Ch.166Great Offensive (3)

# Chapter 166: The Great Offensive (3)

*Ding!♪*

[PAUSED]

[Event: The Fall of the Kerzin Federation]

[The interstellar nation of the Kerzin Federation has finally fallen to the military forces of Prosnak.]

[How will this affect the entire galaxy?]

Right after seeing this brief event notification.

[PAUSE RELEASED]

I immediately released the pause, set down my terminal as naturally as possible, and then…

“…DAMN IT!!!!!”

*BANG!!!*

I slammed both fists on the table and let out a scream filled with irritation and fury.

‘How the hell did the Kerzin Federation, with the John-Burnater Line and even the Forerunner Fleet, already collapse?’

It was a situation impossible to comprehend, but all I could gather from the event message was simply the news of their downfall.

“Grrrr…”

“Why are you suddenly acting like this, Minister?”

I looked at Riel, who was cautiously approaching me after I unexpectedly cursed and pounded the table.

“Riel, has there been any urgent communication from the Purge Unit members?”

“Well… but as you know, Minister, even if they send an urgent message, there’s still a delay before it reaches us here.”

“…”

Riel was right.

The reason being, the hyperspace communication equipment our personnel deployed to Kerzin had didn’t have enough output power to reach us directly.

In the past, when our proper spy network was active with appropriate equipment, it was possible to communicate directly from the opposite side of the galaxy.

But unfortunately, those excellent equipment and organizations…

After suffering severe damage during the Warlord War, followed by the Fuchs Revolution, the Syr Civil War, and the Fall of Zeltech, among other calamities.

All our equipment, personnel, and bases were virtually annihilated.

As a result, our personnel in the field could only report to us after passing through several relay stations.

The resulting delay could take up to a week at worst.

“…Haa, damn it.”

“What’s going on, Minister?”

If there was any consolation, it was that Riel was beside me, so I could freely discuss the event message.

“Riel, don’t be surprised when you hear this.”

“Suddenly I don’t want to hear it… can I not listen?”

“Listen.”

“What is it?”

“According to the status window, Kerzin has fallen.”

“…”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be certain how Riel would react to hearing this.

—————————–

The next day.

Despite waking up strangely refreshed and energetic in the morning…

“Minister, we have an emergency!”

“…”

“Urgent reports from our agents deployed to Kerzin keep arriving… and the content is alarming!”

As we had anticipated yesterday, we had to read through urgent reports from the Purge Unit and sink into depression.

After all, how bizarre was it to have to read and respond in real-time to warnings about a country that had already fallen?

[URGENT: Parts of the John-Burnater Line have fallen]

[Prosnak’s confusion rapidly decreasing]

[Prosnak fleet charging forward regardless of casualties]

[Some Forerunner ships destroyed, remaining Forerunner vessels retreating with Kerzin’s surviving defense fleet]

But once I started receiving them, I found myself becoming intrigued and unconsciously focusing on the matter.

“Haah…”

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

Although the urgent reports didn’t contain much information due to their hasty transmission,

Those short phrases were enough to understand roughly what had happened.

‘Those crazy bastards, do they think they’re Tyranids or Zerg or something?’

I’d heard they had built gates throughout their territory using gate technology stolen from us,

And used them to rapidly deploy their armies to the frontlines.

But I never expected them to throw in all those increased forces to break through the John-Burnater Line.

[According to data from the John-Burnater Line Defense Command, Prosnak fleet losses are estimated at approximately 15,000 vessels.]

[However, considering ships that may be salvaged and reconstructed, the actual losses are estimated at 12-13,000 vessels.]

Just looking at the additional reports, the number of destroyed ships exceeded the number of ships in the initial offensive fleet.

“Secretary, what was the total number of ships in Prosnak’s fleet?”

“According to our most recent intelligence… the minimum estimate is 70,000.”

Hearing that number, I suddenly wondered if I had ever properly researched the fleet numbers of each nation.

[PAUSED]

As soon as I had that thought, I immediately paused the game.

After fumbling through the user-unfriendly UI, I finally found the status window I wanted.

‘…This is it, Imperial Fleet Management… no, Information Screen.’

*Beep*

[Holy Sebelli Empire Fleet Information]

[Total vessels: 17,451 + 5,100 (Total 23,551)]

[Battleships: 872]

[Cruisers: 1,746]

[Destroyers: 5,235]

[Small vessels (including patrol ships, escort vessels, frigates): 9,598]

[Fleet Deployment Status]

[1st Fleet: 209 battleships, 306 cruisers, 1,042 destroyers, 1,925 small vessels]

[2nd Fleet: 210 battleships, 311 cruisers, 986 destroyers, 1,981 small vessels]

[3rd Fleet: 149 battleships, 524 cruisers, 2,017 destroyers, 2,510 small vessels]

[4th Fleet: 152 battleships, 302 cruisers, 670 destroyers, 1,003 small vessels]

[5th Fleet: 153 battleships, 302 cruisers, 520 destroyers, 2,179 small vessels]

[Capital Defense Fleet: 307 battleships, 456 cruisers, 1,442 destroyers, 2,895 small vessels]

[Special Vessels List]

[Leviathan-class Super Dreadnought: 1]

[Nano Machine Mothership: 1]

Although our Empire tends to prioritize the performance of each ship over numbers compared to other nations,

It seemed somewhat lacking, but for a major power ranked in the galaxy’s TOP 5 to have fewer than 20,000 ships…

While those crazy Prosnak military bastards, perhaps due to their continuous expansion and repeated wars over the past few decades,

Had a minimum number exceeding three times ours, which left me dumbfounded as I released the pause.

[PAUSE RELEASED]

“How many ships did Prosnak deploy to break through Kerzin’s defense line?”

“According to official numbers released by the Kerzin Federation and Prosnak Union, as well as observations from our agents, the minimum estimate is 30,000 ships.”

‘…They’re insane.’

“Then how many ships did the Kerzin Federation have?”

“Even if they scraped together their Capital Defense Fleet and patrol fleets, they’d barely exceed 2,000 ships.”

Hearing this, I suddenly realized just how formidable the John-Burnater Line truly was.

Basically, the nations in this world, perhaps because the original game’s AIs behaved similarly,

All tend to allocate about a quarter of their total fleet power to a “Capital Defense Fleet.”

Unless their capital is directly threatened or the situation cannot be handled by other fleets,

These defense fleets stubbornly refuse to move, creating a strange culture.

Anyway, the important thing was that the Kerzin Federation followed the same pattern.

This meant that the fleet Kerzin deployed to the John-Burnater Line was at most 1,500 ships (plus 20 Forerunner vessels),

Yet with just that number, they fought an enemy twenty times their size and destroyed half of them.

‘No wonder it’s considered the galaxy’s strongest defensive line.’

As I was once again feeling amazed by the John-Burnater Line…

“Wait… how many troops did Prosnak deploy toward the Kerzin Federation?”

“About 30,000 ships, Minister.”

“So now there are… at least 15,000 pouring into Kerzin territory.”

The Kerzin Federation fleets that retreated from the John-Burnater Line probably didn’t even amount to half their original number.

Even if they scraped together their Capital Defense Fleet and patrol fleets, they’d have at most 500 ships.

But at this point, I realized I was getting too immersed in the situation.

‘Well, that’s why the event message said they were destroyed.’

After all, we’re receiving information about an already fallen nation several days late due to communication delays.

Indeed, after this meeting ended, the next day…

[Kerzin Federation’s final defense line collapses, evacuation order issued throughout the capital region]

The urgent report detailed how Kerzin’s last resistance crumbled against the hopeless 20:1 power difference.

And the day after that…

[Evacuating with refugees through the Kerzin Federation and Syr-Horde Alliance border.]

[Kerzin Federation capital falls, remaining ships transporting refugees through the Syr-Horde Alliance while fortresses in the southeast hold out.]

After hearing the report from the Purge Unit, I added this urgent information to the report I had prepared with Riel over the past few days.

Then I submitted it to Arthraia and the Imperial Parliament with a deep sigh.