The Scales of Victory

In short, the Lyra has now almost lost its close-range defense capabilities, but this does not affect its defensive strength. Even though the Kun-Tai Civilization has small attack ships, they cannot penetrate the Lyra's armor.

As long as the main guns and engines weren't directly destroyed by hits, the Lyra could truly dominate the battlefield. However, Yue Yuan didn't act rashly and continued with the attrition tactic.

In short, it's about taking advantage of human mobility.

When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy tires, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we advance.

The Sixteen Golden Principles of the Grand Ancestor became a guide for human actions in the subsequent wars.

"Commander Yue, our ship has been hit on the bottom, and the No. 19 laser Close-In Weapon System on the Outer Armor has been destroyed."

"Side rudder, fire back at it!"

"We need to back up a bit; we're too close, their accuracy is too high."

The war continued. The Mount Lu-Class Warship had been damaged and fled far away. The Lyra and Mount Huang-Class Warship had not yet completely destroyed the Fourth Fleet of the Kun-Tai Civilization when its main fleet of forty-nine warships rushed to the battlefield.

This action pulled the remaining three warships of its Fourth Fleet back from the brink of death, and also reversed the disadvantageous situation of the Kun-Tai Civilization.

The numerical advantage of the Mountain-Class Warship boosted the firepower of the Kun-Tai Civilization to a high level. Fifty-two warships shuttled back and forth, firing in staggered formations, causing the Lyra, which was originally quite close, to be hit by several shots.

Fortunately, Lyra knew its strengths and weaknesses and maneuvered well, avoiding being hit by its engine and main guns; otherwise, it would have been completely doomed.

The overwhelming firepower forced the Lyra to retreat and create distance to seek another opportunity.

After the arrival of their main force, the Kun-Tai Civilization changed from a spherical formation to a loose formation. It seems they understood that in this environment, forming Large Formation made them easy targets.

In fact, the Kun-Tai Civilization has now entered the Asteroid Belt. Given the same environment, the best tactic for these 52 warships is to fight a stealthy war against humanity. However, they have limited fuel and have to end the battle in a short time. Therefore, even though they have adopted a loose and dispersed formation, the Kun-Tai Civilization fleet's goal is still to pursue the Lyra and Mount Huang-Class Warship.

The longer the war lasts, the more detrimental it will be to the Kun-Tai Civilization.

In this situation, the Kun-Tai Civilization had no choice but to deploy all available means of attack against human warships. Of course, in space warfare at the Tier 1 Civilization stage, the main lethal weapons were Directed Energy Weapon or Energy Beam Weapon, nuclear missiles, Electromagnetic Railgun, and Positron Cannon.

Although the Kun-Tai Civilization only had the first three types, once their numbers increased, their firepower became extremely fierce. In addition, their Mountain-Class Warship, and their cannon caliber and nuclear missile yield were also large.

Suddenly, bright spots appeared one after another in the Asteroid Belt.

The nuclear explosion's bright light, a concentrated beam of energy, illuminated asteroids hiding in the darkness of space.

Electromagnetic Railgun and nuclear missiles are considered slow weapons at this distance, but they were still deployed in the battles by the Kun-Tai Civilization.

However, the Lyra was like an unkillable cockroach; slow-motion weapons couldn't hit it, and energy beam weapons couldn't kill it, making the Kun-Tai Civilization more and more anxious as the battle progressed.

There's no use in rushing, because this is a war in which humanity has taken the initiative. Humanity has been preparing since the discovery of the Kun-Tai Civilization.

The tactic of holding back and pulling is something that humans have consistently employed.

By the second day of the war, eight of the fifty-two warships of the Kun-Tai Civilization's main fleet had been destroyed by the Lyra and two by the Mount Huang-Class Warship.

The Kunlun-Class Warship fleet of the Man Yuemei has been at a disadvantage because it lacks warships like the Lyra that can withstand energy beam weapons head-on. However, since it does not need to engage in direct confrontation, it is still relatively in control.

Of course, the Kunlun-Class Warship was also covered with the marks of battle during the two days of fighting, and the Mount Danxia-Class Warship and several other Callisto-Class Warship were destroyed in the battle.

Two days of fighting left the space battlefield littered with warship fragments, metal blocks, and severed limbs.

However, neither side gave up, nor were they intimidated by death.

On the third day, humans discovered that the Kun-Tai Civilization's fleet seemed to have slowed down, and their warships were moving around less frequently than before, which greatly increased their chances of being hit.

Such a change meant that humanity's achievements in just half a day on the third day were almost equal to the combined achievements of the first two days.

The scales of victory have once again tipped in favor of humanity.

"Commander Yue, the maneuvering frequency of the Kun-Tai Civilization's warships has dropped significantly again!" The Science Officer, who had been analyzing the movements of the Kun-Tai Civilization's warships, shouted excitedly.

"Yes, it's obvious they're running out of fuel." Yue Yuan smiled, but he didn't relax. "Although it's good to strike while the iron is hot, we're not in a hurry. Everything will proceed as usual."

The behavior of the Kun-Tai Civilization did indeed resemble that of someone running out of fuel, but just to be on the safe side, Yue Yuan did not wave his hand and order the warships to rush over and fire a barrage.

Because there is another possibility, which is to lure the enemy.

The Kun-Tai Civilization knew long ago that humans were aware of their fuel shortage. Under such circumstances, it was possible for them to feign fuel depletion to lure humans into lowering their guard and launching an attack, before Backstab.

Based on this consideration, Yue Yuan chose to conservatively follow the previous strategy and continue to wage guerrilla warfare.

We'll definitely win if we keep fighting, there's no need to take risks. Besides, since the Kun-Tai Civilization's mobility has decreased, we can continue to pick them off one by one.

In contrast to the smiling faces of the humans, the Kun-Tai Civilization Flagship was shrouded in gloom.

The Kuntai People here have lost their former composure. Their warships are dwindling, their fuel is running low, and if this continues, they won't even be able to activate their energy beam weapons.

"Lord Pierce, we still have ten Quake-Class Warship remaining in the Residential Spaceship Cluster. We... we..."

Upon hearing Mo Tuotuo's words, Pierce remained silent and said, "If our 110 warships can't defeat a mere 10 human warships, what use are the remaining 10? If we fail, I will become a sinner of the Kun-Tai Civilization. Mo Tuotuo, Acceleration Buffer Fluid!"

"No, Lord Pierce, we still have some fuel, we can still fight," Mo Tuotuo in a trembling voice.

Pierce paused for a moment, then asked the Engine Crew over the internal communication channel, "How much longer can our reactor last?"

"Less than three hours, Your Lord Pierce." The Engine Crew engineer paused, then added, "If we continue with the frequent repositioning and high maneuverability, and the frequent use of Energy Beam Weapon as before, then we only have two hours left."

The Engine Crew engineer's words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, striking heavily into the hearts of every Kuntai People on the warship.