Planetary Defense War

That was over a thousand warships, an entire fleet, just like that, gone.

Leaving aside the losses of the Fifth and Sixth Fleet, just considering the Fourth Fleet's 1,250 warships, each with 7,000 Nair People, 8.75 million Nair People were killed in action.

When the Nair Civilization coexisted with the Three Star Region, this number of people was indeed insignificant. However, since being defeated by Artificial Intelligence and venturing into space, the total population of the Nair People has been declining sharply.

Not only was the population of the home planet slaughtered by the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness, but only a few billion people were able to escape to space with it.

Now that more than eight million have died in battle, how could the Governor-General of the Nile not feel heartbroken?

Well, human warships, due to their higher degree of mechanization and automation, only need about five thousand people to exert their full combat power. But the Nair Civilization is different. Their Lake-Class Warship require at least seven thousand Nair People working in various positions to ensure that the warship can perform at its full capacity.

Therefore, even if the same warship is destroyed, the losses suffered by the Nair People are far greater than those of the humans.

Including the losses of more than 400 warships in the Fifth and Sixth Fleet, the Nair People have now lost at least 12 million Nair People.

The Nair Civilization is a normal Level 2 Civilization. If this had happened during the previous era of the division of the Three Star Region, this loss would have been nothing. But now, it has caused some serious damage.

When the first phase of the battle report was received, even the Grand Governor of the Nair people thought that the humans had deliberately sent the Nair people to their deaths.

However, he dared not question Yue Yuan to his face, because he and the entire Nair People high command had come to realize that Human Civilization was far more powerful than Nair Civilization, especially in terms of military strength.

Even if humanity only has two fleets, if a war were to break out, the Nair Civilization would be absolutely crushed.

Moreover, the Nair Civilization has now boarded the Allied Forces' ship. The main body of the Nair Civilization, the cluster of Residential Spaceship inhabited by two billion Nair People, is now heading to the next Star System with Human Civilization.

In this situation, the Nair Civilization had no choice but to follow humanity into the dark.

Well, many high-ranking members of the Nair People also understand that the idea of going all the way with humanity is incorrect, because this trouble originally had nothing to do with humanity. It was entirely Nair Civilization's Third Star Region that brought about the emergence of this Artificial Intelligence Consciousness.

However, seeing the losses suffered by the Nair People, they still harbored some complaints.

Of course, humans were unaware of the Nair People's thoughts, nor did they know that many Nair People had attributed the Fourth Fleet's desperate actions to their own propaganda.

If they knew, humans, though they wouldn't care much, would certainly feel wronged.

During the joint tactical exercises, the human Commander only spoke to some Nair People Commander and captains about military honor, without specifically mentioning that they should fight to the death.

Therefore, from a human perspective, this was entirely a manifestation of the Nair Civilization's own awakening of its fighting spirit.

Just as the high-ranking Nair People were agonizing over the battle losses, Yue Yuan's image appeared on the large screen on the flagship of their Third Fleet.

"Your Deputy Commander, the fleet of the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness has already rushed towards the Second Planet, and the second phase of the war is about to begin."

After the video call was connected, Yue Yuan got straight to the point. At this time, he did not refer to the Governor-General of the Nair as "Your Excellency the Governor-General," but as "Deputy Commander," which meant that he was speaking as the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces.

In name only, all fleets of the Niel civilization must be under his command, including the Third Fleet, which is personally led by the Grand Governor of Niel. This was agreed upon by both sides when the Allied Command was established.

So when they heard Yue Yuan speak like that, despite their doubts, all the high-ranking members of the Nair People sat up straight and looked at the big screen with serious expressions.

Having observed the Nair People extensively, Yue Yuan could roughly discern some of Nair People behaviors. He knew that when none of the Nair People raised both or even just one of their claws, it meant they were listening attentively.

Seeing the state of the Nair People, Yue Yuan nodded secretly. He then continued, "Thanks to the valiant fighting of the Fourth Fleet, the Fifth and Sixth Fleet have successfully shaken off the pursuit of the Artificial Intelligence squadron and have now circled back to the vicinity of the Second Planet's orbit from both sides of the starry sky. Now, it's time to carry out the planned Planetary Defense War!"

Yue Yuan knew perfectly well that the successful disengagement of the Fifth and Sixth Fleet had nothing to do with the Fourth Fleet, as the fleets were simply being commanded Artificial Intelligence Combat AI programs. He only made these statements after learning of the Fourth Fleet's complete annihilation.

The purpose was to let the Nair People high command know that the Allied Forces Command still remembered the contributions made by the Fourth Fleet.

"Now that we know that the sub-fleets created by the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness are controlled by Combat AI, the overall strategy remains unchanged. Your Third Fleet, the Second Fleet of the Man Yuemei, and my First Fleet will conduct defensive operations against the Artificial Intelligence fleet as originally planned."

"Remember, this battle is the second phase of the entire strategy. We must not suffer the same fate as the Fourth Fleet, where we were completely wiped out. Remember, our goal is to use the Second Planetary Defense System to wear down the Artificial Intelligence, not to annihilate it here. So we must preserve our strength as much as possible."

"Afterwards, the Fifth and Sixth Fleet, having completed their missions, will rendezvous in the orbit of the Second Planet and then proceed to the First Planet on the other side of the Red Dwarf Star. Our three fleets will also withdraw to the Second Battlefield after the fall of the Second Planet. Victory or defeat hinges on this moment. I urge you all to strive together!"

Yue Yuan's call was not only directed at the Third Fleet of Governor-General Nair, but also at the Second Fleet of Manyuemei.

"Clear!"

"Commander-in-Chief, rest assured, we understand!"

After the Commander of the two fleets, who were also the deputy commanders of the Allied Forces, gave their approval, the three fleets began to spread out and head to their respective positions to begin the second phase of the blocking mission.

As Yue Yuan said, the second phase of the mission was not to defend to the death, but to coordinate with the Base Cannon of the Second Planet to wear down the Artificial Intelligence fleet.

The overall tactics are the same as those of the fourth, fifth, and sixth fleets, except that the probing charge phase is omitted.

In other words, the first, second, and third fleets are currently trying to create distance and release the Second Planet region. They will then launch attacks to wear down the AI Canon fleet once it begins its landing.

Tactically, the main focus is on long-range strikes.

However, given the precedent of Artificial Intelligence Consciousness splitting into separate fleets, the Allied Forces Command also reminded the Commander of the Second and Third Fleet to be aware of this situation.

Yes, you just need to be careful.

The combat power of these three fleets is far superior to that of the fourth, fifth, and Sixth Fleet. If the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness dares to divide the fleets into sub-fleets for the Combat AI program to control as before, they will definitely not return alive.

The overall strategic plan is to further deplete the Artificial Intelligence fleet during this phase, and then launch Great Decisive Battle on the Second Battlefield to annihilate it.

Therefore, in the plan, the end of this phase is marked by the Artificial Intelligence fleet breaching the planetary defenses. Of course, there are also contingency plans for unforeseen circumstances.

For example, if, during the attrition process, the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness rotates in the same way it did with the Fourth Fleet, with the entire fleet pressing towards a particular fleet, then that fleet will move to the Second Battlefield ahead of schedule.

If the Artificial Intelligence fleet were to pursue and kill them, the war would prematurely enter Second Battlefield.

Everything is still in the planning stages.

And so, the three fleets, starting from a distance of only a few light-seconds from each other, began to move slowly toward the distant starry sky.

To the distant Artificial Intelligence Consciousness, this behavior appeared as if the three fleets had deliberately ceded the Second Planet.

That is indeed the case.

After the three fleets departed back-to-back, spewing long trails of flame, the Second Planet, like an undefended planet, spread its arms to welcome the ever-approaching Artificial Intelligence fleet.

At this moment, after the first round of attrition, the Artificial Intelligence fleet had lost approximately 6,000 warships, leaving it with a total of about 43,000 warships.

The separate fleets previously spun off from the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness have returned to the main force, and the Artificial Intelligence fleet has now regrouped into the same warship cluster as before.

The Planetary Defense War was a war of attrition planned by the Allied Forces Command.

However, to the surprise of the Allied Forces Command, the Artificial Intelligence fleet suddenly began to turn after reaching a position about one Astronomical Unit away from the Second Planet.

The entire fleet activated its steering thrusters simultaneously in space, making a clear turn in its forward navigation as it charged toward the Third Fleet.

Having learned from the experience of the Fourth Fleet, this seemingly repetitive tactic did not pose much of a threat to the Third Fleet.

Upon learning that the Artificial Intelligence fleet had abandoned its mission to land on the Second Planet and was instead attacking them, the Nair People's Grand Governor made a decisive move and immediately dispatched the Third Fleet to the Second Battlefield.

Seeing this situation, the First and Second Fleet did not stand idly by. Instead, they immediately ordered their fleets to make a 90° to 180° turn in space, thus getting close to the Artificial Intelligence fleet from both directions.

Surprisingly, the Artificial Intelligence fleet only pursued the Third Fleet for about 0.3 Astronomical Unit before making a sharp turn in space and charging towards the First Fleet behind it.

In response to the Artificial Intelligence's actions, Yue Yuan did not engage in battle. Instead, the First Fleet changed direction at maximum acceleration to maintain distance.

Human warships are more maneuverable than Nair People warships, so the First and Second Fleet found it incredibly easy to use this kiting tactic.

As long as the Artificial Intelligence fleet does not land or get lured to the Second Battlefield, the First, Second, and Third Fleet will not engage in formal combat with it, but will instead engage in a tug-of-war as it is now.

In any case, the human fleet has slightly better maneuverability and is not afraid of being caught up by the Artificial Intelligence fleet during the pursuit. Moreover, there is another important point: the Artificial Intelligence fleet has come from afar, and if this continues, it will eventually have to land on the Second Planet for development and resupply due to fuel shortages.

Therefore, the coalition forces are not in a hurry at all. On the contrary, they are more willing to keep pulling each other in space with the Artificial Intelligence fleet.

Two chapters today too, but both are 3,000 words each, a bit more than usual!