132: Chapter 132 The Backbone of Maintaining the Front

Fifteen battlecruisers opened fire simultaneously. In addition to their main Mega Particle Cannons, they were equipped with a composite strike system that dynamically adjusted based on the nature of the target—

Scatter-type plasma clusters were used against dense swarms of Mutalisks; high-energy phase-array ion cannons were fired at heavy Zerg space units; and coherent entangled quantum cannons were used against distant Leviathans.

Even more impressive was the Blazing Dragon Federation's drone swarm. Since the start of the war, the number of drones released from the various ships had surpassed twelve digits. These autonomous combat units, varying in size and function, formed a three-layered, three-dimensional defense line:

The outermost layer consisted of cheap, high-speed interceptors, using dense high-speed laser fire to slow the advance of the Zerg Swarm; the middle layer consisted of attack aircraft carrying various plasma bombs, specifically targeting high-value Zerg targets; the innermost layer consisted of recovery, repair, resupply, and electronic warfare support units, ensuring the reuse of lost resources and maintaining the operation of the entire system.

Although the drone combat attrition rate was alarmingly high—with an average survival time of no more than fifteen minutes—the production lines on the warships in the rear were continuously replenishing them at a rate of billions per minute.

These drones were simply propulsion, sensors, and cannons; it was a pure war of attrition, and resources were the one thing the Blazing Dragon Federation did not lack.

"General, the Olympia Empire's Third Imperial Guard Legion has sent a request for coordination," the communications officer reported. "They hope we can share some of the pressure on their left flank; there are signs of three new types of massive Zerg capital ships gathering there."

Major General Zhao Yu looked at the star map. The Olympia Empire's front line was indeed under exceptionally heavy pressure—not because they were weak, but on the contrary, because they were too "hard." They were so hard that the Zerg Swarm had concentrated a large amount of elite forces in this direction, attempting to chew through the toughest bone first.

"Approved. Have the Seventh drone Mothership fleet move forward, and tell our friends in the Olympia Empire—" Major General Zhao Yu paused, "the Blazing Dragon Federation's dictionary does not contain the words 'stand by and watch someone die'."

...

If the Blazing Dragon Federation was a reliable warhammer, then the Olympia Empire was an immortal shield.

The Third Imperial Guard Legion, under the command of Prince Krol, was currently meeting the Zerg Swarm's fiercest assault with a textbook formation. Unlike the Blazing Dragon Federation's tactical style, which focused on composite strikes, the Olympia people's tactics were simple to the point of brutality: line up, advance, and crush.

"Dreadnought 'Thunder's Fury', bow pointed at the Zerg Swarm assembly area, full speed ahead!" The captain's command echoed on the bridge.

This behemoth, over eight hundred kilometers in length, began to accelerate. Its shape was less like a warship and more like a moving mountain of steel. There were not many exposed weapon platforms on the ship's surface; instead, there were layers of diamond-shaped armor plates, each engraved with complex energy-conducting runes.

Dense swarms of insects blocked the flight path, attempting to overwhelm this lone, deep-penetrating giant ship with sheer numbers.

"Thunder's Fury" maintained its course, crashing into the depths of the Zerg Swarm at a cruising speed of ten percent the speed of light.

On its path of charge, there was a two-hundred-kilometer-long Brood Lord. It tried to turn 0.3 seconds before contact, but it was too late.

The dreadnought's bow pierced its soft abdomen like a hot knife through butter. The relative speed of over 30,000 kilometers per second meant the kinetic energy released by this impact was comparable to a small nuclear explosion.

The Brood Lord's body began to shatter, vaporize, and annihilate from the point of impact. The shockwave traveled backward, shaking the millions of unhatched eggs inside it into pulp.

Various Zerg in its path spewed corrosive spore clouds and plasma flames.

Acid capable of eating through conventional warship armor in thirty seconds splashed onto the hull of "Thunder's Fury," but left only a few fleeting wisps of smoke on those dark golden armor plates.

The pinnacle of Olympia metallurgical technology, "Divine Blessing Alloy," combined with rune energy film shields, had reached the theoretical limit for corrosion resistance and impact resistance.

The dreadnought emerged from the spore cloud, its hull unscathed, with only the energy runes on its surface glowing faintly, decomposing the attached harmful substances into harmless elementary particles in one ten-thousandth of a second.

The third Brood Lord finally felt fear and tried to retreat, but the armor plates on both sides of "Thunder's Fury" suddenly flipped open, revealing dense rows of cannon muzzles underneath. They were not energy cannons, but high-density plasma jets.

The Olympia Empire's ion focusing and beam-forming technology had never been able to be integrated with the dreadnought's dense cannon arrays. Thus, this combat style of charging into the center of the Zerg Swarm to fire was born.

The plasma jets fired at sub-light speed, precisely piercing every nerve node, every energy organ, and every reproductive chamber of the Brood Lord. The behemoth convulsed violently in space for a dozen seconds before going completely rigid, turning into a floating coffin.

"Cleanup complete." The captain's voice was calm and emotionless. "Continue forward."

This was the Olympia Empire's combat style: not pursuing flashy techniques, not relying on complex mechanisms, using only the purest mass, the strongest defense, and the most direct attacks to crush any enemy that dared to stand in their way.

Their warships might not have the rich tactical options of the Blazing Dragon Federation, and might not have the terrifying energy output of the Holy Alliance, but when it came to defensive capabilities and sustained combat endurance, if the Olympia people claimed second place, no one in the entire known universe would dare to claim first.

Since the start of the war, the Third Imperial Guard Legion's warship loss rate had been shockingly low—with a loss of no more than 10 frigates.

Yet they had borne more than forty percent of the Zerg Swarm's main force assault.

"Your Highness, the average armor depletion of the Seventh Heavy Strike Group has reached twenty-five percent; we request to rotate to the second line for rest," a report from a frontline commander came over the communication channel.

Prince Krol had returned to the flagship "Throne of Thunder" by now. The missing right arm was wrapped in a regeneration field, and new granulation tissue was squirming and growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He stared at the star map with a grave expression: "Rotation approved. But tell the commander of the Seventh Group that the second-line rest time cannot exceed four hours; they must return to the front line after four hours—we do not have that many troops to waste."

"Also," he added, "notify Major General Zhao Yu of the Blazing Dragon Federation that the pressure on our right flank is starting to increase abnormally; there are signs of Leviathans gathering in this direction. If a gap appears in the defense line, I hope they can fill it in time."

The adjutant hesitated for a moment: "Your Highness, is asking for direct assistance from the Blazing Dragon Federation... detrimental to the Empire's dignity?"

Prince Krol turned his head, a flash of sharpness in his single eye: "Face? When we have all turned into Zerg feces floating in space, do you think the Zerg will care about our face? Execute the order!"

...

In the vast formation of the Allied Forces of Ten Thousand Races, the Holy Alliance's fleet occupied a subtle yet critical position.

As one of the three most powerful factions in the complete alliance, they were not deployed on the very front line to bear the direct assault of the Zerg Swarm, nor were they arranged on the flanks to undertake the task of acting as a pivot point.

Instead, this fleet, known for its energy efficiency, was currently positioned securely behind the Olympia Empire's Third Imperial Guard Legion, forming the "second fire echelon" of the entire coalition system.

This deployment was the result of precise calculations by the joint command.