Ch.336Let’s gooooooo! (2)

Of course, even with my fleet charging in…

Perhaps it was because one-third of it had been destroyed in a single blow, with several more ships damaged by splash damage.

Or maybe because our numbers were smaller compared to Arcadia’s fleet, but the enemy ships’ response seemed rather lackluster.

More precisely, how should I put it…

“Hmm, I think I know what those guys are thinking.”

“What is it?”

“They’re probably thinking, ‘Oh, these bastards are trying to hit-and-run again, let’s just respond moderately.'”

“Huh.”

Seeing my fleet advancing at full speed, they seemed to have judged that I was attempting a hit-and-run attack like Arcadia.

Instead of tightening their formation, they deliberately spread out their ships.

Then, the moment our fleet approached, they positioned themselves to stick to us like glue, seemingly trying to prevent our fleet from escaping.

But as I had already mentioned, my fleet neither had the ability nor the intention to perform a hit-and-run.

-“Charge!!!”

-“Let’s gooooooo!!”

Ignoring the enemy ships swarming from all directions like sticky flytraps, we charged straight toward their central defense line.

-“Enemy fleet breakthrough!”

-“Patrol ships 5 and 8 sunk, light cruiser 2 heavily damaged!”

“Ignore the damage and just ram through.”

In the charging process, where we had gathered even reconnaissance patrol ships, we lost only two patrol ships while breaking through the enemy’s loosened defense line.

“All fleet units, ignore the remaining ships and target only Ouroboros.”

-“Understood.”

-“Attack! Attack!”

Regardless of whether cruisers or battleships were lurking nearby.

Our fleet, with Princess Luca’s carefully nurtured Wyvern-class ships at the front and battle cruisers in the center, continued charging toward the Ouroboros-class at the same speed they had broken through the front lines.

Of course, during this process, the enemy fleet that had been trying to surround us—now becoming our rear—chased after us, heavily attacking our rear.

The patrol ships and destroyers at the back of our formation had their vulnerable rear ends bombarded and exploded one after another.

-“Attack from behind!”

-“Protect the cruisers, patrol ships will be the shields!”

-“Gyaaaaaaah!!”

Well… they were deployed as meat shields from the beginning anyway.

Especially since the monster fleet was specialized for frontal armor, making their rear extremely vulnerable.

I ordered those particular ships to reverse direction and charge “head-on” into the pursuing enemy fleet.

“Escort ships and monster vessels below that class, 180-degree reversal, charge at the pursuing enemy fleet and buy us time.”

-“Understood, all patrol ships executing emergency 180-degree reversal!”

And at my command, they charged in as if they had been waiting for this.

It gave observers the impression of unleashed dogs rushing forward, creating quite a mixed feeling.

Moreover, the problem was that during that approximately one-hour charge.

Our fleet suffered a catastrophe, with literally 50% of our forces “annihilated” in just that one hour.

And this situation was witnessed in real-time by Princess Luca, who had come to check on her “babies” that she had entrusted to me.

“Huwaaaaaaaah!!!”

“Hmm.”

Naturally, seeing the fleet she had worked so hard to build melting away in less than an hour, Princess Luca was wailing uncontrollably.

But that didn’t last long.

“Princess Luca, the Commander says he’ll provide additional resources when this is over.”

“Uuugh… trying to buy me with money? Are you insulting me?!”

“5,000 minerals and 1,500 rare resources daily.”

“…That’s far too much to refuse. With that amount, I’ll accept.”

When our Jessica presented a negotiation proposal based on capitalism(?).

Upon hearing the compensation that had increased fivefold from the initial offer, the Princess nodded with satisfaction.

Well, such a contract would mean giving 35,000 minerals and 10,500 rare resources every week…

But since we now earn 3,000 minerals and 800 rare resources per user docked at our base every week.

We had enough leeway, so there wouldn’t be any major problems.

Of course, regardless of that satisfaction…

-BOOM!

-Flinch!

“Uuuuugh…”

Every time a monster ship exploded on the battle screen I was watching, her whimpering… seemed impossible to avoid.

==========

Meanwhile, around the time I was finalizing negotiations with Princess Luca.

—————————————–

<Event-exclusive Chat Window>

-[You’re impressive]

-[A fleet that lost a third of its strength from the start is fighting better than expected.](Arcadia)

-[Hahaha, well…](Icarus)

—————————————–

Seeing my fleet charging at Ouroboros while sacrificing 50% of its strength, Arcadia made a comment that could have been either sarcasm or genuine praise.

Of course, such thoughts were quickly clarified right after.

—————————————–

<Event-exclusive Chat Window>

-[I’m not joking or being sarcastic, you’re truly impressive](Arcadia)

-[Is that so](Icarus)

-[Yes]

-[It’s almost like you have another entire fleet, it’s that convincing](Arcadia)

-[Ahaha](Icarus)

—————————————–

Thanks to Arcadia’s additional chat messages, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up.

And I simply smiled at Arcadia’s reaction, not making much of it.

The reason why my fleet, which had lost much of its strength from the beginning, appeared to be fighting well was none other than…

-“The third torpedo support attack from Neranjara has been fired!”

-“Enemy destroyer sunk, confirmed sunk!”

-“Continue advancing!”

Our Neranjara was working extremely efficiently using its subspace diving function.

It was leaving clear impact marks on the propulsion systems or bridges of enemy ships that were only targeting our main force while quietly firing torpedoes and missiles.

Or it would approach enemy fleets while submerged.

Then unleash medium torpedoes at point-blank range instead of spatial torpedoes, heavily damaging cruisers.

When a Wyvern-class ship was sunk, it would destroy the directional control system of an enemy battleship approaching our battle cruiser flagship that had taken the front position.

It was providing comprehensive support to my fleet with all the firepower a destroyer-class ship could muster.

And from the enemy fleet’s perspective, constantly being harassed by medium torpedoes, light torpedoes, and missiles coming from invisible locations.

They seemed to have judged that I was operating some kind of separate detachment, preventing them from forming proper formations and concentrating their firepower.

This reduced the pressure on our main force, allowing us to somehow manage.

However, as mentioned previously, Neranjara’s size and limited number of weapon bays restricted the amount of armaments it could deploy at once.

The highly effective “point-blank medium torpedo barrage” was prohibited after Neranjara’s “periscope” nearly got destroyed during such an attack.

As a result, most weapons except spatial torpedoes were intercepted regardless of how many were fired, causing Neranjara’s limited missiles and torpedoes to be consumed at a very rapid rate.

Fortunately, this time there was a place where Neranjara could replenish its “ammunition”…

-“Thank you for your hard work.”

-“You’re working harder. 20 medium torpedoes and 120 light torpedoes, right?”

-“Yes, that’s correct.”

And where was that?

It was the ammunition storage of the “half-destroyed” battle cruiser No. 2, which three of Arcadia’s destroyers were still struggling to salvage.

After firing all its ammunition as it pleased, the Neranjara-class would return in its submerged state.

Then it would attach itself to the left side of the ship where the armor plating had been completely blown off, leaving only the frame, and naturally receive ammunition resupply in real-time from inside.

Simultaneously, it would deactivate its submerged state to recharge its batteries, and once ammunition was replenished, submerge again and unleash another barrage on the enemy fleet.

Of course, every time Neranjara resupplied, two or three ships from our fleet would explode.

But without resupplying, it wouldn’t be two or three ships but 20-30 ships exploding, so it was a necessary action despite everything.