Chapter 1357 - Battle of Attrition; Disadvantage
Chapter 1357 Battle of Attrition; Disadvantage
The three Universal Civilizations received news from Han Xiao that the World Tree was suspected to be planning for a new attack, and they began to prepare for war. The waiting troops stationed at the rear were mobilized, causing the intercepting force to rise steadily in numbers.
As Destiny’s Child did not obtain any intelligence on the World Tree’s subsequent actions, the three Universal Civilizations could only remain vigilant and maintain the highest level of detection throughout the day. The officers of the various levels were also tense and did not dare relax. It was as if they knew a knife would slash at them but did not know when.
Due to the expansion of the intercepting perimeter, the wormhole support network also had to be extended. The three Universal Civilizations could not be sure which area the World Tree would attack.
In the blink of an eye, almost a month had passed, but the World Tree still did not launch an attack. Just as the three Universal Civilizations were starting to suspect that this was a trap, a report finally sounded from the detection device. A large fleet of the World Tree had entered the observation area and was slowly advancing toward the intercepting circle. The number of battleships was more than 200 billion, which was clearly the new wave of invading troops that the intelligence had shown.
Due to the special observation device that Han Xiao had provided, the three Universal Civilizations’ range of detection far exceeded their area of control. This meant that they could launch an attack at the World Tree fleet from a further distance, indirectly increasing the strategic distance between them and their enemies for interception.
After the three Universal Civilizations locked onto their target, they immediately activated their over-the-horizon firepower. At the same time, they used the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device to send out the Spacetime Splicing Self-Destructing Team in an attempt to exhaust more enemy forces.
The World Tree Army endured a period of indiscriminate bombardment before passing through a large portion of the strategic depth and arriving at the edge of the area controlled by the three Universal Civilizations. In front of them was the space anchor network that sealed the jump points. However, the World Tree Army did not behave like the previous three times. To prevent too many troops from being consumed on the way, they stopped at the edge of the three Universal Civilizations’ control area and expanded the Lerbo Space Protection Belt to block the long-range attacks of the fleet. At the same time, they split up and coordinated with each other while sweeping through the space anchoring tracks.
This time it seemed like the World Tree did not want to launch a sudden attack. Instead, it planned to use the large army as the base to launch a large-scale battle.
The fleet sweeping the orbit this time was not the small fleet from before. It was much larger, and the three Universal Civilizations were in a dilemma. They knew that the World Tree was forcing them to leave the interception fortifications and go out to fight in the wild, which would make it more efficient for them to be dealt with.
In the past few times, the interception circle had played a huge role in blocking the attacks of the World Tree. The most important thing was the wormhole network hidden in the middle of the layers of defense lines. This allowed them to be able to quickly gather their forces and arrive at the main area of the blockade.
If this was changed to a field battle, the Three Universal Civilizations’ advantage in this aspect would be greatly reduced. Although the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device could also provide support, it was still a Universal Treasure that cost a lot to build. The restriction in its use caused the efficiency of sending troops in large quantities to be lower than the usual wormhole support channel.
However, if they did not do anything towards the World Tree fleet’s actions, the space stabilization orbit that they had set up in the past few days would be destroyed. After weighing the pros and cons, the three Universal Civilizations sent out a portion of their forces to try and stop the World Tree fleet, and they continued to attack the large troops that the World Tree fleet had stationed at the edge of the control area. This led to many intense battles in the three Universal Civilizations area.
In order to reduce the casualties in the local battles, the Beyond Grade As of the three Universal Civilizations took action one after another to help their troops fight against the enemy fleet. They were equipped with The King mechanical suits and could retreat to the intercepting base at any time. However, the experts from the World Tree did not appear, as though they did not intend to restrain the advanced combatants of the three Universal Civilizations.
Although the three Universal Civilizations had won most of the battles with relatively low casualties, they were unable to repair or maintain a stable space orbit under the pressure of the enemy’s army, and they had to continuously suffer attacks. A short repulse of the sweeping troops was like drinking poison to quench their thirst.
After fighting like this for more than a month, both sides had lost tens of billions of troops. The three Universal Civilizations finally decided that they could not stop the enemy from destroying all the spatial stabilization orbits, so they had no choice but to throw away this burden and retract their forces to preserve their strength. They no longer invested their troops in a battle of attrition but exchanged for a different strategy to wipe out the World Tree Civilization’s troops in the long-distance attack movements.
The two sides fought for another period of time. The World Tree Army finally wiped out all the space anchoring tracks set by the three Universal Civilizations after three months or so, freeing up the jump points of all the vanguard troops in the past half a year. They had paid almost a hundred billion troops for this.
On April 6, Year 784 in the Galaxy Calendar, the World Tree Army, which had been
ationed at the edge of the control zone for months, finally started to attack the intercepting circle.
After a period of traversing, the World Tree Army, which only had about half of its troops left, finally crossed the strategic zones that the three Universal Civilizations set up, attempting to break through the blockade. They immediately engaged in an intense battle with the three Universal Civilizations.
The three Universal Civilizations were waiting for the enemy to be exhausted, and they also had the advantage in numbers. As soon as the battle started, they quickly gained the upper hand. According to this trend, it would not be difficult for them to withstand this wave of attacks and wipe out the World Tree fleet.
However, on the third day of the battle, three World Tree reinforcements arrived from the nearest jump point, and a total of 150 billion soldiers entered the battle. They attacked different areas, and the pressure on the three Universal Civilizations increased exponentially.
After fighting for five more days, two more batches of World Tree reinforcements arrived, totaling hundreds of billions.
On the ninth day, the eighty billion strong World Tree fleet arrived.
On the 14th day, 140 billion enemy reinforcements arrived.
On the twentieth day, 206 billion enemy reinforcements arrived.
The reinforcements from the World Tree were endless. The more people on the front line died, the more reinforcements would come from the rear. They wanted to fully utilize the advantage of a war of attrition, completely wearing down the entire intercepting circle!
“C-1008a battlefront is in an urgent situation … L-0213b battlefield front is in an urgent situation…”
The scene in the command room was very busy. The emotionless synthesized sound of the spaceship’s artificial intelligence was constantly broadcasting the emergency alarms in the various war zones. Simon and the other upper echelons stared at the surveillance cameras of the battlefield with bloodshot eyes.
The intense battle had already lasted for almost a month, and it did not stop for even a second. All the surviving generals were exhausted, and the losses of both sides had already exceeded a hundred billion.
On their side, almost all the Beyond Grade As were injured. These injuries were all caused by the World Tree fleet and no fights between the experts on the two sides were included. The World Tree’s endless reinforcements put the battle at risk, and even the Beyond Grade As had no choice but to fight to resist the fleet. In this month, they seemed to have become firefighters-stabilizing the various battlefields that were in danger time and time again, without much time to rest and recover.
Even so, the contributions of many Beyond Grade As were only a drop in the bucket. Many Beyond Grade As were worried. Although the high-level combatants of the World Tree did not take part in the battle, causing no new Beyond Grade As to appear on their side, seeing the three Universal Civilizations becoming more and more disadvantaged, everyone was worried.
Kasuyi looked at the battle monitors and came to Han Xiao’s side. He said in a low voice, “The World Tree has launched an all-out attack, ignoring the casualties and fighting head-on. The first and second layers of defense have already been penetrated, and the enemy’s reinforcements are still coming. From the looks of it, the intercepting circle would not be able to hold.”
“I guess so.”
Han Xiao heaved a sigh, having a solemn expression. He was equally fatigued as the rest.
The high-intensity war that lasted for a month had turned this place into a meat grinder. Most of the players had used up their daily revival quotas. In such a place, there was a limit to what he could do.
This time, the World Tree did not use any special plan. It simply relied on the advantage of numbers to fight head-on. If they did not break through the blockade, they would not stop sending reinforcements. If fighting for a month was not enough, then two months, three months… they could only be described with one word, reckless!
The intercepting circle could not stop the World Tree’s advancement forever, and it would break sooner or later. However, this day seemed to have come earlier than expected. From the beginning of the formation, it only bought the three Universal Civilizations about a year more.
“Black Star, we have to consider retreating too,” Kasuyi softly spoke.
Han Xiao ignored him, his gaze fixed at the battlefield outside.
Countless battleships were engaged in a fierce battle. The dazzling lights from their cannons were akin to the stars in the sky, silent and bright with a destructive aura. Every second, countless lives were being thrown into the embrace of death.
Even if the three Universal Civilizations’ troops were routed, they would still have plenty of time to retreat.
Even if the World Tree had passed through the intercepting circle, it would still take a long time to reach the edge of the Flickering World. However, the three Universal Civilizations would most likely not be able to replicate a defensive line similar to the intercepting circle. This meant that the continuous charging of the World Tree Civilization could be seen as the countdown timer for the three Universal Civilizations’ demise.
At this time, another World Tree fleet entered the battlefield. The familiar Tree King Halo followed and immediately increased the combat power of many World Tree members, attracting everyone’s attention.
“This is the ability of the Tree King… They’ve finally sent out their high-level combatants. The three Universal Civilizations can hardly hold on any longer. If the Tree King uses his halo at this time, it will probably be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. I wonder which Tree King has come this time…”
Han Xiao’s eyes flashed with unprecedented seriousness.
Not only him, but all the other Beyond Grade As also focused their attention on the source of the halo.