It turned out that Admiral Thomas indeed had the ability to become a renowned general.

His strong psychological quality made Yang Ming unable to help but give him several thumbs up.

No one can win an unexpected war, a fact that stands out especially in interstellar space battles where technological power is comparable.

Of course, Admiral Thomas could not either.

Yang Ming couldn't understand why the Guel Alliance and the Free Federation suddenly and directly joined the battle. Who gave them the motivation to act against their national interests?

Such a large-scale war involved many external factors.

The Sherman Empire had originally managed these external factors, using both hard and soft tactics on the two powerful nations most likely to change the balance of power between the Empire and the New Federation, ensuring they would not send reinforcements to the New Federation.

Apart from the two countries' main motivation of taking advantage of the fighting, the most important secondary factor was the Sherman Empire's powerful military deterrence.

None of them truly understood how much power the Sherman Empire had hidden.

But the history of the Milky Way has shown that the power controlled by the Imperial Military Department is merely the conventional force, and the Empire possesses incredibly powerful 'unconventional' combat power.

This powerful deterrent is the source of the Imperial Military Department's confidence and the source of the Free Federation and Guel Alliance's apprehension.

But now...

The two powerful nations that could have enjoyed the 'spoils' and further drained the New Federation and its allies, ignoring possible reprisals from the Empire, suddenly dispatched troops, entered the main battlefield, and joined the battle against the Empire directly!

This greatly boosted the morale of the New Federation side.

And it made the Empire's side extremely angry, yet helpless.

Despite the anger, with the sudden reversal of battlefield situations, Admiral Thomas made the most rational decision immediately.

The entire army executed the third retreat plan as battle groups, retreating en masse.

Among them, the first, third, and fourth battle groups output full firepower, directly pressuring the New Federation Fleet and attacking the New Federation Fleet's living forces.

The second and fifth battle groups conducted conservative fire attacks on the flanks and gathered toward the central area during the retreat, launching a second round of fierce attacks on the pursuing New Federation Fleet.

Admiral Thomas' tactical intention was clear.

With the reversal in situation, the New Federation side would not be content to let the Imperial expedition fleet retreat easily, and the former would definitely try to entangle forward.

The Empire was betting on this psychological gap next!

Admiral Thomas ordered the Imperial Fleet not to attack the reinforcements but only to strike the main force, fighting while retreating, and mutually defending each other.

Only by eliminating the New Federation's living forces can the Empire continue to hold the initiative on the subsequent battlefield!

Yang Ming continuously pondered nearby.

Admiral Thomas' move was very risky, as he was gambling that the reinforcements from the Guel Alliance and the Free Federation were paper tigers with flowery displays that wouldn't truly engage in a life-and-death battle with the Imperial Fleet.

If the gamble paid off, this retreat would be a strategic shift, with losses for the New Federation exceeding those of the Empire.

If the gamble failed, the casualties of the Imperial Fleet would be thirty to fifty percent higher than if they had directly retreated across the board.

The safety of the entire army hinged on one person, and under such immense pressure, Admiral Thomas abandoned 'conservatism', rolled up his sleeves and with red eyes, made a bold gamble with the other three members of the Galaxy's Four Great Rogues.

He won the gamble.

The Guel Fleet and Free Federation Fleet came somewhat hastily. Though they appeared fierce, they were actually fierce only outside the Empire Ships' firing range.

If they truly wanted to engage in a life-and-death battle with the Imperial Fleet, one of the two fleets would have to intercept the retreat path of the Empire's five battle groups, sacrificing themselves to deal a heavy blow to the Empire's military power.

In reality, these two fleets were just attacking the flanks of the Imperial Fleet, trying to boost their ostensible battle achievements, and had no interest in intercepting the main Imperial Fleet.

In contrast, the New Federation Commander, eager to kill the enemy, was anxious to keep the main Imperial Fleet in this space and had already ordered an all-out assault.

This played right into Admiral Thomas' hands!

Yang Ming watched in amazement:

The Empire, which was supposed to be in a rout, began an orderly retreat;

The firepower thrown at the frontal Imperial Fleet caused chaos within the surging New Federation warship group;

The two flanking fleets, which were supposed to charge strongly against the Empire's battle array, instead chased the Empire's flanking small fleets, covering them with full firepower...

When Yang Ming looked at the back of Admiral Thomas again, he suddenly felt that this ordinary human, whom he could easily crush, seemed to be brewing the power of a giant energy-gathering bomb in his head.

Quite something.

"Thomas!"

An old general appeared on the side screen.

"The New Federation warship group is in hot pursuit. We must make a choice. My unit will charge the enemy to cover the rest of the fleet's orderly retreat! My unit! Shall repay the enemy tenfold in casualties!"

"I'm sorry, teacher, but I must decline your proposal."

Admiral Thomas slightly raised his head:

"If they want to fight, then we'll fight to the end!

"There's no need to sever an arm yet. Our forces will inflict more casualties on the enemy with less than twenty percent losses!

"Imperial soldiers never abandon their comrades!

"General, please follow the General Commander's orders! Your unit shall proceed with cross-cover using the twelve formation I defined!"

"Yes!"

The old general shouted loudly with full strength, and the image immediately disappeared.

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