Many people with a conventional military education believed that "guerrilla tactics" meant that when one side had fewer troops, inferior equipment and technology, and fewer resources, it had no choice but to use dishonorable ambushes and chaotic skirmishes.
Such tactics were irritating, devoid of honor, and nothing more than petty tricks unfit for respectable company. Mosquitoes were irritating, too, and could draw blood, but a mosquito was still just a mosquito. It could never become a lion.
Yet Yu Lian was certain that no one in the entire universe understood guerrilla warfare better than he did.
Here was something that would upset those traditional "knights": in war, fighting without honor was much harder than fighting with it. Retreating without breaking, and gathering and dispersing as a matter of course—these were enormous tests of a military's morale and organization, as well as its commander's ability to lead. But we couldn't expect every flotilla admiral, let alone every captain, to be a god of war reborn.
What we could expect, however, was for the crews to have the resolve to die and to win.
Since the marauder fleets had dared to venture behind enemy lines to harass supply routes, they were naturally prepared to lose contact with their main force. They were also ready to make sacrifices. Even so, they had kept their heads remarkably clear.
As soon as the marauders spotted the Earth fleet, they showed no interest in prolonging the fight and began to withdraw without hesitation.
At this point, we really had to give a little credit to the Katai, who had just been beaten bloody. One of their two heavy cruisers had been sunk, and the other was too badly damaged to move. But the few remaining light warships that hadn't been too badly hurt charged after the