Development

Looking at the panoramic 3D sand table of the battlefield in front of him, the commander of the Yuntu Clan fell silent.

"Sir, what do we do now?"

As more and more warships emerged from the breach in the encirclement in the northwest, the total number of the Yuntu Clan troops escaping the encirclement reached 15 million, accounting for more than half of the remaining fleet. If the operation goes smoothly, they may even be able to break free on their own before reinforcements arrive.

But reality is always cruel. The Zerg reinforcements kept pouring into the battlefield, making the disparity in troop strength between the two sides increasingly stark. With fewer troops remaining in the encirclement, they could no longer resist the Zerg's retreat.

Moreover, just yesterday, the Zerg suddenly launched a fierce attack, simultaneously cutting into the Yuntu Clan's battle formation from multiple directions. Caught off guard, the Yuntu Clan's battle formation was cut in two, and before they could react, countless Zerg built a flesh and blood defense line, completely leaving the rear troops inside the encirclement.

(Those who escaped the Zerg encirclement are A Force, and those still in the encirclement are B Force. Now the Swarm has split B Force into two parts, B1 and B2, with Part B2 being completely trapped inside the encirclement.)

Meanwhile, the well-stocked Zerg forces organized another contingent to launch a fierce attack on the northwest side of the original encirclement, preventing the Yuntu Clan fleet (A) from reaching the rescue. They also intercepted the separated front half of the force (B1) to rendezvous there.

In just two days, B1 was completely scattered and fought independently. Most of them were surrounded by the Swarm, while a lucky few stumbled through gaps in the battlefield and miraculously reunited with A Force.

"How many have come out?" The commander-in-chief knew what his subordinates were thinking, but even after issuing several orders to open fire indiscriminately, he couldn't bear the bitter consequences of abandoning so many friendly troops.

"A total of more than 1.25 million ships have been launched."

Listening to the numbers reported by his subordinates, the commander-in-chief pursed his lips bitterly. The total number of B Force was over ten million. They had been separated by the Zerg. The B2 Force, numbering about eight million, were completely trapped in the Zerg encirclement.

The B1 force numbers around four million, but less than a third has emerged so far, and the majority of their forces came out when the Zerg changed formation.

At the time, the Zerg were divided into two parts: one part intercepted the A Force's rescue, and the other part cut through the B Force to encircle B2. Not many forces were available to deal with B1. However, as time passed, the Zerg formation was adjusted, the gaps were filled, and the number of warships coming out of B1 would only decrease.

And indeed, after two hours, fewer than a hundred warships had escaped.

"Is it still possible to contact them?"

The battlefield was already disrupted by various energy fields, making communication difficult, especially since they had to cross the Zerg war zone. Ordinary communication equipment was definitely not enough to contact friendly fleets. Fortunately, there were quite a few troops trapped in the war zone. As a leading force among the Mid-Ring Civilizations, the Yuntu Clan had a fairly good penetration rate of Quantum Communication Device.

"I just made contact with Jiate. Their situation isn't good. The Zerg have tightened their encirclement, and they can't break out on their own." Jiate's unit is in B2 Force, which is currently surrounded by Zerg. The good news is that their unit composition is still relatively intact, and their formation hasn't been severely damaged. With eight million units, they can hold out for a while, but escaping is simply impossible.

"Sir! Vice Admiral Salio has sent a message!" The crew member exclaimed suddenly after reporting.

Salio's unit was positioned at B1, and they had previously been believed to have perished. Unexpectedly, news of their deaths has now been sent out.

How are they doing?

"The situation is bad. Vice Admiral Salio has gathered over a million warships and is attempting to break through the Zerg encirclement. He is now requesting our assistance."

"Their location?"

"Z1-T2-9L direction."

The commander-in-chief immediately turned his attention to the sand table and quickly located Lieutenant General Salio's position. It wasn't too far from A Force, but at least five million Zerg troops were blocking the way. Without other interference, A Force, in coordination with Salio's forces, could easily break through this defensive line in a pincer attack. But the reality was that if they did so, the Zerg would not remain unresponsive.

However, over a million friendly warships is no small number. Even if we calculate based on the initial number at launch, it still accounts for more than 2% of the total, and it's not something we can just abandon easily. Even if we wanted to abandon them, we would have to make it look like we were abandoning them.

"Tell Salio that we will launch an attack in the Z1-T2-9D direction in one hour. Let him seize the opportunity; he only has one chance!"

"Yes, sir."

An hour later, the Yuntu Clan A Force mobilized three million troops and suddenly launched an attack on the Zerg direction of Z1-T2-9D. However, just thirty minutes later, before the Zerg reinforcements arrived, the Yuntu Clan had already withdrawn their forces.

Salio's remnants of B1 were on the verge of breaking through the encirclement when, unexpectedly, his allies on the other side withdrew, leaving him in despair as the Zerg reinforced their defenses again and again, completely extinguishing their hopes of escape. With over a million warships, they likely wouldn't last long once the Swarm turned their attention to them.

The commander-in-chief was aware of this, but he was helpless. If possible, he would naturally not abandon his allies. However, the current situation was very complicated. Since the Zerg changed their formation, they had not only surrounded B1 and B2 Force, but also, relying on their Yuntu Clan numbers, sent several units in three directions in a fan shape to encircle A Force.

A Force has now broken free of the Zerg encirclement and can simply walk away. This is exactly what many Yuntu Clan hoped for. The high-intensity war that lasted for more than seven months resulted in the deaths of countless members of their race in the Star Sea, severely impacting the Yuntu Clan who had enjoyed peace for so long. What many officers and soldiers want most now is to escape this place and get far away from it.

But he couldn't do that. The remnants of B1 were confirmed to be wiped out, but the B2 Force still had nearly eight million warships, which was absolutely impossible to abandon, at least not on the surface.

However, relying on the 15 million warships of A Force and the 8 million warships of B2 Force, it is simply impossible to break through the Zerg blockade. Moreover, in order to ensure the safety of A Force, the commander-in-chief also requires them to maintain a safe distance from the Zerg at all times.

This is why, during the rescue of the remnants of B1, just as success was about to be achieved, he ordered a retreat. Because once Zerg reinforcements arrived, the scope of the war would expand, and once the conflict became fully entangled, it wouldn't be a matter of one side simply retreating.

At that point, he would have no choice but to continuously send reinforcements to the battlefield in order to protect those three million warships. Even if he could rescue Salio and the others, the entire A Force would probably be surrounded again, which was something he absolutely did not want to see.