Chapter 59: I’ll Let You Fight
The Mercury-class Warships didn’t move as a single entity. Instead, they split into a full 50 squads.
Each squad consisted of just 10 Mercury-class Warships, accompanied by a larger freighter for logistical support.
These 50 squads each chose a different trajectory, scattering as they initiated acceleration maneuvers from 50 different directions.
Li Qingsong smirked coldly as he watched the "Mercury-class Warships" fly away.
He knew perfectly well that if he could send Detectors to Enemy God Star, then his more technologically advanced enemy had no reason not to send Detectors to Ceres.
Therefore, the enemy would surely see his current maneuver.
’So... what will you choose?’
’Your main force has been deployed, leaving your rear defenses vulnerable.’
’I can’t possibly win a defensive war for Ceres. So if that’s the case, I won’t even try to defend. With your rear exposed, I’ll strike where you’re forced to defend! I’ll go straight for your home base!’
’What’s more, I’m using a multi-pronged approach. You won’t be able to intercept them all en route!’
’Intercept one prong, and I’ll still have 49 left!’
’If you want to keep your home base from being attacked, your only option is to temporarily call off your invasion, pull everyone back to defend, and wait for all 50 of my fleets to arrive. Only after you’ve annihilated all 500 of my Warships can you even think about planning another attack on my home turf.’
It was the only logical course of action.
After all, he only had 500 Warships. Once they were destroyed, he’d be completely defenseless. At that point, the enemy could swagger back on the offensive without worrying about their rear.
’It’s just a delay of a month or two at most. What’s there to be afraid of?’
Li Qingsong was certain the enemy would choose this option.
They had no reason not to.
And just as he’d predicted, when the second Detector reached the vicinity of Enemy God Star, Li Qingsong saw the enemy vessels, which had already traveled some distance, turn back. They all redeployed around their mothership and ground bases.
The ground bases bristled with cannon barrels and radar-like structures pointed at the sky, clearly preparing for a defensive engagement.
A grim silence fell over Enemy God Star.
Li Qingsong smirked to himself again.
Meanwhile, the base cluster on Ceres was still frantically manufacturing guns and ammunition at full capacity.
Li Qingsong had built upon his existing firearm and ammunition production capabilities, constructing new facilities and retrofitting old ones. He’d poured every available resource into this frenzied manufacturing effort.
As a result, the already staggering daily output of roughly 140 million bullets surged once more. Production capacity tripled, reaching a staggering 420 million bullets per day!
Of course, these were not conventional bullets; they were custom-made.
Their projectiles weighed only about 0.5 grams, but the propellant charge in the casing was undiminished—in fact, it was even larger. This gave the cartridges a strange appearance, with a large casing and a tiny projectile.
Firearm production was also accelerating. What was once a few thousand guns per day had multiplied several times over, now reaching twenty thousand per day!
These firearms were also custom-built, designed specifically to fire the "large casing, small projectile" ammunition.
Although firearm and ammunition production had already reached an extremely high level, this was only the beginning. The manufacturing rate was still continuing to climb rapidly.
All of this production was taking place on the surface of Ceres. Thanks to the cover of the factory buildings, Li Qingsong knew the enemy could, at most, detect that he was engaged in large-scale manufacturing. They couldn’t know exactly what he was making.
With a major battle looming, frantic manufacturing was perfectly normal. Li Qingsong wasn’t the least bit afraid his plan would be exposed.
The moment he confirmed the enemy warships had all returned to a defensive posture, lying in wait for his fleet’s arrival, Li Qingsong gave a decisive order. The 50 sub-fleets, which had been accelerating frantically, were to cease their burn and maintain their current, still somewhat slow, velocity, drifting slowly forward.
’If I can buy more time, why not? Every extra moment I can delay increases my chances of victory.’
That’s right. Li Qingsong’s entire purpose for sending those 500 "Mercury-class Warships" to attack Enemy God Star was simply to buy time.
Time trickled by as the 50 fleets continued their slow advance.
Their current speed was only about 2 kilometers per second. At this leisurely pace, they would need a full eight months to reach Enemy God Star.
After some time had passed, the Detector showed that the enemy fleet at Enemy God Star could no longer sit still and finally made a move.
They appeared to be setting out again, dispatching one portion of their fleet to attack Ceres while leaving the other to defend their home world.
After all, at the fleet’s current speed, the enemy had enough time to go and wipe him out, then return to defend their home.
This was unacceptable to Li Qingsong.
So, the moment the enemy fleet stirred, Li Qingsong issued another order. His 50 fleets simultaneously initiated another burn, their speed increasing once again.
With this increased speed, the enemy would no longer have enough time to destroy his forces and then return to defend. And while the fleet they left behind could certainly destroy his own, they couldn’t guarantee their base and mothership would escape unscathed in the process.
And so, the enemy ships, which had not gotten far, had no choice but to cease their acceleration and return to their home system, resuming their patient wait.
Seeing this, Li Qingsong decisively ordered his fleet to stop its acceleration once more, resuming their slow, leisurely drift on pure inertia.
When the enemy fleet moved out, his fleet accelerated, forcing them to stay put and wait on the defensive.
When the enemy fleet returned to their defensive positions, Li Qingsong would halt his fleet’s acceleration, continuing the slow, unhurried advance.
After this was repeated several times, the enemy fleet began to grow agitated, apparently falling into a state of anger and impatience.
Li Qingsong sneered inwardly.
He knew that anyone would become anxious and angry when faced with such a dawdling, indecisive opponent.
’But...’
’If you’ve got the guts, then don’t defend! You don’t? Then you’d better just sit there quietly and wait for me!’
In this manner, after a full five months, Li Qingsong’s 50 fleets finally began to arrive in batches near Enemy God Star.
After the first half of the fleet—about 250 Warships—had arrived, assembled, and resupplied, they finally stopped dawdling and began accelerating at full power toward Enemy God Star.
At that moment, Li Qingsong saw the enemy Warships surge toward his fleet like tigers descending from a mountain, like a flood released from a dam, unable to restrain themselves.
They opened fire before they were even in engagement range.
’Been holding that in for a while, huh? It’s fine. Go on. I’ll let you have your shot.’