But to return to the battlefield.
These interstellar destroyers the Drought-Fiend Sovereign was so proud of were being held firmly down by the Owl Dragon-line interstellar destroyers opposite.
With the attacks of the other Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships alongside them,
in the first dozen-odd minutes after contact, the Emperor's Guard Fleet opposite had really had a taste of success.
But the Drought-Fiend Sovereign did not panic at this.
After all, the gap in numbers of interstellar warships between the two sides was plain to see; his side had a full hundred thousand of them, didn't it?
But at this point the Drought-Fiend Sovereign quietly made a small move of his own.
He had his adjutant contact the garrisons in the neighboring star systems and tell them to set out at once.
The order he gave said this: his Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet had found the Owl Dragon Emperor's Emperor's Guard Fleet and tied it down, and they were to come at once and help encircle and wipe out this Emperor's Guard Fleet.
Those below and those above alike like to say what favors themselves.
Even a Sovereign was no different.
And what was more, there was still his own Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer, which had not yet moved.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign was very confident in this super-flagship of his.
After all, it was the work he was proudest of.
And as the numbers of interstellar warships engaged on both sides grew, the scales of the battle did begin to tip toward the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet.
After all, however fine the Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships were, however strong the Emperor's Guard Fleet's interstellar warships,
one against five was still manageable.
But what about one against twenty, one against thirty?
That was rather worse, by comparison.
But Zhao Chen, on this side, did not panic; he was calmly taking in the scene before him.
He was watching Xiong Xiangxiang on the other side of the video window.
He still remembered what Charlotte had said about Xiong Xiangxiang when the two of them chatted in an idle moment.
She was a junior with a great gift for war, and not the kind of commander with a special ability in one particular area,
like Su Lan, Chitong, Zhao Waner or the wolf-girl Baixue.
Xiong Xiangxiang was a commander of very strong all-round ability. She saw the whole picture, and knew very clearly how many battles so many troops could fight.
She could arrange the few troops in her hands just so, and use them to the very limit.
In Charlotte's judgment, on talent alone, Xiong Xiangxiang ranked first among all the Owl Dragon's commanders of every rank today.
That was also why, of so many young juniors, Charlotte had chosen to make this Xiong Xiangxiang commander of the Emperor's Guard Fleet.
This commander of the Emperor's Guard Fleet held no high rank; she was not even a marshal.
But the heights she could reach in future were another matter.
Once she was let out of Zhao Chen's own little patch of ground, this panda girl would be like a fierce tiger come down from the mountain, sweeping all before her.
And Charlotte had had certain ideas about her for a long time.
They were an important part of a new military reform for the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire in future,
and Xiong Xiangxiang was a vital stroke in it.
But that was all for later.
Back to the present.
Zhao Chen watched Xiong Xiangxiang, waiting for her next "move" on the board.
And Xiong Xiangxiang did make her arrangements.
The interstellar missile ships, which had not moved until now, stepped forward at this moment.
The T5 Crimson-Reaper-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ships and the T6 Holy-Blood Hell-Angel-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ships had been waiting a long time already.
Their missile silos and missile launchers had been waiting quietly for their orders a long while.
And now it was time for them to act.
Unlike the saturation blanket fire ordered for the interstellar heavy-artillery ships before, this time what Xiong Xiangxiang ordered from these interstellar missile ships was precision strikes!
Xiong Xiangxiang had planned out every strike zone for these interstellar missile ships.
At the same time, the zones about to be hit were sent to the Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships fighting up ahead,
so that the captains of those Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships would keep away from these zones for that stretch of time.
Very soon, had the captains of these Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships raised their heads and looked out through their bridge viewports, they would have seen interstellar missiles trailing flame appear behind them one after another and hurtle on ahead,
until they exploded at a spot not very far from their own interstellar warships.
The shockwaves and swirling blasts of the explosions flung up the wreckage of interstellar warships, which even beat on the hulls of their interstellar warships like raindrops.
A pattering, crackling sound could be heard, which showed well enough how close to them
these interstellar missiles were exploding.
Had any of these interstellar missiles gone off course, or had any of these Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships been a little out of position, these interstellar missiles might well have landed on their heads.
It must be said that Xiong Xiangxiang's handling here was truly bold and careful at once.
An ordinary commander would probably never dare take on such a risk; after all, hitting one's own interstellar warships with one's own interstellar missile ships, and causing casualties,
was something that could certainly land one before a court-martial.
So an ordinary military commander would not gamble with his honor.
But with Xiong Xiangxiang it was different; she had always looked only at results, never at the process.
Whatever means could reach the goal she wanted fastest, most easily and most cheaply, that was the means she would choose.
And this round of precision strikes by the interstellar missile ships did have its effect.
Looked at closely, the zones these interstellar missile ships struck were all the enemy fleet zones ganging up on Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships.
The interstellar missiles' strikes opened gaps in the enemy's fleets, and won their own interstellar fleets a breathing space too.
That was just what Xiong Xiangxiang was after.
When these interstellar missile ships had finished this round of fire,
Xiong Xiangxiang did not forget to have the interstellar supply ships traveling with the fleet resupply them at once, so that they could recover their fighting power as soon as possible and make ready for the next round of interstellar missile bombardment.
At the same time, Zhao Chen also saw the carrier starships holding their positions moving now as well.
Great numbers of interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms were flung out.
Great numbers of interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms could be seen on the T5 Fire-Qilin-class Heavy Carrier Starships and the T6 Divine-Wing Empress-class Super-Heavy Carrier Starships.
These interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms went on pressing the enemy's interstellar fleets, winning room to fight for their own interstellar fleets.
These were only interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms, true,
but the weapons they carried were all of T5 and T6 grade, and there were a great many of them besides.
Their only weakness was poor staying power in combat: once they had dropped their payloads, they had to go back to their mother ships to resupply.
But it also meant that unless the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet destroyed these interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms,
the things would keep harassing you like flies that never stopped coming.
So the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet could not leave these interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms entirely alone, either.
But to fight an interstellar air war against these Owl Dragon interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms with the few carrier starships they had would be nothing but throwing eggs at a stone,
for the two sides were not in the same class at all.
That being so, to wear down these interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms, they had to split off some of their interstellar escorts and interstellar destroyers and use their firepower to wear them down.
And so Xiong Xiangxiang's aim was achieved as well:
she had drawn the fire of part of the enemy's interstellar fleets and eased the pressure on the frontal field.
And just then, the great gift Xiong Xiangxiang had next prepared for the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet was delivered too.
"Heh heh heh, our turn at last!" Zhao Waner chuckled on the command channel, and then gave the order to attack to the ten thousand interstellar stealth bombers that had joined the battlefield along with the Emperor's Guard Fleet at the front.
Because the Emperor's Guard Fleet had attacked first and tied down the enemy's fire and attention,
these interstellar stealth bombers had been able to close the distance, and now every weapon they carried could be dumped onto the enemy's interstellar warships.
The T5 Netherworld-Wolf-King-class Medium Interstellar Stealth Bomber and the T6 Shadow-Phantom-class Medium Interstellar Stealth Bomber: these two interstellar stealth bombers were not to be taken lightly.
The interstellar torpedoes and interstellar bombs they carried were quite astonishingly powerful.
This one round of dropping every bomb they had was enough to give the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet's interstellar warships on the frontal field a hard time of it.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign could see fireballs bursting one after another among his own interstellar fleets.
At the same time, his Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet kept reporting its losses.
So far, in less than half an hour,
his Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet had lost over five thousand interstellar warships, while fewer than a hundred enemy interstellar warships had been destroyed.
What Drought-Fiend Sovereign could accept such a result?
But at this point there was no room for him to change anything.
He could only hope that, by the number of his own interstellar warships and their staying power in combat, they could ease the pressure on the battlefield step by step.
After all, the enemy's interstellar stealth bombers were one-wave fighters too; once they had dropped their first wave, they had to withdraw to rest and refit.
So on the frontal field there was still only the Emperor's Guard Fleet.
But… the Drought-Fiend Sovereign had not forgotten those five big fellows:
the quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts.[1]
While the frontal field was locked in battle, the combat squares in the other five directions had naturally not been idle either.
These five quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts drew nearer little by little, with the interstellar stealth bombers behind them.
Very soon they had come within range of the fighting.
And this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought had naturally come to its first battle.
The Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought No. 2 · the bridge
Huo Feifei was looking at the half-circle of virtual command pages before her at this moment, using the last of the time to make sure that every department, every module and every part of her interstellar warship had entered combat state.
Huo Feifei came from the Holy Radiance Kingdom. She had once served in Saint Cana's Sacred Angel Legion fleet, but she was not a pure-blooded Sacred Spirit; she was of mixed blood.
By rights, someone of mixed blood like her could never have had a place in the Holy Radiance Kingdom, but luckily she had a fine gift for command, and Saint Cana chose her and brought her into her own Sacred Angel Legion fleet.
After a course of training, she rose as high as chief staff officer of the Sacred Angel Legion fleet.
Because of her blood she still could not hold command of troops directly, but her post as chief staff officer gave her the chance to take part in military command, and to show her talent in that post.
What happened after that everyone knows: with Zhao Chen's backing, Saint Cana became Queen of the Holy Radiance Kingdom.
And at that time, Saint Cana also recommended this trusted subordinate of hers to Zhao Chen.
Saint Cana did not want this trusted subordinate of hers to be buried in obscurity with her.
Had this happened anywhere else, an ordinary leader would probably not have been quick to use the trusted old servants of another interstellar power.
But with Zhao Chen there was no such rule.
So long as you had talent, so long as you had loyalty enough, you could join the Owl Dragon legion fleets.
Of course, whatever you had been before, once you came to the Owl Dragon legion fleets you had to climb up from the very bottom by the rules there.
And Huo Feifei, by her own ability, very soon passed the military examination of the Goddess Academy-class starship and formally joined the Owl Dragon legion fleets.
And because of her outstanding results in the examination, she went straight to being deputy captain of a T4-grade interstellar warship of the time.
After that it was the same story as the other Owl Dragon commanders: winning merit in campaign after campaign, rising step by step.
In time she too became a major general of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, and was put on the list of officers being groomed for higher things.
And before this, a choice had been set before her.
Either she could go into the newly founded Owl Dragon Tenth Legion Fleet Group as a legion commander, in command of fifty thousand interstellar warships,
or she could join a secret plan of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's, with a chance to serve aboard the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's most advanced interstellar warship.
Huo Feifei chose the latter without hesitation, for she was very confident in her own strength.
She believed that if she let this post as a legion fleet commander slip by, then with her ability to show for itself, such a chance would come again in future, so long as she wanted it.
But to be captain of a brand-new, strongest Owl Dragon-line interstellar warship was a stroke of luck not every Owl Dragon officer had the chance to meet.
Probably not even an Owl Dragon marshal or an Owl Dragon general would get such a chance.
So she chose the latter decisively, and after that she disappeared from the Owl Dragon legion fleets for a while.
In that time she saw with her own eyes the whole process of the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought, from a bare frame to rolling off the line into service.
She had never had such an experience before.
She had also received orders to assemble her own crew well before the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought rolled off the line and entered service,
so that the moment the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought rolled off the line, she and her people would take it over.
She carried out this task perfectly too, and afterward went with the Owl Dragon Emperor on his tour of the whole Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
And now came this interstellar warship's first battle.
It was unlike any battlefield before.
Huo Feifei felt a kind of excitement in her heart that she could not put into words.
She was a veteran of many battles, after all; by rights she should no longer have had any such feeling.
But that feeling really was surging in her breast now.
And the only explanation was this Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought before her.
Because this was this interstellar warship's first battle, and for Huo Feifei this interstellar warship meant something entirely different.
It was an interstellar warship she had watched being built with her own eyes,
from nothing to what it was now.
It was as if a mother were watching her child, who had only just been toddling, come now to one of the important passages of its life.
How could she not be stirred?
So this captain held everything to the strictest standard; she would not allow her child to make a single mistake in this first showing!
"Report: our ship will enter our firing range on the enemy in thirty seconds," a subordinate reported!
Captain Huo Feifei looked at the interstellar war holo-table before her and said in a low voice, "All gun emplacements set to standby-to-fire. Interstellar missiles too, set to ready-to-launch. Open the starship hangar doors now, and launch every quasi-T7 Silver-Scarab-class Unmanned Medium Interstellar Interceptor!"
"Yes! Pass on the captain's order: open the interstellar interceptor doors and prepare to launch!" Her subordinates began carrying out the order.
Had anyone been outside the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought just then,
they would have seen both sides of this super-giant ship slowly open, like an insect spreading its wings.
Then silver "little fellows" appeared, one after another.
"Little fellows," that is, only when set against the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought.
The real size of these "little fellows" was no less than a T4-grade interstellar warship's!
These were the three thousand quasi-T7 Silver-Scarab-class Unmanned Medium Interstellar Interceptors carried aboard the quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought: a full three thousand!
When these three thousand Silver-Scarab-class unmanned interceptors came pouring out,
they naturally startled the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet opposite.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign sprang up from his throne and stared in surprise at the silver little fellows pouring out.
"An interstellar warship like this, actually carrying other interstellar warships? By the look of them… interceptors?" the Drought-Fiend Sovereign guessed, going by his experience.
A subordinate beside him said, "These interceptors aren't very big, about the same as an ordinary T4 interstellar destroyer. They shouldn't be much of a threat, surely."
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign snorted coldly. "Fool. Haven't you seen what the Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships are like? Have you seen a single one of their interstellar warships that's junk? Every one of their carrier starships carries interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms of its own grade. Are you naive enough to think the interstellar interceptors on a quasi-T7 interstellar warship like this would be low-grade interstellar interceptors? Pass on my order: don't take these interceptors from the quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts lightly. For now, treat them as quasi-T7-grade interstellar warships."
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign was very wary and careful, and dared not take any risks.
And the subordinate beside him passed on these orders obediently enough, but in his heart he still did not believe that such a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship could carry three thousand more quasi-T7-grade interstellar warships along with it.
The Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships' technology was very strong, no doubt, but surely not so outrageously strong as that?
"It seems the Owl Dragon Emperor came prepared. Strengthen our flank defenses; don't neglect the fighting on the flanks because of the fighting on the frontal field. And those interstellar stealth bombers sneaking up behind the quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts: what happened on the frontal field, I don't want to see happen again on the flanks. At the least, don't let them have such an easy time of it," the Drought-Fiend Sovereign warned.
"Yes."
When he had given some instructions,
the Drought-Fiend Sovereign went on watching this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought. He was very wary of this interstellar warship, and at the same time very curious at heart how many surprises such an interstellar warship
could really bring him.
"Report: all our Silver-Scarab-class unmanned interceptors have been launched. Your orders, Captain?" a subordinate asked Captain Huo Feifei.
Captain Huo Feifei could see they had already come within their own interstellar warship's firing range, but she was in no hurry to give the order to open fire.
For they were not yet within range of the enemy's interstellar warships' fire.
Behind this line there was another.
"Pass on my order: once our interstellar warship enters the firing range of the enemy's interstellar warships, we attack first, before the enemy's interstellar warships can. Prow main gun, railgun heavy guns, energy heavy guns, fire everything, and lock onto every enemy interstellar warship getting ready to fire on us. Hold the enemy's interstellar warships down hard for me; I want the enemy's interstellar warships to have not the slightest room to strike back under the baptism of our fire. At the same time, scatter our Bronze-Scarab drone swarms," Captain Huo Feifei ordered.
"Understood." Her subordinates set about arranging it at once.
Captain Huo Feifei took a deep breath and laid her hand on the command panel before her.
Her name was a rather distinctive one, all to do with rain.[2]
It was said that she had been born on a planet where it rained in every season of the year, so her parents named her Huo Feifei.
And as luck would have it, she loved rainy days especially,
and loved rain in every form.
And now she was going to rain a downpour on the enemy opposite.
"All departments, ready fire."
"Counting down five seconds, ready to fire."
"Enemy interstellar warships locked on."
"Drone swarms ready for release."
The bridge of the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought was filled with the voices of every department.