Book 12: Chapter 8: Banfield Territory Defense (3)
"They escaped?"
As I sat in my very best seat on the bridge of the flagship Argos, I could not believe what I was seeing before me.
The number of ships in my fleet was 30,000.
In contrast, the enemy had over 60,000 ships.
I was stunned by the sight of them fleeing at once without a single battle.
If this were a mere shadow of its former self, it would be understandable if they had fled in fear of my military fame.
However, the other side was one of the elite of the Imperial Army.
While I was puzzling over the enemy's behavior, I saw Elysia, whom I had brought along as my second-in-command, with a bitter look on her face. Ahead of her gaze was a post-looted planet projected into the air.
Turning her gaze away from the ravaged and burning planet, Elysia gives me the details of the enemy fleet.
"Liam-sama, the enemy fleet you just saw is a special mission fleet."
"What's the name of that fleet? Can't you give me a more proper name?"
"I don't want to call it by its proper name. It is a fleet led by former space pirates. They're the best of the best, but they're also the ones that do the looting, whether they're friend or foe."
"The ones who take care of the Empire's dark business?"
The dark side like Kukri and the others must have swelled to the size of a fleet.
The interstellar nation is on a different scale, after all.
I stood up and looked at the window.
From there, I can see my planet, which has been looted and ravaged, and it is beyond infuriating.
And even the fleet I had entrusted to ranger had been defeated.
My allies are drifting away and my planet is on fire.
Without looking away, I ask why the enemy has fled.
"How good are they?"
A soldier near Elysia shook his head.
"They are the elite who have been given a new model, and judging by the way they defeated the ranger fleet, I don't think we can underestimate their strength."
"Why did they run away when they saw us?"
The soldier pondered for a moment, but could only come up with the usual answer.
"Unless the difference in strength between us and them is four times as great, wouldn't they try to fight us?"
"Is he planning to run away thoroughly?"
I, crossing my arms and thinking, didn't think the enemy had such an idea.
"--Start rescuing our allies. Then we'll go after a fleet of over 100,000 ships this time."
Elysia waits for me to make a decision.
"No! You've been nailed repeatedly by Klaus, haven't you? He said never to overdo it!"
"It's not too much for me, so it's safe. Besides, I've got something on my mind."
"Something on your mind?"
Elysia looks at me suspiciously, but I ignore her and look out the window.
"--I'm going to make them regret messing with my stuff."
The fleet of Cozmos that had escaped had then reported to their allies that the general-in-chief, Liam, was on the battlefield.
The person to whom he communicated was Hampson.
"There is no guarantee that Liam himself is on board, but is there any guarantee that he is not?"
Liam, who is a rare kind of nobleman in the empire, is the one who is charging against the High Kingdoms.
It is possible that he was irritated by Cozmo's fleet that was storming around his territory, and went out on his own.
Cozmo reported without apology.
"Thanks to him, the looting ended halfway. But they were so desperate to get their people out of there that they left quite a bit of treasure on the planet."
Hampson raised an eyebrow at Cozmo as he held up the treasure he had acquired.
"How's the requisitioning of supplies going?"
"--you're not getting as much as you'd like over there."
Hearing that, Hampson said, and he was surprised to find out later that they were a little low on supplies needed to operate the fleet.
"Did you let them pull up only the supplies they need for the war, along with their own people?"
It was an annoying move on their part, but Hampson seemed to have taken it into consideration.
Cozmo raises his eyebrows.
"You seem to be having a lot of fun. Are you enjoying the fact that Banfield is so tough?"
Hampson's martial temperament infuriated him.
But he had a different idea.
"He's a formidable opponent, a tough guy who sticks to the basics. That's how much they have stored up on the main planet. If we destroy Banfield, we are sure to have a huge fortune."
Liam's thoroughness led Hampson to predict that the Banfield family had a vast fortune on the main planet.
Cozmo is instantly broken-faced when he hears this.
"Marquis, you're a bad man too."
Hampson, who was told that he was a bad man, showed no sign of being put off by it.
In fact, he seemed to take it as a given.
"I don't think a good man can serve as a nobleman."
The elite fleet of 30,000 ships, led by the flagship Argos, discovered the conquering fleet.
The size of the fleet exceeded 100,000 and was building a base.
The fleet was over 100,000 strong and was in the process of building a base of operations.
But then...
"The enemy fleet has started to leave at short-range warp!"
--The enemy fleet, several times the size of ours, immediately retreated when they spotted Argos.
Elysia, who was reporting to me, was also perplexed.
I sit in my seat and cross my arms in front of the enemy fleet that is fleeing all at once.
"This must be the third time."
First the pirate fleet got away from us, and then we encountered the other fleet once after that.
But the reaction is the same.
As soon as they knew I was there, they immediately retreated.
They retreated so vividly that I could only assume that they were avoiding a battle with me beforehand.
"I guess it's decided now. They have no intention of fighting me."
When I concluded that they were thoroughly avoiding a battle with me, Elysia looked unconvinced.
"It's wrong not to target them when the general-in-chief is on the front lines. --Well, it is also wrong for the general to be on the front lines."
The latter part of the conversation was a snide remark to me, so I let it slide.
I looked up at the ceiling and pondered.
"It feels good to see the enemy fleet running away when they see me, but if they run around like this, it is not worth destroying them. Should I just find the main fleet and charge at them?"
I don't know how many space battleships exist in Cleo's main fleet, but it must be at least several hundred thousand.
I would like to laugh if such an enemy fleet ran away when they saw me.
Elysia talks to the soldiers around her and then asks me to make a decision.
"Relief of our allies fighting in various places is the course of action that seems best for us right now. If the enemy is pulling back, we should take advantage of that."
Why should I, the general-in-chief, follow them around?
I'm angry, and the operator reports back to me.
"Liam-sama, Marie's fleet has entered the battle. The enemy fleet numbers are roughly tripled to one million ships."
It seems that following Tia, a fleet has been dispatched to the planet Marie is defending.
From the number of ships, there are only two million left for Cleo to move.
"The number of fleets that Cleo can move is two million. I'll go on record and make a laughingstock of the imperial army."
I'd like to upload it to a free video site under the title "The Imperial Army being chased around by an overwhelmed enemy."
But the operator's report did not end there.
"The enemy fleet has not attacked. They are currently engaged in a standoff."
The planet Marie is defending.
Marie, commanding from the bridge of the space battleship, was frustrated by the lack of attack by the enemy fleet.
"Do they think they've got us locked up?"
The second-in-command knight standing beside Marie was scratching his head with a look of frustration on his face.
"We can't send out reinforcements, and it's impossible for us to move."
Originally, the plan was to defend aggressively.
Marie herself was going to lead tens of thousands of ships to destroy each isolated enemy fleet on the battlefield.
She believed that now that the main force of the enemy was heading toward the planet Tia was defending, she could move freely.
But they were blocked from doing so.
Moreover, they were not attacking, just watching.
Even if Marie went out and challenged the enemy, she would be destroyed by sheer force of numbers.
"If we could have stopped a million ships in their tracks, that wouldn't be so bad. But where do they get the supplies to sustain a fleet this size?"
The Banfield family had left as few military supplies as possible behind when evacuating their territory.
And yet, the enemy fleet does not seem to be having any trouble finding supplies.
The second-in-command shrugs.
"That's probably thanks to the Empire's generous backup."
The Empire's national power is simply overwhelmingly superior.
The Empire is simply the most powerful nation in the world. They are probably bringing in enough supplies to sustain a fleet of six million.
"-They can move so many fleets domestically without cutting corners in defending their borders. It's really disgusting how formidable they are."
Marie hates the Empire, but she appreciates its power.
It was the Troad that attacked the planet Marie was defending.
The fleet led by the viscounts is the main force, as well as the fleet of participating nobles.
The nobles gathered on the bridge of the superdreadnought battleship on which the Tride rode were also present.
"Viscount Tride, why don't you attack at least a little?"
"You are too passive with this kind of fighting."
"I don't think His Highness Cleo would be convinced, would he?"
People around him were concerned about Tride's passive fighting style.
They wondered if he would incur the wrath of the royal family because of his lack of aggressiveness.
However, Tride remained relaxed and answered with a smile.
"This is fine. Our main fleet is attacking other planets. When they are finished, they will come here. All we have to do is contain the enemy here until then."
This time, the conquering army needs an overwhelming victory.
It would be more problematic for Cleo if he tried too hard and failed.
Besides, there is another reason why Tride is not attacking Marie.
(The fleet of these men is of perfect quality and training. But it is difficult for private fleets to coordinate with each other. It's not easy to command a collection of a million ships.)
Although they were numerous, there were problems with cohesion.
Therefore, Tride was on a mission to contain Marie.
"--Marie Sera Marian. She's a knight who has been an unbelievable success in the Banfield family so far. Even if we win, we cannot discard the possibility that we will be hurt. For now, it is in our best interest to contain them like this."
With these words, he calmed the nobles down.
Tride advised the nobles.
"From now on, it will be a contest of endurance. We have the advantage, but we have a supply problem. I urge you all to exercise restraint from now on."
If there is any concern, it is only about supply, but even that is backed up by the Empire.
As long as they did not overdo it, Tride believed they could continue the standoff for years to come.
"I hear the knight Marie is a boar warrior, but how much more can she put up with?"
If you can't stand it, you can come out.
If you continue to endure, you can wait for Hampson's fleet to break through the tier and join us.
Tride was confident of victory.
An imperial supply fleet heading for Banfield territory.
On the bow of the battleship that is escorting the fleet, there is the guide.
Having finished collecting negative emotions on the Imperial Capital Planet, he is now on his way to support Cleo.
He could have gone to warp, but he was saving his negative emotions to increase Cleo's chances of victory.
"Wait for me, Cleo--now I will bring you victory! HUHAHAHA!!! Liam, I'm done being scared of you! This time! This time for sure!! I'm going to kill you!!"
The guide, who shouted with open arms, was confident of Cleo's victory.
Because--.
"Liam--you have made too many enemies."
--the guide turned around and saw that there was a large fleet of space pirates in addition to the imperial army.
There is also a patrol fleet led by nobles.
Other nobles and military - all of them with a grudge against Liam.
"Don't think that six million is the end of the story. Your enemies are still out there."
The guide leads Liam's enemies to Cleo.
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