The early arrival of C Battlegroup injected new hope into the officers and soldiers of A and B Battlegroups of the Galactic Republic Expeditionary Force, who had been mired in despair.
That's right! There was still hope! It was not time for utter despair yet!
Although those escorts were numerous, their greatest weakness when facing capital ships remained glaringly obvious—they lacked decisive, lethal firepower!
So although they appeared to be taking a beating the entire time, and looked utterly miserable, not many Hunter Class Battlecruisers had actually been completely destroyed. Moreover, most of those destroyed warships had been taken out by the Glory mothership, while some had been destroyed by large vessels such as Hiigaran-class battlecruisers and Generous-class Communications Escorts.
At most, only two Hunter Class Battlecruisers had truly been destroyed by escorts.
And now, nearly every republic warship on the battlefield knew to steer clear of the Glory mothership. The Glory mothership was ultimately a civilian vessel, and its turning and maneuverability could not compare with those of dedicated warships. Furthermore, the mothership relied entirely on shields; its armor was extremely limited. So although Tang Xiao put on the appearance of leading from the front, he was actually using it very cautiously.
If this continued, as long as they could join up with C Battlegroup, which was holding its ground, then even if they could not claim ultimate victory, they would at least have a chance to withdraw intact!
Once they returned to the Annaj system and joined forces with the hundred-odd warships there, they would still be an invincible fleet!
Nearly every Galactic Republic warship still capable of moving pushed its engines to maximum speed and raced toward C Battlegroup. Even as the massive escort force kept firing upon them, they acted as though they could not see