Chapter 149
The Faurnir fleet slowly and resolutely fired at the Reinhardt fleet in a diagonal formation, constantly bleeding Reinhardt and forcing Kampf and Mecklinger fleets on both sides to continuously use their fleets to fill the gap left by the collapse of the central Reinhardt fleet.
The outer fort of the Bald Eagle Castle was still moving counterclockwise, preparing to move to the right wing of the Favonir fleet. However, Rosental and Rutz's fleets could not allow the Bald Eagle Castle to advance so easily to their flank, thereby completing a lateral main cannon shot against the entire Rheinhardt-led central fleet. To this end, they made efforts to withstand part of the firepower from the Londerschiedt fleet on their side while constantly approaching, retreating and interfering with the progress of the Bald Eagle Castle - all in vain. The effective range of the Bald Eagle Castle's main cannon was getting closer and closer to the effective range of the Londerschiedt fleet. When the two ranges came into contact, it would be the end for Rosental and Rutz's fleets. They had to rotate ahead of time to get around the outer side of the Bald Eagle Castle, avoiding the pincer movement of the Bald Eagle Castle and the Londerschiedt fleet that could not be turned back several hours later. However, this meant they had to carry out a dozen or so hours of fleet movements, during which they would not play much role in the main battlefield.
The situation of the Central Fleet is further deteriorating. Originally, the combined forces of Reinhardt, Kemp, Merklinger and Bittenfeld's fleets were not much different from those of Fafnir, Lanzellotti and Yang's fleets. Under Reinhardt's incorrect tactical guidance, his own fleet suffered heavy losses in ships, while causing relatively small losses to the enemy. The subsequent hasty advance of Bittenfeld's fleet was merely a waste of Fafnir's similarly mobile reserve fleet, Dark Fleet, although it caused significant losses to Fafnir's fleet and nearly annihilated Dark Fleet. However, Bittenfeld's fleet also became a mere paper unit.
Kemp and Meckling's fleet, while filling the central gap, also concentrated on attacking Yang's fleet protruding from the left wing. However, under the disadvantage of numbers and the successive joining of Favniel and Londsstedt's main forces in the center and right wing, they were also beaten out of one hole after another.
The battle broke out at 10:42 standard time, and now it is already 20:24 standard time. The battle has been going on for almost 10 hours, and the soldiers of both sides are exhausted. However, the Reinhardt fleet's repeated left and right defensive strategies have caused more severe physical exhaustion among its soldiers. At 21:45, the Bald Eagle Castle moved into position, approaching the Meklingen fleet under the Reinhardt fleet, and is expected to enter the main cannon range in about 2 hours.
"The campaign has failed, and we must retreat." This was the unanimous view of the admirals who had participated in the campaign. Reinhard von Lohengramm also could not help but understand that he no longer had any chance of victory.
The blond-haired lion's actions after acknowledging defeat were also quite decisive, directly ordering the central fleet to retreat at high speed, and the left and right wings also quickly withdrew after a full-force attack, trying to pull away from contact.
"This little guy retreated quickly! If we wait a bit longer, my father's lightning-fast boat can make another surprise attack...... Never mind, we don't need to force our way over there. After all, the Persian cat and Ruz on the other side have also retreated. If we charge over, we'll be bombarded from both sides." Fafnir gave the order to retreat.
Finally, a thick beam of light swept across the battlefield where both sides were fiercely fighting, but without causing any losses, it announced the end of the Battle of Marmelade. Both sides withdrew from the battlefield, Reinhardt led his subordinates directly to Odin, while Fafnir's fleet also left the Marinaris star system after rescuing and flew towards the Chihoyas star system.
The battle of the Marnefort has ended, and Reinhard's own fleet lost more than 60% of its forces. The left and right wings, Kampf and Mecklinger, also lost about 30% of their troops. The guerrilla forces of Lutz and Rosen Ritter lost a total of 3,000 ships. Fortunately, Bitenfeld was rescued by the search team with minor injuries, but the communication equipment on his flagship, Wang Hu, was destroyed. The entire Black Gun Cavalry fleet lost more than 7,000 ships. Reinhard's army suffered heavy losses, with over 27,000 ships and more than 1.9 million casualties.
The losses of the Fafnir fleet were much smaller, except for Dark himself, who was towed back to be rescued, his 6,000 high-speed destroyers had only about 200 left. The Fafnir army lost more than 3,000 warships, Yang's fleet lost 3,000 ships, and the Longdusitai fleet suffered minor losses. The entire Fafnir army participating in the battle lost 13,000 ships and 950,000 casualties.
After the battle, Reinhard was severely injured. Although he still ruled over the main star systems of the empire, including the imperial capital Odin, and the military-industrial complex, his mobile strike force had suffered greatly. At least for several years, it would be powerless to suppress the peripheral star systems controlled by the nobles. Meanwhile, upon returning to Odin, he received news that his good friend Siegfried Kircheis was going to marry his sister. Reinhard exploded in anger, sending a fiery message to his sister and good friend... It was clear that Reinhard's subordinates were divided into two factions: the civilian faction led by Siegfried Kircheis, Mittermeyer, and Müller, and the other admirals who remained loyal to Reinhard. Although they still obeyed Reinhard's orders, there was also the ambitious faction of Oberstein... The relationships were complex and intertwined. On New Year's Day in Imperial Calendar 489, the young emperor Josef announced his abdication at the Neue Sanssouci Palace... And the golden-haired lion ascended to the throne. War broke out once again.
At this time, a problem also arose on the side of Fahnler. "Huh? Did Staufens defect?" This was Fahnler's question after receiving the report from Shuttker. Count Basile von Staufens had been ordered by Fahnler to attack the galaxy ruled by Reinhardt before the Battle of Marindorf, and he continued to carry out this task even after the battle ended. In his previous 40 years of life, Count Staufens did not show any strange psychology, but at the moment when Reinhardt ascended to the throne, he occupied several galaxies, declared independence, issued a statement maintaining the old emperor's system, and simultaneously withdrew from the Lipstadt Alliance that Fahnler had not yet torn up.
Stafin's secession took away a fleet of up to 30,000 ships from the FPA, and the old Imperial Noble Alliance was rekindled. Some middle and lower-ranking nobles surprisingly declared their choice to follow Earl Stafin. These nobles unexpectedly had talent - far surpassing the late Duke Brünhilde and Count Littenheim... They also took away some of the fleets that Reinhard and Fezzan couldn't consolidate in time.
The current Galactic Empire, Reinhard has occupied the imperial capital Odin and the northern heavy industrial star system, on paper the strongest, with a fleet of one million vessels. However, internally there are many factions, even former friends have split apart. The friendship between the two walls of the empire has also become problematic... Moreover, Reinhard himself is now the target of verbal attacks from other forces.
The Farnholt fleet, numbering six million and controlling the vast southern territories of Vash and surrounding areas up to the Chihoyza star system, had suffered a significant decline in economic power due to being plundered by Farnholt himself in the past. However, under the "Unified Production Preparation Plan" of Darius Midamaya and Gustav von Shuttekau, industry has made considerable recovery and growth.
The rest of the small and medium-sized nobles were in a state of disunity, each with their own name. The military was strong, such as Sidoufen, who had 30,000 warships, while others had only a few thousand, although they all claimed to be enemies of Reinhard, who had usurped the throne, but in private they also fought and plundered each other without end.
The war in the Galactic Empire is unrelenting, and it's the same with the Federation.
The political turmoil within the alliance has finally reached the point of adopting military suppression within the galaxy. The ruling faction used its legitimate command over the troops stationed in the galaxy to demand that the army intervene to suppress independent and dissenting factions. Within the army, there were also calls for military intervention and the adoption of martial law, with General Ulanfu being the most prominent voice. General Ulanfu was deeply disgusted by the chaos before him and saw the army becoming increasingly disorganized under these circumstances, with logistics, supplies, and organization repeatedly delayed and chaotic. Finally, General Ulanfu took his fleet and declared martial law in his home galaxy, demanding that Hainisen take swift and decisive action to quell the unrest, or else he would declare independence.
The Yang Fleet had lost all semblance of organized logistics and order, with no regular rotation, retirement, reserve or resupply for months. The soldiers and lower-ranking officers on the fleet were clamoring for Admiral Yang to take charge and lead them back to Heinessen to put an end to this chaos that was engulfing the entire Alliance. Yang's head ached: "This is clearly beyond the duties of a military man in a democratic society, isn't it? And the logistics and star systems along the way are all in disarray. How am I supposed to do it? Not to mention the Iscandor fortress? You're always giving me headaches!"
Deputy officer Fei Lijia will sit on the table with Yang's head in her arms and massage his temples with her hands...
The chaos of the Milky Way is still ongoing...
