“That will be for the best!”
Li Jialing stood up excitedly and waved his fist. “The Covenant Alliance is half a collective civilization. They’re more dependent on the network and the leaders than we are. If we can decapitate those Ultimate Benevolence Masters, the Covenant Alliance will definitely collapse! Brother Yao, please try your best!”
Li Yao nodded his head and turned to Lei Chenghu and Li Linghai. “What’s going on in the frontline? Did the Covenant Alliance take any action?”
Lei Chenghu shook his head and said that the Covenant Alliance hadn’t done much yet since they attacked the Thick Soil Sector.
Li Yao had only secluded himself for seven days, and it was impossible to occupy a Sector so quickly. It was even barely possible to completely swallow the main planet of this Sector.
The Covenant Alliance had only occupied the strategic locations and jump points in the Thick Soil Sector and destroyed the Imperium’s starships in space. It was possible that some survivors were still resisting the intruders in the trenches and the abandoned mines on the planets. “Surrender” was not an option in the war between the Imperium and Covenant Alliance. Unless they were injured and captured, the soldiers of the Imperium would fight until they died.
So, although the massive resistance came to an end on day one, the battle would still last for quite a while, and it was impossible for the Covenant Alliance to clear the Sector without a few months.
Based on the Imperium’s investigation, the Covenant Alliance was not interested in fully occupying the Thick Soil Sector. They were only using the Thick Soil Sector as a platform for their next attack.
The most direct evidence was that the main forces of the Covenant Alliance hadn’t been detected yet. That fleet disappeared again after it crushed the garrison of the Thick Soil Sector unstoppably.
The few Sectors around the Thick Soil Sector, however, reported the scouts of the Covenant Alliance. Obviously, the Covenant Alliance’s troops were about to spread out.
“According to the general staff of the expedition army, the Covenant Alliance is not aiming for any of the Sectors or resourceful planets in the newly-recovered area. If they really care about those places, they wouldn’t have retreated so quickly in the beginning.”
Pointing at a map that was projected by his mini crystal processor, Lei Chenghu said, “The Covenant Alliance’s real target is the manpower and resources that the Imperium has devoted to the newly-recovered area.”
“Ever since the victory of the Imperium’s counterattack, the Imperium has sent countless engineering and construction troops to the newly-recovered area, ready to rebuild the planets that the Covenant Alliance burnt to the ground. Many sects and enterprises have also invested great capitals in the area.
“Now that the Covenant Alliance has come back and occupied the Thick Soil Sector, which is a transportation hub, the connection between the frontline and the rear is disrupted. If the Covenant Alliance occupies another few hubs, our connection with the frontline will be completely cut off.
“I’m not saying that we can’t directly send carriers to the frontline from the Empyreal Terminus Sector, but it will consume too much more fuel than we can bear. Perhaps, to send one ship of fuel to the frontline, ten ships of fuel will be consumed for the journey. We do not have so many resources for us to squander at this point!
“So, if the Covenant Alliance’s strategy works out, they will be holding our soldiers, people, and assets in the frontline as their hostages, and they will be able to launch a real attack when our people are anxious!”
Looking at the map, Li Yao asked, deep in thought, “Then, what countermeasures can the Imperium take?”
“Regretfully, there is little we can do although we’re aware of the Covenant Alliance’s strategy.”
Gritting his teeth, Lei Chenghu said coldly, “We’re terribly outnumbered, and we can only deal with one enemy at a time. If we split our troops and fight the Covenant Alliance as well as the four families simultaneously, we’ll suffer brutal failures on both battlefields.
“So, we have to clench all our troops into an unstoppable fist and blow up the head of one of the enemies first, before we blow up the second one with the high morale from the first victory!
“So, even if we know that the noose on our neck is tighter and tighter, we don’t have any choice except to carry out the strategy that we agreed upon in the beginning. We’ll gather all our forces, including the Astounding Thunder Fleet, the Deep Sea Fleet, the imperial guards, the Arsonist Fleet, etc., and finish off the four families first.
“While we march to the nest of the four families, the expedition army has to resist the Covenant Alliance on their own. I just hope that they can make it!”
Li Yao was silent.
He had heard the pressure on the God of War between his lines.
No wonder the seasoned general of the Imperium whose nerves used to be as tough as iron was so easily invaded by him.
There had never been a perfect choice in any battlefield. Most of the time, people had to take chances.
Whether or not their decision was correct, and whether it would save a country or destroy it… Those were questions that could only be answered with time!
Even Li Yao couldn’t argue that Lei Chenghu’s ruthlessness to let the expedition army resist the main forces of the Covenant Alliance was wrong. He knew that splitting troops in a war was terrible.
Li Yao looked at Boss Bai.
Boss Bai nodded and said, “I second General Lei’s strategy. But there’s still a critical problem, which is our internal coordination.
“It must be noted that, although a lot of troops are gathered in the Empyreal Terminus Sector, they’re from complicated sources. Some are from the expedition army, some are from the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, some are from the Cultivators, and some are from the ace fleets of the four families that surrendered.
“The troops seem overwhelming, but they’re actually disorganized. If you deal with the main forces of the Covenant Alliance with such an army, it’s possible that the army will crash when the war doesn’t go well.
“How can we reorganize loose troops into an unstoppable army? The simplest approach is victory! We will polish the new armies with consecutive victories and make up for all the internal disagreements with burning morale!
“After losing their best fleets, the four families are now unprecedentedly weak even though they boast a large territory. Our morale will be higher than ever after we completely vanquish the four families. Then, we will turn around and fight a strategic battle against the Covenant Alliance. We will be utterly unstoppable by then!”
Li Yao nodded his head. He had to admit that Lei Chenghu and Boss Bai were much more thoughtful than he was.
“Right…” Li Yao asked again, “What about the federation? Did the parliament make any decision?”
“Not yet.”
With a vague smile, Boss Bai said, “However, we received a letter from Bai Kaixin, the chief of staff of the Burning Prairie Fleet. The federation is now establishing a new rapid response troop based on the Burning Prairie Fleet. You know that the federation will be influenced by this war between the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance whether or not it takes part in the war. So, it can’t be wrong to make preparations first.”
“So, the federation is making preparations for the war too!”
Li Yao clenched his fists and remembered the fearless Ding Lingdang again.
He knew that the Star Glory Federation would not sit around!
“Got it! You can focus on eliminating the rebels of the four families!”
His eyes glowing, Li Yao declared with confidence, “I’ll try my best to find out those pretentious Ultimate Benevolence Masters. Chances are that I can even deliver the butterflies in my head into the Covenant Alliance and raise an astounding storm there!”
…
Now that Li Yao safely concluded his training, there was no reason for the anti-rebel army to delay. It set off from the capital at night, and the dazzling exhaust flames from the starships almost tore the night sky apart.
The communication and cooperation among human beings were amazing.
A year ago, Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators regarded each other as sworn enemies.
But now, the Immortal Cultivators’ Astounding Thunder Fleet and the Cultivators’ Arsonist Fleet were working together against a common foe, and the Immortal Cultivators’ capital had to be defended by battle puppets and fully-automatic defense positions that were under the control of Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King, who were the next generation of life.
Could Immortal Cultivators really trust Cultivators?
Could Cultivators really trust Immortal Cultivators?
Could Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators 100% trust Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King?
The answer was definitely no.
They all had concerns. They were all wary and vigilant of each other. They all couldn’t help but consider the worst possible outcome. They all sighed at night when nobody was around.
However…
The universe was too vast and dark, and they had no choice except to find warmth in each other’s arms and press forward!