During the Enarc Campaign, Admiral Kurny, commander of the 17th Army's main fleet, had his supply lines cut off. The surprise attack fleet dispatched by Ling Liang struck him from behind, placing him in a two-pronged assault.
Moreover, the 17th Army's main fleet had consumed enormous quantities of supplies during its series of earlier offensives. Some warships could not even replace their shield capacitors!
Although the rear had reopened the supply line, Ling Liang seized this final—and best—opportunity before the materials could arrive and launched an offensive.
She forced Admiral Kurny into a decisive fleet battle under extremely unfavorable conditions. The outcome spoke for itself. The 17th Army's main fleet suffered devastating losses, and Admiral Kurny did everything he could to preserve the fleet's final core—the three Commander II-class Dreadnoughts.
In the end, Admiral Kurny still managed to bring back roughly half his warships, but all of them were seriously damaged. Of the three Commander II-class Dreadnoughts, one was destroyed and another heavily damaged.
The original plan for the Enarc Campaign had indeed been harassment. However, when faced with his supply lines being severed, Admiral Kurny made a series of wrong judgments, allowing General Ling to seize that one opening and inflict severe damage upon him.
If he had held out for just a few more hours, the situation would have been different.
Tang Xiao had asked the military to carry out a surprise attack. General Ling had exceeded the mission requirements, and under such circumstances, the Galactic Republic's likely actions became predictable.
For the Duchy of Dawn, that was a good thing.
It was certain that the Galactic Republic would launch a powerful offensive against the Duchy of Dawn in the near future. The Galactic Republic could not simply allow the Duchy of Dawn to declare itself a nation.