Chapter 2300: Chapter 2302: Supplies for Reinforcements
The swarm of dragonflies only numbered over three hundred thousand, and at the beginning of the battle, the Tianqin cultivators didn’t notice such a small group.
However, with the attacks on the Golden Core, everyone suddenly realized... huh? There are quite a few Golden Cores here too?
Faced with a headless assault on the dragonflies, they simply exploded—couldn’t provoke them, just run away.
A motley crowd was like this originally, but once they ran, it was an enormous blow to the Insect Race.
They weren’t the type of dominated insect hordes whose king had died, but rather had come to fight in teams.
Other insects suddenly went into an uproar: You can run, can’t we?
So then, something both laughable and frustrating happened. As the dragonfly Golden Core fled, nearly ten million insectoids besieged a few thousand Human Race warships, and quite a number of insect Golden Cores exploded and fled.
However, this was just the beginning. While the insect Golden Cores scattered, they didn’t necessarily leave the battlefield, but as the dragonflies dispersed, the Moth Race’s Golden Cores grew tense.
The Moth Race originally had a Nascent Soul here, but it suddenly vanished mysteriously—in fact, it was captured by True Sage Diao Zhou.
Then, the warship’s attack inevitably affected the Moth Race, who intended to withstand it, but seeing many Golden Cores of various races flee, they inevitably panicked—everyone else was escaping, why not us?
It’s important to note that the Moth Race’s status among the Insect Race is not as high as the dragonfly’s; previously, it was okay to have a Nascent Soul leader, but once they decided to escape, they truly fled the battlefield.
The formal collapse of the Insect Race commenced here, at first with some insects attempting to resist desperately, but seeing others gradually slip away, even the strongest insects couldn’t hold on.
It was a battle defeat akin to a landslide; those frantic ant swarms and bee swarms wanted to chase two warships for revenge, but were quickly overwhelmed by the ocean-like insect horde and disappeared without a trace.
The observers of the Seventh Army noticed this change and shouted excitedly, "The Insect Race is in retreat..."
Following that, the scene of the insect’s retreat was cut into the combat rooms of each main warship, though due to the angle problem, it wasn’t very intuitive, despite being filmed from several angles.
However, Captain Garen still noticed the issue and shouted urgently, "Firepower, strengthen firepower at the right rotary arm! Guard against the retreating insects impacting the battle array!"
The idea of the retreating insects possibly impacting the warship battle array? This prediction sounded bizarre; according to common sense, retreating troops had no organization, but instinctively sought advantage and avoided harm—how could they possibly ram themselves directly into a warship?
Yet, as it turns out, his prediction was quite correct. Though the scattering insects were fleeing in all directions, most were rushing towards the main force on one side of the star system, only a small number with apparent ulterior motives were fleeing into the depths of space.
Too many insects wanted to join the main force, inevitably causing congestion, leading some insects to try to "take a shortcut" towards the main force—from another perspective, they were also being squeezed towards the warship’s battle array.
So bolstering firepower on the warship really wasn’t wrong; if the retreating insects scattered the warship’s sustained battle array, it would become a colossal joke.
But compared to Captain Garen, Fang Yingwu displayed a broader vision, "Order all ships, full firepower, try to extend the strike distance, prevent the insects from approaching the star system side!"
His intention was clear, to use this opportunity to try and stop the dispersing insects from returning to the main force as much as possible.
His orders were executed well, by now, officers and soldiers on each warship could visibly see the insect’s retreat, everyone rejoiced tearfully, frantically unleashing ammunition at the insects.
Still, even though the insects faced such a strong blockade, the vast majority were storming towards their main force without looking back, the herd mentality being a curious mindset not easily explained.
Just like the common aura of White Pebble Beach, essentially a psychological cue, yet it created an atmosphere.
There were also relatively rational insects, seeing the danger ahead too great, and choosing to flee into space, but they were very few.
Compared to the warships furiously outputting firepower, the insects’ response was only to accelerate, accelerate again, and accelerate desperately...
Retaliation? It didn’t exist! All insects were fleeing for their lives, even if an insect suddenly got headstrong and wanted to retaliate against the warship, if it dared to stop, the insects behind would show it what "overwhelming force" or "unstoppable momentum" meant.
In the process of returning to the main force, the insects suffered huge losses, far greater than those caused by the two warships from Tianqin, which only executed some High-Rank insects, while nearly thirty percent of the insects were lost in the retreat.
Many of the Insect Race were directly shattered, especially those relatively intelligent ones.
With the Nascent Soul rulers of the race gone, and with four to fifty percent of the group lost... In such a situation, many of the Insect Race not only lost all will to fight, but quite a few even had the thought of sneaking back to escape.
Does it sound a bit contradictory? Desperately returning to the main force, only to harbor thoughts of escape once settled down.
However, this situation is indeed not uncommon on the battlefield, and this mindset is commonly referred to as– "being shattered."
Returning to the battlefield, Fang Yingwu saw the Insect Race fleeing desperately, and without thinking, he rose to pursue them. However, he didn’t dare to chase too quickly; he understood the principle of "do not disrupt a retreating army," opting to harass them slowly instead.
Additionally, he wanted to drive the Insect Race towards the opposing main forces. Achieving this would be great, but if not, it wasn’t a big deal.
In this level of star warfare, deploying formations is very meticulous. If anyone falls out of position, it not only risks their own safety but could also bring about devastating consequences for their side.
However, the main forces of the Insect Race received the news of the collapse here. Two Insect Race clusters came forward, leaving a passage in between, indicating clearly that they intended to reconnect with their routed troops and cut off the enemy’s pursuit.
Commander Southgate’s order timely arrived, "Pay attention to defense; the Insect Race ahead have reinforcements. Engage briefly then retreat..."
"Also, the division agrees that The Seventh Army roaming at the outskirts of the galaxy can greatly alleviate the pressure on the galaxy and is beneficial for the current galaxy defense layout... if you have any practical difficulties, feel free to bring them up."
"Ammunition and energy blocks," Fang Yingwu replied without hesitation, "Medicines and food can still last a while longer, but materials for damage control are also running low. Although our combat time hasn’t been long, the consumption has been tremendous."
Southgate noticed this when The Seventh Army began their frenzied offensive, and even the commander himself was amazed, having previously remarked to his staff, "Only The Seventh Army can execute such aggressive assaults."
Despite The Seventh Army being somewhat treated like stepchildren in this battle, in reality, they are undoubtedly the ace of the Third Legion. Their deployment to face the enemy outside the galaxy is a testament to the strong confidence in them.
Strictly speaking, The Seventh Army excels in interstellar combat. Keeping them around Xingzheng Star for defense does not fully leverage their strengths, let alone in ground defense—not a competition against Luji Troops at which they’re better.
However, although lauded, The Seventh Army’s expenditure on ammunition was extraordinary, unsurprisingly receiving such evaluations.
Southgate had no intention of criticizing this point. Even if he were in command, under such "alley of farewell" battlefield circumstances, he too would expend as much ammunition as he had.
So he simply asked in a deep voice, "How long can your remaining ammunition and energy support you?"
"I haven’t had a chance to tally up yet," Fang Yingwu solemnly replied, "but roughly estimating, I am certain that energy and ammunition are less than half of what we started with."
"So much..." Even though Southgate was mentally prepared, he couldn’t help but be taken aback, "I understand the large ammunition expenditure, but why is the energy consumption also so significant?"
Fang Yingwu knew that Southgate started as a grassroots officer, so he spoke frankly, "Initially, we took a defensive stance, and during side engagements, I ordered a focus on long-range engagements."
Why the defensive posture changed, he didn’t need to explain, because even the orders for The Seventh Army had shifted. As for maintaining long engagement distances, it involves more than just ammunition, it also increases energy consumption.
Southgate furrowed his brow and stated sternly, "I will try to coordinate certain resources for you, but you also need to economize in the upcoming battles... focus on harassment, aiming to preserve sufficient resources for a division-level battle."
A division-level battle’s resources are not the "resources carried by a division," Fang Yingwu shook his head, decisively stating, "That’s impossible. Our current resources are already insufficient, and if we conserve energy and ammunition, what do my soldiers have to disrupt the enemy with?"
"If I could do it all, why would I need you?" Southgate retorted with a cold expression, "Resources are scarce, so source them yourself. I’ve sent you an electronic warrant... You’re facing just a few Insect Race? Do you want to exchange places?"
Even though I’m facing fewer Insect Race, I lack logistics! Fang Yingwu’s mouth twitched slightly, "The duty of The Seventh Army is to fight and win, not to scour for logistics!"
The ace army carries the spirit of an ace; The Seventh Army has never considered logistical issues—they ensure they can fight!
Reaching this point, of course, Fang Yingwu had to lay bare the truth of his situation, "Moreover, after this battle, our medical resources will soon be problematic too, considering the greater needs within the galaxy, we haven’t asked."
"You can purchase from battlefield merchants; the legion will cover the account," Southgate didn’t want to discuss this further, "Don’t complain to me, it’s useless... By the way, whose shuttle-type battleships are those two? Can you procure some resources from them?"
(Update ends, summoning monthly votes.)
