On whether to send troops into the systems the Dax Empire controlled,
there was still great dispute within the Lanners civilization's high-level council.
But as one piece of news after another came in from the Dax Empire's battlefields, the Lanners civilization's leadership gradually began to settle its mind.
In the first hour of the Fierce Dragon fleets' raid, of the five targets the Fierce Dragon fleets struck in their blitz, four reached the expected effect of the opening,
dealing the Dax Empire no small losses.
In the second hour, the Fierce Dragon fleets widened their gains step by step still further.
By the third hour,
word even came out that the Fierce Dragon fleets were reinforcing in a certain system to widen the battle.
All these moves showed that the Fierce Dragon civilization had designs on carving off a piece of the Dax Empire's three systems of territory.
And it was also because of this intent the Fierce Dragon civilization had shown
that the great majority of the Lanners civilization's high-level council agreed to the idea of sending troops against the Dax Empire.
"Good! Since everyone has settled on sending troops, then work out right now how many fleets we can move, and the target system to attack!" the Lanners leader said solemnly.
Very soon the officers came up with a figure:
at this point, the total number of interstellar warships they could pull out was three thousand.
And that was only because over the past year the Dax Empire had scaled back the force of its offensive on the battlefield in the Lanners civilization's system, which had given them the energy to build up their own military strength.
"Three thousand… should be enough. Pass on my order: these three thousand interstellar warships set out at once. The target is set as the Dax Empire's Second System; take this region within that system. This holds a third of the system's resource output; if we can seize it, it will be a huge help to us!" The Lanners leader settled on the target to attack too.
The Dax Empire's Second System.
This target of attack had not been picked at random.
It was the result of careful selection.
For the Dax Empire's First System was the Dax Empire's most important system; attack there, and they were sure to meet the Dax Empire's frenzied counterattack.
And the Third System, facing the front-line battlefield of the Fierce Dragon System, was where the most troops were garrisoned at present.
The Second System, on the contrary, was on the whole the battlefield where the Dax Empire had the least strength deployed at present.
And they were taking only a quarter[1] of the system's territory, which was also what the fleet they could send could manage.
If the turf were too large, then when they faced the Dax Empire's attack they might be worn out with defending it.
"Make haste. Now is when the Fierce Dragon civilization and the Dax Empire are at the height of their fighting. If we enter the battlefield now, the Dax Empire won't be able to cope with us!"
"Yes!"
The Lanners civilization's two thousand[2] interstellar warships completed their muster in an extremely short time.
At the four-and-a-half-hour mark of the war the Fierce Dragon civilization had launched against the Dax Empire,
the Lanners civilization's interstellar fleet appeared on the Dax Empire's Second System battlefield.
"Kill!"
"It's always been these Dax bastards attacking us before. Now it's time they had a taste of being invaded too."
The Lanners civilization's interstellar fleet's sudden attack truly caught the local Dax Empire garrison completely off guard.
Of course, a large part of the reason was that the Dax Empire had now put its main attention on the battlefields of the Fierce Dragon civilization's fleets.
Without anyone noticing,
five hours had already passed since the Fierce Dragon civilization's fleets entered the Dax Empire's systems.
The Dax Empire could now be said to be in a complete mess.
The Lanners civilization fleet's joining in could be called pouring oil on the fire.
"These Lanners civilization bastards actually want to make trouble for us at this critical juncture. Fine! Very good. Since they've come, not one of them is getting away. So long as we swallow their main fleet here, we can turn the situation around!" the Dax King said through gritted teeth, looking at the interstellar map before him.
On the other side, the Fierce Dragon fleets were carrying out their plan step by step.
"Six hours have passed already. How is the battle going now?" Zhao Chen looked at the interstellar war holo-table before him.
Secretary Officer Barbara beside him said, "Of the five combat tasks, four are basically over 90% complete, and the fleets have already begun moving off. But to make the Lanners civilization's fleets mistakenly believe we have still greater war aims, this part of our fleets that is withdrawing is fighting as it withdraws. When they've sunk in deeper, then we withdraw completely!"
"Of the one thousand five hundred interstellar warships we sent out, what's the loss rate so far?" Zhao Chen asked with concern.
"The loss rate so far is under 15%. The number of enemy ships destroyed is over one thousand five hundred, plus a great many interstellar warships not yet off the line. Among them are the thirty T3 interstellar warships under construction," Secretary Officer Barbara said.
"Seen this way, this combat task of ours has gone very smoothly," Zhao Chen said, well satisfied. "What about the Lanners civilization's side?"
"On the Lanners civilization's side, because we're pinning down a great many of the Dax Empire's fleets, their offensive is going very smoothly too. In just a few hours they've occupied a great swath of planets in the Dax Empire's Second System, about a third. We reckon that's what they had in mind," Secretary Officer Barbara said.
Zhao Chen smiled faintly: "Then it's about time for us to withdraw too. What comes next depends on whether the Lanners civilization can hold back and spit out the gains it has already swallowed!"
Secretary Officer Barbara looked at the region on the interstellar war holo-table that the Lanners civilization had seized.
This was an open stratagem.
I've withdrawn my troops.
But the Dax Empire's military strength has truly been badly damaged in this raid.
And you, the Lanners civilization, have also successfully taken a stretch of star-system territory.
At this point, do you withdraw or not?
Withdraw, and the fighting you've done so far was for nothing.
Don't withdraw, and you must face the Dax Empire's frenzied counterattack alone.
Most important of all: had it been the Dax Empire of before,
the Lanners civilization would likely have been unwilling to face it alone.
But the Dax Empire now, after this surprise attack by the Fierce Dragon civilization's fleets and such enormous losses,
was one the Lanners civilization had the chance to stand up to.
So this choice would very soon be laid before the Lanners civilization.
"Our task is done. Arrange the withdrawal. Get ready to welcome our heroes home!" Zhao Chen said with a smile.
The five Fierce Dragon fleets all soon received the word to withdraw; using the one-way star-gate units they had brought with them, they bid farewell outright to the Dax Empire pursuers hounding them from behind,
and, their task perfectly complete, returned to the Fierce Dragon System.
On an interstellar destroyer,
a badly damaged T3 Templar-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mecha lay here; its whole left arm was gone, and of the four autocannons on its shoulders, only a single lonely one remained.
There was a great hole at the chest as well, and that great hole was less than a meter from the mecha's cockpit!
Had that attack been just a meter off, this mecha pilot would have been crushed inside.
"Pass the word to the whole ship. This combat mission is complete; we're getting ready to go home!" A voice came over the starship's broadcast.
At once cheering and jubilation broke out in every department.
A middle-aged mecha pilot leaned beside that damaged combat mecha.
He was not hurt, only too tired.
He knew this combat mecha behind him would most likely be scrapped once they got back, and he wanted to keep it company here a little longer.
For this was the combat mecha of his first real battle, and the combat mecha that had protected him and kept him alive.
It was also what had given him the chance to make his name and win merit.
"Have you heard? That mecha pilot over there destroyed a T3 starship single-handed!"
"Not only that; he completed some other combat tasks too."
"Then with merit like that, he's surely in for no small reward when he gets back this time."
The other crew looked over, their eyes full of envy and admiration, but with no jealousy.
For they knew very well that a mecha pilot's merit was all bought with his life.
As far as they knew, of the interstellar combat mechas sent out by their fleet alone, the loss rate was over seventy percent outright.
Fewer than thirty percent came back.
And among that thirty percent, those who had come through alive and unhurt were fewer than ten percent.
All the others had suffered battle injuries of some degree, more or less.
Of those now lying in the starship's sickbay, over seventy percent were mecha pilots.
So that a mecha pilot could win such merit, no one was jealous.
Even if this chance were put before them, probably not many of them would be willing to take the risk.
For this really got you killed.
The one-way star-gate opened.
The interstellar fleet passed through the star-gate and returned to the Fierce Dragon System.
And the Dax Empire pursuers who arrived last looked at the star-gate as it dissolved.
It was as though it were taunting them, telling them:
I came to your home to kill and burn; if you want revenge, come and chase me.
At this moment Zhao Chen stood on the bridge of an interstellar warship, gazing at the space in the distance that had long since been cleared.
Before long, five star-gates opened one after another.
All five interstellar fleets that had set out earlier returned.
"Send hospital ships at once to take over the wounded. Have barges take the damaged interstellar warships to the docks for repair. And gather the interstellar warships still fit to fight and finish their resupply as soon as possible. Re-form them into new fleets, in case the Dax Empire turns desperate and comes over to bite us." Zhao Chen had prepared for both outcomes.
Though in theory the Dax Empire did not have that kind of ability,
no one could guarantee such a thing would not happen, so it was right to keep a precaution in place.
"At the same time, have the secretariat begin preparing to record merit according to the combat reports of each fleet and of the combat personnel. Above all for starfighter pilots and mecha pilots. Above all the latter. Have these two tallied first. They bore enormous losses in the fighting; they deserve to receive honor enough!"
"Yes!"
The damaged interstellar warships came into port, where every kind of logistics staff had long been waiting.
"Hello, do you need a wheelchair?" a medic asked with concern, looking at the mecha pilot walking out on his own.
"No need; I can walk on my own," the middle-aged mecha pilot said, waving it off.
Then he glanced around and asked, "Can I get in touch with home?"
"You can. Over there is a dedicated communications department; it can reach Dragon Star," the medic said, pointing at an area in the distance.
"Thanks."
The middle-aged mecha pilot's steps quickened a great deal as he walked over.
A rest area appeared before him.
Here could be seen a great many seats, and communications equipment too,
enough for several hundred people at once to get in touch with home here.
Overhead was a red scrolling banner:
"Because many people currently need communications, please keep each communication within half an hour."
These ordinary crew or soldiers were not like the Fierce Dragon leadership, who could reach Dragon Star directly from a handheld terminal.
Every contact like that had to go over a dedicated line, at a very high cost.
So ordinary soldiers like them could only get a chance to contact home at a place like this.
The middle-aged mecha pilot waited a dozen or so minutes, and very soon it was his turn.
He came to a communications window, inserted his dog tag, then entered the details of the person he wished to contact.
Very soon "connecting" appeared.
The beep, beep, beep made the middle-aged mecha pilot nervous,
more nervous even than when he was driving the mecha.
At last the call connected.
Several figures appeared on the other side of the video window.
"Gulizha!" The woman on the other side looked this way in surprise.
"It's me." Seeing his wife on the other side, the man felt at this moment as if the weight on his shoulders had grown much lighter.
"How come you suddenly thought to call home? Has something happened?" his wife asked with concern.
The news of the Fierce Dragon fleets' raid on the Dax Empire had not yet been announced publicly by the Fierce Dragon Kingdom.
So his wife did not know it yet.
But presumably it was no longer any secret.
For before the call they had not been told any information needed to be kept secret, which meant this was something he could tell.
Had there been information that needed keeping secret, they would have been told in advance.
The man opened his mouth; he had meant to tell her he had just finished fighting a battle.
But on second thought he still did not say it.
"Nothing; I just missed you all. Look, aren't I perfectly fine? And there's some good news too. I may be able to bring you and the children to live in the Fierce Dragon Kingdom," the man said with a smile.
"Really? But aren't there limits on the places? We have so many children; won't that be hard? Gulizha, don't put too much pressure on yourself. The wages you send home every month have already made our lives much better. Even if we can't go to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom, it's all right."
To his wife's words,
the man did not argue back.
But at his first sight of a Fierce Dragon Kingdom city, he had made up his mind.
In this life he would surely bring his wife and children, old and young, to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom.
For here was their future!