Chapter 1104: Clearing the Demonized Plants
Chapter 1104: Clearing the Demonized Plants
March 10, 2023
"We must always be on our guard against the Blue Planet humans," Manina said solemnly. "As for the follow-up reconnaissance, I suggest we send a God-tier expert to investigate. It's the only option we have right now."
Reconnaissance airships were out of the question, and sending a Seventh-tier expert would risk another ambush by the Blue Planet humans. The only viable solution was to send a God-tier expert, who could move quickly and handle any threats without concern.
However, Plante shook his head. "There's no need to send anyone out for reconnaissance."
As everyone's attention turned to him, Plante continued, "While rescuing the survivors, I circled the Blue Planet's second defensive line. I saw everything inside the perimeter."
"Let me draw a map to help illustrate the situation," he added, knowing that words alone wouldn't fully convey the details.
Using the laser module of his mech, Plante drew a detailed laser map. Once it was complete, he placed the map in front of the video conference camera and began explaining.
"The outer circle represents the Blue Planet's second defensive line. From what I observed, most of the defensive weapons here are our own creations—laser weapons, antimatter cannons, and the like. There are also some psychic weapons made by the Blue Planet humans, but they don't seem very powerful. The more potent weapons are already in use on the first defensive line."
Plante's laser map resembled two concentric circles, with the outer circle representing the second defensive line and the inner circle the first.
Over the next few minutes, he provided a detailed description of the second defensive line.
"Between the two defensive lines, the area is completely covered by demonized plants, including the sea, which is filled with aquatic demonized plants," Plante explained, pointing to the area between the two circles. "There are only four types of demonized plants. Three specialize in slowing down targets by throwing ice melons, ice peas, and corn kernels. The fourth type can blow strong gusts of wind."
"The demonized plants are generally between Second and Third tiers, and I didn't see any particularly powerful or high-tier ones," he added, tapping the demonized plant area emphatically. "From what I observed, the area between the first and second defensive lines is entirely covered by demonized plants, with almost no gaps. When we plan our attack, we must assume that the entire area is filled with demonized plants and account for their properties."
"That's all I have to say. As for the specific strategy, Manina, I'll leave it to you."
"Understood, Sir Plante," Manina replied, frowning deeply.
Manina wasn't the only one frowning; Kusman and the other God-tier experts also furrowed their brows.
The Blue Planet humans' strategy of filling the area between the two defensive lines with demonized plants was very effective. The Skrull forces couldn't simply ignore the plants and fly their warships through. To attack the second defensive line, they would need to clear the demonized plants, which would inevitably slow their progress.
So, how should they proceed with their battle plan?
Manina remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Since the area between the two defensive lines is filled with demonized plants, we have no choice but to clear them before attacking the second defensive line. Fortunately, the plants are stationary, so we only need to clear a few hundred meters wide path for the army to pass through."
Clearing a few hundred meters wide path would be relatively easy.
Even without the help of God-tier experts, Manina could easily clear such a path by continuously casting psychic spells. The demonized plants were generally only Second to Third tier, and a wide-area psychic spell would clear them out efficiently.
The distance between the first and second defensive lines was only 45 kilometers, a distance Manina could clear in a few days. Sending more Seventh-tier experts would speed up the process, and the fleet could even blast a path through with their cannons.
Just as Manina was about to proceed with this plan, Kusman objected.
"Your Majesty, that won't work!" he exclaimed, standing up. "Have you forgotten that these demonized plants are long-range attackers?"
"Uh..." Manina was taken aback by Kusman's words.
He had indeed forgotten that crucial detail.
Kusman addressed all the top-tier beings in the video conference room. "From what I know, these demonized plants can shoot bullets up to a kilometer or more into the sky. If they fire horizontally, their range can exceed four or five kilometers. If we only clear a few hundred meters wide path, our fleet will be subjected to endless attacks from the plants on either side!"
"Moreover, the clover plants can increase the range of the demonized plants. This means we need to clear a path several kilometers wide to ensure our fleet is not attacked by the plants."
A channel over ten kilometers wide?
During the video conference, the top-tier powers of the Skrull Empire fell into deep thought.
Kusman was right; the range of the mutated plants was not short. They would only be safe from the barrage of bullets if they cleared a channel of this width.
However, clearing a channel over ten kilometers wide and fifty kilometers long was no small feat!
...
Just as the top-tier powers of the Skrull Empire were lost in thought, Kusman's voice cut through their contemplation once more.
Kusman, with a serious expression, said, "And it's not just about clearing a ten-kilometer-wide channel. Based on my estimates, that's far from enough."
Everyone in the video conference room immediately turned their attention back to him.
Kusman didn't waste any time.
He first asked for the laser map that Plante had just drawn and added a line to connect the first and second defensive lines.
Then, he displayed the modified laser map to everyone in the conference room.
"Everyone, look. As shown in the map, if we clear a ten-kilometer-wide channel all the way to the second defensive line, how do you think the people of Earth would react?"
Hearing Kusman's hint and seeing the laser map, Mynar immediately understood his point.
"Oh!" Mynar exclaimed, "I see! You're right, clearing just one channel is far from enough!"
Seeing that a few of the divine-tier beings were still confused, Mynar took the initiative to explain, "Everyone, I think I understand what Chairman Kusman means. His point is—
If we only clear one channel, the people of Earth will definitely fortify the end of the channel. This would rob us of our strategic initiative and allow them to concentrate their forces for a strong defense!"
Hearing Mynar's explanation, everyone finally understood.
Indeed, that was how things would unfold—If they only cleared one channel to the second defensive line, the Earthlings would deploy all their military forces at the end of the channel.
This way, they would face a heavily fortified defense, making the second defensive line exponentially harder to breach. Moreover, this would deviate from their original plan.
In their initial plan, the second defensive line was supposed to be easy to breach.
After all, the second defensive line was much longer and had weaker defenses compared to the first.
But with the current approach of clearing just one channel, breaching the second defensive line would become an epic challenge, and might not be much easier than the first.
Furthermore, the third, fourth, fifth, and so on, up to the ninth defensive lines, would all become much harder to breach!
As the front line extended, there was always the risk of their supply lines being cut off. The Earthlings could move freely among the mutated plants, but they could not.
Clearly, clearing just one channel would not work.
Kusman pointed to the laser map and said, "Everyone, clearing just one channel is definitely not feasible.
Not only would the difficulty of our offensive efforts become epic, but the time we would spend on this alone is something we cannot afford!
Following this strategy, breaking through the second defensive line would take at least ten days by Earth time. The difficulty of the third, fourth, fifth, and so on, up to the ninth defensive lines, would only increase.
This means we would need over ninety days, or more than three months, to breach all the defensive lines and reach the edge of the Tarxin Defense Network.
This speed is absolutely unacceptable! Moreover, our resources cannot sustain such a prolonged effort."
Hearing Kusman's words, the top-tier beings of the Skrull Empire nodded in agreement.
They indeed could not afford to waste so much time on these eight defensive lines. Their initial plan was to breach all the lines in just seven Earth days.
Moreover, their resources were not sufficient to sustain a three-month effort, which would surely leave them weakened.
"Then what do you suggest?" At this moment, the divine-tier being Lektor Sdem asked.
Sdem's tone carried a hint of admiration. He highly approved of Kusman's insights.
It seemed that his decision to strongly support Kusman's appointment as the Lektor Council Chairman was indeed wise. Kusman was undoubtedly a clever man, far superior to the previous Chairman, Cass.
Kusman paused for a moment before answering, "Following my reasoning, clearing just one channel is definitely not feasible.
So, our only option is to clear multiple channels, or even more boldly, to clear all the mutated plants!"
"Clear all of them?" Many top-tier beings were taken aback.
This was a bold idea indeed!
The area between the first two defensive lines was already filled with mutated plants, and the areas behind were likely no different.
Clearing all of them would require an enormous amount of resources. Could they really afford such an expenditure?
But at this moment, Mynar suddenly nodded, "Yes, I support Kusman's idea. We should clear all the mutated plants."
In my opinion, it would be much better to clear out all the magic plants rather than just creating a few passages!"
He stood up and addressed the video conference room with a serious tone. "Based on my analysis, creating just a few passages won't solve the problem thoroughly."
Manina had the AI, Cyblue, duplicate the laser map that Plant had drawn.
Once the duplication was complete, he took the map and made a few marks on it.
He drew eight passages on the map, each extending from the base in the directions of east, south, west, north, northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest, with each passage at a 45-degree angle to the others.
Then, he pointed at these passages and explained, "If we follow the plan of 'just creating a few passages,' let's say we create eight passages. That's quite a lot, right?
But what happens if we make a breakthrough in one of these passages?"
He reached out and drew an "X" at the end of the passage pointing due west.
He pointed at the "X" and said, "Suppose we make the first breakthrough in the western direction. Then, our future offensive actions will be heavily skewed towards the west..."
Manina added a few more lines extending from the "X" towards the third defensive line on the western side and continued, "We will be forced to continue our offensive in this direction, which will have a significant impact on our tactics.
Moreover, the Blue Star people will find it easy to counter. They can simply redeploy their main military forces to the west, and we will be at a disadvantage."
The other god-level beings in the room were all intelligent. They quickly understood the implications of Manina's explanation.
Creating multiple passages wasn't much better than creating just one. Once they achieved a breakthrough in one direction, they would naturally want to capitalize on it and continue advancing in that direction.
This would make their strategic intentions very clear, and the Blue Star people would find it easier to mobilize their forces to block their path.
Therefore, this plan wasn't particularly good.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Manina continued, "So, I propose we clear out all the magic plants instead!
Once we clear everything, the Blue Star people won't know from which direction we will break through. This will make the second defensive line much easier to breach!
That's all I have to say. What do you think?"
After hearing Manina's proposal, several god-level beings in the video conference room nodded in agreement.
"I think Manina's proposal makes sense," said the god-level being named Hiber. "Clearing out all the magic plants will make it much easier to breach the second defensive line."
"I also agree with Manina's idea," added Othas. "Given the current situation, it seems to be the best approach."
However, there were some concerns.
Kusman frowned and said, "But, Manina, won't clearing out all the magic plants consume too many resources? Our expeditionary force has limited resources and may not be able to sustain such a high level of expenditure!"
"We have to bear it," Manina calmly replied, spreading his hands. "If we don't want to spend resources on clearing the magic plants, we will have to spend them on attacking the Blue Star's heavily defended lines. It's uncertain which will consume more resources in the end!"
"But—"
"Wait a moment, Kusman," Plant, who had remained silent until now, waved his hand and spoke. "We won't reach a consensus through debate in the short term.
The war is urgent, and we need to come up with a plan to act on, rather than waste time arguing.
Let's vote. We have nine of us. Whichever proposal gets the most votes, we will implement that one."
His gaze swept across everyone in the video conference room, and he said authoritatively, "Of course, this is just a temporary plan. If we find a better solution later, we can replace it. For now, let's agree on a temporary plan and move forward."
"Agreed."
"I concur."
"I support it."
Since it was a temporary plan, there was no strong opposition.
Cyblue promptly displayed a voting panel in front of each person, allowing them to vote on the proposals.
...
...
About ten minutes later, Manina's order was issued to the entire army.
The Skrull expeditionary force's fleet, aerial combat vehicles, mechs, drones, and other flying units all took to the skies, heading in all directions.
Their mission was to clear out all the magic plants behind the defensive lines. Clearly, Manina had won the vote!
In fact, Manina's victory was not surprising. Any discerning person could see the limitations of the "multiple passages" plan.
During the vote, Manina's proposal won by a landslide, with seven out of nine votes in his favor and two abstentions. Plant solemnly announced that Manina's proposal had been approved at the meeting.
After the proposal was approved, Manina immediately issued the order to begin implementation.
The Skrull expeditionary force mobilized all its flying units to clear out the magic plants.
……
Thus, the Skrull's plant-clearing operation was in full swing.
However, to their surprise, the task of clearing the enchanted plants turned out to be much easier than they had anticipated. The plants, while numerous and widespread, had surprisingly low defenses. (After all, there were no high-defense plants like the "Nut Wall" or "Pumpkin Head" to contend with.)
Skrull warships flew over the enchanted plants, their antimatter railguns and laser weapons leaving a path of destruction. Each shot could decimate hundreds or even thousands of plants at a time.
High-ranking Skrull psychics also joined the effort, donning their mechs and heading to the densest clusters of enchanted plants. Here, they cast wide-area psychic spells, carefully reducing their power to ensure they only killed third-stage plants. The reduced power allowed each spell to cover a vast area, obliterating the enchanted plants with ease.
The Skrull headquarters' disintegration beam towers also played their part. The towers emitted powerful yellowish-green beams that could penetrate deep and had an extended range. A single beam could destroy all the enchanted plants along its path, reducing them to dust.
Drones followed up, targeting any plants that had survived the initial wave of destruction.
As a result, the enchanted plants fell in droves, and the Skrull's plant-clearing operation progressed much faster and more smoothly than expected. The enchanted plants had no chance against the Skrull's relentless assault, their green sap spilling across the ground.
For the enchanted plants, this was nothing short of a botanical hell.
……
The operation proceeded efficiently, and by the evening of the third day, June 19th, the plant-clearing was largely complete.
At the Skrull command center, the AI, Siblue, reported to Manina: "Your Majesty, according to the front-line reports, the operation to clear the enchanted plants is now complete. The plants between the two lines of defense have been cleared by 99.9%, and the remaining few will no longer pose any threat to our advance."
"Excellent!" Manina, seated at the tactical command desk, was in high spirits. "What about the Blue Planet humans? What is their current situation?"
"The Blue Planet humans haven't abandoned the second line of defense yet, but they are close," Siblue replied.
Siblue projected an electronic map in front of Manina. The map was dotted with clear red points, each representing a major defensive force of the Blue Planet humans.
Manina glanced at the map and immediately noticed that the eastern and western ends of the second line of defense were almost devoid of red points, with only a few remaining in the north and south.
Siblue provided additional context: "Most of the Blue Planet humans have already withdrawn from the second line of defense, retreating to the safer third line of defense. Those who remain are mostly high-ranking fighters of the sixth stage and above. The defensive weapons within the line are all automated and controlled by programs, similar to the situation at the end of the first line of defense."
"Hmm, it seems the Blue Planet humans know they can't hold this line," Manina mused, stroking his chin. "Very well, inform the entire army that we are now ready to break through the second line of defense!"
"Understood!"
……
The order was quickly issued.
At 8:10 PM, the second line of defense of the Blue Planet humans was completely breached.
Despite the presence of many high-ranking fighters and a significant number of antimatter railguns and laser weapons, the line held for only two hours against the Skrull's overwhelming assault.
However, the Blue Planet humans were not overly concerned.
In fact, they were quite satisfied that the Skrulls only breached the second line of defense at this point! The line had held for over three days, far longer than they had expected.
After the line was broken, Su Yu led the high-ranking fighters in a calm retreat to the third line of defense. Simultaneously, the ordinary Blue Planet soldiers and logistics units began preparing to withdraw to the even safer fourth line of defense.
……
The Skrulls systematically occupied the second, third, and fourth lines of defense, clearing the remaining enchanted plants in their wake.
The Blue Planet humans used the enchanted plants and their defensive lines to mount limited resistance, gradually retreating as they did so.
Originally, Su Yu had hoped to use the enchanted plants to wage small-scale guerrilla warfare.
However, the Skrulls' methodical approach, systematically uprooting every enchanted plant, left no room for guerrilla tactics. They had no choice but to continue their retreat.
Fortunately, the enchanted plants were numerous and densely packed, which effectively slowed the Skrulls' advance.
(End of Chapter)
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