On the Offensive

The original purpose of this meeting was to discuss the possibility that intelligence might be incorrect, such as the misjudgment of the Swarm's computing power.

However, the meeting was subsequently steered off course by some captain, and the topic of the meeting went completely off track.

Two hours later, the meeting ended without any useful results. The interception plan proceeded as scheduled, but more attention needed to be paid to circumventing it.

Meanwhile, Hamis reported the temporary suspension of the plan to the Reken Mother Planet command.

The next day, the Swarm spotted the returning space fleet of the Riken Race from a great distance.

Taking advantage of its long range, the Ancient Class changed course, aimed its Electromagnetic Cannon at the Riken Race fleet, and launched the first attack.

Today, the Swarm's tactics have also changed; instead of firing all 8,000 cannons at once, they are now firing in groups.

Each group of one thousand Electromagnetic Cannon locks onto a single location and launches a comprehensive attack.

The advantage of this is a wider attack range, which can simultaneously block multiple evasive zones, making it more difficult for the Riken Race to evade the attacks as they need to calculate more.

Furthermore, to make the artillery attack more sustained, the Swarm disperses the time of each salvo, forming a continuous and layered fire suppression.

The Riken Race were at a disadvantage in terms of effective range and had to continue advancing tens of thousands of kilometers under the Swarm's fire before reaching the effective range of their main guns.

The Swarm's altered firing rhythm and methods caused greater trouble for the Riken Race. They had to spend most of their time dodging the Swarm's attacks, but the Swarm's new offensive strategies made the attacks relentless, with shells threatening the fleet every moment.

Moreover, since the Riken Race's tactical objective is obvious—to approach the Ancient Class and reach its own firepower range—this clear-cut behavior allows the Swarm to filter out a large amount of useless data.

The artillery fire didn't need to be specifically aimed at the Riken Race fleet; all that was needed was to block all the coordinates of the ships that could approach the Ancient Class ships after incorporating their performance parameters.

If the Riken Race try to achieve their tactical objectives, they will inevitably run into the artillery fire zone. If they try to avoid these zones, they will be unable to approach the Swarm forces, and their tactical objectives will not be achieved.

In this exchange, the Swarm took the initiative first.

The Swarm's tactics were making things extremely difficult for the Riken Race. In just one hour, seven or eight warships were forced to withdraw from the battle without even firing a shot.

Most importantly, the Riken Race fleet had been circling around a similar axis, and after such a long time, its effective advance distance was only a few hundred kilometers.

Keep in mind that the distance they need to overcome is tens of thousands of kilometers, and in the current situation, it's not much different from standing still.

If things continue as they are, it's uncertain how much combat strength the fleet will retain once they break into its firing range.

"We must change our tactics! Our intentions are too strong; this kind of attack will only amplify our range disadvantage. At this rate, we won't be able to hold out until Laze Planet arrives."

In the tactical communication channels of the First Space Fleet, the captains and staff were in an uproar. No one wanted their ships to be forced to withdraw from the battlefield before even touching the enemy; that would be too humiliating.

"We can't keep advancing in formation. We must disperse and increase the enemy's computational burden. Only then will we have a chance to break through their firepower blockade," a captain suggested.

"However, this makes it impossible to guarantee the uniformity of our firepower and target, making it difficult to effectively kill the enemy," another captain questioned.

"Foolish! Have you forgotten our tactical objective? We are here to hold them off and wait for the arrival of Laze Planet and the other fleets, not to annihilate them all!" the captain shouted.

"Yuvens is right, our goal is to stall them, and we have to be willing to make sacrifices!"

"Support! Only by dispersing our forces can we increase the amount of computation the enemy needs, making it easier for us to approach them!"

"But spreading out like this would greatly increase the danger."

"Is there no danger now?"

"I support a dispersed attack! If this continues, the enemy will cross the orbit of Laze Planet!"

"Agree!"

"But doing so would expose our tactical intentions. What if the enemy retreats or charges in under heavy fire?"

This is indeed a problem; the Riken Race are unaware that the Swarm has more effective ways of gathering intelligence. Therefore, they are still trying to conceal their tactical intentions under these circumstances.

In a war between two civilizations, there can be no mediocre commanders; every step has its own objective.

If the Riken Race fleet disperses to harass without aiming to inflict casualties, then its intention to delay will be all too obvious.

The battlefield where both sides are currently located is in the vast expanse of space, 360 degrees in all directions with no blind spots, making it impossible to set any traps.

Therefore, the only possible trap is the Laze Planet, which will arrive at this location in about ten days.

If they change their strategy, the initiative will fall entirely into the hands of the Swarm. If the Swarm do not want to fight, they can only retreat a distance, rest for a few days, and let Laze Planet pass, then all of the Riken Race's plans will fall through.

However, if the Swarm's advance is not stopped and its forces cross the orbit prematurely, then the only option left is to encircle and annihilate it with the help of three fleets.

Although the Riken Race were confident that their three fleets alone could wipe out the Swarm, the lack of ground fire support from Laze Planet would inevitably result in even greater casualties.

If the force in front of them were the enemy's main force, then they would naturally fight to the death. But according to the current intelligence, what they are facing is merely the enemy's vanguard.

If the three fleets are crippled just to eliminate the vanguard, how can the enemy fight back when their reinforcements arrive?

We might as well just surrender now; the outcome will be the same anyway.

All the arguments made sense, which put a lot of pressure on Legion Commander Hamis. He could understand how Masai had felt back then. This was not a civil war between the same people; if a wrong decision was made, the entire nation could be doomed.

In the end, Hamis made a difficult decision: the fleet would maintain its formation and continue to outflank the Swarm forces.

At the same time, he asked the data department to calculate all possible paths that the Swarm army could take.

To avoid arousing suspicion from the Swarm commander, the fleet had to brace itself and crash into the Swarm's artillery fire, which made Commander Hamis extremely uncomfortable.

But he had to do it to achieve the overall tactical objective.

Warships continued to be hit, but fortunately, due to the distance, it was almost impossible for the same warship to be hit by multiple shells at the same time, which gave them a buffer time.

Minor damage is repaired immediately, while those with impaired mobility are withdrawn from the battlefield.