Counterfeit Hero

Fang Xiang’s fleet began to change formation.

The fleet in the virtual starry sky was like clouds in a gale, rolling and changing.

In a few seconds, the battleship’s conical attack cluster had compressed and recovered into an oval-shaped defensive formation like an egg. The cruisers and destroyers on both flanks also shifted their assault routes, connecting end to end; while one side suppressed the formation’s foothold with side cannons, the other drew two arcs of 270 degrees in the starry sky and closed in on the forward-moving fleet main formation.

When the main formation was complete, without any warning, the fleet collectively accelerated, swinging their tails like a school of fish in the deep sea searching for food, pivoting 60 degrees and darting towards the target spaceport assigned to Fatty by the system.

Fang Xiang’s move immediately threw Fatty into a frenzy.

”Do we have to be so desperate?” Fatty turned around and shouted, ”Friendship first, competition second!”

”Then let me win,” Fang Xiang pursed her lips, raised her eyebrows, and didn’t even glance at him.

”Trying to shake me off...” Fatty commanded the fleet to chase and intercept, attempting to entangle Fang Xiang’s fleet tightly. He hummed a few sounds, ready to boast, but his voice suddenly stopped.

Stupefied, he saw four aircraft carriers being flung out of Fang Xiang’s fleet during the high-speed turn on the virtual screen.

At the moment they parted from the fleet, the four carriers turned into four disturbed beehives, with countless space fighters soaring out from the launch runways at different angles. Their tail ion thrusters carved numerous small or large arcs of flowing light in the air before turning their noses and aggressively charging straight at the red intercepting fleet.

The besieging Red Army fleet inevitably collided with the fighter group.

Amid the dense light of energy cannons, the Blue Army fighters turned into fireballs, and the energy shields on the four carriers flickered frantically, with explosions dazzling one after another. More than a dozen Red Army high-speed destroyers were also destroyed and disintegrated under the desperate attacks from the Blue Army fighter group.

Meanwhile, Fang Xiang’s fleet group had already taken the opportunity to break free from the entanglement!

A commotion erupted among the staff behind. To seize Fatty’s target spaceport, Fang Xiang sacrificed the fleet’s most expensive and important combat power!

All four aircraft carriers, at this moment, turned into a suicidal blockade position! Their mission was to hold off the Red Army fleet firmly before being destroyed!

If this were reality, it would mean the obliteration of the core souls of four A-level fleets, thousands of billions in Fei Yuan, and nearly ten thousand soldiers!

”Are you mad?!” Fatty looked at Fang Xiang in astonishment.

”To prevent you from winning, this is the only way.” Fang Xiang turned her face away. Fatty’s shocked look was very similar to the look she gave Tolstoy back then. When Tolstoy taught her this lesson, she was equally shocked and bewildered.

”But...” Fatty utterly refused to accept, ”Losing these four carriers means your fleet will also be wiped out under my attacks! The strategic value of the system’s given target simply isn’t worth it!”

”This is war! The role I’m playing now is your enemy!” Fang Xiang bit her lip sternly, ”Just because I wouldn’t do this in reality doesn’t mean others won’t! War isn’t about rationalizing benefits. In this world, madmen are far more than you imagine! If on a real battlefield, our strategic target might be a seemingly insignificant but crucial spot affecting the entire battle! Sacrificing a fleet, even ten fleets, if it can delay you by one second, someone will unhesitatingly do so!”

”If my fleet captures the spaceport before you eliminate it, your army becomes isolated. There will be system troops ahead and my troops behind. If you lose, you must abandon Carl’s operational plan. If you want to win, you must make equally great sacrifices.” Fang Xiang turned around and looked at Fatty quietly, ”How would you decide?”

The simulation room fell silent. Fang Xiang’s words hit Fatty like a hammer to the heart.

This isn’t a game!

Watching the simulation program on the virtual screen, Fatty suddenly felt the weight of those unissued orders. Remembering the numerous battles since stepping onto the battlefield four years ago, a profound sense of fear surged from his heart.

Previously, he was just a pawn charging into battle. Whether in Galileo, Miloke, or Gazalin, he never controlled his fate. It was Bernadotte, Russell, Mihailovich, and Fiscella wielding the command, strategizing expansively, calmly placing pieces on the war board and laughing while engaging troops.

Recalling Russell’s deployment of the Pearce Signal during the Miloke Battle and Fiscella using the entire Mezrich army as bait in Gazalin, Fatty couldn’t help but shiver.

When did I reach this position?!

The past seemed to vanish in an instant... the days of struggling alone for survival were gone forever. Now, holding in his hands are the lives of a hundred thousand bandit army, the future of two bases, thirty thousand logistics personnel, scientific researchers, and ordinary civilians! Looking ahead, this burden will only grow heavier!

The faces in the Great Generals leaderboard appeared before Fatty again.

No one knows how many of them are madmen. No one knows what they’ll do with the armies they command.