Galaxy Domination Guide-Chapter 718 - 704, Su Shuang who knows the opportunity

"The plan was successful," Li Cheng said, though his face barely showed a smile.

The Light Valley Star battle had entered an absolute white-hot stage. Commanders on both sides had pushed the utilization of their forces and firepower on the battlefield to the extreme. Despite being outnumbered, the Iridium Star Fleet showed no signs of fatigue or collapse. Instead, they were greatly boosted in morale by a huge firework from Nuoye Star that took out nearly a thousand warships of the Galactic Empire.

At this point, Suo Kexiao seemed to have lost his initial calm as well. He walked back and forth on the bridge, arms crossed. Although he was not the direct commander, his eyes never left the screens displaying various real-time data.

"This general from the Iridium Star is not ordinary," Suo Kexiao judged.

Su Shuang was a very gracious man, never stingy with praise for his enemies.

"Daring to use a planet as a trap, I fear that at his level he couldn’t have decided on this alone. It must have been the Iridium Star Chancellor who made the final decision. However, being able to execute it also credits him. Moreover, to command the fleet so methodically on the battlefield, if he were on our side, earning the title of Divine General would be easy for him."

Suo Kexiao chuckled, "But he is from Iridium Star, a calamity."

Upon mentioning the word "calamity," both Su Shuang and Suo Kexiao cleverly avoided further extending the conversation. Both understood that while Bai Zhongqi might lead the Swarm, he might not be as mad as the legends suggest. Ultimately, their fight against Iridium Star was backed by the policy direction of the Galactic Emperor, motivated by personal benefits as Divine Military Lords, and exacerbated by private grievances from past defeats by Bai Zhongqi. As for truly maintaining universe stability and the notion that a calamity must be eliminated, they hardly cared.

Suo Kexiao curiously asked, "Do you think you can win against this Iridium Star general?"

Very candidly, Su Shuang said, "I can win, but probably not this time."

Suo Kexiao shook his head and smiled ruefully: "That sounds like tough talk."

"Give him three thousand Iridium Star warships, and give me three thousand obedient Seven Phoenixes warships, even without the giant heads’ fleet, a fleet upgraded with the Crystal Cube Core would suffice. Three thousand against three thousand, I have a seventy percent chance of victory, he at most thirty. If each side has over ten thousand ships, he should not dream of having the upper hand over me."

Suo Kexiao clucked his tongue and sighed, "So, you’re blaming the defeat on those Snow Dragon Alliance generals who don’t listen to you? Besides, you haven’t lost yet; we are still pressing down on the Iridium Star people."

Su Shuang calmly said, "It doesn’t matter much now. Losing a maneuver fleet is like losing the initiative to control the battle. The Iridium Star people have kept several hundred warships hidden somewhere. Now that my maneuver force is depleted, the opponent will definitely use these fleets to attack the remaining five logistics bases. I can’t take care of those places anymore. Even if we do win at Light Valley Star, we can no longer sustain activities in the Pegasus Arm-5 Star Sector."

Suo Kexiao recognized his perspective, but he added, "Likewise, the Iridium Star people’s only stronghold is gone, they can’t stay grounded either."

"Yes, so this round, we’ve suffered a minor loss, and Iridium Star hasn’t won," Su Shuang predicted.

As Su Shuang had expected, after the black hole at Nuoye Star swallowed nearly a thousand of his warships, the raiding fleet that Li Cheng had reminded to stay hidden in the spacetime corridor immediately emerged. Although not numerous, just several hundred ships, in planets other than Light Valley Star, there wasn’t much of a defensive force.

The raiding fleet quickly completed bombing several planets which served logistical support and had industrial production capability. Large sections of orbital structures and planetary industrial bases were destroyed, leaving Su Shuang with an impressively large fleet in the Pegasus Arm-5 Star Sector but unable to sustain it.

The Snow Dragon Alliance suffered for not understanding warfare of High-Level Civilizations, and Su Shuang was also at a disadvantage as a technologically lower-tier native. The power of the Galactic Emperor’s Crystal Cube Core surpassed his imagination; it not only upgraded warships to Advanced Warships or allowed several warships to merge into a warship monster. The Crystal Cube Core itself also had the capability to transform other industrial equipment, though this required a certain level of technology. This would allow Su Shuang to obtain a large number of self-operating logistical bases.

However, Su Shuang’s lack of deep understanding in this area led him to convert most of the Crystal Cube Cores into Advanced Warships, significantly empowering his fleet but with inherent risks.

For Iridium Star, warships were built requiring the capability of self-maintenance and logistics, especially since the crew size on Iridium Star ships was relatively small; thus, their demand for logistics wasn’t significant. Sometimes, Iridium Star fleets also used logistic-type ships for some uncommon purposes. However, the warships upgraded by the Galactic Emperor had higher logistics demands.

Very independently, Su Shuang chose this moment to disengage from contact with the Iridium Star Fleet. Continuing to fight under these circumstances, he thought, was fruitless.

"Are you trying to conserve your strength?" Suo Kexiao saw through Su Shuang’s intentions.

"Now that civilization isn’t civilization, and generals are not generals, holding on to one’s own strength is the most reliable thing. Additionally, the Galactic Emperor did not demand that I fight to the death here or sink so many Calamity Ships. It’s the people from the Prime Minister’s Office who want us here to keep the Iridium Star people at bay."

"That’s correct, the Prime Minister’s Office wants to exhaust our forces and then lure out greater strength from Iridium Star to eventually seize the victory," Suo Kexiao acknowledged.

Su Shuang nodded and gently waved his hand, ordering the fleet to begin retreating: "Since that’s the case, we have no reason to ’sacrifice for others.’ If the Prime Minister’s Office wants this achievement, wants to strike at the Iridium Star Chancellor, let them do it themselves. Our fleet isn’t meant to be expended."

Decisively, Su Shuang’s warships began to retreat. This slightly staggered Li Cheng under immense pressure and cheered up the generals and captains of the Snow Dragon Alliance civilization. Continuing to fight under these conditions would look ugly; both sides would suffer substantial losses, and the captains might end up giving their lives here.

However, Su Shuang’s unilateral decision to retreat also enraged some.

Thousands of light-years away in the former Ten Giants of the Luluo Civilization, now one of the main officials in the Military Bureau of the Prime Minister’s Office, Divine General Tai Ruonuo spoke resentfully, "Su Shuang, I’ll make you regret this!"