Chapter 86

In the midst of such a standstill, it was confirmed that the central allied forces were being fired upon from a certain direction by a part of the enemy fleet.

Immediately after that, as battles began to break out in various places,

the order came: "Mercenary forces, start the battle as you are. Once you have inflicted a certain amount of damage on the enemy, retreat immediately upon our signal. After giving that order, ships that need resupply should proceed to resupply. Other ships should follow for a while and, upon the signal, turn around again. Begin attacking the enemy fleet."

It seemed they were going to execute a "lure out" tactic.

A "lure out" involves first attacking, and when the enemy retaliates, pretending to be frightened and retreating.

When the enemy, emboldened by this, chases after, the ambush forces strike.

This tactic is not effective unless it either enrages the enemy to the point of losing their cool or lures them in very skillfully.

However, if the enemy is simple-minded or unaware of tactics, the situation changes.

Furthermore, the 11th Fleet, which would serve as the ambush force, apparently had stealth capabilities and intended to deploy them during the mercenary forces' attack to take their positions.

In any case, we followed the orders and advanced to attack the enemy fleet.

Several beams of light crisscrossed, and flashes of destruction and deflection by barriers began to blink.

A beam of light passed near me, and the vibrations of explosions echoed.

Although it had been only about 10 minutes, it felt like hours when the order to retreat and disengage came.

Those who were close to running out of propulsion energy quickly disengaged.

Seeing this, the enemy commander seemed to say, "Are you cowards, you lowly mercenaries! Go! Show the bravery of the House of Mantas! Full charge, all forces!"

Incidentally, the rebels were considerate enough to display their coat of arms, making it easy to identify them with a search.

While giving the enemy information might be questionable from both tactical and strategic perspectives, it was helpful for us.

Well, our 11th Fleet also had numbers on their flagship, so it was a similar situation.

Thus, when the Mantas family's forces, which had been chasing us, were separated from our allies, instructions came from Rear Admiral Maylings Earlyhenge of the 11th Fleet.

"You fools... Ambush forces, commence firing. Mercenary forces, turn around and attack the enemy fleet. Don't chase those who are fleeing! Don't get hit by friendly fire!"

Hundreds of beams of light streaked through space, and ships exploded.

Although he said not to chase those who were fleeing, in this state, they couldn't escape.

After easily annihilating the protruding enemy forces,

"Our 11th Fleet will head towards the enemy's weak point. Mercenary forces, once the units that resupplied first return, proceed to resupply in order, starting with the farthest. Returned units should join the main force."

Currently, the 11th Fleet has gathered mercenaries from five planets, and my planet, Itz, is the third among them.

Even though they had arrived earlier and completed resupply, it felt quite awkward to wait while watching the 11th Fleet's advance, but considering the depletion of propulsion and beam energy, there was no choice but to wait in line.

Eventually, those who had completed resupply returned and followed the 11th Fleet.

When it was our turn, we completed resupply according to the instructions of the resupply fleet and advanced in the direction of the 11th Fleet.

Of course, ideally, all units would form a neat formation and fight without a single arrow deviating, but currently, all units had started fighting independently, causing considerable chaos on the battlefield.

The cause was that only some of the rebel fleets had fired.

It might seem like a small thing, but such things can sway the battlefield, which is scary.

The rebels probably didn't expect this to happen, did they?

Rear Admiral Earlyhenge must have understood this and given the appropriate orders.

After catching up with the 11th Fleet, under Rear Admiral Earlyhenge's command, we were given orders to move right, left, up, and down, and by following them, we were able to take down the enemy relatively safely.

Although we were hit, none of us had been reduced to space dust.

However, engaging in combat means consuming fuel and ammunition, and if they run out, we would become space dust, but we managed to break out of the enemy's formation at the last moment.

The enemy, who were also fatigued and depleted, did not pursue us.

When we had retreated to a relatively safe area,

"All units proceed to the resupply colony. Those hit should head to the repair colony. The enemy is likely to retreat to the vicinity of the planet's satellite orbit. After arriving at the colony, remain on standby with your ships ready for deployment until further orders."

The order came.

About three hours had passed since the rebels' sudden firing.

We managed to survive somehow.

Of course, this wasn't the end, so we couldn't let our guard down.

Well, the fact that we survived this time was largely thanks to Rear Admiral Earlyhenge.

He seemed to be trying to minimize the consumption of our allies.

However, when it came to consuming, he was ruthless...

☆ ☆ ☆

【Side: Rebel Detachment, Third-Person Perspective】

When the battle began in the Zon space region near the planet Gatohaga, many fleets were heading towards the capital planet Hein, despite the martial law imposed on all nobles and civilians except for regular military, mercenaries, and police.

All of these were private armies led by a few nobles, heading towards the capital with a specific purpose.

What was the purpose of these groups heading towards the capital?

Their goal was to capture His Majesty the Emperor and occupy the capital, along with securing various privileges that would come with it. In short, they were a detachment of the rebels.

Among them, Baron Aureus Krumlevs, who had a debt of gratitude to Earl Rebuilt Baronston for over seven generations, was in a large fleet with his private army and family, centered around one large combat ship and four medium combat ships, with the rest being unmanned artillery ships.

His territory, the planet Ruba, was quite remote, and it had cost a considerable amount to get here.

He didn't really want to come, but he had no choice due to the orders of Earl Rebuilt Baronston, to whom he owed a debt of gratitude for over seven generations.

If he didn't, the earl might deprive him of the benefits of his territory and the lives of his people.

There were probably many others who, like him, didn't want to come but were compelled by various ties.

Of course, there were also many who eagerly participated.

In the captain's cabin of the large combat ship, two people were present.

"Are you really going to turn against His Majesty the Emperor?"

"There's no choice. It's the order of the noble Earl Baronston, to whom we owe a debt. Besides, if we succeed, our territory will flourish..."

Baron Aureus Krumlevs answered his wife Aleria's question as if trying to convince himself.

His wife Aleria showed anger at his response.

"Even if it's a debt of gratitude from 150 years ago, isn't it said that it was likely orchestrated by them! Even if it wasn't orchestrated, it's unreasonable to use it as a shield to impose unreasonable demands! Let's petition His Majesty the Emperor, taking all this into account! The current emperor will surely listen to us!"

Aleria, excited, made this proposal to her husband.

However, her husband, the baron, sighed deeply and began to explain why he had given up.

"To petition His Majesty as a baron, I must submit an application, pass several reviews, and wait in line before I can finally meet with him. I've tried this twice in the past. Once, my grandfather submitted an application but was rejected. My ancestors had the same result. After receiving the rejection, multiple unexplained disasters occurred in our territory, as if they were coordinated..."

"!"

Understanding the reason for the disasters, Aleria was speechless.

At that moment, the beautiful, shining capital planet Hein came into view in front of their ship.

★ ★ ★

Somehow completed...

I'm not good at writing battle scenes.

I would appreciate any comments, impressions, or reports of typos.