Chapter 456: Freedom Cavalry’s Transfer Orders
A power struggle was taking place among the insectoids. Xia Fei cruised around the capital, carefully observing the developments and speculating on what might happen next.
During this, he picked up a call from Charlie. Through the full effort of Quantum Holdings and President Wu Long, the more than six hundred million citizens of Earth had been successfully relocated to Quantum Holdings’ fleet. The remaining people were mostly semi-primitive people living in remote areas, with the rest being stubborn old people who were unwilling to leave their homes or religious folks who believed that the insectoids were humanity’s savior and had come to save them, not invade.
To Xia Fei’s pleasant surprise, rather than going bankrupt, Quantum Holdings had profited from the crisis. Charlie used the Purple Hearts of Spirit Xia Fei had left behind to trade for several dozens of heavy industrial ships. These ships were originally meant to be moving factories. In concert with mining barges and refining barges, they could essentially produce while moving.
In the chaos, many company owners had fled in a panic, abandoning their workers, but Charlie treated all of the employees of Quantum Holdings well, providing for both them and their families. In passing, Charlie also obtained high-skilled workers who had been abandoned by their companies. It was possible to see what people were really like in a crisis, and the steadfast loyalty Quantum Holdings had shown to its employees had quite the impact on these elite professionals.
Even metal and stone would yield to the power of sincerity. Under these arduous conditions, Quantum Holdings succeeded in producing while retreating, meeting and exceeding the quota set by the military and even selling some of the extra production to private fleets in exchange for rare and valuable items.
In times of prosperity, antiques and curios were stockpiled, and in times of trouble, gold was stockpiled. While these trinkets might appear worthless in a time of war; if one day the Alliance returned to normal, they would command a high price.
Charlie was a born businessman, and Xia Fei was very satisfied with all he had done in these times of war. At present, Quantum Holdings’ industrial fleet was on the western border and still working at full production. Sarah, meanwhile, was leading the civilian fleet in following the army as it retreated into Na’vi territory, not far from Starlink Corporation’s First Fleet on which Avril was onboard.
...
The Westwind Defense Line.
The insectoids were determined to wipe out the remaining human army forces at one go, so they had surrounded the defensive line and were now engaging in a battle of attrition with them using long-range cannons. After all, they held numerical superiority over the Alliance, and the momentum of war was on their side. Taking the Westwind Defense Line was only a matter of time.
The Alliance Military was relying on its sturdy asteroid fortresses to hold its ground and was doing all it could to minimize its losses. Freedom Cavalry, the Alliance’s only supercapital fleet, had not taken part in a single battle. The soldiers were reaching their breaking point. Those who could join this trump card fleet were the elites of the elites. The Panhuman Alliance territory was on the verge of being completely lost, but these flashy supercapitals had yet to fire a shot. Standing around and doing nothing was killing them.
“General, let’s just charge right there and fight it out!”
“That’s right! General, even The Brotherhood is fighting out there, while we’re just sitting in the rear with nothing to do. If this continues, our Freedom Cavalry will become a joke!”
“If we don’t fight now, the Alliance will be gone!”
There were sixty supercarriers, and sixty commanders were currently holding a video conference with Admiral Layton. All of them demanded to join the battle, and the mood was unprecedentedly tense.
Layton savagely replied, “Shut up, all of you! You think this old man doesn’t wanna fight? I was in charge of the northern fleets and was beaten all the way back to the Westwind Defense Line! Who do you think is the more frustrated one here?! Who do you think has the bigger fire burning in their belly?!”
The captains were all speechless. Admiral Layton was currently being mocked as the loser general, for he had not won one battle since the war began.
historical
Who could understand the difficulties of a soldier, though? The first order the military had received was to protect and assist the civilians in their escape, and the soldiers had loyally carried out this order, assisting the civilians with all their enthusiasm, but it was impossible to have one’s cake and eat it, too. The majority of the soldiers had been allocated to helping civilians, so how many could be left to fight the war?
“We have nowhere else to retreat to, and there are no more civilians for us to protect,” a golden-haired vice-admiral said, one of the more senior officers present.
Layton replied, “You have to believe in me, and you must believe in Tai!
“The Freedom Cavalry hasn’t been mobilized because the war requires it. Once the battlefield needs it, Tai will send us without hesitation!”
“Did the marshal say that?”
Layton firmly nodded. “When I was dispatched to the Freedom Cavalry, Tai had me get ready. In a little while, the Freedom Cavalry will play the most important role in the war.”
Everyone sighed. Although the Alliance had been thrown back again and again, none of them had lost their trust in the silver-haired general, Tai.
In truth, besides the grievous losses to the expedition forces returning from the Death Tri-region and the northern fleets under Layton, the fleets of the other areas had not suffered any fatal blows. Seventy percent of the Alliance’s pre-war strength was still intact.
Adding the fleets of private organizations like the Adjudicator Union and Monastic Order, the Alliance was still capable of waging a large-scale battle against the insectoids. They had bided their time until this point purely for tactical reasons.
“Since the marshal has spoken, we will continue to wait.”
“That’s our best option. As soldiers, if we couldn’t protect mankind’s territory, we would live the rest of our lives in regret.”
“Admiral Layton, can you divulge a little to us? We’re all friends here, so can’t you tell us something about what the marshal has planned?” a rather handsome vice admiral anxiously asked.
Layton looked out the window and sternly replied, “Trust me. The time will come soon.”
...
It was just after noon in the insectoid capital, precisely the time that Xia Fei and Little Black had agreed to close Silent Valley.
“Silent Valley has suddenly closed. Uti’s location is unknown!” Phantom excitedly said, his eyes bright.
Xia Fei clapped his hands. “All information regarding Uti is considered top secret information of the insectoid imperial guards. There’s no reason for it to be published in public military channels. This must be Qingliu’s work. In a few minutes, all of the insectoid military will know of this explosive news.”
The valley had closed, but Uti had not returned. This could mean only one thing: The one hundred thousand insectoid elites were all dead! This included the emperor of the Golden Tent!
“The military knowing this news means that the entire insectoid race will also learn about it as well. Uti has a rather high status among the insectoids, and news of his death will render them leaderless, so there’s no stopping the ensuing chaos!” Phantom rubbed his hands.
At 12:07, Qingliu proposed to hold an emergency meeting with the cabinet to discuss how they should deal with the imminent chaos.
At 12:10, the imperial guards imposed martial law in the capital, forbidding anyone from entering it.
At 12:14, the panic in the capital caused the imperial guards to kill Uti’s sister’s son, Arufu, by accident.
At 12:16, the five most authoritative astrologists announced that Consort Qingyan’s dream had been verified, and only the unborn child in her womb was the next in line to the throne of the Golden Tent.
At 12:19, the emissary sent to High Priest Ryun for advice returned, reporting that the high priest had already left the capital to travel to some unknown corners of the universe for cultivation.
This news made Xia Fei sigh in relief. Ryun was an existence that transcended the emperor of the Golden Tent. One word or action from him was enough to upset Qingliu’s plans completely, but since he was no longer in the capital, Qingliu’s seizure of authority would go much more smoothly.
With a tap of Xia Fei’s finger, Tai’s dignified and calm face quickly appeared in front of him.
Glancing at the timer, Tai sternly said, “It’s been fourteen hours. What news do you bring me?”
“In five hours, the news of Uti’s death will reach the insectoid expedition fleets. At that time, they will be in disarray,” Xia Fei simply said.
Tai was startled, his eyes lighting up. “Is that true?”
Xia Fei lightly waved his hand in the air. “In truth, the emperor of the Golden Tent died a few days ago by these hands.”
It was easy to imagine Tai’s shock. He did not ask about how Xia Fei had managed to kill Uti or what method he had used. Learning that it was real was enough. The details could be left to the story-loving civilians to ask about. Those presiding over the big picture only needed to know the results—results that could be trusted.
“Why five hours?” Tai asked.
“The news was just announced twenty minutes ago in the insectoid internal military net. They don’t have the Black Bat radar, so even their fastest means of communication will need five hours.”
Tai furrowed his brows and firmly nodded. “I understand.”
After a few seconds, Tai added, “Thank you!”
...
After over ten hours of long-range fire, the insectoid expedition fleets finally began slowly pushing forward. There were uncountable ships of various sizes, with the large dreadnoughts serving as the vanguard, using their powerful cannons to open a path while their thick hulls served as shields.
Behind them was a second fleet formed by a thousand carriers, the countless combat drones filling space like a torrential deluge or a murderous swarm of hundreds of millions of wasps, waving their wings and revealing their fatal stingers!
*Rumble!*
The dreadnoughts fired again and again, pounding away at the outer shell of the asteroid fortresses. The countless drones had the asteroid completely locked down, orbiting around it and seeking any firing emplacements that might be exposed on its surface.
Within the span of a minute, the fortress’s offensive system was destroyed by tens of thousands of combat drones. Another minute later, the dreadnoughts pounded through nearly thirty meters of alloy armor.
The barrage intensified, destroying one of the asteroid fortresses!
The insectoid fleets continued onto the next target.
Suddenly, the insectoid fleet’s offensive came to an unexpected halt! The combat drones were like headless flies, flying around their original location without targets.
This sort of loss of focus was incredibly rare in the middle of a large-scale battle. Something must have happened to these fleets. There was no reason to stop the offensive while they had such an advantage.
The supercapital fleet, Freedom Cavalry.
The sixty supercapital captains looked in shock at Layton. He was currently engaged in a call with Tai, and all of them were overcome with excitement. Was this the mobilization order they had been waiting for? They had been waiting for this moment for far too long.
Putting down the phone, Layton was quiet for a few seconds. His eyes were gradually turning red from excitement!
“Brothers, we fight!”
These simple words had their blood boiling!
From the captains and the soldiers to every member of Freedom Cavalry, including the janitors, engineers, doctors, and nurses.
“Everyone, it’s finally our turn to fight!”
“Our Freedom Cavalry isn’t made of paper! This time, we’ll show these d*mn bugs how powerful we are!”
The captains bellowed and roared, wanting to fight to the death with the insectoids.
Layton waved his hand and loudly said, “Have all warships stand at the ready. Once Tai gives the order, we’re going in!”
...
The insectoid expedition’s main fleet’s capital ship, Sacred Glory.
When Tanini learned of his brother’s death, he exploded in rage. He immediately executed the soldier who had delivered this news and then crazily cursed everyone else present.
All of Tanini’s personal guards and advisors had their heads lowered with dark expressions on their faces. The only insectoid not present was his deputy guard captain, mantis warrior Feimu.
On the lowest level of the Sacred Glory, in an ordinary storage unit, Feimu took out a communication device from a corner. After reading the message, he took out a blue crystalline dagger from beneath a junk rack. The image of a black longhorn beetle was carved on it. This was the keepsake belonging to a certain elder from the third strongest species among the insectoid race, the black longhorn beetles.
Sliding the dagger up his sleeve, Feimu solemnly walked out. Only when he saw that no one was around did he begin making his way to the command deck where Tanini was at.