Chapter 145

  The Gilfiel fleet began to withdraw from the border system in a sorry state, after a series of battles that took place throughout the border system. It was clear that the Gilfiel had lost big time - their vow to liberate and bring peace to the border system was not only unfulfilled, but seemed to have paved the way for the Fawfnir fleet instead.

  "If we hadn't launched the border campaign in the first place, Fafnir wouldn't have had such an easy excuse to commit this atrocity against the border systems either?" The thought kept swirling in the mind of the red-haired young man.

  The more than 30,000 warships that were brought out could only return with a little over 18,000. Although they destroyed far more than their own numbers, they fattened up the vultures behind them... The only strategic victory was that at least the deputy leader of the nobles' alliance was killed, and many other nobles from the same faction were buried with him, nothing more.

  On the other end of the galaxy, the chaos within the Alliance continued. Various factions emerged, and three slogans echoed back and forth. Jessica, the woman Yang Weili admired - his friend's fiancée who had not yet married - also became a key figure in the Alliance's political turmoil. She called for purging former government officials and strongly opposed the current military provisional government, demanding immediate elections. However, when it came to opposing the proposal of the Truni Chairman, Jessica could not come up with a suitable reason, and regarding the calls for autonomy and independence, she could only maintain a rigid opposition stance - which also affected Yang Weili, who had been in communication with her. As a soldier, Yang Weili adhered to the principle of non-interference in politics, but both sides had issued orders to him... Yang Weili may not have feared anyone on the battlefield, but faced with this chaos, he could only ask his fleet to stay in the fortress... helpless.

  On the Imperial side, Rozen Ritter, as another vanguard of the entire army, broke into the Xiang Tao star system with unstoppable momentum. He found that the enemy's organization was very efficient and had a good grasp of advance and retreat, controlling it with great skill. Although the enemy's three consecutive offensives were repelled by Rozen Ritter, the tenacity and unity of action shown by the enemy during the attack surprised him greatly, and the losses he suffered were much greater than expected. Rozen Ritter should reflect on this carefully.

  The reason why the enemy's actions became so effective was immediately clear to Roshental, because the commander of the enemy had changed. At this time, 80% of those standing on the front line commanding the battle were General Melkart. Apart from him, there was no one in the aristocratic army who could command troops like this - perhaps except for another rascal that Roshental deliberately forgot, a rascal who called him "Sexy Persian Cat", a scoundrel as lustful as he was.

  In terms of military strength disparity, it is unfavorable for Luo Yanta. After all, he is not a self-indulgent fantasist, but a rational and capable person who makes appropriate assessments of the enemy's strength.

  "Are you going to give up on Xiang Tao's star domain and retreat?"

  Having the ability to retreat at the right time and make a swift withdrawal is also one of the qualities that makes a great general.

  Even if the Xiangtao Star Domain is abandoned, it will not have any impact on the overall strategy, and the Xiangtao Star Domain is not an indispensable part of the battle plan. It's just a place that should be taken down as the sphere of influence expands, and at this time, even if this place is given to the enemy, it doesn't matter much. Luo Yantal's only hesitation is the psychological effect it may bring to the enemy.

  The capture of Xiangtao Star Domain is a symbol of the first victory for the aristocratic coalition forces, who have been retreating in defeat since the start of the war. It undoubtedly gave the enemy a strong shot in the arm, and their morale may have greatly improved as they advanced with momentum. In history, there are countless examples of ultimately winning by taking advantage of the momentum to crush the enemy's dense formation.

  As he thought of this, Rozen Tallard, who had fallen into deep contemplation, unknowingly revealed an evil smile in his black and blue eyes.

  "Alright, let's retreat for now. Since there is no value worth making a huge sacrifice to defend to the death, perhaps it should be left to Duke Rozenkraum to decide whether or not to retake this place himself."

  There is a way that if the superior causes the subordinate to lose the occupied territory, then the superior will be ashamed and have no place to stand. But if the superior recovers the lost territory for the subordinate, it will show that this superior has more excellent abilities than the subordinate. A temporary defeat may make the superior unhappy, but if you say to the superior "With the ability of the subordinate, he cannot bear this great responsibility, please enlighten me on the true meaning of using troops", then from a long-term perspective, not only will it satisfy the superior's self-esteem, but also improve the impression that the subordinate gives to the superior.

  Luoyan Tower was thinking like this. Since it is impossible to gain an overwhelming victory, it would be better to change another more subtle and clever method, which is no longer something that a strong and simple warrior can think of.

  Once the decision was made, Luo Yantal immediately began to prepare for a comprehensive retreat, but the opponent was Mierkazi, a commander who was not easy to deal with, and it was not an easy task to withdraw completely in front of him. The crucial moment to show the general's ability to use troops had arrived at this moment.

  On July 9, Rogenaltar launched an offensive on the entire front line, concentrating all his forces on several key points. Wherever he went, he gave the enemy a head-on blow. However, the aristocratic coalition army did not fall into chaos like before, but instead fought back in an orderly and calm manner, and soon after, they took advantage of Rogenaltar's military overextension to the edge of the front line and counterattacked. This reaction alone is enough to show that Melkaz is indeed an excellent and outstanding commander.

  But Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière did not make a second attack on the enemy's counterattack, but instead withdrew the entire central force from the battlefield. On the other hand, the troops on both wings cleverly changed their angle and stretched out to both sides.

  While these movements were being carried out continuously, they also constantly provoked the enemy. At this time, if viewed from above, Rosenthal's fleet could be seen forming a crescent shape, as if trying to lure the enemy in and then attack them from three directions.

  Merkatz's staff also thought so, and they all advised the commander to slow down their own attack speed, lest they fall into the enemy's tactical trap.

  Merkatz stood on the bridge of his flagship, arms crossed. He still had doubts in his mind, and to him, Reinhard's fleet movements seemed extremely unnatural. Was the few exceptional military strategist Reinhard playing some kind of trick? For example, appearing to attack on the surface but actually waiting for an opportunity to escape... However, Merkatz finally adopted the opinions of his staff officers. The excessive bloodlust of their own army had always been Merkatz's greatest concern, so when it came to battle, caution should be the top priority at all times. If Reinhard's goal was to escape, then they could easily gain control of the Santner star zone without paying too great a price. If this time's opponent were Reinhard himself, that would be a different story; since it wasn't Reinhard, it was best to avoid this dangerous gamble if possible.

  The speed of the aristocratic coalition army's pursuit slowed down. After confirmation, Luo Yantai did not take immediate action, but instead carefully and continuously made the concave-shaped formation retreat slowly with a soft movement. Soon after reaching the outer edge of the Xiangtao Star Domain and opening up distance with the enemy army, he immediately formed the entire army into a spherical formation and withdrew at the fastest speed.

  Xiang Tao Xing Yu fell into the hands of the Noble Union Army just like this.

  "This Luo Yantal guy actually came up with such a difficult question to test me."

  Reinhardt smiled wryly after hearing the report. He didn't feel uncomfortable, in fact, Rosenthal's unyielding defense of the Xingtao Star Domain was as easy for him to understand as if it were entirely within his grasp.

  "Marquis Littenheim is dead. Gilfieth has achieved a great feat!" This was the latest report received by the blond-haired lion, but immediately followed by "Gilfieth was attacked by Count Rudolf of Fafnir and forced to retreat from all border star systems to regroup with the main army. Marshal Fafnir obtained Littenheim's defeated army." This news wasn't good at all... "That damned scoundrel!" The blond-haired young man couldn't come up with many viable strategies after learning of Fafnir's vulture-like behavior - Gilfieth reported that Fafnir already had a fleet of 600,000, which exceeded the number of ships commanded by Duke Brownmike, the leader of the noble coalition. Meanwhile, Reinhard, who had integrated the Imperial regular fleet and accelerated production and deployment in places like Odin, only had around 1 million ships. If Marshal Fafnir really committed his full force to the noble coalition, he could clearly engage in a decisive battle with Reinhard.

  "Count Farnese would never truly join Duke Brunswick's coalition. His actions in the Border Star System were a blatant disregard for their treaty, nothing but an act of piracy. Moreover, according to General Guilford's report, he was also one of those who helped kill Lieutenant Colonel Rheinhardt." Thus spoke Oberstein with his piercing gaze to his lord.

  No matter what, the blond lion cannot do anything about the "dragon" ruffian at the border. The priority is to overthrow Duke Brownback, and as for how to deal with Favon later, that's a matter for later.

  "Let's use a little trickery to lure out those hot-headed fools for a final showdown." These were the teasing words of the golden-haired lion.

  Reinhardt sent a formal declaration of war to Baldur's Castle around the end of July, shortly after Geier had defeated the fleet of Count Littenheim in the Cygnus system.

  The Declaration of War appeared in front of the heads of the aristocratic coalition forces through hyperspace communication, and indeed had a sufficient effect on infuriating these great nobles.

  Reinhardt said - Ignorant and timid nobles, if you still have a little bit of courage like the tip of a mouse's tail, then come out of your fort and fight us to the death with dignity! If you don't even have this little bit of courage, why not abandon your empty pride and surrender? Not only can you save your dog life, but we will also allow you useless fools to live a comfortable life for the rest of your lives. I believe you also know that the other day, your respected vice-alliance leader, Viscount Littonheim, finally went to his doom and died miserably. If you don't want to have the same fate, why not choose a path of survival? "You bastard, you dare to speak such arrogant words!"

  "Blonde kid! Have you forgotten about what happened in Xiang Tao Star Domain?"

  The young nobles were enraged to the point of madness. Shortly thereafter, the vanguard fleet of Reinhard's army, the Midas Touch, would occasionally appear near the fortress of Hawk's Castle. They taunted and teased as much as possible, sometimes deliberately sailing just out of range of the main guns, approaching and retreating, retreating and then drawing closer again, all their movements intentionally visible to those inside the fortress.

  Although Admiral Meltzer repeatedly ordered the fleet to retreat, the hot-blooded young nobles continued to launch unauthorized attacks. Midas Mayer did not disappoint and "lost" again, abandoning a large number of ships and supplies in disarray. The returning noble armies were indeed punished by the stubborn Admiral Meltzer for ignoring military orders, but under the protection of another theatrical fool, Duke Brownback, they finally succeeded in destroying Admiral Meltzer's prestige, rushing further down the road to chaos.

  "It's about time, Aubestan."

  Reinhardt asked.

  It's almost done, and the Chief of Staff with a prosthetic eye nodded in agreement.

  All admirals gathered on the flagship of Berlen Hill, after receiving precise instructions, each led their respective fleets to set off for the war zone.

  "The Mid-Autumn Fleet is attacking again!"

  On August 15th, in the Bald Eagle Castle, received such intelligence. But unlike before, this time Midasemia took an active offensive with long-range radiation missiles.

  "The defeated general, surprisingly still shamelessly dares to come again to take his humiliation. Let's teach him a good lesson and make him understand that no matter how many rounds he fights, he is nothing but a perpetual loser! *Melkaz's orders and military regulations have long been ignored. The young nobles rushed onto the warships, and before receiving instructions from the port control officer, they eagerly competed to set sail."

  Mi Damao couldn't help but laugh at this moment.

  "These aristocratic young masters, if they obediently hid in the fortress, could live a little longer, but instead, they didn't see the coffin and shed tears, rushing to come out and die, what a huge joke!"

  In fact, Mita Midoriya is of the same age as these "noble brats" he mentions, but in terms of battle experience and achievements, he indeed has the qualifications to call these young nobles "noble brats".

  In his eyes, fighting with these people who couldn't even see through his intentional defeat last time was not only boring but also completely uninteresting. He muttered to himself in slight disappointment: "They don't even understand this most basic tactic, to be honest, it's really not fun fighting them, if I had the chance to fight Yang Weili that would be different, or maybe the Commander-in-Chief thinks so too!"

  But this time it's a bit different, after confirming that the leader of the noble union army, Duke Brownback, also took the initiative to attack, he knew that the task he was carrying on his back was extremely important, and even if he had to pretend to retreat twice or three times, he couldn't help but endure.

  Both sides' armies erupted into intense conflict.

  Innumerable cannons spewed innumerable tongues of light. Directional energy beams crisscrossed, bombarding and shattering the ships on both sides, while the subsequent tongues of light cut through the radiance that burst forth at the moment of explosion.

  But the situation didn't last long, as the Midasian fleet seemed unable to withstand the heavy blow and began to retreat gradually. The noble coalition army saw this and followed up with all their might, but the enemy seemed to have given up resistance and accelerated their withdrawal, forming a scene of chaotic defeat. "Look! See how pathetic they look. Since they fled in defeat last time, they no longer care about shame. Let's send them to their deaths, then catch that blond mongrel and cut him into pieces!"

  The nobles cheered and rushed to drive their ships in pursuit.

  But there were also those who harbored doubts about the weakness of the Midas fleet, namely General Farrenheit, who had been keeping a distance from Duke Brownmuck in the rear of the noble joint fleet. He had once fought on the same battlefield as Reinhardt and Merkatz, and was a seasoned admiral who timely warned his allies: "There may be a trap!" trying to rouse the attention of his own side, which was eager to pursue a victory.

  After realizing the possibility of a trap, some nobles stopped advancing and regrouped.

  But at this time, the Median fleet turned back to counterattack, which made the nobles grit their teeth with anger and vowed not to rest until they had annihilated this annoying Median fleet. This again prompted the slowing-down noble coalition forces to advance once more. Such a situation repeated several times. The Medians' grasp of timing was truly divine.

  In this way, the aristocratic coalition army was unknowingly step by step, gradually led into the deep array set up by Rheinhardt and Oberstein. When the front line of the aristocratic coalition army stretched forward and backward in two directions, communication and support between them became difficult. Mittermeyer knew that the time had come, so he ordered the entire fleet to stop advancing and turn around to counterattack with all its might.

  At this moment, the command "Fire at will!" was also loudly shouted out of those hot-blooded nobles' mouths.

  The Midway aircraft carrier fleet turned back and was beaten into a ball of fire.

  "What's going on?! Shouldn't Midas Mayer have crushed the vanguard of the enemy army with a single counterattack?!" This was Reinhardt's furious roar from behind.

  Fortunately, Midiam's sacrifice was not in vain... Admiral Mecklinger's fleet had already deployed on the flank and launched a fierce cannonade against the aristocratic army that had opened its ranks.

  Almost at the same time, the hot-blooded fools of the aristocratic army directly fell into the abyss of failure.

  Many nobles were unaware of the situation and turned into fireballs along with their warships. The operators of the various ships that survived the first strike were shocked by the sudden change in the battle situation, but the surroundings had already become a destructive battlefield. Warships that were directly attacked by particle beam cannons broke apart and flew everywhere, and were irradiated by the beam's rays, shining like colored stained glass. Many ships were on the verge of collapse due to the energy released by nuclear fusion explosions. The noble joint fleet was in chaos at this time, and its unified command system had been completely lost.

  Macklin's fierce cannon fire ceaselessly dug holes in the Allied army's formation, while the turned-around Midemia fleet also fired revengeful cannon fire. Under the frontal and lateral annihilation of the Allies, the morale and order of the aristocratic army suddenly disappeared like dew under the sun.

  "Fall back! Fall back! No time to care about our allies now, if we don't retreat, we'll only die here in vain."

  As the tide of battle turned against them, Farrenheit immediately began a rapid retreat and issued orders for his nobles to follow suit. The noble fleet continued to flee in disarray, thinking they had escaped the fierce attacks of Meklingen and Midasemia, only to be confronted by the fleets of Bitenfield and Mira from both sides. In no time at all, the noble fleet's ships that had barely survived the previous round of fighting were reduced to metallic wreckage drifting through space. However, Farrenheit also gave a "welcome gift" to Bitenfield as he charged forward, his black high-speed warship cutting into the noble fleet's formation and splitting their fleeing forces in two, but at the same time exposing his own flank...

  "Fire! Fire! It's good if we can save one of our ships!" This was the shout of General Farenhite.

  The black lancers disappeared one by one in the hail of canister fire from the flank, but the black tigers ignored their casualties and pressed on deeper. Although Fürstenw?rther inflicted no small losses on the black lancers, he was still successfully cut off from the rest of the noble army, and defeat was now irretrievable.

  After suffering heavy losses, the Duke of Brunswick finally retreated back to the fortress, while Reinhard's troops halted outside the range of the fortress' main guns and began to digest the surrounded noble fleet.

  In addition to Brownback, those who fled to the fortress of Baldur's Gate came from another direction. That is Baron Cede, nephew of Duke Brownback, who was in charge of defending and ruling the planet Stat for his uncle.

  Vestar is a dry planet lacking in greenery and water, with a population of two million, which is considered large for the border region. Due to its fertile geology, intensive farming and extraction of rare earth elements are carried out on the few oases. In times of peace, billions of tons of water were imported from other planets to support development work.

  Baron Sader was not entirely incompetent as a ruler, perhaps due to his youth, he lacked the necessary flexibility in implementing policies. Moreover, in order to secretly provide material assistance to his uncle, Duke Brownback, the oppression of the people became more severe. This behavior was once feasible, but with the rapid rise of Reinhardt, the dominant system of the nobility gradually loosened, and even developed into a civil war situation, which the people also understood. As a result, the mood of resistance gradually fermented. Baron Sader learned about it and was shocked and angry, then suppressed it, ultimately leading to the people's rebellion.

  After several similar incidents, the people finally launched a large-scale riot to retaliate against Baron Zed's suppression policy. Baron Zed could not control the situation and eventually had to escape alone in a space shuttle, but due to his serious injuries, he died shortly after arriving at Bald Eagle City.

  "These damned plebeians... how dare they use their filthy hands to kill my nephew!"

  "These ungrateful and treacherous commoners must be punished with the sword of justice!"

  Duke of Brunswick made such a decision.

  "Launch a nuclear attack on Weststadt, and leave no one of these scoundrels alive!"

  A soldier from the planet Vistat escaped from Bald Eagle Castle on the eve of a nuclear attack and came to Reinhardt's camp.

  Reinhardt was about to dispatch the fleet to Wiesbaden immediately after hearing his words, but was stopped by Oberst von Stein.

  "Let us satisfy that mad Duke of Brunswick's beastly passions, and let him have his cruel will!"

  The ruthless and emotionless Chief of Staff said.

  "Then we will film the whole scene and expose it to the world as evidence of the nobles' inhuman crimes. This way, not only will the people of the entire Galactic Empire see the true face of the Noble Alliance Army, but also the civilians and soldiers of humble origin within their territories will inevitably betray them sooner or later. Wouldn't it be better to let things take their course instead of sending someone to stop it?"

  The blond young man, who had never known what terror was, suddenly showed a fearful and timid expression. He stared tightly at the wooden and expressionless Chief of Staff, saying word by word: "Are you asking me to watch with my own eyes as two million people are killed? How many of them are women and children?"

  "If this civil war were to drag on, the number of dead might not be limited to this figure, perhaps it would be 200 million, or even 2 billion. Which one is more cost-effective? Moreover, Count Fafnir also killed more than 25 million people when he put down the Valenstein rebellion, but he also prevented the spread of the rebellion and saved tens of millions of lives in the surrounding star systems."

  "Don't use human lives to make such a simple numerical metaphor!" Reinhardt shouted in anger. But the chief of staff did not retreat, and instead continued to speak: "Marshal, I just want you to understand that as a hegemon, you can't have mercy for women, as long as the power of the great nobles exists, things like this will happen again and again. What we need to do is make an early decision, even if it means using any means necessary, so it's essential to let every person in the empire know about their evil deeds, and widely publicize that they are not qualified to rule the universe..." "So should we pretend we didn't see it?"

  "For the 2.5 billion people of the Empire, and also for the early establishment of Your Excellency's supremacy." "Alright, no need to say more... I understand!"

  Reinhardt nodded weakly, but his expression lacked the unique sparkle it once had. If Jill were here, she would never have made such a suggestion. Reinhardt asked himself in his heart: "Jill, I know you and your sister will definitely oppose me doing this, is this really the path I must take?..."

  There are more than 50 oases scattered on the planet of Wystan. Outside the oases, there are rocky mountains that have turned reddish-brown due to sun exposure, gray-yellow deserts, and endless white salt lakes stretching to the horizon, without a single human figure in sight.

  That is, if nuclear missiles were used to attack each of the oases, it would be possible to kill all two million inhabitants on the planet. A vague trajectory slanted across the gray-blue sky.

  The pure white flash that followed seemed to fade all the scenes.

  What followed was a fiery red hemisphere rising above the horizon, accelerating and expanding continuously to form a mushroom-shaped cloud one kilometer high.

  Immediately afterwards, a blast of wind rushed in at a speed of 70 meters per second, and a heat wave with a temperature of over 800 degrees swept in, burning the surface of the earth, burning plants, burning buildings. It also burned everyone's body.

  The clothes on his body and hair were all on fire, and the severely burned skin was covered with blisters.

  The infant who was burned to death, the last wail disappeared suddenly in the hot wind. The mother's voice calling out for her child, the father's anxious cries for his family, all were heard no more after a while.

  A large amount of dust swirling in the high air, like a sandstorm, flowed back to the ground, burying the corpse that had been burned beyond recognition.

  The young officer who saw the scene on the fluorescent screen turned pale and left his seat, unable to help but squat beside it and start vomiting violently. However, no one blamed him for this. The images transmitted back from the surveillance satellite strongly grasped everyone's attention, and no one made a sound. They now finally understood something even more deeply: that nothing could profane the laws of the universe like the brutality with which humans treated each other.

  "Spread these images to every corner of the empire. Even children understand that it is the nobles who are in the wrong, not us. These nobles are bringing about their own downfall."

  Obestain explained in a calm tone, but it didn't cause any immediate reaction.

  "What do you think, Marshal?"

  Reinhardt's expression was extremely painful and solemn.

  "It was you who wanted me to pretend I didn't see it, and now it's become such a tragedy. Now saying anything is useless, isn't there any other way? * "Maybe there is, but my wisdom only goes this far, and I couldn't find any other more ideal method. As you said, at this point, saying anything is useless. We can only make the most of what's happening now."

  Reinhardt stared at the apathetic Chief of Staff. A color of disgust floated in his icy blue pupils, but it was no longer clear whether this was directed at the person standing in front of him or at himself.

  The tragic events on Westerland are now being transmitted to every corner of the Empire through subspace communication, triggering considerable outrage and shock. Public sentiment is rapidly turning away from the old system controlled by the nobles, with even some of the nobles who had opposed Reinhard strongly believing that Duke Braunschweig has no future.

  But almost simultaneously, another video spread at superluminal speed throughout the Empire. In it, the famous Rudolf "Dracon" von Fafnir Marshal praised Reinhard as a "great prophet", and announced that Reinhard's subordinate cameraman would receive this year's Imperial News Documentary highest award for timely and effective reporting of this anti-human nuclear attack. He also released footage shot by his cameramen of Reinhard's fleet lurking in orbit, trying to capture images of the Duke's nuclear attack.

  Now, Reinhard von Lohengramm's reputation is also starting to stink...