Counterfeit Hero

That is Ravilia Banning, the first great general of the Naga Federation!

In Lunan’s eyes, this Federation Admiral, who graduated from the Naga Federation Naval Academy and is renowned for his meticulous and steady tactical style, is a worthy opponent. A few weeks ago, he had already proven himself with his command.

Originally, with the consecutive defeats of the Naga Federation Army in several large-scale battles, they had lost two star systems located east of Catalonia. The Ryan Republic Fleet pursued the retreating remnants of the Naga Federation and poured into the Catalonia Star System.

At that time, the morale-boosted Ryan Military Fleet overwhelmed everything, with giant transport ships loaded with armored divisions and fully mechanized infantry divisions, ready to sweep through the three major immigrant planets of Catalonia. Facing the nearly complete retreat of the Naga Federation Army, the entire Ryan Republic optimistically believed that the Ryan Army could capture the three immigrant planets of Catalonia in one fell swoop!

However, unexpectedly, as soon as Banning, who had just been appointed Naga Federation Chief of Staff, arrived at the Catalonia front, he stabilized the situation. He commanded the hastily assembled Northeastern Fleet of the Naga Federation to firmly block the Space Jump Point!

That brutal space battle still makes Lunan shudder. That was no longer a battle; it was a hellish filling with warships and lives!

Three fleets bought Banning three days!

In those three days, he desperately gathered the scattered troops, meticulously calling in forces scattered across the Naga Federation. He resolutely committed these troops to the battlefield. This death-defying tactic left the Ryan Republic at a loss. They couldn’t understand why the units that were just retreating appeared before them again and had become so ferocious, as if they were completely different.

The Ryan Army launched full-scale attacks, attempting a breakthrough. But as time passed and the Naga reinforcements flooded into Catalonia like a tide, the Ryan Military Department let out a long sigh.

They knew the best opportunity had been missed!

Since then, a stalemate formed along the Beisi Mountains on Evergreen Vine Star. This stalemate, in a certain sense, was more brutal than an all-out decisive battle! Both sides continuously committed forces, turning strategic locations into meat grinders of war.

Neither side could prevail, yet neither side could afford the slightest weakness!

The battle had reached such a point that whoever faltered first would collapse entirely. Such a collapse would trigger a domino effect, leading to total collapse!

A whole division was sent to the front, destroyed, then another division was brought up. One division wasn’t enough, then two, three! If a position was taken by the enemy, continuous counterattacks would be launched, filling it with lives to retake the position!

This tug-of-war was maddeningly cruel. Ever since the stalemate formed in the Beisi Mountains, the artillery on the front line never stopped. Both countries frantically mobilized troops and supplies to Catalonia, never ceasing. Everyone was fighting desperately, trying to use superior forces to achieve the final decisive battle! The sooner the decisive battle came, the sooner these torturous days would end!

Nobody wanted to fight like this, but nobody could stop.

At this moment, the Naga Federation had no retreat left. Losing the Catalonia Star System would mean losing nearly one billion people, thirty-five percent of the nation’s industrial production, and forty percent of the mineral resources. This was absolutely unacceptable, so even if they had to pour everything into a last-ditch effort, they had to establish an iron defense here to hold back the Ryan people’s advance.

For the Ryan Republic, they were also riding a tiger they couldn’t dismount.

War does not change by human will. Opposite them were the Naga Federation’s elite Army Armored Division and Space Fleet. That country had committed all its strength. If they formed a counterattack, the Ryan Republic would not only lose the two star systems they had sacrificed greatly to capture, but their morale and living forces would be so damaged that they would never recover.

Lunan and Banning had no other choice. Being selected as the commanders in this national war, they clearly understood what they were facing. Therefore, both tacitly chose to show their troops through actions at the closest point, that whether it was the current tug-of-war or the future main battle, it was a fight to the death!

The warship soon arrived at the central base in the western suburbs of New Barcelona City, the largest city on Evergreen Vine Star.

Under the expectant gaze of dozens of Ryan officers waiting at the airport, the Little Bull-class destroyer slowly landed amid the roar of the anti-gravity devices.

The heavy hatch of the transport ship opened, and Lunan, flanked by three military advisors, walked down the automatic escalator.

The central location of the base was a large military base of the Naga Federation. Now, the Ryan Army had placed two fully deployed giant transport ships at the north and south ends of the base.

Using giant transport ships as bases is a common practice in modern armies.

Once deployed, the transport ship’s interior became barracks, training grounds, armories, and land-based fighter hangars, while the exterior included Mecha parking pads, fighter catapult runways, and a defense system composed of energy shields, armor, missile launch towers, and turrets.