Never underestimate the factor of "morale."
In war, especially large-scale warfare,
this invisible, intangible factor often played a pivotal role!
When Wang Dong twice issued announcements before the battle, first prompting the destroyer group and then the cruiser group in the Free State Conglomerate fleet to withdraw on their own,
the scenes were broadcast simultaneously across the Star Domain Network, reaching countless people over vast distances.
"What's going on?
That... Free State Conglomerate, why are they retreating before the fighting has even started?"
"The two sides are so unevenly matched in numbers, yet it's the larger side that's losing its nerve before the battle. What's the logic behind that?"
"One side kills enemies from the void, the other retreats based on predictions—is that it?"
You couldn't expect everyone to have sufficient tactical knowledge. In any era, most netizens were just there to watch the spectacle, and that was the full extent of their expertise.
Fortunately,
in every era, there were also "experts" online who could explain things.
"You still don't get it?
The Black Stone Kingdom has already demonstrated two kinds of wide-area attacks.
The Free State Conglomerate believes its destroyers and cruisers can't withstand attacks of this kind and scale.
Forcing them into battle would only cause needless casualties, so they had the fleet's destroyers and cruisers withdraw."
Once this standard explanation was given, quite a few people finally understood.
"So that's how it is."
"Learned something new."
"Thanks for explaining, brother."
In the livestreams hosted by a few professionals, things were explained even more clearly.
Some could even get their hands on the actual figures!
"Guys, take a look. The attack strength of the Black Stone Kingdom's first area attack is close to 50,000!
Even with the extra boosts from multiple Battleship Skills, destroyers basically have