mtl008 Chapter 3726 Doomsday (9)
Chapter 3726 Doomsday (9)
Chapter 3726 Doomsday (19)
“That was really a bit too unethical of you.” In the hospital room, Steve crossed his arms and looked at Schiller, who was giving Star-Lord psychological therapy. “Using Peter to obtain the forbidden knowledge of the Outer Gods, then using Jarvis to hack into the Shi'ar Empire’s ship system to spread the forbidden knowledge, making them willingly sacrifice themselves, and then summoning the Hydras—you were really something.”
"Forget about whether it's unethical or not, just tell me if this tactic works or not," Schiller said, glancing down at Star-Lord's brainwave data. "What do you think is the biggest advantage of the three great empires?"
Steve thought for a moment and said, "When facing Earth, we have the advantage in almost every aspect. Whether it's technological level, weaponry scale, or population size..."
“You’re right, their biggest advantage is actually their population.” Schiller scribbled on the data and said, “Currently, the total population of the three great empires is about 6000 billion, and that’s just the resident population. The other two mechanical civilizations can generate about three times their resident population in a short period of time. Apart from the Shi’ar Empire, the other two countries have a total population of soldiers, and the number of personnel they can mobilize alone can reach trillions. And the people of the Shi’ar Empire can be resurrected, which means that their military strength has almost no upper limit.”
"Although they also have more spaceships and weapons, the spaceships and weapons are relatively more technologically advanced, require rare materials, and have a longer manufacturing cycle, making them much more expensive than soldiers. So in the end, this war will really come down to manpower."
"Humans can fight outnumbered, and the individual soldiers of the three great empires can hardly affect us. But we are not robots; carbon-based life forms get tired. This is our biggest weakness and their biggest advantage."
"Moreover, if there are casualties on the human side, it will be a huge blow to our morale. Even if they can be resurrected, the dead will feel pain and fear, and these emotions will affect those around them. It's not worth it at all."
"Therefore, we must reduce their troop strength, or more precisely, make them hesitant to engage in human wave tactics or rotation warfare. Only in this way can we turn the tide and take the initiative to create advantages, until we inflict losses they cannot accept and force them to withdraw."
"So there was never an option to retreat?"
“No,” Schiller shook his head and said, “It’s either win or die.”
Steve took a deep breath and said, "I always felt it wasn't that simple. You've never been a gambler. What if something unexpected happens and we lose?"
"I told you before, if it really comes to that, I have a way. But it's best if I don't have to use that method."
"Alright, so summoning Hydra is your method for reducing the enemy's forces?"
“That’s right. According to the information Jarvis sent back, the military strength of the three major empires in the star system has reached about 600 billion, which is ten times the permanent population of Earth, and it is still increasing. He predicts that the three major empires will eventually increase their military strength to 1800 billion. Do you know what this means?”
"What?...Wait, you said before that the Hydra kills randomly, but their numbers are 30 times ours, so their people are much more likely to be killed than ours."
“That’s right, but that’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is that this will cause the three great empires to send more troops to dilute the probability of being selected.”
Steve thought for a moment and understood. He said, "Assuming everyone has an equal chance of being killed by the Hydra, the more people there are, the lower the probability of important figures being killed. To ensure that important figures carrying out orders are not killed, they must send more people to dilute the probability."
“That’s it,” Schiller nodded. “I think they should have found out about this by now.”
"But didn't you want to reduce your troop strength? Doesn't this just increase the number of troops they send?"
"What I want to reduce is their overall strength; the more troops they send, the greater the losses will be."
Emperor Skrull's expression was somewhat grave, and the guard officer before him said tremblingly, "This matter cannot really be blamed on General Ryder; no one expected the frigate's captain to be suddenly killed. Although the first mate quickly took over, there was still a two-second commotion, which led to the scrape..."
"A scrape? The main guns of the capital ship were knocked askew, and you call that a scrape?!" Emperor Skrull raised his voice. "Replace that idiot immediately! Replace Asatur..."
"Report!" a messenger saluted at the door and said, "Battle report from the front, Your Majesty. General Asatur has unfortunately been killed in the battle just now."
"Battle? What battle?"
"It's...it's about that demon god named Hydra..."
With a bang, Emperor Skrull slammed down the cup in his hand. His advisor, who had been examining a star chart, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this cannot continue. The enemy is clearly trying to create chaos with this tactic. If we continue to sit idly by, the situation will only worsen."
"Then what do you suggest we do? We can't hit them, and we can't crack the code. Am I just keeping you guys around to do nothing?!"
“Your Majesty, I have a solution,” another advisor stepped forward. “Our investigation has revealed that this peculiar demon’s targets are completely random; everyone is a potential victim, and everyone has an equal chance of being killed. In that case, we can deploy more troops to dilute this probability, which will greatly reduce the losses at the higher levels.”
Emperor Skrull rubbed his aching forehead and said, "These humans are definitely coming for us. We'll suffer the most losses in this scenario!"
“That’s right.” The staff officer nodded and said, “The Kree Empire is completely controlled by the Supreme Intelligence. Every soldier is just a puppet of his, and it doesn’t matter if they die. The Shiar can be resurrected. Even if they die, they have to wait for a period of time to be resurrected, but in the end, there is no loss. Only we will lose our carefully trained officers. Earth’s move is truly vicious.”
"We can't be the only ones to suffer losses!" Emperor Skrull gritted his teeth and said, "Go and transfer all three legions from Virgo's side!"
Another advisor hesitated slightly before speaking, "Then our forces in the Feather Star System might reach around 700 billion. Isn't that a bit too many? The Shia Empire might be..."
“Even if they have suspicions, we can’t worry about that now,” the staff officer said. “After all, we can’t be the only ones suffering losses, can we? Our allies should also be aware of our situation. Besides, the Shia Empire has no other choice…”
"Let's do it this way," Emperor Skrull said. "Move troops. Also, move the two legions from the Andromeda Galaxy this way, and keep an eye on the mutant base with the remaining one."
"What?! Skrull has sent two more legions?!" In the royal palace of Fierce Feather Star, Lilandra slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "What is he trying to do? Does he even remember that this is the capital of the Shi'ar Empire? What is he trying to do by sending so many troops?!"
The noble elders below also looked displeased. One of them stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, we must refuse their unreasonable demands. The entire Mengyu Star has only 500 billion troops, yet they have mobilized 700 billion troops and a large amount of equipment and weapons. Once this matter on Earth is over, it will be easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away."
Lilandra slowly sat back down and said, "I know why they're doing this. That damned demon that those despicable and cunning humans brought is killing people randomly. They don't want the Hydra to kill those important officers, so they bring in more common soldiers, which naturally reduces the risk. The root of the problem lies with the humans."
“Crick,” she called out.
“Your Majesty, I am here.” A young nobleman stepped forward, bowed, and said, “What are your orders?”
"Since the moon is temporarily immobile, we still need to find a way to move the Earth. Are those sixteen dual-god-class starships ready?"
“Yes, Your Majesty. All the dual-god and feather-class starships have been inspected and found to be in good condition, however…” the other party hesitated for a moment before saying, “our main guns cannot penetrate Earth’s magical defense network.”
“We should at least fight first,” Lilandra said. “We can’t just let them continue to be so arrogant, can we?”
“I also think we should try some offensive methods first,” said another older nobleman. “Even if we can’t break through, we have to try. If we don’t retaliate for a long time, our allies will look down on us. So, whether it works or not, we have to fight first.”
The young nobleman bowed and left. Soon, twenty-four capital ships of the Shi'ar Empire headed towards Earth. Jarvis quickly discovered this.
The space station that had landed on Earth became the temporary command center for this operation. Jarvis had full control of the electronic systems there, and he immediately transmitted images from space to the command center.
The command center was mostly staffed by ordinary government generals, with a few mutants and superhumans serving as advisors.
Surface warfare is different from interstellar warfare. Ordinary people who haven't fought in interstellar wars might not be able to adapt their thinking immediately. But if you're asking who among the superpowered has fought in interstellar warfare and is experienced, there really isn't one—Magneto's actions were more like highway robbery, not actual warfare. Therefore, they brought along several Asgardians to provide them with interstellar warfare strategies and thinking. Valkyrie was among them.
“It’s not easy,” Valkyrie said, stroking his chin. “The Shi’ar Empire is making its move at this time simply to demonstrate its strength to its allies. Although their capital ships are not the strongest among the three great empires, their main guns do hit hard. With twenty-four capital ships firing at the same time, even Odin would have to temporarily retreat.”
"Sorcerer Supreme, can the magical defense network withstand this attack?" a human general asked.
Strange was stationed at the New York Sanctum, and what was currently here was his holographic projection. After thinking for a moment, he said, "We can hold out even if all the capital ships in the system fire at us at once; it's just a matter of how much energy they consume. Energy isn't a problem for now, but I still suggest you conserve it as much as possible, since this could be a protracted war."
“That makes sense; we can’t waste energy under any circumstances,” another general said.
“Actually, I have an idea,” a young American general stood up, raised his hand, and said, “We don’t need to stand here and take a beating. Now that the Earth has engines, we can easily dodge them.”
A discussion erupted in the command post. Most people slapped their foreheads—having fought too many surface wars, they'd suddenly forgotten that back home, people could run away. But an older general immediately jumped to the conclusion, saying, "No, we shouldn't run—we should just ram them!"
(End of this chapter)