Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1079: Chapter 588, Western Front Collapse

Galaraldo’s declaration in the sacred Supreme Council hall stunned everyone.

The High Lords sat in their seats, their expressions varied. Some were solemn, some clenched their teeth, some leaned forward uncontrollably…

“Explain carefully, I need to know the details.” The question came from the Imperial Prime Minister—Zebert.

Regardless of his mood, Galaraldo’s expression was at least serious.

He recounted the intelligence in its entirety.

Among the three battlegrounds of the Iron Armor War, if ranked by importance, the order would undoubtedly be West, North, South.

The sudden involvement of the Alfonso Fleet in the war caused the strategic importance of the Southern Front to surge abruptly.

But even so, it at most equaled the significance of the Northern Front.

Both of these fronts still paled in comparison to the Western Front.

As for the Southern Line alliance, let’s set that aside for now. The Northern Line appears to be bustling with activity—with the two fledgling battle groups Infinite and Bat, and the Black Cross Legion also participating. Other battle groups sent forces as well. After being initially obstructed by the Insect Race, help arrived from the Extraplanar Tribunal, with the special battle group Silver Watch joining the fray…

However, in reality, the most critical pillars—Infinite and Bat—each sent only one company, totaling just two hundred troops. The Black Cross Legion contributed more forces—a complete flotilla led by Marshal Mathieu Leroi, consisting of a thousand Black Cross warriors forming the backbone of the defense.

Still, the combined total was only about 1,200.

Other battle groups, including Silver Watch, contributed a combined force of just five hundred interstellar warriors. No one committed their entire strength—they merely sent reinforcements.

Beyond deploying Silver Watch, the Extraplanar Tribunal provided only minimal numbers. After all, they had numerous other alien threats to address.

In practice, the main carrier of conventional Imperial Navy and Imperial Star Realm Army forces still relied on the support behind the Northern Line: the Star Devouring Cosmos.

A single Cosmic Domain’s strength—is it sufficient?

Not quite.

The Star Devouring Cosmos is one of the two richest and most expansive Cosmic Domains in the Imperial North Border. However, like every other Domain, they also grapple with their own internal issues. Within the Star Devouring Cosmos exists a rebel force spanning two Star Domains, unresolved for a long time. This faction, worshiping chaos, indulges in wanton pleasure while possessing a uniquely enticing influence that has continually vexed the Space Domain Government. Several large-scale anti-rebellion campaigns have not only failed to resolve the issue but have led to units succumbing to corruption and defecting. Uprisings frequently emerge across nearby worlds as well.

If it weren’t for the Iron Armor offensive already reaching the neighboring Spiderweb Domain, located directly north of the Star Devouring Cosmos, they wouldn’t have been providing such intensified troop, material, and fleet support to descend southward into the conflict.

But even then, constrained by internal turmoil, they still cannot fully commit to descending south en masse for the war effort.

Unless fledgling groups like Infinite and Bat dedicate greater determination and send more manpower, or the Black Cross Legion summons another flotilla… Otherwise, there’s little hope of significant change on the Northern Line battlefield.

In contrast, the Western Front is entirely different.

Phoenix has summoned several sub-groups to join the war; and with incremental reinforcements, the core force of this group has reached a total of seven hundred warriors.

Even Black Feather and Devil Bird, two other battle groups, have mobilized their full forces.

Although not at full strength, together they amount to sixteen hundred troops.

Adding the support from a total of seven sub-groups, each contributing two to four companies, the forces of interstellar warriors engaged on the Western Front exceed 4,500.

Crucially, the Heretic Tribunal, one of the three major tribunals, is the angriest of all. They have been steadily reinforcing, deploying at least 20,000 Battle Nuns from the Blood Rose order to the battlefield; in addition, they’ve brought allied fleets and Battle Nuns from National Church congregations.

Altogether, the Battle Nuns of various convents exceed 30,000 in number.

Adding elite Tribunal Stormtroopers and Judges into the mix, the Heretic Tribunal has committed significant forces to subdue what is potentially the Empire’s largest internal rebellion in nearly a millennium.

In reality, the core forces of the Iron Armor Battle Group are also concentrated in the West, fully countering the joint offensive from Phoenix and the Heretic Tribunal on the Western Front.

Not only countering but even pushing back.

The Western Front is indeed Iron Armor’s primary line of assault.

Moreover, Phoenix’s leader, Su Lie, has steadily increased his forces over time; they didn’t start with this many troops.

At one point, the Empire even suffered the humiliation of being pushed out from Spiderweb Domain by Iron Armor forces, retreating all the way to Magrey Cosmic Domain.

Only after reinforcements from various fronts arrived and the Alliance launched a southern offensive did Phoenix regain its footing and begin to counterattack.

Recently, Phoenix has successfully fought its way back into the Spiderweb Domain.

Though progress is slow, it’s steady and calculated.

This favorable situation is what led the venerable Lords of Holy Terra to consider strategies for connecting the three fronts, enabling mutual aid, coordinated operations, or even shifting manpower to alter the primary offensive direction…

But now, Phoenix has collapsed.

The collapse itself wasn’t overly complicated.

The opposing Iron Armor forces suddenly concentrated their strength and launched a ferocious assault.

In a naval battle, over twenty massive warships engaged Su Lie’s fleet in an intense clash.

Su Lie had no intention of a decisive engagement and, recognizing the overwhelming aggression of the enemy, opted for a strategy of fighting a retreating battle, focusing on delay and dispatching smaller units to disrupt Iron Armor’s rear and flanks.

Such a concentrated deployment of forces by Iron Armor inevitably meant they were diverting strength from other areas.

This strategy theoretically had the potential to unravel Iron Armor’s ferocious offensive.

However, this time things turned out differently.

Iron Armor brought in the Bedrock Shield and launched particularly brutal boarding actions.

Additionally, among the enemy ranks appeared some very… peculiar adversaries.

These individuals seemed to be ordinary Mortal Army troops accompanying interstellar warriors in boarding actions. Yet their physical capabilities far exceeded those of regular mortals, and they looked distinctly different from normal humans.

Precisely how they differed remains unknown due to the lack of further intelligence.

Following the battle, Phoenix’s flagship, the “Phoenix Crown Feathers” Queen of Glory battleship, vanished.

The loss of this ship—a vessel no longer within humanity’s capacity to construct, personally designed by The Emperor and painstakingly crafted by Mars—led directly to the collapse of the Western Front.

Numerous ships were destroyed, survivors scattered and fled; trailing behind, the transport fleets were forced to hastily unload troops and supplies onto planetary surfaces before making a desperate escape…

After the brutal engagement, with intelligence from the frontlines scarce, the enemy’s losses remain hard to estimate.

However, they are presumably significant.

In their retreat to regroup, the Imperial forces lost Battle Group Leader Su Lie and the Queen of Glory battleship. The remaining Phoenix warriors numbered just two hundred, now commanded by a company leader; other battle groups combined probably still have around a thousand soldiers regrouped.

The Battle Nuns suffered even greater losses, with over 10,000 killed or missing. Of the remaining 20,000, only 10,000 have regrouped at the rear lines. The remaining Battle Nuns and an estimated 1,000 interstellar warriors are dispersed across planetary surfaces with uncertain futures.

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Missing 112

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