Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 628

Chapter 626, Adversity

Gu Hang stood at the very center of the Storm Kingdom, his consciousness pervading the entire nation.

In this near-eternal battle of attrition, who would be the ultimate victor?

Your Zerg swarm is endless, my

Heroic Spirits are infinitely resurrected. But in reality, nothing is truly infinite. What about the Warp Shadow? Does it truly vacuum up the Warp? To put it bluntly, isn’t it simply a force projected from the Zerg into the Warp?

If this kind of mutual attrition were truly waged, the invading Zerg would be constantly slain and eliminated, effectively weakening the Warp Shadow.

Once this weakening reached a certain point, the Warp Shadow might no longer be able to persist.

The same could be said for Gu Hang.

The invading Zerg swarms were annihilated by the thunderbolts, and that thunderbolt also drained the Storm Kingdom’s strength. If the Zerg swarms destroyed the Heroic Spirits, then resurrecting them would also drain the Kingdom’s strength.

If the draining were excessive, the Storm Kingdom might collapse.

Regardless of the outcome, this attritional battle would be a protracted process. It was unclear how long it would take for a conclusion to emerge.

Who would ultimately win and who would lose?

Gu Hang didn’t know, at least not yet.

But Gu Hang hadn’t forgotten the true nature of this “eternal” war in the Warp: it served the purpose of the confrontation between the fleets of both sides in the real universe.

Based on the current trajectory, regardless of who ultimately emerged victorious, the naval battle in the real universe was undoubtedly over.

So, what was the current state of the naval battle in the real universe?

It seemed the Alliance was at a disadvantage.

Without the intervention of psychic forces on either side, the Alliance fleets were clearly inferior in both strength and size.

Judging by conventional naval warfare, the Alliance’s performance was flawed. The gap in fleet strength had already existed, and when the enemy crossed the warp point, the Alliance’s ability to seize the initiative was poor, and Varuk’s series of sleek, controlled moves effectively negated their opportunity.

Varuk’s fleet had already weathered the most perilous moment, crossing the astral tunnel and reaching the warp point. Now, with both sides in full battle formation, relying solely on the fleet’s own firepower, what fear does the mechanical fleet have?

The Alliance certainly has an Emperor-class ship, but are the enemy’s two mechanical arks truly capable of such a challenge?

A few years ago, the Alfonzo II, the most war-oriented of the three Mechanical Arks of the Alfonzo Cult, was destroyed. The two remaining are conventional Mechanical Arks.

While conventional Mechanical Arks are certainly comparable in size to War Arks, they have more production and research capabilities. After all, Mechanical Arks aren’t typically designed for warfare. Despite this

, their combat effectiveness remains impressive. They’re a full class larger than typical battleships and can accommodate ten times the number of regular crew members. While they may seem a bit cumbersome due to the weight of their non-combat equipment, the sheer number of heavy artillery they pack in is impressive.

While one Mechanical Ark might not rival an Emperor-class ship, two are definitely more powerful than one.

Not to mention, there were also Retribution-class battleships and battlecruisers nearby, both of which outnumbered the Alliance.

In a decisive fleet engagement, the Alliance was outmatched in firepower, armor, and shielding.

If the battle continued in this conventional manner, the Alliance fleet would ultimately lose.

In reality, the Alliance had also recognized the problem.

After consulting with Gu Hang and learning that they likely couldn’t count on psychic support in the short term, the Alliance promptly adjusted their strategy.

They no longer concentrated their firepower on the enemy’s main battleships. Directly focusing fire on a giant ship without psychic support was not the strategy of a weaker force.

A single mechanical ark was targeted, but so what? These core giant ships were stationed at the core of their fleet formation, surrounded by numerous other ships as a barrier.

What was the point of the frigates? Not only did the giant ship’s own short-range firepower intercept enemy fire, but these frigates also did the same.

With these layers of interception, the amount of firepower that could reach the giant ship itself was already very limited. The mechanical arks were massive, with powerful void shields and armor, making them inherently difficult to destroy. Despite the supposedly concentrated firepower, the small amount of firepower that actually hit them was insufficient to do anything.

Even if bad luck meant their interception efficiency wasn’t up to par for a while, and their void shields were even showing signs of overload, a few frigates or even cruisers, positioned directly in front of the massive ships to form a shield, could prevent their own ships from being destroyed or annihilated.

For the weaker side, adopting such a tactic was a gamble. Unless they were incredibly lucky, and some unexpected circumstance on the battlefield allowed their firepower to penetrate all sorts of defenses, swiftly destroying one of the enemy’s massive ships and tipping the balance of power, then fighting for so long would yield no results, a huge loss!

It would be better to attack the smaller ships. Destroying a frigate meant the enemy had one less barrier; destroying a cruiser meant a reduction in their firepower.

This change proved effective.

The mechanical fleet began to suffer losses.

Even if a few small boats were destroyed, it was still a loss.

However, under the same conditions, the Alliance lost far more small boats. This

was because the enemy was also using the same tactics.

Besides this, the Alliance had another option: Space Marines.

While without psychic teleportation, reaching enemy ships quickly, smoothly, and with a high success rate was impossible, psychic teleportation was not the only method for conducting boarding operations.

Without psychic powers, boarding operations were no longer possible. In fact, many Chapters’ Librarians lacked the ability to conduct large-scale teleportation, yet everyone still used this method during battles.

Landing craft, boarding torpedoes, boarding bays… these more traditional methods were not ineffective.

Furthermore, the Alliance also possessed a Zhuge-class aircraft carrier. This massive vessel could also be of considerable use during landing operations.

This was how the Alliance operated.

The New World Torch volunteered, even though they lost more than two hundred people in the battle to attack Alamyta. However, at this time, they were still willing to take the main attack, even though they knew that in the current disadvantageous naval battle, there would be great sacrifices in boarding operations, and they were willing to do it at all costs.

Wang Mengsong’s previous actions had eased tensions between the Atonement Battalion and the new chapter, allowing for the acceptance of some of the old Torch’s ideas and culture, and reducing their reckless tactics. However, the chapter’s ethos of “sacrifice to cleanse sin” remained unchanged.

The Fury held similar sentiments, though not as strongly as the Torch. They, too, were volunteering.

Ye Lishia approved their attack, but not their full force.

They’d just give it a try.

Gu Hang’s current focus was overwhelmingly on the warp. He was fortunate to occasionally spare the energy to observe the naval battle, but he couldn’t spare the time to make decisions. Otherwise, the current balance of power within the Kingdom of Storm God might be disrupted, leading to significant losses.

Stripping Gu Hang of his psychic powers, simply from the perspective of commanding a naval battle, showed that he wasn’t a professional, and Ye Lishia should have handled the situation.

The New World Torch and Fury Flame Chapters each deployed two hundred warriors for boarding.

At the same time, she activated her high authority and mobilized another hidden force: the Shadow Chapter, forged from phoenix seeds.

Of course, she didn’t know what the Shadow Chapter was, and no matter how much Gu Hang trusted her, he couldn’t reveal such a thing.

But that didn’t stop Gu Hang from telling her that it was a powerful force, far superior on average to the other two Chapters, and could be deployed when necessary.

This proved to be true.

Due to the potential limitations imposed by the gene-seed, the Fury and New World Torch Chapters, forged from the Lesser Infinite Warrior Seed, only produced Company Champions at a rate of 2% to 3%. For the Phoenix Seed, this rate fluctuated between 10% and 15%.

This Shadow Chapter boasted over a hundred Company Champions, more than enough to form a full Company of Champions.

Ye Lisia didn’t exactly destroy them. Losing even a few of these troops during boarding would be too painful. She simply sent 200 men, including a reasonable proportion of 20 Champions.

Six hundred Space Marines assembled in batches aboard various warships, boarded landing craft and torpedoes, and were launched.

The initial stage of space travel presented a relatively low risk. Distant and small, they lacked the noise of lances, missiles, and macrocannons, making them less susceptible to detection and interception at long range.

Just as they had flown nearly halfway across the battlefield and were about to enter the enemy’s key area of close-range interception, the Hippogriff struck.

Before this, its presence was somewhat low, essentially deploying Kirin fighters to complement its own fleet’s firepower, targeting cruisers and destroyers for harassment. Dragon Elephant fighters, even those suicidal patrol ships, needed to be deployed effectively, otherwise they would be a loss. In reality, such opportunities had been rare in previous battles. But

now, it was time for it to be effective.

Its target was the two Draco-class battlecruisers among the Mechanicus’ warships.

These two warships were precisely the targets of the Space Marines’ boarding.

The Hippogriff launched a patrol ship and over twenty fighters of all classes towards each of these targets.

Once in position, these deployed forces unleashed full firepower, ignoring the threats from the frigates and the battlecruisers themselves, unleashing their full firepower.

The damage inflicted was significant.

Especially when launched directly into the enemy’s face, some of the firepower was able to penetrate the void shields and directly impact the ships.

The two Serpent-class battlecruisers each took a significant hit.

However, their failure to destroy the ship was a pity, and would have had no significant impact on the battle.

Meanwhile, the Space Marines’ boarding torpedoes arrived one after another.

The damage dealt by the ships and aircraft dropped by the carriers was secondary; the primary purpose was to disrupt the enemy’s fleet deployment and draw their attention through a surprise attack.

They had achieved their objective.

When the boarding torpedoes and landing craft arrived, the enemy’s intercepting firepower was not fully operational, distracted by the ships previously launched by the carriers. The enemy’s firepower, which was temporarily diverted to intercept these torpedoes and landing craft, was insufficient.

A significant number of the boarding craft were launched, many of which were empty, or consisted of only a few soldiers and marines. To put it bluntly, they were essentially cannon fodder.

If they successfully landed, they would operate alongside the Space Marines and provide assistance. However, their primary role was to act as a distraction during the boarding craft’s flight.

Only one-tenth of the boarding craft contained Space Marines; the rest were either empty or loaded with cannon fodder.

Even though the enemy’s close-range firepower was diverted, a third of the boarding craft were still destroyed. Because the boarding craft’s flight paths and formations were carefully orchestrated, the majority of those destroyed were actually cannon fodder.

Overall, the number of Space Marines killed during the boarding process didn’t exceed a hundred, perhaps only around seventy or eighty.

The remainder had essentially completed their boarding.

Boarding torpedoes and airships slammed into the ships. Space Marines, along with the few surviving “cannon fodder” Marines, rushed inside and engaged the Skitarii from the two Serpent-class battlecruisers.

As the battle progressed, something began to feel amiss.

The enemy wasn’t just Skitarii; the biologically and mechanically modified units mentioned in previous battle reports were present.

These monsters were no match for the Space Marines and were ultimately defeated.

However, not all the Space Marines were able to achieve their combat objectives.

They certainly weren’t here to seize the ship; the conditions for seizing a ship simply weren’t there.

They were here to destroy it.

Whether it was destroying the bridge, the brain of the ship, leaving it without a command center, or destroying the engine, leaving it without power, or even detonating the ammunition and fuel depots, destroying the ship directly from the inside… In short, the goal was to render the ship incapable of combat.

And they had to do it quickly. What was the point of taking a day or two to accomplish this? I’m afraid the naval battle had already entered its final stages, or even ended.

(End of this chapter)