Despair

The battlefield is not child's play, and the situation cannot be decided unilaterally. Although the Coalition Army Central Commander has issued the decision to retreat, whether it can be achieved depends on the cooperation of the Swarm.

The answer is obvious: the Swarm sacrificed many Ancient Class to achieve this situation, so why would they easily let the Coalition Army leave?

The Zerg mid-lane, which had been suffering repeated defeats, suddenly surged forward when the Coalition Army turned around, forcing Coalition Army to abandon their damaged warships.

On the other side, the Coalition Army Commander was also extremely anxious, like an ant on a hot pan. The central route was the heart of the Coalition Army. If it fell here, with the remaining weak and incompetent troops, not only would the outcome of this war be uncertain, but they might not even be able to hold onto the star systems behind it.

"The rear guard, get up there and get the central army out! Anyone who dares to mess things up again, I'll skin them alive!" The Coalition Army Commander roared in the command room, while the other commanders and staff remained silent.

If everyone is of the same race, things are fine, the hierarchy is clear, and even if there are internal disagreements, they are relatively easy to resolve. But in this kind of joint operation involving many civilizations, things are fine when the war is going well, but once the war goes against them, all sorts of problems will arise.

At this point, it would be very difficult for the commander of the Coalition Army to coordinate the relationships between the various civilizations' fleets. Factors such as the closeness or distance between them, the strength of each civilization, and the number of troops they had on-site would all influence his judgment and decision-making.

But in this situation, which civilization's forces could possibly be sent to the rescue? His own Telo Civilization's fleet has already been largely lost in the middle, and there certainly aren't enough troops to come to his aid.

The fleets of other races, faced with his assignment, returned various questions, but they all expressed the same thing: they refused to go.

Indeed, the Zerg expended so much effort and suffered so many losses to besiege the central army. Now, trying to break through the Zerg encirclement and rescue the central army would inevitably mean facing a fierce attack from the Zerg.

If we accept this mission now, who knows how many troops we'll lose. In the current situation, everyone's thinking is "better to sacrifice our own troops than ourselves."

Especially for those members who are far from the battlefield, it is already a great favor that they volunteered to help. Asking them to risk their lives is simply impossible.

The greater the distance, the closer they are to the central circle, the longer their civilization's history, and the greater their strength. Their fleet is concentrated in the rear, making them the main force for breaking through the Zerg encirclement.

The Coalition Army Commander couldn't really skin them alive; if he did, it would definitely cause internal conflicts within the Mutual Aid Association, and they might even start fighting amongst themselves before the Zerg were even defeated.

Left with no other option, he could only report the current situation back to his clan. Fortunately, quantum communication had no time delay, and the Telo were also paying attention to the battle and had formed Remote Advisory Group.

The report from the Coalition Army Commander was immediately taken seriously, and after discussion among a group of advisors, a plan was quickly devised.

The captured central Coalition Army not only had the Telo Race fleet as their Sharp Blade Division, but also fleets from two other civilizations serving as their flanks.

These two civilizations were second only to the Telo Race in power, and they were also worried about their lost troops. So the three most powerful members of the Locke Mutual Aid Society quickly discussed the matter and reached some agreements.

While the Telo Race alone possess considerable power, they are insufficient to rival the entire Locke Mutual Aid Society. However, the combined power of the first three races gives them a preliminary edge in this regard.

Faced with their pressure, the various tribes to which the rear army belonged, after extracting sufficient benefits, took the opportunity to back down and sent their opinions to the front lines.

Decisions made within one's own tribe are far more effective than orders from the Coalition Army commander at this time. After all, offending outsiders can be backed by one's own tribe, but if one offends one's own tribe, one will lose the means to survive.

The rear guard's momentum was halted; they not only halted the Zerg's pursuit but also began to charge the Zerg lines.

The change in the rear guard significantly increased the pressure on the Zerg forces that were flanking the central and rear guards. They were essentially being attacked from both sides by the warships of the most powerful member of the Locke Mutual Aid Society, and the situation suddenly became somewhat critical.

This became the key point of the entire war. If the Zerg forces held off the pincer attack, the Coalition Army' central route would be wiped out, and the Coalition Army would lose their most elite units. Conversely, if the central and rear armies joined forces to break through the Zerg lines and the two armies converged, the Zerg would suffer heavy losses and their tactical objectives would fail.

Unfortunately, although the two sides fought back and forth in the middle and remained deadlocked, the Coalition Army's flanks were simply too weak.

If Zerg forces can withstand high-ranking members of the Locke Mutual Aid Society head-on, then the same forces will naturally have a significant advantage when facing lower-ranking members.

If the disadvantaged side also suffers from a chaotic command structure, then their defeat is inevitable.

The Coalition Army commander-in-chief didn't have a good solution. The situation on the border was in complete chaos, and unless it was suppressed with swift and decisive measures, it would be difficult to regroup. The problem was that he simply couldn't spare the troops to do this, and even if he did, it was practically impossible.

As a result, the already crumbling situation on both flanks deteriorated further, with the Zerg forces pursuing them for millions of kilometers. Some member fleets had completely given up resistance, citing their inability to fight as the reason for withdrawing from the war effort and turning back into the interior.

However, this also dragged the rear guard of the Coalition Army into the mess. Faced with the fleeing flanks, the Swarm did not pursue them. After a brief rest and replenishment of their energy, the troops turned and attacked the center.

On the middle lane, facing attacks from both sides, the Ancient Cluster had released all its Mature Form and Larval Form to buy time, but they were still being worn down.

But at that moment, reinforcements arrived, and the rear guard of the Coalition Army, which originally only needed to attack, now enjoyed the treatment of being attacked from both sides.

Left with no other choice, they had to redirect some of their ship's guns to defend against attacks from both sides. As a result, their frontal firepower was inevitably weakened.

Previously, the Coalition Army's central forces faced a precarious situation, surrounded on all sides. Because they had to suppress attacks from the other three flanks, the firepower they could provide when flanking the Zerg forces was negligible. The main force responsible for dealing damage to these forces was the Coalition Army's rear guard.

At this moment, the rear guard faced a pincer attack. With the attack weakened, the Zerg infiltration force, which had been in dire straits, suddenly recovered. Taking advantage of this opportunity, more Zerg troops were added, strengthening the infiltration line.

The Coalition Army' front and rear armies, which had been separated by a distance, were once again blocked from view by the dense Zerg forces, a situation that filled the front-line troops with despair.

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