Yang Ming watched from behind as Admiral Thomas's clenched fists repeatedly released and tightened.

Clearly, the pressure on this Vice Admiral had reached a critical point.

A series of commands continuously issued from Admiral Thomas's mouth, and the nearby dozens of messengers were struggling to keep pace.

In the depths of space, the Empire's five combat clusters executed a maneuver warfare like a stage play, with formidable firepower and impenetrable defense. The New Federation Fleet's ships were losing at a rate visibly exceeding that of the Empire's main fleet!

The Empire's warship group was slowly retreating, gradually changing from a semi-surrounded stance to facing only the enemy's fan-shaped fleet formation.

At this moment, the battlefield situation changed once again.

The Guel Alliance and Free Federation reinforcements on both flanks seemed to have received a firm order from above. The two reinforcements suddenly commenced a ferocious assault, with a total of five Dreadnoughts firing fully and tearing open gaps in the Empire's flanking fleets!

Admiral Thomas cursed but remained calm, ordering a rapid retreat of ships from all directions.

Yang Ming folded his arms, standing in the rear.

He could have done a little, such as inspiring Empire soldiers to fight bravely, boosting the Empire's combat effectiveness by one or two percent.

He didn't quite understand how he ended up with more prestige among the Empire's ordinary soldiers than his influence in Empire society.

If he gave a speech and caused some trouble for one or two enemy ships, the Empire's warship group could alleviate much pressure.

But he couldn't do that.

Firstly, the Imperial Military Department had not made an explicit request of him.

Secondly, if the Empire suffered considerable warship losses, reducing its military power, it would serve his interests.

Yang Ming's feelings were complicated now.

On one hand, he was stirred by the current atmosphere of relentless combat, with the element of Hanton of Imperial soldiers burning within him; on the other hand, he had to remain rational and restrained, contemplating how to steer the situation towards a direction more aligned with his interests.

Actually, letting the Empire's fleet fight the other three might not be a bad opportunity to weaken the Empire among the Four Great Powers...

Yang Ming squinted slightly, the thoughts in his mind gradually becoming animated.

Suddenly!

A soft ding sounded, and the instruments on this command flagship suddenly stalled.

Yang Ming blinked, and in the space in front of Admiral Thomas appeared a slim figure, while the entire operation interface of the command console noticeably changed.

It became more simplified.

The suddenly appearing girl was evidently a realistic projection, which Yang Ming was very familiar with.

She had twin ponytails and was wrapped in snug-fitting white metallic attire, with a somewhat noticeable collar around her neck.

Is this... Li?

"Takeover complete."

Her voice echoed around, with her raised right hand pointed at the front porthole.

Yang Ming seemed to see the entire Empire's warship group being covered by a silver-white light wave emanating from this warship's command system.

Li turned to look at Admiral Thomas.

Her somewhat vacant eyes scanned Yang Ming, devoid of any emotion, lacking the lively aura like that of Lyu.

"Please set strategic objectives."

"Have our fleet retreat to the rear area with minimal casualties, repel the enemy, and inflict sufficient damage on the New Federation Fleet."

"Confirmed."

Li turned around, her right hand slowly raised, and the light points dispersing from her fingertips were accurate instructions.

Almost instantaneously, the entire Empire's combat cluster became a cohesive whole, with each operator of every ship receiving, on average, a specific instruction every three seconds, down to which button to press.

The previously chaotic edges of the Empire's warship group had completed their self-restraint in less than two minutes.

The Empire's warship group was still retreating, but the process had become more fierce.

Due to the retreat formation, what was formerly only seventy-five percent effective firepower utilization had now soared to ninety percent.

The New Federation at this point had no choice but to forge ahead.

The ally support arriving on both sides seemed to have entered into a state of relentless combat as well.

The Empire fleet began orderly abandoning some ships that had lost tactical value, and the previously deployed drone groups started appearing unpredictably across the expansive battlefield.

A brutal deep space confrontation was thus set in motion.

Yang Ming quietly watched Li's back, remaining silent for a long time.

...

The Empire lost.

To be precise, the Empire was about to lose to the suddenly intervening Guel Alliance and Free Federation in this great battle.

The Four Great Powers of the Milky Way, as the other three joined forces, even an Empire as strong as this couldn't win this 'passively ill-prepared' war.

Originally holding twelve stars, the Empire lost four.

Fortunately, this fierce battle only lasted a little over two hours.

The conclusion of the intense confrontation was marked by the arrival of reinforcements from the Four Great Powers, each reaching the edge of the battlefield.

The reinforcements on the New Federation side came, practically constituting half of Minter City's defensive force, with fleets from all regions converging on Minter City to fill the significant defense gap appearing at the rear.

The Free Federation and Guel Alliance mobilized several main fleets to be deployed at the edges of this space grinder.

However, upon seeing the Empire's reinforcements, they chose to retreat.

The reason was simple—the Empire's reinforcements were simply intimidating.

The Military Department sent two complete combat clusters, bringing three brand-new models of Dreadnoughts.

The fleet of noble private armies appeared on the right wing of the reinforcements. Although the warships were quite miscellaneous and lacked combat strength, the number of ships over three hundred meters exceeded five thousand.

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