Green Arrow was a medium-sized starship, one of the 12 starships in the fleet. It had 125 mech pilots on board. Based on Ye Chong's arrangement, each starship had a battalion on board.
Today, the commander of the Green Arrow was not the same as usual, the leader of the 5th Battalion, but their regiment commander, Xi Qing. Xi Qing had not only come to Green Arrow personally, but had also brought four battalions with him. This meant that Green Arrow now had a total of 250 mech pilots.
Xi Qing boarded the Green Arrow while it retreated to the fleet to rest.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Xi Qing bowed to the mech pilots, and gestured for them to stay put.
He looked around, and all eyes were on him.
"Now, I have a difficult mission for you all. Are you afraid?" Xi Qing smiled.
"No!"
"What's there to be afraid of?"
"Regiment commander, when did you ever hear of us being afraid?"
"That's right, tell us what mission you have!"
...
The crowd roared at the top of their lungs, and many of them stood up.
"Good! We have no one to hold us back! " Xi Qing said proudly, "However, the mission this time is very difficult, so the brothers of the 4th Battalion will fight alongside us. I hope everyone can work together and win this battle!" Xi Qing clenched his right fist and slammed it down from the sky.
"Yes, sir!" Everyone roared.
The red-tailed beasts were numerous, like a swarm of locusts. The fleet was also huge, and the weak parts of the starships were reinforced. The red-tailed beasts could not do anything to them. The two sides were in a stalemate. However, the red-tailed beasts did not split up despite their numbers. They remained in the main fleet, while Ye Chong's side could not leave their ships to fight, and could only defend. In general, the red-tailed beasts had the upper hand.
Just then, three starships suddenly flew out from the thick ranks of the fleet.
The three starships immediately attracted the red-tailed beasts' attention. Truth be told, Ye Chong's fleet was too sturdy. The thousand-odd red-tailed beasts were like ants standing before an elephant. It was hard to tell where to start. While many red-tailed beasts were attracted by the energy cells and left the fleet, most of them remained in the fleet.
The sudden appearance of three starships caught the attention of the entire battlefield.
Without hesitation, the red-tailed beasts swarmed forward. In terms of speed and agility, the red-tailed beasts were far superior to starships. The three starships tried all sorts of evasive maneuvers, but to no avail.
The crew members in the three starships could only hear the sound of raindrops hitting the windows. Soon, the three starships were crawling with red-tailed beasts. It was a terrifying scene.
The sweat on Big Head's shiny forehead slid down his cheeks. His breathing was a little rapid. He was in a state of excitement, and his face was unnaturally red. His heavy breathing was extremely hot. He knew that the danger level of this battle was higher than before, but he didn't know by how much.
"Open the cabin!"
The heavy cabin door opened silently.
Big Head's body straightened up. He held his breath and stared at the cabin door. At this moment, he was like a wild beast that was ready to pounce.
The five red-tailed beasts were like tigers that smelled blood, and darted into the tunnel.
Behind them, there were a few more red-tailed beasts.
Big Head's eyes widened, and he roared, "Attack!"
The five Fighter mechs were already in a defensive formation. The incoming red-tailed beasts were like a black flood, rushing towards one of the Fighter mechs.
Bang bang bang bang bang!
The five mechs were knocked back a few steps! The red-tailed beasts' charge was unprecedentedly powerful. The five red-tailed beasts were not faring well either. They looked a little tired. However, they maintained their agility and dodged to the sides, giving space to their comrades behind them.
"Hold on!" Big Head roared with all his might. The veins on his bald head were twisting like worms, but his movements were agile. He knew that this was not the time to retreat. If he could not hold his ground, he would soon be pushed back.
Boom! Big Head's Fighter mech pushed off the ground with its hind legs, and instead of retreating, it leaped forward.
They were well-coordinated, and would not be weak if they could be the vanguard. They did not need Big Head's reminder to know that this was not the time to retreat.
The four Fighter mechs adjusted their stance in unison. Some pushed with their legs, some pushed against the walls of the tunnel, and the four Fighter mechs appeared behind Big Head.
"Die!" Big Head roared. The Fighter mech met the incoming red-tailed beast head-on. The mech's steel fist and the red-tailed beast's arrowhead tail collided, and sparks flew.
The immense force caused Big Head's mech to lose its balance. Suddenly, the mech's left mechanical arm reached out and grabbed the red-tailed beast's right ankle.
The red-tailed beast was shocked when its ankle was grabbed. Its red arrowhead tail swung towards the Fighter mech's throat.
The Fighter mech was prepared, and dodged the attack by a hair's breadth.
That short moment was enough to decide the red-tailed beast's fate. The four Fighter mechs crossed each other in the air, and the immobilized red-tailed beast was cut into pieces.
Panting heavily, Big Head stared at the red-tailed beast in front of him. The tunnel was filled with red-tailed beasts, at least a dozen of them. Big Head's scalp went numb at the sight.
The other red-tailed beasts were unfazed by the death of their comrade. Instead, they stared at the energy cells behind Big Head's mech team with fanaticism in their eyes.
Big Head's team finally stabilized their formation. The upcoming battle was going to be a tough test for them.
Just as the red-tailed beasts were about to enter the tunnel, three starships crawling with red-tailed beasts began to fly towards the fleet.
The starships along the way made way for the three dangerous starships.
These starships were very close to the three starships. Each of the starships had a channel fully opened. The red-tailed beasts could feel a familiar energy wave coming from the starships. It was not as strong as the three starships, but it was still very distinct.
The red-tailed beasts that could not enter the tunnel were immediately attracted by the energy cells on the starships along the way. The red-tailed beasts left the three starships in groups of two or three and entered the other starships.
The red-tailed beasts could sense that there were too many energy cells around them. Only one or two red-tailed beasts went to each of the attraction points.
Gradually, the number of red-tailed beasts on the three starships decreased. It was like a piece of ice that was melting bit by bit in the warm airflow.
Xi Qing's heart finally relaxed when he saw the spacious area in front of him. He had arrived!
He knew that this was the time to end the battle!
The seven battleships that were already on standby immediately surrounded the three starships. The number of red-tailed beasts on the three starships had thinned out. Suddenly, they sensed an energy wave that was much stronger than before!
They were immediately excited. They left the three starships and pounced towards the other seven starships.
As they continued to weaken the red-tailed beasts along the way, the number of red-tailed beasts had decreased to the point that the ten starships could swallow them all.
The number of red-tailed beasts in space was decreasing. Most of them had already entered the tunnels of the starships. Only a few remained in space due to their slow reactions.
Suddenly, all the hatches of the ten starships closed.
Only then did the red-tailed beasts in outer space realize that something was wrong. They panicked. They sensed danger. They wanted to run away from this place that made them feel threatened, but they found that there was nowhere to run.
The seven starships formed a small but tight encirclement. The gaps between the encirclement were so small that only one or two red-tailed beasts could pass through. Here, there were already mech squads waiting for them. In space, the mechs were not as strong as the red-tailed beasts, but they had numbers to compensate for the disadvantage.
Lure the enemy, weaken them, surround them. Ye Chong's plan was carried out perfectly.
The red-tailed beasts fought more ferociously than Ye Chong had expected. The battle lasted for five hours.
Ye Chong's fleet finally won the first battle. This battle had achieved an extremely glorious result. According to the post-battle statistics, they had killed a total of 1431 red-tailed beasts. More importantly, they had captured 20 injured red-tailed beasts. These red-tailed beasts were of great research value.
This was an unprecedented victory, and also the largest known victory against the red-tailed beasts in Gray Valley.
The entire fleet was overjoyed. Everyone saw the possibility of survival, and the ability to control their own destiny. The battle had a huge impact on the crew's morale.
However, the final statistics did not cheer Ye Chong up. Almost 500 mech pilots had died in the battle, and another 300 were injured. The casualty rate was 50%, and the death rate was as high as a third. It was a pyrrhic victory. A few more battles like this, and the fleet would cease to exist.
The only thing that comforted Ye Chong was that while the number of mech pilots was reduced, the overall combat strength of the fleet was higher than before after the battle. Mech pilots who had gone through actual battles were completely different from those who had not. Similarly, troops who had gone through tough battles were also vastly different from those who had not.
However, Ye Chong did not have any regrets. This was the best he could do. Even Shang was surprised that a group of newbies could achieve such results.
Little did he know that this victory had brought him far more than that.
*****
Jing Guan's new book, Unparalleled Gluttony, has been released. Highly recommended!
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