An artillery duel could last several minutes at the shortest but could also stretch on for several days in the more extreme cases. It all depended on how willing either side wanted to close the distance and how long their hardware and supplies could endure the consumption.
The way that bunkers and compatible heavy artillery mechs were designed played a huge role in how long a side could persist. The Transcendent Punisher model was designed with Hexer technical specifications in mind and that made it a good fit for all of the Hexer-built vessels.
However, several minutes into this destructive exchange of fire, it became clear that the Slug Rangers were even better at this kind of ranged attrition warfare!
“The bunkers of the enemy vessels are at least 23 percent more damage resistant than ours.”
“The heavy artillery mechs are mounted on movable platforms that can rapidly be pulled to the rear in the event a bunker has been breached.”
“The heat dispersion and ammunition supply systems of the bunkers are 14 percent more efficient than ours.”
Numerous analysts with a naval engineering background began to supply relevant information to the soldiers. It became clear that the Slug Rangers accumulated a lot more knowledge and experience in ranged combat and artillery duels.
For a moment, Ves had the illusion that he was not witnessing a battle between mechs, but warships.
Carrier vessels that incorporated bunkers into their design were hardly different from true warships at first glance. The only problem was that the scale of firepower was a bit too low. While it was possible for bunker mechs to destroy large starships, their relatively limited power meant that they either had to hit the right weak points or rely on applying continuous damage to break down their targets.
This was exactly what was taking place at the moment. The distance between the two fleets wasn’t closing as fast as could be, which meant that this long-ranged exchange of fire could easily last an hour or more.
This was a rather nerve-wracking amount of time that could impact people’s morale in a negative way.
The reason for that was that it was extremely frustrating to be fired upon but not be able to retaliate effectively. Melee mechs and other machines optimized for close to mid-ranged combat such as Valkyrie Redeemers were currently relegated to spectators at the moment.
In order to prevent them from suffering losses without any meaningful payoff, the mechs all took cover behind armored combat carriers or larger ships that could withstand a lot of hits such as the Graveyard.
They were the equivalent of armsmen taking cover behind castle walls. Distant catapults and trebuchets tried to tear down the thick walls by launching constant heavy projectiles. Though the chances of getting directly hit was low, if anyone got hit even once, they would assuredly incur a lot of hurt!
It was during times like these that willpower, training, discipline and other mental factors became important.
When Ves surveyed his own men, he became satisfied with what he saw. Both his mech pilots and the ship crews were still holding firm. While not many of them were in high spirits anymore, they were far from crumbling. That might change as the battle intensified later on, but at least Ves didn’t have to worry about the onset of doubt at this early stage.
“This is still the opening act. A battle as large as this won’t be concluded so soon.”
The scale of the battle and the numbers involved made it unlikely that both sides would be able to achieve a decisive victory so soon. This was especially when neither side was willing to rush each other.
Though the ships of the expeditionary fleet were still moving away from the dwarven fleet, they had already turned their orientations around so that their bow faced their pursuers. In other words, they were coasting backwards while using their positional thrusters to vary their course and prevent themselves from turning into easy targets.
If General Verle wanted to, he could order these ships to engage their main propulsion, causing them to close the distance to the chasing dwarves faster.
Yet he did not choose to do so. The reason for that was that he was reluctant to engage the Molten Hammers in battle.
Right now, the Molten Hammer mechs were just as useless as the melee mechs of the Larkinson Clan. They had all deployed in space but were all huddling behind their bulky but well-armored carriers.
Although the Molten Hammers hardly played any role in this stage of the unfolding battle, their threat level could easily exceed that of the Slug Rangers once their hardy dwarven mechs came close enough to slam in the expeditionary fleet’s defensive lines!
What worried General Verle even more was that the Hivar Roarers would come into play as well. Their diverse bestial mechs could easily flank the main lines and attack the Larkinson Clan’s mechs or starships from angles that were hard to defend against!
At the same time, the Slug Rangers and their Steel Rain elite mech regiment in particular would still be pounding the expeditionary fleet’s assets without stopping!
“Damn, what a difficult choice.”
Compared to the prospect of fighting against three dwarven mech divisions at once, General Verle wisely sought to contain the intensity of the battle and see whether they could take advantage at long range.
It didn’t seem like things were going well, though. While the disparity was not alarmingly lopsided, the Steel Rain obviously weren’t novices at this. The expeditionary fleet was incurring more damage than the well-armored ships of the dwarven fleet.
Ves sighed. The Eye of Ylvaine was too young and was just beginning to develop its own doctrines and unique practices. The Steel Rain was decades ahead and already possessed mature fighting and training systems.
“How many Transcendent Punishers have we lost so far?” He asked.
“Thirty-three, sir.”
That did not sound like much, but the Larkinson Clan did not boast a lot of bunker and bunker mechs to begin with. In fact, it wasn’t just quality that caused the Larkinsons to be put at a disadvantage, but also quantity. If not for the Glory Seekers and Cross Clan contributing their own artillery mechs, then this artillery duel would have easily become a one-sided slaughter!
Ves knew that the rate of losses would only accelerate as the distance narrowed. Most of the bunkers that succumbed had been targeted by massed firepower. When hundreds of heavy artillery mechs pounded onto the same ship, it shouldn’t be surprising that the vessel and everyone on her would eventually break!
“Perhaps it is time to activate my first trump card.”
The main reason why he granted the Eye of Ylvaine a battle network and a battle totem was to grant them a means to catch up to the enemy. Though Ves preferred to save this card at a later stage, he was afraid that his artillery mech legion would incur too many casualties too early, thereby directly reducing the impact of its battle network.
Suddenly, the Spirit of Bentheim shuddered a bit! His flagship apparently suffered a devastating impact!
“What happened!?”
“The Gauss Baron has opened fire!”
Just seconds earlier, eight potent high-quality projectiles empowered by resonance soared straight from the Lemogo Distat and squeezed through the wall of Larkinson ships until they slammed straight onto the bow of the Spirit of Bentheim!
“My cat head prow!”
Ves quickly switched the view of one of his projections. To his horror, the giant head that adorned the front of his factory ship had incurred a considerably ugly scar on the forehead!
The eight projections had not only cratered through many meters of solid Breyer alloy, but also transferred a devastating amount of kinetic energy that fractured and weakened the structure of the materials around the impact sites.
It was as if the powerful opening strike of the enemy’s expert artillery mech had carved an ugly flower onto the most prominent symbol of the Golden Cat!
When the other Larkinsons found out what happened, they did not grow discouraged at the powerful show of force. Instead, they grew angry and indignant! Ves could feel a wave of fury building up in the Larkinson Network that infected every clansmen!
The mech pilots of the Eye of Ylvaine all grew offended at this grave insult and fought a little harder!
However, when the Gauss Baron fired a second volley, its eight guns fired weaker but still potent resonance-empowered strikes at the Spirit of Bentheim!
The Larkinsons were better prepared this time.
Three combat carriers intercepted three of the deadly projectiles, causing their armored hulls to incur so much damage that it looked as if they had been struck by a giant pick.
The remaining five projectiles all attempted to strike several different bunkers with only moderate deviations in accuracy.
On their way, three of them slammed against the shield protected by the same generator. The successive impacts were so powerful and destructive against the shield that it quickly broke!
This allowed two projectiles that arrived a bit later to move past the vanished protective barrier and hit two different bunkers without any further opposition!
It was as if the Spirit of Bentheim was struck by twin meteorites.
The two bunkers that were directly hit were taken out entirely with the Transcendent Punishers inside shattering apart from the residual forces unleashed by the successful attacks.
“What is the status of the overpowered shield generator?”
“Sir, it is still intact but damaged to the point that it is unable to project a new shield. Several of her energy-bearing parts have malfunctioned and need to be replaced in order to restore its functionality.”
“How long will that take?”
“Three minutes at the fastest.”
“Then hurry up! The Steel Rain are already concentrating their firepower on the unshielded section.”
The Gauss Baron hadn’t fired again, signifying that it could not fire shots at this power level too often.
Although the enemy artillery mechs were already trying to take advantage of the vulnerability, the Spirit of Bentheim slightly changed her orientation until the majority of enemy vessels were no longer able to fire at the damaged section.
After a dozen seconds, the Gauss Baron fired another high-powered volley. This time the Larkinson escort vessels had packed themselves even tighter and prevented the enemy expert mech from overpowering another shield generator.
Though Ves was glad that his factory ship remained unharmed this time, the huge craters and breached compartments on the unlucky sub-capital ships told him that the Gauss Baron did not waste its firepower.
“If this goes on, the Gauss Baron will definitely wreck a lot of ships!”
Nobody knew how much power it held and how many times it could fire volleys empowered by resonance. In fact, even if Venerable Leiva Hinder stopped leveraging resonance in her attacks, she would still be able to wear down the defenses of the Larkinson Clan with ease.
Ves switched to a private communication channel with General Verle. “Should we order the Eye of Ylvaine to show off their trick?”
“Hmmm..” General Verle fell into thought. “It is still too early for my liking, and I do not believe it will help with taking down this well-protected and highly-entrenched expert mech. We have a different plan in mind for that. Let the Gauss Baron waste its firepower on our starships. As long as it doesn’t destroy too many of our bunker mechs, it is fine if it cripples a dozen sub-capital ships. We have plenty more to spare.”
As the Gauss Baron continued to fire devastating volleys towards the ships covering for the Spirit of Bentheim, Ves understood the tradeoff that General Verle had accepted.
He was essentially sacrificing a steady amount of ships and artillery mechs just to keep a single enemy expert mech preoccupied!
What was happening at the moment was eerily similar to what happened during the Battle of Reckoning. Without a suitable expert mech, the only way to defeat or stall another expert mech was by sacrificing a lot of regular assets!
