Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1220: Chapter 661, Healthy Competition_2

The Interstellar Warriors on the Empire’s side had long been deployed here.

After the large-scale attack during the day, they did not make an appearance.

With the steel torrent sweeping across, there was no need for the Interstellar Warriors to step in.

However, in this kind of specialized nighttime offensive and defensive battle, facing the infiltrating Interstellar Warrior vanguards, only warriors of the same level can stand against them.

Our Interstellar Warrior numbers are fewer than the infiltrating Iron Armor Soldiers, roughly about half.

However, when it came to actual combat, they performed brilliantly.

The most glorious results came from a Phoenix Squad and an Otaubis Squad.

They were organized into groups of three, and each group eliminated several times their own number of Iron Armor Soldiers.

After dawn, when they compared their achievements, the Otaubis Battle Group had the slight edge with 17 confirmed kills, while the Phoenix Squad had only 14, three fewer.

However, the Phoenix three-man squad remained intact after battle. Although all three were injured, they all survived; conversely, the Otaubis Squad lost a battle brother who closed his eyes forever after a night of fighting. From this perspective, it’s hard to say who ultimately won or lost.

This healthy competition between the two battle groups has persisted for some time.

Initially, the warriors of Otaubis were quite proud and aloof.

In coordination and communication with other battle groups, they were always this way.

Better equipment, better treatment, stronger individual skills… they were an elite battle group from the Central Empire, only showing respect to those with a glorious history among founding groups, otherwise looking down on others.

However, the performance of the Phoenix Battle Group made them not only unwilling to concede but also unable to deny that this was a formidable rival.

Even in the cruel times of war, mid to senior officers of both battle groups were restraining their arrogant and fierce subordinates, forbidding any private brawls or duels, even sparring was prohibited.

With such energy, it would be better used on the battlefield for killing the enemy, wouldn’t it?

But when facing the same enemy, comparing by taking Iron Armor heads as trophies proved very effective.

Often, both sides could produce comparable results.

What more could be said?

Let’s say their mouths may never concede, but in their hearts, they undoubtedly regarded each other as being on the same level.

In comparison, another battle group, the Blood Shark Battle Group, also drew much attention.

Perhaps they were a bit lacking in direct combat power compared to the Iron Armor and Otaubis. However, their battle group had a tactical tradition of quick strikes, making them extremely effective in targeting enemy key points.

In preventing penetration or specialized operations, they performed so-so; but if sent to execute such tasks, they might even outpace Otaubis and Phoenix in efficiency.

Compared to these three outstanding battle groups, the remaining seven were average, performing at normal levels, roughly equal to Iron Armor, or even slightly worse.

Of these seven battle groups, apart from the Spear of the Dragon King, the other six comprised only around a hundred or two hundred members each, who had been dispatched from their mother groups to support the Solar Expedition Army during its formation.

The confrontation between Interstellar Warriors was also significant and extremely brutal.

On both sides, there were often situations where front-line command centers were suddenly wiped out at critical moments; all sorts of Decapitation Tactics were endless; strategic key points got quickly taken by Interstellar Warriors… often just a few dozen, or even a few individuals, could decisively sway a battle involving tens of thousands from both sides.

The mutual slaughter between them also quickly reduced their numbers on both sides.

As of now, more than five hundred Interstellar Warriors from the Empire side had been killed.

On the other side, the number of confirmed dead Iron Armor Soldiers had surely exceeded a thousand. Among these achievements, more than half were attributable to the Phoenix, Otaubis, and Blood Sharks. On one hand, these three battle groups had the largest numbers; on the other, they demonstrated strong combat capabilities.

Combined, over fifteen hundred Interstellar Warriors have died in less than a month’s time, indicating the intense nature of the war.

If Interstellar Warriors die like this, imagine the regular forces.

Tens of millions clashed on this not particularly large plain, with hundreds dying each minute under bullets, artillery, and bombardment.

After a month of fighting, the Empire side’s total soldier sacrifices exceeded two million.

There was no distinction between minor and major battles. On any position, both sides tenaciously battled, pouring in countless shells and bombs, supplemented by soldiers’ blood, and the wreckage of tanks and armored vehicles… trenches filled!

Even the Sun Legion, famed for its elite status, and the Alliance Army, faced morale wavering under such horrifying casualties.

Perhaps overall the front lines remained stable, but in divisions where battles were fiercest, casualties reached 50%, even 70% in short time spans.

Those who survived faced inevitable morale collapse.

Even an iron army’s members aren’t literally made of iron.

Yet none lost their minds fleeing. Even if morale collapsed, abandoning positions and fleeing didn’t happen.

Running meant sure death.

Not to mention feared disciplinary actions from the rear, the relentless fighting environment made escape impossible.

Staying cautiously at their positions might prolong life; retreating meant possibly being shot or bombarded the next second.

Apart from shell-proof dugouts, trenches, kilometers behind lay within enemy artillery range, making running futile.

The Iron Armors on the other side did not face morale concerns.

The infected, whose minds were completely parasitized, feared neither life nor death.

However, they lacked initiative, being rigid and clumsy. Even if wielding similar weapons and armor to human troops, they acted solely on commanders’ orders. This filled their organization and discipline but lacked ’humanity,’ unable to showcase battlefield gallantry or create ’miracles,’ often resulting in huge sacrifices when caught in a mistake and ignorant of adaptation.

When ordered to charge a position, even with just a heavy bomb gun out front, they’d stubbornly advance. If higher command ordered a hard charge, so be it, but when flanking fire emerged, they knew no dodge, being wiped out in clusters. Frontline troops had no flexibility before receiving new orders.

Thus, even after the Empire side bore millions of casualties, the infected army on the other side suffered even more, possibly around twice as much difference.

Moreover, the infected lacked the ability to consume corpses, recover biomass, or hatch new troops, so when they died, they truly perished.

From this viewpoint, slowing down the fight on Wanzhou Star eventually leads to Iron Armor… is it?

No.

A huge variable loomed from the sky.

Both sides’ warships continually tried to offer support.

A single fierce orbital bombardment could drastically alter ground combat dynamics.

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