Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 998: Chapter 538, 100 Days 20 Worlds

The result of the Guangfeng Star Sea battle, of course, was an Alliance victory.

But in reality, in terms of the damage suffered by both fleets, the Alliance didn’t exactly gain much of an advantage, and it actually suffered greater losses.

Among the eight main battleships, the ’Firebath Nova’ suffered the most damage. Its combat capability can basically be maintained, but it’s best to pull it back for repairs. Otherwise, the damaged Void Shield Generator, compromised armor, and the internal linkage system damages… all of these could become hidden dangers. Later, if there is a high-intensity naval battle, any of these latent issues could become a fatal weakness.

Nevertheless, no ships were lost, which is good news. The current damage won’t take too long to repair, and they might not even need to be dragged back to the dockyard. Subsequently, they can stop somewhere, and the onboard mechanics and technicians should be able to handle the necessary repairs and replacements.

However, damages to other ships were not insignificant either.

Primarily, losses occurred during the initial warp stage, bearing the brunt of enemy fire.

Once the Fury Fleet retreated, there wasn’t much cost in dealing with the defending forces at the warp point.

And after the warp points along the Shangdong-Guangfeng line were cleared, the remaining resistance in this star system was the fortress-like Guangfeng Star itself.

Even the Fury Fleet didn’t defend Guangfeng. They left some ships hiding in Guangfeng’s orbit and Starport, while the main fleet withdrew non-stop back to a more central region in the Proudclaw Cosmos.

The Alliance didn’t attempt to tackle Guangfeng, which was even stronger than the Shangdong Star Defense.

After a brief reorganization of the entire fleet, they headed to the next warp point.

On either side of the next set of Star Realm Tunnels, the defensive system was not as strong as the warp points between Shangdong and Guangfeng.

Powerful Star Fortresses are certainly cheaper than warships, but that’s only in comparison to warships. Even at one-third or one-fifth of the cost, it’s still a significant expense. Moreover, like warships, Star Fortresses and space stations require regular maintenance, which also costs money.

Additionally, their use is much more limited, only capable of defense, with no offensive capabilities.

Even if there was money, each planet would be more inclined to install these defense facilities in their own orbit. Firstly, this greatly reduces maintenance costs, as there’s no need to move engineering ships to warp points for operations each time; secondly, interests are also at play. Protecting one’s own planet instead of guarding or blocking a warp point is more direct. Moreover, placing defense systems like Star Fortresses in planetary orbit can be effectively linked with the ground’s orbital cannon groups,

making most warp point defense systems quite lackluster. Having several Armed Space Stations for border checks is already considered sufficient. Only some warp points that need to guard against space pirates will have more Armed Space Stations, or perhaps a light Star Fortress.

Only major thoroughfares like Shangdong-Guangfeng, connecting two Star Domains, would have heavy Star Fortresses and numerous Armed Space Stations installed.

As such, when the Alliance fleet once again bypassed the difficult Guangfeng Star and continued advancing toward the Proudclaw Star Domain, their progress became swift and unstoppable.

In just four months, the Alliance captured two Star Sectors and over twenty worlds in the southern part of the Proudclaw Star Domain.

The primary reason for such achievements was the constant avoidance by the Fury Fleet.

Without fleet protection and with no ground defense setup by the Fury Flame Battle Group in the southernmost Star Sectors, the ground resistance relied on local Planetary Defense Forces, supplemented at most by the Princess Legion’s military instructor groups. Such combat strength was no match for the Alliance’s main forces.

To expand their gains, the Alliance’s fleet was divided.

The battle cruiser ’Fury Owl,’ the carrier ’Eagle Horse,’ and the repaired battleship ’Firebath Nova,’ these three main ships formed the main fleet, following the Fury Fleet’s traces and pursuing them.

With two dreadnoughts and an assisting battle cruiser, the main battle strength of the fleet already slightly surpassed the Fury Fleet. Not to mention, the Fury had to consider Gu Hang within their fleet, along with his Storm Mage Corps.

In a fleet decisive battle, they would lose. Unless the Alliance fleet, after splitting, foolishly jumped into an area filled with Star Fortresses and Armed Space Stations to fight the Fury Fleet.

Ensuring that the main fleet could exert an overwhelming force over the Fury Fleet, four additional battle cruisers each led several detachment fleets, splitting into four directions for assault.

With the Fury Fleet’s main force contained, there was no space power in the whole Proudclaw Cosmos that could contend with a detachment led by a single battle cruiser. And even if the Fury Fleet, under Gu Hang’s nose, managed a trick to slip away and find a chance to attack an Alliance detachment, the battle cruiser’s performance allowed it to evade even if it couldn’t win.

Moreover, it’s not easy for the Fury Fleet to slip away unnoticed right beneath Gu Hang’s eyes.

Thanks to these factors, the Alliance could execute such rapid conquest operations in the Proudclaw Star Domain.

In about a hundred days, over twenty worlds were captured, averaging one every five to six days.

However, at this stage, the Alliance’s offensive suddenly slowed down.

Gu Hang realized something was wrong.

Such rapid aggressive advances, although creating a huge breach in the southern front and reclaiming 20 Empire worlds, seemed to be the best achievement from the Empire side in recent years.

Yet, many hidden dangers were left behind.

First is that the enemy’s main forces still exist and are merely avoiding battle, the Alliance had not achieved a decisive battle.

Therefore, the current gains by the Alliance are somewhat illusory. Subsequently, losing a single battle could mean losing everything they have gained.

Secondly, the Alliance had spread the breadth of the battle too wide too quickly.

These two Star Sectors and twenty worlds are not completely subdued. Many places are still resisting. In fact, some worlds with strong resistance couldn’t even be entered by the Alliance’s army. The navy cleared the orbit and controlled the Starport, ensuring the planet couldn’t contribute to the cosmic battle, then symbolically shelled the surface a few times and counted it as captured.

But such a capture is very unstable.

The Alliance basically couldn’t assimilate these twenty worlds to support them in the subsequent war.

Moreover, the unresolved Shangdong-Guangfeng planets were like two tumors in the throat of the Alliance’s offensive path.

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