The fleet on the first line of defense had already been fighting for eight hours.
Although they had the Chaos Ray, a weapon of mass destruction, they could not allocate all of them to the first line of defense.
After all, charging took time. If the first line used them all up, the rear defensive lines would have to wait until the twelve-hour charging cycle ended before they could use them.
If anything went wrong before charging was complete, that would be far from ideal.
Therefore, the first line of defense had been allocated only three firing opportunities.
And now, all three opportunities had been used up, while more and more Noreya Empire fleets were gathering at the channel entrance, their numbers exceeding one hundred legions.
"Commander, headquarters has ordered us to abandon the first line of defense and retreat to the rear for rest and reorganization."
"Understood. Order all fleets to withdraw in an orderly fashion without turning their warships around, while maintaining fire."
"Yes, Commander!"
There was a method to retreating as well. If they turned around and ran, the enemy would most likely chase after them and attack from behind.
They could also use the retreating fleet as cover to rush straight into the second line of defense, creating chaos and buying more time for forces to gather at the channel entrance.
But Wang Hai would not give them that opportunity.
Although withdrawing without turning around would greatly reduce their speed, that did not matter.
As long as they maintained their firepower, the enemy would be unable to close in directly, and the handover to the second line of defense could proceed smoothly.
At the same time, at Alliance Fleet headquarters.
"Marshal, Wang Hai's fleet has begun withdrawing."
"Mm. Has the first-phase battle damage report been completed?"