Chapter 348

Chapter 348. The Siege of Tanhoizer (4)

At the time when gallery users were cheering wildly while watching the full-scale bombardment…

…let’s rewind a bit, just before the bombardment began.

Whether our gallery users were munching on popcorn or not, I had no way of knowing at the time. Regardless, I was focused on what I needed to do.

And that was…

The immediate task at hand: conquering the Tanhoizer.

*Beep beep!*

“Commander, Belial has contacted us.”

“Ah, answer it.”

“Commander, even though we have the numerical advantage… if we charge in recklessly, there’s a high chance we’ll lose.”

“Hmm, that makes sense.”

Indeed.

Even though we had the numbers…

The vast majority of our forces were ‘Escort Ships’ and ‘Patrol Ships.’

Facing Tanhoizer’s Defense Fleet, which had ‘Destroyers’ as their main force, in a head-on battle… it was clear that we would suffer significant losses.

No, even before that, just counting the large ships like Heavy Cruisers and above…

“Jessica, how many large ships does the enemy fleet have?”

“150 Battleships, 1,000 regular warships, and 175 Cruiser Battleships, with over 4,000 Heavy Cruisers.”

“…”

Right.

While our entire force, including carriers, barely had 700 large ships…

The enemy had over 1,000 regular warships alone, and nearly three times as many Heavy Cruisers.

If we charged in blindly, the only result waiting for us would be a crushing defeat.

Of course, I wasn’t an idiot, so I wasn’t going to just charge in recklessly.

“Is Nerañzara already in position?”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Contact Hreðsvelgr and have them launch a full barrage of strategic missiles, then use Kraken’s teleportation to prioritize attacking Tanhoizer’s main gates.”

“Understood.”

“And once the teleportation bombardment is over, if additional main gates open, have Nerañzara use all available firepower to block as many gates as possible.”

“Got it.”

Thanks to the battle led by the user Auroral and their ‘Temporary Clan’ last time, the locations of Tanhoizer’s hidden main gates had been revealed.

So, with confidence in the Kraken-Hreðsvelgr combo, I planned to blow up the gates where Tanhoizer’s main fleet would emerge using strategic missile teleportation.

Meanwhile, Nerañzara, which had been deployed earlier, would attack the gates directly.

“Die, you monster!”

*Boom! Crash!*

*Kiiiiii… Kwaaaang!*

“Whoo!”

Using all available firepower, including spatial torpedoes, Nerañzara was causing enemy ships to get stuck at the gate entrances, blocking their path.

But I guess there’s a difference between Level 5 and Level 7.

“Results of the 1st and 2nd teleportation attacks: a total of 6 main gates have been successfully destroyed!”

“That’s fewer than expected.”

“The rest were intercepted by missiles and torpedoes with strategic warheads.”

“Holy crap.”

Unlike before, the base’s air defense systems, which hadn’t been softened up by missile bombardments, were doing their job, rendering our strategic missiles ineffective for the first time.

Unlike the fleets at Avalon or Barracuda, when faced with Nerañzara’s surprise attack…

Only the battleships at the first gate were destroyed, causing the gate to collapse.

But…

“Uh-oh, the remaining ships are retreating into the base!”

“Commander, only small ships that can evade Nerañzara’s missiles and torpedoes are coming out. The large ships will just wait until the barrage is over and then emerge.”

“Crazy.”

The rest of the gates were defended more agilely than expected, and most of our attacks failed to deal significant damage.

Even at one gate, we got lucky and managed to destroy a battleship, blocking the gate like before…

*Kwaaaaaaang!*

“Ugh!”

“Those bastards are using the battleship wreckage to attack!”

“Holy moly.”

This time, it seemed like a bold commander had taken charge.

When the battleship was destroyed and blocked the gate, they used it as a makeshift cannon, almost taking out Nerañzara’s periscope.

==========

Anyway, due to all this, we only managed to block 8 main gates, far fewer than planned.

One gate was partially blocked, so only large ships couldn’t get through, but small ships were still coming out just fine.

It was a subtle situation, but…

At least it prevented the catastrophic emergence of that utterly vicious 1,000-ship suicide squad all at once.

While sending out a massive number of patrol ships, escort ships, and mercenary groups to charge head-on, we aimed to deal with the remaining fleet of Tanhoizer.

Of course, to counter the fortress’s interceptors during the charge, most of the aircraft from the carriers, led by Kraken, were deployed.

They provided air cover for the charging fleet.

…Though, compared to the ships, the aircraft’s top speed was relatively low, so their mobility wasn’t exactly stellar.

In reality, they only functioned as supplementary forces, joining the battlefield long after the fleets had already clashed.

And amidst all this, we couldn’t possibly send all the mercenary groups charging…

Because shortly after I sent a large number of mercenaries charging…

“Warp-out reaction detected in the rear!”

“These bastards really popped out.”

“Enemy fleet spotted in the rear! It’s the Main Combat Fleet!”

About four to five fleets had appeared in the rear, using the ‘gates’ installed inside Tanhoizer.

The problem was that these five fleets kept coming, using the gates two more times.

“Damn it, the mercenary groups waiting near the main force will respond to the rear attack!”

“Understood!”

“All forces, except Ouroboros and the escort ships, join in!”

-“Yes, employer!”

-“Following orders!”

Suddenly, about two-fifths of the enemy forces popped up in the rear, so I immediately redirected the fleet, led by Kraken, to deal with them.

The only silver lining was that, although the enemy fleet was ridiculously strong…

-“All fleets, commence bombardment! Target coordinates 333,694 on the enemy’s right flank.”

-“All aircraft, prioritize attacking the enemy’s anti-air light cruisers.”

-“Are you not maneuvering properly? If big bro told us to do it, we should do it right!”

-“Ugh!”

Belial, Tiamat, and Marian—three superhuman commanders—were spreading wide-ranging command buffs.

-“Enemy assault troops boarding some ships! Engaging in combat!”

-“What are you saving the Chimera for? Use it already!”

When enemy troops dared to board the Kraken, Gryanarr, grinding his teeth, added a wide-area totem buff, vowing to turn them all into tentacle monsters.

Despite having mostly small ships and lacking destroyers and above, our fleet was somehow managing to produce better-than-expected results against the enemy.

And most importantly, this time, we had an excellent ship for fleet battles.

-“Fire!”

-“Kwaaaaaaaah!”

-“Kyaa~”

Our Ouroboros, capable of one-shotting anything from battleships to patrol ships, was that ship.

Although after firing once…

-“Pshhhhhhh!”

-“Commencing cooling procedures for the cannon and internal circuits!”

-“Releasing waste heat from energy conduits, deploying heat sinks.”

-“Armor plates fully opened, cooling system activated.”

The armor plates transformed like something out of a *Transformers* movie, spewing steam and ice crystals everywhere.

While cooling down, Ouroboros couldn’t move, so the blind main cannons of Tanhoizer’s battleships often targeted it…

-“Ting!”

-“Deflected!”

-“Employer, we’ll protect Ouroboros, so don’t worry~”

-“Oh…”

Our big and beautiful chests—no, the maternal-pouch-equipped Captain Lephan and the Rhodes Mercenary Group’s battleships and cruiser battleships had set up a solid defensive line at the front.

Even if blind shots flew, the mercenary group’s ships used beam-coating equipment to tank the hits.

Once the big and beautiful… no, the cannon’s cooling was complete, Ouroboros fired its main cannon in focused mode again.

Eliminating the slow enemy capital ships and surrounding escort ships in chunks, it steered the battle toward our victory.