A hundred and fifty thousand Owl Dragon warships against 200,000 Machine Race warships.
And the master of this ground had put out, from those mechanical planets, great cannon one after another.
By the look of it this starship industrial base might be reckoned an interstellar fortress besides.
At which Charlotte was not troubled in the least.
Her arrangements had long since been set down; what remained was only to watch quietly what should come.
And then!
The first to open the attack were not the missile ships.
But a formation of interstellar gunships, made up before the battle out of the five Owl Dragon legions.
Two hundred and fifty T4 Gorgon-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ships in all.
Do not think little of these two hundred-odd T4 warships.
When they take the shape of a net and open fire upon the Machine Race fleets' position.
That sight is exceedingly shaking!
For one T4 Gorgon-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship is fitted with 400 Gorgon-type particle-energy heavy cannon!
And when 250 Gorgons fire together, a full 100,000 beams of energy go out.
By one round of attack alone, the forward position the enemy Machine Race fleets had but now laid out fell into confusion, and no few warships had their star-shields blown to pieces and fell upon the spot.
And the Owl Dragon fleets, having fired their salvo, did not attack of their own accord, but waited quietly.
Very soon these gunships' heavy cannon completed their charging and fired again.
By which the Machine Race fleets' commander might be said to have understood.
That this crew of attackers meant to wear them to death by such means.
And within this firing radius, of their own Machine Race warships only those at the forward position and the great cannon started upon the nearer mechanical planets could reach the enemy at all — and in reaching them must face the threat of the enemy's heavy cannon besides.
And with the enemy holding no small number of interstellar escorts in defense, no great threat was in fact worked.
Such a case is simply not worth the price.
Whereupon they changed their policy of battle at once, and the Machine Race fleets began to attack of their own accord.
"Ha. They could hold in no longer at last." Charlotte folded her arms and gave a cold snort.
Having received the intelligence upon the Machine Race fleets the Commander had given her, and certain Machine Race combat intelligence the Owl Dragon Legion had gathered itself.
She and the other commanders had come to one conclusion.
That in fighting Machine Race fleets one must on no account engage at medium and short range — and indeed, short of holding an absolute advantage, must not fight the enemy's warships close at all.
For the Machine Race's style of fighting is exact and strict; every warship of theirs, in fighting, brings out the best effect it can.
So that even when one falls at the last, it will have worked no small casualties upon the enemy.
Above all in engagement at medium and close range, where this is particularly plain.
By which Charlotte determined not to tangle with the enemy upon a medium- or short-range field — at the least not before holding an absolute advantage.
But to use the Owl Dragon Legion's own household art, and wear the enemy down first with long-range fire.
Though within the conclusions Charlotte drew there were certain cases that ran against them.
Such as the order Charlotte gave at this moment.
"Order the several special fleets to make ready for battle," Charlotte commanded.
Whereupon, within the several Owl Dragon legion fleets, small special formations made up of T5 warships and main-force T4 warships began to break away from the main body, with every impetus of attacking of their own accord.
And at this moment upon the war sand table before Charlotte there had appeared above four hundred red points of light.
"Stress this to them: do not linger in the fight; their task of battle is to attack those targets of high value!" Charlotte said, her voice low.
Little Dragon Girl took the charge of passing Charlotte's reminder down.
Thereafter these small fleets went out under their own side's gunfire.
And the targets of their attack were every one a Machine Race T5 warship.
Such a means might be called a decapitation plan.
Charlotte, studying the Machine Race's war history, drew the conclusion that one must not engage Machine Race fleets at medium and close range; but at the same time she conceived that small-compass fleets might attack of their own accord.
By which the compass to be handled is made smaller.
For why can one not engage Machine Race fleets at medium and close range? For nothing but that the engaged district is too vast, and the system of command falls easily into trouble.
For starships worked by carbon-based lives cannot, like Machine Race warships, work together perfectly — whether a hundred hulls, or a thousand, or ten thousand, or a hundred thousand, they can do this thing.
Every warship of theirs can accomplish exact command, movement and battle!
Then to avoid such a case, one need only shrink one's own fleet's scale.
Several thousand hulls or several tens of thousands, I cannot attend to them all.
But these bare few tens or few hundreds — can I not command so many?
Such was Charlotte's thought.
By which the gunfire attacks without cease, and the special squads carry out their decapitations.
The two together left the Machine Race fleets' attack meeting no few checks.
And with the Owl Dragon fleets' other warships bringing their strength to bear thereafter.
The Machine Race warships had by now taken losses upon a wide compass.
In the bare hour of the beginning, near 50,000 warships were lost outright.
For which they had gained only a little closing of the distance to the Owl Dragon fleets.
"That will nearly answer; some legion fleets may be set to attack of their own accord, drive in and divide the enemy's weaker parts, and then eat them clean!" Charlotte ordered.
This campaign had come to its third stage.
Under this order of Charlotte's the fighting grew fiercer, and the Machine Race fleets' losses began to quicken.
And Owl Dragon missile ships gave firepower support upon certain districts where the Machine Race fleets resisted stubbornly.
The whole campaign was simply perfect.
And within it one must speak of the excellent showing of those special combat squads.
Above all of one class in its first battle.
The T5 King-of-the-Hill-class Heavy Interstellar Comprehensive Strategic Escort!
"This King-of-the-Hill of ours is fine indeed." Lilith walked to Zhao Chen's side and said it in praise.
Though she does not much understand war, having watched so many campaigns she has come to understand something.
And can mark the T5 King-of-the-Hill's outstanding showing.
"That is natural; for she is no ordinary interstellar escort, but a comprehensive strategic escort.
"She can not only raise a star-shield field about herself, but within a certain compass give a friendly ship a star-shield's protection besides." Zhao Chen passed his judgment upon it.
Just so!
This is where this T5 King-of-the-Hill, in her first showing, is outstanding.
She can, at one and the same time, give friendly ships several shields.
As for the number, it is judged by the hull size of the friendly ships supported.
Suppose the friendly ships are T5 warships of regular bulk: she may support five T5 warships at once.
If they are T4 warships, she may support at the least thirty.
She may fairly be called the whole fleet's all-purpose wall of flesh!