134: Chapter 134 The Slow Retreat of the Protoss Allied Forces

Albert did not respond immediately.

He called up the status data of the Holy Alliance fleet—after three hours of high-intensity output, more than 60 percent of the light-bending warships had entered a mandatory cooling period; these precision war machines needed at least two hours to repair overloaded energy circuits, replace ablated resonant crystals, and recalibrate the borrowing network.

Currently, only the First to Third Sub-fleets, which had just finished resting, and the "Divine Judgment-class" flagship formation serving as the strategic reserve, were available for combat.

"Your Excellency, High Archangel," Albert said slowly, "The Holy Alliance understands your situation, but we must be frank—our main force is currently in a cooling and maintenance period, and the available combat strength is limited. Even if we mobilize all available forces to support the right flank now, the provided increase in firepower will not exceed 35 percent."

"Thirty-five percent is better than nothing!" The High Archangel's voice rose. "Bishop, you should be aware that if the right flank collapses, the Zerg will complete a flanking maneuver, and the entire coalition formation will be in a passive position!"

"I understand," Albert nodded, "So the Holy Alliance will adjust its fire deployment. But from now on, we must accept a reality—due to the limitations of the cooling cycle, our army can no longer maintain the explosive output seen at the beginning of the war. Our average firepower output... will drop to a level slightly weaker than that of the Blazing Dragon Federation's warships of the same class."

The communication channel fell into a brief silence.

After a long while, the High Archangel's voice sounded again, much calmer this time: "I understand. Then, please have your forces complete the deployment adjustments as soon as possible. The Angel Race, the Demon Race, and all the God Race coalition... we will hold on until the very last moment."

The communication ended.

Bishop Albert turned around and said to the adjutants waiting for orders: "Order the entire army: The First to Third Sub-fleets are to immediately maneuver to the right flank of the battlefield and establish new firing positions behind the Olympia Fifth Assault Cluster. Remember, our mission is to support the God Race coalition in stabilizing the front line."

"The Fourth to Sixth Sub-fleets will continue cooling and maintenance, but the cooling cycle will be shortened to 1.5 hours. The Seventh to Ninth Sub-fleets will serve as reserves, ready to replace damaged units at any time."

The orders were transmitted rapidly.

The Holy Alliance fleet began to operate with clockwork precision.

Those warships that had just finished resting were like awakening beasts, their engines spewing soft holy light as they maneuvered toward the right battlefield under the cover of the Olympia legions.

Meanwhile, those warships that had entered the cooling period retreated in an orderly fashion, deploying maintenance arrays in the relatively safe second-line area, where tens of thousands of engineering drones swarmed out like a beehive to begin meticulous inspections of every warship.

Throughout the process, the Holy Alliance fleet did not lose a single warship—their positions were safe enough, their defenses were thorough enough, and their commanders were cautious enough.

All attacks by the Zerg were firmly blocked by the iron defense line of the Olympia Empire, and not even a single stray bullet crossed the line.

When the Holy Alliance fleet finished redeploying on the right flank and began providing fire support, the commanders of the God Race coalition felt somewhat dissatisfied.

"Is this firepower... a bit weak?" Demon Commander Baal looked at the monitoring data and frowned, "What happened to the promised powerful output? Why does it feel even worse than the standard fleets of the Blazing Dragon Federation?"

His adjutant called up the comparative data: "Your Excellency Commander, the data shows that the current firepower output intensity of the Holy Alliance is indeed weaker than the warships of the same class from the Blazing Dragon Federation, with an attack frequency 20 percent lower. However, their attack precision has increased by 15 percent, and their threat level to high-value targets has actually increased."

Baal "tsk"ed: "So, they are snipers? That's fine, it's better than nothing."

In the ensuing battle, the Holy Alliance fleet indeed displayed a completely different combat style.

They no longer pursued large-scale area clearing, but instead concentrated their firepower on the most threatening targets—Corruptor clusters assembling for a charge, Zerg Queen units attempting to interfere with God Race warships using psionic energy, and elite Zerg warriors probing the weak points of the defense line.

Every attack was carefully calculated, and every shell was used to its full potential.

When Zerg Queen units joined forces to unleash a psionic storm, attempting to paralyze the rune defense system of the Asa God Race, twelve Radiant battleships opened fire simultaneously.

Twelve precisely calibrated holy light beams intertwined in the air to form a light net, accurately severing the connection between the Queens and the psionic network, stifling this psionic storm, which was capable of changing the local battle situation, before it could even form.

When an assault cluster composed of Corruptors attempted to break through the defense line of the Titan God Race, three hundred Glow cruisers fired three volleys.

Each volley was as precise as surgery; the command nodes, heavy units, and psionic amplifiers of the Corruptor cluster were cleared one by one.

After losing their organization, the entire cluster turned into loose sand and was easily wiped out by the Titan warriors.

The effect of this combat style was significant—the collapse of the right flank front line was noticeably delayed.

But delaying does not equal reversing.

Faced with an absolute numerical advantage, any tactical adjustment could only buy time; it could not change the fundamental disparity in combat power.

The God Race coalition's front line was still slowly retreating at a speed of 0.01 light-seconds per hour.

Although their warships were not destroyed in formation like those of the weaker races, the continuous war of attrition left every fleet exhausted.

"Report, the energy reserves of the Emi God lineage's Sun Ship array have dropped below 40 percent; they are requesting rotation for rest."

"Report, the Olympus God lineage's fleet is showing large-scale fatigue, and the morale of the warriors is declining."

"Report, the Maya God Race's calendar calculation network has been interfered with by Zerg psionic energy, and their prophecy-type abilities are temporarily disabled."

Bad news was still arriving, just a little slower.

Bishop Albert looked at these reports and sighed softly.

He knew that the Holy Alliance had done its best, but some gaps... could not be bridged by effort alone.

"Notify the Blazing Dragon Federation and the Olympia Empire," he said to the adjutant, "The right flank front line can hold for at most another four hours. Four hours from now, if there is no fundamental change in the battle situation, we may need to consider... a strategic retreat."

The adjutant recorded the order, hesitated for a moment, and asked: "Lord Bishop, those God Race... will they agree to retreat? With their pride—"

"Pride cannot be eaten as food, nor can it be used as a shield," Albert interrupted him.

"I will personally communicate with the leaders of each race. This war is not for face, but for survival. If we cannot even guarantee our survival, what is the point of pride?"

...

The first front line was still in a stalemate, while the second-line battlefield of the weaker races could no longer be described as merely "tragic" at this moment.