The Holy Radiance Empire's expeditionary force and the Warhammer coalition army raised by the Dragon-folk tribe began their military dispositions, taking the Owl Dragon Legion as their target.
Of these arrangements of the enemy's.
Zhao Chen was naturally wholly informed. Setting aside those T4 Banshee-class Light Interstellar Stealth Scout Ships he had scattered abroad long since, the 'pieces' he had planted within the enemy's own camp alone—
sufficed to make the enemy play with their cards face up before him.
"The Holy Radiance Empire's 300,000 interstellar warships are deployed at these three positions respectively. Their chief targets of attack are our position at the star gate in the Black Tiger Star Region's First Star System; the star gate in the Third Star System of the Sacred Plume Star Region, where the Golden Eagle tribe and the Harpy tribe formerly stood; and lastly the position of our Hundred Beasts Alliance's home base. The coalition on the Warhammer side is essentially carrying out these same three attack missions." Charlotte pointed at the interstellar holo-table before them.
Zhao Chen looked at these three targets of attack upon it.
The star gate in the Black Tiger Star Region's First Star System — that was an important hub of interstellar traffic; once it was controlled, the enemy could affect the whole Black Tiger Star Region.
The star gate in the Third Star System of the Sacred Plume Star Region, where the Golden Eagle tribe and the Harpy tribe lay — that was the bridgehead position from which the war upon the Black Tiger Star Region had been launched, and an important strategic hub besides.
The last position, the Hundred Beasts Alliance's home base, lay on the contrary within no star region at all, but in a stretch of space at the margin of a system.
As for why this should be the Hundred Beasts Alliance's home base.
It was because here stood the Radiant Moon-class Star Gate Zhao Chen had built early on — the important hub connecting to the Owl Dragon star system.
These three places might be called the three fatal points of the great dragon that was Zhao Chen's game of chess. Sever one of them, and Zhao Chen would fall into confusion.
Sever two, and Zhao Chen would be as a beast in a cage.
Sever all three, and Zhao Chen and the Owl Dragon Legion would stand at the last extremity, the whole board lost.
This was what the other side had planned.
"300,000 interstellar warships, two Sacred-Light Legions. And a Consul come out in person besides — the Holy Radiance Empire has put out great strength this time." Zhao Chen said it with a light laugh.
Charlotte said, "The Holy Radiance Empire has suffered at our hands twice running before this. On account of the Sacred War Duel's wager, they cannot well launch an attack directly upon our Starlight Empire's ground. And the Stellar Alliance's side has a great many misgivings besides. Now that a third battlefield has been opened at last, letting them take revenge upon us with a name and a pretext, they will naturally not let slip this chance to wash away their old shame. And as they see it, the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth is for our Owl Dragon Legion a fight upon foreign ground, which must certainly affect our combat power. They need only cripple us here, or even defeat us. And then, three years hence, the Starlight Empire will be for them a table of fine food without the power to resist."
"If I were to launch a Sacred War Duel against this Consul now, do you suppose he would agree?" Zhao Chen said teasingly.
Charlotte rolled her eyes.
The other side would not tumble into the same pit twice.
"How large a coalition fleet has the Warhammer side organized?" Zhao Chen stretched himself and asked.
Charlotte called up a detailed account of the enemy's condition. Because the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth was a commonwealth system, the management of legion fleets too was a matter of each tribe putting some forward.
The chief burden naturally fell upon the great tribes; and under the great tribes' coercion, the small and middling tribes would put forward some of what little strength they had.
To look at, the array was very grand.
But how much water was in it, anyone with eyes could see.
"The Dragon-folk tribe has this time dispatched above 130 legion fleets outright, near 400,000 interstellar warships. Of the tribal powers under the Dragon-folk tribe's hand: the War Elephant tribe, 20 legion fleets, 60,000 interstellar warships; the Lizardfolk tribe, 20 legion fleets, 60,000 interstellar warships; the Boar King tribe, 25 legion fleets, 75,000 interstellar warships; the Centaur tribe, 15 legion fleets, 45,000 interstellar warships; the Giant Ape tribe, 10 legion fleets, 30,000 interstellar warships; the ram-folk tribe, 10 legion fleets, 30,000 interstellar warships; the Golden Eagle tribe, three legion fleets, 10,000 interstellar warships… and these warships were scraped together at short notice besides; we destroyed their main fleet earlier, and they have not yet recovered from it. Besides these, the Spider Queen tribe has sent three legion fleets, 10,000 interstellar warships; the Harpy tribe has sent three legion fleets, 10,000 interstellar warships — and both of them reported those figures only after asking our opinion first. Upon the field they await our orders at any moment. Beyond all these, the small and middling tribes under the Dragon-folk tribe have assembled near 50,000 interstellar warships more; but most of them are T1-grade and T2-grade trash hulls, and one can scarcely see a few T3-grade warships among them."
Hearing all this from Charlotte.
Zhao Chen reckoned it on his fingers. "In sheer numbers, then, the Dragon-folk tribe has scraped together near 800,000 interstellar warships."
"And not these alone. Others sending troops are the Four Gia— with the Black Tiger tribe gone, it should be said the Three Giants. The Giant Lion tribe has sent 50 legion fleets, 150,000 interstellar warships; the Minotaur tribe 20 legion fleets, 60,000; the Fox-folk tribe five legion fleets, 15,000. And the small tribes attached to the Three Giants have scraped together 30,000 more. 250,000 interstellar warships in all. Besides which, the five neutral tribes have sent out their own legion fleets as well — above 300,000 interstellar warships in all. Reckoned so, the Warhammer coalition we must face upon the surface reaches an astonishing 1,300,000 interstellar warships." When Charlotte spoke this astonishing figure, her tone was nonetheless exceedingly level.
Without any panic or anxiety to be made out in it.
"Well! Then all told, the enemy we must meet. Comes to 1,600,000 interstellar warships in all." Zhao Chen shook his head with a light laugh. "In array, that is better than 10 times our strength outright. How is this to be fought at all? We may as well raise the white flag and surrender."
Seeing the Commander-in-Chief in this mischievous humor, Charlotte rolled her eyes.
She called up another set of top-secret data.
Upon it the several tribes' legion fleets were divided into three colors.
The Dragon-folk tribe and the Giant Lion tribe among them, for instance, were red.
Most of them were in fact red as well.
The rest were yellow and green.
Green stood for those tribes that had in fact already taken their stand on Zhao Chen's side; at a single order from Zhao Chen they would raise the banner of revolt.
The Spider Queen tribe, for instance, the Harpy tribe, the Fox-folk tribe, and those neutral tribes.
And to look at the number, it was no small one — above 200,000 interstellar warships.
While the remaining yellow stood for tribes standing in a middle position.
They might have had private contact with the Owl Dragon Legion or the Hundred Beasts Alliance, but as of now had made no declaration.
These people all wished to watch the fire from across the river, and to make their own choice once the situation was clear.
Suddenly Zhao Chen thought of a thread of something wrong.
He called up a file concerning the Dragon-folk tribe.
"Strange. By what this file shows, the Dragon-folk tribe, apart from the fleets garrisoning its several territories— the Dragon-folk tribe has 20 Dragon-folk fleet groups, of which we destroyed two earlier. Which leaves 18. But these 400,000 interstellar warships of the Dragon-folk tribe's this time cover only 13 Dragon-folk fleet groups. Where are the other five?" Zhao Chen knit his brows and asked it.