Evacuation

Two minutes later, the Swarm's Energy Cannon were fully charged. The Ancient Class and above individuals with Atomic Furnace, although requiring more energy due to their larger Energy Cannon caliber, had the fastest charging speed. Next were the individuals below the Ancient Class, whose charging time varied slightly due to factors such as the cannon's size and distance from the energy source.

"Fire!" Not being standard equipment has its advantages and disadvantages, but the Swarm couldn't wait for all individuals to be fully charged. Once more than 80% of the individuals were fully charged, Sarah decisively gave the order to fire.

Thanks to the data corrections from the first round, although the number of Energy Cannon was slightly reduced in this salvo, the damage it caused was even greater than before.

More than sixty of the Duoqi warships were destroyed, and nearly one hundred more were rendered inoperable.

"How could this be!?" Dialo roared in disbelief after receiving the latest battle damage data.

He initially thought the first wave of attacks was due to the Swarm's outdated energy weapon technology, resulting in poor power and accuracy. Therefore, he confidently commanded the fleet to use the Reactive Armor on the right front side to withstand the Swarm's second wave of attacks.

The problem wasn't that the Swarm was technologically inferior or lacked power; rather, it was because it was their first time using it on such a large scale and at such a long distance, and their lack of experience led to poor accuracy.

This led Dialo to misjudge the situation. In addition, the Reactive Armor on the sides and front was not as thick as that on the front, and this posture exposed the engine positions on the sides and rear. Although the angle was small, the dense artillery fire magnified this flaw to some extent. As a result, the Duoqi Fleet suffered heavy losses in the second wave of the Swarm's attack, and many more warships had their engine systems destroyed.

"Full speed ahead, create distance." Dialo scratched his head in frustration.

"Your Highness, what should we do with the personnel on those damaged warships?"

"Set up a coordinate point on the path we came from and send it to them so they can evacuate on their own! We must leave immediately, or the losses will only mount!"

"Understood, Your Highness." Aslite sighed inwardly. In this kind of battlefield environment, the success rate of evacuating the battlefield using escape pods or similar vessels was predictably low.

Letting them evacuate on their own was almost tantamount to suicide, but she knew Dialo's orders were correct. Rescuing hundreds of inoperable warships could take several hours, enough time for the Swarm to unleash hundreds of volleys.

If these personnel continue to be held here, the number of damaged warships and wounded will only increase until the entire fleet is destroyed.

"No, Aslite, I've misunderstood. Have those personnel abandon ship and try to get to the Riken Race!" Dialo rubbed his hair again and changed his order.

After a moment's thought, Aslite realized the crux of the problem: although this wasn't the Duoqi Race's home turf, and the Zerg were not to be trifled with, there was still an easy target to pick on.

Sending the abandoned ships to the Riken Race defenses would be a way to divert the Zerg's attention if they pursue Zerg. Regardless of whether the Riken Race participate in the battle, it would draw away some of the Zerg's forces, relieving pressure on the main fleet.

If the Zerg didn't pursue them, then after witnessing the technological prowess of the Duoqi Civilization, the Riken Race wouldn't dare to stop them, and would even have to treat them well.

Regardless of the outcome, the Duoqi Race won't suffer too much of a loss.

A red energy beam streaked across the sky. After firing its third salvo, the Duoqi Fleet began to accelerate, keeping its bows angled towards the Swarm, and gradually moving away from the battlefield.

Because of Dialo's inexplicable overconfidence, Duoqi Fleet charged too far forward. As mentioned before, at this distance, it was almost equivalent to hand-to-hand combat in space, and the side with the speed disadvantage could not possibly break away from the battlefield.

The Duoqi Fleet, with its speed advantage, still had a chance to escape. However, they couldn't simply turn around and retreat openly. That would expose their main thrusters to the Swarm's view, which at that distance would be tantamount to suicide.

Therefore, the Duoqi Fleet had to use the Reactive Armor at the bow of its warships to withstand the Zerg artillery fire. Then, taking advantage of the Swarm's recharge intervals, it could activate the thruster shields at the bow and sides and retreat diagonally backward.

Retreating using thrusters in two directions is much faster than retreating straight backward using only the front thruster.

In fact, the number of Swarm combat units on Chuyun Planet that can switch to Energy Cannon is not large, only a few tens of thousands at most. Assuming each unit is equipped with two main cannons, there are only about 20,000 main cannons.

The Duoqi Fleet, though consisting of only two thousand ships, had at least eight main cannons on each ship. Dialo's flagship, for example, had sixteen main cannons. Therefore, the Duoqi Race had just as many main cannons as the Swarm, and perhaps even more.

In addition, their Energy Cannon technology was indeed slightly better than the Swarm's, coupled with more complete equipment, operational experience, and faster charging and firing speeds. Although the Swarm's two waves of attacks wiped out more than 10 Duoqi Fleet, the Duoqi Fleet's three waves of fire yielded even greater results.

If they continue to fight head-on, the Zerg base on Chuyun Planet.

But Dialo dared not do so, because even if he were to take down the Zerg base on Chuyun Planet, the Duoqi Fleet would suffer heavy losses. He was now more than ten light-years away from his own sphere of influence, with no support or reinforcements available, while reinforcements from the Zerg's Stellar Near-Orbit Base would arrive on the battlefield in just five hours. If he were to get entangled with the Zerg here, and were to be dragged down, he would only be overwhelmed by the ever-growing swarm of Zerg.

Therefore, no matter the cost, he must command the fleet to create distance first. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and only with distance can the technological advantage be amplified. Only after creating distance will Dialo have the capital to turn the tide.

--

"Your Majesty, they intend to withdraw from the battlefield."

"Yes, I saw it. The enemy commander seems to be a decisive person as well." Sarah nodded slightly, her eyes narrowed expressionlessly, lost in thought.

"Your Majesty, it seems those who remained are planning to retreat to the Riken Race. What should we do?"

"Let's leave them alone for now and let the Riken Race help us find out who they are." The Riken Race, having accepted the wounded and remnants of the Duoqi Race, will definitely ask them something. Whatever they find out is better than knowing nothing at all.

What are our battle losses?

"972 Ancient Class were removed from the combat sequence, and 2,243 Ancient Class battleships were severely damaged, but can still continue to fight after emergency repairs."

"Not bad. Focus on data collection. Don't worry about casualties right now. Prioritize energy supply to the weapon systems. Take advantage of their lack of fighting spirit and achieve more results."

"Yes, Your Majesty."