"The gap is too large," Bai Zhongqi said, shaking his head as he looked at the battlefield images in front of him.
He hadn't expected that the Spiral Mosquito's combined weapon systems would have such formidable power. This approach was not a common tactic and was technically complex, yet it seemed to be very effective now.
The Snow Dragon Alliance Fleet's anti-air firepower was inadequate, not only in quantity but also in quality. Spiral Mosquito warplanes could easily maneuver through gaps in the barrage, and the proportion of aircraft shot down by anti-air firepower was less than 15%. With such a pitiful hit rate, the Spiral Mosquito warplanes had much more room to maneuver.
After releasing wave after wave of warplanes, the Spiral Mosquito Fleet also formed into a bombardment formation. These large firepower weapons, driven by the energy cores of the warships themselves, were mightier than the combined weapons of the aircraft. The firing from the Spiral Mosquito warships forced the Snow Dragon Alliance Fleet to divert their efforts to contend with these more than 400 Spiral Mosquito warships.
Without the specific technical parameters of both fleets, Bai Zhongqi observed the reaction of the energy shields. From the very slight ripples on the shields of the Spiral Mosquito warships, it was evident that only a large number of alliance warships concentrating their firepower could surpass the natural recovery rate of the energy shields, but even then, the speed of the shield's depletion was very slow.
However, the Spiral Mosquito warships employed a more efficient mass attack tactic, where the bombardment from fifty or even a hundred warships simultaneously hit a single Alliance warship. It wasn't just the shields but also the armor that were breached. They fired in rapid succession, destroying a warship within seconds, while seemingly unconcerned about their own slowly decreasing shield value.
Just at that moment, numerous Spiral Mosquito warships suddenly appeared near several spacetime corridor nodes close to the battlefield.
"As expected, it turned into a trap," sighed Bai Zhongqi. He had known this from the start, but Di Maquan and the others were oblivious.
Although the Iridium Star did not possess spacetime corridor navigation technology, they at least had a basic understanding of the principles and some related information. For civilizations like the Light Valley, however, such technology was overly advanced, and they lacked any method to detect the nodes.
What had originally been the smallest Spiral Mosquito Fleet had now drawn in over five thousand Spiral Mosquito warships. The other three fleets were also converging on the battlefield, outnumbering the Snow Dragon Alliance Fleet in terms of numbers.
Di Maquan's Radar Officer reported in a strained voice, "A large enemy force has appeared near the battlefield, with the fastest group expected to reach the contact zone within twenty minutes!"
Di Maquan felt as if his heart had turned to ash; he had not anticipated that the situation would collapse so quickly.
"The situation is beyond redemption, commence full retreat." No amount of military training could change the outcome in such a vast disparity in strength, and Di Maquan couldn't expect the fleet to fight to the death.
The warships themselves hailed from different civilizations and had varied objectives and thoughts. Even if he did not issue a full retreat order at this moment, it was likely that the captains of these warships would take matters into their own hands and retreat independently. Without mutual support, the casualties from such a retreat would be even more devastating.
At that moment, Xu Lanzhou, still holding his teacup, turned to Bai Zhongqi and asked, "Your Majesty, it's time for us to strike. Though the Spiral Mosquito Fleet is formidable, compared to our Iridium Star Fleet, they're still no match."
Bai Zhongqi nodded gravely and asked, "How many forces do you plan to deploy?"
"Four brigades to enter the battlefield together and end the battle in the fastest, most decisive way."
"Yes," Bai Zhongqi responded.
As he spoke, he secretly operated the Iridium Star Ship. Although the Iridium Star Ship wasn't actually present in the Third Universe, as long as he had his key pendant, he could open a wormhole for the fleet.
Xu Lanzhou left the captain's cabin and entered the bridge, assuming command. This was her first battle since returning to the Iridium Star United Empire, and she now had not only to secure victory for Bai Zhongqi but also to prove her strength to everyone in the Iridium Star Empire Army.
But Bai Zhongqi had already arrived at the fleet near Nuoye Star, and the three fleet regiments there were already ready for battle. He opened another wormhole and ordered Yu Dangkou, Li Cheng, and Qi Xiao, the three regiment leaders, to lead their troops into battle.
"It's finally coming, hahaha, you beasts of the Spiral Mosquito, this time we will completely obliterate you from every universe," old General Yu Dangkou felt a surge of emotion, harboring a deep personal vendetta against the Spiral Mosquito people.
Li Cheng and Qi Xiao, the two young generals, appeared more composed.
In the midst of a hasty retreat, Di Maquan had already despairingly discovered that his alternating cover tactics were ineffective against the enemy.
The more than 100,000 Spiral Mosquito warplanes attacked with great agility. The fleet being covered would immediately be bombarded by the group of warplanes' combined weapons, while the fleet left behind to provide cover would be scattered by the Spiral Mosquito fleet within minutes of contact.
The Spiral Mosquito fleet acted more like an extremely powerful cavalry unit. They ignored forming battle lines and exchanged fire with the alliance fleet. Upon realizing Di Maquan's intentions, the Spiral Mosquito fleet directly charged and broke through the covering fleet, forcing the fleeing alliance fleets.
With more Spiral Mosquito warships joining the battlefield, the already faltering alliance fleet was now in a dire situation. Retreat was no longer an option; it had become a breakout.
At this moment, Di Maquan was completely demoralized. As a top-ranking general from the Light Valley Civilization, he had always been a formidable presence in Sector C, and even the Klaren Civilization's fleets had to give way to him. He had thought he could at least match the Spiral Mosquito people when he took on the command of the alliance fleet.
But it was all an illusion; his face was metaphorically swollen from the first exchange.
He hadn't only lost but his life was likely to end here as well.
As he was about to resign to his fate, he suddenly remembered the Iridium Star Warships stationed outside Juhe Star and thought, "What if those Iridium Star people also joined the battle? Could the situation be different?"
But he quickly dismissed the idea himself, "No, the Spiral Mosquito fleet is just too strong. The arrival of the other three fleets on the battlefield took just the blink of an eye. Even if the Iridium Star fleet is comparable to my Light Valley Civilization fleet, a thousand ships couldn't possibly handle such a formidable enemy."
Di Maquan's thoughts were in turmoil, and he had lost the will to continue commanding the battle. If the alliance fleet lost, although the Snow Dragon Alliance hadn't lost everything, what good would it do to rearm another fleet of the same size? The end result would still be ultimate defeat by the Spiral Mosquito people.