if the enemy's interstellar warships numbered a thousand, the odds would be about fifty-fifty.
If the number rose to fifteen hundred, their odds would fall to about one in five.
But most important of all was how many T3 interstellar warships they would send this time.
Their own weakness was having no T3-grade interstellar warships.
So the number of the enemy's T3 interstellar warships would be the biggest variable in this battle.
After half a day's sailing,
an outpost at the edge of the star system scanned interstellar warships entering its radar range.
This news soon reached both fleets too.
How many interstellar warships there would be in this battle was now plain at a glance.
The Dax Empire fleet:
fifteen hundred interstellar warships in all,
and ten T3 interstellar warships besides!
"Fifteen hundred? Plus ten T3 interstellar warships." When Zhao Chen learned this news,
he narrowed his eyes: "Fifteen hundred is within our calculations. The T3 interstellar warships are double what we expected. Perhaps the Dax Empire means to make these T3 interstellar warships the key to this battle. But we're not unprepared this time either. Let that one in the Dax Empire take a good look at how we bury these fifteen hundred interstellar warships he's sent."
——————
The Dax Empire fleet: the flagship.
The Dax Empire's commander-in-chief stood at the command station on his flagship's bridge.
"Report. Outposts placed around us have been found!" an adjutant reported.
"Pay them no mind. If they know we've come, then they know. This time we've come with fifteen hundred interstellar warships and ten T3 interstellar warships. This star system: had they not had an ambush last time, we'd have taken it long ago," the Dax Empire's commander-in-chief said dismissively.
As he saw it, this star system before him was already a dish on their plate.
"The commander-in-chief is right. This time we'll avenge the first expedition. They destroyed three hundred of our interstellar warships; we'll kill their whole race!" the adjutant said viciously.
"Commander-in-chief, which way do we go next?" the officer responsible for navigation asked.
The Dax Empire's commander-in-chief was taken aback.
They had no star map of this star system, nor did they know where the Fierce Dragon civilization and the Frey civilization were.
After a brief silence:
"Never mind; forget it. We'll head toward the star. Those two Trial civilizations know we've come; they're bound to come looking for us themselves." The Dax Empire's commander-in-chief waved his hand,
not taking the enemy in this system seriously in the least.
And in fact it was just as he thought.
Half a day later,
ahead of their Dax Empire fleet, two utterly different fleets appeared.
The three fleets faced off in one stretch of space.
On paper alone:
the Dax Empire, fifteen hundred interstellar warships, ten of them T3 interstellar warships.
The Frey civilization's fleet, nine hundred interstellar warships.
The Fierce Dragon civilization's fleet, six hundred interstellar warships.
The numbers of T2- and T1-grade interstellar warships were not far apart; the biggest gap was in T3 interstellar warships.
One side had not a single T3 interstellar warship; the other had ten.
"Dax Empire fleet. Prepare for battle. Don't waste time; press straight over them. Use our T3 interstellar warships to let these fellows know what kind of opponent they face. In this Trial of the Gods, our Dax Empire civilization is the true victor!"
The three fleets faced off.
After a brief moment of quiet, the two sides' starships opened fire without warning.
The Fierce Dragon fleet's T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships struck first; interstellar missile after interstellar missile fell on the enemy fleet like rain.
The T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starships also launched great numbers of interstellar fighters and drone swarms.
The Frey fleet's side attacked too.
Two forces fell on the Dax Empire fleet.
Under a round of interstellar-missile attack,
the Dax Empire fleet's advance stalled for a moment.
"Report, commander-in-chief. One of the fleets opposite is fitted with a certain number of T2 interstellar missile ships. These interstellar missiles pose an enormous threat to us!" an adjutant reported to the Dax Empire fleet's commander-in-chief.
The Dax Empire fleet's commander-in-chief waved his hand and said carelessly, "Even if they have interstellar missile ships, how many rounds can they fire? We have fifteen hundred interstellar warships. Once this round of their interstellar missiles is spent, how much means of resistance will they have left?"
So he said.
But under the onslaught of these interstellar missiles, they still lost no small number of front-line warships.
Only once these interstellar missiles' attack was over
did the Dax Empire fleet at once prepare to strike back, but hard on its heels came interstellar fighters and drone swarms like a swarm of bees.
Though the Dax Empire fleet had carrier starships too, under the onslaught of the interstellar fighters and drone swarms of the Fierce Dragon fleet's carriers,
it lost space superiority almost at once.
"Report! The interstellar fighters and drone swarms of the fleet opposite are too strong. Our space superiority's gone in an instant!" the adjutant said somewhat nervously.
The course of this battle made him feel something was wrong.
This was not how it was supposed to go at all.
"Space superiority doesn't matter. Who wins an interstellar war depends on interstellar warships; however strong their interstellar fighters and drone swarms are, so what? Can they win this interstellar war?" the Dax Empire fleet's commander-in-chief said dismissively.
"Order our ten T3 interstellar warships to press forward all along the line! I don't believe their interstellar warships can stop our T3 interstellar warships!"
The appearance of the ten Dax T3 interstellar warships truly caused the Fierce Dragon fleet and the Frey fleet no small trouble.
Had the battle gone on like this, never mind who won or lost, both sides' fleets were bound to suffer great losses.
The Dax Empire fleet's commander-in-chief frowned slightly.
He truly had not expected the two fleets opposite to resist so fiercely.
But as things stood now, with ten T3 interstellar warships in his hands, the final victor was bound to be him.
"So be it. A costly victory is still victory. At least the result is acceptable," the Dax Empire fleet's commander-in-chief muttered.
But just at this moment,
the starship radar began to sound an alarm.
Behind their fleet a great many red points of light appeared, closing at astonishing speed.
"Commander-in-chief, great numbers of interstellar-warship energy signatures have appeared behind our fleet. The number is estimated at about five hundred!" the adjutant hurriedly reported.
"I'm not blind; I can see, and I can hear!" This time the Dax Empire fleet's commander-in-chief truly could not sit still.
He sprang to his feet and muttered, "Where did these five hundred starships come from?"
"It seems… it seems to be the Fourth System's fleet!" The adjutant pointed at the images of interstellar-warship classes caught in the video footage.
Five hundred interstellar warships had suddenly appeared, a third of them T2-grade interstellar warships.
Once these five hundred interstellar warships joined the battle, the Dax Empire's fleet had no chance whatever of turning things around.
Under the pincer from front and rear, this battle very soon came to a close.
And that commander-in-chief of the Dax Empire fleet never understood, to his death, why the Fourth System's fleet had appeared here.
After the battle ended,
Marshal Chu Xuan had the battlefield cleared, and at the same time held a video call with the commanders of the other two fleets.
In the two video windows, one was the commander of the Frey civilization's fleet.
And across the other was the Trial civilization of what the Dax Empire civilization called the Fourth System: the Lanners civilization!
"The two of you: our cooperation this time went very well," the Lanners civilization's fleet commander said with a faint smile.
"Thank you for your help. Without your aid in this battle, we would not have won so easily," Marshal Chu Xuan said.
The Frey civilization's commander expressed thanks too.
For it was the truth.
The Frey civilization's side had known of the Lanners civilization's existence too.
And in fact the Lanners civilization had reached this star system as early as two months before.
At the time it had alarmed the Fierce Dragon civilization and the Frey civilization, who had mistaken it for the Dax Empire civilization's fleet.
On making contact, the Lanners civilization had made clear it bore no hostility, and explained the purpose of its trip.
The Lanners civilization was fighting the Dax Empire civilization too, and the war was not going very well.
So the Lanners civilization wanted to cooperate with the Fierce Dragon civilization and the Frey civilization.
So long as the Fierce Dragon civilization and the Frey civilization kept the Dax Empire from gaining on this battlefield the Dax Empire called the Fifth System, and could tie down and wear away the Dax Empire's interstellar fleets,
how was that not a help to the Lanners civilization?
To this, the Fierce Dragon civilization and the Frey civilization naturally had no objection.
Everyone knew very well that the enemy of one's enemy is a friend.
At least now, while the Dax civilization was still a threat, they were friends.
So the three powers had reached an understanding to cooperate.
And there the Lanners civilization's fleet had lain hidden in this star system, without showing any trace of its coming,
all so that, when the Dax Empire fleet came on its second expedition, they could set a trap for it.
And this plan had gone very smoothly, and the aim had been reached.
These fifteen hundred interstellar warships of the Dax Empire before them, and those ten T3 interstellar warships, were the fruit of this trip!
"The Dax Empire civilization won't let it rest. I reckon they'll make a third expedition. What do the two of you plan to do after this?" the Lanners civilization's fleet commander asked.
The Frey civilization's fleet commander said, "On this matter, I need to go back and inform our sovereign."
Marshal Chu Xuan nodded too and said, "It's the same on my side; it needs our Majesty to decide."
"Then how about this: afterward we arrange a formal meeting, to discuss how to deal with the hidden danger of the Dax Empire?" the Lanners civilization's fleet commander proposed.
The Frey civilization's fleet commander nodded, signaling no objection.
Marshal Chu Xuan nodded and agreed too.
The brief meeting ended.
Marshal Chu Xuan sat in the captain's chair, but the look on her face was none too good.
"Marshal Chu Xuan, we've finished clearing the battlefield on our side." A video window popped up; on the other side was Fire Lydia.
It could be seen that she was very excited now.
"Had a good time in this battle?" Marshal Chu Xuan looked at Fire Lydia opposite, who could not hide her feelings.
Fire Lydia nodded hard: "Of course; this was our T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship's first real combat. In this one real fight, my starship took out five starships opposite. The small fleet I lead had a kill ratio of over ten to one!"
Fire Lydia raised her head somewhat proudly.
With this combat record, Marshal Chu Xuan expressed her satisfaction too.
But the look on her face was still somewhat grave.
"Marshal? Is something wrong with this record? Or is something wrong with the situation?" Fire Lydia, who had once served as Marshal Chu Xuan's adjutant, could see that Marshal Chu Xuan had something on her mind.
She asked curiously.
"In this battle we won by relying on the Lanners civilization's support. Though for now the Lanners civilization stands with us, but… the future is hard to say." Marshal Chu Xuan nearly spoke of the Trial of the Gods.
But because Fire Lydia was a native of this world, Marshal Chu Xuan checked herself after all.
The Dragon Palace Starport.
"The latest battle report has come back. In this battle, over fifteen hundred enemy starships were destroyed. Starships destroyed with our direct part number over six hundred. We had sixty-three starships destroyed, and six badly damaged, their hull condition unknown, unable to sail on their own; they need to be towed back first before we can decide what to do," Secretary Officer Barbara said, standing beside Zhao Chen.
"Well fought. To win this battle at such a loss ratio, a great part of the reason is still the Lanners civilization's part in it. They gave support with a great many T2 interstellar warships. Without those T2 interstellar warships, even if we'd won, we'd have paid a very great price. The interstellar missile ships have fired off their missiles; our fleet's fighting strength afterward will drop sharply," Zhao Chen said earnestly.
Secretary Officer Barbara nodded: "Yes. By our big-data calculations, without those interstellar-warship resources of the Lanners civilization, even if we'd won this battle, our losses would have at least tripled: over two hundred interstellar warships destroyed outright, over a hundred badly damaged. Oh, right. After the battle ended, the Lanners civilization's representative proposed holding three-way talks, to settle the policy toward the Dax civilization from here on."
Zhao Chen fell silent.
He began to think this question over.
Three-way talks.
It looked like a good proposal.
But looked at closely, some problems could be found.
"Wait until Chu Xuan and the others get back before we talk about this," Zhao Chen said.
"Yes."
…
The Fierce Dragon fleet sailed home.
The damaged interstellar warships were towed into the docks for repair.
The fallen martyrs were honored with memorial ceremonies according to procedure, and their families paid death benefits.