Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 533

Chapter 531: Kick Their Asses

Xiong Lei, perched high in a tower within the fortress, watched through a small window through a telescope as the battle surrounding the two Fury Space Marines unfolded. His palms sweated with nervousness.

Though small in scale, the battle’s significance almost determined the outcome for the hundreds of thousands of men he led.

On Yuehe VII.3, the option of ‘saving lives and losing territory’ was unlikely. Each situation required a specific analysis. The survival of this planet depended on orbital defense. Otherwise, when the enemy’s superior navy unleashed a ground bombardment, it would be nearly impossible to defend directly, forcing them to resort to guerrilla warfare.

While that wouldn’t be ineffective, on a larger scale, it would mean the loss of the entire planet.

To hold the planet, they had to defend the numerous orbital artillery fortresses on the surface, ensuring a direct threat to space from the ground, deterring the enemy navy from reckless bombardment.

Ground fortresses like those manned by the 311th Division were vital nodes. Losing one or two might not be a major problem; losing ten or eight would pose a serious threat to the entire region. The enemy could deploy ground forces and supplies from that area with greater impunity, making its recapture even more difficult. With the threat reduced, the enemy’s navy could then move to the corresponding orbital zone, allowing firepower to flow smoothly and uninterrupted.

Returning to Xiong Lei’s own situation, if the fortress fell, evacuating even his surviving troops would be difficult. The journey to the next defensible fortress was long, and without cover, they would be constantly under pursuit and bombardment, with countless casualties to be expected.

From these perspectives, the fortress could not be lost, even if it meant bleeding dry.

And right now, the siege of the Fury Space Marines he was observing was practically the deciding factor in victory or defeat.

To be honest, Xiong Lei’s initial impression of Space Marines wasn’t very strong.

He had seen a phoenix once, but only for a fleeting glimpse. Even then, he was deeply impressed by these heroic Transcendental Warriors. He knew these Angels of Death possessed immense strength, but how exactly?

Lately, he’d believed it was the Space Marines’ individual prowess that proved so effective in special operations and in securing specialized locations. This was especially true in complex terrain, such as those inaccessible to heavy tanks.

But now, observing firsthand, he realized he’d underestimated the Space Marines’ frontal combat capabilities.

He’d witnessed how two Furies, under fierce firepower, dismantled eight Sentinels and three Regenerative Power Armor Elites in just two minutes.

Equipment advantage?

No, no, no, it was far more complex than that.

Simply framing the Space Marines’ advantage over mortal soldiers as simply being able to wear more powerful Power Armor, possessing greater strength and reflexes, and possessing more accurate shooting skills… was far more complex than that.

When every metric surpassed that of mortals, they seemed to have truly achieved a transcendence of life.

Were their own Sentinels and Regenerative Power Armor truly so much inferior in performance to the MK.8s equipped by the two Furies?

Not necessarily?

But it felt like a trick.

The elites, who were always a step behind the others, could usually hit targets with guaranteed accuracy, even at high speeds. Now, they were like wooden stakes, their reactions slow and stiff, unable to keep up. Conversely, the massive Fury Warriors were like ghosts. Their positions were always uncanny. Even from a bird’s-eye view, allowing him to better see the situation, Xiong Lei was often stunned by these Space Marines, unable to see clearly.

At this point, he could almost tell that defeating the two Furys with just thirty Sentinels and ten Elite Feedback Armorers was practically impossible.

Even with a considerable number of ordinary soldiers nearby, their assistance was minimal.

Observing the battle, Xiong Lei sighed deeply.

Honestly, this situation had shattered his illusions.

In his imagination, if he could just wipe out the Fury Warriors like this, that would have been ideal.

But now that he couldn’t, his illusions were shattered, and he had to return to reality.

Returning to reality also has its own tactics.

High in the tower, he shifted his telescope slightly. Five or six engineering teams were rapidly approaching their battle area.

Ten minutes later, when only half of the 311th Division’s elite troops remained, the engineers finally arrived.

Only then was the order to evacuate given to the elite warriors locked in a desperate battle with the two Fury Flames.

They began to retreat.

The two Fury Flames seemed to sense something was amiss.

They didn’t pursue them, or even break out of their previous target, instead choosing to retreat.

This somewhat disrupted Xiong Lei’s plans, but it was still too late for the Fury Flames to withdraw.

This area was practically Xiong Lei’s battlefield, meticulously prepared for the enemy. The firepower points here served as bait. Previously, the Fury Flames had attacked various areas, but Xiong Lei had held his ground, waiting for them to strike here.

There was no clear area below.

If the mobile force could eliminate the two Fury Flames, that would be the best and safest option; but if that wasn’t possible, they could lure them here and make their next move.

The engineering corps within the unit had already calculated the explosives and blast points needed to collapse the area.

Now was the time to act.

“Blast! Blast now!” He grabbed the intercom.

“But… our men haven’t all been evacuated yet…” The officer leading the engineers on the front line hesitated.

“No time to bother! Blast! If we don’t blow it up now, all the sacrifices we’ve made so far will be in vain!”

This decision was driven by Nuyan’s astute judgment: they were evacuating this trapped area.

They couldn’t escape!

Following the clear order, the frontline commander gritted his teeth and made the decision.

The explosives detonated. Boom!

Beneath the sky-high flames and smoke, there was a violent explosion, followed by the resounding sound of buildings and floors collapsing.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the place where the two Nuyans had been besieged was reduced to rubble.

But Xiong Lei still felt it wasn’t safe enough.

He was deeply impressed by the strength of the Space Marines.

The explosion had collapsed, and the men were buried, but… were they truly dead?

Xiong Lei couldn’t guarantee it.

After pondering for a moment, he decided to use his backup plan just to be on the safe side.

The division possessed relatively few Sentinel Mechs and Feedback Power Armor, but it still possessed a significant number of tanks.

The surrounding area had been cleared, and after a wave of bombing, a considerable amount of open space had been created, perfect for tank parking.

In the defense of a fortress, heavy armored vehicles like tanks had limited scope for use, so they were best utilized here.

Several Lion King tanks led the charge, and dozens of Lion tanks, supported by a large number of infantry, formed a perimeter around the area,

guarding the corpses.

After two days, they actually achieved some success.

Three other Fury Warriors raided the area.

This was certainly not normal.

This wasn’t a strategically important defensive point, and it was heavily guarded. No matter how thick a Space Marine’s armor was, it couldn’t compare to a Lion tank, let alone a mobile fortress. The main and secondary guns of both tanks were capable of inflicting a devastating blow to a Space Marine. Even if a direct hit wasn’t a direct hit, a relatively close blast point could still inflict significant damage.

They had no reason to attack here, unless the two Furies buried below were truly alive and had come to rescue their comrades.

Then, a Fury actually emerged from the rubble.

Upon hearing the news, Xiong Lei’s hair stood on end—Space Marines, so difficult to kill!

These were just two ordinary Space Marines.

He wondered how those dozens of the Fury’s most elite warriors, so thrillingly described in those bloody battles, had been slaughtered. It was unimaginable

!

Fortunately, only one emerged from the rubble, and he was severely wounded.

The three Furies who arrived to provide support were unable to break through the tank encirclement. Their plasma blasts destroyed two Lions and severely damaged a Lion King. But it was the Lion King itself that unleashed a powerful barrage of heavy artillery on the three Furies.

They had retreated behind a wall, but the single volley still shattered the entire structure and injured one of the Furies. The subsequent secondary guns killed him.

Meanwhile, the Fury who had emerged from the rubble was entangled by a swarm of infantry. He unleashed a killing spree, but was also held there, unable to escape. The Alliance forces, reacting quickly, deployed Sentinels and Power Armor Elites, ultimately slew the crippled Fury.

Having lost one man and knowing their battle comrades were already dead, the two remaining Furies saw no reason to continue fighting and ultimately retreated. Even

the most formidable Space Marines couldn’t engage heavily armored units head-on—unless they were deployed in large groups and equipped with specialized weaponry.

Neither of these conditions existed for the two surviving Furies, so

they retreated in dismay.   After the battle, Xiong Lei organized engineers to excavate the site.

There   was another Fury buried there.   He was likely dead, otherwise he wouldn’t have surfaced when his brothers came to rescue him.   However, he remained concerned until he saw the body.   After three days of digging, the body was finally found,   and Xiong Lei finally felt relieved.   Although two of the Fury still survived, and after their three brothers’ deaths, they vented their fury with frenzied revenge, subsequently engaging in even more frequent and ruthless attacks,   their numbers had clearly dropped from five to two, and any further attacks wouldn’t be as ferocious, significantly reducing the damage sustained by their forces.   Furthermore, targeted traps were set one after another.   Although the enemy increased their vigilance, and several ambushes failed to eliminate the two, each encounter was still a close call for them.   Eventually, they were forced to exercise even greater caution to avoid setbacks,   further reducing the frequency of their attacks.   Under these circumstances, Xiong Lei’s troops were able to recapture several previously captured areas, even briefly driving the rebels from the fortress.   However, they quickly mobilized heavy firepower and fought back.   Xiong Lei commanded the 311th, 077th, and 240th Divisions, numbering over 100,000 men, who held the fortress area, braving the turmoil of two opposing forces within and surrounded by a force three or four times their size.   The fortress held enough supplies to sustain them for a considerable period. Occasionally, friendly forces would break through the encirclement and enter the fortress, bringing them valuable supplies. Airdrops were also a means of transporting supplies.   However, these supply methods were unreliable, and the fortress’s reserves would be depleted as the fighting intensified. Furthermore, there was simply no place to replace the dead and wounded.   Xiong Lei repeatedly petitioned for reinforcements, but to no avail.   He couldn’t even transport the wounded, let alone rotate the troops.   But what else could he do?   He gritted his teeth and persevered.

After holding on for another half month,

his troops once again repelled the enemy’s attack.

To date, his troops have suffered more than 60,000 casualties, which has dealt a considerable blow to the combat effectiveness of the entire unit.

But it is gratifying that the enemy has paid at least 160,000 casualties to kill these 60,000 of them.

And today, after being repelled again, the enemy’s behavior is a bit strange: they have retreated more than 20 kilometers as a whole.

What does this mean?

Can’t fight anymore? Don’t want to fight anymore?

Xiong Lei thinks it is unlikely.

He and his staff are more inclined to believe that the enemy has suffered too many losses in the past period of time and needs to retreat to accumulate strength for the future.

Although the enemy will inevitably come back, and by then the invading enemy will probably be even larger and more powerful.

But at least for now, they can breathe a sigh of relief.

The troops still have no chance to withdraw to change guards. The order Xiong Lei received is still for his three divisions to die here.

But after more than six months of continuous fighting, even if they all claimed to be elite soldiers, soldiers were still human. After demonstrating heroic courage under brutal trials, they should also consider the fragility of flesh and blood.

He planned to take this opportunity to waste some of the logistical supplies, using up some of the food in the warehouses. He could also loosen up the supply of more scarce items like alcohol and cigarettes for a day or two. He could

even allow the companies, regiments, and battalions that were resting to hold small internal parties.

Relaxing a little, easing the tension, would also help restore morale.

The weather was beautiful, the night clear and the stars shone brightly.

Soldiers, drinking wine, eating canned military food, and smoking around the campfire, looked up and could even see a long-tailed meteor streaking across the sky.

One, two, three…

the meteor’s trail grew larger and larger.

“Beep, beep, beep!”

The rapid sirens blared, and the scene suddenly became panic-stricken.

Everyone knew it was an orbital airstrike.

But what could they do?

Seek cover, lie low, shiver… they

couldn’t even think about the campfire.

They could only pray that the fortress’s anti-orbital interceptor fire would be effective.

As if their prayers had been heard, the fortress’s anti-orbital systems detected the attack and opened fire.

Meteors were intercepted one by one, even a rapid beam of light was stopped.

However, this time the enemy space navy seemed determined.

The barrage of fire was incredibly intense.

Ultimately, the orbital guns failed to intercept everything.

A lance of light pierced the fortress.

The anti-orbital system’s main gun was destroyed.

Then, missiles, macrocannons, and lances rained down.

One anti-orbital weapon after another was destroyed, while those that missed the target were directly hit throughout the fortress.

The soldiers on the surface could only pray desperately.

After two hours of concentrated bombardment, the traitor navy’s orbital strike finally ended.

The fortress, already weathered by more than six months of fighting, was now utterly ruined. Its anti-orbital systems and the garrison within were buried within the ruins.

…

‘Fortress 224 on Planet Yuehe VII.3 has been completely destroyed by the enemy navy. The 5th Army Group, comprising the 077th, 240th, and 311th Divisions, has been completely annihilated.’

To Perbov, the vanguard commander, the fate of Xiong Lei’s troops was captured in this brief sentence.

Furthermore, this sentence wasn’t sent to Perbov alone; it was a single line within a larger report, mingled with the unit numbers of numerous other units, barely registering.

In fact, the fate of the 311th Skeleton Division wasn’t an isolated incident.

This was the general situation across the entire Yuehe VII.3 planet, the only difference being that some had been bombed to pieces, some had been conquered, and some were still holding out…

This wasn’t just on this planet; the defensive line of over twenty fortified worlds that Perbov had constructed around the northern bulge of the Menghe Sector was a similar situation.

Warfare was undoubtedly brutal, and soldiers’ lives were constantly being consumed on various planets.

This was also Perbov’s first time independently leading such a large-scale, multi-sector campaign.

He was naturally nervous and unsure if his decisions were truly sound.

Only now could he confidently say that he hadn’t made a major mistake.

They had fought so hard in retreat to the Central North River, the Back North River, and the Med, three sectors where numerous fortress worlds had been built, let alone actively engaging the main force of the Fury in the Front North River, or in the Valley Sound and Seth sectors.

If he had made the wrong choice, serious consequences would have beenfallen.

However, while the decision was correct, the pressure at this moment was immense.

Sitting at the command center, the most common messages he received were requests for help, help, and help.

The divisions fighting on the front lines asked the army groups for reinforcements, and the army groups in turn asked for reinforcements from the army groups. However, each army group was often responsible for defending multiple planets, and their manpower was equally stretched, so they kept asking Perbov for reinforcements.

What else did Perbov have?

With only one army group, he could only split it up into divisions, trying his best to deploy them to the fiercest areas of the fighting, but it was often a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, he couldn’t deploy all his reserves at once.

The local Allied forces gathered from the southern Menghe star field were more numerous, but with insufficient naval strength, deploying them safely was a major problem.

Even if the deployment was successful, the defense forces deployed would still be at a significant disadvantage in a real battle with the princess’s rebels.

It still wouldn’t change the overall situation.

Perbov also had to coordinate the navy. Although weak, he couldn’t completely conceal his presence and couldn’t let the enemy navy run rampant. Furthermore, he had to rely on the navy to protect the transports and deliver as many reinforcements and logistical supplies as possible to the surfaces of the various fortress planets…

Perbov was so overwhelmed that he had never experienced such great pressure in his life.

This was different from the dilemma he was in.

Facing the front lines, he could easily abandon everything and just go for it, driven by pure passion.

If he wasn’t afraid of death, perhaps he could even survive.

But in his current position, that wasn’t an option. He was

treading on thin ice. A single order, a single decision, could determine the lives of tens of millions, even tens of millions.

The pressure was simply too daunting.

But what could he do?

He had to grit his teeth and hold on.

The soldiers and officers on the front lines were holding on, and so was he, the commander-in-chief.

There was no retreat.

This line of defense was the last lifeline.

If it was breached, the enemy would advance straight through, leaving no defenses behind.

Furthermore, the good news was that he wouldn’t have to hold out for long.

He had learned that the Alliance had completed its final mobilization on the mainland.

The army, led by Governor Gu himself, had already departed.

And something even more surprising happened—he received a call from Yan Fangxu.

“This is Perbov,” he said, his tone at first cautious.

Across from him, Yan Fangxu smiled mischievously: “Guess where I am?”

“Be serious!” Perbov said with a stern face, then, as if realizing something, asked, “Are you…”

“I’m already here.” Yan Fangxu’s smile faded. “Comrade Perbov, you’ve worked hard. The Governor-General has ordered us to complete the next task together. This time, I’ve brought seven Alliance Army Groups, and with me, the ‘Raging Owl.'”

Perbov finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had thought he would have to hold out until the Governor-General arrived, but unexpectedly, reinforcements had arrived first.

Seven Army Groups meant 140 million genuine Alliance Army soldiers;

the ‘Raging Owl’ was the Alliance’s newly completed battlecruiser!

With all this, even Yan Fangxu’s face, which he had always found somewhat disliked, now looked endearing.

Perbov didn’t mind someone with a higher position and rank than him coming to ‘seize power’; he only cared about one thing:

“Great! You came at the right time! I can’t wait to kick their asses!”

————

Although I stayed up late to post, I

still have 6k and 122k to go.

My writing state was pretty bad last month, and I could barely keep up the updates; I hope to recover this month and pay back some of the debt.

(End of this chapter)