Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1069: Chapter 582: The Fruits of Victory are so Sweet

The orbital defense system was rapidly dismantled, and at the same time, the ground offensive was becoming increasingly smooth.

Without the disturbances from the orbital defense system, the Alliance Fleet began providing smoother support to the ground offensive.

The ground-based orbital cannons continued their futile resistance, but when facing attacks from both the skies and the ground simultaneously, their defense became overwhelmingly difficult.

In fact, the Alliance didn’t even deploy Interstellar Warriors for the ground offensive.

This time, the main force comprised the Battle Nuns of Saintly Mercy Lily. Superior Georgette was the highest-ranking commander. Although the Battle Sisters she led did not have the individual combat prowess of the Interstellar Warriors, with a thousand Battle Nuns, plus the assistance of over six thousand Glory Guards, they could ensure that their ground operations would not be overrun in one blow by Furyflame or the New Torch.

Moreover, the enemy didn’t dare gather their Interstellar Warriors in large numbers.

In a battle for control over a critical surface hub city, the enemy assembled a hundred Interstellar Warriors, successfully pushing back the Alliance Army’s advance on the city.

Immediately, the Alliance refrained from taking rash action. Instead, they encircled the city and established a humanitarian corridor, giving the residents inside three days to evacuate.

The Interstellar Warriors could not escape; they were too conspicuous to blend in with the evacuating pedestrians and flee among them.

They attempted several breakout attempts, but on the open plains, they faced not just Battle Nuns and Glory Guards but also a mass of tanks and heavy artillery. A frontal breakthrough was impossible.

Only a handful managed to escape, while the rest were forced back into the city.

Afterward, the Alliance ceased to concern itself with how many civilians remained in the city and began orbital bombardment.

For three days and nights, they bombed relentlessly until the city was flattened in a physical sense. Post-operation estimates suggested that there were likely no surviving lifeforms within.

Following this battle, Furyflame and the New Torch almost entirely abandoned forming large-scale assemblies—unless it was to strike under the cover of night, in complex environments during ambushes. But even then, they had to quickly retreat after a swift victory and didn’t dare try to expand their gains.

They also abandoned nearly all key positions and fortresses, moving their frontlines to the underground tunnels of cities, into previously excavated bunkers and subways, as well as into mountainous and other complex terrains.

These areas were unsuitable for large-scale military operations. Their dispersed layout also rendered orbital bombardment largely ineffective.

This effectively meant that they had nearly entirely relinquished control over Phantom Moon.

If the Interstellar Warriors solely aimed to survive and hold out, they indeed proved difficult to eliminate.

Even Skyburn Torpedoes might not completely wipe them out. If they stockpiled sufficient supplies and oxygen, hiding in excavated mountains or underground spaces, they might very well endure for several years, emerging only after the heat of destruction subsided—how they would escape a dead and silent planet would then be a separate issue.

But survive, they could.

Unless, of course, one were to resort to a planet-busting weapon such as a higher-tier Extinction Order device, which would obliterate the entire planet into countless space debris. Perhaps, after thousands of years, gravity might coalesce the fragments once more, or it might result in countless asteroids and meteoroids. Regardless, only this method could truly eradicate all traces of life from a planet without exception.

It hadn’t reached that point, not yet anyway.

However, under these circumstances, the war situation remained awkward.

The Alliance had essentially taken control of the entire Phantom Moon, but their military advantage still depended largely on the elite forces—the combined strength of the several thousand Battle Nuns and Glory Guards, supplemented by at least two battlecruisers and ten Lunar-class ships providing orbital support.

In such conditions, Furyflame and the New Torch dared not expose themselves, reduced to skulking in the shadows like rats.

However, they effectively tied down a considerable portion of the Alliance’s forces—stationed on Phantom Moon—with fewer than two thousand Interstellar Warriors.

If the Starships were withdrawn—even partially, leaving fewer remaining ships—global coverage would no longer be feasible. Furyflame and their ilk would likely become more active. And should the Nuns and Glory Guards also withdraw, they could brazenly establish new bases and even reclaim control of the planet.

Yet, not withdrawing while being unable to swiftly eradicate these two battle groups was equally frustrating.

Truly a headache.

…

Gu Hang became aware of the situation on Phantom Moon but didn’t devote much thought to managing it.

There was nothing much to manage.

Perhaps the war there was extraordinarily brutal, and the guerrilla operations of the two remnant groups were causing Superior Georgette immense frustration.

However, overall, Phantom Moon’s output in various domains was undergoing reconstruction. Under the current condition of global military administration, the Alliance was extracting 20% of the output, with Georgette’s forces obtaining an additional 10% for military supplies—primarily food, basic necessities, and equipment maintenance.

The rest was left to the local interest groups on the planet for internal distribution.

That should suffice.

As for Furyflame and the New Torch hidden in the mountains and subterranean areas, they would be left to Georgette to handle further.

A portion of the Starships in Phantom Moon’s orbit would be withdrawn while others stayed; three cruisers would suffice.

While it wouldn’t cover the whole planet, it was enough to provide fire support whenever Georgette ordered a reconnaissance or eradication operation against the Mutinous Star Warriors.

As for the frequent attacks on some of Phantom Moon’s local production sites, let them attack.

The output from those facilities wasn’t significant.

The cleanup operations for the two battle groups could proceed slowly.

After all, Gu Hang was no longer under time pressure.

As for himself, he had more important matters to attend to.

The Battle of Bowang and its derivative conflict, the Phantom Moon Campaign, brought an unprecedented victory for the Alliance, along with immense spoils.

The tally was astonishing: two battlecruisers in exchange for one Emperor-class, two Retribution-class, a combat barge, and a Dragon-Serpent-class.

What a profit—equivalent to gaining an entire Alliance Fleet!

Just from plundering ships, they had hit the jackpot!

Strategically, too, the war had shifted significantly.

The Alfonso Sect’s main expeditionary force was crushed; Furyflame and the New Torch were broken. Resolving these two major issues meant that the Alliance was no longer under dual-threat pressure in the Proudclaw Cosmos.

In the Princess Star Domain, meanwhile, the Iron Armor Battle Group’s main force was locked in a deadly struggle with the Lord of the Phoenix in the western frontlines—a conflict on a scale even larger than the Alliance’s battles. Could Humphrey Paolo possibly divert more forces for an expedition into Proudclaw?

That seemed unlikely.

Could the Alfonso Sect, having lost a War Ark and an Emperor-class ship, muster a fleet for another southern campaign?

That too seemed improbable.

True, the Alliance would face a brief period of weakness following the Battle of Bowang—at least six months to a year of repairs for their fleet.

But in truth, Gu Hang wasn’t too concerned about encountering any military threats during this phase of vulnerability.

On the contrary, it was his enemies who ought to fear his military strength.

He might be in a vulnerable phase, but considering the routes from Proudclaw to Thistle Muster or Alfonso Starfields, they were left unguarded and poorly defended.

Would the victor of this war, Gu Hang, be in worse shape than the losers?

That simply didn’t make sense.

Even if Iron Armor’s Paolo or the Alfonso Sect’s Great Sage Martin Valuk chose to target Gu Hang and were willing to risk their own core stability, they couldn’t redeploy forces so easily.

Crossing multiple Star Domains alone—organizing, mobilizing, and marching forces—would take an indeterminately long time.

Even in the most conservative estimations, Gu Hang believed he’d have over two years to catch his breath.

Oh, but it wasn’t he who needed to catch his breath; it was Paolo and Valuk who did.

“Still too weak. If only we had preserved our fleet’s strength, we wouldn’t give them even a moment to breathe!”

Gu Hang sighed and turned to focus on consolidating his spoils of war.

The fruits of victory were indeed sweet.

The Proudclaw Campaign’s triumph, beyond capturing ships and ’consuming’ a Neuron Progeny, achieving a strategic upper hand, yielded another, often-overlooked trophy: Gift Points.

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