Li Qingsong saw that under his all-out assault—an offensive waged without regard for cost or sacrifice, where every destroyed warship was immediately replaced, every neutralized unmanned combat facility was instantly replenished, and a relentless barrage of Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles and laser beams was maintained alongside the constant detonation of high-yield Electromagnetic Interference Bombs—even the Strong Core Level warships were now being forced to make tactical adjustments.
They were no longer charging forward with abandon, relying on their Energy Shields to absorb all damage. Instead, they had begun to coordinate with one another, even starting to pull back to evade his fleet's cannon fire.
Li Qingsong had forcefully halted their advance!
Although this was merely one of the enemy's detachment fleets, with no large-scale warships among them;
Although the enemy's primary objective was likely deterrence to force his surrender, not annihilation;
Although he was already giving his all, and his forces were suffering heavy casualties with every passing moment;
Although this stalemate was only achieved through the combination of all these factors, one thing was undeniable.
He, with the combat strength of an Electroweak Level Civilization, had temporarily stopped a fleet from a Strong Core Level Civilization in its tracks, preventing them from advancing a single inch!
Measuring by the combat effectiveness both sides were currently displaying, Li Qingsong knew that there probably wasn't a second Electroweak Civilization in the entire Milky Way Galaxy that could accomplish such a feat.
'You may be powerful, but you are not invincible.'
Li Qingsong's heart surged with fighting spirit. His gaze once again turned to the distance, toward the location of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity's main fleet.
Over two million warships were still stationed there, yet to be deployed.
Li Qingsong knew this number likely exceeded the maximum number of warships a normal Strong Core Civilization could support.
Civilizations of different levels had different population caps—or rather, organizational caps.
The height of this organizational capacity depended on the level of technology. A more advanced civilization could use technological means to organize a larger population. Any population that could not be organized was not an asset to the civilization, but a burden.
Thus, different levels of civilization had different population caps.
According to Li Qingsong's estimates, the population cap of a Strong Core Civilization could support a fleet size of approximately 700,000 to one million warships.
The Intelligent Mechanical Calamity, however, had clearly obtained combat strength far exceeding that of a normal civilization of its level by enslaving the sentient life of other civilizations.
This total of over two million warships was a testament to its formidable military power.
For now, the majority of that power remained in the rear, undeployed.
That wouldn't do.
This was precisely why Li Qingsong was willing to endure such immense casualties to hold this detachment fleet outside his defensive perimeter.
'How could I let your main fleet just sit back and watch?'
Of course, even though Li Qingsong was currently holding back the enemy's assault, they wouldn't need to deploy their entire force to truly breach his defenses. A few tens of thousands of additional warships at most would be enough.
But Li Qingsong knew they most likely wouldn't do that.
He had a certain degree of confidence in this judgment, though it wasn't a sure thing. But at this moment, besides taking the gamble, he had no other choice.
If the enemy didn't mobilize their entire army, but merely sent a small reinforcement...
Li Qingsong knew he would have to start thinking about a reset.
At that moment, aboard the Supercomputer Carrier, the frontline battle situation was being transmitted in real time via Super-distance Communication, undergoing live processing by Red Dog.
The war raging at the front could already be described as immense. And a large-scale war inevitably generates vast amounts of data. More data requires more resources to process.
Yet, aboard the Supercomputer Carrier, the numerous Supercomputing Bases continued to operate smoothly, with not even a significant fluctuation in power consumption.
Within the logic processing units, countless streams of information continued to flash rapidly.
"The Prey Civilization has not suffered a mental collapse due to our show of force. On the contrary, it has displayed an even firmer will to fight, even succeeding in intercepting our fleet outside its defensive perimeter.
Defeating the opponent with a single detachment fleet is no longer possible.
To achieve this, an estimated 40,000 additional warships would need to be dispatched.
However, the resolve they have shown in this battle has exceeded my prior predictions.
Their Manned Warships are fighting with a complete disregard for casualties, almost as if they are actively seeking death.
The success rate of the 'defeat and force surrender' plan has dropped to less than 20%. Even if we successfully rout the opponent, we will face large-scale suicide attacks.
While this would not cause us any damage... the opponent's sentient life is a valuable asset. Large-scale suicide attacks would lead to the deaths of numerous sentient beings, preventing us from capturing a sufficient number of 'native' sentient lifeforms and resulting in a lower-than-expected harvest.
Thus, the original combat plan must be abandoned. We must deploy more combat power to neutralize the opponent's combat capabilities without destroying their warships or causing significant personnel casualties.
Controlling an opponent is more difficult than killing them. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the battlefield situation and the opponent's will to resist, the total number of warships required for deployment is... 1.5 million.
To ensure the plan proceeds smoothly, I believe we can be even more aggressive.
This Star System has been thoroughly surveyed; no external threats exist within or around it. A reserve of 50,000 warships is sufficient for basic defense of the main fleet.
The remaining total of 2 million warships can all be committed to the battlefield.
There is one more point to note.
Reconnaissance satellites have detected a large number of Hydrogen Bombs deployed by the Prey Civilization within the Asteroid Belt, suspected to be a Hydrogen Bomb trap.
However, after suffering significant losses from a Hydrogen Bomb trap in the previous Interstellar System, we have already adjusted our countermeasures accordingly and achieved positive results—the second Hydrogen Bomb trap posed no threat to us whatsoever.
Practical experience has proven that as long as we reduce our speed and probe carefully, Hydrogen Bomb traps are ineffective against us.
This is likely because the Prey Civilization is unaware of the situation in the previous Star Systems and has no knowledge that Hydrogen Bomb traps are now useless against us, which is why they have deployed one again.
Therefore, the summary of the new combat plan is as follows:
Deploy an additional 2 million warships. Proceed at a reduced speed, probing carefully to negate the threat of the Hydrogen Bomb trap, while concentrating targeted attacks on the engines, Electromagnetic Cannons, radar, and Laser Cannons of the Manned Warships. This will neutralize their capacity for suicide attacks, preserving them for our future capture.
…"