Counterfeit Hero

”Remember.” The vice-admiral’s face lit up with two blushes, and her pair of blue watery eyes seemed so charming that they were about to drip.

”Don’t try to seduce me.” Hanfrey grabbed in the void and conjured a blue rose, sniffed it, and handed it to the bewildered vice-admiral with a smile. ”Back then, the reason he defeated me was because there were three Armored Groups besieging me from behind. This time, he’s in our core territory. He has no allies in the Saleria Longbow Star System that can threaten us.”

”But... Duke, don’t you think bullying him this way is an unfair victory?” The vice-admiral chuckled as she sat down next to Hanfrey, tilting her head slightly so that her wavy golden hair fell over one shoulder, and laughed lightly.

Hanfrey seemed accustomed to the somewhat audacious teasing of his beautiful personal vice-admiral. He swirled his wine glass and smiled slightly: ”In this world, absolute fairness never truly exists. Only the weak seek fairness. The strong usually bully by leverage. You can only blame him for his poor fate. Why did he happen to capture the Longbow Star System just as we arrived at the Leray Central Star Domain?”

”Is this destiny?” The vice-admiral stared at the interstellar map.

”Yes, it’s destiny,” Hanfrey downed the whiskey in his glass and closed his eyes: ”Order the fleet to advance in double-track formation, increase the assault strength of the Vanguard Fleet. All warships prepare for battle, arrive at the ninth navigation segment within three hours.”

Douglas, this time, you shouldn’t stand in my way! Leave this route, adopt guerrilla tactics, maybe your defeat would come later. But now, it’s too late to regret.

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Warship groups marked with Feiyang and Binart Empire insignias moved back and forth in the void.

Assault, division, ambush, encirclement, salvo, massacre... these steel beasts crafted by humanity have turned slaughter into art. They fly elegantly, erupting splendid Flowing Light.

On the route from Blue Stone Star to Torreclais Planet, almost every kilometer is littered with wrecked warships.

Time in September 2063 sped by amidst the War Fire.

When the battle entered its third day, Pang Mingjian finally understood Douglas’s words.

Just as Douglas said, Hanfrey completed the second phase of the campaign in just 48 hours.

The second phase of the campaign unfolded between the two planets.

With their backs to the Constant Star, Feiyang Fleet deployed two entire A-grade fleets to guard the choke point of the passage. On the side wing of a planet, facing interference from Meteorite Belt, stellar light, and gravitational reefs, the Binart Fleet split two Royal Fleets into two assault formations for a two-pronged attack.

From the onset of battle, Feiyang Fleet felt the suffocating attack pressure of the Binart Fleet. Under Hanfrey’s command, the Feiling and Feiyu Fleets executed a V-shaped breakthrough with the Spindle Formation, completely disregarding their formation’s side wing warships, which had turned into a series of fireballs blooming in the night sky amidst Feiyang’s overwhelming firepower barrage, fiercely forging ahead and leaving the shattered remnants of allied ships behind.

Pang Mingjian had to admit, at this natural blocking position like a narrow-necked bottle, Hanfrey’s tactics were the most practical.

The seemingly painful sacrifice exchanged for temporal and spatial advantage.

Despite adverse terrain, he maximized Binart’s numerical advantage to the fullest. From the high-speed charge of Destroyers to fire suppression between main formations, from the cruiser’s maneuvering to the aircraft carrier’s decisive deployment, the entire tactical move was seamless and precise.

If not for the cautious Douglas preparing reserve forces in advance, if not for his piercing insight into Hanfrey’s high-speed Destroyer division strategy and decisive deployment of reserve cruiser groups to intercept from both wings, the two confronting Feiyang Fleets would have nearly been divided and annihilated.

In less than thirty hours, Hanfrey commanded the Feiling Feiyu Fleet to complete the V-shaped convergence. And when this V turned into a gigantic triangle attack formation deeply penetrating the bottleneck, Feiyang’s blocking position firepower advantage had vanished.

After resisting for more than ten hours, the second phase of the campaign ultimately ended with Feiyang Fleet achieving a one-to-two loss ratio but losing eighty percent of strategic points, forced to retreat.

Before the Feiyang 19th Group Fleet could catch a breath, Hanfrey immediately launched an attack on the third phase blocking position.

Feiyang Fleet had no choice but to resist continuously under Douglas’s command.

The fireworks in the starry sky blossomed once more.

Hanfrey, like a sharp sword. His two Elephant-class Royal Fleets at hand wielded extremely fierce assaults. Regardless of how advantageous the opponent’s terrain was, or how impenetrable their defense, they could always utilize seamless coordination and unstoppable aggression to break through the opponent’s defenses time and again.

Douglas, on the other hand, was like a strong shield. He fully utilized the geographical advantages occupied by Feiyang. Facing Binart Empire Fleet’s assault, division, and encirclement, he not only neutralized them but often could seize fleeting moments to launch counterattacks. Various ambushes, sneak attacks, were deployed with skillful finesse. Even Hanfrey dared not pursue recklessly.