General Davis's words left everyone present looking dejected.
He was right. There was nothing more the Galactic Republic could accomplish on Semirres Planet. Their regular human Legion was on the verge of collapse under Lieutenant General Dai Hongkui's Scorpion tank cluster assault, while the Clone Army, their strongest reserve, had been inexplicably wiped out. Their defeat on the ground battlefield was now all but certain.
The situation in space was equally awkward.
If they attacked, their fleet lacked the strength to destroy the Confederacy of Independent Systems fleet's defenses, built around the Agonev-class star base. Especially with General Trench commanding the enemy—he was exceptionally skilled at defense.
If they defended, the enemy had suddenly unveiled a weapon capable of striking at lightspeed across extreme distances. Although the enemy was at the edge of the system and even a lightspeed strike would take sixteen hours to arrive, and although it could only target one warship at a time, the weapon remained a threat simply by existing. The Republic fleet had to remain constantly mobile.
Facing an attack by the Separatist fleet under such conditions would only leave them even more passive.
Therefore, General Davis's judgment was correct. Abandoning the ground forces and retreating was the only option.
Although abandoning those regular human forces had always been part of the plan, they had originally intended to bring at least some troops back. Together with the Clone Army's triumphant withdrawal after securing major gains, they could at least portray it in propaganda as a hard-won victory.
But if they retreated now...
The Clone Army annihilated. The regular human Legion annihilated. The fleet severely damaged.
The result? The media and public opinion would unhesitatingly pin the words "total annihilation" on him, and his military career would be over. At a time like this, there