The Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought No. 2 · the bridge
Major General Huo Feifei, the captain, was watching the explosions going off one after another on the hull of the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer too.
"Report: the heavy interstellar marines we sent out are coming back one after another. Of the hundred planned blast points, seventy-three were set off successfully. We're still calculating the damage to the enemy's hull," the deputy captain said.
"No need to calculate. Use every weapon we can at once: prow guns, main guns, secondary guns, interstellar missiles, interstellar drone swarms. Aim them at once at the damaged parts of the enemy's Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer's hull and make one last attack. Interstellar drone swarms and interstellar interceptors with heavy damage, start their suicide-attack routines outright. When this round of attacks is done, whatever state the enemy interstellar warship is in, join up with No. 5 at once and prepare to break out!" Major General Huo Feifei said decisively.
"Yes," the deputy captain answered.
Major General Huo Feifei knew very well what they wanted: to destroy this Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer before them.
But that did not mean they were willing to throw their own Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts in with it.
So the attack could stop here; Major General Huo Feifei was quite satisfied with how things stood.
The enemy's Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer was visibly badly damaged. Even if it did not go down on the spot, it was crippled at the least; if it were towed back to drydock after the battle for repairs,
it could never get its fighting power back in under a year or so, and might well need even more time and resources.
That was enough.
And these two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts looked rather battered too, but what they had suffered for now was only flesh wounds, and damage to some gun positions,
along with the loss of some interstellar drones and interstellar interceptors.
All of these losses could be made up in a short time.
The hull damage and the gun positions, once back in drydock, could be as good as new within a month at most.
Losses on this scale in exchange for the fall of one of the enemy's super-flagships: that was enough!
"What were the heavy interstellar marines' losses?" Major General Huo Feifei asked.
The deputy captain answered with a rather grave look, "Of the heavy interstellar marines we sent out, fewer than 60% of the interstellar combat mecha came back; 3% of those are too badly damaged to be worth repairing, and 16% are moderately damaged and need major repairs. Of the marine soldiers among the heavy interstellar marines, fewer than 39% came back; over eighty percent of them are wounded, and twenty percent badly. They're all being taken to our ship's medical department for emergency treatment now. This boarding action cost twelve thousand lives in all."
Major General Huo Feifei was silent a moment, then said seriously, "Pass on my respects to them. And on my authority, promote every interstellar marine soldier three grades, and every interstellar combat mecha pilot one grade."
"Yes." The deputy captain noted it down without a word.
No one had any objection to so rich a reward.
Everyone knew that in interstellar war, if you had no background, no gift and no resources, what was the fastest way up?
There were only two roads to choose from:
interstellar fighter pilot, and interstellar marine soldier.
A single battle could bring promotion by three grades; survive a few battles, and you would be an officer at the least.
At that point you could transfer to some other department in an important post.
And the death rate along the way was extremely high, so no one begrudged these two branches their swift promotions.
For they had earned every bit of it; they had won it with their lives.
When Major General Huo Feifei had seen to all this, she looked out through the viewport.
At her order just now, every gun position on that side of the hull that could move was firing at the damaged parts of the enemy ship.
At the same time, some of the interstellar drones and interstellar interceptors were ramming straight into those parts of the enemy ship.
Fireballs could be seen bursting one after another.
And the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought No. 2 had joined up with No. 5 by now; No. 5 had made the same arrangements.
"How is your ship? Can you still get moving?" Major General Huo Feifei looked at Major General Mu Baiqing across the video window.
Major General Mu Baiqing said straight out, "One engine damaged, the starship's drive power down 5%, the starship's star shield used up. Over 30% of the starship's hull armor damaged to varying degrees; 15% of the gun positions damaged and unable to fire. Interstellar missiles used up. My No. 5 has under 60% of its fighting power left. And you?"
"About the same as you; at least I can still run. I won't slow you down," Major General Huo Feifei answered.
"Then let's move as planned. The enemy has sent forty thousand more interstellar warships to the battlefield outside; His Majesty the Emperor is under no small pressure over there." Major General Mu Baiqing looked out at the outer battlefield with some worry.
By now a dozen-odd minutes had passed since the enemy's forty thousand interstellar warships came in support.
These enemy interstellar warships from the Troll Monarch's legion fleet had fully joined the battle.
The forty thousand added interstellar warships had put a good deal more pressure on the Owl Dragon legion fleets.
Luckily there were still three Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts holding the frontal field steady, and the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship besides, so nothing too serious had gone wrong.
"How badly damaged do you think that Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer is?" Major General Mu Baiqing wondered aloud.
Major General Huo Feifei said calmly, "Even if it doesn't go down on the spot, it won't get its fighting power back for a year or so. That should hurt that Drought-Fiend Sovereign plenty."
……
The Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer · the bridge
Boom, boom, boom… bang, bang, bang.
Even on the bridge now, the Drought-Fiend Sovereign could hear the explosions and the shaking.
Cracks had even appeared on the bridge itself.
"Lord Sovereign, our Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer's hull is badly damaged. Over 80% of the hull armor is damaged. Over 30% of it is badly damaged, and that's reached the compartments inside the ship. So far over three hundred compartments have been wrecked by the enemy's attacks and can't be used, and over three hundred thousand soldiers have died from every kind of battlefield cause. Besides that, over 60% of the gun positions and weapons on our Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer's hull have been destroyed. Of the remaining 40%, under half still work properly. Most important of all, the whole interstellar warship's hull frame has lost over 30% of its strength, and even the safety of the bridge area has fallen by 27%. On our side, we advise you to leave at once! There's real danger here," a subordinate urged beside him.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign said through gritted teeth, "You want me to leave my flagship now? Do you want to make me a laughingstock on everyone's lips?"
The subordinate was too frightened to speak; he could feel the rage coming off the Drought-Fiend Sovereign.
For a Sovereign's strongest flagship to be crippled by the enemy in battle, perhaps even to go down on the spot, was not only a heavy loss to the Sovereign himself, but a great humiliation.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign clenched his fists, his chest full of rage he could not hold back, and looked over the bridge, which was in some disorder.
He said in a low voice, "Work out the chances of us going down. Try every means you can to save the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer; even if you have to tow it, tow it back to drydock!"
In the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's eyes, the worth of such a flagship was even greater than a corps fleet's.
After all, it was a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship, and its weight on the battlefield was something else entirely.
Look at the battlefield before him: why had the Owl Dragon legion fleets opposite, facing forty thousand reinforcements from the Troll Monarch's legion fleet, not fallen behind at once?
Because on the frontal field, the Owl Dragon legion fleets still had three Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts holding the line.
Those three Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts standing there alone were enough, together with the other fleets, to tie down the Devourer Civilization's interstellar fleets for a while.
Very soon his subordinates had worked out a figure: "Reporting, my lord: by our calculations, if the enemy stops attacking our Drought-Fiend Ghost-King, our Drought-Fiend Ghost-King most likely won't go down on the spot. But if the enemy keeps attacking, we're still at no small risk. However, we've now observed the enemy's two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts withdrawing. Our fleets around us are asking whether to intercept and pursue these two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts."
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign clenched his fists; to tell the truth, he truly longed to tear the enemy's two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts to ten thousand pieces.
After the enemy had crippled his flagship, to let the enemy's ships sail off as they pleased
felt to him like a true insult.
But the more important fact before him now was that the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer he was on was tottering, and could not take another blow.
In this state, if he sent part of his interstellar fleets after the enemy's two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts, they might destroy them.
But in that gap, the enemy might well send interstellar fleets to strike again at the poorly defended Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer.
Then, to lose his own Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer for the sake of the enemy's two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts
would truly not be worth it at all.
"Pass on my order: the interstellar fleets around us are not to pursue; build a defensive position around the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer. Whatever happens, no enemy interstellar warship is to break through and pose any threat at all to our Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer. So long as that is assured, you may lay some fire on these two enemy Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts!" the Drought-Fiend Sovereign decided.
His subordinates understood the Lord Sovereign's meaning at once and went straight to see to it.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign sat in his captain's chair, slammed his fist hard on the armrest, and listened to the explosions that sounded now and then in his ears.
The rage in his chest seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
……
The Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship · the bridge
"How is the withdrawal going for our No. 2 and No. 5?" Zhao Chen asked with concern.
Lilith answered beside him, "No. 2 and No. 5 have both used up their star-shield energy. But with the hull armor and firepower of quasi-T7-grade interstellar warships, and breaking out together as a pair, unless the enemy stops at nothing to intercept these two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts of ours, they'll never destroy them on the spot!"
Zhao Chen nodded in satisfaction and looked at the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer on the video screen, smoking black everywhere, wrecked beyond telling.
"We didn't destroy this enemy flagship outright. But from what we've done to this enemy ship so far, this enemy flagship won't be back on the battlefield for a year or so at least. That wins us a good deal of time," Zhao Chen said with satisfaction.
His appetite was not small, but he also knew one must not be too greedy.
Had they really tried to destroy the enemy's Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer at one stroke, the enemy would have fought like a cornered dog in the end, and that would have cost the Owl Dragon legion fleets some losses too,
losing a few Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts, say.
For the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire now, the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought was still a very important interstellar warship.
Every one lost was a heavy loss.
For now, such heavy losses were to be avoided as far as possible.
As for the enemy's Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer, it could perfectly well wait for the next chance to destroy it.
After all, if they had managed this much this time, then next time, with more Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts, it would be easier still.
"We've drawn forty thousand interstellar warships of the enemy's Troll Monarch's legion fleet here. Things on the other battlefield should be going smoothly, I'd think," Zhao Chen thought of the other battlefield.
In Charlotte's plan from before,
the first thing was to confuse the enemy about what the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's real targets in the Devourer Civilization were this time.
It opened by attacking thirty star systems, then kept adding troops to make several false targets for the enemy.
After that, it would expose one of its real strategic aims:
that interstellar warship, the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer, and the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet.
By the state of the fighting so far, the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet of a hundred thousand interstellar warships had lost close to half.
If the fighting went on as it was, the losses would grow and grow.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet, one of the Devourer Civilization's elite legion fleets, would need a stretch of time to rest and recover, just like its flagship, the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer.
That too was part of Charlotte's plan.
There was no need to wipe out the enemy's main fleets in one go; crippling them would do.
After all, this surprise strike on the Devourer Civilization's home universe was never meant to wipe out the enemy at one stroke, but to put the initiative in the war into the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's hands,
and win more time for the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire to grow and rise.
So, so far, Marshal Charlotte's plan was going quite smoothly.
And on the other battlefield, drawing off part of the Troll Monarch's legion fleet's interstellar warships and then striking the Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship by surprise with their main interstellar warships
was another of Marshal Charlotte's surprise moves.
"I hear there are only ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts on that battlefield. And the enemy they face is ten thousand elite interstellar warships of the Troll Monarch's legion fleet, and the Troll Monarch's flagship, that newly repaired Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship! Ten interstellar warships against ten thousand interstellar warships. Ours are ten quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts, true, but the odds…" Lilith looked at Zhao Chen with some worry.
But Zhao Chen said very calmly, "I can't promise these ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts will wipe out all ten thousand enemy interstellar warships. But I'll say this: if these ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts want to leave, the Troll Monarch's ten thousand interstellar warships will never be able to keep them there!"
Hearing Zhao Chen, Lilith felt a good deal easier at heart.
……
At this very moment, on the battlefield in the Troll Monarch's domain star system,
ten quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts had come sailing through the flames of war and had already surrounded the Troll Monarch's home planet in the middle and a ring-belt area around it,
and the ten thousand interstellar warships of the Troll Monarch's legion fleet guarding the Troll Monarch in their midst.
These ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts had already cleared away all the patrolling interstellar warships and interstellar sentry posts on the outer ring in the shortest time.
The targets left now were only the Troll Monarch's home planet, his flagship the Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship, and those ten thousand interstellar warships.
The ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts were like ten wicked wolves eyeing their prey, every gun aimed at the area in the middle, advancing bit by bit.
The pressure bore down on every interstellar warship of the Troll Monarch's legion fleet opposite.
The Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship · the flagship's bridge
The Troll Monarch stood there in a rage, dashed the wine cup in his hand to the floor and swore, "Damn it! Didn't they say the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had only five quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts? Didn't five Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts just turn up at that fellow Drought-Fiend's place? Then why have ten more Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts turned up here at mine! Damn it all, that Owl Dragon lot are coming for me!"
The Troll Monarch was no fool either.
His forty thousand main-force interstellar warships had only just left when ten enemy quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts appeared here; if not for him, whom else could they be coming for?
"Fear not, my lord. The enemy has only ten interstellar warships. We will surely protect your safety and destroy these ten reckless interstellar warships besides!" a fleet commander vowed solemnly on the command channel.
"We ask to fight; we'll surely destroy the enemy ships!"
"We ask to fight; destroy the enemy ships!"
The fleet commanders of these ten thousand interstellar warships were all in high spirits now, asking to fight.
But the Troll Monarch's face was very ugly.
For as chance would have it, these ten thousand interstellar warships were all interstellar fleets he had only brought in after the first campaign, so many of their fleet commanders were young commanders who had not been through the first campaign against the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
Among them were not a few gifted young stars, but youth naturally came with rashness too.
They had no idea at all how terrible the interstellar warships of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire opposite really were.
They had all read the combat material on Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships compiled after the first campaign,
but that material and data were cold things; many had only glanced at them and paid them no mind.
Only those who had truly fought Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships and those Owl Dragon legion fleets could truly know what a terrible thing it was to fight the legion fleets of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
"Without my order, no one attacks on his own. Use the planned defense plan for an attack on the home planet. Call for help from the surrounding star systems at once." The Troll Monarch crushed these young commanders' requests to fight without ceremony.
The enemy had ten quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts. Some material on the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought had come from the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's battlefield by now,
but it was still far from complete.
So he could only be careful and cautious.
"My lord, they have only ten…" Some still did not want to do nothing but defend, and kept asking to fight.
At this the Troll Monarch said coldly, "Since when are my orders something for you to question?"
So the Troll Monarch's voice rang out.
Only then did those young commanders quiet down one after another. Because of the defeat in the first campaign, the Troll Monarch had been quieter of late,
and had lost some of his authority, which had led some people to seem to forget how terrible the Troll Monarch had been before.
Only now did they come to their senses, and none of them dared say a word.
"Carry out my orders obediently, all of you. Anyone who dares not carry out my orders knows what will happen to them!" The Troll Monarch's gaze swept over the video windows one after another, his eyes full of killing intent.
These commanders did not doubt in the least that if they angered this Lord Sovereign again, they really would lose their heads.