Chapter 554: Chapter 325, He’s Not Dead_2
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However, knowing that the Stefano had suffered greatly under such tactics, and that he himself truly had no way to counter the decapitation strikes of the Interstellar Warriors, how could the King of Panbos foolishly stay in his palace, waiting to be beheaded?
He had fled long ago.
Not only had he fled, but the entire kingdom’s military and political government had dispersed, ensuring that even if there were problems like intelligence leaks leading to an arrest, it wouldn’t result in their annihilation.
With the failure of the operation to decapitate the enemy’s leadership, since Perbov’s troops couldn’t quickly break through a distance of thousands of kilometers or a three-dimensional defensive line formed by more than two million troops to storm the capital, it was impossible to replicate the glory of the Stefano campaign.
Perbov had even heard that the King of Panbos had, in one go, designated fifteen heirs in good order.
This was a resignation to the possibility that he might be doomed.
In this light, while the Alliance Army couldn’t be said to have lost, its offensive was indeed stalled.
Even though he found it somewhat difficult to accept, even somewhat embarrassing, Perbov still tried his best to think of the next solution.
Counting on swift victory every day seemed somewhat unrealistic.
He began to change his way of thinking.
If a quick victory was unattainable, then he should proceed with the normal approach of conventional warfare.
He was preparing to make a shift in strategic objectives.
The previous strategy could roughly be summarized as ‘rapidly destroying the enemy’s command structure, capturing key locations like the capital to create tremendous political turmoil, thereby forcing the enemy to surrender.’
Next, he planned to change the strategic goal to ‘using the mobility of the armored troops, and the excellent military quality of the Alliance Army, setting a goal of eliminating as many enemy combatants as possible through various pincer movements, methodically and systematically annihilating the enemy forces.’
If he couldn’t force a surrender by capturing their king, then he would achieve ultimate victory by depleting their manpower pool.
He had prepared a war plan, but it needed Governor Gu Hang’s support to proceed.
This plan required the use of the power of the New Kingdom Parliament.
He would also need a large number of conscripts from Heijian Star.
For example, he had already assembled five hundred thousand troops from the rear; if necessary, he hoped to increase that number to a million.
Once he had enough troops to fill the lines, Perbov wouldn’t need to forcibly disperse his elite troops to guard various points on the front lines, but could actually form them into a fist and strike forward.
He would use the armored troops as the arrowhead to initiate breakthroughs from two different points, forming a pincer attack. Then, before the surrounded enemy could escape, he would close the ‘pincers,’ enveloping all the enemy forces inside. With supply lines cut off, he would hold the encirclement until the trapped enemy collapsed and surrendered.
In previous battles, if the enemy forces were routed but not annihilated on the spot—even temporarily losing their combat effectiveness—they often could be rapidly reorganized and redeployed into battle; however, if they were surrounded, they would have no escape. Without supplies, completely surrounded, given the morale of the allied forces, it was estimated they would run out of ammunition and food and surrender en masse within two or three days.
Of course, during this process, the Alliance Army would still have to face fierce attacks from enemy reinforcements and also deal with the desperate breakouts from the surrounded enemy forces.
But winning even once often meant a huge gain.
Moreover, many tasks that required a large number of troops could be handed over to the subordinate armies brought up from the rear.
They could also be entrusted to the Interstellar Warriors.
With their involvement, the battles would greatly reduce the losses of their own side.
After all, these superhuman soldiers could swiftly resolve the most threatening targets during the battle. Whether it was raiding artillery positions or targeting Sentry Mecha, or even confronting Knight Titans after the enemy deployed them, the Phoenixes could complete their tasks excellently.
With a feeling of trepidation, Perbov boarded the Windfalcon Fighter headed to Pincer, the capital of the Luman Kingdom.
He had to report in person.
…
When Gu Hang saw Perbov, he had just finished another meeting.
Originally, he had another plan to follow.
He had to pay attention to a person he had always been curious about and who had always been undergoing changes.
“`
But when Perbov arrived, Gu Hang still took the time to meet with his general.
After listening to Perbov’s report, Gu Hang was somewhat dissatisfied.
It did not quite match his expectations.
He had hoped to replicate the brilliance of the Stefano campaign once more, to conduct another stunning raid or blitzkrieg, and to resolve the situation with Panbos, the leading power on Heijian Star, within two or three months, incorporating its territory and population into the New Kings’ Council as well.
With that, the situation on Heijian Star could be considered stable, and the main focus of work could shift from military operations to economics and politics.
However, Perbov had indeed brought him bad news.
Though dissatisfied, Gu Hang could understand.
Not everything could always go smoothly or be quickly and easily manipulated.
A war involving more than three million combatants on both sides could not be considered small. A swift victory would be a pleasant surprise, but could not be expected as normal.
Gu Hang quickly adjusted his mindset and agreed to Perbov’s strategic plan.
But he also had his own demands.
“You want a million servant soldiers, but that I cannot give you. At most, seven hundred thousand, and it is not possible to provide them all in a short period. I estimate that two hundred thousand can be in place in half a month, five hundred thousand in three months, and between seven and eight hundred thousand in six months.”
“Understood,” Perbov nodded seriously.
He had somewhat anticipated this situation.
As a general, he only needed to consider how to fight and what he himself needed to win the war.
But the Governor is a ruler who must consider many things in the grand scheme.
The New Kings’ Council had just been established. Although it had the two large countries of Luman and Stefano under it, along with nine smaller countries, totalling nearly one hundred and fifty million in population, the Council was still fragile, and its control over the countries was only temporarily based on military deterrence.
At such a time, it was unrealistic to expect to pull out millions of people from within each country to participate in the war.
To draft people for war, one must wait until the New Kings’ Council’s control over the countries deepened under its role as the ruling body of the alliance.
Moreover, he could think further that after the follow-up manpower was in place, he could not afford to lose battles.
If he kept winning, support from the countries would keep flowing; if he lost a battle, the New Kings’ Council established on military deterrence would immediately risk collapse.
Gu Hang also mentioned this, “Once you have the men, the battles must be won decisively. I need one victory after another, each one brilliant. Casualty numbers and ratios must be controlled, and the results must be spectacular, do you understand?”
“Yes, Governor! I guarantee to complete the mission!”
“Go.”
…
Watching Perbov leave, Gu Hang sat in his office and thought for a while, then didn’t dwell on it too much.
Having made a decision, he decided to trust his general to carry out the task well.
His thoughts returned to something he had been pondering before.
About a person.
The War Apostle, Bochoya Galaraldo.
This man, who had caused countless troubles in the Tianma Star Sector, was at this moment in Gu Hang’s Storm God Kingdom, with his eyes tightly closed.
He was not dead, but he was close to it.
And now, Gu Hang was considering what to do with him.
Letting him die would be the simplest solution, but Gu Hang had some new ideas in mind.
