The crushing defeat at New Atlantis was bad news, of course, but it hadn't come as a surprise to Yu Lian.
The Solar System Fleet had always been the home fleet the bigwigs on Earth valued most. Before the Battle of the Ring of Miracles, it had also been the largest, most advanced, and best-staffed force in the entire Commonwealth fleet—a splendid showpiece.
At least, on the surface, it really had looked like a powerful fleet. Of course, that was before the Battle of the Ring of Miracles.
After that battle, the bigwigs' sense of security had indeed plummeted to an all-time low. But the home fleet they rebuilt with resources scraped together by every means possible could only be called a rabble.
To be fair, Marshal Ferragu had managed to bring that rabble to New Atlantis on schedule. Yu Lian already had a newfound respect for the old commander, who had once been a chef.
...Of course, it might have been thanks to old Krael, but he was only an advisor, after all, so Yu Lian decided to ignore him completely.
Yu Lian had always believed that if they wanted to shore up the defensive gap along the New Atlantis border, they should seize Chero first. But that was no longer a military matter.
And as it turned out, once Brunhild had seized Chero, the home fleet's expedition to the New Atlantis border had lost its original purpose—let alone the battle that followed.
"You're right. Whether to fight or not isn't up to Marshal Ferragu," Fifi said.
They said that when the home fleet reached the New Atlantis border, Marshal Ferragu had been quite hesitant. But the Alliance military advisor, Krael Belmont, had actually urged the entire fleet to press forward. He'd pointed out that even if the Imperial