Super Mothership
Beep! Gilard switched on the display rod. A semi-transparent hologram appeared, projecting a series of 3D dynamic battlefield simulations before him.
“Where exactly did the flaw appear…?”
After watching it three times in a row, Gilard paused the projection at the moment when the Bronze Mech Legion split into three routes, his brows furrowing deeply.
It could be said that if the Wolf Civilization hadn’t suddenly changed their tactics, the plan should have succeeded perfectly. Not only would the minimum strategic objective have been achieved, even destroying two wormhole expansion devices wouldn’t have been difficult.
Unfortunately, not only did the plan fail to fully succeed—he even lost an entire detached fleet.
“This is what I can’t understand either. Judging from the deployment of both sides at the time, the enemy definitely fell for our trap at the beginning. But midway through, for some unknown reason, they suddenly realized something and overturned their original defense plan, which caused our failure!” Beckman said helplessly.
He had helped draft this plan, and its failure was a blow to someone as proud as him.
“As a commander, the greatest taboo is constantly changing orders. From our past encounters, the enemy commander is decisive and ruthless—clearly someone with firm resolve. A person like that would never change his mind lightly. He absolutely shouldn’t be the indecisive type.
Therefore… something must have happened that we don’t know about.” Gilard concluded firmly.
In warfare, the highest level is psychological—attacking the enemy’s mind.
This “mind attack” not only refers to weakening enemy morale or influencing the war through external factors—it also means formulating strategies based on the enemy commander’s personality.
For example, Zhuge Liang’s Empty City Stratagem succeeded precisely because he accurately grasped the psychology of the opposing commander.
Had Zhang Fei been the one attacking instead that day, Zhuge Liang’s ploy would have led to disaster.
Gilard had clearly grasped these principles and had begun to understand his opponent’s personality traits.
“You mean… someone leaked information?” Beckman asked in shock.
“Hmm… I can’t be certain, but something about this just feels off.” Gilard said, his brows tightly knit.
“But from the moment the plan was announced to the moment we executed it, only a few hours passed. During that time, we kept the wormholes under strict surveillance. It would have been impossible for anyone to transmit intelligence right under our noses.
Judging from their reaction, they were indeed caught off guard and suffered heavy losses. It doesn’t look like they received information ahead of time.”
“Sigh! Perhaps… I’m just overthinking it. The universe is vast, and it’s not rare for individuals with extraordinary abilities to emerge.” Gilard sighed.
“Then how should we respond to the Wolf Civilization next? Should we seize the opportunity now that their elite forces have suffered heavy losses and capture the wormholes in one stroke?” Beckman asked.
“No. Our two surprise attacks also cost us dearly. Although many star systems in our territory are mobilizing forces at full speed, we currently lack the capability to launch another large-scale offensive.
Next, I plan to take advantage of the enemy fleet’s poor performance and limited long-range combat capability—by launching commerce-raiding operations.”
“Commerce-raiding? You mean targeting and destroying their logistical supply routes?” Beckman’s eyes lit up.
Commerce-raiding is a type of warfare aimed at destroying the enemy’s transportation lines and crippling their logistical support.
During World War I, Britain used its superior naval power to blockade Germany’s maritime routes, effectively weakening Germany’s war potential.
Unwilling to yield, Germany initiated unrestricted submarine warfare, using lone submarine attacks to disrupt the Allies’ maritime routes—sinking around 11 million tons of shipping.
During World War II, commerce-raiding expanded in scale. Germany once again carried out unrestricted submarine warfare, this time using coordinated submarine “wolf packs,” surface ships, and aircraft—ultimately sinking around 21 million tons of Allied ships, making it the deadliest commerce-raiding campaign in Earth’s history.
“Indeed. The wormhole area has now expanded to the point where neither side can fully defend it. In other words, deploying independent long-range fleets to infiltrate the enemy’s territory has become possible.
I plan to deploy two small commerce-raiding fleets. They will break through the enemy blockade, slip into the rear, and destroy their logistical supply routes as much as possible.
More importantly, they must gather intelligence on the hostile civilization. We have made slow progress in this area, which is extremely unfavorable for our strategic planning!
Our previous attacks have already torn open the enemy’s wormhole defenses. As long as we enter from the wormhole’s edge, we can easily avoid their main battlefield and then break through rapidly into their rear.
Their advantage lies in their elite mech legions. Their weakness is long-range fleet operations. Even if they send several times our number, our fleets can rely on range and speed to easily shake them off!”
“Using our strengths against their weaknesses… that means we’ll be striking directly at their soft spot!
As long as these two fleets remain active—even using guerrilla tactics—it’ll be enough to give the enemy a massive headache! Indeed, this is the best plan for now.” Beckman nodded in agreement.
“Mm! Good.” Gilard nodded with a faint smile.
At that moment, a thought flashed across Beckman’s mind. “Then… who will command these two fleets?”
The seeds previously planted… it was time for them to bear fruit.
After all, such deep-strike raids were almost certain death. The fleets would be completely surrounded on all sides, constantly hunted, and would even have to approach enemy military targets proactively to sabotage and gather intelligence. With a bit of bad luck, the entire fleet could easily be wiped out.
“Heh…” Gilard looked at Beckman with a half-smile. “I plan to send Arthas… and you to carry out this mission together.”
The smile that had just started to form on Beckman’s face instantly froze.
“If you want others to gamble everything, you must put forth stakes of equal value.
Let the two young geniuses of our races compete side by side on this mission… With such reasoning, even Chairman Cruze would have nothing to say.
Beckman, remember—political maneuvering is necessary in your career, but what matters even more is having achievements that truly convince others.
Our Sea Clan needs commanders with political wisdom. But political wisdom alone is not enough. You… understand what I mean, don’t you?”
Beckman felt his heart jolt. So Gilard had seen through all his private scheming as if watching it unfold in broad daylight.
“Heh! General, you flatter me. My petty tricks are laughable before you.” Since he was exposed, Beckman simply dropped the act. He shrugged and gave a wry smile.
“In that case, I accept your orders. I will participate in this mission!”
At that moment, he adjusted his mindset. High risk meant high reward. Although the mission was extremely dangerous, it was also a battlefield of merit. Anyone who survived would almost certainly be promoted!
Even someone like Arthas, a detached fleet commander, could leap into the ranks of legion-level senior officers!
This was a threshold many officers spent more than a decade trying—and failing—to cross. Despite the risks, the temptation was more than enough to make men gamble with their lives.
With Beckman’s pride and confidence, there was no way he would refuse such a “trial” that embodied the spirit of the Sea Clan.
“Mm! Very good! Truly worthy of our Sea Clan!” Gilard nodded, satisfied.
“But rest assured—since I am the one sending you, I will also do everything in my power to reduce your risk.
I will secretly allocate a batch of advanced equipment and mix it into your supply shipments. Among them are 100 units of Sea-Storm-class mechs. Even if I cannot guarantee mission success, I can at least guarantee your safe return!”
One hundred Sea-Storm-class mechs?! That alone could rival an entire fleet!
Hearing this, Beckman finally felt at ease. He didn’t act modest, nor did he consider this cheating. This was what you called home-field advantage!
“Thank you, General! I will not fail!”
The two exchanged a knowing smile—everything understood without another word.
TL Note- Trap?
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