Chapter 315 Humanity's Preparation

The Head spoke solemnly, "Your analysis is very precise, one of Lin Sen's objectives is indeed to hope that we can continue to exert a certain pressure on human civilization."

"Lin Sen was once a Wallfacer's Assistant, and now he serves as an assistant to human civilization."

"Sadly for us, all our efforts, even the victory or defeat of this battle, are merely part of Lin Sen's plan."

"What's more pitiable is that what we are now considering is whether we are qualified enough to become his pawns."

"That's our fate; our Trisolaran Civilization has faced countless challenges and hardships since ancient times. We have survived numerous crises, and today, we shall not be defeated by human civilization either."

"No matter what difficulties we face, we will choose to persevere. As long as we persevere, there might be hope."

"Military Governor, how is the current preparation work progressing?"

The Military Governor replied, "Thanks to the smooth progress of the 'Operation Mend Heaven,' our technology has also made rapid breakthroughs in the past half-century."

"In terms of defense against curvature points, we have found effective countermeasures. Through the information monitored and sent back by our Sophon, we analyze that humanity has not yet mastered this technology. This is likely because Lin Sen did not disclose the key details of curvature propulsion technology to the Solar System Alliance."

"However, in the development of the Gluon Oscillation Beam Weapon, humans are clearly far ahead of us. Whether it's attack range or intensity, their technology is several times ours."

"If humans only deploy a thousand or so warships, we still have the confidence to confront them, but if humans deploy tens of thousands of warships, our chances of victory are very slim."

He paused before continuing, "To enhance our defense and offensive capabilities, we have placed tens of thousands of disguised points throughout our Home Star System."

"To acquire the resources needed to build these disguised points, I have even completely dismantled our Great Moon, and consumed almost half the mass of our home planet."

"Many of these disguised points hide our means of dealing with humanity, and in combination with the Sophon Blind Zone, since we control all the passages in the Sophon Blind Zone reserves, and humanity knows nothing of this, this will give us a greater advantage in our attacks."

"But even so, we still can't rely solely on these to counter the formidable forces of humanity's tens of thousands of warships. Thus, our current strategy is to inflict as much damage as possible to human warships early in the war, so that humanity cannot accurately assess our real strength."

"Our goal is to make humanity back down for fear of incurring severe casualties, while simultaneously utilizing Dark Forest Deterrence, in hopes of reaching a stalemate."

"Although we are not sure how long such a stalemate can last, we firmly believe that as long as we persevere, there will always be opportunities for a reversal in the future. In the meantime, we will continue to strengthen our technological development and improve our combat capabilities, making full preparations for the ultimate victory."

The Head concluded, "We have no other choice!"

...

Human Expedition Fleet Command Headquarters, virtual meeting hall.

The atmosphere was solemn and tense. The Fleet Commander sat in the chief seat, his gaze burning as he scanned each of the fleet's senior officers present.

The Fleet Commander spoke with determination and force, "Although seven units of the Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet have fled, we must be clear that the vast majority of the Trisolaran's strength is still concentrated in their Home Star System."

"Our goal is clear—to completely destroy the Trisolaran Star System, ensuring that they can never again pose a threat to us."

"As for negotiating matters, that is not my responsibility."

"Staff Department, do you have any progress on the latest combat plans?"

A staff representative answered, "Based on our intelligence analysis, the Trisolarans have built tens of thousands of Mist Zones in their Home Star System, which may conceal their last military forces."

"We suspect that most of these zones are merely decoys to confuse us. It's not possible that all Mist Zones hold military strength; we suspect that most of them are mere deceptions."

"We estimate that the number of warships the Trisolarans can actually deploy is at most in the hundreds, but there should also be other contingencies."

"Based on our historical analysis of Trisolaris, their technological development is slow, and we believe their contingencies will not greatly impact the battle."

"However, we cannot overlook the Trisolarans' advantages."

"On the battlefield they have prepared, their Sophons can transfer freely in any area outside of the Sophon Blind Zones, while we, not knowing which areas within the Sophon Blind Zones have reserved passages, may find ourselves at a severe disadvantage in close-range combat."

"This will make it easier for the Trisolarans to attack us, while we will have a harder time attacking them."

"Although interstellar warfare greatly favors offense over defense, in the current situation, on the battlefield preset by the Trisolarans, they still hold an advantage.

"Of course, we are not worried at all. We can also monitor the trajectory of Trisolaran Sophons, and through prolonged observation, we have been able to analyze regions outside the Sophon Blind Zones.

"Then their advantage will gradually diminish, and their advantage won't last long.

"What's more important is that our overall strength far surpasses the Trisolarans, whether it be the number of warships, firepower configuration, or technology levels, we hold an absolute advantage.

"On the frontal battlefield, the Trisolarans cannot alter the overall situation of the war, no matter what they do. What we need to be more vigilant about is the possibility of them employing Dark Forest Deterrence. Therefore, we must make thorough preparations to ensure we can respond swiftly under any circumstances."

After listening to the staff representative's report, the Fleet Commander nodded in satisfaction.

Fleet Commander, "Regarding the issue of Dark Forest Deterrence, in fact, Command Headquarters had already begun considering it right after the Battle of the Dust.

"For this reason, the human world has also made preparations on multiple fronts.

"Firstly, over the years, we have behaved as if we do not believe in the Dark Forest, which is actually a strategy to confuse the Trisolarans and reduce their expectations of establishing Dark Forest Deterrence.

"At the same time, we also keep propagating to the Trisolarans the idea of forming a civilization alliance with them, which is similarly meant to mislead. In fact, this practice can be traced back a long way; the Wallfacers had already begun their arrangements.

"A button that decides the survival or extinction of two civilizations, humanity might press the button, if destruction is inevitable, then let everything be destroyed.

"But this is not the case for the Trisolarans. Based on our analysis of the Trisolarans' thought model, the probability they press the button is too small. Trisolarans may not care about the death of individuals, but they are definitely concerned about the survival of the collective.

"If they are doomed to destruction, they would certainly wish for those millions of Trisolarans who have blended into humanity to survive.

"Perhaps this is where Wallfacer Lin Sen's ingenuity lies; they were among the first to study the thinking patterns of the Trisolarans. Maybe during the Battle of the Dust, they already considered today's scenario. Now thinking about it, how fortunate humanity is to have the Wallfacers.

"On the surface, we keep advocating civilizational union and peaceful coexistence, yet we hold the other party hostage as a threat.

"Regarding the Dark Forest, how could humanity, after enduring the Crisis Era for 300 years, still doubt the existence of the Dark Forest?

"This is simply a game of strategy between us and the Trisolarans. The human expedition to Trisolaris, to some extent, is not for revenge but because in the Dark Forest, having two neighbors so close to each other is not allowed. It is a rule of survival and a reality we must face."

Indeed, many people were surprised by this speech; the Wallfacers' calculations were able to reach such a level, and they realized they had been too kind.

He paused, then continued, "Secondly, humanity has also made escape preparations.

"While our ten thousand warships embark on the expedition, humanity will build even more massive dual-purpose industrial-military warships. These warships possess enormous warehouse and living areas, capable of carrying a large amount of industrial equipment and resources.

"Coupled with increasingly simplified hibernation technology, each warship can accommodate at least 600,000 people, though the majority would need to be in hibernation.

"Around 80,000 such warships would be needed for the entire human escape. Currently, humanity might have already secretly built more than ten thousand of these warships.

"If the Trisolarans do broadcast the coordinates of humanity, we will mobilize humanity's greatest production capacity, striving to build another 70,000 of these warships within just over 20 years.

"Of course, we very much hope such a situation will not occur.

"Dark Forest Deterrence is itself a game, even a game of chicken. In this game, the more we worry about the threat of the Dark Forest, the more we need to show that we don't care about it.

"The worst outcome of this battle would be to fall into a war of attrition with the Trisolarans.

"Additionally, I have a feeling: the civilizational union advocated by the Wallfacers may not necessarily be our deception towards the Trisolarans.

"Our current war with the Trisolaran Civilization seems more like a test of civilization, to see if the Trisolarans are qualified to form a civilization alliance with us.

"Of course, there is no basis for this, it's just a guess, with no solid evidence.

"In this war, I also want to see if Trisolaris can bring us any surprises."

The staff representative's eyes glinted with the light of battle, and he said excitedly, "This way we can go all out, engaging with the Trisolarans in an all-out war without any reservations!

"We can give it our everything; this war will be the true measure of strength between humanity and the Trisolarans."