Chapter 349

Chapter 349. The Siege of Tanhoizer (5)

And so, the Ouroboros was diligently firing shots every 30 minutes, neutralizing the enemy’s main fleet and taking out their defensive facilities.

With a combined total of 600,000 ships from both sides tangled up, and millions of aircraft in between, chaos reigned supreme.

“By the way, Commander.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“There’s one thing I’m curious about.”

Out of nowhere, Jessica voiced her question, and I, too, raised a question mark above my head.

‘What is it?’

And Jessica, having caught my puzzled look, clearly stated her question…

“You know the Ouroboros main cannon, right? Wouldn’t it be better to just fire it in spread mode and wipe them out?”

“Oh, that’s what you meant.”

Come to think of it, I had never explained that part to Jessica.

So, I decided to give her a very clear answer as to why we weren’t using spread mode.

“Well, of course, it’s because we can’t completely annihilate that damn Tanhoizer’s defense fleet.”

“…In this situation?”

Of course, upon hearing this, Jessica’s expression twisted into something complex.

But that was only for a moment, as she probably believed that I wouldn’t do something like that without a good reason.

Jessica quickly fixed her expression and seemed to be deep in thought.

Then, as if she had figured it out, she clapped her hands and spoke again.

“Ah, are you trying to keep other Commanders from jumping in after the battle?”

“Yep.”

‘Smart girl.’

Jessica was right.

If I were to recklessly charge in and completely obliterate the enemy fleet… what would happen afterward?

It’s simple to think about—our mischievous users wouldn’t just leave Tanhoizer, with its defenses completely depleted, alone.

Of course, it’s true that creating a temporary clan like before and gathering users would take too much time…

But even if a thousand users didn’t swarm in, could my fleet alone defend a base with its defenses completely exhausted?

Especially since my fleet’s strength would plummet after this battle due to the mass dismissal of mercenaries?

Of course, thanks to the last update, you can move between your own bases using internal gates.

So, if necessary, I could move some of the defense fleets from Avalon or Barracuda to Tanhoizer…

‘Well, maybe.’

But if I did that, the users docked at Avalon or Barracuda might throw a fit, saying it’s unfair.

For these reasons, whether I liked it or not, I couldn’t just wipe out Tanhoizer’s fleet cleanly.

So, the method I chose was to push back the enemy fleet through fleet battles like this.

Then, I’d remove the main ships trying to break through the frontlines like a surgeon…

Once we got close to Tanhoizer, I’d use the Ouroboros’s flamethrower to cleanly wipe out the anti-air defenses in a specific area.

Then, I’d send in the assault team, including Ignis, Partia, Smeragi, and Oxianor, who are already on standby, to capture the base.

And once the base was captured, even the fleets that were fighting tooth and nail would automatically surrender.

Even if mercenaries were lost in the process, I had no other choice.

“The chances of our mischievous users going berserk are pretty high, you know.”

“Well… that’s true.”

==========

At the same time.

As if to prove Icarus’s thoughts weren’t wrong, in communities like galleries and chat rooms…

—————————————–

Title: Hey, if we play our cards right, can’t we just backstab and take Tanhoizer?

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: [Real-time user-broadcasted video of the Tanhoizer siege.swf]

For real.

If the base’s defense fleet gets wiped out, it takes time to recharge, right?

At this rate, it’s totally possible, no?

If the defense fleet gets wiped out, we could just gather 30-40 people and go for it lol.

Comments:

-[Mischief on]

-[Oh man, here we go again with the opportunists]

-[LOLOLOLOL]

-[True]

-[Taking three bases alone is a bit much, right? Agree? Yeah, agree.]

-[Gulp]

—————————————–

As the situation unfolded, after the defense fleet was annihilated.

The moment Icarus’s mercenaries disappeared, users with the will to devour the now-empty Tanhoizer began to slowly reveal themselves.

It was a state of affairs.

Of course, most users just watched such opinions like they were watching a fire in the neighborhood.

Some even subtly tried to add fuel to the fire or consider jumping in with a spoon.

But that was only for a moment…

—————————————–

<This is an anonymous chat room.>

<Let's all use polite and proper language to maintain etiquette.>

-[Looking for people to raid Tanhoizer right after the siege ends 1/???]

-[Dude, you’re gonna get wrecked]

-[?]

-[Didn’t the last update make it so warp networks are connected in real-time within bases?]

-[Yeah, that’s right]

-[What does that mean?]

-[It means if you think Tanhoizer is empty and charge in, Avalon or Barracuda can deploy fleets from inside to reinforce]

-[Wait, that’s possible?]

-[Clans have been deploying defense forces super flexibly like that]

-[Our clan did that too last time before our base got raided—the Clan Leader pulled troops from another base and used them]

-[Ah, I see]

—————————————–

Right after someone in the chat mentioned that “raiding Tanhoizer from behind” was impossible, the gallery also started seriously discussing Icarus and Tanhoizer.

—————————————–

Title: Looking for users to go eat Tanhoizer lol

Author: lol

Content: [Image of a toad laughing mischievously]

Who are we?

“The masters of tastefully raiding bases.”

[Image of a toad parodying the “I WANT YOU” poster]

“JOIN THE BUNTANG.”

Comments:

-[Wow, look at the effort put into this]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL]

-[They’re really trying to cause chaos no matter what, huh]

—————————————–

Title: You guys trying to eat Tanhoizer, check this out first.jpg

Author: lol

Content: [Full text of the base system update notice.jpg]

You guys must’ve forgotten because you’ve never taken a central zone base, but…

If users take over a base, as long as the owner is the same, troops can move between those bases through internal gates.

And this isn’t just for user fleets—defense fleets from the base can move too.

What does this mean?

If you charge in thinking Tanhoizer’s defense fleet is wiped out, you’ll be greeted by defense fleets Icarus brought from other bases.

Comments:

-[Then just incite the users docked at the existing base, right?]

-[Yeah, like that’s gonna happen LOL]

-[Is that really the best plan you came up with? Inciting docked users?] (Author)

-[This guy trying to incite others is something else]

-[What a mess LOL]

—————————————–

Veteran users, who seemed to understand the situation, were trying to dismiss the whole thing as nonsense.

But even so, once greed takes hold, it doesn’t just disappear.

—————————————–

Title: Why worry about defense fleets coming through gates?

Author: lol

Content: [Image of a smiling toad]

I mean, if the users docked at Avalon and Barracuda just rise up and start a revolution, problem solved, right?

Are they really gonna give up something that could make everyone happy just to save themselves?

Comments:

-[What is this guy on?]

-[???]

-[My brain just froze]

-[My brain is refusing to process this WTF]

—————————————–

Despite someone pointing it out in the comments, people were still openly suggesting inciting the docked users.

But the docked users, who were their so-called dream and hope, had absolutely no intention of playing along with their nonsense…