Charlotte shrugged helplessly, held her head in her hand and sighed. "In truth I know it's no use, whether it's me or Lilith trying to talk you round. We all know what you're like."
It could be seen that Charlotte could do nothing with Zhao Chen either.
At times Zhao Chen's temper was like a child's; however you tried to talk him round, it did no good.
Charlotte raised her head, looked at Zhao Chen earnestly and said very seriously, "I won't ask you to withdraw to somewhere safe. But I still beg you: be sure to mind your own safety. We can lose this battle, but you must not come to any harm. You should know very well that you matter to our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire far more than the outcome of any campaign."
This came from Charlotte's heart.
Any one of them might be in danger, might even be killed.
Even she, Charlotte, or Lilith could die.
But Zhao Chen alone must not die!
Zhao Chen's death was something the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, and every one of them, would never accept.
"Don't worry. So many times now, and haven't I always come through fine? I won't die," Zhao Chen said lightly.
Charlotte said nothing more, and went to arrange the dispositions she meant to make.
Three hours passed.
Not long, not short.
For Zhao Chen's battlefield here against the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King, there was little change; both sides were locked in a deadlock.
But there was one piece of good news: the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts No. 2 and No. 5 had both withdrawn to safe positions, though in their present state these two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts were in no condition to keep fighting.
So they stood guard beside the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship, protecting its safety while they waited to sail home.
"Reporting to Your Majesty: Huo Feifei, captain of No. 2, asks to be punished. No. 2 failed to complete its combat task of destroying the target, the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer. I ask Your Majesty to punish me." Major General Huo Feifei looked very earnestly at Zhao Chen across the video window.
At the same time, in another video window, the captain of the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought No. 5, Major General Mu Baiqing, spoke up too: "The failure of the combat task is our responsibility as well. I, Mu Baiqing, am willing to take full responsibility."
Zhao Chen looked at the two of them and shook his head helplessly. "When we gave you this task, we told you then: you weren't required to destroy the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer; the conduct of the fighting was entirely up to you. Fight if you can; pull out if you can't. Now, with only two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts, you've crippled the enemy's Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer and all but taken away its ability to fight. You didn't reach the aim of destroying it, but this enemy Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer can't possibly return to the battlefield for the next year or so. I'm very satisfied with that result already. What is there to punish you for? That's enough now. You and your Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts just rest and refit where you are. In the fighting to come, we may well need you to step up again. Make the most of the time to rest and resupply, and wait for your next orders."
Hearing His Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor's comforting words,
Huo Feifei and Mu Baiqing answered, but at heart they still felt somewhat unwilling and self-reproachful.
After all, it had been such a good chance.
"Yes. Our No. 2 is ready to carry out any combat task at any time," Major General Huo Feifei said, standing up straight.
Major General Mu Baiqing said at once too, "So is our No. 5. Whenever it is, whatever enemy we face, our No. 5 has no problem at all."
After saying so, they ended the call.
Huo Feifei stayed at the command platform the whole time, going over the earlier fighting and the combat footage again and again, turning it over and over.
By then the lights on the bridge had dimmed somewhat; apart from those required to stay on watch, everyone else had gone down to rest for the time being.
But Huo Feifei still did not rest; she stood there like a statue.
"Captain, why are you still here?" A deputy captain came over and looked at Captain Huo Feifei, still standing there.
She saw Captain Huo Feifei replaying the earlier fighting over and over; who knew how many times Major General Huo Feifei had watched these video clips by now.
"Captain, that's all over… His Majesty didn't punish us. He even said we did very well, and that there'll be commendations when we get back. Don't dwell on it anymore," the deputy captain urged helplessly beside her.
Their captain was good in every way, except that she was very stubborn about this.
But Captain Huo Feifei kept her grave look, and said in a low voice, "His Majesty didn't blame us, true. But we could have done much better; we might even have destroyed the enemy ship. That was our oversight. We can't think it's nothing just because His Majesty didn't punish us. If we overlook it this time and don't reflect on it, what about next time?"
Huo Feifei brought up several pieces of combat footage, along with several of her orders and task assignments.
In these cases, her No. 2 could indeed have done better; perhaps there really had been a slim chance of changing the final result.
But to make such perfect battlefield decisions, never mind Huo Feifei, even Marshal Charlotte could not be fully sure of making the best possible choice at every stage of a battle.
There is no commander in the world so flawless as that!
If there were, she would not be a person; she would be a god!
Major General Huo Feifei went on reproaching herself even now: "At these points, I could have done better. If the order I'd given then hadn't been this one but this better one, the result would have been completely different."
The deputy captain looked at her captain like this and held her head helplessly.
……
And on the other battlefield, in the Troll Monarch's star system, these three hours had been nothing short of torture for the Troll Monarch.
In these three hours he had lost over three thousand interstellar warships outright.
The attacks of the ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts opposite had grown fiercer and fiercer, and they had squeezed the battlefield down a great deal from what it had been.
It looked as if even the Troll Monarch's home star system was about to come within the range of the enemy Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts' fire.
And in these three hours, the unluckiest of all was the super-flagship, the Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship.
The Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts could naturally not let slip such a chance to beat a dog that had fallen in the water, with this interstellar warship stuck in drydock at the start.
Three Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts had pressed on the drydock's position from their own directions from the very start.
So the Troll Monarch had been forced to send some of his interstellar warships to guard the drydock, and had paid with no small casualties for it.
In the end it took twenty minutes before the Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship got clear of the drydock, and not long after, the drydock was hit by the enemy Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts' fire and turned to ruins.
And in those twenty minutes, the Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship, a target the whole time, took several hits on hull armor that had never been fully repaired to begin with:
old wounds not yet healed, and new ones on top of them.
Several of its starship engines and several gun turrets were even hit.
So the Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship had got out of drydock and could go into combat state and join the fighting,
but its real fighting power was not even fifty percent of its best.
And against the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts besides, it was simply being beaten down.
One slip, and it was even at risk of being destroyed itself.
And this had gone on for three hours.
In these three hours the Troll Monarch had begged the Black-God Sovereign for help again and again, but apart from that first call that got through, every one since had been refused.
Or else all he could reach were the Black-God Commanders under the Black-God Sovereign.
And the answers he got were always that help was already on its way, or that the interstellar fleets had strategic supplies to load, or some such reason.
In short, ask once and the answer was "right away".
But no one knew how long "right away" would really be.
"Report: over 60% of our defense positions and interstellar fortresses are lost. The whole outer ring of the home star system's defense belt has fallen. The interstellar warships we can move now are about to drop below five thousand!" a subordinate hurried up to report to the Troll Monarch.
One battlefield report after another was beyond doubt announcing how tangled and how bad the battle had become.
The Troll Monarch ground his teeth. "That bastard Black-God means to leave me to die. I knew that bastard always had his eye on swallowing up my territory. This time he means to watch the Owl Dragon legion fleets and me fight it out like the snipe and the clam while he takes the fisherman's profit!"
The Troll Monarch was one of the three Sovereigns; he was no fool either.
By now, how could he not know what medicine the Black-God Sovereign was selling behind all this?
To tell the truth, even he, the Troll Monarch, had dreamed in the past of a chance to swallow up the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's or the Black-God Sovereign's territory and become the Devourer Civilization's only Sovereign.
But for the Troll Monarch, these had only ever been dreams.
For the Black-God Sovereign now it was different; he really did have the chance to make such a thing happen now.
"Then what do we do now?" a subordinate asked nervously.
The Troll Monarch fell silent; there was nothing at all he could do now either.
Because of the first campaign against the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, the legion fleets the Troll Monarch could move were already the fewest of the three Sovereigns.
And in this stage, under pressure from the Black-God Sovereign's power, he had already moved more legion fleets than anyone else before this.
And just now, to support the Drought-Fiend Sovereign, he had had no choice but to send forty thousand of his own interstellar warships to support the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's battlefield.
So now there were hardly any troops left in his hands to use.
With no troops to use, the Troll Monarch naturally had no way to break the deadlock either!
"Report, latest news: on the thirty star-system battlefields from before, the Owl Dragon legion fleets on nearly twenty of them have suddenly begun to withdraw!" Just then an officer hurried up to report.
"The Owl Dragon legion fleets are withdrawing from the other star-system battlefields?" The Troll Monarch was somewhat surprised.
For the Owl Dragon legion fleets to begin withdrawing from the other star-system battlefields at a time like this was certainly no ordinary thing.
When something is out of the ordinary, there is always a demon behind it!
"Yes," the officer answered.
The Troll Monarch knit his brows slightly and murmured to himself, "Could it be that the Owl Dragon legion fleets' real targets were me and that fellow Drought-Fiend all along? The attacks on those thirty star systems were all feints. Now that they've reached their combat aims, there's no need to keep attacking the feint star systems?"
The Troll Monarch had this guess now, for the situation before him seemed to fit it.
His subordinates dared not speak just then.
On a matter this important, they dared not guess at things themselves.
"Never mind. What matters most right now is here. Since the Owl Dragon legion fleets' interstellar warships have withdrawn from those star-system battlefields, that frees us to pull our legion fleets back to support us! Pass on my order: every one of our legion fleets that can be pulled back, have them come at once in support!" The Troll Monarch hardened his heart and gave the order straight out.
He could not care about anything else now; protecting himself and his own home base was what mattered most.
If he died, if his home base were gone, what good would those star systems and resources be?
Just to hand them to the Black-God Sovereign and his lot for nothing?
He, the Troll Monarch, was not that kind-hearted.
"But my lord, what if this is the enemy's plan? Those star systems are all important resource and industrial star systems of ours. Even if… even if you really are worried for our own safety, suppose we get through this stage safely. But if those star systems are wrecked by the enemy, and we lose those resource star systems, our strength will be badly weakened, and we won't be able to recover after the war. By then our standing, and yours, will suffer," an adjutant said, though, with some worry.
At this the Troll Monarch began to waver again; there was something in what was said.
The Owl Dragon legion fleets had always been very cunning.
He could not fail to guard against this.
And at the same time, if he saved his own skin only to have his resource star systems and strategic star systems wrecked,
he would not come to a good end in the end either.
This hard choice was nothing less than a choice between money and life.
Choose money, and you might not live.
Choose life, and you might lose everything.
To some people, isn't living more important?
But mind you, for others who had once had "money", to live without "money" was worse than death!
This was the very painful choice the Troll Monarch faced now.
The Troll Monarch was silent a while, then gave his order: "Work out at once how many legion fleets directly under our command we deployed to those thirty star-system battlefields, and how many interstellar warships fit to move and fight are left so far."
His subordinates heard the order and went at once to see to it.
Very soon the figures were brought up.
In truth, nearly all the Devourer Civilization's interstellar legion fleets answered to the three great Sovereigns, or to the lords who served under them.
And in battle, by the three Sovereigns' agreement, each would put up some forces, and one commander would be put in charge.
In the first campaign against the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, for instance, the Troll Monarch had overseen and commanded at the front, but two-thirds of the interstellar legion fleets under him were the Troll Monarch's own, and only the remaining third came from the other Sovereigns.
And of the Devourer Civilization's nearly eighty million interstellar warships now, the Black-God Sovereign had the largest number of legion fleets under him, about half, thirty-five million interstellar warships.
The Troll Monarch had lost great numbers of interstellar warships in the first campaign against the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire; he had since spent over half a year building starships in bulk and putting them into service, but his strength still stood at twenty million interstellar warships.
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign had had twenty-five million interstellar warships then.
That was why, after the first campaign, the Drought-Fiend Sovereign had so often provoked and mocked the Troll Monarch; after all, standing and voice depended entirely on the military strength in one's hands!
The losses of the first campaign against the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had broken the balance between the Troll Monarch and the Drought-Fiend Sovereign.
"Reporting, my lord, the count is done. Of what we have on these thirty star-system battlefields now, leaving out the interstellar legion fleets still fighting on the ten star-system battlefields where the fighting goes on, the interstellar warships we can move number about eight million."
Eight million interstellar warships…
It sounded like a great many, but the Troll Monarch knew that, with the larger picture to keep in mind, the number he could truly move was half that.
"Of those twenty star-system battlefields, half belong to us." The Troll Monarch was silent a moment, then said, "Divide these ten star systems into two kinds. One kind are key star systems to be held, with garrisons of five hundred thousand interstellar warships. Send garrisons to the other kind as well, of about three hundred thousand."
His subordinate reported at once, "With that arrangement, we'll have only four million interstellar warships left to move."
At a stroke it was down to four million interstellar warships,
and that with every reserve arrangement given up.
If these star systems were attacked by the Owl Dragon legion fleets again, the Troll Monarch would have no way left but to beg the Black-God Sovereign for support.
"Never mind; let's deal with the trouble in front of us first. Pass on my order: these four million interstellar warships are to come back at once to support the Troll home star system!" The Troll Monarch hardened his heart, and gave the order decisively and seriously.
"Yes!"
The order went down.
On those star-system battlefields, four million interstellar warships that had only just got a breather had no choice but to set out again to come in support.
And because the devices for sending legion fleets long distances had been heavily used before, few were left in store.
So most of these four million interstellar warships could only come to support the Troll home star system by star gate.
Moving four million interstellar warships was a great strain even on large star gates;
it could not be done in a few days.
In the event, though, of these four million interstellar warships, only two million actually moved.
As for why,
that had a great deal to do with the Black-God Sovereign.
It was rumored later that the supreme commanders of the dozen-odd legion fleets involved in those two million interstellar warships had all received messages from the Black-God Star System.
So what happened in between, anyone with eyes could see.
The ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts fighting on this battlefield naturally learned of the Troll Monarch's redeployment at once.
"They'll come to support this battlefield by star gate. We expect the first batch to reach this star system within an hour, and to get here within a hundred minutes at the latest. By first estimate, about a hundred thousand interstellar warships, and more and more will come in support after that." Major General Tabitha the angel looked at the nine video windows before her and set out the situation as it stood.
"And our reinforcements?" one of the major-general captains asked.
Major General Tabitha the angel answered, "According to Marshal Charlotte's instructions, our reinforcements are on the way too, but when they'll arrive is uncertain. Because most of the T6 Emerald-Dream-class Interstellar Jump Ships that send our fleets are in their reset cooldown. So by Marshal Charlotte's dispositions, the fleet supporting us will split in two. One part will come by warp; that will take five hours at the earliest, and it won't be many, about a hundred thousand interstellar warships. The great majority of the interstellar warships will gather together and rest and refit where they are, waiting until a batch of T6 Emerald-Dream-class Interstellar Jump Ships finish resetting their long-distance transport function, and then be sent over as reinforcements. That's expected to take a day at least." Major General Tabitha the angel told it all exactly as it was, keeping nothing from anyone.
At this, grave looks came over everyone's faces too.
They knew very well the danger they were in, as things stood.
"And to go over where we stand now: the enemy still has five thousand interstellar warships, and that quasi-T7 Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship. On our side, we've lost nothing; we still have ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts. But we've used up a good deal of our interstellar missiles, and lost some star-shield energy too. If we keep fighting, the five thousand interstellar warships in front of us alone are no worry. But if the enemy's reinforcements arrive, even ten quasi-T7-grade interstellar warships like ours will find it very hard to hold off so many enemy interstellar warships."