The Gap
In five months, the Yuntu Clan not only lost most of its parts inventory, but also exhausted its reserves of special munitions, such as Dark Energy mines.
In a low-intensity war, these things are not a big deal. A fleet of their size, in addition to various supply ships, would also carry some simple space factories and the like.
While they cannot directly produce warships, they can produce severely worn parts and consumable ammunition. As long as they are repaired, they can simply place them on a nearby planet and replenish their stock in a short time.
But now the war has been going on for five months, and there's hardly any time for rest or even sleep. If the Yuntu Clan hadn't possessed a machine that could force them into a deep sleep, they probably would have collapsed long ago.
The situation is somewhat better for the Swarm. The powerful Space Octopus doesn't need rest, and thanks to the uniqueness of its biotechnology, although some parts are also severely worn, they can recover through basic metabolism, or like shedding dead skin, they can remove the worn tissue and then regrow it.
Furthermore, in contrast to the isolated Yuntu Clan, the Swarm's reinforcements were continuous. In five months, the Swarm replenished its forces with over 100 million units of the Ancient Class or higher. Among them, 1,000 Desolate Class Mothership were added, doubling the original number and greatly enhancing the Swarm's penetration capabilities.
Two more months have passed. Although the Yuntu Clan in the northwest region has expended at least ten million warships, their frenzied counterattack has caused significant losses to the Swarm.
However, the troops inside the encirclement were greatly weakened by the lack of a defensive line composed of the Yuntu Clan Unmanned Fighter. The pinpoint penetration capability provided by the two thousand Desolate Class Mothership, combined with the offensive cover of the main force, successfully infiltrated the Yuntu Fleet several times.
However, the Yuntu Clan's decisive and indiscriminate attacks successfully averted several crises. But they also suffered heavy losses, and more importantly, they caused psychological changes in some members of the Yuntu Clan.
The Yuntu Clan is a race with exceptional mobility and discipline, as evidenced by their ability to obey orders without hesitation and attack indiscriminately.
However, over time, with such frequent and indiscriminate attacks, the Yuntu Clan, which are not emotionless machines, accumulated this pressure. Coupled with the high intensity of the war, it drove some members of the Yuntu Clan to become even more fanatical.
"Attack!" a captain of the Yuntu Ship shouted as the Primordial -Ancient Class ships intruded.
"Captain, that monster is on the hull of YT10440, we can't hit it." The crew calculated for a long time but still couldn't find a suitable angle.
Upon hearing this, the captain's face darkened. "I order you to open fire!"
"But that could accidentally hit friendly forces."
"YT10440 is finished. It was finished the moment that monster jumped on it! Once that monster takes care of YT10440, YT10390 next to it, or even us, will become its next target. YT10440 should realize that sacrificing them can save more of its comrades."
"Captain, how could you do this? This is so selfish!"
"Sacrificing YT10440 means I can live, and you can live too. We'll still be part of the fleet, retain our fighting strength, and continue fighting the Zerg. But if we can't seize this opportunity to eliminate that monster, YT10440 will still be finished, YT10390 will be finished, and we'll die. In the end, the commander-in-chief will order an indiscriminate attack to clear our defense zone, and even more of our people will die. In this situation, what would you choose, soldier?"
A dangerous and insane light flashed in the captain's eyes, yet his words were cold-blooded and rational, leaving no room for argument.
"But we don't have the authority to attack friendly forces. Doing so would lead to a court-martial afterward," the soldier weakly and feebly retorted, making a final stand. "Captain, if you were in YT10440's position, would you want friendly forces to attack you?"
The captain closed his eyes and sighed, "Execute the order, soldiers. I'll take full responsibility!"
The soldier stared intently at the captain, trying to find the answer to another question on his face, but after looking for a long time, he only saw indifference and calm.
In an instant, he seemed to know the captain's choice, and he was suddenly filled with fear. This feeling quickly amplified, even making him tremble.
Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you, but the captain is clearly in a state of wanting what he wants. He can't believe the consequences if that monster gets close to the warship.
The coordinates were quickly corrected, and the fire control radar locked onto the Ancient Class that was wreaking havoc on YT10440. To ensure a fatal blow, the warship's energy system operated at overload, with more than one hundred main and secondary guns firing simultaneously.
The Ancient Class hadn't expected that even with its well-placed vantage point, the opposing warship would still choose to fire. The extremely close firing range and the overwhelming barrage of fire instantly engulfed it.
At the same time, YT10440 was also submerged.
The information about the unauthorized attack on friendly forces was quickly detected by the surrounding Yuntu Warship and automatically transmitted to the command center. Upon seeing this message, the commander-in-chief remained silent, unsure of what expression to make, and finally could only sigh.
An intangible force is spreading and being accepted, making the Swarm's swarm-based melee tactics increasingly difficult to execute. If the enemy cannot be protected by their own forces, making them hesitant to act, the melee capabilities of the Ancient Class will be greatly weakened.
However, these minor changes are not enough to reverse the overall decline of the Yuntu Clan.
The Ancient Class missiles that broke into the Yuntu Clan fleet were all projectiles launched by the Desolate Class Mothership. Their numbers were far too few compared to the scale of the entire battlefield.
Their primary objective is to create chaos, not to inflict effective damage. Therefore, faced with the Yuntu Clan's somewhat tragic one-for-one exchange, the Swarm immediately changed tactics.
The Ancient Class that had broken in became more agile, darting around and never lingering in one place. The performance of the Rowan's Combat Technique had come to an end, but they would still take the time to attack with their main cannons. Although this reduced their destructive efficiency, it rendered the Yuntu Clan's extreme one-for-one tactic useless, while also diverting more of the Yuntu Clan's attention.
In the tactical battle, with gains and losses, the Yuntu Clan's fleet within the encirclement was constantly being reinterpreted. Seven months had passed since the start of the war, and the fastest reinforcements would arrive on the battlefield in less than a month.
However, by this time, more than 20 million Yuntu Clan warships had been lost forever on this battlefield, with a casualty rate of nearly half. On the Zerg side, although the number of Ancient Class lost exceeded 60 million, nearly three times that of the Yuntu Clan, thanks to reinforcements, the number of ships of 500 meters or above on the battlefield had reached 320 million, a full 60% increase compared to the beginning of the war.