Realization

The rear guard of the Coalition Army also saw the artillery fire from their friendly forces on the other side. Their morale immediately lifted after being somewhat demoralized by the swarm of Swarm troops.

"They're out!"

"Give it another push, get those guys out, and then we can get out of here!"

"Attack with full force!"

"..."

The civilization that formed the rear guard and the civilization that formed the front guard had no connection whatsoever except that they were both members of the Locke Mutual Aid Society. The front guard had no comrades from the rear guard, not even members of their own race. If it weren't for orders from within their own race, they would never have been able to hold out this long.

Even if they hold out here, they don't care whether they can rescue the vanguard. They only plan to stay here until the vanguard is completely annihilated and no longer worth rescuing, then they can naturally retreat.

But they didn't expect that the vanguard could break through the Zerg encirclement through self-rescue, which gave the rearguard hope of "going home" early. Their morale and spirit immediately changed.

The rear guard's firepower suddenly intensified, and under the combined attack, the Zerg forces were dwindling at a visible rate.

"Increase firepower! We're out there soon!" the forward commander shouted.

However, the vanguard fleet was already badly damaged, and its energy output had reached its limit, making it impossible to increase firepower any further.

Fortunately, the firepower unleashed by the rear forces was strong enough to finally create a gap in the Zerg lines.

"Charge!"

Our allies on the other side have cleared a path; victory is within reach.

--

General Wheeler's disc-shaped flagship was currently contributing firepower from the rear. As a high- Telo Race general, his original position should have been to charge alongside the vanguard.

Unfortunately, the new commander-in-chief was not from his faction. After incorporating his troops and parachuting in a new commander, he relegated Wheeler to the rear guard. The original intention was to isolate him from influence, since those troops had been under Wheeler's command for many years, and if he were also in the front guard, power struggles would be inevitable.

Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, they ended up saving Wheeler's life. After all, his large, round flagship would have attracted a lot of hatred, and if they had followed it into battle, they probably wouldn't have been able to return.

Therefore, Wheeler was genuinely grateful to the Coalition Army commander for his ancestors.

However, he still had many subordinates in the front lines with whom he had a good relationship, and Wheeler's heart was constantly heavy as he watched their casualty rate continue to rise.

Therefore, he was very active in the battle to relieve the vanguard from the rear. Unfortunately, he now has only a dozen or so escort ships left under his command.

With fewer than twenty warships, their style clashed with that of their allies, and their role in this war involving millions or tens of millions of ships was negligible.

Fortunately, judging from the current situation, the vanguard is about to break through successfully. However, amidst his joy, he also felt a sense of doubt.

Although the Zerg had fierce firepower, for some reason, he always felt that the Zerg were not very proactive in intercepting the vanguard and preventing the two armies from joining forces.

Wheeler frowned, pulling up the data and logs automatically recorded by the warship's AI, and carefully going through them one by one. Finally, he looked up in horror. His feeling was right; the Zerg were indeed plotting something, and they hadn't reinforced their forces in the insertion zone for quite some time.

This situation can only mean one thing: the Zerg are letting them go.

"The Zerg are really that kind?" Wheeler scoffed dismissively. "Even someone with their brain caught in a door wouldn't be that naive."

Could it be that the Zerg have become complacent, or that they lack sufficient forces? Wheeler was in the thick of the battle and had limited information to draw upon, so he didn't know how many Zerg troops they had left. However, based on previous data, the Zerg certainly wouldn't be so few as to lack reinforcements to insert into their ranks.

If the Zerg were truly weakened to this extent, the orders he received now would not be to bring out the vanguard, but rather to cut off and encircle the Zerg forces from the opposite direction.

So, what exactly is the reason?

Ever since accepting the mission to invite the Zerg to join the Star Sea Alliance, Wheeler has been researching the Zerg, and he has reviewed the limited information he has collected countless times.

He can be considered one of the most knowledgeable people about the Zerg among the non-Zerg races.

He discovered that the Zerg always planned their moves carefully. In recorded battles, no matter how mindless, anti-intellectual, or illogical the Zerg appeared in the early stages, the final outcome was always in Zerg favor.

Therefore, although he had never seen it, he was still convinced that the Zerg must have an extremely large and intelligent Think Tank to devise strategies for every action.

Just like when the Coalition Army gathered before, although there is still no evidence that the Zerg had discovered them in advance, Wheeler always had a feeling that the Zerg had indeed discovered them, but simply let them gather their forces in order to lure them into an encirclement.

Subsequent developments seemed to confirm this view. The Coalition Army's actions, from the seemingly unstoppable breakthrough of the vanguard to the flanks being ambushed and suppressed, and then the coalition turning back to cut off the connection between the vanguard and the rear, all seemed to make it appear as if the Coalition Army was being manipulated.

Therefore, the Zerg's apparent slackness at this moment can only mean one thing: it's a trap, and the Zerg have set a new one.

But Wheeler had no idea what the trap was.

Judging from the current situation, the vanguard and rearguard of the Coalition Army will soon converge. Although the rearguard is surrounded on three sides, its retreat route is safe. Once it reaches the vanguard, the combined firepower of the two armies will increase dramatically, and if they want to retreat, the Zerg will be unable to stop them.

Now that both sides have exhausted their troop cards, the Zerg will need to either hide some powerful weapon or have a large ambush force to set up a trap.

However, in this void, there are no obstructions within light-years, and the battlefield is surrounded by various the Alliance reconnaissance ships and instruments. It might be possible to ambush a force of ten thousand or eight thousand troops, but to ambush a force capable of burying a fleet of tens of millions of the Coalition Army troops is nothing short of a pipe dream.

Unless, of course, this ambush is outside of this area.

Wheeler's eyes darted around, and he began to have a vague idea.

"Oh no!" Wheeler suddenly exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Get me connected to the Coalition Army Commander!"

"Sir, this is wartime; we cannot contact superiors without authorization."

"Damn it!" Wheeler was annoyed after hearing this. His guess needed data to support it, and he had to obtain the relevant data before he could make a judgment. However, his current superior was an outsider, and if the information was reported up the chain of command, it would inevitably leak out.

If they guess correctly, it could cause panic in the military; if they guess wrong, the consequences will be even worse.

But now that communications are restricted, he has no way to level up beyond his level without permission.

Wheeler paced impatiently for a few moments, then suddenly gave the order, "Turn the ship around and head to the Coalition Army command post!"

"Sir, what if the foreign tribes ask questions? We need a reason."

"Just say the warship has malfunctioned, its electronic systems are stuck, and we need to temporarily withdraw from combat and go to command post to get authorization from the commander to unlock it."