things stand could hardly keep the whole Hell-Angel ace fleet group firing at full blast for more than a few rounds," Marshal Charlotte explained carefully.
Thirty thousand interstellar missile ships, the whole fleet firing at full blast.
The mere thought of it made Zhao Chen's scalp prickle.
And made his purse ache, too.
Every one of them was a gold-devouring behemoth; with thirty thousand gold-devouring behemoths loosing their fury together, the rate at which resources would be consumed was past imagining.
Zhao Chen even hoped he would never see that day.
Though there was one, most likely, who had been rubbing her hands in readiness all along.
"So for now we have reworked how the Hell-Angel ace fleet group's missions are assigned. It can be split up as needed, with different missions given to each part. Marshal Baixue the wolf-girl has agreed to this as well. Take the present case: thirty thousand interstellar warships means ten combat corps fleets. Depending on how heavy the mission is, a single combat corps fleet can be sent to a battlefield alone to give fire support to the friendly fleets there," Marshal Charlotte explained.
"That's good. We may have some means behind us now, but we can't waste them either." Zhao Chen agreed with both hands and both feet.
They had all come up through hard times; being better off now was no reason to be wasteful.
"And take Marshal Zhao Waner's Shadow Hunter ace fleet group, for instance, which is made up of interstellar stealth bombers alone. It now has sixty thousand interstellar warships. Of which fifty thousand are T4 Shadow-Demon-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bombers, and ten thousand T5 Netherworld-Wolf-King-class Medium Interstellar Stealth Bombers. In this rebellion within the Empire, a good many of the thornier missions were given to Zhao Waner's Shadow Hunter ace fleet group. They move quickly and swiftly. They excel at short, sharp battles of annihilation on a small scale, with no need to consider whether to keep prisoners, only to complete the mission of wiping out the target. The one thing lacking is that there is as yet no T6-grade warship of this type." Charlotte finished, and looked at Zhao Chen.
"Don't worry about that; I'll see to it later."
Zhao Chen had no System now, but when he left that world, as the System vanished for the last time, it had implanted all the technical data it held into Zhao Chen's head.
And because of the several bodily remakings before, Zhao Chen had long since possessed an extraordinary capacity of memory in his brain, able to hold tens of thousands of times what an ordinary person could.
Only, setting all of it down would take some time.
In so short a time Zhao Chen had only hurriedly written out the technical data for two main-battle T6 warships, and handed those to Chief Engineer Nana and the others first.
"Marshal Su Lan's Queen of the Starry Sky ace fleet group is made up of carrier starships and interstellar escorts. A hundred thousand interstellar warships in all. Of which thirty thousand are carrier starships and seventy thousand interstellar escorts. The thirty thousand carrier starships are twenty-five thousand T4 Fallen-Angel-class Super-Heavy Carrier Starships and five thousand T5 Fire-Qilin-class Heavy Carrier Starships, together with ten newly commissioned T6 Divine-Wing Empress-class Super-Heavy Carrier Starships. The interstellar escorts are fifty thousand T4 Paladins and twenty thousand T5 Kings of the Hill. As with the Hell-Angel ace fleet group, we have organized the Queen of the Starry Sky ace fleet group into formations as well: ten combat corps squadrons with their matching escort squadrons. Depending on the needs of a combat mission, different numbers of combat corps squadrons can be sent to carry it out." Marshal Charlotte knew all these ace fleet groups very well,
even though these ace fleet groups were not hers to lead in person.
"Marshal Chitong's Blizzard ace fleet group has a hundred thousand interstellar warships, made up of interstellar cruisers and interstellar battlecruisers. The cruisers number seventy thousand, of which sixty thousand are T4 Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruisers and ten thousand T5 Lightning-Wraith-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Cruisers. The battlecruisers number thirty thousand, of which twenty-five thousand are T4 Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile-Battlecruisers and five thousand T5 Frost-Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Battlecruisers. Along with ten newly commissioned T6 Wind Sprite-class Light Interstellar Cruisers."
"And last, the Reverse Scale ace fleet group under my own command. It has thirty thousand interstellar warships. In numbers it falls short of the other ace fleet groups, but its fighting power yields to none, above all its power in a head-on advance. It has thirty thousand interstellar battleships. Of which twenty-five thousand are T4 Blue-Eyes White Dragon-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Battleships and five thousand T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleships. And the T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought is this ace fleet group's flagship."
Having heard all this,
Zhao Chen now had some grasp of the whole Owl Dragon Empire's top-tier military strength.
"So our first- and second-line top fighting strength comes to two and a half million interstellar warships," said Zhao Chen.
Lilith added beside him: "To be exact, there are two million three hundred thousand-odd T4 interstellar warships in active service, two hundred thousand-odd T5 warships, and two thousand-odd T6 warships."
Lilith was very sharp about the figures of every legion fleet.
For they bore on the amount of every share of resources consumed.
Without anyone quite noticing, the number of T6 warships the Owl Dragon Empire held had reached two thousand-odd.
"Now let's talk about how to meet this threat, which may be Order." Zhao Chen came back to the business at hand.
Charlotte frowned and said: "Because as things stand we have no way of knowing how many forces the enemy has sent this time, we cannot make detailed dispositions for the battlefield. We can only make preliminary arrangements. I have a contingency battle plan here; please look it over."
"Very well."
Zhao Chen received the contingency battle plan and went through it with Charlotte as he read.
In the end they settled that there was nothing wrong with Charlotte's contingency plan; only a few places needed changing.
As for the largest of the changes,
it was that, with five points of abnormal spatial fluctuation, the Owl Dragon Empire had only four legion fleet groups at present.
The remaining ace fleet groups had fighting strength, but not the numbers.
If the enemy brought through too many warships, an ace fleet group might very well be thrown away for nothing.
So as Charlotte saw it, either they held four and gave up one, dealing with the last one after the four were settled.
Or else the four imperial legion fleet groups would each split off a part, and in that way all five breaches could be stopped.
But Zhao Chen put forward a new way.
Charlotte need not worry about the fifth point of abnormal spatial fluctuation; Zhao Chen would deal with it himself.
"Of the five points of abnormal spatial fluctuation, three are fairly near densely populated star systems; watch them closely. Above all one of them, which lies almost right beside the royal capital system of the Holy Radiance Kingdom. There can be no slip there, no public panic at a time like this. The other two are in star systems where few people live, but we can't take them lightly either. Any armed force Order has sent in must be wiped out, every last bit of it."
He paused, and Zhao Chen looked at Lilith: "Keep watch on the Empire too. If anyone jumps up again at a time like this, crush them for me. As for those lords' fleets and kingdom fleets, if they can't even manage this much, then none of them need be kept; they can go home and plant sweet potatoes."
"Yes."
"Charlotte, get the armies moving quickly. Take up any problems with Lilith," said Zhao Chen.
"Yes." With that, Marshal Charlotte's hologram vanished.
Then Zhao Chen looked at Lilith and said: "Come somewhere with me."
"I'll summon the Emperor's Guard Fleet at once," said Lilith.
"No need. We'll just take the Dragon Emperor; it's easier," Zhao Chen said casually.
But Lilith said very gravely: "That won't do; it must be done by the rules. You are the Emperor of the Empire now, and when you travel you must have the Emperor's Guard Fleet as your escort."
Seeing how scrupulous Lilith was about it, Zhao Chen had no choice but to agree.
Very soon a familiar figure appeared before Zhao Chen.
And on seeing Zhao Chen, the figure burst into tears.
Zhao Chen looked at the tearful panda-girl before him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Hey, hey, hey. You're my guard; what are you crying for? Crying and sniffling like this, how are you going to protect me?"
The one before him was the deputy commander of the Emperor's Guard Fleet, and its commander in fact, since its nominal commander was Zhao Chen himself.
And Zhao Chen's old habit was to be a hands-off master.
The panda-girl wiped the tears from her eyes: "Your Majesty the Emperor, you've come back at last. This half year, I… I've felt so terribly guilty. If Lady Charlotte and Lilith hadn't comforted me, I nearly… I nearly wanted to choke myself to death on bamboo."[2]
"What an unusual way to die," Zhao Chen exclaimed, and it made him think of Annie.
If Annie ever died young, it would most likely be of that.
"All right, all right. What happened wasn't your fault. And besides, I gave the order myself back then; you were only carrying out my order. We're all fine now, aren't we? Just set your mind at rest and do your job well," Zhao Chen said to comfort her.
The panda-girl commander drew herself up straight and said gravely: "Rest assured, Your Majesty. From now on, the Emperor's Guard Fleet and I will not leave your side by a single step, and we will never let you out of our sight."
Is that protection?
That's practically supervision.
Zhao Chen did not look too deeply into what she meant.
After a few more instructions, the panda-girl commander cut the link.
And then they set out in haste.
For in light of the battle dispositions just made, there was someone Zhao Chen needed to go and see in person.
A remote link would have done, but Zhao Chen was rather concerned about how things were coming along on her side.
After a special star-gate coordinate had been entered, they passed through the star gate.
Very soon Zhao Chen's Dragon Emperor and the Emperor's Guard Fleet appeared in a pitch-black star system.
Even the star gate of this system had a strange black hue, with black tentacles twined about it.
This style of star gate was likely a limited edition found only here.
And from far off Zhao Chen could see Hive Motherships drifting in the distance, and brown hive-race planets one after another.
That's right: this was the living area Zhao Chen had set aside for the Owl Dragon hive-race.
Before long there was a little someone on top of Zhao Chen's head.
"Could you get down and talk?" Zhao Chen tried to look up at the little thing on his head, but the more he raised his head, the less he could see.
"No! I don't want to leave for a single moment now. You said before you'd come to see me every week. And you lied; you didn't come to see me for more than half a year!" Hive Princess pouted and hung her head down crossly from the top of Zhao Chen's head to look at him.
Hive Princess's waterfall of hair hung upside down, with a few brown tentacles among it.
Her big bright eyes stared straight at Zhao Chen, with a trace of reproach in them.