Gu Hang had always been closely monitoring the situation on Steel Wing Star.
The choices made by Tilermungs in the battle at the jump point were, of course, correct, and he fully supported them.
What he feared most was that a general in one of the regional armies would have their own ideas and then create a major upheaval.
To stake the outcome of an entire campaign on a tactic with only a thirty percent chance of success was absolutely unacceptable.
Playing it safe was better than anything else.
Subsequently, the humiliated Green Skin Orcs were not willing to give up. They pursued the fleeing Tianma Fleet all the way to Steel Wing Star.
By that time, the main force of the Tianma Fleet had already been positioned.
The Green Skins, not caring for tactics, launched a fierce and furious attack.
And truth be told, such an aggressive stance did indeed bring great pressure.
Steel Wing Star had not experienced war for many years, and much of the war equipment had only been recently reactivated, causing some initial chaos.
But ultimately, after getting through the initial period of adjustment, they still demonstrated the advantages of a complete planetary defense system, stubbornly repelling the Green Skin Fleet's attack and even inflicting significant casualties.
During that month-long battle, the Green Skin Fleet continuously lost thirty to forty warships, but their gains were limited to destroying some armed space stations and fire platforms. The most important Star Fortress and Starport remained standing. The main force of the Tianma Fleet was preserved, with only three ships lost.
If they could keep trading at such a ratio, it was a deal they could take a hundred times over.
No matter how numerous the Green Skin Fleet was, they could not sustain this rate of attrition.
They soon slowed their offensive.
However, during this process, the Iron-Tooth Clan played another card: a massive number of Green Skin Orcs, using landing pods, descended to the planet's surface.
Forcing a landing on a well-defended planet like Steel Wing Star came at a considerable cost. More than half of the landing pods were intercepted and destroyed during descent.
Yet, the planet was so large that compared to the entire world, even a space city-like Starport was a minor detail. The Green Skin Fleet could always stage a feint in one area to draw attention, then send other ships to less fortified areas to deploy ground troops.
Even if only half made it through, millions of fearless Orcs landed on the ground.
This was exactly what Tilermungs feared most.
If the Iron Tooth Orcs only had an abundance of ships, that would still be manageable. They could rely on the planet's defensive system, coupled with the Tianma Fleet, which was far from defenseless. Who would be afraid then?
It was the vast scale of the ground attack that was worrisome.
When the regular Star Realm Armed Forces battled the Iron Tooth Orcs on the ground, even they struggled significantly, let alone now, when Steel Wing Star's main ground forces were the Planetary Defense Army.
Though numerous, counting over a billion, and of high quality within the Eagle Horse Star Sector, Tilermungs still could not fully trust their capabilities.
The outcome of the ground battle was critical to the space battle. Once a large area of the planetary surface fell, the strategically deployed Anti-Orbit Cannons would be gone. Without the protection of the Anti-Orbit Cannons, the Starport and Star Fortress would be endangered. If these two essential structures were destroyed, Steel Wing Star's orbital defense system would collapse completely.
Then the Tianma Fleet would have to flee again.
And there was no guarantee they could escape.
At this point, they were, in a sense, trapped at Steel Wing Star.
To prevent the worst-case scenario from occurring, Tilermungs reallocated several ships away from the struggle against the Green Skin Fleet to support the ground battle instead.
But the Green Skins had countermeasures as well. Their ships would move into position during key ground battles and open fire on the surface.
Although much of the firepower would be intercepted, it could still provide some support.
Thus, the battle for Steel Wing Star began.
The fighting was still extremely brutal.
Now, Admiral Yuan Chengchuan was very grateful for the twenty ships of supplies previously sent by the alliance.
Although the Eagle Horse Star Sector itself had been prepared with a significant stockpile of supplies gathered on Steel Wing Star before the preparation for war, once the battle truly began, it became apparent that there was never enough military supplies.
Especially since, the supplies sent by the alliance were quality goods.
There's no need to talk about the food and standard ammo, but the crucial items like the heavy explosive rifles, plasma guns, and high-performance thermite bombs were all quite reliable.
Having one could fortify a sturdy fire position; a burst of gunfire or a couple of shots from a plasma gun could destroy a rampaging Orc War Truck or eliminate a killing machine.
This could often save a position or spare dozens of lives.
Steel Wing Star's land mass accounted for 43% of the globe, mainly consisting of a single large continent situated in the eastern hemisphere. The scale of the ground combat quickly expanded to nearly the entire northern hemisphere.
But human forces couldn't completely neglect the southern hemisphere.
The Green Skins descended from drop pods, and from each 'meteorite' made of rock and metal, often thousands, if not millions, of Green Skins would emerge. As long as one landed, the impact site and the surrounding area would have to sound the alarm.