章 25: Chapter 25: Divide and Conquer
During this intense battle, the drones from Xiao Meng's T3-class interstellar carrier had not been idle. Although the Hive Mother ships weren't completely destroyed, the continuous bombardment had inflicted significant damage on them.
However, the nine T2-class frigates shielding the T3 carrier had taken a severe beating. Fighting against T3-class ships with T2-class frigates was like facing a higher-dimensional threat. It was a miracle they had managed to hold out this long without total annihilation.
"Team One, fall back slowly. Teams Two and Three, divide the battlefield!" Feng Mo commanded.
Team One, comprising ten warships, began to retreat under heavy fire. The remaining fifteen Hive Mother ships pursued aggressively, intensifying their attacks. Bio-plasma cannons and swarms of suicide drones covered the sky, bombarding the retreating frigates.
Finally, one of the frigates under Cui Zhihua's command could hold no longer. Its armor had been compromised, and the hull suffered critical damage, leaving the ship immobilized. Tragically, this immobilization led to the ship's crew being overrun and consumed by the relentless spaceborne insects, leaving no survivors. Space warfare was no game; it claimed real lives.
Complete victories without any losses were rare, especially when facing an opponent of superior class. Feng Mo's tactics were the best he could devise in the moment, but losses were inevitable. The ship's durability and the skill of its captain determined its fate.
Feng Mo's two T2 Black Bear frigates had also sustained significant damage to their armor, but they still had fight left in them. The Black Bear frigates were renowned for their resilience and durability, proving their worth in this moment.
The carrier had successfully baited the enemy into pursuit. Now, it was time to split and conquer. At Feng Mo's command, Teams Two and Three accelerated, flanking the battlefield from both sides. Their primary and secondary laser cannons, now fully charged, unleashed twenty brilliant beams of light that tore through the darkness. Two more Hive Mother ships were obliterated, reduced to floating debris.
The remaining thirteen Hive Mother ships faced a dilemma. Continuing their assault on Team One would mean total annihilation of the frigates but at the cost of their own destruction. Splitting their forces to defend against Teams Two and Three would mean abandoning their pursuit of the interstellar carrier. They quickly chose the path of mutual destruction, pressing forward with their attack on Team One.
The Hive Mother ships aimed to decimate Xiao Meng's T3-class interstellar carrier, showing no intention of backing down.
"Team One, keep falling back! Xiao Meng, recall all drones, reload, and then redeploy them. Set the energy shield to maximum and accelerate. Lead these bugs on a chase!" Feng Mo commanded, unfazed by the sight of two more frigates being immobilized under the intense enemy onslaught.
Leaders must remain cold and calculating in battle. Even Old Wang, Mo Xue, and Xiao Meng didn't see anything wrong with sacrificing frigates in such circumstances.
"Roger that! Watch me show off my drifting skills, Feng Mo!" Xiao Meng replied excitedly, treating the space battle as her playground.
"Merlo Sisters, it's your turn to shine. Show them the true power of the T2 Black Bear!" Feng Mo called out.
The two T2 Black Bear frigates, specially reinforced with T3-grade armor and equipped with massive claw-like appendages at the bow, were ready. Feng Mo had paid double the construction cost for these enhancements.
"Yes, sir! Disabling speed limiters, entering overdrive!" The Merlo Sisters responded, and the two frigates surged forward like raging black bears, claws extended.
Under the momentum of their accelerated charge, the Black Bears' claws tore deep into the hull of a T3 Hive Mother ship. The engines of the Black Bear frigates roared at full throttle, shoving the bio-ship across the battlefield. The cracks from the impact spread throughout the Hive Mother's structure.
The point-defense laser cannons of the Black Bear frigates fired relentlessly, overheating and even cracking from the stress. The damage spread, and the Hive Mother ship was soon a wreck. As the Black Bears disengaged, both frigates looked barely functional, their engines damaged and their hulls shattered. They wobbled away from the battlefield, victorious but crippled.
That destroyed Hive Mother ship was a testament to the Black Bears' sacrifice.
Feng Mo watched with a heavy heart. The damage to his frigates pained him, but at least the repair costs wouldn't come out of his pocket. As long as his crew survived, it was a victory.
After the Black Bears withdrew, Xiao Meng's T3 carrier began its dance, deftly evading attacks from the twelve remaining Hive Mothers. The carrier's T4 energy shield absorbed the occasional plasma blast, rippling but holding strong.
Hundreds of drones from the carrier peppered the Hive Mother ships with relentless bombardments. When the drones ran out of ammunition, Xiao Meng ordered them to kamikaze into the enemy, crippling two more Hive Mother ships.
Feng Mo observed the T3 carrier's shield with interest. Elpan noticed his curiosity and began to wonder about Xiao Meng's background. A T3 carrier equipped with a T4 shield was highly unusual, a luxury reserved for scions of powerful families. Even Old Wang didn't have such protection.
With the T4 shield identified, Feng Mo felt reassured. Teams Two and Three's laser cannons had cooled, and they fired a third round, destroying two more Hive Mother ships.
The Hive Mothers were at a disadvantage in space combat. As bio-ships, they lacked the energy shields of human battleships. Their biological force fields were no match for the main cannons of T3 battleships, leaving them vulnerable to focused fire.
"Haha! This is exhilarating! Fighting under our commander is truly a thrill!" Cui Zhihua's face was flushed with excitement, as if he were drunk on adrenaline.
The bounty for destroying this many Hive Mother ships would be generous, enough to fund a new fleet.
The remaining eight Hive Mothers soon fell under the combined fire of the fleet. The battle ended, and the cleanup began.
Half a day later, Elpan stood behind Feng Mo, reporting to the fleet commanders via video: "Victory! We have destroyed seventeen T3 Hive Mother ships. The battle footage has been uploaded to the military network. Headquarters will distribute rewards once we reach Xuanwu Fortress."
"In this battle, we lost four T2-class frigates along with their entire crews. The wreckage will be collected under Captain Cui's command."
"The remaining five T2-class frigates have varying degrees of damage, with the two T2 Black Bears being the most severely affected, effectively non-operational. They will be towed by the Stormbearer with tractor beams, and the crew has been transferred aboard."
"I've uploaded detailed damage reports to the internal network. All com
manders can review them at their convenience. Report complete."
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