Chapter 224: Can We Really Win This War?

How are we supposed to fight this battle?

Before jumping right into that, we need to think things through—what are the strengths and weaknesses on both sides?

Let’s start with the Empire.

As a Stage-Four civilization, they naturally possess iconic tech: more advanced energy weapons, powerful energy shields and the ability to perform long-range jumps.

On top of that, the Empire’s fleet is over ten times larger than the Federation’s.

And that’s only counting their standing forces—if they mobilize reserves and bring old warships out of storage, the Drac Empire could deploy close to three million warships.

Now, on to the Federation.

Let’s begin with our disadvantages.

First, when it comes to tech—sure, we have jump engines too, but our energy weaponry is still stuck at Stage Three.

And we don’t have energy shield technology.

Second, in terms of firepower, the Federation can only scrape together maybe a hundred thousand warships, at best.

Of course, I’m talking about ships equipped with Stage Three energy weapons and jump engines.

If we haul out every decommissioned ship and call up our subordinate civilizations, maybe we could muster hundreds of thousands more—but honestly, that wouldn’t change a thing.

After all, if a Stage-Two warship tries to defend the interstellar current mouth, a single Stage-Four warship could crush it with ease.

Only Stage-Three energy weapons have a real chance to leverage the defenses of the current mouth and threaten a Stage-Four ship.

That’s assuming, of course, that the Stage-Four civilization can’t simply jump here and has to attack through the current.

Alright, those are the disadvantages. Now what does the Federation have going for it?

Our advantages come down to three things.

First, the Empire doesn’t know the true extent of our power, which means they’re liable to make major mistakes—and those could be our opening.

Second, the Federation has all the quantum bombs we want—granted, in a normal fleet battle, deploying quantum bombs isn’t a real threat to a Stage-Four civilization.

But if we switch up the scenario to defending the current mouth, especially if the enemy can’t use jump drives…

That changes everything.

Third, and most importantly, we’ve already deployed a jump disruption network that fully covers the Solar System and radiates out ten light-years.

With this net in place, even a Stage-Four civilization has to come through the current. There’s no way to jump directly into our territory.

Everyone here knows these strengths and weaknesses inside out.

Only with that foundation can we talk strategy.

“Commander, I think if we get enough quantum bombs ready, we could take down every invader, no matter how many come through.”

“With a steady barrage, we could send a volley every few seconds to the current mouth. The enemy warships coming out wouldn’t even have time to react, let alone stop them.”

That was the Eighth Fleet’s chief of staff making his case.

At first glance, it sounded perfectly logical—at least, there were no obvious holes.

But a lot of people frowned at that.

Because the truth is, the Federation simply can’t afford to fight this way—not even close.

“Nick, how many quantum bombs are you planning to use in each volley?”

Mu Xingchen asked pointedly.

“At least a thousand per round, set up in a crossfire pattern, to make sure that every batch of enemy warships gets hit by at least a few bombs as they exit.”

“Then tell me—if you want to wipe out fifty thousand enemy warships, how many quantum bombs would you need in total?”

Mu Xingchen pressed further.

Not far away, Lin Yu quietly shook his head.

Nick still hadn’t realized the problem with his plan.

He hadn’t even grasped where his suggestion went wrong.

Railguns have a five-second firing interval, and Nick’s plan calls for at least one thousand quantum bombs each volley.

That means we’d burn through one thousand quantum bombs every five seconds.

So, what about the Empire’s warships?

Roughly five of them can make it through every minute. If all fifty thousand warships cross, it’ll take a total of 166 hours and forty minutes.

So, in those 166 hours and forty minutes, how many quantum bombs would the Federation use to carry out this strategy?

The answer is…

A hundred and twenty million!

Even if we handed you every single quantum bomb in the Federation…

We’d still fall far short of that number.

That’s exactly why Mu Xingchen asked Nick how many quantum bombs he’d really need.

But unfortunately, Nick still didn’t get it—he just started doing the math in earnest.

After a few moments, he finally realized the blunder he’d made. Embarrassment flashed across his face and he sank back into his seat.

Looking embarrassed, he sat back down.

Mu Xingchen shook his head and glanced around the room.

“Lin Yu, let’s hear your thoughts!”

“Yes, Commander!”

Seeing nobody else speak up, Mu Xingchen decided to call on him directly.

Lin Yu stood right up.

“If we’re talking purely about defensive combat inside the disruption net at the current mouth, I honestly don’t think we have much to worry about. We can’t lose—a loss just isn’t possible.”

“Of course, that’s only if the Empire really sends just fifty thousand ships.”

“But honestly, this approach doesn’t scare the enemy. After this wave, the Empire will definitely launch another—maybe a hundred thousand ships, or several hundred thousand next time.”

“So, whether we wipe out these fifty thousand enemy warships isn’t the real point. What matters is using this battle to make the Empire think twice about attacking again—at least in the short term.”

“To do that, we have to stay mysterious. Even the way we take out their fleet should be a mystery, something the Empire can’t figure out.”

“The less they understand us, the less likely they’ll risk a second or third offensive.”

“So in my opinion, no matter what tactics we propose, this has to be our guiding principle!”

Lin Yu didn’t go straight into specifics—instead, he elevated the conversation to a civilizational strategy and pointed out that any tactical plan should follow this broader strategic goal.

Several officers nodded in quiet agreement.

No question, the Empire is strong—so much stronger than the Federation right now.

So taking down a single Empire fleet doesn’t actually mean much.

A few months from now, they could field an even larger force, maybe several times or even ten times bigger than before.

And when that happens, odds are they won’t attack from just one direction—they’ll coordinate assaults from all sides.

If it comes to that, the Federation would have almost no chance at all.

That’s why the real priority is figuring out how to use this fight to intimidate the Empire, to keep them from coming after us again.

“Lin Yu, I assume you have something in mind?”

After a short pause, Mu Xingchen asked.

“I do have the beginnings of a plan. I believe we should tap deeper potential in the jump disruption device.”

“Here’s how we make it happen. Specifically, we could…”