“The Divine Ark Civilization has carried out a massive fleet redeployment. From the four star systems it has occupied, more than two million ships have appeared. The projected target is… the Barbarian Star System.” The Minister of Military Affairs spoke with a grave expression.
The Barbarian Star System mentioned by the Minister of Military Affairs was what Xiao Yu called Star System Number 5.
“Without a doubt, they intend to storm the Barbarian Star System. Judging from their movements, they have not concealed this in the slightest. So then, Minister of Military Affairs, do you have any recommendations?” the Supreme Leader asked.
“No recommendations.” The Minister of Military Affairs shook his head in some vexation. “Plots require counterplots to deal with them. When facing as many as over two million combat ships, any stratagem is useless. The only response is to dispatch a force sufficient to match them and fight a head-on battle.”
“There is still more than half a year before they complete their assembly. I want to know how our armament preparations are going.” another minister inquired.
“I have already redeployed more than two million ships from various military bases, preparing to go to the Barbarian Star System to take part in the defense. We are on the defensive, and the defender always enjoys certain advantages. With the cooperation of the star system’s defense system, I am confident we can hold the Barbarian Star System.” the Minister of Military Affairs said.
“You redeployed more than two million ships?! That is half of all our Molian Civilization’s military strength.” A minister cried out in alarm. “With so many ships pulled out, what about the defense of our other bases? You even pulled three hundred thousand ships from the capital star system. If the enemy launches a surprise attack on our capital star system, what are we supposed to do?”
“My military redeployment plan was approved by the Supreme Leader.” the Minister of Military Affairs said solemnly. “This is an open scheme by the Divine Ark Civilization beyond any doubt. The Barbarian Star System has extremely great strategic significance for us. We cannot simply abandon it. And since the other side has drawn such a vast force to attack the Barbarian Star System, the only thing we can do is to defend with all our strength. There is no other way. This will be a head-on battle without any embellishment.”
“As for the defense of the capital star system, everyone can rest assured.” the Supreme Leader said. “There are still two hundred thousand ships stationed in the capital star system at present. Together with the star system’s defense system, that is enough to cope with any attack of fewer than four hundred thousand ships. I imagine that besides those four star systems and the ships redeployed for this operation, the Divine Ark Civilization has no other forces it can mobilize.”
“Most important of all, we still have a trump card. I will hereby declare this point, when matters become impossible, for the survival of our civilization, I will seek aid from the envoy of the Guardian Civilization and ask them to help us fight. We and a Predator Civilization have no possibility of peaceful coexistence. Either they die, or we perish. If we cannot defeat the Divine Ark Civilization, then becoming a vassal of the Guardian Alliance is better than being annihilated.”At this heavy topic, the ministers attending the meeting all fell silent. The future of the species, the path forward for the civilization, these questions weighed heavily on their hearts, making it hard for them to breathe.
“All right, perhaps the outlook is not so pessimistic.” the Minister of Military Affairs said. “Now I will submit my specific strategic deployment. First, the Barbarian Star System will stockpile large quantities of strategic materials and strengthen star system defenses. The number of Star System-Class Negative Matter Cannons will be increased to fifty units. The first batch, reinforcements of three hundred thousand combat ships, will arrive in three months. At that time, the total strength in the Barbarian Star System will reach six hundred thousand ships, sufficient to deal with the enemy’s first batch of five hundred thousand ships. After that will be the second batch of one hundred fifty thousand, the third batch of four hundred seventy thousand, and so on, up to the ninth batch of fifty thousand. In all, two million seventy thousand ships will take part in the defense. In addition, I would like… if the Supreme Leader agrees to let me redeploy another three hundred thousand ships, I plan to use these three hundred thousand to launch raids on the already lost star systems and disrupt their logistics routes.”
“It is impossible.” Regarding the Minister of Military Affairs’ proposal, the Supreme Leader gave a categorical refusal, “Redeploying 2,070,000 ships is already the limit we can bear. Redeploying another 300,000 ships would inflict irreparable damage on our defense system. All right, that will be all. I have placed half of our entire civilization’s military strength in your hands. If you cannot hold the Barbarian Star System, if you cannot win this campaign, then there will be no need to wait until after the war for your court-martial. Dismissed.”
Having made the final arrangements, the Supreme Leader decisively shut off his image projection and left.
The remaining ministers exchanged glances and left in succession.
“Sigh.” The Minister of Military Affairs let out a slight breath. He did not know when it had begun, but his burly body had already shown a faint tendency to stoop, and there was always an ineradicable weariness in his eyes.
At this moment, Xiao Yu was still in curvature flight. There were more than four months remaining before reaching Star System Number 5, and the Nation-Class fleet of the United States, which was taking the lead, had less than one month before reaching its objective. As they advanced, the four fleets were constantly attacked by small harassment units, and Xiao Yu continually dispatched forces to harass the Molian Civilization’s military as well. The real great battle had not yet begun, yet the two sides had already fought tens of thousands of small battles in the void.
In these battles, Xiao Yu had wins and losses. However, small-scale engagements could not affect the overall situation. On this point, both sides were very clear. What gave Xiao Yu the greatest headache was the Molian Civilization’s unceasing harassment attacks against his logistics transport ships.
What was about to unfold would inevitably be a long-lasting, large-scale campaign. Xiao Yu was not confident of taking Star System Number 5 in a short time, and within Star System Number 5 there was only a single planet. That is to say, before taking Star System Number 5, Xiao Yu had no way to obtain any resupply. Relying solely on the supplies carried aboard the ships was clearly insufficient to sustain such a campaign. Therefore, obtaining material resupply from the four star systems already occupied by his side became a critical matter.
In fact, at this moment in the void, at least tens of thousands of material transport ships were busily shuttling between the fleet and the star systems, and in order to protect these transport ships, Xiao Yu had redeployed at least 200,000 combat ships for escort. Even so, incidents of transport ships being ambushed and destroyed by the Molian Civilization still occurred continually.
For such matters, Xiao Yu had no solution whatsoever; he could only be as cautious as possible and reduce the frequency of such incidents.
“The Nation-Class fleet of the United States, totaling 500,000 ships, has reached its objective and is currently stationed 100 billion kilometers from the edge of the star system. The Nation-Class fleet of the Russia will arrive in one and a half months. In Star System Number 5, the enemy’s defensive strength is 600,000 ships.” In the conference room aboard Heaven’s Kingdom, Xiao Yu spoke with a grave expression to the members of the Military Committee.
“According to intelligence, the Molian Civilization’s second wave of reinforcements will arrive in two months, and the third wave will arrive in two and a half months. Moreover, the directions from which these two fleets will arrive are basically the same. In that case, I propose that the Nation-Class fleet of the Russia not remain in Star System Number 5, but pass beyond it directly and intercept the second and third Molian Civilization reinforcement fleets in the void. The performance of our medium and large ships exceeds that of the Molian Civilization. In the void, the Molian Civilization’s ships will also lose the advantage of convenient resupply. Therefore, even if the number of ships in those two reinforcement fleets exceeds that of the Russia’s fleet, the advantage is still on our side.” a member of the Military Committee said.
“This proposal is very reasonable. I have decided to adopt it.” Xiao Yu nodded. “In fact, preventing their reinforcement fleets from linking up with the garrison in Star System Number 5 is the most important thing. After all, if they cannot link up, they cannot enjoy the convenience of material resupply. Therefore, the Nation-Class fleet of the China will also be split, detaching a combat strength of 800,000 ships to intercept the other Molian Civilization reinforcement fleets in the void. I will make the following arrangements, the Nation-Class fleet of the United States that has already arrived, its primary mission at present is not to fight the garrison of Star System Number 5, but to construct a second line of defense, interdict the reinforcements, and prevent them from linking up with the Star System Number 5 garrison.”
“This deployment is very reasonable. I agree.” another member of the Military Committee said.
Xiao Yu nodded. After once again discussing the details with the members of the Military Committee, he finalized the entire operational plan. He then issued new combat orders.
The Nation-Class fleet of the United States immediately went into action. At least 200,000 ships were detached to launch a probing attack on Star System Number 5. The purpose of such an attack was not to inflict massive casualties on the enemy, but merely to draw their attention and pin down their strength. The Molian Civilization garrison in Star System Number 5 reacted quickly and dealt a very resolute blow to the attack by those 200,000 ships.
The remaining ships of the Nation-Class fleet of the Russia maintained strict vigilance, ready at any moment, according to intelligence indications, to intercept Molian Civilization reinforcement fleets appearing from the void, while also counterattacking certain enemies that took the initiative to strike.
The curtain on the Battle of Star System Number 5 had already risen slowly. The battles at present were only the prelude to this large-scale campaign.
Another two months passed. After detaching 800,000 ships, the total strength of the Nation-Class fleet of the China was down to only around 500,000 ships, with just one more week before reaching Star System Number 5. At this moment, the Nation-Class fleet of the Russia had already engaged the Molian Civilization’s second wave of reinforcement fleets.
The flames of war began to burn in two places at the same time.