Chapter 287: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Tyranids

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

The Blood Axe Clan fleet on the other side also ran into trouble.

Lin En's Second Expedition Fleet, along with the twenty Sword-class Frigates and the Peak Black Radiance originally left to defend Kal II, had long since deployed a defensive line on the flank.

The Blood Axe Clan was known for cunning and ambush; they had originally intended to take advantage of the Human Fleet main force clashing with the Green Skin Central Fleet to sneak around to the rear and launch a surprise attack.

But Lin En's Expedition Fleet had been waiting on their route for a long time.

"All frigates, deploy in a fan formation! Cruiser main cannons, target the Blood Axe flagship!"

Gus stood on the bridge of the Peak Black Radiance, calmly issuing orders.

Although his fleet's strength was far inferior to the Tithe Fleet, they had a Gene Thief Commander, and order transmission efficiency was extremely high.

The fleet's formation changes flowed like clouds and water, without the slightest chaos.

The Blood Axe's several ambush attempts were all anticipated in advance by Gus and easily resolved.

Both sides fell into a stalemate on the flank.

Although the Blood Axe fleet held a numerical advantage, they could not break through the defensive line commanded by Gus for the time being.

On the front battlefield, the situation was even more one-sided.

Dominic ordered all capital ships to hide behind Kal II.

The majority of the Green Skin fleet's attacks struck Kal II, this space station that was already battered and dilapidated.

Bursting sparks continuously appeared on Kal II's surface, and huge metal fragments were constantly flung into space.

Under precise and efficient command, the prepared capital ships would peek out, fire a full salvo, then withdraw behind Kal II, repeating this peek-a-boo against the Green Skin fleet.

Anyway, Kal II was essentially just a pile of scrap metal now; might as well use it as a shield.

The fiercer the Green Skin cannon fire, the more Kal II was blown to pieces, and the safer the Human Fleet became.

Lianggenna grew more and more frustrated the longer he fought.

His fleet outnumbered the enemy's by more than five times, yet his firepower was completely suppressed by the opponent.

The enemy's shells seemed endless, one volley after another, without the slightest pause.

Yet his fleet could only stare helplessly across Kal II.

Occasionally a few warships would circle to the flank, only to be immediately focused down by the James Tong's Light Spears and destroyed in an instant.

What puzzled him most was that the enemy's rate of fire and sustainability were simply terrifying.

Although Lianggenna looked rough, he was actually meticulous in thought.

His personality was like his stomach — all-encompassing, willing to learn anything that could make him stronger.

He often exchanged information with those Blood Axe Clan agent Big Bosses.

Those Blood Axes, though they often sold out their own kind and were bought off by Shrimp, did indeed possess a fair amount of intelligence on the Shrimp.

From them, Lianggenna learned that the powerful weapons on human warships, while their ammunition wasn't exactly scarce, had extremely unstable supply.

Often, a single ammunition requisition request would circulate through the Empire's bureaucratic system for half a year or ten months before approval.

Moreover, humanity's most powerful weapons and vehicles all had some damn "Machine Spirit".

Those Machine Spirits had extremely eccentric tempers; if not served well, they would go on strike.

So human weapons simply could not sustain continuous fire for long periods.

This was experience Lianggenna had summarized himself, and it was the Green Skins' greatest advantage in protracted wars against humans.

As long as they dragged it out, human ammunition would eventually run dry, and weapons would inevitably malfunction.

At that point, they could turn defeat into victory.

But today, this experience seemed to have failed.

The Human Fleet had already been bombarding continuously for half an hour.

Firepower not only showed no sign of weakening, but grew increasingly fierce.

The James Tong's Macro Cannons could fire a full salvo every few dozen seconds.

The Light Spears also continuously drew energy from the Warp Rift, firing once every few minutes.

Those Mars-class Battlecruisers' carrier-based aircraft came wave after wave, as if they would never be exhausted.

This completely defied common sense!

"Damn it! Where are these Shrimp getting their ammunition from?!"

Lianggenna slammed his fist onto the control console, smashing a large dent in the metal console.

"Don't their Machine Spirits ever get tired?!"

No one could answer his questions.

Only the continuously sounding alarms of warships being destroyed, and the constantly dwindling Green Skin blips on the screen, reminded him.

This battle was developing in an increasingly unfavorable direction for him.

Unlike the Green Skins sweating profusely, inside the James Tong's Captain's Quarters, it was as quiet as a luxurious Banquet Hall.

Soft classical music flowed through the air.

Dominic and Lin En sat on the sofa by the window, holding crystal-clear crystal wine glasses filled with vintage fine wine from a Garden World.

Outside the window lay the fierce battlefield.

Fireballs from exploding Green Skin warships intermittently illuminated the two men's faces.

But both of their expressions were very calm, as if watching an unimportant movie.

Ralph still stood behind Dominic, those gray pupils occasionally scanning Lin En vigilantly.

Lin En gently swirled the wine cup, watching the deep red wine inside rotate into an elegant arc.

His gaze passed through the screen, landing on the battlefield outside.

Looking at the Green Skin Fleet firmly restricted in front of Kal II by powerful firepower, only able to passively take a beating.

In Lin En's heart, a trace of worry couldn't help but rise.

In this half hour, the firepower Dominic's fleet had poured out was already more than all the ammunition his entire Second Expedition Fleet had fired since its formation.

Even the Empire's regular army couldn't possibly have such exaggerated ammunition reserves, right?

Moreover, those weapons had fired continuously for so long, yet not a single malfunction had appeared.

This simply subverted Lin En's cognition of the Imperial Navy.

After hesitating a moment, Lin En still spoke up: "Dominic Adult, forgive my presumption."

"With this fighting style of yours, the ammunition reserves and Machine Spirit stability... can they still hold?"

Dominic heard this and let out a light snort: "On this point, you need not worry."

He raised his wine cup, took a light sip of red wine, and said indifferently: "I am different from you all."

"My Clan has a deep friendship of thousands of years with the Mars Mechanicus."

"All my fleet's weapon and ammunition supplies come directly from the Forging Worlds controlled by the Mechanicus."

"Whether quality or supply efficiency, they are the finest in the entire Empire."

"Firepower output of this intensity, my fleet can sustain for a whole month, without needing any resupply."

Lin En's pupils contracted slightly.

Sustain for a whole month?!

This is too exaggerated!

You must know, Brevis's industrial capacity, even at full production, could only barely support his Expedition Fleet conducting a week of battle at this intensity.

Dominic seemed to see through Lin En's thoughts, and continued:

"Moreover, I believe you have also discovered that the number of Mechanical Priests on my ship far exceeds that of a normal Imperial Navy."

Lin En nodded.

He had noticed it on the Bridge just now.

On the James Tong, almost every Macro Cannon mount had a Priest standing Guard Duty.

They prayed unceasingly, wiped the weapons with Holy Oil, soothing the Machine Spirits.

"These Mechanical Priests are all talents supplied to me by the Mars Mechanicus." Dominic said.

"With them here, Machine Spirit stability has been maintained very well, my weapons rarely malfunction."

"However," Dominic's gaze turned serious.

"Equipment is certainly important, but I have always believed that to fight a war well, the most critical thing is not equipment, but tactics and morale!"

"Without correct tactics, even if you are given more warships, more ammunition, you will only be defeated piecemeal by the enemy."

"Without high morale, even the finest equipment cannot exert its due power."

Lin En looked at Dominic, a wry smile appearing on his face.

He had to admit, Dominic made a lot of sense.

But in his heart he knew even more clearly that the fundamental reason Dominic could be so composed was still his unfathomable family resources.

Where is this fighting a war, this is clearly smashing people with money.