Zhao Chen called up some of the data on the T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship.
The T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship, on account of certain technological reasons, had had its hull structure built only into a medium carrier starship; its internal hangar had not attained its optimal configuration.
It had a hangar merely three times that of the T3 Phoenix-class Heavy Carrier Starship.
Perhaps someone might say: three times!
Isn't that plenty?
But one must bear in mind that the T3 Phoenix-class Heavy Carrier Starship was only of the T3 grade, whereas the T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship was of the T4 grade.
And for a carrier starship, how many interstellar fighters it can bear aboard bears directly upon how much combat power that carrier starship can possess!
And in the matter of interstellar drones, this was the T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship's well-known weak point; for these several decades, they'd all along been at work overcoming this technological barrier.
And so, as things stood — though the Third Prince's fleet had two T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starships, the total number of interstellar craft it put out came to only 2,000 T4 Starlight-class interstellar fighters and 10,000 quasi-T4 Starglow-class interstellar drones.
Turn, by contrast, to the Owl Dragon Legion's side.
30 T3 Phoenix-class Heavy Carrier Starships had put out, straight off, 10,000 T3 Phoenix-class interstellar fighters, 900 T3 Fire-Phoenix-class Heavy Interstellar Stealth Bombers, along with 100,000 T3 Black-Phoenix-class Medium Interstellar Drones and 600 T3 White-Phoenix-class Electronic-Jamming Interstellar Drones.
In sheer numbers, it was Zhao Chen's side that held the absolute advantage!
But in Qin Hu's eyes—
his were, after all, T4-grade!
This was the gap of a technological tier!
The T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship · the bridge.
"We must, without fail, seize the interstellar command of the skies, and then, by means of the interstellar fighters and interstellar drones, suppress the enemy's interstellar warships. Then organize a batch of interstellar fighters to attack, directly, the enemy's interstellar-missile-ship position at the rear. Come what may, we cannot let those T3-grade interstellar missile ships conduct another round of interstellar-missile firepower strike!" Qin Hu roared out.
Calling back to mind the doomsday scene of that round of interstellar-missile bombardment just now, Qin Hu dared not imagine what would become of his interstellar fleet should a second round come.
Qin Hu fixed his eyes, unmoving, upon the interstellar-air-battle data panel, upon which were displayed the numbers of both sides' interstellar fighters, and the standard of each squadron; one could see clearly whether each and every craft had been destroyed, and whether its munitions were ample.
Very soon—
"All squadrons, listen well: this time we employ the C-series combat plan. Proceed as in our earlier simulated combats — each interstellar-fighter squadron works in concert with 10 times its number in interstellar drones. Let the interstellar drones launch the attack to pin down the other side, and the interstellar fighters do the follow-up firepower output. Understood!" The voice of Pei Shengnan, Chief Commander of the Interstellar Fighter Corps, rang out over the comm channel within the interstellar-fighter swarm.
"Understood!" The squadron captains, one and all, pledged with solemn assurance, for all the world like sharp swords about to be drawn from the sheath.
Pei Shengnan cranked her neck, a trace of excitement on her expression.
"T4 Starlight-class interstellar fighters — I'd rather like to see just how strong they are."
The T3 Black-Phoenix-class Medium Interstellar Drones formed a swarm, charging out at the fore.
And the enemy, too, plainly used interstellar drones as the door-knocker first of all.
But there was nothing to be done — the interstellar drones fitted to the T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship had certain technological problems, whether in the drones' own performance or in the smart command of the mothership at the rear.
The more so since, before this, the T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship had never once been through a true interstellar air-battle — at most, the one-sided, higher-plane curb-stomps of exterminating interstellar pirates.
That sort of combat could in no way bring out an interstellar craft's true combat power.
And at this moment—
the strengths and weaknesses of the T4 Starglow-class interstellar drones' performance were laid utterly bare.
The two sides' interstellar drones charged headlong at each other, laser cannons firing off one after another; gazed upon from afar, it was for all the world like a gorgeous show of lights, accompanied besides by small exploding fireball after small exploding fireball.
And every one of those small exploding fireballs was a destroyed interstellar drone.
Chitong, charged with the command of the T3 Phoenix-class Heavy Carrier Starships, was at this moment keeping the closest watch upon this interstellar air-battle — and of it, the single most important datum was the loss-ratio.
In the forecast Chitong had made of this interstellar air-battle beforehand, she'd expected the loss-ratio of the enemy's Starglow-class interstellar drones against the T3 Black-Phoenix-class Medium Interstellar Drones to be one to five.
That is, one of theirs traded for five of ours.
For, after all, they were a full tier apart.
But who could have thought that, once the fighting truly began, Chitong would find she'd been gravely, gravely mistaken?
She'd overrated this interstellar drone the Starlight Empire's royal house had developed.
The loss-ratio was one to three — sometimes, even, leaping to one to two!
So much so that, upon certain local pockets of the interstellar-air-battlefield, the T3 Black-Phoenix-class Medium Interstellar Drones, by virtue of hard, solid technology and the mothership's cutting-edge smart control, could actually suppress the T4 Starglow-class interstellar drones opposite.
Now, in Chitong's eyes, this was, quite simply, no more than a quasi-T4 Starglow-class interstellar drone.
"Next, it'll come down to the contest in the matter of the interstellar fighters." Chitong held her breath and stilled her spirit.
The count-comparison of the two sides' T4 interstellar fighters was 10,000 T3 Phoenix-class interstellar fighters against 2,000 T4 Starlight-class interstellar fighters.
A fivefold difference in number.
But the T4 Starlight-class interstellar fighters were not so much of a letdown as the T4 Starglow-class interstellar drones; they did, still, show forth T4-grade technology.
And, besides — one mustn't forget that the T4 grade possessed an all-around star-shield defense system!
The interstellar fighters were no exception.
Whereas the T3 Phoenix-class interstellar fighters had only single-face star-shield defense.
This was the gap of technology and craft.
And this gap, too, was borne out upon the battlefield.
Plainly, in a one-on-one, the T3 Phoenix-class interstellar fighter was the weaker.
But… the T3 Phoenix-class interstellar-fighter swarm simply wouldn't duel you one-on-one.
As a rule, it would rely on the interstellar drones to strike a wave first, and then, with 10 T3 Phoenix-class interstellar fighters to a group, gang up and pummel a single T4 Starlight-class interstellar fighter.
By relying on this way of fighting, the Owl Dragon Legion's interstellar-fighter swarm did, of all things, lose no ground in the first clash — and, even, held a certain advantage.
And the single most important reason for all this was, still, chiefly the gap in the matter of the interstellar drones.
"Curse it! Those idiots at the Imperial Academy of Sciences — all these years, and still they haven't developed a qualified T4 interstellar drone!" Qin Hu cursed at this point.
"Your Highness, set your heart at ease. Ours is, after all, a T4 carrier starship. Carrier-starship combat isn't judged by the interstellar-air-battle capability alone; it's judged, besides, by the mothership's resupply efficiency, isn't it?" a subordinate consoled him at his side.
Qin Hu could now only pray that, once the first batch of interstellar fighters and interstellar drones had been taken back into the mothership and finished with their resupply, he might, on the strength of the technological lead in this respect, snatch back the advantage in the situation.
But… the development of things outstripped their expectations.
The T3 Phoenix-class Heavy Carrier Starship's resupply efficiency was all the more astonishing — a single interstellar fighter, or a single interstellar drone, of all things completed the whole run of the process, landing, resupply, and takeoff, in about the same span of time as the T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship did.
And on the T3 Phoenix-class Heavy Carrier Starship's side, there were a full 30 ships!
This, straightaway, widened the balance of the interstellar air-battle all the further!
The Owl Dragon Legion began, little by little, to grasp the advantage in the interstellar air-battle.