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Chapter 588: Phoenix Defeat

Holy Terra, Imperial Palace District.

An important meeting is underway.

Thirteen high lords gathered together, and the topic of discussion was still the war in the east.

The news of Gu Hang's victory on the southern front has reached Holy Terra.

The senior officials here experienced obvious ups and downs in emotions.

Although everyone knows that the Alfonzo sect, which is next to the Princess Star Region, has a very good relationship with the Iron Armor Legion. During the war, this mechanical sect, whose power spreads across the entire star region, must be a strong supporter behind the Iron Armor. The Iron Armor can obtain and maintain so many warships for a long time, and their army is well-equipped, all of which are inseparable from the support of the Alfonzo sect.

Even on the battlefield, the imperial soldiers discovered equipment of the Alfonzo sect that may have been transported in a hurry and the markings could not be erased in time.

This is a hostile party, and everyone knows it.

But due to political considerations, no one wanted to really force the Alfonzo sect to end like this.

Just make some equipment. We would rather lower our heads and act like ostriches than let Alfonzo really die.

In the end, they still ended up.

At that time, when Holy Terra heard the news, it was quite panicked.

Of course there are sober people, but there are also those who are not clear-headed and are blaming the alliance for attacking too fiercely and bringing down Alfonzo.

It is worth mentioning that this group of people may have a high degree of overlap with those who previously urged the alliance to attack and criticized the alliance for being afraid of war.

But even apart from these confused people, the rest of the people who can realize that Alfonzo will inevitably end up, it’s just a matter of sooner or later; and sooner is better than later; and it’s better to go south than west or north, are actually quite pessimistic.

They recognized the achievements of the Alliance, otherwise, if Alfonzo's fleet suddenly appeared on the Western Front, the Western Front led by the Phoenix Regiment-Su Lie would probably collapse immediately.

From this perspective, the Alliance's rapid advance into the Proud Claw star field, chasing after the two regiments, the Fury of Flame and the New World Torch, created a huge strategic advantage for the entire empire.

But while acknowledging the alliance's achievements, it does not prevent anyone from being optimistic about the alliance's prospects.

It was because the enemy the alliance had to face was too powerful. According to the intelligence from the front, the strength of Alfonzo's fleet was terrifying.

War Ark, Emperor-class battleship... these are all powerful weapons. Even if the Holy Terra Central Government now fully dispatches a fleet to fight in the Eastern Frontier, considering that the capital must retain sufficient defense forces, it is likely that such a fleet cannot be squeezed out.

Mars is definitely not willing to send out a war ark to fight in the defense of East Xinjiang; after the Solar Fleet strongly supported a wave of battles in Solaria in Southern Xinjiang, it really couldn't spare one Emperor-class and two Retribution-class ships to fight.

How should the alliance deal with this situation?
The Supreme Grand Marshal of the Imperial Navy, one of the thirteen Terran Council Lords, summoned the Imperial Navy Staff to assess the war situation. They pessimistically believed that the best way for the Alliance to respond was to retreat completely, blocking the enemy at every level, and even abandoning the entire Proud Claw Star Region, or even the Menghe Star Region, at any time. They would trade space for time and wait for changes.

Perhaps if the situation drags on for too long, the empire can draw some forces from somewhere else to provide support to the southern front.

They even worked together with the Grand Marshal of the Astra Militarum to develop a comprehensive strategic plan from the navy to the army, which was issued to the Alliance as the guiding ideology for the war on the southern front.

Although this is just a "suggestion", generally speaking, this kind of "suggestion" sent from Holy Terra is no different from an order or request. Commanders on the front line of the battlefield generally do not violate the guidelines from Holy Terra.

Otherwise, if the advice of the highest will is not followed, then if the battle is lost, it will be the full responsibility of the commander of the front-line theater; even before the battle is lost, the commander will be dismissed.

Of course, Gu Hang was an exception. Although the Empire provided a lot of support to the so-called Southern Theater, it was mainly focused on supplies and funds. Although there were tens of millions of Star Army and dozens of small and medium-sized warships, there were not even many moon-class warships, mainly frigates, patrol ships, and even armed merchant ships. Money was also valuable, but on a battlefield of this level, the role they could play was quite limited.

In the Southern Theater, to put it bluntly, the Alliance was fighting alone. It was impossible to remove Gu Hang's command.

But they still strongly advised Marshal Gu to fight this battle according to their guidelines.

You can't win, but at least don't lose so quickly.

However, the alliance did not listen to their opinions at all.

They also didn't know what the alliance was going to do. The Bowen naval alliance ambushed Alfonzo's fleet, and before that, Gu Hang couldn't have informed Holy Terra of the battle plan to avoid the news leaking out and causing trouble.

However, the Alliance has not contacted them all this time. Even if there was a response, its attitude was rather perfunctory, which made the two supreme marshals on Holy Terra quite dissatisfied.

They were quite uneasy, fearing that the Alliance would act impulsively, and repeatedly urged the Alliance to submit their war plans.

The "ambassador" of the Alliance's office in Holy Terra was humble, but didn't say anything useful. He just said that Marshal Gu was confident and knew how to fight this battle. I will definitely help convey the leaders' opinions...

After some perfunctory handling, the result of the Battle of Bowang came.

The dissatisfaction in the hearts of the two supreme marshals disappeared instantly after they confirmed the accuracy of the news.

There was only shock, confusion, and ecstasy.

They were shocked and puzzled because they really couldn't understand how the alliance won this big victory. The strength between the two sides was not 4:6, not 3:7, but a direct difference of two levels, and they couldn't be compared on the same level at all!

How to win?
Can this win?

And it was not just a small victory or a defeat of the enemy, but an unquestionable devastating victory!
Simply incredible!

To everyone’s delight, after the destruction of Alfonzo’s fleet, the situation suddenly became clear!

At this moment, they were discussing the common strategy for the north, west, and south fronts. If the connections between the three fronts could be opened up and more coordinated operations could be achieved, the pressure on the Iron Armor would be greater, and they would be one step closer to victory.

At this moment, the doorbell of the Supreme Council rang.

The guards reported that the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs, His Excellency Gallardo, urgently requested a meeting.

Gallardo was not the supreme lord and had no right to participate in the Supreme Council.

But after all, he claimed that there was an emergency, so after a few discussions, he was allowed to come in to report.

The heavy and majestic door of the parliament hall was opened, and Gallardo strode in with a dignified demeanor, as if he were a member of the council.

He held a piece of parchment high in his hand and shouted loudly:

"Urgent news from the East Front and West Front! Phoenix was defeated, our battle line collapsed!"

----

There is another chapter tonight, but it should be very late, so I’ll read it tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)