The Dragon Palace Starport
Three months had passed since the Fierce Dragon fleets' blitz on the Dax Empire's home systems.
Over these three months,
the Lanners civilization kept sending people to contact the Fierce Dragon civilization, demanding that the Fierce Dragon civilization send fleets at once into the Dax Empire battlefield.
To such demands,
the Fierce Dragon civilization naturally agreed very nicely in words,
but in fact would give no guarantee at all.
If they came pressing again, it said its fleets were not yet fully refitted and needed more time.
In short, every bit of time that could be stalled for was a bit gained.
Of course, Zhao Chen had not entirely ignored the situation on the Dax Empire battlefield.
Over these three months,
the Dax Empire could be said to have mounted a ferocious assault on the third of a system the Lanners civilization had seized.
At the same time it had stepped up the force of its offensive on the front-line battlefield in the Lanners civilization's own system,
as if seeking revenge by every means.
And the Lanners civilization, to hold off the Dax Empire civilization's offensive, could be said to have given everything it had.
For the Fierce Dragon civilization this was naturally the best situation,
for the Fierce Dragon civilization had once again won a stretch of time for rapid development.
"How's construction of our T4 interstellar warships going?" Zhao Chen looked at Secretary Officer Barbara beside him.
Secretary Officer Barbara said, "At present some of the simpler T4 interstellar warships are about to come off the line into service. Some of the main-battle T4 interstellar warships still need a little time. To maximize our T4 interstellar warship output, we've moved over, as far as we possibly could, all the capacity that can be used for T4 interstellar warship production."
"So long as our T4 interstellar warships can come off the line into service and join the fleets, we'll become the first of the three civilizations here to own T4 interstellar warships. Then we can take two interstellar civilizations at one stroke. The system resources we hold will exceed five at one stroke!"
Zhao Chen seemed already to see that bright future.
"But neither of the two is stupid. They can actually see that our Fierce Dragon civilization means to watch the fire from across the river. Right now they've just been pushed up onto a ledge. Neither can easily be first to stop this war. But once either of them takes that first step, it's very likely that their next target will be us!" Marshal Chu Xuan said gravely from the other end of the video window.
Zhao Chen nodded: "I'm well aware of that too. The only way is for us to have T4-grade interstellar warships of our own! Only that way can we break the deadlock!"
During this stretch while the Fierce Dragon civilization was making careful preparations,
inside the Lanners civilization things could be said to be in a complete mess.
"We can't go on fighting like this. Over the past three months, our Lanners civilization's development hasn't only made no progress at all; it can even be said to have gone backward a long way. Who knows how many interstellar warships we've thrown onto the battlefield? Our interstellar warship building speed can't come close to the speed they're used up at the front," one minister said through gritted teeth. "And look at the Fierce Dragon civilization. They keep calling themselves our allies, and promised several times to send fleets back onto the battlefield in support. But it's been three months, and not a single interstellar warship. If you ask me, they never had any intention of supporting us at all. Starting that war before was nothing but a pit they dug for us. Now we're in this pit, and they're watching from outside, waiting until we and the Dax Empire civilization have fought each other bloody, then coming down to clear us both away! Despicable and shameless!"
"What the Fierce Dragon civilization has in mind now, we actually all know. The question is what we should do. Going on fighting certainly won't do. Though the Dax Empire sacrificed a great batch of T3 interstellar warships in the Fierce Dragon fleets' blitz before, the problem is that its foundations are still there, and a great many of its shipworks are still there too. Add that it's fighting in its home systems, with shorter logistics and supply lines, which favors it more. It'll be very hard for us to come out ahead."
"But if we withdraw, won't we have come out ahead in nothing at all!"
Listening to these people's arguing,
the Lanners leader looked helpless; these past few months it had been just like this.
They had been pushed right up onto a ledge, unable to go up or come down.
"I think the Dax Empire's situation and ours are similar now. We could very well go and negotiate with the Dax Empire. If we could talk with the Fierce Dragon civilization before, why can't we talk with the Dax Empire now!" one minister put forward his idea.
"This… is it possible? We've fought the Dax Empire for so many years; would they be willing to talk with us?" someone worried.
"Reaching out to negotiate won't cost us anything. What if they really are willing to talk with us!" the minister said earnestly.
"Even if they really are willing to talk with us, the biggest problem is the talking! It's all about benefits. What benefits would we have to offer to make them willing to cooperate with us?" an old minister raised the most practical point.
Without real benefits set out on the table, no one would be willing to sit down and talk for nothing.
"We can sacrifice a little. What we sacrifice, we can get back from the Fierce Dragon civilization!" the minister said earnestly.
After several rounds of discussion,
in the end the Lanners leader settled it: send people privately for now to negotiate with the Dax Empire's people,
and see how the negotiations went.
Three days later,
the Dax Empire's side replied that it was willing to negotiate,
but the precondition was that they spit out that third of a system.
"We must never agree to this. We've put so much manpower, material and money into these three resource systems. Make us spit them out? Absolutely impossible!" The hawkish minister rejected it flatly.
"I think all of this can be negotiated. What matters most now is that we can see the Dax Empire's side has the idea of talking too. They may not fear us, but letting the Fierce Dragon civilization develop on the side is something they absolutely don't want to see. Think, all of you, how when the Fierce Dragon civilization negotiated with us before, it made use of the Dax Empire's existence. So now that we're negotiating with the Dax Empire, can't we learn from that too? We borrow the Fierce Dragon civilization's momentum!"
Hearing this minister's words, some understood and their eyes lit up; some perhaps still felt lost in the clouds.
"All right. You'll be in charge of this. The sooner the better. Our Lanners civilization can't afford to wait!" the Lanners leader said gravely.
"Yes!"
Next, the Lanners civilization and the Dax Empire civilization held several rounds of negotiations,
lasting a full half month.
Fortunately, during the negotiations, the intensity of fighting on both sides dropped a great deal.
In the end, a negotiated document was laid before the Lanners leader.
"Leader. Through our unremitting efforts, we have finally settled on this plan. First, we and the Dax Empire have settled that once our two sides reach a cooperative relationship, for ten years to come neither side may make war on the other. At the same time, we give back the third of a system in the Dax Empire. They are also to withdraw their forces from the front-line battlefield in our system. On the exchange of controlled territory, it looks as though we come off a little badly, because the area we control is large and its resource output is fairly high. But we must also consider that we don't have the ability to fight across systems for long; dragging it out further is bad for us. With these factors considered, our joint aim next will be the Fierce Dragon civilization's system. And on the plan for the Fierce Dragon civilization's system, we have made a wager. That is, to avoid either side showing up without pulling its weight, or picking the peaches, the Fierce Dragon civilization's system will be allotted according to the number of Fierce Dragon starships each side destroys. Suppose the Fierce Dragon civilization now has three thousand interstellar warships. Among these three thousand interstellar warships, warships of different grades will also score differently. A T1 interstellar warship scores one point each, a T2 interstellar warship thirty points each, a T3 interstellar warship a hundred points each. This is only a rough outline; the details will be broken down further by ship type. These are all things we can settle later; there's no hurry now. And in the end, when the war is over, if one side has scored over two-thirds of the points, that side is by default granted full control of the Fierce Dragon civilization's system. But at the same time the other side receives corresponding compensation. The compensation can be resources, can be technology; all of this can be settled in later consultations. That way, to win more benefit, both sides will put in more effort in the campaign against the Fierce Dragon civilization!"
Having heard these arrangements and plans, many looked satisfied.
Such arrangements and plans truly made a great deal of sense.
"Basically no problems. I agree to this manner of cooperation," the Lanners leader said with a nod.
The great majority of the other ministers agreed too.
Everyone knew very well that this campaign against the Dax Empire could not go on.
It was a swamp; the longer you stayed in it, the deeper you sank.
"Then when do we declare war on the Fierce Dragon civilization?" someone asked, somewhat impatiently.
"It'll take about two to three months to prepare. Both our sides first need to withdraw their interstellar fleets from each other's systems, and then need a while to refit. Only once the refit is done can we declare all-out war on the Fierce Dragon civilization!" the minister said.
"Two or three months? That we can wait. At present all our Lanners civilization's interstellar warships put together still give us nearly ten thousand fit to fight. The Dax Empire's side has eight thousand if it hasn't ten, and T3-grade interstellar warships besides. Reckoning it that way, we're ten times the Fierce Dragon civilization's fleets. I don't believe the Fierce Dragon civilization has any tricks left!"
"That's right! Ten times the enemy: I could command with my eyes shut and still win!"
"That despicable, shameless lot of the Fierce Dragon civilization. Now at last we can make them pay!"
The Lanners civilization's ministers cheered without end.
Since this time the Fierce Dragon civilization had tricked them, they had swallowed their anger a long while.
Now at last they could get their revenge; how could they not be glad!
The Fierce Dragon civilization, at this very moment:
"By the latest word we've received, the Lanners civilization has begun withdrawing its troops from the Dax Empire's Second System. The Dax Empire's fleets are also pulling out of the Lanners civilization's system. The two sides have ceased fire completely!" Secretary Officer Barbara reported the latest news gravely.
Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes: "So the situation we least wanted to see has happened after all. Only I never imagined it would happen so fast. From start to finish it's been less than half a year. Oh, well. To have won half a year is already quite good. Chu Xuan. Is our battle plan ready?"
At the other end of the video window, Marshal Chu Xuan nodded and said, "All ready. Our interstellar stealth reconnaissance ships were deployed to the Lanners civilization's system long ago. Compared with their fleets, our fleets have been resting and recovering all this while and are now all in the best fighting condition. And we now already have five T4 interstellar warships delivered for use, all of them through their trials. We can take advantage of this stretch, while the Lanners civilization's fleets have pulled back and haven't finished refitting, to launch the swiftest possible attack on the Lanners civilization. Hasn't the Lanners civilization joined hands with the Dax Empire civilization? If the Lanners civilization is gone, who will the Dax Empire have to cooperate with then?"
This was the battle plan Zhao Chen and Chu Xuan had long since thought out:
rest while the enemy wears himself out, and wait for the chance.
"When do we set out?" Zhao Chen asked.
"We've worked out the best time to attack: three days from now. By then, most of the Lanners civilization's fleets will be gathered at this position. Over five thousand interstellar warships. Over ninety percent of their T3 interstellar warships are here. And we need only destroy these five thousand interstellar warships at one stroke, then go on to attack the Lanners civilization's capital star, where there are at least three thousand interstellar warships. After these two battles, the Lanners civilization will have lost the ability to fight entirely!" Marshal Chu Xuan laid out her whole battle plan.
"The total number of interstellar warships we have in hand right now is only two thousand. How sure are you of this sortie?" Zhao Chen looked at Chu Xuan.
"A hundred percent," Chu Xuan said, supremely confident.
This gave even Secretary Officer Barbara a start.
A hundred percent sure with two thousand interstellar warships?
"And what I mean to take isn't two thousand interstellar warships; give me just one thousand five hundred and that's enough. These one thousand five hundred interstellar warships take in five T4 interstellar warships, two hundred T3 interstellar warships and a thousand T2 interstellar warships, and only the rest are T1 interstellar warships. And the Lanners civilization's fleets? Never mind that they've just pulled back from the battlefield, short of full strength. They have no T4 interstellar warships; their T3 interstellar warships all put together don't come to our odd change; I hear they have fewer than thirty? And the T2 interstellar warships left don't even number five thousand. With fighting strength like that, however many there are, they're no match for us!"