At this point, the war between the Kabart Empire and the Oakes Empire had entered a fever pitch.
After taking Vite, Supreme Commander Hamid's confidence soared, and he swiftly drafted plans to capture Russell and Reo.
Of the 1.2 million warships stationed at Vite, 200,000 were left behind to guard the Star Path toward Russell, while the remaining 1 million departed directly from Vite to attack Reo!
Also attacking Reo were the 2 million Kabart Empire forces already confronting Reo from Sicil, bringing the total attacking force to a staggering 3 million.
According to calculations, the great battle would begin two years later. After all, Sicil was a full six light-years from Reo, and traveling through the Star Path would take two years.
Vite was roughly three light-years from Reo, so in order to coordinate the timing of the attack, its fleet would not depart until one year later.
On the other side, the Oakes Empire had stationed three Imperial Guard Legions and one border legion at Reo, for a total force of 1.6 million.
Originally, those 1.6 million warships would have had no problem defending the Star Path against Sicil's 2 million warships by relying on favorable conditions.
But Vite had now fallen. To deal with the threat from Vite, Reo's defenders had no choice but to deploy half their warships at the entrance and exit of the Vite Star Path, leaving only 800,000 warships on the Star Path defensive line facing Sicil.
Most crucially, the entrances to the two Star Paths were a full 0.2 AU apart, making it impossible for the defenders on either side to quickly support one another.
As for the Fourth Imperial Guard Legion, which was currently returning, it was heading toward Horton and was expected to arrive in three years.
Horton was roughly