Under the cover of the Interstellar Drone Swarm from the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship, Chu Xuan's Imperial Fleet successfully withdrew to the vicinity of the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship.
They then formed a Unidirectional carrier combat formation with the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship at its core.
The so-called Unidirectional carrier combat formation is a battle formation constructed with only one direction as the combat front.
The T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship was positioned at the very rear, with one T2 Gray Wolf-class Light Interstellar Cruiser and one T2 Fire Panther-class Medium Interstellar Battleship ahead of it.
Further forward were eight T2 Hyena-class Medium Stellar Destroyers and twenty T2 Guardian-class Medium Interstellar Escort Ships.
These thirty-one starships stood ready, facing the approaching zerg swarm!
Almost the moment those Zergs entered Weapon Range, all Imperial Army Starships opened fire.
With previous combat experience, these Imperial Army Starships had become somewhat familiar with the rhythm of engaging these Interstellar Zergs.
At the same time, the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship continuously deployed Interstellar Drone Swarms.
Third wave... Fifth wave... Seventh wave... Tenth wave...
Gradually, the number of Stellar Drones returning each time began to decline. Those missing Stellar Drones had naturally been torn to shreds by the Zergs.
Despite the support of the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship, and although the combat capability of the Interstellar Drone Swarm was unexpectedly strong, the sheer scale of the zerg swarm was simply too vast. The defensive line was gradually being pushed closer!
From a distance, it looked as if a black tide was about to engulf those thirty-one starships.
"If this continues, the outcome will be the same. Our firepower is completely insufficient to withstand the assault of these zerg swarms!" the female adjutant said anxiously beside Commander Chu Xuan.
Commander Chu Xuan stared at the changes on the holographic interstellar tactical display, her expression grave.
Given the current situation, within twenty minutes, these zerg swarms would close in on their starship formation, posing a direct threat to their vessels.
"Connect me to the Captain of that Black Dragon Fleet," Commander Chu Xuan said solemnly.
The female adjutant immediately established the connection. A video window opened, and the man's face appeared before them once more.
Before Commander Chu Xuan could speak, Zhao Chen spoke first: "Wait a little longer."
Commander Chu Xuan and the female adjutant were taken aback.
"Wait for what?" Commander Chu Xuan instinctively inquired.
"Time," Zhao Chen replied. His gaze wasn't fixed on Commander Chu Xuan at that moment but rather on the interstellar holographic tactical display on his side, as if he were waiting for something to happen.
Both Commander Chu Xuan and the female adjutant found this baffling.
"Ten minutes! At most, wait another ten minutes!" Zhao Chen stated seriously.
Commander Chu Xuan, who had been about to speak, chose to hold back. She thought to herself: Then I'll wait another ten minutes. If there's still no change after ten minutes, I will truly have to lead my Imperial Fleet in retreat.
Time passed minute by minute.
The tide of zergs also gradually advanced toward the fleet's defensive line.
The female adjutant was beside herself with anxiety.
Suddenly, a Radar Warrior monitoring the battlefield exclaimed: "Report! High-energy reactions detected in the rear of the zerg swarm! Also... the life signal of one T2 Hive Mothership... has disappeared!"
"A fast-moving unidentified energy signal has suddenly appeared behind the swarm."
Commander Chu Xuan and her female aide exchanged glances. Could this be what the man had been waiting for?
"It's starting!" Zhao Chen muttered, a wild gleam flashing in his eyes.
Charlotte, it's time for your performance!
At that moment, the massive wave of attacking insects actually slowed down, with some even retreating!
"Deploy reconnaissance drones! Find out what's happening!" Commander Chu Xuan urgently ordered.
Unit after unit of reconnaissance drones were launched. Because the frontal battlefield was covered by the dark mass of the swarm, the starships couldn't directly see what was happening behind the insect forces.
They could only rely on the drones moving to a position with a line of sight and transmitting visual data back.
Soon, visual feeds began coming in.
"My God, it's a starship!" the female aide gasped, covering her mouth. "That starship's speed is incredible! Visual estimate is at least seventy or eighty knot stellar speed!"
"No, it's one hundred knot stellar speed," Commander Chu Xuan said, accurately stating the starship's speed based on her battlefield intuition.
"One hundred knot stellar speed?" the aide exclaimed in shock.
At that moment, the wreckage of the exploded T2 Hive Mothership also appeared before their eyes. The originally massive Hive Mothership had been split into three sections. They could clearly see that one side of the mothership's hull had suffered a terrifying cannon strike, completely piercing through it!
"It's a cannon. A cannon with a caliber over 1000mm," Commander Chu Xuan identified the weapon that caused this damage just from the images.
Commander Chu Xuan urgently said, "Zoom in! On that starship!"
The image was gradually enlarged, though somewhat blurry.
But they could still see this rapidly moving starship maneuvering swiftly through enemy lines. It paid no attention to the insect forces pursuing it, simply continuing its high-speed travel.
Due to its astonishing speed, the pursuing insects behind couldn't even catch up!
The Hive Motherships tried attacking with their biological plasma cannons, but the starship's speed was truly too fast—not a single shot hit.
"Captain, what exactly is happening?" Commander Chu Xuan couldn't contain her curiosity any longer and directly asked Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen crossed his arms and calmly explained, "That's a starship from my fleet. Zero Blizzard. A T2 Starship with high speed, equipped with a 1200mm cannon."
"A T2 Starship equipped with a 1200mm caliber cannon?" the female aide exclaimed.
"So this is the second starship in your fleet, right? From the very beginning, you never actually intended to defend against the swarm's attack.
Instead, you used us to attract the insect forces from the Hive Motherships. With large numbers of insect forces deployed to attack us, those Hive Motherships naturally became defensively vulnerable.
And at that moment, your Zero Blizzard approached at extreme speed and directly launched an assault on those Hive Motherships!" Commander Chu Xuan directly stated Zhao Chen's plan.
Zhao Chen nodded. This Imperial Fleet commander not only had a sense of justice and responsibility but was also a quite talented military officer.
"Madman! You're absolutely insane! Have you ever considered that even the slightest mistake could lead to that starship being devoured by the swarm!" The female adjutant stared at Zhao Chen in astonishment.
Zhao Chen, however, replied with unwavering determination, "There will be no mishaps. Because that starship is called Zero Blizzard."
There was one more thing Zhao Chen didn't say.
Commanding the battle on that starship was the legendary beastman general, the White Tiger General—Charlotte!