Chapter 63: Miscalculation

A large armada of ships over seventy thousand strong was facing the Berkley fleet, a force over four times their size.

The Banfield house was using the massive fortress class carrier as their flagship.

It was usually deployed as a temporary base for the pioneer planets, but this was an emergency.

The generals were gathered and were currently discussing how they could deal with this situation.

Why arent we attacking already?!

Commander, assault tactics are our only option here!

With such a difference between us, we wont win unless we take the initiative!

The generals were pushing for aggressive maneuvers, but the commander had kept them passive for an entire week.

Before the large scale battle between the two fleets, things were strangely quiet.

They observed each others formations, altered their own formations in turn to counter what they saw, closing and opening the distances between them before repeating the process all over again.

At this rate, itd take a month or so before anyone actually attacked.

However, the Banfield houses fleet, who usually immediately slaughtered their opponents with assault tactics, was slowly losing their patience.

This is Lord Liams order.

When the commander said so, the generals looked up.

Lord Liam said to do this?

Wasnt he currently stationed as an imperial army officer?

When did you get in contact with him?

The commander went on to explain Liams current situation.

It seems hes currently heading our way with the fleet hes created, and until then, his orders were to buy as much time as possible without engaging in combat.

But it wasnt that easy to change the mentality of those who had been implementing assault tactics for decades.

Commander, this situation wont change if we just passively wait for reinforcements!

At most, Liam wouldve only gathered thirty thousand ships in his fleet.

Just because their numbers would increase a little, the difference in their two forces strength wouldnt really change.

The Berkley family would still have the advantage.

I understand your feelings, but these are his orders.

Liams orders must be followed.

To those words, the generals quieted down.

The Berkley fleets flagship.

On the battleship bridge that was luxuriously built with rare metals, Cashmiros eldest son was currently hounding at Dolph,

Hey, why arent they moving?!

But Dolph wasnt phased,

Dont worry about it, theyre only acting so passively because Liam isnt there.

This is still different from our plans.

I never expected everything to go perfectly from the beginning, but no matter what they do, its practically impossible for them to overcome the difference between our forces.

The weapons factories had prepared the newest generation of ships and mobile knights for them.

All of their personnel have been sufficiently educated and trained as well.

This was a fleet prepared with an immeasurable budget.

However, these results were born from the destruction of multiple worlds for the creation of elixirs, and the suffering of the citizens bearing unreasonable taxes.

The thing is, neither Dolph, nor the eldest son cared.

there are rumours going around saying that Liam has gathered his fleet from the army.

It seems like hes collected about thirty thousand ships, even if he joins the battle then, our superiority will not break. Even if he tries to do a pincer attack, were still more than capable of fending off his two fleets, and then, in a final act of desperation to overturn the situation hell undoubtedly order

the Banfield house to start an assault?

Precisely. Its still fine even if they dont charge though. Weve already won.

They didnt underestimate Liam, and prepared as much as possible for this operation.

The Dolph of today was like Liams natural enemy.

(Liam Ill be sure to pay back the debt from the military academy. In the live combat that you love so much, Ill beat you down!)

The eldest son felt relieved after seeing how confident Dolph was.

I-I guess youre right. We should be fine.

The Berkley fleet was made up of trained soldiers, unlike traditional pirates.

Firmly following Dolphs orders, they continued to face the Banfield houses fleet.

Seeing how his allies easily moved like his own limbs, Dolph was assured of his victory.

The situation wasnt that different from what he planned.

This was because his loss against Liam became a driving force towards his growth as a tactician.

(I will make up for that days defeat with this battle. Ill accept that I lost back in the simulator, but the last one to win will be me!)

Sitting on his suitcase in the middle of space was the guide.

He was currently watching the two fleets in their stand-off while he drank a cup of tea.

The fact that he was in space didnt matter to the guide at all.

they havent moved at all. However the victors of this war have already been decided. All thats left is for me to enjoy how deep into despair Liam falls into.

Even if Liams patrol fleet joined, his forces would only reach a hundred thousand at most.

But the Berkley familys armada was over three hundred thousand strong.

There wasnt any big differences in the quality of equipment or skill between the two forces either.

The Banfield house was better overall, but that wasnt enough to overcome the difference.

If their abilities were to an extent the same, the side who had higher numbers would win.

While they still havent moved, once things started, itd be impossible for them to stop until the end.

The guide was actually quite enjoying this quiet time.

Will this finally be the end of my connection to Liam, who has caused so much of my suffering?

He felt deeply moved at this thought.

Liam was the first to ever drive him this far into a corner.

Ill prepare an extraordinary hell just for him.

The guide was happily looking forward to the sight of Liam crying and begging for forgiveness.

Thats when the unpleasant sensation of his skin burning grew stronger.

With just that alone, the guide knew that Liam was nearby.

So youre finally here, Liam!

Warp holes manifested into being, and from them warships started appearing one after another.

FUHAHAHAHA! IVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, LIAAAAMMMM huh?!

The guide was so happy he even threw away the cup he was holding, but there were a lot of ships coming out of the warp holes.

In fact, they were still appearing even now.

Hey, wait a second here! What the hell is that?! Why are there so many of them?!

There was no doubt that Liam was nearby.

But something was wrong.

Undoubtedly, the fleet Liam had brought was over a hundred thousand strong.

The guide was grasping at his head.

Liams fervent gratitude was burning his skin even now.

Why?! JUST WHY?!

Hmm?

When I raised my head, Marie who had brought me tea, asked me,

Lord Liam, is something wrong?

No, I just thought I felt a friend nearby.

I couldve sworn I heard the nostalgic voice of the guide.

If I was right does that mean hes watching me right now?

Then that means my victory was guaranteed.

As I drank my tea, the operators brought in reports one after another.

The twenty fourth fleet has safely warped in!

The thirty sixth fleet is awaiting further orders!

The enemy armadas status has been confirmed! It doesnt look like theyve engaged in combat yet!

Word got around that there were some fools who dared to invade my territory. Hearing this, the commanders of various regular fleets said Oh, then Ill lend you a hand, and sent their ships out to support me.

But since they couldnt just abandon their post to protect the borders, only a hundred and twenty two thousand had come.

As I thought, the effects of bribes were amazing!

After that, the merchants started sending in supplies one after another, so I was easily able to move a fleet of this size with no problems at all.

I guess I was right to increase my contracted merchants.

Tia made a suggestion,

Lord Liam, in this situation we can begin a pincer attack. We might have smaller numbers, but if we charge in together with the Banfield fleet, well be able to deal lethal blow to them.

Is that so?

As I was about to give the order, the commander rushed in and stopped me.

He usually lets me do what I want, is there something that I missed?

Wait!

Commander, do you have a problem with this plan?

Tia scowled at the commander, while Marie started reaching for her weapon, but I stood up and told them to stop.

Stand down, lets hear him out Commander, do you have any other suggestions?

After giving a cough, the commander began to explain his reasoning,

While its true that might be an effective move, youll incur too many damages that way. Once battles get this large, theres a certain way theyre supposed to be fought.

Eulisia started pointing a gaze full of suspicion his way.

Then what would the appropriate way be then?

first of all, it would be better if we started exchanging blows at a distance.

Crossing her arms, Marie started complaining about the commanders somewhat cowardly suggestion.

Thats too passive of a strategy. Its not suitable for Lord Liam.

huh? Really?

Since when did people decide that there was a way to fight that was suitable for me?

However, the commander seemed more serious about this than Ive ever seen him before.

Count theres a certain way that champions are expected to fight. While its true that you have numerous exploits when fighting against pirates, you cant do the same thing when leading forces of this scale.

Tia immediately pulled out her weapon and pointed it towards the commander.

Such impudence! Are you seriously lecturing Lord Liam of all people of how a champion should fight?! Hes already become a splendid champion doing things exactly the way hes done so thus far!

As I thought, these girls really didnt understand me.

Im sure that in their point of view, I was an unparalleled and wonderful human being.

But that was just the delusion they forced on me.

I thought I told you to stand down.

Lord Liam?

I pushed Tia aside and turned towards the commander.

With how serious his gaze was, I had complete trust in the sixth sense that the commander had cultivated as a gambler.

okay, here are my orders. All ships are to keep their distance and attack at range. Make sure that a constant gap between our forces is maintained!

Although it was a cowardly way of fighting, evil lords were supposed to be cowardly.

The only thing that mattered was that I won.

It didnt matter how I fought.

Marie was surprised.

Lord Liam?! Are you sure about this?!

Its tedious having to repeat myself. Just follow my orders.

The commander was relieved.

(Dont screw with me! Were you seriously going to give the order to assault with a fleet this large?! Its far safer to keep our distance and shoot at them from the back.)

Having been able to avoid the assault order, the commander felt waves of relief wash over him as he vowed to never get involved with Liam ever again after this.

(As long as we keep our distance during this fight, this ship will never fall.)

The vessel Liam was currently boarded on was a custom model.

Therefore, it wasnt that easy to sink it.

However

Okay, I want to shoot the main gun myself, so bring the flagship to the front!

Liam gave the order to move forward with high spirits.

(huh?)

Eulisia seemed surprised,

Lieutenant general, are you sure you want to move to the front?

Well, its not like wed be completely safe if we kept to the back either, right? At least at the front we can shoot down enemies ourselves. Hey, transfer controls for the main gun to me.

(Youve got to be kidding me! What the hell is this guy talking about?!)

The Berkley fleet that was caught in the middle of a pincer attack was currently in a state of confusion.

Liam and his forces had chosen to attack from a distance.

While they could just shoot back the problem was that the majority of their ships were built for close range combat.

Against long distance attacks, they had no choice other than to just endure the hits.

A ship that was carrying a large amount of missiles exploded near the flagship.

Shit!

Dolph swung his fist down on the control panel.

Apparently, the enemy seemed to be aiming for the ships that had less armour.

The eldest son grabbed Dolphs chest.

Hey, isnt this different from what you told us what would happen?! Why arent they charging in on us?!

Please calm down. In this scenario, we have no choice but to find and shoot down the enemy flagship. If we strike at their head, the enemy will surely fall into a state of confusion.

If it was that easy to figure out which ship the enemys leader was on, we wouldnt be having this hard of a time in the first place!

The Berkley fleet was searching for which vessel the enemys commander had boarded.

However, the Banfield fleets fortress-class flagship didnt seem that easy to destroy.

On the other hand, for the armada that had rushed in as reinforcements they didnt even know where their leader was.

The eldest son fell to the ground as the ship he and Dolph were currently on shook after taking a hit.

N-not in a place like this! Im the heir of the Berkley family! Like hell Im going to die here!

Seeing the eldest son run away, Dolph scoffed,

Its fine, I never needed someone like him in the first place, but its true that this situation cant go on.

While they did have the advantage in numbers, if the enemy continued to fight at a distance, the circumstances would eventually reverse.

Thats when the worried Dolph heard a voice,

Dolph, I will lend you my power.

Whos there?!

Dolph looked around, but there was no one there.

Just when he was questioning whether he imagined it, one of the operators shouted out,

Weve located the enemys flagship!

What?!

They had somehow identified which ship Liam was on from over a hundred thousand vessels.

That was outrageously lucky.

Were changing plans! If its like this, well go on the offensive ourselves and target Liam!

The Berkley fleet was going to launch an assault on Liams battleship.

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