Opening Fire
After three months of rest and reorganization, the Coalition Army adjusted their formation and set off again. They were now only four billion kilometers away from the Zerg's position, and even if they were slow and procrastinating, they would engage the Zerg in a month.
The Coalition Army, numbering 3.5 billion warships, including 40% fleets from Outer-Ring Civilizations, were still enough to overwhelm the 4 billion Zerg troops.
Without the threat of that massive Stellar Bomb, this would have been an easy and enjoyable battle.
Because the Zerg forces barely moved, they easily set up their formation, pointing their cannons at the Coalition Army forces, ready to fire a welcoming shot as soon as they entered firing range.
A few days later, the Coalition Army fleet slowly reduced the thruster power, and energy allocation began to shift to the weapon systems. The weapons warmed up, and the systems conducted their final round of self-checks.
Because the Zerg had already set up their formation early on, any troops that advanced too far ahead would inevitably be subjected to several volleys of fire. Even the Lashudia Clan couldn't withstand that level of barrage.
Therefore, the Lashudia Clan warships in the center of the fleet slowed down noticeably, allowing the fleets of the other Mid-Ring Civilizations on both sides to catch up.
The first round of bombardment was initiated by the Swarm. In just a few years, the Swarm's main gun range has increased, even surpassing that of the Lashudia Clan, who are known as the strongest civilization in the central circle.
But it was only slightly stronger. Less than a minute after the Zerg opened fire, the main guns of the Lashudia Clan warships also opened fire. To the naked eye, the dark gray energy beams were extremely inconspicuous in the void, but the enormous energy they contained made them exceptionally dazzling on radar.
The piercing alarms blared across the warships. Because both sides were firing at their maximum range, even the extremely fast-moving energy beams would take several minutes to complete their journey, giving the targets on both sides some reaction time.
"Evade!" The same message, spoken in different languages, echoed on different warships.
The technological superiority or inferiority was on full display at this moment. Faced with the fire of billions of Energy Cannon, the powerful supercomputer, with its superior computing power, could lock onto all the attacks in a short time, calculate their firing trajectories, and then customize evasion plans for each warship within the attack range.
"Increase the output power of thrusters 2, 5, and 9! Hurry!" Powerful civilizations equipped their warships with more auxiliary thrusters, allowing them to perform more and more agile evasive maneuvers while stationary or at low speeds. Weaker civilizations, on the other hand, could only watch helplessly as their warships, like elderly grandfathers, struggled to move forward, only to be hit by artillery fire in the end.
After the first round of bombardment, the Lashudia Clan, despite being the most heavily hit, suffered the least damage, with only a little over a thousand warships destroyed. In contrast, the Mid-Ring Civilizations on either side of them suffered losses of over two thousand each.
Seeing the casualties, both the Lashudia Clan and the other races breathed a sigh of relief. The absence of Zerg interference had allowed the Coalition Army to deploy their forces with ease. Therefore, they didn't form overly tight formations, but rather spread out as much as possible, giving them more room to maneuver and making escape easier.
With nearly eight billion combat units on both sides capable of operating at ranges of 500 meters or higher, such losses are entirely within acceptable limits.
Soon, a second salvo was fired, with more Coalition Army warships now within range. Therefore, while the Swarm's firepower remained unchanged, this attack was significantly more ferocious on the Coalition Army side.
This kind of close-range firefight is extremely advantageous for the Zerg. Because their combat units are smaller, and because living organisms are inherently more agile, their movement is much more flexible.
However, the disadvantage of its small size is that it is not very resistant to damage. A 500-meter-class Ancient Class would basically have to withdraw from the battlefield if hit by a single negative Energy Cannon. Although this place is backed by a star and has abundant energy, it will still take some time to return to the battlefield.
However, because both sides were in dispersed formations, after a volley of fire, although the firepower was fierce, only 70,000 to 80,000 unlucky soldiers were hit by the artillery fire and forced to retreat from the battlefield.
These losses were less than double those of the Coalition Army, and the combined losses of all the Mid-Ring Civilizations were roughly the same. This level of Zerg casualties was unacceptable to the Coalition Army forces.
It's important to understand that although the two sides have 3.5 billion against 4 billion, which seems like a small difference in numbers, the Coalition Army also have about 1.5 billion troops belonging to the Outer-Ring Civilizations. These guys are currently far from the battlefield, acting as cheerleaders in the rear.
If the situation continues as it is, the Zerg forces could even exhaust the entire fleet of the Mid-Ring Civilizations. This is a huge tactical and intelligence blunder. In their pre-battle analysis, based on past data, they calculated that even the Mid-Ring Civilizations's forces alone would be enough to crush four billion Zerg, but they never expected this outcome.
Although only two salvos have been fired so far, and three Mid-Ring Civilizations have not yet entered the battlefield, even if they joined the war, it would not be enough to optimize the casualty ratio to the data calculated at the time.
Everyone had been focused on how to minimize losses when the Zerg detonated the Stellar Bomb. They had concentrated on planning the retreat route and hadn't considered the issue of the four billion Zerg troops at all.
Because in their view, the war would proceed as follows: the Swarm would be scattered by several salvos from the Coalition Army, then forced to prematurely detonate the Stellar Bomb, and the Coalition Army would escape based on their previous calculations—everything was so perfect.
Unfortunately, the Zerg did not play by the rules; their firepower was even stronger than before. At this rate, they wouldn't even be able to force the Zerg to detonate the Stellar Bomb.
"Release all Drone! Let those idiots from the Outer-Ring Civilizations hurry up and get into the battlefield, and let the fleet from the Mid-Ring Civilizations in front make room!" Conrads roared.
A large number of Unmanned Fighter flew out of the Lashudia Clan ships, forming a barrier in front of the fleet and consuming some of its firepower.
The other Mid-Ring Civilizations didn't have time for scheming. The situation had suddenly changed, and they had to overcome this immediate hurdle before they could think about the future. Therefore, following the Lashudia Clan's Unmanned Fighter from other Mid-Ring Civilizations also took off.
Meanwhile, the Coalition Army's battle formation began to shift. The previously loose formation tightened in some areas, leaving large open spaces. The Outer-Ring Civilizations fleet, which had been watching from the rear as a cheerleader and only thought they were there to make a cameo appearance, was now unexpectedly about to be on the battlefield.
But they had even less say, and now that the firing positions had been given up to them, they had no choice but to advance and open fire to fill in the gaps.