Perbov saw Matins return.
Even though he was the one in charge of all military actions on Heijian Star under the appointment of the Governor, the Interstellar Warriors were always the most exceptional group.
He was very respectful towards Matins.
“Battle Group Leader, Your Excellency.”
“Huff…” Matins let out a sigh.
He wasn’t indifferent or unapproachable in front of ordinary people, he simply said calmly, “Our operation did not meet expectations. After the raid on the Panbos Kingdom’s palace, the leader of the Rebel Army was not there. Through interrogation, we learned that after the incident in the Kingdom of Stefano, they strengthened their defenses in this regard, and their political and military nerve centers have been dispersed and relocated.”
Matins paused, then continued, “If similar operations are still needed, we require more reliable intelligence support. We need to ascertain exactly where the enemy chieftain is.”
“Understood,” Perbov solemnly replied, as if he were the subordinate.
Matins nodded slightly and turned to leave.
Perbov watched the Battle Group Leader walk away until he disappeared from view before he relaxed.
He took a deep breath.
There was still a sense of tension when facing an Interstellar Warrior.
After all, the identity of an Interstellar Warrior was too special, and theoretically or in practice, Matins could strip him of his command at any time.
Although this was unlikely—Matins was not the kind of person to do such things, and there was still the Governor above them—Perbov had indeed been somewhat anxious and irritable recently.
Earlier, when the offensive against Stefano began, he was the one who led the campaign.
That battle was still considered beautifully fought.
But as the main force entered Panbos, some problems began to arise with the situation.
The onslaught of the Alliance Army remained unstoppable, and once the armored groups mobilized, the enemy’s lines would collapse at the sound. The ordinary infantry of the allied nations’ armies were frail from any angle, even when compared to the Stefanians. Although their equipment might be similar, there were differences in soldiers’ training, tactics, discipline, morale… all of which were lacking.
Those so-called ‘Knights,’ those Sentry Mechas, among the armies of the allied nations, to be honest, couldn’t fight as well as Stefanians. Many even cherished their lives on the battlefield.
Such thoughts are simple to understand; the low status of ordinary soldiers in the armies of the allied nations, coupled with the structure of feudal rule, made those noble grandfathers truly not care for the lives of the lower class cannon fodder.
The Stefanians were much better in this regard; their Knights, apart from being officers and commanders, also led by example and fought valiantly. It was for this reason that they could establish their status as the most famous military power on Heijian Star.
If even they were crushed time and again by the Alliance Army in previous wars, what could be said for these allied nations’ armies that were far less competent?
However, the opposition was not without its advantages.
First of all, there was a significant difference in military strength. The Panbos Kingdom alone, with a population of over a hundred million, could muster an army of just two million. The total number of reinforcements from other nations had already exceeded five hundred thousand.
Numbers themselves are a substantial advantage.
If the million-strong army of Stefanians had indeed completed its assembly and fought a hard battle on the vast plains, that would have been problematic.
Secondly, they had largely learned from the swift defeat of Stefanians and spread out their multi-tiered battle line that spanned a long and layered system with over two million troops.
This made the Alliance’s blitzkrieg tactics difficult to execute.
While the armored groups could indeed break through at will and the enemy lines truly crumbled at a touch, they adopted a strategy of trading space for time. Once the arrowhead troops moved past, the surrounding forces would quickly attempt to infiltrate behind the arrowhead, and this is where the forces of both sides would become entangled.
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Even if infiltrations were easily repelled, they would immediately call in other troops from further away to attempt another infiltration…
After all, they had the numbers.
In the constant entanglements, at the widest point, the expanse spanned nearly four hundred kilometers with an intermingled battle line.
Under such circumstances, the Alliance’s forces were spread thin, which was not conducive to forming a tight fist to strike forward.
To be safe, Perbov even had to order the troops to temporarily retreat, regroup, tighten the front, and avoid being encircled and cut off from behind.
Despite this, in this phase, the casualty ratio still favored the Alliance by a wide margin.
After more than a month of fighting, the Alliance Army suffered a total loss of around five thousand, while the enemy paid with over sixty thousand casualties.
A casualty ratio of approximately 1:12—that was already quite staggering.
Yet even so, Perbov had difficulty accepting this situation.
Going on with this casualty ratio, the Alliance’s military might be wiped out and could at most only result in an enemy loss of four million.
But the problem is that after these three hundred thousand of the Alliance are gone, unless Rage Owl Star calls for a mobilization order to fight to the death, the allied nations could potentially draft another four million troops.
Wars cannot be fought this way.
Therefore, Perbov once again attempted to replicate the tactics used in the Kingdom of Stefano, entrusting the Storm Mage Corps and the Phoenix Battle Group to carry out Decapitation Tactics against the enemy.
The Spiritual Energy users and Interstellar Warriors did not disappoint; they once again successfully breached the enemy’s royal palace, causing an utter upheaval.
