He did not even open his mouth to mention his younger brother.
In the past, he did not know how many times he had spoken, but it was all to no avail; his brother always maintained that careless demeanor. Alcohol, various forms of sex, all sorts of thrilling entertainment…
Speaking too much was useless. His younger brother was no longer a child, and now he was even more esteemed as the governor of Flying Wing Star. How could he keep nagging?
Gradually, he stopped talking so much.
Most of the planet’s administrative affairs were handled by him as the head of this Star Sector.
It wasn’t that he wanted to seize power. It was he who had originally pushed his brother up to replace himself in the position. On the contrary, he often thought that if Pei Desi could take on more responsibility and help him out a bit, he might be able to catch a break.
But in the end… it was always I who shouldered it all alone!
While his brother went out to enjoy life, he still had to work.
Sighing, he thought over his phrasing and conducted interstellar communications with both the Fufana Family and General Tilermungs.
…
Seven standard Terra days later, on Heijian Star, outside the capital town Pincer of the Luman Kingdom, the headquarters of the Alliance Expeditionary Force.
Although it was called a headquarters, in truth, it was so dilapidated that it was barely functional. Practicality was the only concern; aesthetics were the least of anyone’s worries.
Originally, this place was just a basement, which was then reinforced by sappers to prevent it from being bombed into collapse. These strengthening structures were very crudely done, as the sappers had a heavy workload and simply had no time for any design work. Their priority was to avoid collapse.
Perbov and Leroy were here, commanding their troops, and they had withstood a joint assault by the Luman Army and a part of Gu’s Security Forces led by Gu Ming.
They had held out for a full seven days.
At this moment, neither of them had any semblance of proper appearance left. Dried sweat mixed with mud and bloodstains marred their faces and clothing; with no conditions for bathing or changing clothes, they continuously sweated, their bodies reeking.
But no one minded.
Everyone was in the same state.
Hair disheveled, beards ragged, faces smeared with dirt, bodies drenched in sweat and the stench of blood… that was the appearance of every Rage Owl Star person holding their ground here.
The two of them were merely particularly worse for wear, with the added special feature of dark circles and bloodshot eyes.
These past few days, they had probably slept for only about two hours each day.
They were certainly tired, however, they still struggled to persevere.
They were all too aware that this war was incredibly tough. They had no reinforcements, no supplies; they had to rely entirely on their current strength and stubbornly hold out for eight days.
During this time, the two partners made some estimates about the enemy numbers.
King Nes of Luman had amassed an army of over one hundred thousand men on the battlefield; two Ranger-type Knight Titans; and more than three hundred Sentinel Mechas.
In these seven days, his forces had probably eliminated at least thirty thousand enemy soldiers, but the number of enemies seemed like it had never decreased.
Those enemies were assaulting them nearly every moment of the past seven days, regardless of day or night, whether it was clear or raining.
Perbov always used a scornful tone to belittle the soldiers of the Luman Kingdom while boosting the morale of his troops.
‘Carrying useless junk,’ ‘cannon fodder treated worse than animals,’ ‘purely coming to die,’ ‘lacking discipline, weak will to fight, pathetic combat level’…
Continue your adventure at empire
But what he said was also true.
That was the level of Luman Kingdom’s conscripted soldiers.
Especially with continuous attacks and heavy casualties, these conscripts felt that attacking the fortified town was purely suicidal, and their morale was so low that during assaults, should they suffer even minor losses without Knights to back them up, they would quickly collapse.
But the problem was… there were many Knights.
If it were just the hundred thousand Luman cannon fodder, Perbov wouldn’t care at all. However, the Royal Knights of Luman put a lot of pressure on them.
Especially those two Knight Titans.
When those two Knight Titans bombarded from a distance, the Alliance Army had very limited countermeasures and were essentially forced to endure the bombing.
And when those two Titans personally led the charge into frontline combat, that was a nightmare.
Having learned from the previous destruction of two Knight Titans, Luman’s military would definitely not allow their Titans to be isolated again. Ordinary Luman infantry was unreliable, but those Sentinel Knights were sufficiently tenacious in combat. They would adamantly protect the feet of the Knight Titans, offering no opportunity to the Alliance soldiers.
As a result, every attack led by the Knight Titans was a nightmare, each time requiring the Alliance Expeditionary Force to pay a heavy price.
They had to concentrate heavy artillery for bombardment, risk soldiers launching attacks, and after expending a significant amount of ammunition and even the lives of a great number of soldiers, they could only temporarily overload the enemy’s energy shields.
However, at such times, the enemy would often retreat, giving no chance to press the advantage. After two days, once the Shield System was recharged, they would return to the frontline.
The Luman military was becoming more patient.
They knew that those entrenched in the town could fight, but they had no replenishments, no reserves. In a war of attrition, with an entire kingdom as their support, they were the ones destined to emerge victorious in the end.
Yet, despite such dire circumstances, Perbov refused to passively defend to the bitter end. He still insisted on implementing what he called a ‘flexible defense’ strategy.