Ch.73The War Lord (5)

# Chapter 73: Lord of War (5)

Suddenly finding themselves in a situation where enemies were converging from all directions.

Galactic commentators declared that the Warlord’s hegemony was finally coming to an end, but…

“In the name of the Lord of War, I command you to launch a full-scale offensive against all regions of Zeltech!”

After entrusting the defense of each region to his vassal states and the Keshik fleet stationed there.

The Warlord made a bold gamble, abandoning the vast Mekt-Fuks territory and pouring all his remaining forces into the Zeltech front.

“The Lord of War has commanded! Relay to all ships! Turn your bows toward the capital of Zeltech!”

“Burn everything and plunder! For the Warlord!”

He even mobilized his personally commanded elite guard fleet to accelerate the Zeltech expedition.

Thanks to this, Mekt-Fuks, who had exhausted all their heavy armored fleets and had been fighting the Warlord with their mobility-specialized cruiser fleets, got a moment to catch their breath in the sudden peace(?)…

“Phew, we survived.”

“AAAAGH! SAVE MEEEEE!!!”

The Zeltech Conglomerate screamed in terror as they suddenly faced a massive offensive led by the Warlord himself.

Of course, thanks to the Warlord’s focus on just one area, other fronts were screaming with joy.

“Zeltech, we will not forget your sacrifice.”

“Sob…”

No, they weren’t just screaming…

“Now’s our chance!!!”

“CHARGE!!!”

As the pressure on the frontlines significantly decreased, fleets from each direction took the opportunity while most of the Warlord’s forces were gathered at Zeltech.

They quickly implemented plans to break through defense lines and launch joint attacks with Zeltech.

However…

“…Just because we lost to Prosnak doesn’t mean we can’t stop you.”

The Kerzin Federation, the original architects of the collapse of the initial encirclement, deployed space defenses against the offensive of the Grand Fleet mobilized by Ztrakfor.

“Wait, if you can defend this well, why did you collapse so pathetically against Prosnak?!”

Such complaints naturally erupted from Ztrakfor, who was operating the Grand Fleet.

“…”

Of course, it was an open secret that the Kerzin Federation’s impressive defensive capabilities were acquired through having their heads cracked and souls threshed by that very Prosnak in their struggle to survive.

And while the Kerzin Federation was engaged in true space defense against the combined fleets of Ztrakfor and Kar-Du.

In the south, another form of scorched earth tactics was unfolding.

“We cannot lose our territory and resources!”

“If we can’t have it, we’ll burn it all down!”

“Are you guys crazy?”

Perhaps due to having been oppressed by foreign powers for ages, the Uko`Praknar Interstellar Union, right after absorbing the independent Republic Federation, had their western territories taken away.

Under the belief that if they couldn’t have it, they would burn everything, they were destroying all resources and planets in systems difficult to defend—truly embodying the word “villainous.”

And unlike Kerzin, this villainous Uko`Praknar had reliable allies.

-BOOM!

“It’s the Keshik! The Warlord’s guard fleet!”

“Capture them! If we eliminate that fleet, we can win in this sector!”

Since it was impossible for Uko`Praknar (+Ik Nur Val) alone to stop the allied fleet pouring into the southern region.

The Warlord, from his already insufficient forces, deployed one guard fleet to the south.

Against the overwhelmingly larger southern allied fleet, they were demonstrating mobile guerrilla warfare reminiscent of a desert fox in a tank.

—————————

And I had to hear all these reports right after my pleasant lunch ended.

“…Urgh.”

I felt like my recently filled stomach was sending signals of gastritis once again.

“Wait, there should be a 5-to-1 difference in overall scale, and they still can’t catch them?”

“I know, right? The world is truly strange.”

What kind of World War II-style space campaign was this?

Well, I could understand that much since even in-game it was only nominally 3D but actually played on a 2D map.

But failing to quickly deal with an enemy despite having five times the force? That seemed like a serious problem.

“What exactly are our fleets doing to be getting whittled down despite having such overwhelming power?”

When I raised this question, Riel, looking equally frustrated, tapped her identical front and back torso and said:

“I think the same way. It doesn’t make sense.”

And surprisingly, the person to answer my question was quite close by.

“It’s actually quite simple, Little Flesh-bit.”

“Hmm?”

Alina, who had been listening to our conversation, intervened through her terminal.

“What do you mean, Alina?”

“The current southern front’s allied fleet consists mainly of forces from three nations—our Seveli, Riksi, and Roirakan—with the remaining smaller nations’ ships providing supplementary power.”

“I already know that, just get to the point briefly.”

When I told her not to pad her lines by stating what everyone already knew, Alina blinked the buttons on her terminal a couple of times and promptly answered.

“To put it simply, the Warlord’s Keshik fleet is only targeting the ships of smaller nations that serve as auxiliary forces in the allied fleet.”

“…?”

Since my knowledge of military matters was limited to famous names.

I looked at the terminal with an expression of incomprehension, and Alina blinked her button once before explaining again.

Most of the detailed content was difficult for a layperson like me to understand, so I could barely make sense of it, but…

“So basically it’s something like this, right?”

“That’s correct, Little Quantum Core.”

Fortunately, beside me was the all-purpose robot and human friend, AI Riel.

“I see, so that’s how it is.”

While Riel and Alina conversed, I just added appropriate responses as I watched, and then.

“Well then, I’ll be going now, Little Flesh-bit and Little Quantum Core.”

“Bye-bye~”

After Alina left to return to her duties, I naturally just had to give orders to Riel.

“Is she gone?”

“Yes, she’s gone.”

“Then quickly, make me understand what you understood!”

“…”

Although Riel shot me a strange look that was hard to describe…

“What are you doing? Hurry up.”

“…Ugh.”

Under my pressure, Riel, though whining reluctantly, did her best to fulfill her role as my explainer.

And after Riel’s explanation was complete.

I could finally understand how the situation was unfolding.

“So, the allied fleet, centered around battleships, is slowly advancing to push the front line…”

“Yep.”

“And the Warlord’s Keshik fleet is avoiding direct confrontation with the main advancing force while primarily hunting the fleets of smaller nations that can’t keep up, is that right?”

According to Riel, the relatively weaker fleets of smaller nations were being thoroughly hunted by the Warlord’s elite Keshik fleet.

“But if the main fleet disperses its forces to protect the auxiliary fleet—those weaker nations’ ships—wouldn’t that be exactly what the Warlord wants?”

“Exactly.”

“Of course. The Warlord’s side is probably hoping we’ll organize our fleet that way.”

I nodded in agreement with Riel’s words.

————————————-

Of course, the pressure at the front lines was naturally on a different level from what Riel and I felt from the rear.

“If this continues, we’re all going to die!”

“Let me ask one thing: did Seveli, Riksi, and Roirakan bring us here just to use us as shields?”

Especially as the damage from the Warlord’s fleet continued to accumulate, the smaller nations’ fleets went so far as to notify that they would decide to retreat entirely if the main force didn’t help them.

“Then we have no choice.”

“Let’s merge some battleships and cruisers with those nations’ fleets.”

As a result, contrary to our thinking, forces were divided due to political and practical issues on the front lines.

Of course, even after dispatching escort forces, the main force wasn’t weaker than the Warlord’s raiding party.

It’s just that the more than 5-fold advantage in power had been reduced to about 3-fold, but…

“Now it’s finally a worthy opponent.”

“Oh no.”

The Keshik fleet, with its overwhelming combat experience, now demonstrated a pattern of hit-and-run tactics against the allied fleet’s main force, gradually wearing down their strength.

And as this pattern repeated dozens of times…

The front lines, the fleet command, and even the leadership back in their home countries became united in purpose.

“We can’t be pushed around by the Warlord’s Keshik any longer!”

“Get your act together and maintain the front while pushing forward!”

Using tactics reminiscent of line battles from Arto’s past life.

They began to steadily secure territory while blocking the Keshik fleet’s mobile warfare and Uko`Praknar’s charges.

However, while the southern allied fleet was distracted with their blunders.

“It’s finally over.”

The defensive line laid by the Zeltech Conglomerate met a catastrophic end under the major offensive personally commanded by the Warlord.