Qin Yi did not have much energy to care about the team in the nest because the main battlefield was also facing immense pressure.
The overwhelming sea of bugs was not just concentrated on the front. These bugs could also suddenly appear from underground without warning, causing many unprepared human bases to suffer heavy losses.
The difference in strength between the two sides made Qin Yi unable to withstand the Zergs’ attacks even if he focused all his attention on commanding the main battlefield.
Suddenly, Qin Yi’s pupils constricted.
A unit on the main battlefield collapsed in an instant under the impact of the sea of insects. The remaining soldiers fell into disarray and fought on their own. The loss of a strategic location directly caused the entire regional battlefield to collapse. The sea of insects were like flies attracted to rotten meat, tearing a hole in the human defense line. The entire battlefield’s situation collapsed instantly!
The defeat was complete. Qin Yi continued to control the various troops to counterattack, but it was useless. Soon, the main battlefield was completely submerged by the sea of insects.
The remaining human soldiers had no choice but to give up on the military base that they had spent a lot of time and energy building on the planet. They retreated back into space and returned to where the command ship was.
Qin Yi did not notice that AS-371-45, like the other elite teams, had died silently in the Zerg nest.
Darkness shrouded the entire command space once again. Qin Yi once again tasted failure.
Qin Yi remained silent for a moment before saying, “Start over.”
In his memory, there were at least a dozen major and minor battles that he had not started over.
That was because he had done well in all the previous dozens of battles.
He had once thought that he had already grasped the key to command: He would be able to control the situation on the battlefield as long as he made the right decision on every battlefield, and combined it with the detailed data provided by AEEIS.
However, Qin Yi now realized that things were obviously not that simple.
At a time where humans and Zergs were equal or even superior in terms of strength, such a commanding style was indeed the safest way to win the battle.
However, once the Zergs’ military strength was higher than that of humans, such a commanding style would lead them to destruction.
There were a large number of corvettes around the command ship. However, in order to ensure the safety of the command ship, the combined fleet had actually wasted a lot of its military strength. This created the situation where human forces on the surface of the planet to be in a weaker position compared to the Zergs.
Qin Yi had a clearer understanding of the situation at the beginning of the battle after he started the same battle again.
The Zergs that he had seen at the start of the war only accounted for a small portion of the Zergs’ true strength. There were even more Zergs hidden in the nests underground, hidden in the space behind the planet, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
The ‘decapitation of the leader operation’ was just a beautiful wish. Once they entered a tug-of-war, they would only die in the face of the sea of bugs that had the advantage no matter whether it was a frontal battle or a team carrying out the decapitation operation.
Qin Yi took a deep breath and pulled the command ship out, leaving it alone in the pitch-black starry sky.
He then pulled out several large frigates, equipped with a large number of range-killing weapons, together with the command ship, as decoys.
The remaining main force of the Alliance Fleet was attacking the Zergs from the front while the other went around the back of the planet to intercept the Zergs that were waiting in space.
That way, the human forces on the battlefield would surpass the Zergs.
If the Zergs did not execute the decapitation strike on the command ship, the humans who had the upper hand in terms of military strength would have a huge chance. If the Zergs carried out the decapitation operation on the command ship, the commander would still be able to sacrifice a large number of Zergs’ military strength. He would be able to guarantee a victory on the battlefield at the cost of sacrificing himself.
The images around Qin Yi kept switching to various corners of the battlefield.
On the main battlefield, the human forces suppressed the Zergs in terms of numbers. Not only did they guard the defensive line, but they also had the energy to continue advancing, closing in on above the Zerg’s nest and cooperating with the decapitation mission;
The human fleet in space met the Zerg fleet. Countless starships exploded and disintegrated. The Zergs’ countless Leviathan Beasts were attacked by dense artillery fire. The poisonous gas in their bodies burned violently. The flames in the sky were like beautiful fireworks.
He was obviously losing contact with the decapitation teams that had infiltrated the Zerg nest one by one. However, because the main battlefield had effectively dispersed the Zerg army, the survival rate of these teams was obviously much higher than before.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan.
However, at that moment, an ear-piercing alarm suddenly sounded throughout the entire space. Red warning words appeared on the surrounding image. A large number of Zerg troops broke through the defensive line outside the command ship and pounced towards it!
AEEIS’ cold voice sounded. “Attention! Once the command ship is destroyed, all units will be taken over by AEEIS. Commander, please make the appropriate arrangements in advance.”
Qin Yi quickly turned his attention and gave orders to every unit.
He requested for the frontline troops to speed up their attacks and charge towards the top of the Zergs that the execution team had found. He wanted them to cooperate with the execution team.
He requested the fleet at the back of the planet to stall the remaining Zerg fleet at all costs.
He requested the corvette to stall for time after consuming most of its weapons in a self-destruction move. Finally, the remaining corvette gathered around the command ship and perished together with the insects.
Qin Yi saw countless messages from the decapitation team, including requests for reinforcements from Team AS-371-45.
However, Qin Yi no longer had any troops he could send to reinforce them.
There were several AEEIS reply templates below the request for reinforcements. Of course, Qin Yi could also verbally give instructions to AEEIS.
Still, he opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Instead, he clicked on the console and selected a template reply provided by AEEIS.
[Continue with the mission. Reinforcements are on their way.]
After choosing this reply, he switched his vision back to the command ship. The sea of insects that filled the sky seemed to be right in front of him.
One by one, the command ships crashed into the densest part of the sea of insects. Brilliant fireworks lit up and extinguished in the dark night sky. The huge battleships disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if they had never appeared.
After stalling for as long as possible, the dense swarm of Zergs had surrounded the command ship. The Leviathan Behemoth creature sprayed countless Zergs at the human fleet. From an omniscient view, the human fleet was like a piece of meat surrounded by ants.
The few remaining corvettes moved closer to the command ship and pressed the final detonation button at the same time.
A bright light flashed, and the space where Qin Yi was became snow-white. It took more than ten seconds before the scene was restored.
AEEIS took over control from Qin Yi and directed the subsequent battles.
Qin Yi was like a dead man, watching the final scene of the battle as a soul.
They had won the battle, where the result of which was even better than the actual battle.
However, Qin Yi did not look happy at all. After a moment of silence, he said, “Continue.”
AEEIS’s image appeared again after some time. “Commander, we will be entering the ‘random battle’ training mode.”
“The battles that we face next include battles that have happened before but had a change in their initial configurations; fictional battles that were randomly generated by intelligent systems according to algorithms; even battles where there is a huge difference in strength, harsh conditions, and no possibility of victory.”
“There will be no mission targets in random battles. You will decide the battle strategy. There will no longer be a time limit for each battle. You will be the one to judge the situation on the battlefield. Battle or retreat, annihilate or stop losses will depend on your judgment.”
“Commander, good luck.”
Qin Yi did not say much but continued to command the next battle expressionlessly.
Without a clear target and a clear time limit, Qin Yi had to decide what he wanted to do. Whether it was a frontal attack or to leave a small portion of the troops behind to create an opportunity for the main force to retreat was up to him.
The battlefield could have happened anywhere on the planet. The timeline seemed to have become very chaotic. Some teams that had already been completely sacrificed in the previous battle appeared in the new battle once again. As for the wholesome teams that Qin An remembered from the beginning were now incomplete.
Qin An did not ask further because he vaguely understood the intention behind this move. He wanted to cultivate himself to be able to quickly develop the best combat strategy based on the strength ratio and objective situations of humans and Zergs on the battlefield.
Qin Yi controlled the troops calmly and carried out various tasks. The data that AEEIS had gathered had become an important basis for his decision-making. Human fear, hot-bloodedness, ignorance, and other complex emotions had all become a part of the decision-making reference under the analysis of the big data. Lies and sacrifices had become figures with a higher success rate.
The scene around Qin Yi kept changing. One random battle after another ended.
Precious time passed as he slept for three hours a day.
Another mid-scale regional battle had begun.
As usual, Qin Yi calmly analyzed the situation on the battlefield, considered possible unexpected situations, and fully considered the uncertainties of each team.
Everything was going smoothly.
A few Skylark Battle Teams followed Qin Yi’s instructions to explore the unknown Zerg’s nest. After collecting intelligence, they could use this as a basis to form a battle plan for the main force.
On the main battlefield, they had to be on guard against any sudden attacks from the Zergs. Therefore, Qin Yi did not pay too much attention to these few squads.
However, very soon, multiple communication messages after another was sent from a team.
Qin Yi could choose to ignore this information, but he still took time out of his busy schedule to take a look.
In the Zerg nest, a certain Skylark team that was carrying out a mission had already lost three members. The team leader was already dead. Of the two remaining members, one of them had his entire right leg blown off. The other member was protecting him, repelling the approaching Zergs.
The two of them might be safe for now but the stronger Zerg warriors would soon discover them. Staying here would only lead to death.
Qin Yi took a look. The task of collecting information was basically completed. The chances of the injured team members surviving were very low. There was no need to send another team in.
Thus, Qin Yi ordered a retreat and turned his attention to other areas of the battlefield.
However, a few minutes later, when Qin Yi looked at the team again, he only saw the image of the mini reactor exploding.
Qin Yi was stunned for a moment. He opened the information on the two team members and realized that they were a couple from the European Fleet.
AEEIS’ voice sounded. “The intelligent system’s analysis data is more than 87% accurate, but there are also unpredictable behaviors or phenomena sometimes. This is to better simulate unexpected situations in the real battlefield.”
Qin Yi did not speak. Instead, he continued to command the battle until the end of the regional battle.
After the battle ended, Qin Yi leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, remaining silent for a few minutes.
“Did that battle just now really happen?”
“Or did you start doing this even earlier?”
“Did you mix the real battles into the ‘random battle’ mode?”
AEEIS did not answer immediately. Instead, it only answered after a while. “It started in the sixth battle after adding the ‘simulated elements’.”
“Commander, so far, you have conducted 17 real battles of various sizes. You have done well.”
Qin Yi was stunned. “Why from the sixth battle?”
AEEIS: “The Supreme Executive Committee of the United Fleet must be responsible for all the soldiers on the front line. They cannot put their lives in the hands of a new commander.”
“Since the sixth battle, AEEIS and the Supreme Executive Committee have recognized that you have the ability to command small-scale battles.”
Qin Yi was silent for a long time. “In other words, in these 17 battles, every soldier who was sacrificed was a living person, including the couple just now.”
AEEIS: “Yes.”
