"Three grade-five Soul Altars have appeared. That means 600,000 Pitch-Black Legion interstellar warships bred in a single day!" Lilith drew in a cold breath.
They had a wealth of combat experience against the Pitch-Black Legion fleets, and naturally knew the Pitch-Black Legion's fighting power.
They did not fear it, but these numbers would still make no small trouble.
"We can't let this drag on. If we really let them keep up this pace of restoring 600,000 Pitch-Black Legion interstellar warships a day, sooner or later they'll wear us to death here!" Zhao Chen said, frowning slightly.
As things stood, fighting a war of attrition with the enemy was beyond doubt a foolish course.
Destroying these three Soul Altars as soon as possible was the best choice.
"Three Soul Altars, 600,000 interstellar warships a day. That's 25,000 interstellar warships an hour. There are no T6-grade or quasi-T7-grade Pitch-Black interstellar warships among them, true, but the numbers are no small trouble all the same."
Zhao Chen contacted Charlotte at once.
When Charlotte's video window appeared, she came straight to the point. "I already know the situation in Luoyang System No. 11. The enemy has added two more grade-five Soul Altars. We must destroy these three Soul Altars in the shortest possible time now. Otherwise Luoyang System No. 11's complete fall is only a matter of time."
Zhao Chen nodded. "That's what I think too."
Charlotte set out her plan directly. "While the Pitch-Black Legion fleets haven't yet built up to any scale, we storm these three Soul Altars and wreck them!"
The objective was plain to see, and everyone knew it well.
But this objective was no simple thing to accomplish; after all, ever since the enemy brought out these three Soul Altars,
large fleets had been guarding all around them, and Pitch-Black interstellar warships kept on condensing and appearing besides.
To destroy, in the midst of so vast an enemy fleet, the three Soul Altars it would defend to the death was no easy thing.
Charlotte went on at once, "To accomplish this task, we have to gather heavy forces. Right now my T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought and the T6 Demon Emperor Carrier Starship are both heading to Luoyang System No. 11 to support the fighting!"
"Two flagships alone won't be enough, surely?" Zhao Chen frowned slightly.
Charlotte went on, "Not quite enough, no. They're not the real trump card of this operation. My plan is……"
When Zhao Chen had heard Charlotte's plan, he frowned slightly and looked at Charlotte in some surprise. "That's what you have in mind? You mean to carry out that operational plan now? Isn't it too risky!"
"There's no help for it; we have no other choice now. The enemy has more than just these three Soul Altars; it has more Soul Altars still. Even grade-six Soul Altars. We can't carry out this kind of decapitation plan every single time; we haven't the fleets or the strength to spare for it, and we'll be worn to death here. So we have to take the risk and destroy them at the source! I don't deny there really is risk in it. But with the Owl Dragon Empire as it is now, we have to take risks!" Charlotte looked at Zhao Chen gravely.
Zhao Chen hesitated a moment; in the end he nodded, agreeing to Charlotte's idea.
Indeed.
This war had now put the Owl Dragon Empire in an unfavorable position.
The Owl Dragon Empire needed a chance to break the deadlock!
Luoyang System No. 11
The elf commander Xavier frowned, looking at the Pitch-Black Legion fleets gathering more and more in the Devourer Civilization invading fleets' positions.
These Pitch-Black Legion interstellar warships had not been thrown hastily into the fighting, but were massing silently around the three Soul Altars, as though waiting until they had formed a legion fleet's strength before launching an attack.
Already, over 30,000 Pitch-Black Legion interstellar warships had condensed around those three Soul Altars.
Most were T3, T4 and T5-grade Pitch-Black interstellar warships.
There was no threat of T6-grade interstellar warships, true, but with the Soul Altars sitting there, that was an arms factory that could turn out fleets without end.
It could grind the Owl Dragon Empire's legion fleet groups and the Sacred Elf legion fleet groups in Luoyang System No. 11 to death here alive.
"My lord, look at the star gate!" At this moment the elf adjutant beside him suddenly cried out.
The elf commander Xavier frowned slightly; he did not understand why his adjutant would lose his composure in such alarm at a time like this.
But when he looked at the star gate, he understood.
For he saw two of the Owl Dragon Empire's Owl Dragon flagships!
The T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought!
The T6 Demon Emperor Carrier Starship!
Having seen with his own eyes before how strong the T6 Gluttony Demon King starship and the T6 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship were,
at this moment he naturally dared not slight these two T6 Owl Dragon flagships in any way.
But……
To steady the present situation in Luoyang System No. 11 with these two Owl Dragon flagships alone?
That would be very hard.
They too would be ground to death alive on this battlefield.
So long as those three Soul Altars were there, this place was a soul meat-grinder!
On the command channel the T6 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship had set up,
two communication windows appeared.
Owl Dragon Empire Five-Star Marshal Charlotte!
Captain of the T6 Demon Emperor Carrier Starship, Marshal Su Lan!
On an interstellar battlefield that had opened later than the rest, four Owl Dragon flagships, three Imperial marshals and the Owl Dragon Emperor were now all gathered here.
This battlefield had beyond doubt become the center of the whole war.
"The Rakshasa-Hades is in position," Marshal Charlotte said.
"The Demon Emperor is in position; awaiting the Emperor's instructions." Marshal Su Lan stood ready.
"Begin." Zhao Chen looked at the interstellar war holo-table on the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship's bridge.
On it, the artificial intelligence Little Dragon Girl had long since drawn up an operational plan based on the battle plan Charlotte had put forward earlier.
"Operation Hydra Decapitation, begin!" Little Dragon Girl's voice sounded.
Then order upon order was sent at the same moment to the bridges of every interstellar warship on the Luoyang System No. 11 battlefield.
Because of their working together before, every interstellar warship's captain had long grown used to orders from the T6 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship, and carried them out unconditionally at once.
The elf commander Xavier looked at the order before him in surprise.
"What does this mean to do? A counterattack along the whole line?"
"What? A counterattack along the whole line? What is that Owl Dragon Emperor thinking? As things stand, our fleets still have a fair amount of fighting power, because we've been shoring up the lines. But once we start a counterattack, it will speed up the drain on the fighting power we have in reserve. Once a fleet runs short of fighting power, the offensive will collapse in an instant, and we won't even get the chance to rebuild the lines. The whole Luoyang System No. 11 front will be routed in an instant!" The elf adjutant's face was full of astonishment; to him this was beyond doubt a moth flying into the flame, a suicidal attack. "My lord, you must contact the Dragon Emperor at once and ask the Owl Dragon Emperor to stop this battle plan!"
The elf commander Xavier paused, then said seriously, "Carry out the Dragon Emperor's orders!"
"Huh? But……" The elf adjutant looked at his commander, uncomprehending.
"I said, carry out the Dragon Emperor's orders. And pass it down: every one of our interstellar warships is to carry out the Dragon Emperor's orders unconditionally. No one is to be slack, or it will be dealt with under martial law."
The elf commander Xavier looked at his adjutant; the adjutant's eyes were full of incomprehension.
He said seriously, "Speaking for myself, I trust the Dragon Emperor and that Owl Dragon Emperor, and those generals of the Owl Dragon Legion. They're not fools; they know very well how this battle must be fought. Since they're doing this, they must have their reasons. I'm willing to follow them and fight shoulder to shoulder with them! And from another angle, the Flame Elf Queen gave orders before that our Sacred Elf Thirtieth Legion Fleet Group must carry out the Owl Dragon Emperor's orders unconditionally. As if she were here in person!"
"Mm…… yes." The elf adjutant still hesitated somewhat, but carried out the order all the same.
"Perhaps this time we'll witness the most glorious battle of our Sacred Elf Thirtieth Legion Fleet Group!" The elf commander Xavier was actually somewhat excited at this moment.
He pressed one hand over his heart; it was a feeling he, as a high elf, had never had.
For among high elves, not letting joy show on the face was their custom; to them, those who laughed loudly, shouted and ran wild were all vulgar people without manners.
As high elves, they ought to have no emotions at all; emotion was a low thing.
But now he could not control his emotions.
It was restlessness, it was excitement, it was…… a thirst for war!
In this moment he understood something of that fiery look in the Flame Elf Queen's eyes.
Very soon!
At the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship's orders, the interstellar fleets on every line, Owl Dragon Empire legion fleet groups and Sacred Elf legion fleet groups alike, switched at once from defensive operations to offensive ones.
This break from their usual way of fighting caught the Devourer Civilization's interstellar fleets opposite off guard at first.
Likely they had never expected that the prey that had been fighting on the defensive all along, resisting stubbornly, would now choose to counterattack.
Under this offensive, the fighting on the Luoyang System No. 11 battlefield grew more brutal still!
Every figure set a record for this war.
But the generals on the Owl Dragon Empire's side knew very well that this counteroffensive posture would soon be gone.
For the long defensive fighting before had left almost every interstellar warship in less than its best condition, and the enemy's starships outnumbered their own several times over besides.
So this counteroffensive approach was nothing but squeezing out the last fighting power these interstellar warships had left.
It was like making a long-distance runner sprint at this point!
His sprint could last only so long!
After fifteen minutes of counteroffensive,
the interstellar fleets on some local battlefields began to show signs of "exhaustion."
Most of it happened on the Sacred Elf legion fleets' side.
"None of you lose your nerve on me! Look at their interstellar warships; they're all fighting to the death. Are our elf-race interstellar warships worse than theirs? Without my order, even if the whole army is wiped out, you'll die fighting on the field of the attack!" the elf commander Xavier roared on the Sacred Elf Thirtieth Legion Fleet Group's internal command channel.
It was not only to carry out the Dragon Emperor's orders.
It was also the pride of being an elf.
After all, the allied fleets next door were still fighting; if you fell behind now, you were making a disgrace of yourself!
"My lord, look! An Owl Dragon fleet is supporting us!" the elf adjutant said suddenly, delighted.
The elf commander Xavier looked over, and sure enough he saw an Owl Dragon fleet joining the battlefield his side was responsible for, from the flank.
The number of its interstellar warships did not look large, only a corps fleet's worth.
But their offensive was very powerful; they were even fighting with the presence of a legion fleet!
"That looks like the Owl Dragon Emperor's Emperor's Guard Fleet!" The elf adjutant brought up several close-range shots, and made out who this interstellar fleet was.
"That lord has even sent up his own guard fleet." The elf commander Xavier was somewhat moved.
But at the same time a little shame rose in his heart.
He believed it was his own side of the battlefield falling short that had led the Owl Dragon Emperor to send out his own Emperor's Guard Fleet.
He…… their Sacred Elf Thirtieth Legion Fleet Group had been the drag after all.
"Look! Those two Owl Dragon flagships have come too!" the elf adjutant cried, still more excited.
The elf commander Xavier looked over.
The T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought was advancing at full speed along the route the Emperor's Guard Fleet had opened, charging straight for the enemy's forward fleets.
At the same time the T6 Demon Emperor Carrier Starship, at the rear, opened all its hangar gates too.
Tens of millions of interstellar drones and interstellar fighters swarmed out, forming patch upon patch of "black fog," and rushed at the Devourer Civilization's interstellar fleets.
The fighting power these interstellar drone swarms and interstellar fighters made up was in no way inferior to that of other interstellar warships; in some respects it was even a cut above.
This powerful offensive
even made the area on the side of the Sacred Elf Thirtieth Legion Fleet Group, which had been about to collapse, look still stronger in its attack,
so that the whole encirclement was like an apple with a bite taken out of it, and nearer its core.
"Their objective is to destroy those three Soul Altars!" the elf commander Xavier said in alarm, suddenly realizing it.
"Destroy those three Soul Altars?" The elf adjutant was taken aback, then said, "How could that possibly be done? To begin with, the enemy has over 4 million Devourer Civilization interstellar warships on the main front right now; they can't possibly let us get near those three Soul Altars!"
"Naturally. That's why the Dragon Emperor ordered an all-out attack. These attacks look fierce, but they're all feints! And yet, though they all look like feints, each one is also a main attack. That way the enemy's fleet strength can be drawn off on every side! It's only that the Dragon Emperor was choosing where the final line of attack would be. And in the end, on our side, the Dragon Emperor worked out the final line of attack. That's why the two Owl Dragon flagships and the Emperor's Guard Fleet have appeared on our side!"
It was too insane!
A truly insane battle plan.
The elf commander Xavier's breath began to quicken; he felt the blood all through his body burning hot!