The Blood Axe Clan fleet on the other side also encountered trouble.
Lynn's Second Expeditionary Fleet, along with the twenty Sword-class Frigate and the Pinnacle Black Obsidian that were originally left to defend Carl II, had already set up a defensive line on the flanks.
The Blood Axe Clan is known for its cunning and ambush tactics. They originally planned to sneak around to the rear and launch a surprise attack while the main human fleet was engaged in battle with the Orks Central Fleet.
But Lynn's expeditionary fleet had been waiting for them along their route for some time.
"All frigates, deploy in a fan shape! Cruisers, main guns aimed at the Blood Axes flagship!"
Gus stood on the bridge of the Pinnacle Black Obsidian, calmly issuing orders.
Although his fleet was far weaker than the Tithe Fleet, they had Genestealer commander, making command transmission extremely efficient.
The fleet's formation changes were fluid and seamless, without the slightest sign of chaos.
Blood Axes's several sneak attacks were all anticipated by Gus and easily thwarted.
The two sides were locked in a stalemate on the flanks.
Although the Blood Axes fleet had a numerical advantage, it was unable to break through the defenses commanded by Gus in the short term.
On the main battlefield, the situation was even more one-sided.
Dominic ordered all capital ships to hide behind the Carl II.
Most of the Orks fleet's attacks landed on the already dilapidated space station, Carl II.
Exploding sparks appeared continuously on the surface of Carl II, and huge pieces of metal were constantly being thrown into space.
Under precise and efficient command, the prepared capital ships would peek out and fire a salvo before retreating behind the Carl II, repeating this process repeatedly to peek at the Orks fleet.
Since Carl II is essentially just a pile of scrap metal anyway, it might as well be used as a shield.
The more intense the Orks ' fire, the more the Carl II is blasted to pieces, and the safer the human fleet becomes.
Ragnar grew increasingly frustrated with each game.
His fleet outnumbered the enemy's by more than five times, yet his firepower was completely suppressed.
The enemy's shells seemed endless, coming in round after round without any pause.
His fleet, however, could only watch helplessly from across the Carl II.
Occasionally, a few warships would manage to flank the enemy, only to be immediately targeted by the Gemstone's light spears and destroyed instantly.
What surprised him most was the sheer frequency and duration of the opponent's output; it was truly terrifying.
Although Ragnar appeared rugged, he was actually meticulous.
His personality is as open and inclusive as his stomach; he is willing to learn anything that can make him stronger.
He frequently communicated with the leaders of the Blood Axe Clan's special agents.
Although those Blood Axes often betrayed their own people and were bribed by Shrimp, they did indeed possess a considerable amount of intelligence about Shrimp.
From them, Ragnar learned that while ammunition for the powerful weapons on human ships wasn't scarce, its supply was extremely unstable.
Often, an ammunition resupply request can take six to ten months to be approved within the Imperium's bureaucratic system.
Moreover, humanity's most powerful weapons and vehicles all possess some kind of " Machine Spirit."
Those Machine Spirit have very strange tempers; if you don't take care of them properly, they'll go on strike.
Therefore, it is simply impossible for human weapons to fire continuously for an extended period of time.
This is the experience that Ragnar himself summarized, and it is also the biggest advantage that the Orks have in fighting a protracted war against humans.
If this drags on, humanity will eventually run out of ammunition, and weapons will eventually malfunction.
At that time, we will be able to turn defeat into victory.
But today, this experience seems to have failed.
The human fleet has been bombarding them continuously for half an hour.
The firepower not only did not weaken at all, but instead became even more intense.
The Gemstone's Macro-cannon can fire a salvo every few tens of seconds.
The light spears also continuously draw energy from the Warp Rift, firing once every few minutes.
The aircraft carried by those Mars-class Battlecruiser came wave after wave, seemingly without ever running out.
This is completely illogical!
"Damn it! Where did these shrimps get their ammunition?!"
Ragnar slammed his fist on the control panel, creating a large dent in the metal.
"Don't their Machine Spirit ever get tired?!"
No one could answer his question.
Only the constant alarms of warships being destroyed and the ever-decreasing number of Orks on the screen served as reminders to him.
The battle is developing in a direction that is increasingly unfavorable to him.
Unlike the Orks men on the backs of the sweat-drenched warriors, the captain's cabin of the Gemstone was as quiet as a luxurious banquet hall.
Soft classical music flowed through the air.
Dominic and Lynn sat on the sofa by the window, holding crystal glasses filled with aged wine from the Garden of Nurgle World.
Outside the window, a fierce battlefield unfolds.
The fireballs from the exploding Orks warship occasionally illuminated the two men's faces.
But both of them looked calm, as if they were watching an insignificant movie.
Ralfa remained standing behind Dominic, his grey eyes occasionally glancing warily at Lynn.
Lynn gently swirled the wine in her glass, watching the deep red liquid inside spin in graceful arcs.
His gaze pierced through the screen and landed on the battlefield outside.
Watching the Orks fleet being tightly confined in front of the Carl II by overwhelming firepower, forced to passively take hits.
A sense of worry arose in Lynn's heart.
In the past half hour, the Dominic fleet has unleashed more firepower than all the ammunition fired by his entire Second Expeditionary Fleet since its formation.
Even the Imperium's regular army couldn't possibly have such an exaggerated ammunition reserve, could they?
Moreover, those weapons fired continuously for so long without any malfunctions.
This completely overturned Lynn's understanding of the Imperial Navy.
After hesitating for a moment, Lynn still asked, "Lord Dominic, please forgive my intrusion."
"With your fighting style, can your ammunition reserves and the stability of your Machine Spirit... hold up?"
Dominic scoffed at this, "You don't need to worry about that."
He raised his glass, took a small sip of red wine, and said calmly, "I'm different from you."
My family has a deep friendship with the Mars Adeptus Mechanicus that spans thousands of years.
"My fleet's entire supply of weapons and ammunition comes directly from the Forge World controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus."
"Whether in terms of quality or supply efficiency, it is the best in the entire Imperium."
"With this level of firepower, my fleet can sustain itself for a full month without any resupply."
Lynn's pupils contracted slightly.
Lasting for a month?!
That's way too exaggerated!
It should be noted that even at full production capacity, Brevis's industrial capacity could only barely support his expeditionary fleet in a week of combat of this intensity.
Dominic seemed to see through Lynn's thoughts and continued:
"Furthermore, as you've probably noticed, the number of Tech-Priest on my ship far exceeds that of the normal Imperial Navy."
Lynn nodded.
He noticed it from the bridge.
On the Gemstone, there was a priest on duty at almost every Macro-cannon base.
They prayed incessantly, wiping their weapons with holy oil to soothe the Machine Spirit.
"These Tech-Priest are all talents supplied to me by the Mars Adeptus Mechanicus," Dominic said.
"With them around, the Machine Spirit's stability has always been excellent, and my weapons rarely malfunction."
"However," Dominic's expression turned serious.
"Equipment is certainly important, but I have always believed that the most crucial factors for winning a war are not equipment, but tactics and morale!"
"Without the right tactics, even if you have more warships and more ammunition, you will only be defeated one by one by the enemy."
"Without high morale, even the best equipment cannot unleash its full potential."
Lynn looked at Dominic with an awkward smile.
He had to admit that Dominic was right.
But he knew even better that the fundamental reason Dominic could be so composed was his unfathomable wealth.
This isn't a war; it's clearly throwing money at people.