When Gu Hang received the battle report a step ahead, he knew that there was no need for him to worry about the situation on the battlefield.
He said to his mother, who appeared somewhat haggard and disheveled, “My army, they haven’t failed their mission, have they?”
Miss Wang Qi no longer had the aloof demeanor she used to present in her previous encounters with Gu Hang. She sighed, “Thanks to General Perbov and the warriors of Rage Owl Star, without their desperate fighting, without their tremendous sacrifices, I surely would have died here, captured by Gu Ming. He would never let me go.”
Gu Hang exclaimed, “I didn’t expect that the Gu Family, long renowned for its unity, would end up like this.”
“Didn’t you predict this long ago?”
“Being prepared is one thing, but having it actually happen is quite another. With regard to Gu Ming, once caught, how do you plan to deal with him?”
“He’s not caught yet. Are you so sure he can’t escape?”
It was only natural for Wang Qi to ask this question.
From the starship belonging to her, she couldn’t dispatch any ship to land in the outskirts town to take her away, but Gu Ming could.
Although, in the vastness of space, Gu Ming’s fleet was few in number and at a disadvantage, there was no orbital air defense system on the ground to strike his ship. It was quite possible for him to take a ship and flee.
Gu Hang didn’t see it that way: “He can’t escape. The ground-based orbital air defense cannons aren’t under his control.”
Wang Qi immediately understood what her son meant.
In essence, the orbital air defense system was controlled by Nes Luman. Indeed, Nes was Gu Ming’s ally and would help him intercept Wang Qi’s ships, preventing her from retreating. However, if Gu Ming wanted to flee, Nes Luman probably wouldn’t allow it.
It would mean abandoning him.
If that situation occurred, Gu Hang judged that the two would most likely turn against each other.
Wang Qi too agreed with her son’s assessment.
As for the situation on the ground…
In front of his mother, Gu Hang also revealed his strong confidence, “In no more than two days, the capital will fall. As long as Gu Ming does not escape by ship, then my army will definitely catch him.”
Wang Qi had no doubts about this.
The forces led by Perbov, 30,000 strong, had managed to hold their position here for eight days.
During those eight days, the opposing army hadn’t rested at all, continuously launching fierce attacks. But not only did he hold them off, he had also destroyed two Knight Titans of the Luman Kingdom in the previous battles.
And now, Gu Hang himself had brought reinforcements. Not only was there another 35,000 troops, which was more than Perbov’s group, but the number of Lion Tanks was also three times that of the original Expeditionary Force, reaching well over a hundred. Additionally, there were 100 Wind Falcon aircraft as air support.
With such military might, the Luman Kingdom could no longer muster the resources to contend. At their peak, perhaps they could have, but in the past eight days of battle, the Luman People had suffered heavy losses. Nes had nearly lost half of the royal legions.
Even if he could convince those purported dukes to fully support him, it would merely restore their former strength.
But under Gu Hang’s command, there was an even more extraordinary asset: fifteen space warriors.
When she first heard this news, even Wang Qi had found it completely unbelievable.
She had dealt with a warband named ‘the Exterminators,’ a fleet-based group without a home planet, relying mainly on a starship fleet.
While personally leading a mission to resupply ‘the Exterminators,’ they were somewhat short on cash, asking her convoy to wait a while, and they would soon have the funds.
At the time, ‘the Exterminators’ were participating in a civil war, and Wang Qi witnessed with her own eyes how, after joining the battle, they swept through the Imperial traitors on that planet like a breeze through fallen leaves. The warband’s combat style was ruthless, not valuing the lives of mere mortals.
After their victory, the slaughter and plunder they performed were done cleanly and lived up to their name.
But that was secondary.
After winning the war, the Planetary Governor held a banquet to thank the space warriors, but every member of ‘the Exterminators’ who attended wore armor and, candidly demanding, requested the Governor to pay for ‘supplies.’
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The battle was over, and they needed supplies.
According to the Exterminators, this was for the subsequent wars; they would set off on their journey again, rushing to the next battlefield. Naturally, this required materials.
They also needed population and weaponry to replenish starship sailors and the Mortal Auxiliary Army; they needed to conscript on the planets, requiring a large number of youths to select new soldiers through brutal survival trials and trials with extremely high death rates.
All these demands were listed out by the Exterminators with quotas, requiring the Planetary Governor to provide them in a timely and sufficient manner. If not met, they would claim it themselves. Anyone daring to obstruct them would be treated as rebels.
The Planetary Governor failed to gather enough and hoped for more time from the interstellar warriors. But the Exterminators acted without a second word, just as they said they would—they could take it themselves.
Miss Wang Qi saw all of this with her own eyes.
Some of the blood-stained war spoils and ‘taxes’ were used by the Exterminators to pay for the supplies.
That encounter left a profound impression on Miss Wang Qi. She thought, at the very least, the Exterminators would at least face some reprimand from the Empire, since they had attacked and plundered an imperial planet.
But in reality, that didn’t happen. The Exterminators moved on to the next war, while that Planetary Governor, on the other hand, was punished by the Empire.
Indeed, the interstellar warriors were Angels, but don’t forget the prefix to the name ‘Angel’ is ‘Death.’ The mercy they brought from the Emperor usually involved sending those in need of mercy to the Emperor’s side for a personal experience.
During her visit to Rage Owl Star, she hadn’t seen the Phoenix.
Initially, she thought it was an ally, an external force her son had invited from somewhere.
But later, she found out that those interstellar warriors were actually under Gu Hang’s command!
Fear of the interstellar warriors was implanted in her heart, and firmly believing that the Emperor’s Angels were not to be offended, even better not to deal with at all, Miss Wang Qi was now immensely shocked to see fifteen interstellar warriors fighting for her son.
She was uneasy about this, but she did recognize the combat prowess of the interstellar warriors.
With the assistance of those fifteen Death Angels, victory in the war should be indeed as her son said, without any problems.
Thinking of this, she looked deeply into Gu Hang’s face.
Being able to command the interstellar warriors was something she didn’t understand, it concerned her, but she had to admit even more so that her son truly had the capability.
Afterward, mother and son returned to the matter at hand.
Regarding the capture or confirmed death of Gu Ming, the essence was actually about how to reconsolidate the family’s power.
Miss Wang Qi didn’t want Gu Ming to live, but if there was a choice, it was best to capture him alive. Taking him to Flying Wing Star for a public trial and execution would be ideal.
However, this matter couldn’t be forced. On one hand, firearms in battle don’t have eyes; if he died, there was nothing that could be done; on the other hand, as long as Gu Ming was alive, there was an element of uncertainty.
Taking him to Flying Wing Star, where Gu Ming still had a foundation, would possibly lead to unforeseen incidents. Arrest, detention, trial, execution… there were too many opportunities to manipulate the process. Once it entered into formal proceedings, some actions might become difficult.
Better to directly deal with him on the battlefield than to have the situation change and to be forced to kill him in prison or under house arrest and carry a bad reputation.
After all, it was Gu Ming who struck first; if he died, no one could say Gu Hang and his mother were cruel and ruthless.
And as long as Gu Ming died, coupled with the fact that he instigated an armed disturbance and family coup, and given that Miss Wang Qi herself received more support from Gu’s Commerce Association, taking full control of the Gu Family’s power afterwards shouldn’t be difficult.
After Miss Wang Qi shared her thoughts, she asked her son, “And what about you? What are your thoughts on Heijian Star?”
Gu Hang showed a very sunny smile, “Mother, haven’t you seen it already?”
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4k Experience more on empire
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