Even though the Imperial warships had begun to provide precision fire support from outer space,
the performance and firepower of these new "class" hovercraft of the Empire were outstanding,
but the Insect Swarm was simply too numerous.
The combat perspectives transmitted back from the planet’s surface were broadcast by the media, and soldiers were engulfed by the Insect Swarm the moment dark clouds loomed, with a dozen or more hovercraft exploding instantly.
The members of the special forces, who were cool before the battle, also became helpless lambs after being surrounded by the Insect Swarm.
No matter how strong the muscle power of the transformed people was, it couldn’t withstand ten insects pouncing at once.
Warriors modified mechanically were doing fairly standard; they were able to continuously support their comrades with superior firepower, but their combat effectiveness only lasted until their energy batteries ran out.
For ground combat, the Empire was clearly underprepared.
Aboard the flagship of the Empire, General Thomas clenched his fists tightly.
He knew, sending these soldiers to the planet’s surface was merely sending them to their deaths, but it was a strategy the military had to execute.
Only through the sacrifice of the soldiers could the full fire coverage tactic gain public acceptance and spare the military from bearing the blame for destroying Zubin Star.
The public didn’t know how brutal the war with the Insect Race was; this battle would let them understand.
There was only one way to deal with the Insect Race—obliterate them.
Of course, if the soldiers really could find the Mother Worm and toss a high-performance Energy-Gathering Bomb into its maw, then General Thomas would also be willing to grant them the fame of heroes.
Everything was flexible; decisions had to be made decisively based on the constantly changing situation on the battlefield.
But from the current combat situation, things did not look optimistic.
Thomas didn’t want too many soldiers to die or be injured; he was waiting for the moment to declare ground combat a failure and for the warships to enter the atmosphere to cover the soldiers’ retreat.
"General! There is an object resembling a missile, approaching Landing Zone Three from an altitude of three hundred meters above the planet’s surface at high speed!"
Thomas frowned at the officer reporting this information.
He was in command of the entire ship; he couldn’t focus on slight peculiarities in a local battle.
Thomas spoke coldly, "What is so special about this flying object that you report it to me instead of directly shooting it down?"
"Yes, General! It is special!"
The middle-aged officer’s eyes gleamed as he hastened to enlarge an image and pushed it in front of Thomas.
The target was a "fish-shaped" flying object.
The overall design was somewhat exaggerated, the front intake painted like a gaping maw, with a three-dimensional emblem of the Emperor Star prominently placed on top, and behind the emblem of the Emperor Star, a simplified image of the White Ghost was quite conspicuous.
Thomas’s brows furrowed tightly.
He immediately remembered that media from Emperor Star were filming him and quickly regained his composure.
"What is he trying to do?"
"General! He’s coming to ! We’ve received a message from the White Ghost; he is going to support the ground combat troops! Searching for the Mother Worm!"
"That’s a Mecha! The flyer expanded into a Mecha! Such a long Light Blade! It’s a close-combat Mecha!"
"General, the White Ghost has started a live broadcast... he’s attacking the Insect Swarm!"
General Thomas was momentarily stunned.
He gazed at the image on the big screen, reminding himself not to let minor peculiarities affect his grasp of the bigger picture.
A decision had to be made quickly.
Now was a war of extermination that the entire population was watching;
He couldn’t make a decision that would embarrass the military.
"Send a message, thank the White Ghost for joining the fight, ask him to follow the unified commands of the ground leadership, all for the glory of Emperor Star!"